Saturday morning we were up early again to take the long
drive back to Lindsey's home town Muy Muy. She actually seemed anxious to get
back. On the way we passed through Esteli.
You can find anything in Esteli. There are many hotels, restaurant and diverse
shops. Blocks and blocks of shops. Our goal was to find the area with with the leather crafters. Becky and Rachel did not want to leave Nicaragua without a pair of hand made boots. After a few misguided searches and a stop for lunch we had finally arrived. Hand made leather boot shops were scattered along both sides of the street for about two block. They will measure your feet and make a custom fit pair or you can see if there are any already made boots that will fit. Since it takes almost a week to have boots custom made ,we all needed to find boot that were already made. We all found what we were looking for and four pair later we were back on the road.
We drove through the roundabout going into Muy Muy in late afternoon. In the middle of the roundabout was a large statue of a man on a horse. I believe it was Augusto Sandino ,a hero from the 1930s revolution against the U. S. . Along the road were some small stores,cafe/bars and restaurants. We turned off the main road and zigzagged our way to our hotel on the narrow brick paved streets of town. Carlos, the hotel owners son,met us at the steel gate/door and showed us to our room. He had been to school in the U. S. and spoke very good English.
There was a large area in the center of the hotel with an opened roof. Off to one side was a bar and kitchen. Our room was down a short hallway on the perimeter. We dropped our bags in the room but we still had two large very heavy suit cases to deal with. These were full of care packages from everyone back home. Toys and back packs for the kids ,candy and some of Lindsey's favorite snacks,(the Cheetos didn't make it passed the first two days.)and baseball glove ,hat and balls for Lindseys friend Heber. Heber met us at the hotel to help get these cases to their destination.
It was a short walk to Lindsey's place. The houses along the way were close together,close to the street and small. Lindsey's house was just a 20'x20' cement block building with porches on the front and back. Half the house was divided into two bedrooms. The other half was living space with a hot plate and a table and a few chairs. Small to us but very nice by Nica standards. Out back was the shower/outhouse and an excellent view of the countryside. On the back porch was a well worn hammock. Obviously a favorite place to spend leisure time and a good choice at that. Becky had bought a hammock while we were in Esteli earlier that day. It was meant to go home with us but we offered to replace Lindsey's ragged one with it. She assured us the one she had was fine and would last until her term was up in Nov. (Note to Lindsey : youre probably already regretting that decision.)
Walking into Lindsey's house is similar to walking into Rachel's. you are instantly met by dogs. At Lindsey's it's Rupert. At Rachel's it's Redford.the thing is they could pass for twins. If they didn't live over 3000 miles away you would swear they were at least brother and sister.
Rupert was excited to have Lindsey home and the rawhide bones that came with her were a big hit. I done expect they'll last much longer than the Cheetos did. We hadn't been there long before company arrived. Hebers 10 year old sister , his 4 year old nephew and his 18 month old niece came by to welcome Lindsey home and find out who the new people were. Hebers dad also stopped in to say hola and round up the kids.
Before leaving Wisconsin , Lindsey had called and told us about Tonio,a friend of her and Heber , who was looking for a video camera. It is possible to purchase the latest equipment in nicaragua ,but the choices are few and the price is high. Tonio had found what he wanted on line and we were able to buy it at Best Buy and bring it to him. He was eager to meet us and see his new camera so we arranged to meet him and his hired hand Jackson at Cafe Angel on the edge of town.
While the bars in town are more like billard halls and kind of a men's only saloon, the Cafe was family friendly. Pavilion style. No walls. You could get something to eat , drink beer and even dance if the music felt right. We did all of that. At 20 cordobas a beer(that's .80 cents) it was hard not to.We became fast friends with Tonio. He owns a ranch on the hill over looking MuyMuy where he raise bulls for the rodeo in Muy Muy. We all had a bite to eat and talked and laughed for hours. Even though Lindsey was asked to do some interpreting, we were able to communicate fairly well. And when something is funny it just funny. There is no language barrier.
