a barely functioning country

Greetings

This story takes place in south of a few borders, in a once war torn country, with a flimsy barely functioning system. Where odd occurrences are the norm, and all expectations are thwarted by, from some perspectives, a twisted reality. Life moves at a different pace, and in a different way.

The following story is merely an example of the life here, strange, but oddly normal. I spent the day at the beach, called las peñitas, with a few friends from Austria. The waves were massive, stretching almost up to the houses, but beautiful in its natural power. We stayed until sunset, and caught the last bus back to León. As we approached the bus, we could immediately tell that it was full. Not full as in no more seats, but full as in no more seats or spaces to stand. Full, as in people pressed tightly together, gripping what little overhead bar that was available. The three girls squeezed in, like fitting together a puzzle, but alas, there was no room for me. Me, and another few people had to hang on the back of the bus, as in, outside of the bus, as it trekked along the bumpy dirt road. On the main road, technically under repair, but in very bad condition, the bus stopped to pick up more people (How? is the question that comes to mind). As a result of the overcrowding, the bus assistant ushered us on the outside to climb to the top of the bus. About 7 of us went on top and rode the rest of the way perched on top! It was an adventure, and seriously much more comfortable than inside the bus.

We made it back safely, but one of the Austrian girls paid for her ride with a bigger bill, and didn't get any change. As she asked for her change, the bus sped away. This brings me to another aspect of life here where you need to be alert at all times. There have been a couple of occasions where I've been screwed. Like the time I rode the bus, and they charged me 10 cordobas for a 3 cordoba ride (Perhaps a theme with buses??). Or at the market, I never know if they are charging me more for the fruit compared to the 'local's price'. Either way, it's all dirt cheap. For example, the room that I'm renting is $80 a month, cheap right? I thought so until I was talking with my Nica friend who says her entire house, for her whole family, is only $30 a month. So, one room for 80 is significantly more, I'd even say outrageously more. We're talking about two and a half times more price wise for a room instead of a house. Granted, the location of my place is unbeatable. Plus there's two maids, a garden, etc.

For the month of February I took classes at the nearby casa de cultura-guitar, art, and dance. For $10 a month each, it was well worth it, and I learned a substantial amount, but still experienced the Nica way of doing things.

For guitar, the teacher would write some chords on the board, and then leave me alone in the room for 30+ minutes to practice. When he returned, he'd expect me to have it down. I found this style of teaching frustrating since he spent such little time with me, and consequently I confronted him about it. Although he's a very good guitar player it was clear that teaching wasn't his passion, as he lacked the desire to tend to his students needs.

For dance, once again the teacher was a really talented dancer, but he too had his own quirks. basically he was bipolar (or could've been based on how he acted). He starts with a huge smile on his face as he demonstrated the dance move, but was quick to anger if the students didn't give their undivided attention or didn't heed his commands. He was quick to offer the ultimatum of leaving. Plus, he was more concerned about getting on with the girls in the class instead of teaching us the twists and twirls.

For art, I couldn't really complain about the teaching, but more about the teacher. At the beginning of the class I was required to by certain art supplies (sketchbook, paintbrushes, paint, bastidor-whatever that is, etc.) and I paid for them right away. The only problem was with receiving the supplies, which took ages. After a week or two he got me my paints, except blue for whatever reason. But the worst part was for the paintbrushes, which he told me that they were imported from Honduras, but would come 'tomorrow'. So I'd drop by, but still no paintbrushes. This repeated for weeks on end. He'd say come by in the afternoon' and then he wouldn't even be there. I finally asked for my money back since the whole situation was making me frustrated. Almost two weeks after the class had ended the paintbrushes came, and I had to explain to him that I didn't even need them anymore, given that the class was over.

And then to get an extension on my visa, I had to go to the immigration office 4 times, since the first 3 times they came up with different excuses for not being able to give me the requested service. I share these examples to show that this is not abnormal, but a daily occurrence here. Often times it's frustrating, other times laughable. Between my friends we share our like experiences and probably could compile a sizable log.

That all said, I wouldn't want to do business here or work here (extremely low wages) but it's a great place to visit and live for a while. I have a spanish exchange partner, and that, along with reading and speaking everyday, has really helped my spanish. I can speak freely and understand better than ever.

I guess it'll be strange to back in a country where things function normally...

All my love