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Published: December 24th 2011
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Surprise!
Look on page 8 - there's a guy in a Tilley hat just like mine. We weren't satisfied with Friday's aborted shopping trip to Masaya; we hadn't stayed long or bought much. We need some decent souvenirs, and we hadn't even seen the nicer "old" market. So Andrea and I decided to go by ourselves. I had every intention of hiring a taxi for $10 round trip, but Andrea thought the bus simpler. Certainly at $.40 each it's inexpensive. We headed on foot for the bus "station" (vacant lot) again. We got there just as the bus was pulling out, so we ran to it and jumped in the open back door. (That's what you call fun, especially if you're 14.)
As soon as we stepped off the bus in Masaya (at a larger vacant lot), it started to sprinkle a bit. Now this is the rainy season in the tropics. Within about 20 seconds the sprinkle turned into a raging downpour. Lacking rain gear of any flavor, we raced into the "new" market (the one for locals) only a few meters away.
In moments like this one finds all of the holes in the many pieces of tin and plastic tarps slapped on top of this market. It turns out they're more for
shade than rainproofing. A proper roof should give rainwater someplace to go besides indoors. It was the wettest indoors I've ever seen. (OK, technically, the market has no walls, therefore no doors, so I guess it's not "indoors" anyway.) We walked around dodging small vertical rivers and seeking a way to the tourist market.
We found something resembling an exit where we might hope to find a cab. Yes, look: there's a cab letting someone out. Our only problem was the small river between us and it. Oh well, we're already pretty wet.
We liked the "old market". The roof worked (though it stopped raining soon anyway). Maybe the prices were slightly higher than the other one, but not so much to worry about, and the selection was better. We worked the place over and ended up with some pottery and a pretty wooden vase. Even better, in one stall I spotted "Hoy" magazine on a table in the corner, where the owner does the crossword in between customers. Today is Monday. Under today's edition - Eureka! - I found yesterday's, and quickly flipped through to the full-page feature on the horse-drawn carriage business in Granada. Yep, there
I am in the corner! I asked the lady if I could buy it, pointed to my photo, almost whispering not to attract the attention of Andrea shopping nearby, and said "yo mismo", "that's me". She gave me the whole newspaper, smiling. I bought some pottery from her.
Back at the Casa, with everyone nearby, I handed the paper and told Melody "There's a picture on page 7 of a guy in a Tilley hat. He looked really good in that hat, just like I do. Check it out."
She was surprised!
It was great fun, and a nice punctuation to our last day in Nicaragua. That Salvador is going places. Next time we venture this way he'll probably own all the horses and carriages.
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