February 22, 2018 By Jenna Reid 55 Views

Trip to the Women’s Jicaro Artisan Cooperative

I had the pleasure of chaperoning my daughters class trip to Cooperativa de Producción Artesanal de Mujeres Jicareras. Located about 40 minutes from San Juan del Sur Day School in a small town next to Rivas called Buenos Aires. The artists there gave a great presentation of the process of creating beautifully hand crafted cups, ornaments, and beverages out of the jicaro gourd.

We arrived by bus to a store where they sell & showcase the handmade jicaro products

We were given a short presentation about the process of making jicaro products

The kids got to color after the presentation for a little bit

We then went to a home nearby where we were given a full demonstration of the process, starting with the jicaro tree.

Azalea was very happy with her tiny jicaro that she got to pull off the tree herself.

We were shown how at first they boil the jicaro in water with ash.

Then it is cut open at the top and the inside mulch is scooped out with a small metal spoon.

Finished product - beautifully handcrafted cups

Delicious jicaro drink made with the mulch inside, sugar, and cinnamon..

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January 4, 2018 By Jenna Reid 43 Views

Injured While Abroad

When I read that the nearest hospital would be 2 1/2 hours from where we would be living in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, I felt a tinge of unsettling fear. Being a mother of 2 young kids, I’m fully aware that a serious injury could happen at any moment.

This fear got even more real after we moved and I discovered that the way most of the houses with ocean views are built here in San Juan del Sur are with very beautiful, but unsafe patios. I practically have a heart attack each time I find myself in one of these homes with my kids. Rope railing are great for an unobstructed view, but I just can’t see the beauty through the images one of my children plummeting to their death.

It took 7 1/2 months before we got a personal look at the free medical system in Nicaragua. On my son, Titus’s, 1st birthday my daughter, Azalea, reached up into a snow cone machine and cut what looked like the tip of her finger off. There was so much blood! We found the piece of finger and put it on ice (but not directly, as a retired firefighter party guest advised us) and rushed to the clinic in town. Knowing this would be a Spanish-only situation, we brought my friend’s Nicaraguan husband who knew where the hospitals were and could speak both languages. We were told at the clinic in town that we could wait 30 minutes, but they would probably send us to the closest “city” Rivas, so we opted to just head there. We parked and our friend carried Azalea through the front door and straight to the back demanding that she be seen. Only two people were allowed in the hospital with Azalea, so my husband had to wait outside in the waiting area. The doctors looked at the piece of finger and determined that there was no bone in it and it was only the pad that she had cut off. They asked if we’d rather they sew it or bandage it. I don’t have a medical background, so why they were asking me was puzzling. We decided that with her screams of pain and intense fear, it was best to only clean it and wrap it. As her finger healed, I was so happy that this was the decision that we had made. She had cut a pretty large circle off the pad of her finger. To stitch it, the skin would have had to pucker and the healing would not have looked as even. We left the hospital in Rivas after about 20 minutes with no bill to pay. Azalea decided she wanted to go back to the birthday party where we had left all of our friends and Titus with my parents. She was such a brave girl and recovered quickly enough to even have a turn at the piñata.

Exactly 2 years later on Titus’ 3rd birthday we had a tropical storm that was connected to Hurricane Nate whip through Nicaragua. Our internet went out with the high winds and we decided to head over to the resort, Surf Ranch, down the street to see if they had internet. They use the same provider as we do, so if their’s was still up, then it was something having to do with our home system and not the company. As soon as we pulled out of our property we found a downed tree blocking the road. With little to do that day, my husband decided to go get our machete and saw to try to unblock the road. It was raining outside, so the kids and I made fun in the car while Daddy worked on the tree. (pic) Once a large piece was cut free we tied it to the car to drag it away from the road. There was one small final branch in the way, and Kharron used the machete to slice through it. Easier than expected, the machete glided right through the branch and slipped out of Kharron’s wet hand. Unluckily, it bounced off the dirt road and ricocheted back, hitting the knuckle of his thumb. I heard him shout, “I cut my thumb! I cut my thumb!” As he walked towards the car clutching his wrist. I could see drops of blood rolling off his hand. There was a small white sliver of a bone resting on top of his open knuckle wound. We have a river that wraps around our neighborhood, so when there is a lot of rain it gets high enough where we cannot leave until it goes down. Usually this is just for an hour, but in the middle of this tropical storm, it might be days until the rained stopped. Knowing we were stuck, uncharacteristically calmly went to the back of our SUV and retrieved a medical kit my mom had left us after Azalea’s finger incident. I rolled the kit out, assessing my options, and went for the gauze and medical tape, wrapping as tightly, but gently as I could.

