Baho, Dominoes & Rain

As promised, I¨m back!

A few notes:

* It has rained every single day for at least 30 minutes, and some days, it has rained pretty much the entire day. I don¨t like the fact that it makes me change my plans somewhat, but I love how cool it has been. Presently I¨m wearing jeans and a cardigan, at 11:00 in a poorly ventilated internet cafe in Chinandega, the hottest part of Nicaragua. The temperature has been in the mid 80s, which, for anyone living in Florida, probably sounds great right about now.

* I¨ve been watching a LOT more soccer here than I know I¨d be watching back home. This should please my mother to no end. Everybody here is obsessed with the World Cup, and it´s fun to watch how much they get into it. The other day (Sunday, I think, but the days sort of all run together), I walked from the hotel to Liza´s mom´s house, which is probably about .75 of a mile, while Argentina and Mexico played. While I was walking, Argentina scored twice, and I knew it each time because all the TVs were cranked up and I could not only hear the TV announcers, but also the people watching were freaking out and crazy about it. And at the hotel, they are constantly watching whatever game is on, so when I sit in the lobby, that´s what I watch.

* I ate another traditional dish here, baho. It´s made of yuca, plantains and pork, and it is basically slow-steamed over night. The yuca has this delicious soft texture, and the plantains are practically mushy - SO good. The picture really doesn´t do it justice, but here it is: They put a salad made of cabbage and carrots on top. It was all very tasty. There´s also a picture of Liza eating hers.

* After we ate the baho, we played Dominoes. Liza was given a set from some gringos last year. It was funny to me because I´ve never actually played Dominoes, and in fact, I didn´t actually know how to play. We played a game called Pata de Pollo, or Chicken Leg. It was really fun and easy to catch on to. It took what felt like hours to play the whole game, but it was really fun. That night, we ate dinner at Karla´s house from a place nearby, and afterwards Freddy dropped me off at the hotel on his MOTORCYCLE! I had never ridden on one before, and I had hesitations, to say the least. This doesn´t exactly seem to me to be the safest place to first ride on a motorcycle, (without a helmet of course), but Freddy is a really good driver. It was actually really fun and I think I´ll do it again!

* Hospitality is really taken to the next level here. I am never permitted to help prepare any food (and no, they aren´t just worried about me burning the house down or anything like that), wash a dish, or pay for any meals when we all go out together. For example, when we ate baho, there was only enough prepared for three people, so instead of giving me less (I had quite the plateful), Freddy went out and bought something to eat for himself, while Liza, Karla and I ate the baho. Many people have offered for me to stay in their houses. While I would love to do that, to feel more ¨Nica¨, I really don´t want to be a burden to anybody. I know that no matter where I stayed, someone would feel the need to cook every meal for me, constantly get me drinks and basically, serve me, which is exactly what I don´t want. At the same time though, I don´t want people to think that I don´t want to stay with them because their house isn´t nice enough. It´s tough to get this point across.

* Example of the difference in the importance of time in our cultures: Yesterday the plan was to go to Liza´s house for breakfast around 10:00. I was supposed to go to Karla´s house, from where we´d talk together to Liza´s. I called Karla at 10:00, and of course she was just beginning to get ready, and told me she needed another half hour. So I gave her 40 minutes and when I showed up, it appeared that nobody was there. I knocked and knocked, called out her name and called her phone, which I could hear in the front room. I figured she was still getting ready somewhere in the house and just couldn´t hear me. So I left and took a taxi to Liza´s house, because I don´t know the way well enough to walk on my own. When I got to Liza´s, she was still in her pajamas and was cleaning the house. Bonita, the adorable puppy pictured (I think she is mostly cocker spaniel), had made a mess the night before when we were hanging out at her mom´s house. Then Karla showed up and started cooking while Liza took a shower and got ready. We ended up eating around 1:00. Of course, I didn´t mind at all, as I had no other plans and like spending time with them regardless of what we´re doing. It´s just so funny sometimes to see how different we are.

* After we ate, Liza and Karla´s friend, Eunice, came over and we played Nertz! I had taught Liza and Karla last year, so Liza remembered somewhat how to play, and she helped me explain the game again. It is really hard to not know certain important words when you´re trying to give instructions for a game!

