Nica Nuggets Archives - Page 4 of 12

Monkeys…And Who Are We?: Nica Nugget #88

May 7th, 2020susanafield0 Comments

Yesterday, John and I came upon a troop of over 30 monkeys during our morning walk up and over the Cristo headland. I’d never seen such a large troop. John had only seen that plentitude a few weeks earlier and near the same location. Monkeys live lives separate from us. Well, for that matter…Iguanas live lives separate from us. Bee colonies. Ant colonies. Anteaters. Crabs. Salps. Tarpon. Crocodiles. Magnificent Frigatebirds. Fungi. Fireflies. Trees. Yes, Trees, with their magical subterranean roots and their leaves which manifest food out of nothing more than sun and air and a bit of water and …

April Nature Sightings: Nica Nugget #87

April 30th, 2020susanafield0 Comments

In the mornings a pair of Turquoise-browed Motmots has been nearing our porch. Likewise, we’ve been seeing them regularly during our evening stroll up the shallow canyon by our house. Locally common, they are much easier to spot now, at the tail end of dry season, than they will be after the rains start up soon and the barren landscape explodes into jungle. Squirrel Cuckoos have also been coming around. As well as Streak-backed Orioles. The resident howler monkeys are also much easier to spot now while the trees are barren and so many flowers and berries are luring them …

April Heat: Nica Nugget #86

April 13th, 2020susanafield0 Comments

This morning at 6:30 when I stepped outside I was hit in the face with the heat. It was a full body slam actually, an enveloping. It’s April, the hottest month of the year here. I sit in my rocking chair and my forehead glistens with sweat like a water glass covered in condensation. The cooling winds of January and February are gone. And the rain clouds of May through November just start to build, practicing for their awaited arrival. We clean our gutter of leaves and dust. We paint over the rust on our roof. We install a better …

Holy Week During Covid-19: Nica Nugget #85

April 11th, 2020susanafield0 Comments

This morning at 9 am, the day before Easter. This morning normally on the day before Easter, the beach would be packed, shoulder to shoulder. Or so I’ve been told, because despite living here for four years this is our first Holy Week here. But this morning at 9 am, when John and I and the dogs walked the length of the beach like we do most mornings, we found it empty. Except for the groups of lifeguards, who are just here for this week, with no one to save. And the beach toy vendors, who are here most Nicaraguan …

Some Mornings: Nica Nugget #84

January 14th, 2020susanafield0 Comments

Some mornings I wake up to a flooded house…during the dry season … when it hasn’t even rained. Some mornings I wake up to a large scorpion on my chair where I was about to put my hand…even when I haven’t seen a scorpion in months. This morning was that morning. For both. Time for a cup of coffee. Sigh. And some mornings, additionally, the electricity goes out. Like, just now…

Selva Negra and Hammonia Farm: Nica Nugget #83

December 20th, 2019susanafield0 Comments

It’s coffee harvest time in the mountains of Nicaragua. One young man traveled from his home near the Miskito coast, inland up the Coco River which borders Honduras and then on from there by bus to Selva Negra north of Matagalpa to pick coffee at the Hammonia Farm. He spoke to me in halting Spanish, maybe partly from shyness and partly because his native tongue is an Indian dialect. I was on a coffee tour there last month with my husband and two close friends visiting us from their home in France. We stayed at the Selva Negra Ecolodge, in …

The Sea Beneath Our Eyes: Nica Nugget #82

December 6th, 2019susanafield0 Comments

San Juan del Sur is a fishing village. A surfing village. A beach-lover’s paradise. A place of grand sunsets. A picture-perfect bay with brightly-colored pangas bobbing in the sea. But how deep does that sea go? How deep do the turtles swim? At what depths are the fish caught, which later we eat with gallo pinto while clinking bottles of Toñas at our favorite beachside restaurant? https://neal.fun/deep-sea/?fbclid=IwAR0Nw-CltOfbZdfdbmJmzno9MoB7n4ozhfafIdzUnuwZ8r44BaG-jvj9hm4

Gratitude For What I Once Took for Granted: Nica Nugget #81

November 24th, 2019susanafield0 Comments

There is a Thanksgiving/Christmas-inspired commercial which is virally being shared via FB right now. It’s of a family in their Suburban home in the United States going about their morning as they get ready for work and school. As they turn on the lights, or the shower or their car, a large holiday bow suddenly appears on the item. As if each modern convenience were a holiday gift. Which indeed of course each is. It reminds me of one aspect I truly love about living in Nicaragua: It’s really hard to take modern conveniences and comforts for granted. Practically every …

Day of the Dead, Rivas, Nicaragua: Nica Nugget #80

November 2nd, 2019susanafield0 Comments

For years, while living in Mexico and now Nicaragua, I’ve wanted to visit one of the local cemeteries on the Day of the Dead. This year I was able to talk my friends Eve and Nathalie into going with me. I’d been told that the cemetery in the larger, neighboring town of Rivas was the one to visit, so that’s where we went. Outside of the cemetery, flower vendors had set up shop. We bought some flowers and headed into the cemetery itself. There we saw people gathered around tombstones, painting, sweeping, eating, chatting, laying down flowers. I felt shy, …

Vibe Cafe and Making Dreams Come True: Nica Nugget #79

November 1st, 2019susanafield0 Comments

I first met Summer Shacklette over two years ago through a mutual friend. The three of us jumped into her truck to explore some of the northern beaches around Tola and ended up having lunch at the then-beachside restaurant of Mukul. Over drinks there we shared a bit about ourselves, as expats first meeting each other are known to do. Back in Dallas, Texas, Summer had been an Art teacher, a vendor of wines, had gone to culinary school, had worked as a pastry chef in a 5-star restaurant and in a 5-star hotel, and had opened and run her …