Mini America

I had some free time over the holidays so I thought "Why not got to Costa Rica for a few days?". Might as well, since I'm in the neighbourhood. A quick Google search of "Costa Rica" and "surfing" and Tamarindo came up as the place to go.Driving directly from Managua would take about 4 hours, but with a chaotic border crossing (getting there took 3.5 hours) and having to switch to a local bus in Liberia, my journey took me about 10 hours. As soon as I arrived in Tamarindo I felt like I was transplanted into another world. The town was so developed. It reminded me of a more tropical Florida. A new condo building is being built in the middle of town, and it was the tallest building I'd seen in 4 months.It was probably how Crocodile Dundee felt when he left the outback and landed in New York City (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was a taste for the culture shock I'll feel when I get home).
The place was overrun by tourists and real estate offices trying to sell land to foreigners. In the rush to develop this once "sleepy" beach town, they missed something. Where was the authenticity? Reading a magazine geared at foreigners living in Costa Rica, the sense of entitlement and 'snobbishness' expressed by 'some' foreigners left a bad taste in my mouth.
But there are always two sides to every argument. These tourists are bringing in a lot of money, jobs and opportunities (and paved roads) for Costa Ricans. Part of me can't really blame people for wanting to transplant the luxuries and comforts from a more developed country. And if there was a Starbucks in Tamarindo, I would have been right there.So the dilemma continues.

(Not) Home for the Holidays

Five months from September is February. In between those months comes Christmas. I knew before leaving Canada that spending my first Christmas away from home was a big possibility. Coming home for the holidays was always an option, but with only one month left of my internship, I figured I might as well stay here and stick it out.
Once I made my decision, I tried not to dwell on it or think about it too much. It was pretty easy to do. With the weather over the past 2 months a constant 30 and sunny, it feels like living in a perpetual August.

I did decorate the palm tree at the house to acknowledge the holiday.
But still Christmas kept slipping my mind. Christmas didn't seem to be as in your face as it is back home. People were still working and it was business as usual at the house. I noticed that since most people are just trying to get by throughout the year, buying gifts for other people wasn't that much of a priority. Or maybe that was just my perspective.
Presents were piled under the Christmas palm tree but not until Christmas Eve (and I think the family just did it for the photo op).

So to answer everyone's question of what Christmas was like in Nicaragua, I'd say it didn't seem like that big of a deal. Maybe it was the lack of snow and not being around family and friends but this Christmas seemed to come and go with less of a flourish.

Oh No!

A quick update - I am without words for this one.
Remember, dedicated blog readers, my blog post from September 28th? There was this rusted out truck at the corner, near where I live. I relied on it as my landmark for getting home. Remember when I said it didn't look like it was going anywhere fast anytime soon? Well, it disappeared! And apparantely it DROVE to Guatemala....

Before....................................................................After

"Who causes so much happiness? Mary's Conception!"

On December 7th Nicaraguans filed into the streets to celebrate the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. Also known as La Griteria. I had heard a lot about this day, and didn't really know what to expect. I thought it was going to be much like Hallowe'en, so I brought home a few bags of candies. Turns out, I was a little off.
Like Hallowe'en, families go out in the street and receive candies and gifts from their neighbours. Unlike Hallowe'en, only a few houses in every neighbourhood give out treats. And you have to sing a song praising the Virgin Mary before you can cash in. You can tell which house is handing out gifts because they are the ones with the Virgin Mary alter in front of their house and the long line of patient families snaking down the street.
It was quite a sight to see and I was really happy to be able to share it with the family I am living with and my visitors from home.
I could have done without the fireworks though.

Livin la vida luxe

Last week I was treated to a visit from my Mom and my Aunt Kerry. It was the first time since I've been here that I've welcomed people from home into my new little world. It was also a chance for me to be reminded about the old comforts of home. I didn't realize how much I had adjusted to developing world life until I got into a shower that had two knobs. One for hot water. I barely knew what to do with the option.
You'd think that staying at places with all the comforts of home would be easy. Having the luxury to stay in uberclean hotels, with "American" food options, airconditioning and cable TV. But I actually found it a little difficult to adjust to.

It was an interesting experience; to feel out of place in a familiar environment. I can't believe I'm actually writing this but I think I actually missed the rice and beans *gasp*!
Not to worry, it took a few days, but I did get used to rolling around in a comfy bed with a comforter and the power of a remote control.
And then *poof*, my turn as Cinderella disappeared and I'm back to showering from a paint bucket.

Cabbing it

It was recommended to me that, when homesick, instead of focusing on what I miss about Canada, I should think about what I´ll miss about Nicaragua. So, in true Audrey fashion, I made a list.
First on my list was that I will miss the the taxi experience here.
In Nicaragua, the custom is to negotiate the taxi fare before accepting the ride. I love the bartering. I will share my pride with whoever will listen to me when I can negotiate a taxi driver down from 50 to 25Cordobas (from about $2.50 to $1.50 Canadian).
There are a few tricks I´ve learned to negotiate a reasonable taxi fare. It helps that I´ve been living in this maze of a city for a few months now. Depending how touristy I look that day or depending on what part of town I´m going to - I can be often offered the ¨white tax¨. It helps when I can counteract the cabbies ¨but it´s so far¨ by saying ¨actually, no it´s not that far, it´s just down this street for a few blocks¨.
I´ve also perfected the shocked/I´m outraged look at the cabbie´s first offer, reading them correctly as to how low I can offer without them speeding off in digust and then the slow ¨fake-out¨walking away to see if they´ll admit defeat and accept my offer.
I know it´s going to be hard going back into a cab in Canada and watching the taxi meter creep up while stuck in traffic.