It was 30 hours before we made it to the Rivas hospital. We had no translator this time, but hoped our years of being in the country would get us through even the medical terminology. Immediately the doctors started talking about admitting Kharron into the hospital for 3 days. The Rivas hospital is dirty and full of cats in the outside corridors. It is not someplace one wants to sleep even for 1 night, forget about 3. We started looking at other options and called Vivian Pellas, the private hospital in Managua. They would not be able to see Kharron until the next day, so we decided if the doctor was just going to do a local anesthetic, then we’d stay and have it cleaned and stitched in Rivas. If they wanted to put him under and do something more severe then we’d wait the day and go to the better hospital. The doctor ensured that he would do a local and just clean and suture it and Kharron would only have to spend one night. We agreed and I left the hospital to run home and get our own sheets, a pillow, and a change of clothes for Kharron. When I got back an hour later they told me he was still in surgery. I waited outside the door for over an hour. Finally they wheel him out in a chair with a huge bandage over his thumb. He told me that they put him under and he thought they put “clavitos” or “little nails” in it. We asked the nurse wheeling him, but couldn’t get a straight answer. Kharron started to get pretty serious about not wanting to spend the night. We asked for a prescription for the antibiotics they were going to give him and to sign him out. Reluctantly they handed over the paperwork, but refused to give us a prescription.

Two days later we headed to Managua for an appointment with a joint specialist. He unwrapped Kharron’s finger for the first time since his surgery and we could immediately see that it was infected. He took x-rays and noted the fracture. He performed surgery right away. Removing some of the infected skin, cutting further down to find the tendon and reattach it (that’s right, the first surgeon never attached it), and removed one of the 3 pins. We left the next day on a two week trip back to California. Kharron spent every morning re-wrapping it and making sure that the sore stayed dry. A few days after we returned to Nicaragua we went back to the doctor to get the pins taken out. We had a good laugh during this appointment as the doctor not only told us about another Gringo patient of his from San Juan del Sur, but actually showed us pictures from her arm surgery. The doctor-patient confidentiality is slightly more relaxed in Nicaragua!

Kharron saw a new physical therapist in town a few days after getting the pins removed. He still cannot bend it, but we are told that this is normal and fingers heal slow. He now has a Frankenstein finger and is forever changed by Nicaragua and Hurricane Nate.

When you hear a country offers free public healthcare, before getting getting too excited, it is important to understand what level of care is provided. In my daughter’s case, the incident was mild enough that using the national health system was sufficient and I was appreciative that even as a foreigner we were seen and cared for completely free of charge. On the reverse side I was severely disappointed by my husband’s care. After the first surgery and waking up surprised to have pins in his thumb we heard lots of stories about how that hospital is known for cutting off fingers and experimental surgeries. I feel sad for a majority of the locals who have no other choice but to use the public healthcare. How hopeless they must feel at times when receiving improper care at a dirty hospital. I quote the surgeon at Vivian Pellas who said while looking through our pictures from the Rivas hospital, “It is a shame. Cleanliness doesn’t cost anything.” One of the bacteria Kharron had was something you can only get from hospitals. Now that is sad.

November 9, 2016 By Jenna Reid 60 Views

Buying Real Estate in Nicaragua – Part 2

The day finally arrived when we could sign the paperwork and take ownership of our piece of land. We had already found & measured our lot and had been waiting for the surveyors to complete the required map. We did this crazy thing to pay the fee to get it approved & expedited. We put the needed $120 in an envelope, paid a “collectivo” taxi the $2 fair to Rivas, and sent the envelope of cash in a taxi to be delivered to surveyor’s office. I guess this is done all the time, but the process was very strange, and took some faith on our part.

