Pancho

Thanks so much to those who have posted! I´m currently posting from an internet cafe in Nicaragua, and it´s so wonderful to here about what others are doing, especially since I feel a bit disconnected from home here. I don´t have much time to go into details about my experience here thus far (which has been filled with God challening me through exposing me to the dire needs of this country), but I wanted to share a quick and humorous story with you all. I hope you´ll get a good laugh out of this one.

My Spanish name, ever since I started learning Spanish in 9th grade, has been ¨Pancho¨. My favorite Spanish teacher gave me the name, and I was proud to use it to identify myself in any Spanish-speaking setting. Naturally, after arriving in Nicaragua, I was inclined to continue introducing myself as Pancho. Little did I realize that ¨Pancho¨, a nickname for ¨Francisco¨, had an alternate meaning in Nicaragua.

So, during the first few days in Nicaragua, I began to realize that the natives here, especially the men, let out an snicker of unbelief, and sometimes even a disrespecful laugh, upon hearing me say ¨Me llamo Pancho¨. At first, I thought their strange response to my introduction was caused by the humorous sight of an Asian boy - who couldn´t speak Spanish too well - saying that his name was Pancho. Today, I was exposed to an inconvenient and embarrassing truth. Pancho, in Nicaragua - let me emphasize, ONLY in Nicaragua of all the counties in Latin America, means...vagina. So for seven days, I´ve been saying, ¨Hello, my name is Vagina.¨Americans and Nicaraguans alike around me had a good laugh today. This makes me wonder if my favorite Spanish teacher had given me the name with a...certain purpose.

I hope the story brought laughs to some of you as well. Please continue to post about your summer, and also about how God has been working in your lives. I´ll do so whenever I get the chance here in Nicaragua.

God bless,
Pancho