* I went back to the hotel and slept hard for about two hours. I was really sleepy because the night before, I watched the movie The End of Time, or something like that (everything translates weird in Spanish so I´m not sure what it´s actually named in English). It has Mark Whalberg and that girl Zoe something who´s in lots of movies now. I missed the beginning, but basically it´s about some phenomenon happening in the northeast US where people are just starting to drop dead, or start killing themselves, and it was happening mostly in public parks in big cities. Then it started happening in smaller cities and in smaller populations. Anyway, it was creepy and there was one especially creepy lady who I now cannot get out of my head. I had trouble sleeping that night, so I needed a nap yesterday. I hung around the hotel most of the night afterwards, because it was raining and because I had nothing else to do!

* From 2005-2007, I experienced a lot of water and power shortages here, but in the last few years, none. So I was surprised to find this morning when I was in the freezing shower, with shampoo all over my head, that the water just stopped. Not even a trickle. So I checked the sink, and it had a slow trickle. The sink is tiny, though, and there is no way I could have fit my head in there to rinse off. So my next thought was that it was raining lightly, so I could go outside and just rinse off au natural. But then I realized I didn´t want to get clothes all dirty just to go out and do so. So I just sort of sat there for a few minutes and kept trying the water. Eventually, it came back as a small trickle and I was able to rinse off. Apparently they were cleaning the city water filter or something bizarre like that, so supposedly it´s not going to happen again. We´ll see!

* I´m hoping to FINALLY make it out to the Villa tomorrow to see my two favorite families. I really don´t want to go in the rain, because everything will be muddy and make it harder for me to get out there, but it appears that the rain is not going to stop any time soon.

* Tomorrow night I am cooking dinner for everybody, and I still have NO idea what to make. Nobody has an oven in their house, just a cooktop, so that rules out a lot of things. I think I´ll make mashed potatoes, and some sort of chicken, but I´m not sure what. I´m going to do some researching of recipes online, and then go to the supermarket to see what is even available for me. I´m sure there will be an interesting story to tell about it tomorrow!

... I guess I thought I´d write less if I put it in bullet point format, but 11 bullets later, it appears that is not the case.

¡Estoy Aquí...a continuación!

Here´s take two at my first entry since I got here... I´m going to attempt to fill you in on the rest of Thursday, and then Friday and Saturday... I´ll try not to tell you every little detail since I know you all (well, most of you) have busy lives to lead and don´t really care how many bottles of water I drink daily or how many catcalls I´ve gotten... but I love to share all the details because those are what make me laugh every day.

First, I have to recognize yesterday´s crazy computer´s flair for the dramatic... It deleted everything right after ´there was nobody there to pick me up´. All I needed then was a suspenseful ¨DUN DUN DUN¨. Anyway, for the first time in 8 trips, I had decided to go it alone and navigate my own way to Chinandega. Toney, fellow American and Nica lover, told me about how much I should pay for each leg of my trip. So a nice, helpful airport worker helped throw my suitcases (each JUST under 50 lbs.) into a taxi. Now, Toney told me I should pay $10 for a taxi from the airport to the bus terminal. Well, I´ve learned that you always have to check the price before you get in the taxi. This guy wanted $20. I asked if he´d take $15, and he said no. He was a real stickler. Well, he was the only taxista there right this second, and I´m no good at haggling, so I got in anyway. I had visions of myself stuck at the airport for hours, waiting for a taxi to take my measly $10, so I went. And boy was I in for a ride! He was one of the more aggressive taxi drivers I´ve had here, and that is saying a LOT. Anyway, when I got to the bus terminal I was quickly whisked onto a van headed to Chinandega. My suitcases were able to take up a seat next to me, rather than tie them up on top because it looked like rain. For BOTH seats, I paid 120 Córdobas, which is roughly $6. So, yes, that´s $20 for a 15-minute taxi ride, and $6 for TWO seats for a 2-hour ride in a 15-passenger van... Crazy, I know.... but the van went pretty full, so I guess they feel they make enough money. Anywho, the van ride felt quick and it was nice... it started to rain so there was a nice breeze coming in through the windows. Again, I slept most of the ride. When I got to Chinandega and finally recognized things, I jumped in a taxi and went to Hotel San Juan. This is my 5th or so time staying there and I love it for its affordability, central location and the nice people who work there :).

At the hotel, they quickly got a room ready for me and then I crashed for a two hour nap. After sleeping, I realized I had not eaten since a small apple croissant at OIA, so I headed for my favorite ¨house-restaurant¨, which is when people take their house and convert the front part into a restaurant, no permit needed :). However, it was only around 4:00, and they weren´t open for dinner yet, so I settled for a smaller house restaurant about a block away from the hotel. My gallo pinto (traditional rice and beans dish), maduro (fried ripe plantain) and carne de res (beef grilled with lime juice - yes, I know I said I wasn´t going to eat beef any more, but it was SO good) cost about $2 and filled me up nicely. Then I was off to visit friends.

