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San Joaquin Morning

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On this particular morning in San Joaquin the sun rose up just as it always had for however many centuries over this tiny tranquilo town, but for me it was the first time I got to experience it from the town below, Bajo Pacuare, where a nearby school asked me to pay them a visit.  The bus didn’t go all the way to Bajo Pacuare, but instead, it spent the night in San Joaquin until the next day.  Which means that I walked all day to the town down a dusty road packed with rocks and rain gutters running all down the hill.  The daughter of the woman who rents me out a room in San Joaquin gave me a place to stay for the night after I taught what I intended to be a  30 minute English lesson on adjectives and expressions of emotions.  While I chose to sing and had actions all planned out, a heavy rainstorm pounded down.  I barely introduced myself.   Now pay attention to how the simple past actions in the second paragraph are interrupted by the in-...

Ketchup on Chelupas & a Hidden Birthday Cake

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It was beautiful....a glorious chulupa for only 35 Cordobas (a little over a dollar). Filled with avocados, tomatoes, beans, and...oh my god... is that lettuce!?!? As the crunchy shell cracked apart under the weight of my teeth, I cringed in horror. Those beautiful streaks of hot sauce were in fact ketchup. Ga Ca Lu (---interrupt typing for a Spanish dictionary search---) not even close. I meant to type " guácala  "...which basically means "yuck" in Spanish. I found the closest picture I could on the internet for a chalupa....which of course I also spelled wrong above...twice. Why do Nicas keep destroying good "latino" food with this awful sauce!??! Today I kinda feel like that ketchup. I might appear like I belong here, but in reality I am a long way from it. After going on an extensive cultural-breaking spree today, I decided it was time to blog out my anxiety. I'll spare you my emotions and a long backstory and get down to the good st...