At Café Campestre on Isla Ometepe:
Me: I’m excited about your menu. I’ve been here for 7 months…
Ben: We’re here for people like you.
Ben gets me. I have been immersed in Nicaragua for 7 months. I have been living with Nicaraguans and eating with them at home probably 95% of my meals over the last 7 months. If I don’t eat gallo pinto (“beans and rice, done well”) for a day, I crave it. My favorite meal is gallo pinto, fresh crema & cuajada cheese, a fried egg, and sweet plantains. And yet…when I sunk my teeth into a sandwich of fresh baked wheat bread, roasted veggies, and hummus with homemade tahini…I felt joy. I tasted comfort. I love Nicaragua and am in the groove of daily life. I call it home. But home is also Eugene, where I have lived for the last 7 years. Home is in my husband’s arms. Home is in St. Louis with my family. And today, with Brian at the table too, I was home, and it tasted like a hummus sandwich.
Me: I’m excited about your menu. I’ve been here for 7 months…
Ben: We’re here for people like you.
Ben gets me. I have been immersed in Nicaragua for 7 months. I have been living with Nicaraguans and eating with them at home probably 95% of my meals over the last 7 months. If I don’t eat gallo pinto (“beans and rice, done well”) for a day, I crave it. My favorite meal is gallo pinto, fresh crema & cuajada cheese, a fried egg, and sweet plantains. And yet…when I sunk my teeth into a sandwich of fresh baked wheat bread, roasted veggies, and hummus with homemade tahini…I felt joy. I tasted comfort. I love Nicaragua and am in the groove of daily life. I call it home. But home is also Eugene, where I have lived for the last 7 years. Home is in my husband’s arms. Home is in St. Louis with my family. And today, with Brian at the table too, I was home, and it tasted like a hummus sandwich.