Gracias Adios

I told this story to Raquel and Gerson(the daughter of the family who owns the hotel who i've befriended and her boyfriend) the other day and they thought it was hysterical. They insisted that I share it with my friends and family back in the States. Here goes…

During my first four church services (all in my first week here in Nica) I was lost to say the least. I tried desperately to pick up a word, or two that I understood. Time and time again, I heard “Gracias Adios” or “Thank you, Good-bye”. This happened at least 15 times a service. Church proceeded to continue for another hour, sometimes two, before it seemed appropriate to be saying “Thank you goodbye”.  I just couldn’t figure out the point of the premature goodbye, 15 times a service. During my 4^th church service here, I was handed a bible that was translated- one column in English, one column in Spanish. Quite quickly I discovered, that church wasn’t filled with many premature departures, but simply  “Thanks to God”.  “Gracias a Dios” actually translates to “Thank you God”. The learning curve down here is huge. Oops.