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Sayonara Arigato

We went out to a restaurant for lunch today, a little eatery called.... something that's located.... somewhere

(At this point, I have absolutely no idea where things are located in León or the names of the restaurants we've eaten at. Typically we just hop into Mateo's truck and go wherever he decides to take us.)

The restaurant is pretty busy - lunch is the biggest meal of the day, so the place is filled with hungry customers. Inside, there is a wood fire stove in the center of the restaurant, filling the room with a thick, smokey scent. 

Upon entering the restaurant, I passed by an older Nicaraguan man, whose face lit up when he saw me. "Ohhh!" he exclaimed. "Sayonara Arigato!!" 

I laughed. It was something that caught me completely off guard, and the incongruity of it struck me humorous, since the man obviously thought I was Japanese. 

If this same incident had happened back in the States, I would have felt insulted, but there was something about how the man was so genuinely excited when he greeted me. He probably just believed that I was Japanese! 

And honestly, there aren't many Asian people in Nicaragua, so everyone who appears to be of Asian descent is lumped together into one category and nicknamed "china" [chee-na]

For sure, I'm going to be hearing this a LOT for the next 6 months. Our coordinator Mateo told us that Nicaraguans like to give nicknames based on appearance, such as "gordita" (chubby) or "chele" (white person).

 In the US, if you went up to someone and said, "Hey Fatty!" or "Hey white person!" I'm pretty sure you're going to get punched. But over here, it's completely normal. 

Anyways, here's what I ate for lunch: 




Comments

Unknown said…
not sure why cheese and beans with buttered toast is making me drool at the moment :D looks yummy
September 14, 2014 at 2:40 PM
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
September 14, 2014 at 10:17 PM
Unknown said…
Curious if they name people Vegetarian:)
September 14, 2014 at 10:28 PM
Lauren Ng said…
Kathy - I will make it for you when I come visit you!!

Ashish - I think that me being Chinese overrides me being vegetarian as the outstanding characteristic to name me after. Usually it is passerby or people I am meeting for the first time that refer to me as china (mostly in a curious and friendly manner). Also, usually nicknames are based on physical appearance
September 18, 2014 at 6:46 PM
pkoaktown said…
4541Hi, I'm Paul and a friend of Ashish and your mother. We met once briefly in Oakland. Anyway, your Nicaraguan hiatus sounds wonderful! I just Wiki'ed Chinese in Nicaragua and there are about 12,000 Nicaraguans of Chinese decent and they started immigrating in the 19th century. I know a man married to a Chinese woman from Panama. She considers her self to be Hispanic which irritates their Chinese/American friends. I'm sure there is a Chinese restaurant in Leon
and it might be fun to try it. Oh, your lunch looked great.
September 18, 2014 at 10:25 PM
Lauren Ng said…
There are a few Chinese restaurants here! And wow, that is really interesting, thank you so much for sharing.
September 22, 2014 at 8:22 PM
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