Oh the food!

Prior to our homestays, while we were in Managua, we went out to eat at a favorite LASP local restaurant named Dona Blancas. This Nicaraguan woman had turned her home into a restaurant and would make up a bunch of food every night and it became quite the neighborhood hang out. Well, this first night in Managua, the 42 of us invaded and she put on quite a spread for us. We had been told that the food might be a little different here, but that it was good and whatever we took, we needed to eat out or respect and appreciation for the cook and the culture as well. Most of the choices didn’t look too threatening, but with a heart of adventure, I decided to try the one thing that I wasn’t too sure about that looked like a rice, beef and corn patty or cake looking thing. I took a bite as I got to my table and those of us who had selected this mysterious things quickly regretted it. None of us knew what it was, but I was convinced it was rice with beans possibly but fried in this stuff that made it black for some reason. It didn’t taste burnt though…just tasted very strange and even had a ‘mentholly’ taste. I definitely had a hard time finishing it after forcing ½ of it down, so luckily we had juice that was put in Styrofoam cups so I forced the rest of it in there and delicately placed a napkin on top of it while the rest of my plate eventually became clear like it was supposed to be at the end of the meal. On the way out, someone who had made the same decision to try something new asked how I liked the pig blood and rice cakes. I said, no way, you are pulling my leg. He said, “Actually I’m not, I asked the cook herself and she said it was soaked in pigs blood and that there was even some curdled pigs fat in there to add to the taste.” We both regretted eating it of course, but I thought to myself, if I just ate that, then I will have to problem with whatever I get served at my host family's house. Besides the Spaghetti smothered in sweet, Central American ketchup in Ocotal, nothing else was quite that bad.

if I just ate that, then I will have to problem with whatever I get served at my host family's house