the weirdest weekend ever

On Friday noon I predicted a boring weekend, by 4 p.m. the chances of having fun increased, but they nearly disappeared on Saturday morning. Even though there were many last-minute adjustments, I can say I’ve spent an excellent weekend in Nicaragua, my last one.

It all started on Thursday night. I prepared my backpack with the 4 S’s, which stand for everything I needed for a weekend at the beach: Sunscreen (factor 30), my famous Swimming-trunks (photo), Sandals and my beloved Sunglasses

On Friday noon, my friend Amy told me she couldn't come with me, "typical Latin" I though - we Latinos just can’t decline an invitation, we always accept (even though we cannot come) but cancel afterwards.
After Amy’s cancellation, I thought of traveling on my own once more, but I thought it could de depressing to be alone during my last trip in Nicaragua.So I called Maricruz, a girl I barely knew, and invited her to come with me to San Juán de Sur on Saturday morning, she agreed. My weekend was saved.

Maricruz picked me up on Saturday morning at quarter to 7 (in Nicaragua, 7 a.m. is like 9 a.m. for the rest of the world). As we arrived to the bus station, she got a call: An earthquake stroke Chile and the entire Pacific Ocean was on Tsunami warning. We re-arranged the trip and went  to Ometepe instead, the volcanic Island inside the Nicaragua Lake. We had fun there: we rented a scooter, had fried fish at the beach and swam in a pool of crystal clear volcanic-water (photo).
Our hotel room was simple, very clean and cheap, but the best thing in the hotel was the woman at the reception; she was one of these persons who are very funny, but they don’t know it.

In town there was a street party. The beer was going out for 10 Córdobas (50 US Cent, 35 Euro Cent, 7 Mexican Pesos). While dancing, a girl approached me (for the first time in 5 months!) only to ask if Maricruz was lesbian, because she liked her. That was it...my first and last close encounter with a woman in Nicaragua...

On Sunday morning we went to San Juan (no Tsunami warning). There we swam and hade nice dinner at the bamboo beach; the food was amazing, but the dessert was pure and sweet heaven: small bananas fried with coconut flakes, vanilla ice-cream and papaya-pineapple-orange marmalade. After the banana tempura we took a hell's ride back to Managua. 90 minutes standing. You surely know that is common to read in the news that a crowded bus crashed in Latin America...on Sunday,  I was one in one of those buses. 

I arrived to the Village at around 8 p.m. and was chilling as some kids came running asking for the village director. The kids told me a mattress caught fire inside  house! I got there just as the two security guards (my current heroes) entered and bravely fought the fire. All children were outside, but some wanted to help us inside, I was keeping the children out of the room on fire (The Strokes’ album).
I have never been in a fire before, and I was truly shocked by the harmful power of smoke. A fire is nothing not like in the movies; the heat is not the problem, but the smoke.

We were lucky since the kids alarmed us soon and the guards controlled the fire within minutes. Luckily, no one was injured, it surely helped that all children were still awake when the fire took place...

This was my last weekend in Managua.

P.S.: If you want to see all eight  pics I made during the weekend click here