My body is covered in many a bug bite from either an ineffective mosquito net or some very stealthy mosquitos. This I don't mind because this I didn't have a week ago.
I can only really speak in the present tense, and at that I am a combination of English verb tenses, French filler words and pronunciation and the occasional Spanish word. As horrible as my grammar is, as small as my vocabulary is, this I don't mind because a week ago I didn't even have this mucho.
A week ago I didn't have friends from Halifax and Edmonton. A week ago I didn't know the taste of gallo pinto, a week ago I didn't know the breeze off of el lago de Nicaragua, I didn't know the smells of the central market, the sounds of central park. A week ago I didn't know that such a city existed quite like this.
And now after the first week I'm feeling like I have lived in this city for a while, even though I know that this feeling is only going to intensify in the next seven weeks left to me.
Literally exactly to this hour, this minute, I was picked up at the Managua airport and driven over bumpy roads, Spanish music blasting through our car, passing burning garbage piles and country houses and the occasional motorcyclist flying by. I kept my face pressed against the window with the balmy Nicaraguan air making it feel less hot than my was. I couldn't see much-it gets dark by 7 in this country- but it was the start.
It is not hard to stay aware of wonder in this place.
(keep your eyes peeled for when I stop being so honeymoon in love with Nicaragua. It is more difficult not to enjoy all this adventure than to be complaining. Also it is just not worth it- not with the world the way it is, not with what life is.)
We went to a kickboxing class today after our last orientation activity--an amazing race. Wherein I quite literally walked the entire ciudad before heading back.....bargained for a pack of pinolillo, a cocoa and corn powdered drink mix, visited a closed down fortress an sent a postcard. To everyone I promised postcards: I know where the correas is now, so they will be on their way before the end of May. And strangely enough that little juega boosted my confidence about 107% for walking alone through the streets of Granada, preguntando ¿Donde es...? for just about everything. Esta bien. Esta siempre bien.
Right.... I meant to make this post a poetic little reflection with all the quirky things Granada has taught me so far.
And so it goes.
We are heading out to a weekend trip to Ometepe Island for Saturday y la noche de sábado, with plans for a virgjn forest hike or volcano climb or horseback ride or visit to a nature reserve before returning on domingo. I will keep you posted after this first-of-many adventure trips with these amigos.
Bonus points if you tell me why the nombre Ometepe Island sounds familiar to you. Leave it in a comment..... Hint: think pop culture.
Have a wonderful weekend and I will hasta luego!
dftba
-k
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