here's a few pics i finally uploaded!

the first is of me teaching english to kids entering 7th grade. i teach with 2 other volunteers - one from Alaska and one from Scotland. it's been really getting cute to hear the kids repeating english with a Scottish accent. :) we're doing the best we can, but we were given no curriculum and only one of us has had any experience teaching ESL. it's been interesting and a little overwhelming, but the kids are really patient with us. almost as patient, in fact, as we are with them when they never do their homework... 

the second picture is of Trianna, the little girl i live with, getting to hold the baby(doll) Jesus while a street band plays a Christmas carol. this group traveled with the doll and their instruments from door to door, and for 10 cordobas (about 50 cents) residents could hold it and feel like Mary i suppose. it was offered to me, but i chose to just observe. :) 

the final pic is of my neighbor kids. they are super energetic and whenever they see Trianna and I playing through the gate they make secret gestures that mean i should meet them in the alley (so Trianna's grandmother won't get mad they're "bothering" me) and there they perform dances that they have worked very hard on all day. it's been so much fun for me to get to know them. they live with their grandmother, who has 21 grandchildren. somewhere between 10 and 15 of them live with her and her daughter in that house (shack?). every day she makes 3 lbs. of rice to feed everyone! 

after being here 3 months i'm definitely feeling blessed this holiday season to have so much comfort in my life. but also blessed to be reminded of how little i actually need and how much joy there is in living simply and good community. 

I love you guys! Happy Holidays! 

family matters

this week i moved in with a nicaraguan family to help me practice spanish on a daily basis. i interviewed a few families, but this one won because it's a house of all women. FUN!!! the oldest is my host mom Goyita. her husband works in Miami and sends money once in awhile (a touchy subject it seems). she is the most excitable, happy lady i know. it's wonderful. 

she has two daughters that live with her - Laydi and i can never understand the other's name. the one's whose name i don't know also has two daughters - 18 and 5 years old. 

Trianna, the 5 year old is growing up in an interesting environment. the family is the wealthiest on the block (a clean house, electricity, a tv and a housekeeper) and therefore all of Trianna's playmates are quite a bit poorer than she is. i suppose to lessen the chances of her friends taking advantage of her she treats them all horribly. her best friend is 10 and whenever they play Trianna chooses all the rules and will never let her friend have an equal position. also, this same friend does chores for the family when she comes over - running to the market for things, cleaning up, and, most shockingly, cleaning Goyita's feet. as far as i can tell, in return for this she receives some food and can play in the house. Trianna's other "friends" stay outside the gate and watch them play. this is so bizarre to me. i feel sorry for her friends and also for her, growing up in an environment where she can't or chooses not to know real friendship. 

on a happier note, Trianna had a huge celebration for her 5th birthday (in which her friends were allowed IN the house) and they had TWO pinatas. as far as i can tell, the grandeur of a party is measured in number of pinatas. about 50 kids and their parents crammmed into the house and received 1/2 a sandwich, soda and ice cream. the cake seemed only for display purposes. the gifts brought for Trianna were mostly re-gifts of pants (a popular gift here?), many of which were too small for her (some were even for boys!). Trianna was very dissapointed about this and cried for quite some time after the party. :(

after the kid's party the adult party started. a band was brought in (trumpets and drums) and the adults celebrated Trianna with lots of rum and coke. it was fun, but everyone insisted that i dance and i simply don't know how to dance to trumpets and drums. it's harder than you think. like dancing to a high school band with everyone watching you. 

between family activities, school and spanish classes i've had a full first week without Dave. i'm really looking forward to coming back to IN for christmas and seeing everyone. and to feel cold, drive a car, and take a hot shower. mmm!!! :)

"?Quien causa tanta alegria?

!La concepcion de Maria!" This is the chant of the Purisima - a 9 day celebration of the Virgin Mary. The kids started their celebration early today to end the school year. Even though it's a public school they had an assembly where they prayed, sang religious songs and shouted this chant. It was adorable.

To add to the fun Dave and I raised money (thanks fam!!) to buy plates for the school (so the kids can eat every day even if they forget to bring their plate and spoon from home) and bought fun food for the day. Other volunteers helped us set up everything up and after the assembly we handed out the dishes filled with sandwiches, pastries and candies to the kids. They LOVED it!!!

