I have learned so much in the short time I have been here. Life here is a lot slower and less hectic than at home, and it’s so rewarding. Each day is better than the last. I am beginning to love it here. There are two big things I learned this week:
First off, I learned perseverance and patience. So it’s Monday morning at 9am, and a couple of us are volunteering at the Hogar de Ancianos (Nursing home-ish). I am handed a mop by a cheerful nun and directed to mop the floor in one of the mens dormitories. I exuberantly mop the floor, while stopping to talk to each anciano I meet. They are very friendly, and as I am mopping, one of the old men makes the comment that the floor is already clean. I respond that I was instructed to mop this floor, so mop the floor I shall do. He nods his head and goes back to sleeping on the chair.
Jessica is in the other room mopping as well. We both finish mopping and look for one of the workers, Jen, to tell her we are done.
Jen comes out of the back room and motions for us to keep mopping. We explain to her that we are done. She nods her head, says “I will show you how” and proceeds to mop the floor again. Then she hands the mop back and says “mop the floor.” So we mop our floors again. When we are done we look for Jen.
Jen comes out of the back room and instructs us to keep mopping. We shrug our shoulders and reluctantly mop the floor again. And again. Jen comes out of the back room, pours some Chloro (bleach) on our mops and says to mop again. We try to tell her that the floor is clean, but she misunderstands and says “I will show you how”. Again Jen mops the floor. So we take the mops and mop the floor again.
By this time it is 10:30 am and we have both mopped our floors 10 times. We have resorted to staring at the floor while mopping, having long since exhausted our ability to speak the Spanish language to people around us. I have used up my supply of Chloro and soap, I have talked to everyone around me, and I have sang every song I could think of in my head. So Jess and I mop another 3 times, and we are rewarded after the 13th time of mopping – we get another job! Of mopping another room…
As we are leaving around 11:30am, I look into the room where we had started mopping, and theres Jen, cheerfully mopping the floor. And that’s when I realized…the floor never will be clean.
The second thing I learned is people in Nicaragua have so much grace with our terrible Spanish. On Tuesday, we went to the hospital and got into an awesome discussion with about 5 people sitting on the benches, waiting for treatment. I had no idea about half the things they said, but we talked for about 2 hours. If I am sitting in the hospital chatting with a group of people, conjugating everything wrong and having no idea what they are talking about, its OK. I have learned that people like it when we try, laugh at us when we mess up, and help us when we forget a word. I have learned to just nod my head and smile when I have no idea what they said. And I have learned that people are ok with repeating things 4 times until I understand. Plus there’s always hand motions and a lot of smiling. The people here are so welcoming and loving. And always willing to talk.
Videos coming soon of more things I have learned since I have been here! Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers!
Just keep swimming
Hilarious!! I’m incredibly impressed at your stick-to-it-iv-ness with the mopping sitch.