#quehaceres

Estoy esperando la necesaria soledad para iniciar mis horas productivas este lunes. He hecho anotaciones para que me sirvan de guía, pero necesito estar solo para hacerlo.

Ah, también quiero hacer fotografías para recelarlas y venderlas en varias páginas que me las podrían comprar.

Hay mucho qué hacer, afortunadamente.

Hoy que he vuelto a Tumblr, busqué algunas fotografías de autores que sigo para encontrar inspiración. Hallé una fotógrafa de calle (todo un género) y vi con agrado su resultado. Luego quise extrapolar ese recurso a la ciudad donde vivo. Tal vez sea un tanto derrotista decirlo, pero admito que no podría lograr tal cometido en esos terrenos. Y no es por deficiencia de estas calles, ni por incapacidad de mi propio trabajo, pero es que me di cuenta de que las fotos de aquella autora tienen un cierto ruido (no es el ruido fotográfico, ni algo que pudiera considerarse negativo. No, hay algo más bien cercano al ruido audible que, de alguna manera, ha pasado a conformar la imagen misma de la fotografía. ¿Cosa imposible? No tanto, al ver esas fotos uno se introduce tanto en sus calles que también puede escuchar ese ruido que de seguro circundó a la fotógrafa al momento mismo del disparo fotográfico.

Yo cociné la cena para Noel y Lorena

Back to the routine today after a day off yesterday, which consisted of sleeping in a bit, reviewing mis quehaceres (chores) for when Noel is gone (which include daily pool maintenance and chucking Toto’s poop over the wall every afternoon), being bummed that Super Bowl commercials are not the same here, and cooking dinner for everybody: 

I used what they already had, including some stale bread which I revitalized into yummy pan ajillo, pasta integral (whole wheat), cebolla, tomate, perejil (parsley), y chorizo! This is my second time making them pasta, and they love it–I think mostly because it’s different than what they typically have it’s Chez Marsh’s good work we’re talking about...

Yo regresé a la escuela en la mañana 

...and we got rolling right away. We made it through present tense including regular and irregular verbs. I got frustratingly stuck on conjugating Reîr and was reminded of my subtle processing challenges–if you don’t know, now you know. We also did some reading for the first time (short-short stories), which felt good. One was about this woman who takes a train to the city. After exiting the station, she is overwhelmed with the possibilities of what to do and cannot decide. So she gets back on a train and heads home. Arleen attributed this to the fact that she had decided to take a late afternoon train 4:00pmish and didn’t feel safe being out into the evening. I was less curious about why she turned around than why she decided to hop on the train in the first place–I diagnosed her with a mental illness. 

Yo tomé un ruta nueva y encontré más sombra

I took my 4th different route home today. This time I ended up on a cute little street with more shade, which was nice. I passed by two horse-drawn carriages (which there are many of), carrying an american-looking family. They were listening to a history of a particular building (which is one of my favorites in the city)–apparently, it’s owned by Hondurans. I skipped el cementerio today and walked alongside la calleterra, again, for added shade. There wasn’t much more, but the living certainly provide a different energy than los muertos. 

Comimos en una Fritanga en Colonia Central America y todavia estoy muy emocianado

We dropped Noel off at the airport, though his flight had been delayed until tomorrow due east coast weather. Is that still going on? It’s so hard to imagine while I am down here and experiencing the very opposite. So we dropped him off at his comped hotel, we said our goodbyes, and went in search for my first Fritanga of this trip. A fritanga, if I haven’t already mentioned, deserves a blog of its own. But anyhow, it’s a roadside bbq that is well established to the point of having regular customers, usually 3-6+ employees, potentially having some seats and/or tables, and so forth and so on. Every neighborhood has their fritanga, if not a selection. Usually, they offer pollo, res, y cerdo. Sides typically offered are ensalada de repollo (cabbage slaw), gallo pinto, maduro, y tostones. But each one is different and usually has its own spin on things–which makes it absolutely enjoyable to try as many as possible. We went to a bonafied one in Colonia Central America, which is a really cool neighborhood on the southside of Managua. It used to be an upper class neighborhood but after the revolution and the earthquake it’s a working class neighborhood with an amazing park centered around a small futbol pitch and lots of small businesses. Tia Karla lives here and we parked across from her house. She wasn’t there though. 

For the nteenth time, I didn’t take a picture of the fritanga, only the plate. Tía Karla stopped by to say hi just as we finished, which was nice. She’s always beyond sweet, thoughtful, interested, and interesting. I learned about her busy lifestyle as a member and leader in her congregation (7th Day or JW, I always forget). By the time we left the line was starting to get real long. We took off with full bellies...

And yes, that is maduro not some exotic cut of meat, in case you’re wondering...

So now begins the two weeks without Noel. I am excited to practice spanish with Lorena - it’s more challenging than with Noel. And with improved communication skills, I’m excited to get to know her better. But poor Toto, he’s never been without his papa, él se siente muy triste...