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More of Ana's Family of Matagalpa

Submitted by fyl on Sun, 2006/06/04 - 19:12.
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More of Ana's Family of Matagalpa

Lunch in front of Ana's aunt's house in El Coyolar.

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Nice lookin family!

Submitted by VidaVerde on Sun, 2006/06/04 - 22:59.

You married well, I would say! What do they all think of you when they see you for the first time?

-Carl

Gringo, go home!

Submitted by fyl on Mon, 2006/06/05 - 06:53.

No, everyone has been really nice and open. That is my general experience with virtually everyone here but I was initially concerned with the "you married my cousin/niece" problem which I have see all too many times in the US.

It is not that way at all. For example, as we were walking around, Carol, one of Ana's cousins was going out of her way to tell me about various plants in the area. There is also a lot of humor in the family. Once they realize the "Gringo with bad Spanish" is totally into humor we all have a lot of fun.

For example, I told one of Ana's cousins that Ana was too fat so I was going to dump her and look for a skinny woman. She looked a bit worried for about 10 seconds and then got a big smile when she realized it was just this strange Gringo kidding around.

When I was a kid, "family" was my parents, my mother's mother who lived about a mile away that we saw maybe six times a year and my father's brother's family that lived 25 miles away that we saw once a year. My experience here has been very much different--that is, I now have a family.

Miskito Alan Said It First

Submitted by Miskito Alan on Mon, 2006/06/05 - 07:06.

I never like to be the one to say the following; but, I told you.

I told you before this great marriage of you and beautiful Ana about the joys of my extended and extensive Miskito family on the Atlantic Coast. No in-law thing is considered by anybody and everybody is just family.

I told you that I was sure the same family thing would exist with you and Ana in Esteli.

A great story about you and about NicaLiving.

Miskito Alan &#174

Ditto

Submitted by Former NL Member on Mon, 2006/06/05 - 07:10.

My experience has been the same. Marrying into a very large family mostly living in Nicaragua, but also in Jacksonville, L.A., Miami, and Toronto, I have encountered zero animosity and no one considers me the enemy of mankind.

Government, not people

Submitted by fyl on Mon, 2006/06/05 - 07:18.

When I was first here I was talking with a neighbor in a dirt-floor house. He seemed much more aware of world politics that sports scores which immediately impressed me.

He made the point that people here separate the acts of people from the acts of their government. I expect this is a learned skill. People here have generally had a lifetime of non-representative government.

People in the US seem to like to think the government is more representative but, the reality is that it isn't. First, about 25% of the people who could vote pick the president. Then, the president seems to need to have a lot of secrets from the people. Here, the percentage that votes for a president is much higher and there is a lot less secrecy.

Neighbors?

Submitted by Miskito Alan on Mon, 2006/06/05 - 07:35.

In L.A., Seattle, or the Mississippi Gulf Coast; I don't think any neighbors talk to each other because everybody is so busy making money to buy more stuff which they have no use for in this world. I have 6 grandchildren that have more toys in their playrooms than all of the kids possess in Puerto Cabezas which is a city of 60,000 people.

People have privacy-fenced back yards and simply don't associate with anybody and don't know any neighbors in their gated communities.

I can remember in Alabama in the 1950's when entire neighborhoods would have box-dinners and everyone would bring a meat (sorry-"fyl") or vegetable or bread or desert and of course we always had plenty of sweetened iced tea to drink.

Even in the late 1960s, people in Alabama had "block parties" where all neighbors brought food and drink. We even had theme nights such as Italian and whatever. We never had gallopintos.

All of those things in the USA (America) are the "blast from the past".

Miskito Alan &#174

You are correct

Submitted by Chele John on Mon, 2006/06/05 - 07:33.

People here do separate people from the politics of their respective governments...unlike the US.

My wife and her family are a long time family from Granada. I too wondered about "acceptance" but there has never been a moment where they took me to task for the actions of my home country, the US. I'm not a US basher either since my father in law, who also happens to be a born and raised US citizen like me, is also a West Point grad. In fact, down here, graduating from West Point is looked at like graduating from Yale or Harvard is in the states. Anyway, the point is people here will look at you as an individual first. You ahve one shot to prove yourself to just about everyone but...don't waste that "one shot".

Oh sure, there are jokes once in a while but nothing serious.

However...down here they do categorize Americans one of two ways. You are either a gringo or a Yankee. Take it from me, you don't ever want to be considered a Yankee. It's similar to how people from the North in the US are looked at by many in the deep South.

Yankee is more of a political label put on people who are here for political or economic reasons which have nothing to do with making this country a better place to live.

Just my gringo two-cents.

Submitted by FNLM on Mon, 2006/06/05 - 07:23.