Hola! My name is Chris Matteo and I am about to be a third year. I am pursuing a double major in math and psychology and a minor in Spanish. I had an interest in this trip because I am interested in potentially doing social work and since I am doing a Spanish minor I felt that a social work program in a Spanish speaking country would be a good way to intertwine two of my fields of interest. I also studied abroad in Argentina for about three weeks last May and had an amazing experience that made me want to study abroad again.
The idea of participating in a home stay was beginning to make me nervous as we arrived in Leon and got to the University there to meet the families. However, as with most things, my nervousness turned out to be a precursor for something great. My host father, Jorge, was very friendly and funny from the beginning. We went back to his home on his motorcycle which was the perfect way for my nervousness to transition into excitement. I was participating in this home stay experience with a social worker named Dylan, who is originally from the United States but after college lived in Argentina for a year and a half and then had been living in Nicaragua for three months. This was very helpful because although I am fairly confident in my Spanish abilities, it was a significant challenge to understand everything that Jorge and his family would say and so having Dylan there was a very helpful crutch linguistically and culturally. Jorge lived with his sister, her five kids, and his mother. They also had chickens, birds, a rooster and a dog. I was very humbled when I first saw his home. The bathroom was by itself outside, most of the house seemed constructed from metal you may find in a scrapyard, and there was no air conditioning. Considering that it was actually hotter inside the house than outside, they were essentially living outside; and Leon is one of the hottest places in Nicaragua. None of this seemed to phase the family though. The kids were full of vitality and I remember Jorge talking to me while looking out from his second floor and telling me that Nicaragua is so beautiful because everything is natural in the country. His house was natural, and he and everyone else in the house found natural ways to be happy.
I will admit that enduring the heat for those few days was certainly a struggle. However, being around the family greatly helped distract me from the heat. Everyday Dylan and I would play soccer, baseball or some form of catch with the kids. The food that my host family offered to me was incredible. I was amazed by Jorge’s sister, who was a single mother of five kids of varying ages. She was able to take care of all of them and find the time to give Dylan and I what we needed as well all while having a smile on her face. I was very happy to have the opportunity to practice my Spanish, however at times I wished that there were no language barrier. Sometimes I would just sit and try to understand everything being said which proved to be a mentally draining experience; especially in the morning. All in all, I feel that the exhaustion from heat and language were both things that helped me grow.
My biggest takeaways from the home stay are:
- Never look down on someone because they have less than you. I feel that this is something people get caught up in in American society too often as our individualistic and competitive society is a breeding ground for our egos to thrive.
- Community is one of the most important things we can have. People in this community depending on one another for things like food and were happy to help one another.
- You can’t always choose your situation but you can choose how to react to your situation. My host family did not live is as developed of a house as people in the United States, nor did they have the same resources or opportunities. However, they were arguably happier than most people I have met in the United States who are very well off.