We met at the attorney’s office at 2pm on a Thursday afternoon. Both parties did not fully trust the other. We were skeptical to wire the money before the seller signed and the seller didn’t want to sign before he received the wire. We worked it out that we wired at the attorney’s office and showed him the confirmation. We had previously wired a chunk of the money in our Solo 401k account to our personal bank account so that we could easily send a wire over the internet the day of. There were a couple hiccups like needing to have a SafePass account to wire an amount larger than $1k & not having a USA phone number, but a quick call to a responsible friend to see if I could use her number and she could send me the code made the process work out easily.

After a few minutes we showed a confirmation to the seller and then we stepped into the conference room where we were all read the whole real estate contract out loud. While in that room the seller and I received confirmation emails that the wire was sent, and the mood became much lighter. We paid a reasonable $520 attorney fee and drove back to San Juan del Sur with nervous & hopeful smiles.

The next day we quickly got to work clearing the property and looking for someone to start digging the well.

May 21, 2016 By Jenna Reid 1 comment 738 Views

Employees in Nicaragua

Hiring someone to clean your home and help care for your children is a common dream for Expat parents living in Nicaragua. It is important to know the labor laws and follow them so that you do not end up in a confusing legal depute with someone you once considered family.

The Ministry of Labor reports the 2016 minimum wage for a domestic worker is C$4,669.50 per month (or $166.75 at the time of writing this). Standard wage in San Juan del Sur seems to be about C$200-C$250 ($7-$9) per day or C$5,040-C$6,440($180-$230) per month domestic help.

A standard full time work week is 8 hours per day, 6 days a week, with Sundays off. It is common to provide a meal for workers if they do not get that time off. Otherwise one hour lunch break is required and is usually taken from 12-1pm. Since our house cleaner works through lunch time, she usually eats lunch with us, or takes her portion of what we are eating home in some Tupperware. If your domestic worker has to pay a lot of pasaje (bus fare) or taxi fees, then giving some money towards that is common.

One you have a schedule agreed on, always make sure you get a signed written time indeterminate contract. That spells out any areas either party feels can be a bit grey.

Holidays

Vacation Pay / Annual leave
All workers are entitled to vacation days after 6 months of continuous work with the same employer. An employee is entitled to 15 continuous days of paid annual leave after 6 months of work and 30 days of paid leave after one year of service. It is a duty of the employer to schedule annual leave and inform workers accordingly. If the employment contract expires before a worker uses all vacations days, compensation must be paid in proportion to the number of months and the number of hours worked in a week.
Source: §76-78 Labour Code 1996

Holiday pay
Workers are entitled to pay during public and religious holidays. At this time there are 9: New Year ‘s Day (January 1), Saint Thursday (April 17), Good Friday (April 18), Labor Day (May 1), Festival of Saint Domingo (August 1), Nicaragua Independence Day (September 15), Battle of San Jacinto (September 16), Immaculate Conception (December 8th) and Christmas day (December 25).
Source: §66 of the Labour Code 1996

Weekend/Weekly Rest Day
Workers are entitled to 24 consecutive hours of rest per week. The Nicaraguan labor law requires that the weekly day of rest be on Sunday for all employees, but if a worker has to work on Sunday then they are entitled to receive their wages at a premium rate of 200% of normal wages. The worker and the employer may agree to extend daily hours (with a maximum of two hours per day) in order for employee to have an extra day or partial day of off.
Source: §63-65 Labour Code 1996

Bonus/Aguinaldo/The Thirteenth Month

Employees have a constitutional right to get paid one month’s additional salary after a year of continuous work, or the proportionate amount according to period of time worked. It is taken from December 1st of the previous year until November 30th of this year and should be paid within the first 10 days of December every year or no more than 10 days after the end of employment. The bonus is calculated using one month of regular salary (basic salary, plus commissions, incentives, and any other amount usually earned by the worker). If the employee’s salary varies, then the bonus will be the salary of the highest paid month within the previous 6 months. If an employer fails to pay the bonus pay, the fine is 1 day’s pay for each day of past due. For employees who sleep at the home of the employer, the thirteenth month must be paid with an additional 50% monthly regular salary.

