15th Birthday Party Madness: I went to a huge birthday party in my town and have posted pictures below throughout my blog.
Doggie Power: For my birthday, I received Alteza my new little white fluffy dog. Like me, she is quite sassy. She will bark at me whenever I am not providing her with 100% of my attention. I have started the training process. She can come and sit on command. Now I just wish I could teach her to be quiet and docile on command. She is, however, a puppy and therefore for the time being she is allowed to be hyper!
My neighbors and I before the fiesta!!
Credit card number theft: My credit card number was stolen (not the card itself as I still have possession of it). I hardly ever use the card, but such is life. I hope the people who stole my card number and used it in Columbia had a super awesome steak dinner, which was luckily the only item they charged.
Spider bite (feels like Arachnophobia): I was bitten on the face, twice, by a spider. I was sleeping so I cannot be 100% certain it was a spider bite. Yet, I have spotted above 4 or 5 large spiders hanging around my bed, so I suspect one of them to be the culprit.
The cake!!!
Well, I suppose I have started the month of December off with a bang (as long as “bang” is referring to the ear piercing sound of firecrackers going off in the streets in front of the house where I live)!! The top 5 ways a gringo can spot Christmas in Nicaragua:
1) It appears my neighbors have installed a disco-tec in their living room. No wait, that’s just the reflection of multicolored blinking lights flashing into my house non-stop at all hours.
2) The song “Feliz Navidad” is getting playtime on the radio, and this time the song is being played for “Christmas” vs. just being played for its catchy tune for passengers on the bus during a hot summer’s day in say, June.
3) The ubiquitous “white plastic chair” can be seen in lawns all around town, generally in groups of 50 to 100 filled with people singing 3 to 4 hour songs with endless choruses (and the second verse is NOT the same as the first). Note to Reader: Songs are being sung to the “virgin,” which is usually a 1ft tall figurine placed on the alter surrounded by flowers. “Virgins” can be purchased at the local virgin figurine store (no joke).
4) I feel like I am in a plastic pine tree forest. Don’t worry, I am on the lookout for giant plastic grizzly bears that have been reported in the area.
5) Did someone say: Fiesta? or am I just hearing things...
Another party pic with the b-day girl herself...
It’s official, I am spending the Christmas season in the tropics…Nicaragua style of course. Yesterday, I went into the city of Leon (for some reason that still has not revealed itself to me), because just like the mall on black Friday, the city of Leon was packed to the brim with shoppers, travelers and venders. In three words I would describe it as “a bit hectic.” My reason for going into the city was to accompany a friend who needed to buy some house paint and meat. I thought that I would tag along for the trip to check out the festivities. As usual, there is never a dull moment when walking through the streets. Pirated DVDs and CDs can be purchased on every corner, street venders sell a variety of food from apples to grapes to cheese topped with onions, cream, and finally wrapped in a tortilla. As I wove in and out of the crowd, we made our way around town. Finally, we made it to the grocery store where my friend was going to buy meat! The day was unusually hot for the month of December; however, it was tolerable. Patience is still a virtue that I am working on, and by now I should know that things will always take much longer than I expect them to take. The lines were long, and people plentiful. My friend made her purchases. She had managed to pack 3 fairly large cardboard boxes full of fresh meat (not frozen). Now I thought, we are normally a good 90 minutes away from town via bus. Also, being the holiday season the bus terminals are jam packed with travelers…so how long will it take to get home today…and how long can meat be unrefrigerated while the hot sun pours down on it? While, my questions seemed at least reasonable, my neighbor thought them to be incredulous, and so began our journey. As she was yet unfinished with her shopping, she gave me explicate instruction to take the 3 meat boxes to the bus terminal in Leon and wait…and wait…and wait. One bus came and went, then I saw yet another pass while my friend was still nowhere in sight. She had also insisted on taking the “microbus,” which is a large van that holds upwards of 15 to 20 people. The downside to the micro is that they do not come as frequently and people do not form any kind of organized line to get onto the micro. Therefore, when a micro arrives, a bombardment of people ramshackle its doors and try to pile in using any means necessary just short of biting. I do not enjoy the micro, or its fight to the death boarding methods. I imagined the meat melting inside the boxes due to the heat. Then out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the microbus, without warning the crowd swarmed and my friend jumped from her seat to elbow her was into some seats. I remained composed sitting calmly with the boxes. She won!! We got the 2 front seats in the micro and we were finally on our way home, and to this I said, “Feliz Navidad”. It took about 40 minutes to get home on the micro, which is the up side to taking a micro vs. a big bus. The meat had been unrefrigerated for upwards of 2 to 3 hours, and I was able to collapse into my hammock relived to have returned to my home and town.
My dog, the queen
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