Shopping, Entertaining: My Social Whirl

Last Friday, Maria José and I went to Jinotepe to buy a few necessities for Sunday's luncheon, my new home's debut social event. I had invited my Managua family, and expected to feed seven, but I had plates and utensils for only five and a half. Jinotepe has a larger mercado than Diriamba, and is almost as close by. I also wanted to look at fabric to see if I could find something to replace the despised blue of the sofa cushions.

Managua has several large mercados, and Masaya has a big tourist mercado, all under roof and packed with kiosks and booths, along with more extensive shops and stores. In Diriamba and Jinotepe, there are roofs, tarps, garbage bags and anything else that might keep out the rain. But plenty of rain gets in along the narrow walkways, which are muddy, greasy, uneven, and riddled with steps down or up, and often both. One dares not walk unmindfully, but then risks missing the gloriously chaotic displays of simply everything in the world that Murphy's and Woolworth's used to sell. Plus fruits, vegetables, plucked chickens, sides of beef, dripping livers, and pigs' heads. The filth and miasma of the walkways fall behind when you pass thru the entry of a proper vendor of, well, fabrics, in this case. Tiled floor, wall shelves packed with colorful bolts of mainly synthetic cloth. The cutting tables and notions displays are not unlike those found at Joanne Fabrics in Pennsylvania. We found what we wanted and after it was measured out and paid for, we slipped back into the dirty wet path, crowded with shoppers and vendors alike. (I WILL take my camera next time!)

Four of my Sunday guests did me the honor of arriving on time, a habit of mine that has earned me many chuckles and snark in this country of two or three hours' leeway. My Peruvian arroz con pollo was, I must say, excellent, and so was the company. Two latecomers completed the party, and I think we all enjoyed ourselves.

 Parzi and Ivan kept company in the hammock with Little Susie and Brynn

Erlinda wore a pretty Mexican dress, and Janeth made herself  comfortable on my new sofa. The cushion covers had gone home with Maria José, so I threw a blanket over them. So attractive...

Maria José arrived Monday morning and surprised me with new cushion covers she'd sewn over the weekend. Doesn't the sofa look swell? I wonder who took care of MJ's family for two days! She is a marvel!