June 2, 2009
It is May the 31st and I am current located in my “stronghold” or you may call it a mosquito net. My “stronghold” is the only place where I have the upper hand on the insects of Nicaragua. Here I am surrounded by a nearly impenetrable barrier and am equipped with all my best weapons. I have bug spray at my side and a shoe within my reach. Bring it insects I’m ready.
Well I guess I should talk about El Dia De Las Madres now since that is the title of this blog. In Nicaragua, that is the name for Mother’s Day. Here El Dia De Los Madres is celebrated on May 30th rather than on the 10th like in the United States. So I don’t want to make moms in the US feel bad but here in Nicaragua mother’s day is kind of a huge deal. Since I have arrived in Nicaragua on May 8th I have been hearing El Dia De Las Madres songs on the radio. Literally these songs are made for El Dia De Las Madres. The amount of music for El Dia De Las Madres is comparable to the fact that in the US we have a whole genre of music dedicated to Christmas. So this whole month I have really had time to think about what makes El Dia De Las Madres so big here in Nicaragua. I have come to understand that in Nicaragua the mother is almost always the glue of a family. Here they are the ones that care and teach morals to the children. They are the ones that prepare all meals and provide hospitality for guest. They are the ones that have immense influence in making important family decisions. But most simple they are the ones that are present. The father is the one that is away from home and works the entire day. In many cases families don’t even have fathers because they have left the family and the responsibilities that come with it. In the village I live in it is rare to find a family that has a present father. In Nicaragua, the mother is the one in the home and in most situations the one figuring out how to support the family. For these reasons I believe El Dia De Las Madres is amplified here in Nicaragua.
So what exactly happens for El Dia De Las Madres in Nicaragua? This year El Dia De Los Madres fell on Saturday. Celebration for the day started three days earlier on Wednesday. Wednesday my host organization, EL Centro Solar, held a surprise party for all the volunteer mothers. The festivities started at 3pm. The main room of the center was decorated with flowers and streamers. At first music was played and guest talked among themselves. Next, it was time for the games. I don’t know if it is the language barrier but games here in Nicaragua are ten times funnier than anything I’ve played in the US. My favorite game was one where two mothers were blindfolded and they had to put four shoes on one side of the room under the legs of a chair on the other side of the room. As you can imagine the game was a riot and throughout the course there were several collisions. Games were followed by a song and dance for the mothers. After that everyone said a pray of thanks for the mothers. Dinner was then served which was prepared by the children. Lastly, they ended the night with the La Mama Mas Simpatica contest which I was a judge for. So here is how the competition worked. Throughout the fiesta I was suppose watch all the mothers. My job was to select the nicest, most outgoing, funniest, and happiest mother. At the end of the night I selected a winner and the first runner up from all the mothers. So after “intense” deliberation (I actually just picked two mothers that I knew the names of…don’t tell anyone) I selected the winners…and the first runner up was Alejandra because of her smile, friendliness and kindness (which I announced to the room in Spanish)…and for the moment you all have been waiting for the winner of La Mama Mas Simpatica was Adelina for her participation and friendliness! Adelina was crowned as queen by last year’s Mama Mas Simpatica. The whole thing was kind of a big deal for them. I feel bad I just pick mothers basically at random…oops.
Okay so this was just the Wednesday before El Dia De Las Madres, I still need to talk about the day itself. On Friday, the day before El Dia De Los Madres two of my Nicaraguan sister and I went into Ocatol, a nearby town. There we went to Pali (a much smaller branch of Wal-Mart for Central American countries) and bought lunch for our mom. We got rice, vegetables, soda and most importantly steak, their mom’s favorite. After, the grocery store we went to a Pastelria to purchase a cake. The kids in my family were very excited. They said generally they didn’t have money to get anything for their mother on El Dia De Las Madres. I was more than happy to buy some food for my mother especially after everything that she has done for me. On the 30th, El Dia De Las Madres, the children and I helped out their mom throughout the day. I helped cook and my Nicaraguan siblings did typical choirs. Then we cooked the food from Ocatol for lunch and served cake to everyone. Late in the day we visited their grandma and wished her a happy Dia De Las Madres. All things considered El Dia De Las Madres was a huge success. My Nicaraguan mom seemed extremely happy throughout the day. She even mentioned to me that this was the first time that a volunteer in her house has bought her a cake. She was very thankful. My Nicaraguan mother is amazing if you met her you would buy her a cake too.
More to come,
Nat-tan
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Best update so far!!!
We miss you!
-Brian
Your description of the significance of Dia de los Madres is amazing and very on point!! Thanks for sharing the experience
Glad to hear your are finding refugee in your mosquito net as well, those bugs are relentless!
Oh, my gosh! You are like a rock star-So Cool! I cannot believe you are living so far away from home. What an adventure! You are a superhero too making that Moms day so very special. It does not surprise me though, my nieces and nephews are the sweetest, nicest kids ever! You write wonderfully! i am going to see if there is anything else from you written over on the side of this page. Hope so. Love you much Nat-tan. Kisses and Hugs. Aunt Val
Don’t worry… Adelina and Alejandra are both awesomely worthy winners!
Your mom told me all about your venture in Nicaragua – at her house last week. Loved your account – real insight into another culture and experience and shared in a very open and tolerant way. What a wonderful experience and opportunity!
Will read your other blogs.
Prayers and God be with you –
Sr. Michaeleen