The kids now have their summer vacation until February when they will start the next grade. I'll be working over the vacations with older kids that got scholarships to attend private high schools in the city. Since they've lived in the outskirts their whole lives we'll be familiarizing them with the city and city life. I'm sad to not work with the little kids anymore, but happy to use more spanish and try something new!

Our long term plans have changed a bit and now Dave will be headed back to Durham, NC on Dec. 8 to start working again. I'll move into a homestay here in Granada for a few months to focus more on my spanish. We've loved being here together, but I've been speaking way too much english with Dave and not forcing myself to speak spanish. But don't worry, through the miracle of Skype we'll still get to "see" each other!  :) 

Love you guys and more soon!

Ahh, the Granada market. The FDA's worst nightmare, the terror of every vegetarian, and every street dog's favorite place on earth. This is where the people of Granada come to get just about everything:  fruits, veggies, rice, beans, eggs, cheese, meat, and even various sundry goods like shoes, diapers, shampoo, dresses, and aprons. You name it, it's probably for sale down one of the alleys, on one of the street corners, or in the central market building (a half-indoor, half-outdoor structure teeming with colors, smells, and flashes of activity). 

Though it's quite a shock to our refrigerated, air-conditioned, sterilized, seran-wrapped American sensibilities, we are getting slightly more adventurous with our market purchases of strange fruits and veggies, and even some fish occasionally. But for now we'll leave those stacks of fresh beef to the professionals.

We took a walk this weekend to the outskirts of town, where we came across Granada's cemetery and old hospital. The cemetery is a huge plot of land with whitewashed tombs, statues, and mausoleums as far as the eye can see. There are centuries-old graves, graves from soldiers who died in the revolution of the 1980's, and fresh graves from the last few years. We walked through this part of the cemetery to the pauper's graveyard beyond, where graves are marked with small wooden crosses or crosses made from PVC pipe and held together with pipe fittings. 

The old hospital, pictured above, is definitely the most intriguing structure in all of Granada. While it looks like it has been decomposing for a century, it was really in use until the 1980's! Now it is completely overgrown with weeds and flowers, its walls are crumbling, and the interior is nearly gutted. When we visited, there were kids playing a soccer game in front of the building where ambulances once rushed emergency patients into the hospital.  

Isla de Ometepe!

Continuing our volcano-themed adventures, we journeyed four hours by ferry across the wide lake to Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua's Eden-esque island of monkeys, flowers, farms and cute kids like the ones pictured here. 

We left Granada on the Thursday afternoon ferry. The lake is big enough to have its own tides, waves, and weather systems, and the water was pretty rough. All around us, weaker stomachs revealed themselves with proverbial over-the-rail leaning and barfing, but we were strong and weathered the storm like true seamen (and women). 

Going to Ometepe is a little like stepping back in time. The island is basically just two huge volcanoes jutting out of the lake, connected by a thin isthmus of beachy land. Everywhere there is wild, lush land, tall trees, rolling hills with farms, and of course the ancient volcanoes spewing just a little steam. It all creates the illusion of prehistoric times, as if the appearance of a Brontosaurus around a bend in the road would not be the least bit surprising. 

Some highlights of the trip: 1) Horseback riding! Not only are we sea-worthy, we are also capable of doing some good ridin' and probably ropin' as well. The horses were very well behaved and our guide was great on our two-hour tour near the lake shore to some ancient petroglyphs in the hills. 2) Swimming and kayaking in the lake, which is nice and warm and very beautiful around sunset. 3) Animals! The entire island is one huge farm without fences, so we were greeted by baaaaaing sheep, adorable little piglets running down the road, and plenty of long-horn bulls with serious looks on their faces. At breakfast one morning, we were entertained by a flock of exotic birds who looked at us with wild eyes and eventually were bold enough to steal beak-fulls of sugar from our sugar bowl!

After weeks in civilized Granada, it was nice to spend some time in a place that's a little less developed, and little less marred by tourist infrastructure . . . a place where your routine could still potentially be interrupted by a crazy bird, a muddy and impassable road, or even (gasp!) a volcano.

Volcan Mombacho

Not many people can say that they climbed a volcano last weekend.  Well, I guess quite a few people could say that, really, but we're still very proud of ourselves.  Mombacho looms over the city of Granada, and would be a pretty scary sight if it wasn't dormant.  Scientists think it had one great cataclysmic eruption about 20,000 years ago, blowing its cone and spraying huge chunks of earth and lava into Lake Nicaragua (the origins of the lake's beautiful isletas).  It last erupted in the 1500's, devastating a small village before calling it quits for good.

