Saturday Night Action: Nica Nugget #10

The town was hoppin’ last night. One restaurant was completely packed. Others were also jamming. And the beach was full, with a final game of soccer under the lights.  John E Field and I and our friend Summer Shacklette were looking at each other in shock, feeling like we’d time capsuled back to last year. “Managuans,” our waiter Ricardo at Buen Gusto said, as I sipped on our Macuas (Buen Gusto serves THE BEST Macuas). “They are here because of the Santo Domingo holiday.” On the beach was the ice cream vendor, the sunglass guys, the surfer, the dogs, the …

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Dos Hombres on the Way to Cristo: Nica Nugget #9

John and I live in Barrio La Talanguera, San Juan del Sur, and we love to walk. Our typical morning hike is up the hill to the Christ statue and back down again. We like to climb up the back side and practically every day we see something new. Harold, though, is a common face on our morning hike and he typically greets us with a huge smile and a wave as he lifts up the gate. He’s one of the guards at the back entrance into the Pacific Marlin neighborhood, which we pass on our way up the hill. …

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Chocorron, The Milkman and his Cart: Nica Nugget #8

First off, this video is not mine. Kathleen Brugger spent a day riding along with Chocorron in his horse-drawn milk cart in February 2017, shot this video and added English subtitles. She shared it with me day before yesterday via FB Messenger after seeing my Nica Nuggets which I’m also posting on the Life in San Juan FB group. Then yesterday morning, there he was! Chocorron that is, and his cart. I was in the back seat of a friend’s truck on our way to Rivas to buy some tile for a bathroom project (yes, some of the tile in …

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Fresh-squeezed Orange Juice: Nica Nugget #7

I did a double take today when I saw a bowl of peeled oranges. That’s exactly how we used to peel our oranges when I was a kid. Well, until we learned the American way; a way which never seemed quite right. I’m from Puerto Rico and there, like they were in this bowl, oranges are peeled circularly. (Or at least they were, I don’t know about now. It’s been 12 years since I’ve been in P.R.) I saw the oranges, saw the juicer and stopped in my tracks, because of course I had to have a cup of fresh-squeezed …

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Dr. Zapatos: Nica Nugget #6

After John and I went tromping through the jungle in the rain last week in search of the waterfall (which we found but which didn’t have any water falling, except in the form of rain on our heads), I noticed that my only pair of walking shoes had come unglued. Oh no, what to do? It’s not like I can just hop in my car (which I don’t have) and run to an outdoor gear store (which doesn’t exist here) or order on Amazon (which doesn’t deliver here). This is the one downside of living in a non-consumer-oriented culture. The …

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Coffee and Mint Lemonade: Nica Nugget #5

Yesterday, I saw a post on the FB Page Life in San Juan del Sur which sparked my interest. It was about the relocated Indio del Sur Coffee Shop. So this morning John and I decided to find it and check it out. There are no addresses in Nicaragua as we know them. But once I knew where to look, from the fb post, it was easy to spot. It’s tucked in around the south side of the church. As we glanced back out the door from our seats, John pointed to Cristo (note the Rio de Janeiro-esque statue on …

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Simon Says it’s Time for a Smoothie: Nica Nugget #4

Hooray! My favorite smoothie bar is still open. Simon Says. Patricia, the General Manager and waitress, welcomed John and me this morning with her great smile and open arms. They’ve closed their awesome back patio for the time being, but their funky front space is still great and probably ample space for the folks still around. They’ve adjusted their hours too, deciding to close at night, and just open during daylight hours, but they are still open everyday but Tuesday. I’m like a broken record when I go there, always ordering their Brazil smoothie, but an expat friend who recently moved away …

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Back to the Confessional

Dear Reader, I miss you. I miss me. It has been several months since my last confession. (Haha. Can you tell I spent eight years in Catholic school and went to Confession every Friday?) And yet it feels like I have been indeed away from the confessional. Away from sharing my thoughts and feelings…with someone (you) who, ha, I can’t even see (I bet you never thought of yourself as a priest/ess did you?); away from something sacred, from something that leaves me feeling whole. Yes, I’ve been away too long now from this sharing of my soul. I’ll admit …

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Gourmet Ice Cream!: Nica Nugget #3

Two doors down from the Sanchez store there’s a new and awesome ice cream shop called Bolingo Gourmet. I had a scoop of Maracuya (Passion fruit). John had Chocolate. Next time in town I’m having Coco (Coconut) so I can see if it’s as good as the Coco I used to get as a child on the plaza in Ponce, Puerto Rico, which in my book is still the best ice cream I’ve ever had in my life. (And a runner up is the ice cream shop along the malecon in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.) John swears the …

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Jungle Hike in Rain: Nica Nugget #2

Our friend Summer has been telling us about a waterfall near her house so today John and I joined her on a hike to it. The trail was so overgrown in places we feared stepping on venomous snakes and had to backtrack at one point. There were gorgeous spiderwebs with fat, striped spiders. A field of small, darting butterflies. And then a butterfly so large I said no, it’s a bird, as it partly disappeared into a tree. And John said no, it’s a bat, as we crept up to it and stared at the dark form. And Summer said no, …

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