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Published: December 22nd 2004
Market
The Market in LeonSo I left the beautiful islands of Majagual, and hoped on a bus to Granada. I stayed at a really fun hostel and met a group of people that where all going to the lake islands of Ometephe, Nicaragua the next morning. So I explored the city, and then hit the bars/clubs that night. For some reason I still cannot dance in the Latin style….so I revert to my hip hop roots…which might look funny to everyone else since they are doing the salsa or whatever…but I’m having fun so who cares. Granada was a really nice city, and I probably should have hung around longer, but I have heard so much about Ometephe, I figured I’d keep on moving
So the next morning I hop on a bus to the ferry with 3 other people (all of which speak good Spanish...so I’m kind of just tagging along, using them for their Spanish skillz, since mine are nill). We get to the ferry and everyone loads on before me…it is really crowded and as I get on the boat I feel someone rubbing up on me, so I check my pockets and realize that my wallet IS MISSING. I grab
the teenager next to me who was the one pushing on me. I’m holding onto his arm and I start checking his pockets for my wallet (that little punk), as I’m searching him, I look down and see that he dropped my wallet onto the ground, and when I bend down to pick it up, he takes off running. Luckily every thing is their and as he runs off I kind of make a weak attempt to yell “That kid tried to steal my wallet” but everything happened so fast that I was really able to do much more then that. Regardless, I got my wallet back, and now I am going to start using my little security belt.
So we get to the island, and that night the tiny little town that we are near is having some sort of Christmas party (they party all month over here). So a group of people from my hostel head down to the town, and I am expecting some sort of parade or something like that. We are wandering through the streets and start to hear a thump-thump-thump. So we head towards the music and lights and come across this huge
flower
flower #1 outdoor dancerave thing. So we are all pretty pumped. It is mostly younger kids but who cares the beer is cheap and we are ready to party. Beers at this party where going for about 50 cents, but for the same price you could get a glass coke bottle full of some sort of moonshine...beer….moonshine…hmm. Mom you told me to experience the culture down here, so I opted for the moonshine (pretty good stuff), after drinking a bottle or so of that stuff, I turned into the best salsa dancer ever…or so I thought...haha.
So the hostel we stayed at was really over crowded so part of the group I was with decided to leave the next day. I really wanted to get up to Honduras so I decided to leave with him. We got a late start and caught the last ferry off the island. Long story short, I got dropped off (by myself) at the bus station but all the buses where full, so I grabbed a cab to another bus station, but no more busses came. So here I am 9pm in the middle of no where (Rivas) standing at a bus station with about 5
me
16 hour bus ride other Nicaraguans. Now remember…my Spanish is horrible…even worse then you think. Some guy comes up to me and I think he ask me if I am going to Managua (which is where I was going) so I say “si” (ok so maybe my Spanish is pretty good..I got the si, and no, thing down). So he starts talking and talking to me. This is a total guess but I convince myself that he is going there too and he doesn’t think that there are any more buses coming around, but he says not to worry because he knows a lot of people in the area and he should be able to find us a ride. He tells me that I’m a really cool guy and that he really digs how my 2nd toe is actually the biggest one, he says that in his culture it is a really special thing, and people with long second toes normally get double the Christmas presents. Anyways, he carries on about this for a while, and then I start to worry that he is really saying something like “haha you stupid American, I am going to get you in some car, take you to
Ometephe
Nic. Island a dark place, take all your money, and leave you for the lizards”. Right around the same time a drunken guy comes up and starts making all these hand signals towards me. I think he is staying that I need to watch out for thieves and what not. So this goes on for about an hour and I start to get a little worried and decide that I should just get in a cab and pay the $30 to get to Managua. But then…a couple other people who were waiting for the bus get up and start to leave, but my Spanish “friend” convinces them to say. And one of the new people in my group is a female (which for some reason gives me a little more comfort). Anyways we all end up getting in a cab together and 2 hours later I get dropped off near the bus station.
I do not understand why people continue to talk to me in Spanish even though it must be so obvious that I have no idea what they are saying. The whole cab ride my new Spanish friend was going on and on and on. And the whole time
me
random pic of myself I was just nodding my head and smiling, and time I heard a word that I recognized (amigo, familia, casa) I would give a nice hearty laugh and node my head some more. This went on for hours, and happens all the time….I don’t understand.
So the bus station always seems to be in the bad part of town and Managua is no exception. Nicaragua is extremely poor and Managua is the capital so the slums are pretty bad. So here I am huge gringo wandering the ghetto at 11pm with my backpack…easy target. But the good things was that there where cops on the street so I felt a little safer. BOY WAS I MISTAKEN. The cops come up and ask me for my passport, and then he basically signal to me that I need to pay them to get it back. I don’t really know what’s going on but I have a pretty good idea that they want money. So I decide that I will try to be like the turtle (or whatever) and play dead. So I just stand there for like 20 minutes...hoping that they will get bored with me saying (no se…I don’t understand).
Ometephe2
Nic. Island #2 They want 20 bucks each but I end up crumpling up 2 dollars and trading it for my passport (in the dark) and then I kind of run off to the closest hostel.
Anyways, this place is a dump and the first thing I see is a cockroach that must me 4 inches long...this thing was huge, I tried to get a picture of it but that thing was quick. My hostel was a dump and there where tons of crack heads just staring at me. So I locked myself in my room at went to bed early.
Ok I am getting tired of writing. This was 2 days ago. I will try to update you with the rest tomorrow. Right now I am on an island off the northeastern coast of Honduras and things are much better. I start my scuba diving class tomorrow and I will be spending Christmas here. It took me about 18 hours to get here...but finally I can relax. I hope everyone is doing well. I want to give a little shout out to jen, my new readers at UVA, my family, and also, I don’t have time to review this...so if
ocean
ocean view the spelling and grammer is off…well oh well.
Hope you like the pics
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anonymous
non-member comment
Jeesh!
Chris, you must have a guardian angel. Next time a kid tries to pickpocket you, beat the snot out of him in front of everyone. Word will travel and you will be more respected on the streets. Same goes for the crooked cops. I've heard about the police down there. I have a great trick if they try that extortion again. When they ask you for money.... just start laughing really loudly with buggy eyes and PEE yourself. Guaranteed that they will give your wallet back and leave you alone. - Brian