Moyogalpa Fireworks

---

Today we bid a fond farewell to Sr. Carlos and El Encanto. For the past few days we had been the only guests; upon our departure he had an appointment in Moyogalpa, so he drove us back there, no charge. (I insisted on paying him a tip, which he accepted on my third try.) On the way we talked politics, Nicaraguan and otherwise. Carlos pointed out that if Ortega were to lose his bid for re-election, which no one expects, government officials all the way down to elementary school principals would be replaced, causing great turmoil. Plus, the outgoing pols would steal as much as they could, followed by new thefts from the incoming pols, to the general detriment. So continuity of party in power is cheaper.

From where Carlos let us off, we walked a few blocks to Hospedaje Soma, run by the semi-crazy German named Szkini. I don't know how many times on the trip we needed to carry all our stuff -- rolling suitcases wouldn't do -- and this was one of them. It's just necessary on these kinds of trips.

Soma had been closed when we first arrived -- it's the lowest of the low seasons you know -- but Sr. Szkini returned yesterday and could open back up for us. We got a roomy bungalow. According to my research he was a pyromaniac (that's a good thing), and sure enough after dark he agreed to pull out some small but professional fireworks from his personal stash and set them off for us. I need to research the yellow powder he described.

After walking around town for awhile -- ah, back to civilization -- we had a big lunch of good greasy pizza, and no dinner necessary.

It's rainy season, they say. The weather has been kind to us. It rains every night, but the few daytime passing T-storms have not caught us out (yet).

---

Photos

Making a Little Girl Happy
Melody had been carrying this heavy doll around Nicaragua for a week. Finally she found a little girl to give it to, in Moyogalpa.