Average Morning in the U.S. of A
I have now lived in Nicaragua for 7
months and am starting to fall into a daily routine. Something I have
recently noticed is how I spend my mornings in Nicaragua in comparison to the
U.S. When I think of an average morning in the U.S., it usually went like this:
- Snoozing my alarm for at least an hour because I clearly did not go to bed early enough the night before.
- Start some coffee brewing before I get in the shower
- Running to get in the shower and relying on the steamy hot water to wake me up.
- Stressing out about what to wear (because I can’t wear this shirt last week, and that shirt is not flattering)
- Racing to do my hair and makeup, spending way too much time on it (of course, never satisfied with the outcome but because I’m running late, I give up and let it be).
- As a result of taking too much time to get ready, I quickly pour some coffee and cream in a thermos, grab a granola bar for breakfast (if I am lucky to have some in the house) and race out the door. To only continue racing to work in my car, hating all the traffic that is in my way and praying that I will arrive to work on time.
Average Nica Morning
I wake up at 5.30am and stumble through my
host mom/sister’s room to reach the bathroom, all the while trying not to wake
up my host sister who sleeps in the bed located right next to the bathroom
door. I enter the shower and turn the only shower knob (one knob = one
temperature, Cold) while hoping water will come. If not, I’ll be forced to
shower from the 5 gallon bucket saved for exactly this purpose.
Once the water comes, I stand there watching the cold water pour (sometimes
drizzle) from the shower head. I stare at the water for a minute or so while
having the same debate I have with myself every morning. “Gahhh, is the water
colder today? Do I REALLY need to take this shower? Nobody should be forced to take a shower this cold. Yes,
Samantha. It may be cold but you know you are going to have to get in sooner or
later.” Eventually, I jump in and take my shower as fast as I possibly can.
After my battle with the shower, I get
ready for the day which is not nearly as much of an ordeal as it was back home.
I don’t wear makeup, my hair is always crazy (thanks to the humid weather and
hard water of Nicaragua) so there’s no use trying to style it other than a boring bun. I have a very
limited clothes/shoes selection for school. The standard outfit is a Peace
Corps polo, jeans, and a pair of sandals.
As I am getting ready, my host mom wakes up
and makes breakfast for the household which is very consistent. Your standard
Nica breakfast will consist of:
- - Coffee: boiled over the stove and filtered with a small strainer, served black with a lot of sugar. My host mom is a sweetheart and serves me my cup before adding sugar so that I can drink it black.
- - Gallo Pinto: Red beans with white rice, mixed together and slightly fried.
- - Tortilla: Hand-made fresh daily by a woman in the neighborhood. Her sons who are 4 and 6 years old go around the neighborhood selling them door-to-door at the crack of dawn, yelling “TORTILLLLLLLAS” so that we know they are coming. (The kids are very small, usually dirty and kind of mean so my host mom calls them “Lice” haha. I still think they are cute!)
- - Cheese*: White, spongy, and salty would be the best way to describe this cheese. I have grown to love it but most volunteers hate the stuff. Served cut in a little square to accompany the aforementioned Gallo Pinto.
*Sometimes my Nica breakfast
will include a fried egg instead of cheese.
My family enjoys watching the news early in
the mornings so I will end up watching it with them during breakfast. This took
a while to adjust to because the news in Nicaragua is not censored like it is
in the U.S. I often see dead bodies being pulled from lakes from drowning or
being pulled from car accidents with close-ups of the bloody injuries. That being said, I join my family for news
watching but pay very little attention while I am eating my breakfast.
After breakfast I grab my bike and head off
to classes for the day. I won’t worry too much about arriving late because they
usually ring the bell 5-10 min late anyway, and Nica teachers like students,
never go to class before the bell rings, even if the bell does not ring on
time.