My first stop was Liza´s mom´s house right behind the church. Liza usually waits there for me when I´m coming because it´s close and I know how to get there. However, nobody was home except for her niece and nephew, so I headed a few blocks over to Karla´s house, but nobody was home there either. At this point I was beginning to feel very unloved, but I remembered that last time I was here, Liza had written directions to her house in my little notebook that I carry around with me (not unlike the notebook in Blue´s Clues). So, I jumped in a taxi and headed there. Boy, was she surprised to see me pull up to her house! For some reason, she thought I was coming on the 29th rather than the 24th, so it was a very fun surprise. I went in and we visited for a while. She was working on a birthday card for Freddy, whose birthday was the 25th.

After catching up and talking about dogs (they just got a new puppy, Bonita, who has similar ¨peeing¨problems as Tucker - how funny), Liza started to tell me the story of what happened after I left last time. As most of you know, Liza was 6 months pregnant in March, and she had spent one full night at a clinic while we were here because of high blood pressure, but they thought everything was fine after that. The night we left, she went back to the clinic and ended up having to be admitted again. They then transferred her to Leon because of how seriously high her blood pressure was. They decided they had to deliver the baby or risk Liza´s life, so their baby boy (Angel Caleb) was born on the 5th of April. He lived two days, and everybody thought that after the 48-hour mark he would survive, but he passed away. Liza told me how he looked just like Freddy except with light skin like hers, how he would hold on to her pinky with his tiny hand, and how she knew that he knew who she was when she was with him. She and Freddy talked to him, prayed with him, and were not with him when he passed away. It was heartbreaking to listen to this story, but beautiful in a way, too. Of course, by the end we were both in tears. Liza is SO strong, though, and has since gone to see a specialist about her condition. They were told that next time she gets pregnant, there is an injection she´ll need to have every day to keep her blood pressure low, and that each shot costs $50. Which is insanely expensive here, obviously. So please keep this wonderful family in your prayers. Freddy had come home and was changing clothes to rush out to a dinner for his work, and when he heard Liza talking about the baby, I could see such a wounded expression on his face. I feel like he feels he needs to be strong for Liza, that he holds his own sorrow in to comfort her. Such a sad situation.

Then Karla came over and we all headed for church. I had seen the pastor earlier when walking back to the hotel with my food, so I felt I should go and properly say hi to everybody. Church started at 6:30, so naturally that is when we left Liza´s house and walked about a mile and a half to get there (punctuality not such a big deal here). We got there around 7:00, and at 8:30 I had to leave because I was about to fall asleep. What the pastor was talking about was actually very interesting, but I was STILL exhausted from the day of traveling. So I headed back to the hotel and was asleep by 9:00.

Friday
I slept until 9:00 Friday morning - yes, 12 hours. Insane. Let me note that it was about 90 degrees on Thursday, not so bad compared to what I´ve been living with in Florida. It had rained, so it felt nice and cool. Friday morning felt great and breezy, which is strange for around here. I took my time getting ready and then walked around the city to re-acquaint myself. I called Karla up to get lunch at Las Tejitas, my favorite local ¨fritanga¨, which Jess and I were unable to eat at in March because of bad timing and their closing early for Holy Week. Needless to say, I was extremely excited. To the right is a picture of the outside. It is too dark to see the inside well, but it´s basically a line where you walk through and pick what you want (not unlike Picadilly´s - anybody?) I had rice, black beans, a beef dish similar to ¨ropa vieja¨and a maduro again. My food´s not that interesting, so here´s a picture of Karla eating hers.

After lunch, I went back to the hotel for a bit while Karla went to a study group (she is studying to be what is similar to a notary). A few hours later, I headed to Karla´s house to meet up with her, Liza and Freddy. We were invited to eat dinner at Freddy´s mom´s house to celebrate Freddy´s birthday. Jess and I also went to her house when we were here in March to celebrate her birthday, so I´m thinking the lady probably thinks I only come around for free food on birthdays... Anyway, we had rice and a delicious chicken with peppers in a really good sauce - no idea what it was though. Freddy´s adorable niece and nephews (one of which had a big crush on Jessica when we were there before, and asked about her :)) put on a little mini-competition for this plastic World Cup trophy they got somewhere. One o them sang, one danced and one recited a lengthy poem from memory. It was adorable. The niece won with the poem, in case you´re wondering. From there, it was about 10:00 and I headed back to the hotel and went to bed.