It's about a 8 kilometer hike up the mountain from where the bus drops you off, or you can opt for one of the military-issue 20 passenger trucks with enormous tires and very low gears (the grade up the volcano is VERY steep).  Jenna and I decided to hike, since we consider ourselves to be young and healthy.  It turns out "foolish" is also a good adjective for us.  We made it about 4 kilometers up the mountain, to an organic coffee farm, where we flopped down exhaustedly into rocking chairs and drank some nice fresh coffee. 

Then we caught a truck to the top, where thick clouds shrouded the lush green precipice of the mountain. While we didn't see any wildlife or any spectacular views due to the cloud cover, we did experience the mystical disorientation of stepping into another world.  The top of the volcano was deep green, dark, chilly, and foggy.  For the first time in months it would have been nice to have a sweater!  

School day!!! this is a glimpse at the school i work at through La Esperanza Granada- a nonprofit that works with low income schools near Granada. i walk about 30 minutes to the outskirts of the city to get to the school. usually i work with kids one-on-one who are having trouble in a subject. all of my kids are in 2nd grade and with most of them we're working on the alphabet. this actually has proven difficult for me, since in Spanish "E" sounds like "aye" and "I" sounds like "eee." sometimes i find my self saying very loudly "AYE" because i want them to write "A" when they have already clearly written "E", which is "AYE." 

on wednesdays i help the other volunteers with PE and art. PE usually involves soccer on the cement for the boys and jump rope for the girls. art today was mosaics of little paper pieces glued to paper. the kids kept saying what i thought was "bella! bella!" to me - which is sweet, because it means beautiful- but i quickly learned they were actually saying "pega! pega" which means glue. they wanted more glue. 

the kids come to school at 8 and leave at 12 and get one meal provided by the government of beans and rice. if there's a parade, if it rains, or if the teacher doesn't want to come, school is cancelled. needless to say, this educational laxity really disturbs the German volunteers. :)

Day Trip

Yesterday was a day defined by drastic temperature changes. We took a little day trip to Managua to check out Nicaragua's proud capital, and, in true gringo form, we spent most of our time not at history museums or revolutionary landmarks, but rather at the American-style mall that everyone raves about. We're talking McDonald's, a Cinemark movie theater, and (gasp!) air conditioning. Air Conditioning, where it exists, is serious business down here: you walk out of the humid tropical heat and into an arctic environment that could be used as a meat-locker if necessary. So while it was a relief to get cooled off, it was an equal relief to leave the mall and re-enter the humidity where our frostbitten fingers could thaw. Maybe they plan it that way just to double your pleasure.

Out of the frying pan and into the furnace of our bus ride home, where the outside heat is compounded by the heat of far too many bodies. This time Jenna and I both passed the claustrophobia test with flying colors, even on the return trip, where there were about 26 of us crammed into a 15 passenger van, sweating on each other and bent over in unusual positions to which our bodies are unaccustomed. And then, an hour later, the sweetest feeling of the day: stepping out of the bus and into the cool evening breezes of Granada . . . 

 

mi casa!

 

as i sit here waiting for the water to be turned back on so i can take a shower (the government has really ingenious ways of saving money here) i think i'll tell you about houses. 

Granada was built in the colonial style of huge houses with built-in gardens, so the whole house is open air. if you look at the big pic of roofs at the top of this page you can see the houses have holes in the middle where trees and plants grow! 

a building like the one pictured above with blue columns has been divided up into 3 (or maybe more) smaller houses. it's kind of fun - like i'm living in Zorro times. the middle picture is the place we're staying. the plants are part of a garden that the house in built around. you can see into the kitchen and dining room from this angle. 

the other picture is of Ernesto and his babysitter! Ernesto is the child of the couple we're living with. he daily helps us with our spanish by reminding us that the word for bird is "pajaro" - so far the only legible word he knows . . .

ok, dave says the water is back on. hopefully the government has saved a few cordobas in the meantime.

