While I made a few light-hearted comments about my dumpy $15 a night dive In San Carlos, a quick walk around town opened my eyes. Almost every single dwelling that I was able to look into was in far worse shape than my own humble abode. Cracked walls, leaky roofs, no water, no fridge, a few pieces of broken furniture.
Add to that- rice and beans- 3 meals a day, supplemented by corn- usually tortillas, with maybe a bit of meat or dish 2 or 3 times a week.
San Carlos would, in most peoples terminology, be described as a shithole.- a one horse town where even the horse said “Screw it, I am Out of Here!” A collection of small, broken down tiendas, selling the same stuff as everyone else in town. Not even a Pali to provide some selection.
What life must be like for someone who lives his or her entire life in this place? I am counting down from 24hrs and hoping I am out of here before I get to 21 i.e. noon!
Like Antigua, Guatemala, Granada is to the rest of Nicaragua as Vancouver is to Kenora!
[Two American women on the airport shuttle today were discussing their “”experiences” in Nicaragua after a “whole week” in mostly Granada and I seriously wanted to slap them back to reality]
A snipit of their conversation. Lady A: What do you do for a living?
Lady B: I am a writer. Lady A: what do you write?
Lady B: Books and articles. Lady A: what kind of books?
Lady B: My last was an autobiography. Lady A: Who did you write it about?
Me (under my breath!) : the human race is DOOOOOOMED!!!!!!!!!!
Lady A: I find all the people here really nice and honest
LADY B: well one of the people at my hotel tried to short-change me!
Me( under my breath) One effing week and they are all experts!
Wed 26th. It is 9 am and I survived a night of rather fitful sleeping. The power went out at 6 and has been off since. I had breakfast at 7 at the bus station- 2 fried eggs, a slice of Frankenham-( looks like bologna tastes like inner tube) and a cup of Nescafe. Can you believe it, you can almost throw a rock at the Costa Rica border and they are serving instant.
Walking along the Malecon, I noticed a small island that I hadn’t seen before. Upon taking a second glance, I realized it was a large cluster of birds floating about ¼ mile off shore. Over a period of several minutes the island increased in size as more birds settled in. Suddenly, triggered by some unseen or unheard signal the birds began to rise in the air with equal numbers flying southeast towards the Rio San Juan while the remainder flew in the opposite direction towards the lake.
Now I am just killing time till I can grab the launch over to La Esquina de Lago for 2 days of jungle boredom.
No comments:
Post a Comment