When I realized the first day that the hotel fridge has NO drinks whatsoever, I was a bit concerned. In March I probably averaged three bottles of water a day, no joke. However, so far this trip, I have had ONE each day, just with lunch or dinner. That´s actually less water than I drink in the U.S., which is not good really, but I plan on buying some to keep in the hotel fridge since it hasn´t been restocked still. Anyway, the first day when Moises (same hotel-worker-friend from March) saw me poking around the fridge, he jumped up and ran out to get me a bottle of water before I panicked about it. The weather has just been amazing. Friday rained in the evening so I slept nice and cool with my sheet and the fan on low. Yesterday, Saturday it rained almost ALL day, which is so unheard of here. By dinnertime yesterday, I was wearing a cardigan and JEANS. Usually it takes me a few WEEKS to be able to wear jeans comfortably. I was actually COLD. It´s insane. I think the not-using-the-air-conditioning-much-at-home and the Florida-is-so-hot-I-can-barely-breathe really helped to prepare me. I don´t think it´s actually cold here, but rather that the rain and the temp. back home help me feel right at home.

Saturday morning I decided to run some errands. I needed to go to the ATM, the supermarket and the internet cafe, since I vowed to try to write every other day. I headed first to the internet cafe, where I sat for what felt like hours. I actually was worried that I didn´t have enough money on me to pay for my time using the computer, when it was only 15 Córdobas when I left, which is about .75... ha! Anyway, as you know I typed up that diatribe just to have the computer sign me out and piss me off royally. So from there I headed to On The Run gas station to use the ATM. Then I went (P.S. Just now some crazy Nica lady with lipstick all over her lips/teeth came in and walked back into the room I´m in just to shake my hand and smile at me crazily) to the ¨corner of the banks¨to change my money into Córdobas. La Colonial is the closest thing here to our Walmart, except here it´s where the rich people shop, so I headed there to get a few gifts and bug spray (the ONLY thing I forgot to pack!). I got a shirt for a friend in Villa Catalina, a few gift bags for stuff I had brought from home, and a sweat rag, in case the heat picks up around here. Satisfied with my purchase, I headed back to the hotel to wait for Liza and Freddy. They came to get me about a half hour later and we headed out to lunch - at a CHINESE restaurant! Oh, it was great. I had what are basically egg rolls, while the lovebirds shared a plate of chow mein. It was so funny to see little Nicaraguan men dressed like traditional Chinese waiters. We stayed there for what felt like forever because Freddy insisted on me showing pride for my country and watching the U.S. vs. Ghana soccer game. Frankly, I feel my time could have been spent better doing almost anything else (especially since we lost), but Freddy and I bond over sports most times I´m here (last year it was watching the NBA finals in the park at night). So we stayed and watched the whole thing, including the 30 minutes of extra play. Ugh.

After that, Freddy headed off to work (he does LOTS of extra tutoring for students) while Liza and I hit the town for some shopping. I wanted a gift for her mom and had no idea what to get, so I enlisted her for help. I bought a beautiful white shirt that Liza had been wanting to get for her mom but hadn´t been able to yet, so it will be fun for us both to get to give it to her. Also, I told Liza that I wanted to buy her something for the house that but I wanted her to pick, so she ended up with a pot and a pan, both with lids. She was excited to double her kitchen cookware, ha! Then we bought a pair of jeans for Freddy for his bday the day before. I often wonder if I lived here, if I would ever remember where all these little shops are and how to get to them. We wound ourselves through the market to find one specific clothes vendor that Liza knows, and I had absolutely no idea where we were. I feel lucky that I know how to get to about 10 places here, total.

By that time it was time to for Liza to head back home and I went back to the hotel to hang out. I sat and talked for a while with Moises - we seem to get into these weird, uber-personal conversations, which is always interesting. He asked me when he could come to church with me here, which REALLY surprised me, in a good way, so he´ll be coming with me on Tuesday. Eventually I went to La Gayta (finally!), my favorite place, and ate some good old gallo pinto and a maduro. I watched some crazy movie, Assassin for Hire (I think) with the men at the hotel and then called it a night.

