After a weekend away from the internet (which, amazingly, I survived), I’m back to writing today. I figured I’d give some highlights from my first weekend here in Managua.
The people I live with, a couple named Joe and Kelly, have been really great so far, helping me get acquainted and including me in their plans. This weekend, some of their friends from the States (which is how I now refer to home) were also here which was fun.
On Friday night I had my first experience with going out to the bar scene in Managua. Just like at home, we started out by pre-gaming at the house. Rum is the drink of choice here which, as many of you know, is PERFECT for me! It’s also extremely cheap – I got a bottle of some of the nicest dark stuff for $5. I think I’ll need an extra bag just to bring home rum when I leave!
After drinking at the house, we caught a cab to the bar. It was 5 of us from our house, plus two neighbors, a father and son (talk about an eclectic group), and the cab driver in a single, tiny cab the size of a Yugo. Ridiculous. It was almost kind of a disaster because there are speed bumps everywhere here, and with all that weight in the tiny car, we almost got stuck on top of one!
The bar itself was really nice – though, as I’ve told some people, it reminded me a bit of a wedding because it was a big open area with a bunch of tables surrounding a dance floor. A lot of older people were hanging out at the tables spectating while we danced, and they also brought in a live band later in the night.
We met up with some friends of Joe and Kelly’s and they both were really good dancers – between the two of them, they tired out all four of us girls! The music at the bar was another highlight. It was a mix of Reggaetone (a favorite here) and really bad old 80s/early 90s music. I heard La Bouche, a few Jock Jams classics, and Grease Lightning. It was hilarious.
After our fun night on Friday, Saturday was a typical day of errands. We went to the bank and to the Mercado. The market was really cool because there was so much fresh produce. My roommate Joe was a pro at bargaining with the vendors, so that was fun to see. Saturday night we just took it easy because the girls left on a trip to the Atlantic coast. I don’t know if I’ll make it there myself, but it sounds really interesting. Because it’s so close to the Carribean, I guess it has a totally different feel than the rest of the country. Unfortunately, it’s a 10 hour trip to get there, mostly by bus.
Sunday was a good day too. I went to my first Spanish mass. There is a church literally right across the street, but it only has one mass – at 7 am. Since the birds/dogs/motorcycles/horse usually wake me up by 6:30 though, not a huge deal. I couldn’t understand much, but the setting was great because it was a beautiful, breezy morning and the church is pretty much wide open.
In the afternoon Sunday, we decided to get out of the neighborhood because it was really noisy. The local team won a soccer game and everyone was celebrating. They had a trophy that was bigger than me, and they pulled out these huge speakers (also bigger than me) that they set up right outside our house. We had to escape the Reggaetone, so Joe took me to the Fabretto School where he works.
I assumed it was ‘right up the road’, but it turned into a hot, dusty, blister-filled 1.5 hour walk – one way! It was cool to see the more rural area though. The school was beautiful. I also got to see the Fabretto farm where they grow pineapples, plantains, coffee, avocados, organic chickens, and much more. It was beautiful and really peaceful, and I saw a gorgeous rainbow while we were there. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show for it because I’m bad with using my camera, but upon the request of many people, I will start to change that ASAP.
Last night we cooked a traditional Nicaraguan meal – beans, rice, and fried plantains that looked like chips topped with fresh tomatoes. I also got to use my Spanish for about a half hour straight with my neighbor. He told me I have the accent of a Costa Rican, something I found funny and random but took as a compliment because at least he didn’t say I sound like a gringa!
It was back to work today, and the workday is actually ending now so I have to catch my ride. To close though, I’m glad to hear a lot of you are reading the blog. Keep the emails and gchat messages coming too! Just know that I don’t have access to Facebook at work (can you believe they block that here too?!) so while I can read your messages, I can’t respond.
Take care, and I’ll check back in later this week…with pictures!
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