A letter from Carl Agsten and Leslie Clay in Nicaragua
October 7, 2010
Repollo: Chicken again?
Dear Friends,
I have zero complaints about Nicaraguan cuisine. In fact, we have had some of the best meals of our lives here, consistently delicious and reasonably healthy. The starches (gallo pinto, a delicious staple of rice and beans) and fried plantains are accompanied by cooked vegetables and fresh fruit juices. And yes, almost every meal has some delicious form of baked, grilled or fried chicken.
We were told at our mission orientation in July to prepare for embarrassing mistakes, that it’s inevitable when navigating the many complexities of life in a new culture. It took me less than 24 hours to learn this lesson firsthand.
At CEPAD’s beautiful Nehemiah Project Center we sat in the courtyard and enjoyed a lunch of fried chicken that would make a Kentucky Colonel go into early retirement. In the middle of the meal I stood to be introduced to one of CEPAD’s board members, who was passing by with some constituents. After several mucho gustos, the gentleman said something that registered to me as “grada blada pollo.” Aha! Pollo! I know that word. He’s commenting on the amazing fried chicken.
What he really said was “Gracias por su apoyo.” And what I really replied, really, with my best one-day-old accent was: “Si, gracias. Su pollo es rico.” So the conversation with the distinguished director went exactly like this:
“Thank you for your support.”
“Yes thank you. Your chicken is delicious.”
Really? Did I just say that? Will I ever, ever forget how to say thank you for your support in Spanish? The board member was warm, gracious and forgiving. Our new friends at the table snickered in an open, good-natured manner. I just had to roll my eyes and silently ask God a familiar question: “What have you gotten me into this time?”
God knows that we learn — I mean really learn in a transforming way — beyond the edges of our comfort zones. Right now, my growing edge is about the width and length of Nicaragua. Leslie and I have learned that our preparations to be humbled, if not humiliated, were well founded. We have also learned that the people who are busy with change for the good in Nicaragua are amazing, experienced, cross-cultural mentors. What fun it is to begin trying to learn from this intense country!
Repollo in Spanish means cabbage, not chicken again, as some Nicaraguans joke. I’ve learned my first Nicaraguan play on words. So many, many words in Spanish begin with “re.” Twenty-six verbs in my book of “601 Spanish Verbs” are “re” words. Like most good word fun, it plays well in the local culture because they do in fact have chicken again. And again. And again. Yum!
And by the way, gracias por su apoyo.
Carl
