The concept of hosting here in Nicaragua is crucial to the understanding
of Nicaraguan culture. I’m sure that
somewhere here it is written on a fortune cookie: To be a bad host is to be a
bad person (lucky number 7, 15, 23, 49).
When you have a guest in your household, regardless of who they are,
they are your honored guest. They are to
be served their meals first; they are to sit in the best spot at the table,
closest to the fan; they are to given control of the TV remote; they are to be
given a good bed with all the amenities.
Essentially, they are to be taken care of so they could want for
nothing. Sounds crazy right? I mean, they are basically asking to be taken
advantage of, giving away all their stuff like that. Who does that anymore? Well, the Nicaraguans for starters. Surprisingly, hosting is a two-way
street. It is not a society-approved
parasitic operation; rather, it is just as much the role of the host to give as
it is the guest’s role to accept what is being given. And in this exchange of gifts, there is a
silent covenant being struck: I host you so that, someday, you can host me. It’s
kind of like Jesus’ command to “love one another as you love yourself” but with
a twist: host one another as you would want to be hosted.
This past weekend, the Cohort of Nicaragua hosted a group of
volunteers out of Muskegon, Michigan (Calvin CRC). I am not yet living at the Caminante house
but was invited to come and help lead the group and get a feel for how group are
usually coordinated. Saturday afternoon
we all went to the beach to enjoy the sand and waves for a bit. I myself am a bit scared of the Nicaraguan
waves and undertow so I stayed back, sipping a coffee and admiring the
beautiful waters before me. While I was
taking a walk along the beach with Adrianna, we felt a few raindrops and then
in the distance we heard the loud descent of rain heading our way. We ran as fast as we could to the safety of
the restaurant but we were too late. I
was soaked and, for the first time since I’ve been here, I was cold. It was so beautiful!
Later that evening, we took a tour of León on a tourist bus
known as the bus pelón, or “bald
bus”. It’s a bus that has no top on it
and it’s quite a hoot, with way to many people sitting and standing everywhere
and obnoxious music blaring from the speakers.
The following morning, we all went to church at Adrianna’s church. A normal evangelical service here is very
charismatic, filled with singing, dancing, praying, and preaching with energy. After church, we hung out at our house and
shared a bit about what the Cohort is and what we do. Several of the high schoolers seem very
interested in what our program has to offer.
Hopefully they are interested enough to join us here in Central
America!!
That evening, we had a girl’s sleepover at our house, just
Guissell, my new friend Jovi from Haiti, and myself. We made a great dinner from leftovers and
watched Frozen together :) It was a great way to
end the weekend.
This morning I woke up with quite the cold: my nose is runny,
my head pounds, and my throat aches and burns with every swallow. I am hoping it is just a 24 hour bug and that
by tomorrow I will be back to my normal self.
Please pray for a speedy recovery!
Until next time, stay tuned!
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