Sick Leave

Salary
Sick leave is not clearly provided under the Labor Code. However, the Social Security Act allows the payment of sick leave to an insured employee at a rate of 60% of average income in the last eight weeks working for a period of 52 weeks. The employee is entitled to sick leave after eight weeks of contributions to insurance in the previous 22 weeks. Sick leave begins after 3 days of absense, which is waived if employee is hospitalized.
Source: §92-95 Decree No. 974 of the Social Security Act

Job security
An employment contract may be temporarily suspended for the following reasons:

The worker’s impairment as a result of an injury or illness, up to a maximum period of twelve months, until the disability is determined whether it is permanent, total or partial.
The common illness or accident involving incapacity to work temporarily for a period of twenty-six weeks for twenty-six weeks renewable.

Maternity Leave

Employees are entitled to a maximum of 12 weeks of maternity leave (4 weeks prenatal and 8 weeks postnatal) with full pay. A note from a doctor with expected date of delivery is expected. Maternity leave is can be extended to 14 weeks in the case of multiple births. In the case of miscarriage, stillbirth or other abnormal confinement, the worker is entitled to paid leave in accordance with the requirements a doctor’s note.
Maternity leave is paid in full after 16 weeks of contributions to insurance in the 39 weeks before the expected date of birth. The employer pays 40% of the maternity leave and the remaining 60% is paid through the Social Security system. If a worker is not insured, 100% of the benefit of maternity leave is paid by the employer.
Source: §141 of the Labour Code 1996, § 95-96 of Decree Law No. 974 Social Security, § 95 of the Law on Social Security Decree No. 974

Liquidation/Indemnización/Severance

Whether an employee is let go, fired, or quits, they are entitled to 1 month (30 days) pay for every year worked for the first 1-3 years and 2/3 month (20 days) pay for every year worked from 4-5 years. The max owed ever owed is 5 months pay. Also you must pay any unused vacation time and percentage of 13th month in portion of how many months into the year work is terminated.

This is something we just recently learned about. Our house cleaner is aware that we are planning on moving back to the US in another year and a half and she asked for her “indemnización” now so that she could use the money to finish constructing a room in her house for renting. After much research we decided to go ahead. This meant the original contract with her would be terminated and we’d write a new contract. We felt like this was to our benefit because at the end of our time living here, we won’t owe as much on our exit.

Social Security – Seguridad Social & Insurance – Seguro – INSS

INSS is paid based on minimum wage, see chart on saenicsa.com. The most common insurance is Integral, where employer pays 16% and withholds 6.25% from paycheck to pay to INSS office. When living in San Juan del Sur, you can register at the INSS office in Rivas, then they send bill to pay at bank.

For more information, please refer to

May 2, 2016 By Jenna Reid 11 Views

Monday Photo Dump – G’Ma is Here!

June 11, 2015 By Jenna Reid 1 comment 179 Views

Moving In Nicaragua

On the move

Although our house was priced well at $1,000 per month for a North American style residential home with a pool, we were surprised to see our first month’s utilities equate to almost $650. This was an unexpected, unbudgeted for cost. We did what we could to lower the payables in the next months by cancelling cable, raising our air conditioners to 30°C (86° F) and being aware of the amount of time they were on. Our son Titus, took most of his naps without A/C except for the hottest days. We also unplugged our hot water heater and stopped using the clothes dryer. We asked the gardener only to water 2 days a week instead of 5 and explained that the pool didn’t need to be filled to the edge. We were able to cut our initial $340 electricity bill down to about $260 and our water bill from $114 to $107, but the bills still added up to more than we were willing to spend.

The higher cost of living was causing us to have to restrict our spending in ways that weren’t in line with the goals of our move. One of the reasons for our move to Central America was that it would be easy to visit the surrounding countries, so we had planned on spending three days in Costa Rica over Memorial Day weekend. This was about the time that we needed to renew our 90 day tourist VISAs so we’d be getting that taken care of and enjoying a neighboring country. Sadly, because of a depleted savings account, we opted to do a quick in & out of Costa Rica so that some money would remain in our savings account. It became clear that we couldn’t afford our beautiful home if we wanted to accomplish all the things we desired while living abroad.

