Well it’s been a long time since I’ve written anything in Accessible Everything and this is mainly because I’ve had a paraplegic friend here in Nicaragua, then I was ill and then it was Christmas and New Year. Needless to say, I have a lot to write about and they aren’t necessarily going to come out in the correct order!
As I mentioned, my friend Ben was here from the 5th - 17th December and we got quite a lot of traveling done, including León, Masaya, Granada and Los Pueblos Blancos amongst other places. I’ll write about these trips next week. Edurne went back to Barcelona for a month for Christmas and New Year on the 19th and left me here for almost a month by myself. She is due to get back on the 12th Jan and I’m really looking forward to seeing her again.
Christmas turned into a bit of a nightmare as on Christmas Eve (Nochebuena) I ended up talking to the neighbours on the street and without realising it I locked my keys in the house! Luckily (or unluckily, the jury is still out on this one), one of my neighbours has worked for my land lady on the house and knew how to climb onto the roof and enter the house through the patio in order to open the front door. I was so pleased that I could get back into the house as it was late and there was no way a locksmith was going to come out that late on Christmas Eve.
I thanked him by paying him a 100 Cordobas and bought some drinks for him and his family. As the night progressed there was a bit of a problem at their house and the family started to argue about something (I’m still not entirely sure what was going on) and they shut the front door on the guy I was with and his aunt. I felt bad about leaving them on the street so I invited them to my house to let things cool down for a few minutes. While they were at my house one the cousins also turned up briefly and then they went home.
It wasn’t until Christmas Day morning that I realised that one of my neighbours had taken my camera, it would seem that Nochebuena had turned into Nochemala. I was so annoyed that I had trusted them, invited them into my home and they took my camera. There wasn’t much that I could do on Christmas Day apart from go to San Ramón and pass the day with Silvia’s family as I had previously arranged. I had a great day, but there was always the nagging thought of the disrespect that my neighbours had paid me in the back of my mind. Edurne had left me a present to open, which in her usual wisdom was lots and lots of nice food to help me survive the Christmas Holidays. It was fantastic, lots of yummy food, even cigarettes and a cigar! (The lack of camera for the last two weeks = no photos of the Xmas or New year period….)
On Boxing Day, I went to speak to my neighbours about my missing camera. They assured me that they would talk to the guys and everything would be OK. To cut a long story short, I threatened them with the police and said that when the land lady came for the rent I would talk to her about this problem too. The camera still hasn’t been returned and the land lady came for the rent this morning. True to my word, I spoke to her about the issue and now it’s just a case of wait and see what happens.
One of the things that does amuse me about the whole situation is that when you talk to the locals about the robbery, they ask “Has encontrado la camara que perdiste?” which means, have you found the camera that you lost? I didn’t loose it…. Someone STOLE it!!!!!!
I took the chilled option for New Year’s Eve and went and had dinner with Jesenia and Carola in the hills above Matagalpa. I had a bit of trouble getting there as the taxi that came to pick me up was a wreck and it ended up with a puncture which took about an hour and a half to repair, mainly because the spare tyre in the boot also had a puncture. I’m surprised the car worked at all, you had to pop the bonnet and hit the carburetor to get it to start, there was a huge hole in the drivers side of the windscreen (which they put an umbrella in when the car was parked and it was raining to stop the interior getting wet), the front passenger door didn’t open and the back right door wouldn’t stay closed! When the car moved all of the windows fell down and the inside panels of the doors were missing and not to mention the holes in the floor. The driver had recently bought the car for $500, what a bargain!!! This really was a photo opportunity that I missed and I will never forgive my neighbours for that!
However, even though the taxi was a disaster, I arrived safely, if somewhat late and being high above Matagalpa was a welcome break from the madness and noise of the town. We sat out on their balcony at midnight and watched the fireworks indicating the start of 2008 until the early hours.
Being here alone in Nicaragua has taught me a lot and it’s been full of experiences, both good and bad. I’m looking forward to Edurne coming back, I will never forget the experience of living here by myself and this will help me appreciate my girlfriend, friends and family more…..
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