The Trashmen of Granada

Well, if you're having a tough day at the office, just think of these guys, who have the worst job in the entire world: Granada trashman. Each morning they rumble through the streets with their circa-1970 dump-truck to collect the basura from all the public trash receptacles in the city. There ain't no automated hydraulic lifters on those trucks; they do it by hand. Others of the crew stand in the bed of the truck, stomping down the rotten fruit, the mildewy fast-food containers, and the refuse of dogs and humans, all the while bathing in a truly awful stench. Yowzah . . . 

Church and State

This is the view from atop the Iglesia Xalteva, the majestic old church where we attended our first mass over the weekend. Spanish was the language of choice, so we didn't necessarily understand a whole lot of the service, but the people were friendly, we felt welcomed, and best of all, there was some beautiful praise music from a Mariachi-style band. 

I also had an interesting conversation this week with a native Nicaraguan and a Brit about religion at the English school where I help out. Our three countries offer some stark contrasts when it comes to faith and religion: Nicaragua, where most people are Catholic by birth and tradition but not in practice; Britain, where churches struggle to fill even one service each month; and America, where religion so saturates everything that a staunch creationist can gain the vice-presidential nomination. I have a feeling it was the first of many such conversations, so I'll keep you posted . . .

Back to mass: towards the end of the service, the voice of the priest was drowned out by the sound of hundreds of political paraders outside in the streets. There are city elections here in a few weeks, and if Nicaragua is lukewarm about its religion, it really pours its excess fervor into politics. 

As we've grown more comfortable with our native friends and Spanish teachers here, we've asked more questions about politics and the revolution of the late-1970's. It's a terribly complex and messy history, but we've learned that not everything we had heard in the states really represented the reality of the way things were here. While the US-backed contras were certainly not sweethearts, most people here recollect the brutality of the Sandinistas as well: sons taken from home in the middle of the night and taken north into the jungle to fight and die. It sounds like there were no winners, only losers, and the people continue to struggle in the face of corruption, joblessness, and lack of opportunities to escape a subsistence lifestyle.

Here's a picture of the political rally near the front steps of the church:

planes, trains and automobiles

this week dave and i will have been here one month! we figure it's time to report on transportation:

- people here ride bicycles. and not only that, multiple people ride one bicycle. it's awesome. most people don't have cars here, so if the family is going out for dinner, the family takes the bicycle. we've seen men steering with a woman in front and a 5 year old in front of her, holding an umbrella. it's awesome. there's t-shirts for the tourists with that image and underneath the words "rolling Nica style."

-also, if people aren't taking their bikes or walking, they take their pimped out horse and cart (honestly, see photo of the "BAT PARTY" cart!). dave and i aren't positive about this, but we suspect that when less serious crimes are taking place Batman saves on gas with this sweet ride.

-and if the kids have the bike and cart out, people are left to the buses (above, right). as you can see, these are old american school buses that have retired here to carry way more than their alotted weight limit in people and cargo (including chickens). dave and i tried to take one most recently for a fun beach weekend. we arrived at the bus stop a little late and the bus was packed. and by packed i mean that since i was the last one on i stood on the bottom step in the doorway. as time went on people squished together more to let 10-15 more people on. after about 20 minutes something snapped in me and i started shaking and crying. luckily we were at a stop and i climbed over people as i said "NECESITO SALIR. NECESITO SALIR." once we got off the bus i broke down in tears and the driver's assistant came over to see if i was ok. by this time everyone on the bus was looking out the windows at this gringo girl having a breakdown. ahhh! so that was no good. but i have fully recovered and now know that i did indeed inherit my mother's claustrophobia. and dave and i didn't really want to go to the beach anyway...


on a lighter note, one of Dave's english students wanted him to break down the etymology of the word "fuggly" the other day. he had heard it in a rap video.

The Bread Lady!

Each night around eight o' clock, an amazing thing happens. A saintly old woman comes traipsing through the street with a wooden cart loaded with delicious homemade breads, cakes, and rolls. Incredible honey sweet-rolls cost five cents each, so it is easy to justify the purchase and consumption of otherwise unseemly amounts of carbs. Please enjoy this little video, starring myself and the object of my obsession.

mas y mas

things are still good! we've had another full week of 4 hour morning spanish classes and are filling up our afternoons quickly with baseball, english classes and spanish conversations.

baseball (beisbol) has been super fun. all my church league softball practice has really paid off - now dave and i help lead drills and games for groups of country kids that get trucked into town to play. it's really interesting on days when not many helpers show up and dave and i are in charge of all the girls. they find it really amusing to interpret what we mean when we say "you push ball to her when i bat the ball in the earth."

