Another Managua Weekend

We had another relatively chill weekend here in Managua. Friday night I came home from work to find the neighbors drawing with chalk on our patio. It was an impromptu birthday celebration for Julissa, one of the neighbor girls. Within 5 minutes of me walking in the door, Julissa came running up to me to give me a birthday treat. She kept calling it a ‘pollito’ which I didn’t understand until I finally unwrapped the cupcake. On top of the cake part sat a frosting chick (pollito) that was probably 3 inches tall. As I think I’ve mentioned before, the frosting here is very dulce (sweet), so as I bit into the cupcake, hoping it would be funfetti and Betty Crocker frosting like at home, I quickly realized I wouldn’t be able to eat much of my birthday treat without wincing. However, we did have fun taking pictures of the cupcake and the kids. Once I let one use my camera, Pandora’s box was open and we had a full-on photo shoot. Here are the pictures – I’m sure you can guess which ones were taken by munchkins based on the height of the camera.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=nicole.roden&target=ALBUM&id=5298284814803618513&authkey=9ZI0bgsH4i4&feat=email

After the kids left, we just hung out and watched some Arrested Development and ate popcorn, both of which made my day.

Saturday Kelly and I went to the market with one of the neighbors, Alegda. Mercado Oriental was a different market than I’d been to my first week, and it was a very cool but intense experience. It turns out that Oriental is the largest market in Central America, and it’s a bustling place on a Saturday morning. Several times, as I struggled to keep an eye on the other girls while fighting my way through rivers of people, carts, and vehicles, I thought to myself, ‘this place is just like Times Square…minus everything else about Times Square except the crowds.’ We loaded up on tons of fresh produce – enough to feed the three of us for a whole week for about $15. At the market, I also had my first chance to drink like the Nicas do – out of a plastic bag. I got one of the small bags of water that they sell everywhere around here. I also got a little chocolate milk that was delicious (and may start a new addiction for me).

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful – I read book number 5 for the trip, helped with cooking and dishes, and did some work. I also packed because this week I’m going back up north from Tuesday through Friday. I’m excited for another trip up there – school will be in session now, so I’m going to try to observe some of the cooks as they prepare lunch for the kids. I’m also meeting with a Peace Corps volunteer who has nutrition background to see if our menu looks good to her. Finally, we’ll be visiting the commercial Fabretto farm in the area as well as some other large farming operations. We’re starting to think about our food purchasing strategy so we want to begin talking to suppliers and evaluating prices and options. Should be cool! I'm not sure when I’ll have internet access or how much I’ll be blogging, so this could be it until Friday. Have a good week!