To begin, “Chela” means white girl in Nicaragua. If you happen to be a white girl visiting or living in Nicaragua, you will learn this word quickly. Men in Nicaragua love to give “piropos”, which means cat-calling. They do this in a few creative ways which includes hissing, blowing kisses (the worst is the long, drawn-out kiss that sounds more like mmmmmuuuuuuaaaaaahhhhhhh versus muah) and of course “Hola Chela or Chelita”. The best is when they say “Hello” or “Beautiful” in English. When I first experienced this, it didn’t bother me much. I have always been good at blocking things out. But after a few months of this, and of course it has gotten worse now that I am in a bigger city, it gets to you after a while. It’s like a constant stressor in the back of your mind. I find myself always conscious of it and I try to avoid walking by groups of men. Definitely one of the cultural differences I will have to learn to cope with during my service.
Of course, my first week in site I already had a great streak of luck beginning with my name tag falling into a puddle in the gutter that was full of (definitely toxic) blue-greenish water right before walking into my first school . I couldn’t help but laugh at myself because that would happen to me! The next day, I had a mototaxi take me to my school that is on the other side of town. My host mom told me that it costs 7 cords (Nicaraguan currency) to get a ride from a mototaxi in town. So, naturally when we pulled up to the school I gave him 7 cords. He claimed that is costed 10 and I told him no. At this point, I’ve lived in Nicaragua for 3 months. I know how people always try to charge me more because they think I’m a tourist and they know they can take advantage of tourists. I was not going to let him do that so I told him he was crazy and went about my way. Once in the school I asked another teacher how much it cost and they said from the other side of town where I came from, 10 cords was normal. I felt so guilty! I’m sure that driver will make a point not to pick me up in the future. The crazy white girl who underpays taxi drivers, hahaha! I told myself that if I saw him again in the future I would give him the 3 cords I owe him.
My first week in town I found a used bike shop that recently opened and bought a bike! The first I’ve bought since I was a kid. Now, I have a quicker way of getting around town.
I started running again. Although, I now go a little later than I did with Mama Tere back in Masatepe. Instead of 4.30am, I now go at 5.30am. I run on the highway that leads to Managua which is actually a nice run now that the rainy season has started and everything is green, even if there is a lot of traffic that goes by. Unfortunately, I still have very little endurance but hopefully that will change with time.
I attended my first baseball game in a nearby town with a fellow volunteer. Baseball is the big sport here in Nicaragua other than soccer. Unfortunately, we were only able to watch about 20 min of the game before it started POURING rain. Of course, seeing as how I am from the desert, I was not used to this and loved every minute of it.
Something I found funny when I first came to Nicaragua was the way Nicaraguans greet each other on the street. Instead of saying, “Hola” (hello) they say “adios” (bye) which is a quick way to greet someone as you pass them by. The funniest part is when kids like to practice their English and mock you at the same time by saying, “bye” in English because you’re a gringa. They find this extremely hilarious, especially if you reply back in English. I’ve become accustomed to both greetings but experienced a new one recently. One day, I was walking by a group of kids when I noticed that they were giggling and making these weird sounds. Suddenly, I realized that they were pretending to say “adios” in Chinese. It took me a minute to realize what they were doing and that they were directing it at me. They found it extremely hilarious and all I could think was, “Do I really look like I am Asian?” It wouldn’t be the first time someone has thought that I had some Asian heritage. But the fact that these kids assumed I was Asian and were trying to mock me like they usually do with the “Bye” in English really caught me off guard.
Saturday, June 8th, 2013 – I got together with a group of volunteers and we hiked the Mombacho Volcano! It was a 3 hour hike and the whole time we were practically walking up and down stairs. The scenery was beautiful and felt like you were completely submerged in the jungle. The weather was kind of cold (because of all the recent rain we’ve had) but once you started hiking it was perfectly fresh! We were able to see some great views of Nicaragua. Definitely want to do it again before I leave. The next day I could hardly walk my body was so sore.
Saturday, June 15th, 2013 – Today I was planning to spend the morning at the beach with a fellow volunteer but we decided to stay home because it was rainy and chilly. Later that morning, I experienced my first earthquake! I was in the kitchen with my host sister when all of the sudden she ran to the living room and picked up her daughter and my mom started freaking out as well. I didn’t understand what they were saying and noticed the shaking right as I made out the word “temblor” which literally means, “tremble” but I immediately understood what was going on. We gathered together and my host mom kept saying, “sangre de Cristo, sangre de Cristo” which literally means “blood of Christ” and I couldn’t help but smile during the whole ordeal. They were freaking out and I was loving it. I literally saw the road moving up and down outside while the water in the kitchen was splashing out of the pila (which is basically a Nica sink). The whole scene made me want to laugh but I didn’t for fear of being rude. I found out later that is was a 6.5 magnitude and luckily there was no serious damage throughout the country. Apparently, the rainy season is more susceptible to these types of natural disasters. Nicaragua has granted me a lot of first experiences and I’m sure there will be more.
