Sights and Sounds of Nicaragua

With the exception of one or two days, I awake every morning to the sound of roosters crowing.

It appears that every gringo over the age of 50 in Nicaragua is either looking at property to buy, buying property, or building/renovating a house on their new property. Presumably they´ll live out their days barking orders at the cheap Nica help,getting skin cancer, and sucking down cubre libres like its their job.

It´s likely that Daniel Ortega of the FSLN (Sandanista) party will be elected president of Nicaragua in November. This could cause problems for the aforementioned gringos considering the tumultuous history between the U.S. and the Sandanistas. Although I personally find Ortega to be a scoundrel, I don´t suppose he´s more of a scoundrel than all the rest of ´em...including our very own S.O.B., GW.

Much to the chagrin of my peso-pinching fellow backpackers, even though I KNOW 40 cordobas is too much to pay for a 10 minute ride across town, I just don´t have the tenacity to haggle over the 5-10 cordobas I might save, the equivalent of about 50 cents U.S.

On the bus from Matagalpa to Managua I saw a tiny old woman sleep with her head on her grandaughter´s shoulder. The girl had her arm wrapped around her abuelita´s neck, holding her forehead tight against her chest.

On another bus, a preacher, after giving a 10 minute sermon, absent-mindedly handed me his bible to hold while he counted out change for the cobrador.

There is an unusally large number of men named Marvin here.

At the ruins of the 21st Garrison of the National Guard in Leon, I saw the spot where prisoners of the Somoza regime where hung upside-down by their feet while their heads were submerged in pools of water as a form of torture. It made me think about Abu Gharib.

Unlike the homeless men we step over on the street in the U.S., the homeless sleeping in the street here tend to be boys.

It´s not unusual to see a man riding his entire family around on a bicycle here. He sits on the seat and pedals, his wife sits side-saddle on the frame holding an infant, and a young child rides the pegs on the back wheel.

One of the most beautiful trees in Nicaragua is called La Malinche. It has branches that spread out low and far, long brown seed pods hang from it, and its flowers are red-orange. They stand out like a blaze among the sea of green trees in the forest. If you want to have a better understanding about the role of gender in Latin culture, google Malinche. You´ll be surprised by what you learn about this important archetype.

One of my most favorite experiences in Nicaragua was a blackout in Somoto. I passed the evening writing letters by candlelight.

In Nicaragua when you pass people on the street either coming or going you say "adios." But in the touristy areas, people greet me with "Hola."

At the Finca Esperanza Verde in Matagalpa, there were these huge brown beetles, about the size of a walnut, who would dive bomb the lights in the evening. They would crash land on their backs, where you would find them littered all over the ground in the morning. Unable to right themselves, they die.