Managua, Managua, Managua! I have been here for almost two weeks now and I can hardly believe it! Although time seems to pass extremely slow at times, I honestly cannot believe all the things that I have already experienced in the short period that I’ve been here. There aren’t enough words to even begin to describe a study abroad experience such as this one; but just for you guys I am going to try:) I honestly sat around thinking of how I should write this blog for the longest time, when I finally realized it would never get written if I didn’t just sit down and write it, so here goes. Whilst contemplating the best way to write a blog I determined I would just break things down into general cateogires to begin with! Haha hope you all enjoy!
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| I know it's hard not to be jealous. But try not to be - it's a sin;) |
Family (La familia) -
My familia Nicaragüense consists of five people excluding myself. Mimi (Doña Iclea) is the "mom figure" of the house and even though she is upwards of 70 years old she’s definitely no grandma. Her three grandaughters also live with her: Angela -29, Tania - 21, and Evelin - 17. Angela has a son, Ricardo – 2, who is the man of the house. He is honestly one of the cutest two-year-old boys I have ever seen in my life but is incessantly crying and actually kind of a brat. Pretty sure he hates me because whenever I speak to him he says one of two things that are actually audible, “no” and “alto” (which means stop). We live in a really nice neighborhood called, “Los Robles” and my house is pretty huge. In case you all were wondering I have my own room and (thank God) don’t have to wash my clothes by hand…there is a brand new washing machine in the house. P.S. We have a maid…definitely interesting to say the least. She lives with us and I’m pretty sure she’s more like an indentured slave. Kinda sad.
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| L-R: Me, Tania, Evelin, Angela, (family friend in yellow), Mimi (in blue) - just missing Ricardo! |
Universities/Classrooms (Universidades y Aulas):
There are two major universities in Managua, UCA and UNAN. I am currently attending a two-week Spanish intensive course at the UCA, which is fairly close to my house and will be starting my “real” classes at the UNAN, which is about fifteen minutes, and two bus rides away. Generally speaking class rooms/buildings are not airconditioned, which is a bit difficult to endure when it’s february and it’s 93 degrees out and you’re trying to learn. As far as I have been informed the weather right now is “fresco” aka cool and will only be much hotter by the time La Semana Santa (Holy week) rolls around in April. WOO! Something to look forward to!
Bathrooms are interesting at the university. First of, there is no such thing as a constant supply of toilet paper. Secondly, there is a giant plastic garbage bin in each bathroom full of water. These bins are usually centrally located and contain a smaller bucket in side. When you’re done “doing your business” you have to exit the stall and fill up the bucket to dump it in the toilet, instead of flushing. The rush of water causes the toilet to flush, pretty genious if you ask me. I was also surprised to hear the chirping of birds in the classroom, turns out it was just a little gecko, which later presented itself to us as it scurried across the board. Now I don’t want you to get the wrong picture of my new University, because they are definitely pretty modern and superrr pretty..all out-door hall-ways if you can imagine!
Food/Restaurants (Comida y Restaurantes):
I know what you’re thinking! Eggs, beans, rice, and plenty of tortillas! Haha sort of the case, but not really. There are definitely a lot of staples, for instance, Gallo Pinto, which can only be described as a mix of rice and beans. CHEESE (shout out to all you cheese heads) is HUGE here..but there is definitely a variety of other foods as well. For those of you who think you have ever eaten fruit. You are so wrong. I have discovered that the only place food exists is in tropical zones such as Nicaragua. I kid you not, there are literally hundreds of different fruits here that I have never even seen/heard of in my life. The fruit alone is an adventure in itself. Every day is a different fresco (juice): Jamaica, Chia, Guava, you name it they’ve got it! Something I found funny are the available fast food options. Here are a list of some of the American chains I’ve seen (so far): TGIF’s, BW’s, Pizza-Hut, etc. Kinda funny actually. My first night with my familia anfitriona (host family) we celebrated by going out to Pizza Hut, which here, is really expensive and pretty up-scale.
Gallo Pinto
Public Transportation (Transporte Público):
It costs approximately twelve cents to ride the bus. For that very reason you will rarely find a single bus that is not jam packed like a can of sardines. There is no real obvious bus system. They come when they come and you basically just need to ask around and figure it out. No one bus looks like the another. Most are brightly colored and almost always have some sort of cheesy jesus decal on the front (no offense to Jesus). Definitely no separation of church and anything here – an interesting sight to see.
Also, there is no such thing as, what we call, "rules of the road" here. If you DO use your turn signal and you DON’T honk enough there is something wrong with you. I’m pretty sure automatic cars don’t exist here and it is not uncommon to own a moto (motorcycle) instead of a car. Most people do not have their own means of transportation though – too expensive. Gas is sold by the liter but converts to about $4-ish a gallon. I also learned that taxis cannot be trusted. Have only taken one so far though so we’ll see how that goes.
Street Food/Vendors (Comida Rápida/Vendedores):
Food is sold everywhere and anywhere. I would advise most not to eat from street carts no matter how hungry you are. Might look tempting but the meat probably came from the market down the street where slabs of cows have been hanging unrefrigerated for God knows how long. FDA, who? Exactly. I’m definitely not looking to take part in Moctezuma’s revenge during my stay here. Also, please note that every opportunity to make money here is fully observed aka every red-light means someone is trying to sell you something or offer a service to you. From “fresh” fruit and water to a windsheild cleaning or juggling act. There is no city that compares to how impoverished Managua is. Second poorest in the hemisphere only after Haiti. You are either SUPER rich or SUPER poor. Lucky for me I am living the first lifestyle. Keep in mind Super rich here, for the most part, can be classified as middle-class-ish in the U.S. I also found it odd that there is a truck that comes around daily selling fresh bread in the back of the truck-bed. Haven’t been brave enough to try it yet. Other things that get sold at EXTREMELY low prices door-to-door include: clothing and pirated movies...haha.
Random:
Radio stations/spanglish:
Note that there are some radio stations that play random 80’s music and popular hits such as “Dreamweaver” – really, really weird. Also, words such as: closet, shorts, and ride and not translated here and remain the same as they are in English, God knows why. Although, when spoken by someone with a Spanish accent they still sound Spanish. Ahah
Electricity/water:
6 = number of times I have shocked myself without even doing anything improperly.
Hot water = does not exist; not that you would need it or anything.
Sleeping:
Hot weather = no sleep, also doesn’t help that I frequently find ants in my bed at night? Somebody please give me a solution for this, and please don't say “try not to eat in bed” - because I don’t haha.
Cat calls:
In regards to trying to go anywhere in public (for females) hopefully you do not mind being made a complete spectacle..whistling, cat-calling, etc. etc. etc. are the norm. BLAH.
Things I should’ve brought: q-tips/nailclippers/high-heels
Things I miss: my friends/the bf, pb&j, not sweating
Things I’ve seen: Vulcan Masaya, Caves, Granada Poetry Festival
p.s. I am SO open to suggestions for this blog since it's pretty random at the moment! Feel free to ask any questions you want answered! Questions such as: "are you having fun?" or "how is it?" will be disqualified!
