Okay - Kathy - I must set the record straight. The Coverston girls arrived at Las Mercedes Airport in about April of '58 - I was eleven, KS, nine, Bonnie seven and baby Missy 5-months old. I carried her in a Moses basket on Pan Am - front row of the first-class section. We came from Irapuato - a town near the geographical center of Mexico, where we were the only Americans there (home schooled or in a Catholic girl's school). I assure you, we knew nothing of shaving our legs, plucking our eyebrows, pooffing our hair or anything else.
I still liked dolls and was thrilled to have the 4-pound Missy as my real live baby doll! No, it was the Real Americans we ran into at ANS that whipped us into shape!
I remember getting to school early one day and waiting outside the classroom with me were three guys, Peter & Paul Hoar and George _____________?? They were wearing matching red plaid shirts. Once the teacher opened the door we all streamed in - among those arriving were Candace Perry and Tina Baca - they were all dolled up - little stack heels, stocking (shaved legs, I am sure), fancy hair, dressy outfits - they had ideas about student government and talked of American Bandstand... The learning curve was steep, believe you me!!! There was a lot of blood on the bathroom floor the first time I tried to shave my legs, before the arrival of some kids from Union Church Sunday School - did you get to meet any of them at the Grand Hotel or had they moved to Guatemala by the time you stayed there?
Yes, by the time you arrived in '62 - we had become the best Gringas possible under our circumstances... we had only set foot in the USA once in our lives prior to that time - a total disadvantage! Talk about feeling like outcasts - we were it!
I sure remember the "Coverston girls" in Nicaragua. Your mother and mine, Virginia Swan, were good friends. We lived down at Kilometro Ocho at the very back of the "colonia". I remember you all driving up and chatting with us in the carport, when our dog, Barney (a badly behaved beagle) totally embarrassed my Mom by walking over to your car and "lifting his leg" on your hubcap. Your Mom thought it was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteWhen did y'all leave Nicaragua? Have you ever been back? From time to time, I think I might like to. Still have to persuade my wife, Linda, though.
Ron Swan (ANS '63-'64)
Hi Ron - yes, I remember the Swans very well, though I cannot think of your father or sister's names at the moment. Your mother Virginia and my mother shared the love of Christian Science and Virginia was of help to my mother and to me. I think one time she helped me get over some dreadful denge deal that antibiotics were not helping. I attended and graduated from Leelanau, a CS school in Michigan.
DeleteHow are your parents? Sill with us? Joel and Kathie passed away back in 1998. No, I have never been back to Nicaragua, though my sister Kathie Sue and her husband Paul Hoar have. I think I would like to and may do so after I retire. Our parents left Nicaragua before the earthquake and revolution.... of course I was already married and living in Baton Rouge Louisiana at the time... Nice to hear from you! Tootsie