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Published: October 9th 2008
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Tim version:
* Hopped a bus from Penas Blancas to Managua, then another to Granada.
* Took a wander around Granada and signed up to learn some Spanish.
The size that fits all version:
Leaving the Nicaraguan border was simple enough except that a few taxis drivers wouldnt accept a no. I told one of them I think in my best spanish that if he wanted to taxi me from the border to Granada for $2 then he had a deal, but otherwise I was catching the bus, and I think I got it right because he was the one who gruffly pointed me towards the buses! The Nica side where the buses went from was the workers and poor locals area. Tonnes of tin sheds, shacks made from corrugated iron with roofs kept on with rocks, selling food and who knows what else. I wanted a photo but didnt feel safe pulling the camera out so your imaginations will have to do for now. You have to wander on that side through the middle of it all to get to the buses and I found one going to Managua so that would do! I thought about
Main Cathedral
One of my prouder camera moments, this is the main cathedral. hitting Granada straight away but felt I needed to see Managua... I kinda knew I wouldnt like it, but needed to see it even if just from a bus window! Now in Costa Rica and Panama you get people hopping on the bus selling all sorts of mostly pre packaged food and drinks, but here it took to a whole new level! Drinks can be in plastic bottles, water in plastic bags, and the food was anything from home made fudge stuff, to pre packaged crisps, to tacos with chicken, to full on plates full of food big enough for a full dinner, and then the deserts arrived on board after that! Tempting, but considering the chicked comes in plastic bags and who knows when it was cooked, and i doubt selmanella is their main concern, I passed it all up and the bus left for Managua with me on it.
The bus had a little colour, a little "flare" (think Office Space), but nothing on a Panama bus! Saw a cow that had been hit by a truck being skinned and the meat being cut off it on the side of the road... also saw Ometepe (an island
of two volcanoes in the middle if the lake Lago de Nicaragua (Lake of Nicaragua)). At Las Rivas the bus driver got off and never came back, and one of the other workers on the bus took over and started driving, bringing us to Managua. Saw a nasty truck accident on the way in too. Involved a truck jacknifed, another truck it had hit, and a thirs bus that hit the other 2 from the back. No injuries I think, just mayhem with traffic! Managua is low and spread out, due to earthquake and hurricane reasons you can wikipedia if interested, so its a funny place to see... I had no idea we were really in it until the bus driver said we were there! I saw nothing of interest as kinda expected so hopped a bus to Granada, where I wanted to learn some Spanish!
That trip was lashed with rain and I missed any and all scenery because of it, but once we got to Granada I thought "wtf" getting off the bus. Turns out, the bus stops quite a way out of town! Once I randomly wandered for a bit I found the real Granada and
its beautiful! Reminds me a bit of Lisbon on a minor more poor flat scale heh. It has a similar vibe to it though. I checked out a whole bunch of Hostals and decided on La Libertad, and its pretty cool here. The main gate opens up to a large open area with a fountain and lots of greenery in the middle, chairs and hammocks aorund the outside, and a bar. Up the back is the kitchen with my dorm having maybe 15 beds in it but large and open. Very cool. There is almost no-one here though and those that are aren't sociable. I checked out Granada and liked it, wandering for a couple of hours, then I grabbed some basic supermarket food and chilled at the hostel.
Day 2 was just another look around, catchin up on the basics like washing clothes, taking in some more Granada centre sites. and finding my spanish school. I decided on Escuela Nicaragua Mia. After much thought and deliberation, I splurged on the all out option. Homestay with a local nicaraguan family including 3 meals a day, cranked my lessons hours up to 28 for the 7 days, and included activities
too to check out the sites around Granada as I was gonna do them anyway. Hopefully from tomorrow I'll be speaking nothing but Spanish for a solid week, from the moment I wake up, to during class, while seeing the sights, and all afternoon... I was doing the trip all so cheap but this is what I wanna learn and spend the dosh on!
Oh, just before I end this, a little side story... when I first got here, a guy near my age called Moses, a local who looks pretty poor, started following me trying to show me the way to wherever I wanted to go. He then asked for 20 cordobas and I told him no, so he left it... later when I saw him again near the supermarket, he asked again for 5 cordobas. He looked pissed, and walked away pointing his finger at me. Another friendly guy from the main square kindly offered to show me a towering view point just outside the main part of town, just for kindness I'm sure! So I've refused it all and Moses found me again tonight. Thinking he was gonna be an asshole I went to avoid him
but he was actually OK tonight, and I got talking to him... his English is pretty good and he was good to talk to. He was wearing the same clothes as when I met him 3 days ago and looked pretty hungry, so when he asked as I expected after about 10 minutes if I had some money to buy him some food with, I happily gave him 10 cordobas to get the same food I just got.. I didnt mind it when it went straight on food. While I was wandering around earlier eating mine I stopped outside the town hall, and a guy about my age looking mentally disabled came over and set next to me. After a bit he made kinda monkey like gestures and my food and his stomach, like he was hungry. I think he was mute coz he never made a sound, so I gave him half of mine. I fuckin hate it when you get people doing what Moses first did, or what the guy in the town square was aiming to do (Im thinking mugging with that guy, a lot more than asking for money), but when they seem to genuinly need
Pink building that I must find the history of
I was told in Spanish but cant remember now... its on the left of the main cathedral it and you dont feel at all forced to give anything to them, its a nice feeling. Especially in the case of Moses, since I'd refused him bluntly twice so I doubt he expected me to say yes. Poverty, its fuckin shocking, and here in Granada you only see the relatively well off poor. Going through managua man you see some serious poverty... how this compares to some African areas is probably nothing, but still, its enough... anyway, hopefully seeing it first hand and appreciating what you have more will make you a better person in the long run yeh? I wouldn't give handouts, I hate them, but it'd be good to pass on useful skills and training to some of these guys n gals...
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PRINCESA ZAPOTECA
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the poverty in latin america ... its a big problem... i feel sad for my people.. my bothers... =(