This is what a Nicaraguan woman looks like at the start of her labor pains.

She's much braver than I would be.

Why I Love My Panzonas

As I've mentioned before, one of my favorite things about my service is hanging out with the panzonas (pregnant women) at the casa materna. Usually they are bored out of their minds, just sitting and waiting for their babies to finally arrive, so we try to make each other laugh as much as we can to pass the time. One day about a week ago I was sitting on the porch with two of the panzonas, when the director of the health center came walking by, and the two of them started giggling as quietly as they could until he was out of sight. When I asked them why they were laughing so much, one of the women, Reina, told me the story.

It's orange season now, so there is a truck that passes the casa materna every day, full of workers going out to pick the oranges, and every time they pass they always yell rude things at the pobre panzonas. Once, for instance, they yelled, "what the hell did he do to you to make you so panzona?!" to which Reina replied, "the same thing he did to your mom!". Reina is awesome, if you were still wondering, by the way.

So one afternoon, as Reina was texting on her phone, she heard the orange truck go by, and just then she sneezed. Not looking up from her phone, she heard someone say, "bless you," and assumed it was one of the orange pickers.

"Why is that idiot telling me 'bless you' after being so rude before?" she asked out loud.
"Shut up, you," one of the other women hissed at her, "it's the director!"

Reina looked up, and sure enough, there was the director of the health center, standing and staring, open mouthed at the panzona, wondering what he had done to piss her off. Now, whenever they see him, they can't help but dissolve into giggle fits. And it's stories like this that make me love my panzonas.