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After the litle story that I told u about the local kids, and marie and my sandals, Juliana and I (finally) left for Managua. We took the 5 hour bus ride to Managua, arriving at 2:30am. We took a brief nap at her house in Managua, and then got up again at 4:00am to go to the airport to catch a 5am flight to Puerto Cabesas. When we arrived at the airport, Juliana turned to me and asked me to pay. I was stunned: I had somehow assumed that URACCAN would be paying for my ($150.00US ticket). I felt rude saying that though. But the fact is that I had attempted to be very "travel savvy", and had intentionally taken out all of my travellers cheques, my credit card and passport and left them in Nueva Ginea, so as not to get lost. Well, my over-precaution very nearly screwed me over: Juliana had to call around to get someone to come from the URACCAN-Managua office to lend mer money from her next pay cheque, so that she could pay for me and I´d pay her back. (Although I don´t know when we´ll next be in Managua for me to be able
to exchange those STUPID, useless Visa travellers cheques). All was well though, and we got our tickets. Although in my fret I didn´t realise that the big (binder sized) piece of green plastic I was given was actually my TICKET, and so I left it somewhere in the witing area and they almost wouldn´t let me board the plane! Luckily the gaurd took pity on my frazzled state, and let me pass anyway....
We took a rickety, 25 person plane on the 1 hour flight to Puerto Cabesas, in the North of Nicaragua´s Atlantic Coast region. The Coast is totally difefrent than the rest of Nicaragua: it has its own, distinct culture that is a unique blend of Indigenous (Mísquitu, hence the miscommunication about the name "Mosquito Coast" in English!--there really aren´t many mosquitos, which is why I couldn´t undrestand why ppl kept telling me "yes, there are LOTS of Mísquitos on the Coast"! LOL!) and Carribean. In fact, the Atlantic Coast is officially an "Autonomus Region" of Niucaragua, functioning under local and tribal laws and government. I had the unique priviledge of being able to stay with Juliana´s family (who are Mísquitu, and only speak Mísquito--alleviating me of
the pressure to make akward Spanish pleasantries!). They live on an Indigenous reserve called "Lamlaya", on the outskirts of Puerto Cabesas.
In Lamlaya, as with all traditional Coastal houses, the buildings are all on stilts due to flooding during rainy season (which has just begun). The houses range from shacks of loosly fitted plywood, to more elaborate houses such as Juliana´s (which noentheless was open-concept, made of loose plywood, with none of the walls reaching the ceiling: more like dividers, really. And the windows are just open to the breeze, with no glass or mesh). Only pictures can show how it was. Mísquito land is all communal: there are no fences, and anyone in the community is free to build a house wherever they want (provided they can afford the materials). The animals (cows, pigs, and chickens) roam free, and it´s not unusual for a chicken to wander into your house and peck around for a bit! There´s no running water, only well water-- which everyone shares. Everyone helps one another with chores and work, and ppl come and go freely from their family members´houses (and everyone is family there). Lamlaya used to be a fishing village. But use
of oil-spilling boats, and dumping of sewage into the water has all-but killed the fish stock. Nonetheless, the people sit around the mini harbor and sell things (see pics).
My time in Puerto Cabesas was amazing! I met with other CEIMM workers at URACCAN´s campus there (the biggest one, with 4,000 students and 300 students in residence). I made friends with two girls near my age (late 20´s), named Angie and Sasha. We went out clubbing one night together: it was a blast! On the day I left, Sasha and I took pictures on the beach together. In fact, I got to go swimming in the sea several times while I was there (I FINALLY got to work on my tan!!). One final thing: on the night we went clubbing (May 6th)it was the night of the long-anticipated, much gambled-upon boxing match between Nicaragua´s infamous "Mayorga", and Mexico´s famed golden-boy, "De la Hoya". It was like goodie 2-shoes Superman vs. the bad-boy, trash talking Steve Austin. We were rooting for De la Hoya (Mayorga´s such a JERK!). The night of the fight, literally EVERY Nicaraguan was at home watching it: there was not a car or taxi on the
street, all was deathly still. The local scamming-authorities tried to milk the opperunity, intermittantly interrupting the only channel showing the fight , so as to force ppl to come to the local stadium and pay 2€ to watch it there (without interruptions). But the fight itself was over in just 5 rounds of 12, in 20 minutes, with De la Hoya beating the snot out of Mayorga! You should have heard the cheering in our house! I witnessed a literal moment in Nicaraguan history.
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