we've also been checking out some english schools to look for volunteer opportunities. sitting in on some classes has made us realize how hard english is. i received an e-mail from someone studying english and she closed the e-mail with this phrase: "I wait for your comprehesion...overcoat for our englishman." she is still waiting for my comprehension.

getting involved in these activities has enabled us to talk to native nicaraguans not in the tourist industry. we went to a dinner party last night and much of the conversation revolved around the recent civil war and how much poverty nicaragua still has. it's been kind of a rough week in that sense, seeing more of the poverty as we venture out of the city center and trying to comprehend what kind of life these people have. the government has changed from dictatorship to democratic, but only in name, it seems. there is no enforced minimum wage and people work for whatever they can get. the hospitals and school are now free, but they don't pay teachers and nurses enough to live on, so they are all terrible. it's hard to live near poverty with no idea what to do about it. any ideas are welcome....

love you guys! hopefully you can see the video of kids playing kickball we took on our way to breakfast. more from dave soon!

Monkeys del Mar

Yesterday, we participated in our very first act of kitschy tourism: a one-hour boat ride on Lake Nicaragua. Here's a brief overview:

This cute little monkey lives with three friends on an idyllic island in Lake Nicaragua, which, as we learned, is the seventh largest lake in the world. He passes his days lounging in tree branches, munching tasty treats, and entertaining tourists. 

When we arrived at his island, our boat captain idled the boat up close, giving us some great photo opportunities. But the more we looked, the more we noticed a few curiosities: this was the only island containing monkeys, and it was a miniscule island seemingly devoid of food. As we were pondering our primate pal, another tourist boat idled up close, and its captain held out what looked like a large flower, which the monkey took and ate. We began to ask our captain a few questions in broken Spanish: 

"Are the monkeys only on this island?"  "Si." 

"Do they only eat what the tourists feed them?"  "Si."  

When pressed, he admitted that the monkeys had, in fact, been strategically relocated to the island for the benefit of the tourists and the tourist industry. The monkey's idyllic life suddenly became just a little bit sadder.  

The lake is quite beautiful, though, with its marshy inlets and hundreds of tiny islands, some deserted and others home to beautiful palaces owned by wealthy Nicaraguans and American retirees. Not surprisingly, the gentleman who owns Nicaragua's primary rum, beer, auto, credit card, and boat companies also owns a rather nice home on his own private island.  Now if he would just buy those monkeys a bigger island and some banana plants . . .

hello from Jenna! it's been a bit of a rough start for me here in Nicaragua. mainly because it was so incredibly hot. and not so much Indiana or Arizona or North Carolina hot. the kind of hot that only a country without air conditioning or safe-to-eat ice can have. and then i got sick - a cold i think. :( but i feel much better now and have exciting news!

1. dogs are everywhere here. and they are lovely and they love me. maybe not love in a real love sense, but they follow me. i think stray animals are supposed to be sad, but they bring me a lot of joy, seeing them lounging in shady doorways and...stuff. i guess that's mostly all they do. follow and lounge. but it's incredible.

2. when children want to stop doing something here they say "bom bom" and that means, "i'm done. i'd like to stop, please." so you're feeding them carrots and they say "bom bom" and that's that. no spitting or screaming or what not. how smart is that? dave and i have implemented the system into our conversings, so we'll let you know how it goes.

3. some toilets here do not flush. not in the port-o-potty way, but in a way which requires you to take the bucket outside your stall, walk to a large rainbarrel of water, fill the bucket and come back to your stall and pour the water in. i guess gravity takes care of the rest, because after a few rounds it seems to take the bad and leave the good. it's an ok system, but a bit of a bummer to pick up the "bathroom bucket" before washing your hands.

4. we made some friends! well, friends of friends that work where we will volunteer. so that's good! pictures to prove them soon. and we like our spanish classes. "like" is actually the median of our feelings toward them, mine being love and dave's being "they're ok, but totally great because i love you". i think once he can form sentences it'll get better...