We started putting feelers out for other housing options, hoping to find a place with a pool that was priced unusually low. We signed a 6 month lease and were prepared to stay in our home until it was up, but thought we might be able to find someone to take it over if we found a new place. I saw something posted for only $550 on one of the Facebook pages. It included all utilities except electricity, we jumped at the chance to have a look if for no other reason but to see what other options looked like. It was a beautiful home with lots of windows to open up and take advantage of the breezes. Every room had a ceiling fan and every door and window had a screen. The home was available immediately and at such a low price we knew we didn’t have much time.

We started searching for someone to take over our lease right away, but the task was harder than expected. This time of year (the start of the rainy season) there seems to be more available than people to rent. The next night the owner of our house called to just chat and my husband, Kharron mentioned that we were looking for someone to take over the lease because of the utility bills being so high. The landlord is a nice man and said he wanted us to enjoy our time in Nicaragua and not to worry about it. Kharron hung up and we smiled at the possibility that we’d get to move sooner than the 6 month lease. We wanted to make sure that the owner was serious about letting us out of the lease and that he was agreeing to letting us move in 4 days. He told Kharron yes and we immediately contacted the owner of the new home.

The owner surprisingly said the place was still available and unlike in the US, we saw and home and planned a move in 4 days. Luckily we had Juanita to help us pack up and thoroughly clean the home after our move! She is the only reason this quick move was possible without much stress.

The new place is furnished, but did not come with linens, dishes, towels, or cleaning supplies. The first day in the home, Juanita and I (and a friend) took an expensive trip to Rivas to buy all our household items. Unfortunately, as is always true in Nicaragua, basic items can be harder to find than you ever thought possible so little things like pot holders and ice trays remain on my To-Buy list. It was kind of fun picking out our own dishes, bath mats, and beach towels!

So now we’ve officially been in our new home for 4 nights and it already feels like home. I feel very safe knowing we have a cuiador (person who watches the home or property). The property is completely fenced in so the dogs and Azalea are able to roam without any worry of cars. There are only 3 homes built and 26 empty lots so its very quiet & peaceful. I do already miss having a pool to dunk my feet & body into on the hot afternoons, but for what we expect to be more than a $1,000 monthly savings, it is worth instead visiting the local restaurants that have public pools.

May 26, 2015 By Jenna Reid 20 Views

2 Stores and a Person

This is a little joke my husband, Kharron, and I have about what is needed to get anything done in Nicaragua. Its not always 2 stores that is needed, sometimes its only 1 store, but 2 people. The general rule is that you will not find what you need in one place by just yourself searching. You will need to speak to a local who either knows where or knows a person who can get it, but once you have it you will need to find a store that will put it together/on/fix it…

Having a “guy” seems to date back to the 1980’s when food shortages were rampant in Nicaragua, a biproduct of the Sandinista government controlling the price of most essential items. A black market or “bisnes” were created and industrious people in the busier cities hired themselves out to wait in lines for the wealthier or became “drivers” who’s sole purpose was to find what their employer was looking for. These men were and still are worth every penny. (*Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua by Stephen Kinzer)

The first time we experienced this two-stores-and-a-person phenomenon was prior to us even moving. We had a friend who was already living in Nicaragua so we asked if he might be able to find us a car, so we didn’t have to spend our first week running around scrambling for a car. He obliged and found us an affordable 4×4 SUV. Being an American and not having residency in Nicaragua, he could not own the car himself, so he put the car title under his girlfriend’s name.

It took 2 people and the dealership to purchase our SUV.

