A Breath Of Fresh Air

“Y que significa 'Mata de Cana?'”
“Es donde yo vivo! Quiere ir a mi casa?”
Translation for Tante:
“And what does 'Mata de Cana' mean?”
"It's where I live! Want to come to my house?”

Just when I thought I'd never meet anyone here in my new town, a fourteen year old student, Dayana, (who I was sure was at least 17) invited me out to her town to meet her family and get to know the area! I was so excited that someone reached out to me, especially after realizing my counterpart was not going to be so helpful in terms of introducing me to people in town. =/

So, after her last day of Saturday class (she works during the week, and therefore can't go to school everyday), we got on the bus together and headed out to her part of town.

The Bus: There are two types of buses here in Nicaragua, and they're definitely worth dedicating an entire blog to, but in the mean time, we'll just say that the bus I was on was an old school bus from the US, and it was extremely crowded. We were on it for an hour passing through tons of little towns, or “comarcas,” on the outskirts of my bigger “centro urbana.” It was so gorgeous passing through the hills and farms, that I didn't even notice when we started to cross the river. This may sound perfectly normal, a bus crossing a river, but I should probably mention that there was no bridge! We literally drove through the shallow part of the river - which was running pretty forcefully - in a school bus! Dayana, told me that during the rainy season, it's completely impassible, which means they can't get to school, or work, or anywhere aside from the “pulperia,” a corner store that's run out of someone's house. BUT, they're currently building a bridge, and since rainy season has just ended, they'll have plenty of time to finish it! =D

Anyway, once we made it to her house – yes the bus dropped us in front of her house on the only dirt road in and out of the town – we walked up to the front porch and she introduced me to her mother, grandmother, and uncle (none of whom had any forewarning that a random gringa was going to show up at their doorstep since there's no cell phone service there.) They were so welcoming and immediately pulled up a chair for me. Turns out though, Dayana had other plans. We only had an hour before I had to catch the bus back, so we hurried off to see the river. A short walk from her house was one of the most tranquil and beautiful places I've ever seen. We got to the river and found her two cousins on their way back from swimming in the deeper part. They were excited to show me where the best spots were, and I was happy to follow them. The icing on the cake?? There were MONKEYS playing in the trees right above our heads! They were literally swinging from tree to tree on vines like in the movies! I was able to get a few good pictures, but was trying not to ruin the moment. It was so so awesome!

After hanging out by the river for a little bit, we went back to her house where she insisted on making me an orange fresco. Ahh frescos...there will be a seperate blog about those too...but for right now, we'll say they're amazing drinks made from whatever fresh fruit happens to be around, water, and sugar. So I helped her get the water from the well with a bucket, and gratefully (yet nervously) drank the amazing fresco she made me. So far so good on the lack of side effects from drinking possibly not so sanitary water lol.

All in all, I'd say it was by far the best day I've had in site, and it ranked among the highest I've had here in Nicaragua. It was such a simple, carefree, relaxed day, and it came at just the right time for me.

Random aside: Watching Polar Express in Spanish tonight made me literally ache for home and for the holidays. Somebody send me some Christmas cookies, hot chocolate, and snow!
NEW ADDRESS!!
Krista Blasch
AP #129
Rivas, Rivas
Correos de Nicaragua
Nicaragua, Central America