Homestay

I've studied Spanish in five countries in central America now and this was my first homestay where I had my own bathroom. That certainly makes a difference in terms of comfort! My room was decent sized, I'd say maybe 10 by 12 and had a wardrobe, two nightstands and a double bed. Unlike Mexico and Nicaragua, I did not ever see a cucaracha, araña, or an alacrán in my room, thank goodness. The worst thing I saw was a baby gecko and a couple of ants. My room was located outside of the main house which was nice because I felt as if I had a little bit more freedom.

The family I stayed with was nice, or at least the mom was, and the young daughters. As is typical, the mom sat down to talk with me during meals and I never ate with anyone else in the family.

Meals seemed to vary per household. Mine were pretty basic. For breakfast it was cereal, pancakes or oatmeal on a regular rotation (with coffee). Lunch usually was some kind of meat, usually chicken (although one day she subbed potato salad) with steamed veggies. Dinner was almost always refried beans, fried plantains, a tortilla and scrambled eggs. This was by far my favorite meal, except for baleadas. I'll write a separate post about baleadas. I put hot sauce on everything, even the vegetables, to give it more flavor.

**The first picture is what I often saw when I left the house across the street from the Iguana Azul.
**The second picture is a view from the balcony above my room.