5. we're slowly finding ways to get involved in Granada. we're trying out teaching english tomorrow, so that will give us something for the afternoons. and dave found a group of Nicos to play basketball with, so once he learns "pass" and "shoot" and "watch out" he's set. and i found a place to go to paint twice a week, with other Nicos and americans. i tried to ask about tap dance lessons for me, but people only seem confused about "baila de tap"...or maybe they're just confused that an adult wants to take class??

ok. more soon. thanks for checking up on us. even though central america is so cosey between nor-amer and so-amer it can get lonely here... :) love you guys!

bom bom.

Comida, Cerveza, and Such

It's our third post:  high time we said something about the delightful food and drink we've been enjoying here in Granada. 

This is a picture of Jenna enjoying a "Premium" brand Nicaraguan beer. "Premium" is so named because it tastes 50% less like water than the other leading Nicaraguan beers, which means that it tastes 180% less like water than Budweiser. It's not half bad. In a fancy establishment like the one Jenna is gracing in this photo, a refreshing Premium goes for about $.65. It's these little things that make all the sweating worthwhile.

The typical lunch in Nicaragua (the "comida corrientes") consists of a plate of rice, beans, fried plantains, and some kind of meat (carne or pollo usually). It's very hearty, and tends to make a person very sleepy in the early afternoon (yaaaaawn).

Also popular are all varieties of jugos, tasty juices made from fruit, ice, and sugar. Beet juice with lemon? Yep! Rice and pineapple juice with sugar? Hooray! Jenna and I have enjoyed Dragonfruit jugo and Hibiscus flower jugo thus far. Staving off scurvy never tasted so good!

  

Welcome to Granada!

After narrowly escaping the Houston George Bush airport ahead of hurricane Ike, we arrived here in Granada safe and sound on Thursday night.  We've spent a few days walking around town, taking in the sights and sounds before we begin Spanish classes tomorrow (Monday).  

First of all, there are cats on the roofs here.  Entire societies of felines tiptoe along from one roof to another, hunting for small birds and rodents.  Occasionally they surprise a homeowner by leaping down into an open courtyard in order to attack an unlucky hummingbird or a plate of rice and beans.

We've been staying at a guesthouse with an extremely kind family.  They even brought us along on an outing to the Nicaraguan national zoo with their toddler, Ernesto.  Ernesto loves running, and he loves birds almost as much as a roofcat.  This made the zoo trip quite entertaining!

Granada is a colorful colonial city of exceptional beauty.  There are several Spanish churches built in the 16th century, their stucco walls cracking and mud-caked while their sanctuaries are lovingly cared for and pristine.

Almost as soon as we arrived, we met Mr. Cool.  Mr. Cool is a wanderer from the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, where Caribbean culture dominates in a way that seems strange in Spanish Latin America.  He speaks perfect English without so much as a hint of a Spanish accent, and would seem much more at home in Jamaica than Granada.  He wanders the streets here, painting small pictures on pieces of clay and selling them to tourists.  With a kindness typical of the people we have met here so far, Mr. Cool composed a spontaneous love poem for us, speaking with the relaxed cadence of the Caribbean as he pointed to the trees, the birds, and the flowers of Granada.

Be sure to check out our pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/davidmstaples

Octubre

Green Valley, AZ. One week to departure.

On our morning walk today, I once again suggested to Jenna that we someday name our firstborn son "Octubre." While many of you may be nodding your head with approval, or even thinking to yourself, "why didn't I think of that?" this suggestion is actually problematic for a number of reasons.  First, there's my assumption that our firstborn will, of course, be male.  Second, as Jenna pointed out, there's the fact that "Octubre" sounds a lot like a James Bond super-villain, or perhaps a small, pudgy Bavarian lad from a bygone era. 

"Dave, do you really want to subject him to a childhood nickname like Octopus Boy?" Jenna asked. 

"It'll be worth it," I assured her. "He'll thank us later in life, when he's the head of a covert criminal enterprise, or a famed marine biologist."

As you can see, I've been boning up on some Spanish basics these final weeks in the States in preparation for our great Nicaraguan adventure. Just simple things, like the days of the week, the colors of the rainbow, and, of course, the months of the year. This morning on our walk Jenna taught me the word for "fork." This gave rise to another option for children's names: "El Tenedor."

"El Tenedor?" Jenna asked. 

"Yes, El Tenedor. It's a great name. Sounds like a bullfighter. Or maybe El Tenedor could just be his nickname, or middle name. You know, Octubre "El Tenedor" Staples. That's nice."

We're still thinking it over.