We purchased a generator at PriceSmart (equivalent of Costco) two days after we landed. We had done our research and knew that power outages were a major problem. Kharron works as a software developer and it is very important that his access to internet is uninterrupted. Once we were moved into our first home we struggled with connecting our generator to the already wired system. When a home is properly wired, once there is a power outage, you only need to switch a lever to change the power source and turn on the generator. We needed the correct cable in order to plug into this system. One weekend day the family drove around Rivas, stopping at every hardware store (ferretería) to find the correct cable with 110 plug on one end and 220/240 plug on the other. It finally became clear that we would need to buy the 220/240 at one store and the 110 and cable at another. We then hired an electrician back in San Juan del Sur to wire the parts together. In this case, it would have been much easier to hire a “guy” to do all this running around for us, returning with a completed product.

Soon after we moved and once Kharron got an office outside the home, he decided to buy a motorcycle. This way he could get to work easily without me having to get both kids in the car to take him & pick him up from his office. We do not have residency (yet) so we cannot own a motorcycle. Luckily Juanita was happy to not only walk us through all the stores in Rivas that sell motorcycles, but also put the moto Kharron selected in her name as the owner. There are several engine checks that are needed immediately after purchasing a motorcycle, for this we used Juanita’s husband, Vicente who rode the moto the 45km back to Rivas, waited while the checks were completed and returned with paperwork and receipts. All for $8.

Most recently we needed 2 new tires for our SUV. Already having made some connections, we have a “guy” we now go to for all things related to car. So we paid Happy (yes, that’s what he’s called) because he knows someone who goes to Managua and can buy decent tires at a good price. Of course Happy nor his “driver” installs tires, so we had to go to a vulcanizadora (tire repair shop) to have the purchased tires placed on our vehicle. The most popular one in San Juan del Sur seems to be Vulcanizacion “Las Pampas”.

Once you understand and embrace this process, its really beneficial. You don’t need to do anything but pay a few bucks to a knowledgeable and trusted local once they have delivered your commodity. In return, you’re helping someone make a honest living.

April 10, 2015 By Jenna Reid 29 Views

Cómo se dice?

I was ignorantly under the impression that this is a term to be used often when you didn’t know how to say something in Spanish. You could just ask the Spanish speaker you were trying to converse with, “Cómo se dice (insert English word or phrase here)?” and they would leap at the chance to tell you what you were trying to say in their native tongue. Well, this only works if the person you’re speaking with speaks English as well, and if that were the case, you probably wouldn’t be speaking Spanish to them in the first place!

“Do you have a …cómo se dice cucumber?” I want to say in the mercado. “Where is the…. cómo se dice jelly?” I want to say at the supermarket. “Cómo se dice I want you to make whatever for dinner, I don’t care.” I want to say to our maid, Juanita. All instances where I would and have gotten the sideways turn of the head, not in the least bit understanding what I am trying to communicate.

The more useful, but less practiced is “Que es esto?” meaning “What is this?” but only works if you have the object in the vicinity of pointing ability. This is more used when you are trying to increase your Spanish vocabulary, which my family is doing on a daily basis. Otherwise by grunting and pointing you would attain the same outcome. No language of any sort needed.

Recently, while driving to the Maxi Palí in Rivas with my maid and stumbling over my Spanish words because I couldn’t access Google Translate (and because my Spanish is extremely limited), my maid corrected me by saying, “No tengo palabras en Español.” Yes! Exactly! I don’t have the words in Spanish! So help an amiga out and give them to me!

Juanita serving us a local dish, arroz aguado.

April 9, 2015 By Jenna Reid 177 Views

We’ve Got It Maid

While doing research of where we wanted to move, we came across a couple Nicaragua blogs that mentioned the extremely low price you pay to have help in your home. No one said it better and more convincing than Mike’s Gringo Life, “We have a traditional home. I work outside the house and Carol works at home and with the kids as a full time mom. If we lived in the US, she’d probably be doing most of the laundry, housekeeping, cooking and cleaning. Here she doesn’t have to. She gets to spend an extra hour (30 minutes each way) with them every day because she is free to take and pick up the girls from the school. She creates crafts and games ready for them after school. She’s there rested, relaxed, and ready to listen and engage them in conversation. This, alone, is a treasure chest of gifts for the girls.” I knew I wouldn’t be working at least at first, and it seemed like a daunting task going from working full time to raising 2 kids, doing all the household chores, and shopping, all in a foreign country. It was a pleasure to hear that I didn’t need to…and that my husband was on board!

