Immersion

As I reflect on our week in Nica, it was less about being a tourist and more about immersing myself in Spanish. Our introduction to 'Nica-style' began with our homestay. We were provided with a picture of the front door and these directions: De la iglesia Xalteva 1 cuadra al norte y media al este. Casa 419 color verde. Which translates to: from Xalteva Church one block to the north and half a block to the east, house 419, color green. Fantastic, right?

Casa 419

It was late when we arrived, but in the morning, we woke up to this. The main living and dining area was filled with the owner's original art. 

Living room, courtyard, dining room

Winston, the owner and artist spent some time with us during some of the meals. I was able to practice a lot of Spanish and asked him about his art. Ira and I both especially loved these ones.

The one below is his current work in progress which is part of the same series. I asked him about the significance of the fruit and he said it was an idea he was playing around with and that the fruit reminded him of the time he spent with his grandparents at harvest time.

Winston's wife, Maria José mostly did the cooking, but would chat with us a little. Every meal was different and delicious. Even though we skipped breakfast, the room was a steal of deal at $20 per person per day including all your meals.

Lulu

Winston and Maria José had three sons still at home; one was a recently graduated doctor, the next was working in IT at a bank and the youngest was maybe 10. He loved playing videogames with his friends online, it was fun to practice listening to his detailed play by play. Winston's dad lived there also and finally there was Lulu or Lou. She was a friendly little thing and absolutely loved Ira. Oh I almost forgot their parrot. We were woken up the first morning with several energetic 'Buenos Dias!'. Imagine our confusion not having known about the parrot, LOL

If we weren't at the homestay, we were at Cueva Nica, the cafe and hostel where Gerald's school works from. I took 2 to 4 hours of classes every day while Ira was chilling with this little guy.

There was good internet, unlimited water and coffee and adult beverages later in the day. The ceiling fans and the open air courtyard in the middle made it quite comfortable for Ira to hang out while I had class. So needless to say as you can see, the Cueva Nica cat got quite attached to Ira.

Cueva Nica

It was only 5 days, but a successful 5 days. Mentally, I was exhausted every night from classes,  homework and constant Spanish interaction. It was great, but holey smokes, when Sunday came around, I nearly forgot about my Italian class. It was SO hard to switch. I envy polyglots who I imagine can effortlessly switch between languages. But I'm not going to let that stop me. I can almost feel the synapses firing in my brain every time I learn something new, maybe I'll be like that some day. Regardless, I'm having fun and now I am super motivated to work hard on Spanish and Italian .... maybe French next. Oof, it's time to retire, there's never enough time, LOL. 

A dopo!