Sunday

Today I woke up and after showering, headed straight to the internet cafe with my renewed vigor to update you all. However, the one I always go to was closed because it´s Sunday, despite the painted sign on the front that says ¨Abierto todos los días¨ - open every day. So I went to On The Run for some coffee to keep WARM. Yes, that´s right, I was cold all night! No fan, but it rained all night so it kept the room real cool. The cold shower didn´t feel so great this morning, and I just needed some warmth. The catch 22 is that On The Run is crazy air-conditioned, which usually I appreciate, but this morning I detested. I was drinking my coffee and watching the Germany vs. England soccer game, when I saw Kristin and Jeremy walk in. They are a married couple who work for Amigos for Christ and live here. I met both of them 5 years ago when I started coming here. They were of course surprised to see me since I´ve yet to stop by the Amigos house to say hi, and we chatted for a while. I LOVE seeing people I know here. Especially at that moment, I was sort of craving gringo-talk, otherwise known as English. Of course Freddy speaks English, but when we´re with other people we speak Spanish, and the hotel owner´s son speaks English, but he is pompous and has yet to say one word to me, so I´ve been wanting to speak to somebody without having to think so much about it, so it was perfect!

From On The Run, I jumped in a taxi and asked them to take me to any open internet cafe. We drove by three closed ones and my chances were starting to look slim, when all of a sudden the 4th one was open. I then realized that I pass this one every time I walk to the other one, that it´s about three blocks closer to my hotel. It´s also MUCH nicer. It´s funny how I´m so oblivious to things when I´m walking. I usually just focus on knowing how to get where I need to go. I think from now on I´ll just come here! So there it is, pictures and all. I´m awful proud of my technology abilities today, friends.

For the faithful few that have made it to the end, thanks for caring. Sorry for the dissertation, but remember that this is also my way of remembering everything, since I´m too lazy to journal any more. I leave you with a picture of the pitahaya, a local fruit with a pink inside. It´s for Adam. He knows why.

Right now there´s some sort of little ´gathering´with a bunch of Movistar vans (local phone company - it´s what I have) with music and dancing, so I´m off to see that, and then to lunch at Liza´s mom´s house. Last night they started making Bau, some sort of traditional dish here, which I´ll find out more about in a little bit!

¡Adios, amigos!

¡Estoy Aquí!

¡Hola amigos!

I figured it´s just about time for my first update. As many of you know, this first week I am here alone. I like to do that because then when the group gets here from Georgia, I have a lot less time to visit with friends because we´re working a lot and staying at a hotel further out of the city. Anyway, I decided to really look at this week as a vacation. No agenda, no alarm waking me up (which as you know, I ALWAYS have an alarm set), no urgency to get lots of stuff done each day. That being said, here´s what I´ve been up to...

The Flight
My flight was very uneventful, which I like. I breezed through OIA and then slept most of the first flight, which was to San Salvador, El Salvador. I flew TACA for the first time, and it was great. I didn´t notice many of the details, because I was sleeping hardcore on the flight... I even missed the in-flight food. So I´m not sure how it was... but the first mini-disaster was when I finally woke up in time for drinks, and I got a cup of coffee. After I put in my sugar and non-dairy creamer (disgust), I put the cup on the little tray in front of me. I don´t know why I didn´t put it on the one next to me, since I had two seats to myself. Anyway, of course right after that, since I was still in sleep mode, I went to move my leg, and I knocked the entire cup off the tray and onto my purse and carry-on. The coffee part wasn´t bad, because I soaked it up with the blanket I had... but the stickyness from the sugar would not wipe off. and it was on my legs and my purse. yuck. other than that, fairly uneventful.

For some reason, I figured the San Salvador airport would be nice, but it actually wasn´t. I think even the Managua airport is nicer. The bathrooms were really primitive, and I don´t think the air was on in the airport! but I was ony there for about 45 minutes until my next flight left. This flight was only about 50 minutes, yet I still managed to get some sleep in. I was EXHAUSTED from the waking up at 4:00 that morning. Again, uneventful flight, and then I was in Managua! After I got my bags and changed some money over, I was ready to leave. The way the airport is set up, there is this huge glass window for people who come to look in at the baggage claim area. So it´s really fun to find the person who´s waiting for you and wave.The strange thing is, this time there was no one waiting to pick me up.

ARGHHHH. I finished writing this post - it was about 18,000 more paragraphs, then something happened to the computer and it ALL GOT DELETED. I´m so mad right now. Yet I don´t want to take the time to type it all again. Maybe I´ll come back later today, after I´m not so hopping mad. To be continued....