We mentioned to our landlord that we were interested in hiring someone to help in the house, so he set up a meet-and-greet with his friend Juanita (and her son who speaks English). We negotiated how many days she’d work and what hours. Juanita wanted to work 6 days a week, with Sundays off. She gave us the choice of either 7am-12pm or 8am-1pm. I mentioned I’d like her to cut fruit to have in the frig, make lunches some days, and prepare dinner for about 3 nights a week. She already seemed to understand the regular household chores she’d be doing. Juanita seemed perfect for the job and we told her we looked forward to her coming the following day.

So here’s the breakdown: Juanita works 6 days per week 8am-1pm officially, but usually she leaves between 1:30 and 2pm for $200 per month. That’s about $6.70 per day or $1.30 per hour…assuming she actually left on time. At first she worked Monday – Saturday, but recently she’s asked to take Wednesday off so she can bus to Managua to buy clothes for her side business. She now works Thursday – Tuesday. She makes lunch probably 4 days a week and prepares dinner about 3 days. Its best if I take her to the supermarket (Palí) and the mercado to do the shopping for the week, otherwise I’m running to the store every day after we decide what she should cook.

I had an epiphany the other night while the whole family was enjoying dinner together as usual since we’ve moved. We hardly ever ate dinner together in the US. I’m embarrassed to say, we usually parked Azalea in a high chair seat in front of the TV with her favorite show playing so that we could get a 30 minute break. When she was a baby I’d feed her mashed up veggies hours before we even started making our own dinner. We could never get our dinner ready early enough for us all to eat together. With Juanita preparing the meals, its easy to eat dinner together every night, its become the norm. Even when we cook, we start early and always include both kids around the table. This is the way I grew up, and I’m so happy to be passing the dinner table tradition on to my kids.

Every morning I make a fresh fruit smoothie or fruit and yogurt mixed with granola. Its easy to do now with all the hard work already done. I have 3 Tupperware containers full every day of cut fruits to choose from. The fruit is SO good here! Papaya, watermelon, cantaloupe, and pineapple are our favorites.

Kharron usually comes home for lunch and we all eat again around the table. If we don’t eat at home, the kids and I meet him in town and go to one of the many restaurants. After lunch both kids are usually ready for their nap. I put them to bed feeling gratified that they are getting the love and attention they deserve from both of their parents.

Juanita has helped us in so many ways outside of the household. She not only lead us all around Rivas shopping for a motorcycle for Kharron, but also put the motorcycle in her name since you have to be a resident to own a vehicle in Nicaragua. The day after we purchased the motorcycle she rode back to Rivas to file all the paperwork and get a tune up. She rode with me into Rivas to get local prices on new tires for the car, hunt for everything necessary to make cupcakes, to go to the cleaning store, Casa de Limpieza”, and navigate the large mercardo. She also gives us a patient Spanish lesson each and every day she works.

There are some hidden costs to hiring household help. People in Nicaragua are paid on a 13 month payroll, paying double in December. Its possible your maid might ask for help with a medical bill or other necessity they cannot afford. I am told that if you hired correctly, you will not mind sometimes paying for the small things requested. We have already volunteered to purchase Juanita glasses after seeing her squint to read the small print of Google Translate on our phones. This cost us $170 for exam and glasses, but the pride I feel when I see her put them on is priceless. Juanita has 3 sons and asked for a loan of $100 to send her middle son to finish English class. This came at a good time because we started to need some childcare for 3 hours a day twice a week while I volunteered. We negotiated just $15 more a month (and towards her debt) for this extra service. Last night she asked to borrower our motorcycle to ride to church because her family’s motorcycle had a flat tire, we gladly lent it…its in her name!

We have lucked out with Juanita. We totally expected to go through a few maids before finding the right one, but couldn’t want for anything more. We look forward to speaking more of her language because its become clear that she is very funny and can’t wait to understand all of her little jokes. After one month she’s already become one of the family.

The Road Not Taken

the 1 less traveled by

A move to Nicaragua

Rivas