1. Replacing the horn in a cab with a cat call noise makes it that much more interesting to drive in.
2. The neighborhood I live in was named after a contra guerilla commander. It is also where they relocated all the guerillas after the revolution.
3. The quickest way to lose the respect of your co workers is to sing 'The One' by the Backstreet Boys as part of a duet in a kareoke bar.
4. Passionfruit juice and ice tea taste delicious together.
5. It is so hot and humid here that envelopes seal themselves.
6. It is a bad idea to walk through doors if you do not know what is behind them. You might end up in a chop shop and facing a lot of men holding very large guns.
7. If you are lucky, your car will not blow up when you leave it running while filling up gas.
8. Soup is always delicious, no matter the temperature.
9. It is a bad idea to leave your clothes to dry outside when your neighboors are burning garbage because then your clothes will smell like plastic and bacon at the same time.
10. 85% of all the street food snacks/meals you buy will be the best food you have ever had.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
I Need To Go Grocery Shopping
If you're not careful, all you'll end up eating for breakfast is pudding, or worse yet, a really bad smoothie. A Post Actually About Agua In Nicaragua
During my time here I'm staying with a host family. It's working out really well so far. There is one problem, though, and that is that the neighboorhood I live in is really poor. This means that we don't have running water all day. This has been a bit of an adjustment since there are so many activities that I forget require water that I can't do during the evening after I come home from work. Just think of all the tasks that require water during your day, and think about condensing those activities to occur between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m. A normal day looks something like this... Just about everybody gets up in the morning (6 people including myself) before 5 a.m. and begin the mad scramble to either cook your food, take a shower, wash your dishes or wash your clothes. There is a laundry machine at my house but it is used very sparingly because of the cost of electricity. Keep in mind that only two taps will work at any given time, so if you have the water on outside while you are hand washing your clothes and the kitchen sink running, there will be no water in the shower. Since I have to be at work for 7 a.m. I need to leave the house before 6:30 a.m. and I need to make sure that I boil rice for lunch, wash a few clothes, clean myself and do my dishes from the day before all before I run down my street to try to catch a cab. And trying to accomodate everyone else. I'm not the best at multitasking to begin with, and I find it especially difficult to do when the sun has barely risen. Even since I've been here there have been some mishaps involving taps left on by accident. Someone will turn on a tap, have no water come out, and forget to shut it. Then, at 3 a.m. the water will come back and, while everyone is sleeping, flood the kitchen floor or the bathroom, or the backyard. Having grown up in a three bathroom house I never had the experience of fighting for bathroom time complicated even more by this countdown to when there will be no more water.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Managua: Figure it Out...
As most of you know, I am currently stationed in Managua for 5 months completing an internship with MEDA. There are a few things you should know about Managua to understand what living here is like. I was a bit aprehensive coming here as it had been described to me before I left as, "The ugliest capital city on earth". Even then I considered it a bit harsh... But I can see how the city might be lost on someone who doesn't spend a lot of time here. I have compiled a list of all the things that seperate Managua from other more logical major cities.
1.The streets have no names. I mean at all. An example of an address would be "That old tree in San Judas, 2 blocks south, 1 block east" or "Where the Pepsi building used to be, 3 blocks towards the lake". Since this is a decent size city (over 1.5 million) I find it pretty impressive that everyone knows where that big old tree is in the neighborhood of San Judas.
2. The city is built on the shore of Lake Managua. This lake is so polluted that the Japanese offered to buy it because it would actually be profitable to sift out the heavy metals from the sludge at the bottom.
3. There are cattle and all forms of vehicles on the roads at all times.
4. There is no downtown. In 1972 a major earthquake hit and pretty much leveled the city. Instead of rebuilding it they built in semi circles around the old town so all the roads run in a crescent moon shape heading from east-west.
5. The cathedral also got destroyed in the earthquake in the 70s. When they did rebuild it they chose the cheapest architectural model they could find. This was actually the model of a mosque. It was actually mostly financed by the guy who owns Domino's pizza. The best part is that as soon as the structure was completed, a Pizza Hut opened up accross the street. Sometimes, you just can't catch a break.
6. There are 'sandanista' (or socialist revolution) colors everywhere around the city. On all the telephone poles and walls, traffic lights and posts.
7. You can buy anything you want at an intersection. You name it; cell phone chargers, cashews, water, newspapers, sunglasses. You could potentially never get out of your car for everyday needs.
I'm sure this list will continue to grow as I continue to live here. Getting used to the city has been difficult since you have to change how your brain normally references things. Instead of remembering street names you remember statues, big ads and funny looking glass buildings to get an idea of where you are. Managua really is not that bad of a city if you spend any significant amount of time here. There are also a lot of comforting places to go to, like really nice nicaragua coffee shops that have wireless. There is even a cafe run by a Luxemburgian-Indian that makes curry occasionally. While most backpackers come here and promptly leave, it is worth the visit. I'm actually enjoying it more than I did Panama City, so that's definitely a start.
1.The streets have no names. I mean at all. An example of an address would be "That old tree in San Judas, 2 blocks south, 1 block east" or "Where the Pepsi building used to be, 3 blocks towards the lake". Since this is a decent size city (over 1.5 million) I find it pretty impressive that everyone knows where that big old tree is in the neighborhood of San Judas.
2. The city is built on the shore of Lake Managua. This lake is so polluted that the Japanese offered to buy it because it would actually be profitable to sift out the heavy metals from the sludge at the bottom.
3. There are cattle and all forms of vehicles on the roads at all times.
4. There is no downtown. In 1972 a major earthquake hit and pretty much leveled the city. Instead of rebuilding it they built in semi circles around the old town so all the roads run in a crescent moon shape heading from east-west.
5. The cathedral also got destroyed in the earthquake in the 70s. When they did rebuild it they chose the cheapest architectural model they could find. This was actually the model of a mosque. It was actually mostly financed by the guy who owns Domino's pizza. The best part is that as soon as the structure was completed, a Pizza Hut opened up accross the street. Sometimes, you just can't catch a break.
6. There are 'sandanista' (or socialist revolution) colors everywhere around the city. On all the telephone poles and walls, traffic lights and posts.
7. You can buy anything you want at an intersection. You name it; cell phone chargers, cashews, water, newspapers, sunglasses. You could potentially never get out of your car for everyday needs.
I'm sure this list will continue to grow as I continue to live here. Getting used to the city has been difficult since you have to change how your brain normally references things. Instead of remembering street names you remember statues, big ads and funny looking glass buildings to get an idea of where you are. Managua really is not that bad of a city if you spend any significant amount of time here. There are also a lot of comforting places to go to, like really nice nicaragua coffee shops that have wireless. There is even a cafe run by a Luxemburgian-Indian that makes curry occasionally. While most backpackers come here and promptly leave, it is worth the visit. I'm actually enjoying it more than I did Panama City, so that's definitely a start.
This is a picture of the map of the city and the cathedral:
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Agua in Nicaragua
*** Please note the title of this post has nothing to do with the content
I know that I have been a very bad blogger in the past, but since I am contractually obligated to blog for my new job I hope to be posting about once a week. I arrived successfully in Nicaragua on Saturday the 30th of August after a layover that lasted way too long in San Salvador, El Salvador. It is currently very warm and rainy here.
I know that I have been a very bad blogger in the past, but since I am contractually obligated to blog for my new job I hope to be posting about once a week. I arrived successfully in Nicaragua on Saturday the 30th of August after a layover that lasted way too long in San Salvador, El Salvador. It is currently very warm and rainy here.
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