Today was the first day that I truly felt welcomed and comfortable at Nelgin’s. When I walked in the door after returning from Ometepe, she took my hand and held it gently. (Nelgin calls me “Noel” though I introduced myself as “Noé.” She said she liked that my name is Biblical.) She asked me about how I liked Ometepe and what we did, the most questions by far that she had ever asked me. Until this point, I thought she was kind of cold because she never seemed to want to know anything about me even though I asked plenty of questions about her. I genuinely enjoyed talking to her and never felt that I had to ask questions to keep the conversation going.
During dinner we talked more because I asked whose son Luis is. She told me he was her son, and that he was born in Costa Rica. She explained that they fled to Costa Rica because of the war in Nicaragua. They lived in Costa Rica for six years. This means that Luis is a Costa Rican citizen and can live, work, and travel there easily.
Nelgin also told me about where the father of her children is: he lives in San Juan del Sur, not far from her house. They fought often, and he was physically abusive, so she left him. He lives with another woman, though Nelgin did not say whether or not they are married. She often sees him around town.
In the span of a few hours, not only did I feel that Nelgin was interested in my life for the first time, but she also opened up to me about hers. Just when we finished our conversation, her daughter and Gaspar, her son in law, pulled up with the kids. They went to the beach, and I talked with Gaspar about how his day was and how I liked Ometepe. While Nelgin held Isabella, her granddaughter, I played with the baby.
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