As luck would have it our hotel had planned to have a party on that night. Becky though it was for her but I'm pretty sure they were doing it with or without us. We all left the cafe and headed back to the hotel to check it out. There were strobe lights, a disco ball, a DJ , beer ,dancing ,a cover charge and very loud music. It would have been impossible to go to bed and try to get any sleep. There was only one thing to do. Dance and drink till the party was over. And we did. It turned into a late night but fun was had by all. What I failed to realize at the time was all the plans we were making for the next day. Our last day in Muy Muy was also to become our busiest day yet
You can find anything in Esteli. There are many hotels, restaurant and diverse
shops. Blocks and blocks of shops. Our goal was to find the area with with the leather crafters. Becky and Rachel did not want to leave Nicaragua without a pair of hand made boots. After a few misguided searches and a stop for lunch we had finally arrived. Hand made leather boot shops were scattered along both sides of the street for about two block. They will measure your feet and make a custom fit pair or you can see if there are any already made boots that will fit. Since it takes almost a week to have boots custom made ,we all needed to find boot that were already made. We all found what we were looking for and four pair later we were back on the road.
We drove through the roundabout going into Muy Muy in late afternoon. In the middle of the roundabout was a large statue of a man on a horse. I believe it was Augusto Sandino ,a hero from the 1930s revolution against the U. S. . Along the road were some small stores,cafe/bars and restaurants. We turned off the main road and zigzagged our way to our hotel on the narrow brick paved streets of town. Carlos, the hotel owners son,met us at the steel gate/door and showed us to our room. He had been to school in the U. S. and spoke very good English.
There was a large area in the center of the hotel with an opened roof. Off to one side was a bar and kitchen. Our room was down a short hallway on the perimeter. We dropped our bags in the room but we still had two large very heavy suit cases to deal with. These were full of care packages from everyone back home. Toys and back packs for the kids ,candy and some of Lindsey's favorite snacks,(the Cheetos didn't make it passed the first two days.)and baseball glove ,hat and balls for Lindseys friend Heber. Heber met us at the hotel to help get these cases to their destination.
It was a short walk to Lindsey's place. The houses along the way were close together,close to the street and small. Lindsey's house was just a 20'x20' cement block building with porches on the front and back. Half the house was divided into two bedrooms. The other half was living space with a hot plate and a table and a few chairs. Small to us but very nice by Nica standards. Out back was the shower/outhouse and an excellent view of the countryside. On the back porch was a well worn hammock. Obviously a favorite place to spend leisure time and a good choice at that. Becky had bought a hammock while we were in Esteli earlier that day. It was meant to go home with us but we offered to replace Lindsey's ragged one with it. She assured us the one she had was fine and would last until her term was up in Nov. (Note to Lindsey : youre probably already regretting that decision.)
Walking into Lindsey's house is similar to walking into Rachel's. you are instantly met by dogs. At Lindsey's it's Rupert. At Rachel's it's Redford.the thing is they could pass for twins. If they didn't live over 3000 miles away you would swear they were at least brother and sister.
Rupert was excited to have Lindsey home and the rawhide bones that came with her were a big hit. I done expect they'll last much longer than the Cheetos did. We hadn't been there long before company arrived. Hebers 10 year old sister , his 4 year old nephew and his 18 month old niece came by to welcome Lindsey home and find out who the new people were. Hebers dad also stopped in to say hola and round up the kids.
Before leaving Wisconsin , Lindsey had called and told us about Tonio,a friend of her and Heber , who was looking for a video camera. It is possible to purchase the latest equipment in nicaragua ,but the choices are few and the price is high. Tonio had found what he wanted on line and we were able to buy it at Best Buy and bring it to him. He was eager to meet us and see his new camera so we arranged to meet him and his hired hand Jackson at Cafe Angel on the edge of town.
While the bars in town are more like billard halls and kind of a men's only saloon, the Cafe was family friendly. Pavilion style. No walls. You could get something to eat , drink beer and even dance if the music felt right. We did all of that. At 20 cordobas a beer(that's .80 cents) it was hard not to.We became fast friends with Tonio. He owns a ranch on the hill over looking MuyMuy where he raise bulls for the rodeo in Muy Muy. We all had a bite to eat and talked and laughed for hours. Even though Lindsey was asked to do some interpreting, we were able to communicate fairly well. And when something is funny it just funny. There is no language barrier.
As luck would have it our hotel had planned to have a party on that night. Becky though it was for her but I'm pretty sure they were doing it with or without us. We all left the cafe and headed back to the hotel to check it out. There were strobe lights, a disco ball, a DJ , beer ,dancing ,a cover charge and very loud music. It would have been impossible to go to bed and try to get any sleep. There was only one thing to do. Dance and drink till the party was over. And we did. It turned into a late night but fun was had by all. What I failed to realize at the time was all the plans we were making for the next day. Our last day in Muy Muy was also to become our busiest day yet
No comments:
Post a Comment