My Street in Diriamba

During my training I am living with Adriana, a single woman in her mid 50’s who is raising her two grandchildren, Oracio (15) and Adriana (10).  They remind me of my own grandchildren of the same age: Sammy who is loves sports and has his first girlfriend (just like Oracio) and Tess who knows that she will be a big girl soon but still enjoys playing in the carefree way that 10 year olds love to do (just like Adriana).

Adriana is a hard working woman.  She sells clothes out of the house (both new and used), has an import business for radios and radio parts, sells ice (she freezes it in plastic bags and folks stop by to buy it) and once a week she makes about 50 nacatamales, which she sells for a little over a dollar each.  There is a lot of family in the neighborhood: on our side of the street next to us is Adriana’s brother Vicente and his wife Tina with their adult son Dennis.  Vicente is very overweight and doesn’t do much all day, which really irritates Adriana (“He just sits around and gets fat” she says with disgust).  Tina and Vicente make Nicaraguan tacos (nothing related to Mexican tacos) and chocolate covered frozen bananas.  They also sell ice and because there is a school a block away, they do a pretty good business selling the “chocobananos” to the students. Next to Tina and Vicente is the aunt: Quecha (pronounced Kaycha).  She is the matron of the street.  In her early 80’s, she and her husband Edmund lived in the states for a few years during the war but didn’t like it and are happy to be back here with family and familiarity.  Quecha is another hard worker: runs a small shoe store out of her home and makes 200 nacatamales every week to sell to any taker. 

Across the street lives Magali, a single mom (lawyer) with two sons: Pedro (12) and Pablo (8).  Magali is a cousin but I have lost track of how she is related.  Her sons are the sweetest boys.  One morning I saw them walking to school together in their uniforms and Pedro had his arm around his little brother’s shoulder – it warmed my heart.  Next to Magali is Elena from El Salvador with her handsome Argentinian husband and their gorgeous 6-year-old daughter, Belen.  Of these 5 homes, the doors are always open and people and kids (and dogs) move back and forth from house to house very freely – like a big family.  The final house is a bit mysterious.  Apparently a woman and her adult daughter live there with their dog and 20 cats.  I have seen the daughter come and go a few times: she walks in a very erect position and speaks to no one.  I like to think of this home as the Boo Radley house of our neighborhood. 

Aside from all the things that get sold out of the homes here, there are also venders walking up and down the street at all times of the day selling bread, tortillas, newspapers, tamales, etc.  The venders all have their way of advertising their products and it is often a kind of sing-songy chant.  Some musical anthropologist could have a blast recording what venders shout out in the streets here. 

At night people gather on the sidewalk in front of Quecha’s house and sit in plastic chairs and shoot the breeze.  Venders walk by with their wares on the heads, kids play in the street while their parents and grandparents yell at them to be careful (Cuidado!) when cars or mototaxis go by or yell at them to return to base camp if they wander too far into the next block.  Tonight little Adriana and Belen and another cousin who does not live on our street played house with their dolls in front of Magali’s house.  After they cleaned up, they started a chasing game and were eventually joined by Pedro and Pablo – I find them so much fun to watch. 

I sit and listen and get about 40% of the conversation.  They talk fast and when it is really important, they seem to drop their voices to a mere whisper.  Magali’s mother often stops by and she is full of funny stories.  I know this because she holds their attention when she talks and when she finishes they all laugh.  I look forward to the day when I too will get the joke.  The conversations are usually about the weather (we are having record breaking heat these days so it is a legitimate topic) and where to get the cheapest products – mostly food.  People are walking by all the time: families, lovers, boys, girls, moms with kids, old folks with young folks – it is an endless parade of entertainment for me.  Occasionally there is a conversation in hushed tones is about someone who just walked by or when “Mrs. Radley” goes in or out, there is usually some comment about her. The main purpose for sitting out there is to sell the nacatamales so that is also happening the whole time we are together. 

I have attached some pictures of a few of the venders as well as the house that Adriana and her friends made today. 

Adriana is the one on the right with the glasses. 

The last door on the left is the entrance to my house.  

In the background on the right you see the plastic chairs in front of Quecha's house. The woman in the blue/green blouse is Adriana.  On the left you see the girls playing and  Magali standing in her doorway.