No More Mooching

I’m skipping the kid intro this week just to give some updates. Two weeks ago we had the scariest thunderstorm I think I’ve ever heard in my life and as a result we’ve lost our mooched internet. So updating this thing won’t be quite as regular, but I will try and keep up as much as possible.

So the same night as the crazy thunderstorm there was a tragedy here in Managua in which three boys who live in La Chureca, the dump, drowned in the nearby swimming hole. It’s been really interesting observing how totally different this culture, and I’m sure every culture, deals with death. These boys were closely connected to Casa Havilah because their families live in the same community so I was able to see first hand how the deaths were dealt with. Because the boys’ families live in small houses they needed to put their bodies in a bigger home, which happened to be the home of Daniela, one of the older girls here at Casa Havilah. They kept the boys lying on white plastic chairs for a couple of days while they did… well, I’m not sure why they were there for so long. We were able to turn on the news at the house and it was incredible to see the things they show on local television . They show everything. They showed the boys’ bodies lying on the chairs along with some other pretty morbid news stories. It was truly a devastating time for the families and the La Chureca community, but I couldn’t get over the fact that the people here seemed so comfortable around death. In the US, no one sees the body until it has been all fixed up, if at all. Here, everyone could see the boys and we got a full detailed description of their condition from Daniela when she returned.

Sorry for the somewhat morbid post, it was just one of the most culturally striking things that has happened so far. Other than that, my time here is finally starting to get easier. I no longer get evil glares (well, except from Andrea and her partner in crime, Maykeling, on a bad day) and I’m usually greeted with smiles and hugs. There are still a lot of differences to get used to, but with time I believe things will naturally start to fall into place. Oh, and I have officially been immersed into the girls’ home experience and have been welcomed with open arms and little fingers into the head-lice community. That’s been a lovely experience. Thank goodness for little girls with good eyes and little monkey fingers. I’m hoping that today, I have officially rid my head of them, but it feels like a never-ending, impossible task.

Anyway, thanks for reading and bear with me on my now internet-less journey at Casa Havilah!