Feeling Thankful: Nica Nugget #44

So much has been written about how wonderful Nicaraguans are, and with good reason. Where I used to live in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA, we had a saying: We came for the winter but stayed for the summers. (It is a lovely ski resort town, with perfect, albeit brief, summers.) In San Juan del Sur, the saying could easily be: We came for the beauty, but stayed for the people. My husband and I have never known a warmer, kinder, more quick to smile and help, group of people than Nicaraguans. But today I found my gratefulness expanding to include …

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Shopping in Rivas: Nica Nugget #43

San Juaneros, and expats that have lived here awhile might roll their eyes over my writing a Nugget about shopping in Rivas, because everyone knows about shopping in Rivas, right? But, die-hard Rivas shoppers, I ask you this: Did you know that you can buy chickens, aquarium fish, rabbits, puppies, livestock feed, dog food and veterinary medicines at the Rivas Purina shop? I didn’t. Did you know that you can get Vigoron with pork meat instead of fried pork rind but just asking for carne? And that it’s absolutely delicious. And just costs 50 cordobas ($1.50 US), and will fill …

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A Candle Against Flies: Nica Nugget #42

Did you know that a lit candle keeps the flies away? I didn’t know this before, but I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes so now I know for sure. I love eating in town at the market. The food is good and plentiful and the price is right (80 cordobas for this breakfast + 20 cordobas for fresh juice, so 100 cordobas or $3.12 US). Because of the flies, juices are served in a glass covered by a plastic bag with a hole for the straw. What was new this week though was the lit candle. It worked! Those …

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Crossing by Ferry: Nica Nugget #41

My husband and I live on the other side of the river from the town of San Juan del Sur, in the Barrio La Talanguera which is below the Christ statue. We don’t own a car, so almost daily and sometimes more than once a day we walk into town via the beach. If the tide is low enough we can easily wade across the river at the spot where it spills into the ocean in small rivulets. We’re always wearing shorts and sandals for just such an occasion. Sometimes the tide is a bit high and the brackish water …

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The Day of the Dead: Nica Nugget #40

Tomorrow is November 2nd, the Day of the Dead. Today is the day that flower vendors set up shop at the park in front of the church. I have no ancestors buried here.I have no family graves or tombstones or mausoleums to visit, to clean, to adorn with flowers. I have not seen my grandmother’s or my mother’s grave, nestled side by side as they are, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, since we buried my mother there eleven years ago. We assume the cemetery attendants will take care of their gravesite. Honestly, I have not thought about the care of their …

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Ometepe Series #5, Favorite Scenes: Nica Nugget #39

In my voracious reading over the years, I’ve come upon literary scenes of women washing clothes in rivers and in lakes. But it was only now, at the age of 62, in Merida, Ometepe, Nicaragua, that I finally witnessed the scene with my own eyes. The settings in the books have always been so exotic- the jungles of Africa mostly. And thus, so too, seemed the act. But when I actually saw the women, in two different groups, over two days and at two different beaches around Merida, washing their clothes in the lake looked both normal and fun. A …

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Ometepe Series #4, Charco Verde: Nica Nugget #38

Probably our favorite place on Ometepe was Charco Verde (translated as Green Lagoon). What a great place, especially to see insects! It’s an ecological reserve located along the isthmus between the two volcanoes. On the day we were there we were the only visitors. Our visit began in the beautiful butterfly pavilion. It ended there too, because we just had to go back before leaving. Butterflies are super hard to photograph. They were flitting everywhere: the sudden flash of blue and then black and white, blue and then black and white. Lovely music is piped into the pavilion. There are …

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Ometepe Series #3, Isla Bonita, Where We Stayed: Nica Nugget #37

There are several choices of where to stay in Ometepe: hotels and hostels in town, Eco-farms in the jungle, simple cabanas, fancier hotels with restaurants along the beach of Santo Domingo, and accommodations with local Nicas at their homes. The friend, Jon, who was visiting us from his home in the Rocky Mountains wanted a beachfront location. We visited the lovely Hotel Paraiso in Santo Domingo and enjoyed a cup of coffee at their open-air restaurant overlooking the lake but chose to stay someplace simpler and less expensive. We found our lodging online, via AirBnB. It’s called Isla Bonita and …

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Ometepe Series #2, The Ferry Ride: Nica Nugget #36

We caught the 10:30 am ferry from San Jorge, about a 45-minute drive NE from our home in San Juan del Sur. I’d called and made reservations over the phone the day before and was told we’d be traveling on the Ometepe 3, one of their larger ferrys which took cars. I was told it was a big, three-story ferry with a bar and bathrooms. And also that it could carry nine cars. Those two separate bits of information didn’t match in my mind; surely a large three-story ferry could carry more than nine cars, right? But when I saw …

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Ometepe Series #1, My Two Ometepes & Two Types of Roads: Nica Nugget #35

My Two Ometepes Like Ometepe’s two volcanoes – the active, northern Volcan Concepcion and the dormant, southern Volcan Maderas – I hold two Ometepes in my mind. One Ometepe, is the mystical one, which came to me over the years from traveler’s and expat’s blogs and from our son who claimed: “Once you and Dad visit, you’ll sell your home in San Juan del Sur and move there.” The second Ometepe is the one I breathed and ate and saw with my very own eyes for the first time last weekend, when the visit from a friend spurred my husband …

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