Time For More Shopping!

As we wrapped up our first week of teaching, we also got the news from Hamilton that our house would be ready on Monday!  Woohoo!  This meant only one thing - we had to bug out and hit the mainland to do some serious shopping for household goodies.  We left Friday's OBS classes to the Super Volunteers so we could catch the early morning chicken bus to Moyogalpa.  After grabbing some lunch there, we boarded the ferry heading to Rivas.  Except for some reason the ferry took forever to leave the dock and then when it did it chugged along very slowly even though the lake looked as though it was cooperating nicely.  Who knows why.  We were already feeling a little stressed about what we had lined up to accomplish on this mad dash.  We had a pretty long shopping list and a tight schedule to keep to find everything we needed.

We did see something cool, something we somehow missed on previous ferry trips.  To spin the boat around, they tie off the bow out in the lake, then the captain guns the engines and the ferry sort of spins around on its own length so he can back it in for unloading/reloading.  Pretty neat move - this part we'd seen before.  The new, cool part was the guy who jumps overboard and swims/wades to the pylon in the lake to secure the line so the captain can look good!

That's a strange looking fish.

When we finally made the port, we thought we'd stop in and say 'hi' to our friend, Darwin.  He works for Hacienda Merida and is one of our intermediate-level students.  The hacienda has an information kiosk at the port, and it's staffed by a handful of the hotel's English speaking employees.  They intercept tourists heading to Ometepe, offer them maps and information.  Many travelers hop the ferry to the island without any real plans on where they are staying.  This is where the kiosk staff work their magic, nudging visitors toward Merida and the hacienda.  Good marketing, actually.

We were excited to surprise Darwin!  Yeah, except he wasn't at the information cart.  In fact, we didn't see him anywhere.  Feeling somewhat responsible for the success of the hotel, since we're affiliated with it through the bilingual school, I stepped in and manned the cart for a while.  Okay, really just long enough for some pictures to blackmail Darwin.

Darwin 2.0 (taller, smarter, better looking)

Feeling disappointed (and sad), we grabbed a taxi to take us to La Mision, our hotel of choice in Rivas.  We got checked in, dropped our backpacks in 'our' room - the same room we'd stayed in before - and headed out to shop.  Since the ferry trip took longer than expected, it was late in the afternoon and some stores were getting ready to close for the day.  Fortunately, we hit several shops before they locked down and were able to cross a bunch of stuff off the ol' list!  We found knives, forks, spoons, a dish rack, some cleaning supplies and more stuff for classes.  

We also hit the street market again, which is always a treat.  These markets are 'love it or hate it' - they are pure chaos and I love the vibe.  So does the wife.  It's so entertaining to people watch… and horse watch… and cow watch… and chicken watch.  There are people on foot, on bike, on horse, in pedicabs and taxis.  I know it's not for everyone but I get a rush out of it.  We found a few more items there and then called it a day.  Time for some dinner.

We decided to try one of the other pizza places in town - Pizza Hot.  Whether this is an intentional play on 'Pizza Hut', I don't know.  More power to them.  Like Pizza Hut, the food was so-so.  In fact, we're not entirely sure we got the exact pizza we ordered.  I think maybe the toppings were different.  Oh well.  Pizza is pizza is pizza.  And we can't get it in Merida, so any different food is good food.  

As an added bonus, we were able to reach another island friend of ours to meet us for dinner.  Noldan lives in Merida and, like Darwin, is one of our intermediate-level students.  Noldan and his family are incredible.  In fact, we hold one of our beginners classes at their house three times a week.  Noldan's father and two of his sisters come to class regularly.  Knowing that Noldan attends college on the weekends in Rivas, we called him and he met us for pizza.  We had a great visit with him. It's always fun for us to 'hang out' with our new friends.  We converse in English and Spanish, with everyone learning something.  Good times!  

After dinner, we said goodbye to our friend and walked around the parque central, then made our way back to the hotel.  Day one of our shopping weekend was successful!

The next day, we got up kinda early and had breakfast.  We were heading to the big city to find items we knew we'd only find in Managua - good quality pots and pans, bed sheets, towels.  Yep, we were heading to a mall!  We had called our taxi driver from before, our buddy Pedro, and worked out a price for the entire day.  Pedro showed up right on time - in fact, a little early - so we finished up coffee/tea, got our things together and met him in the lobby.  

Hmm… wait a sec.

It had been a few weeks since we had last seen Pedro.  And he had driven us just twice, both short trips.  But he was really nice and friendly - remember, it was Pedro who drove us by his home to show us his fruit trees.  Yes, we saw him face to face when he helped us load suitcases, but in a taxi you mostly see the back of the drivers head, right?  What I'm getting at is this:  we were pretty sure - but not entirely positive - that this guy wasn't Pedro.  In hindsight, we pieced together that since we were going to spend the whole day driving around and going into the city, that maybe:  1] Pedro's car wasn't up to the miles; 2] Pedro's car wasn't street legal in the city; 3] Pedro was possibly worried about our comfort.  Granted, thinking back, his car was a little beat up - fine for a short trip from the port to our hotel.  But this car was pretty nice.  Newer model, clean, roomy, AC.  Plus this version of Pedro seemed much younger.

The really embarrassing part, though, was that he seemed to know us by name, where we had been and what we needed to accomplish for the weekend.  Problem was, we didn't know his name.  We think we heard him say his name was Pablo.  But we had called Pedro to arrange the day trip.  More hindsight:  when we called Pedro to hire him for the day, we figure Pedro had called this guy to take the job because he had a better ride.  Pedro had apparently filled him in on who we were and what we were doing.  In the end, it was fine and we now have a new driver we call Pedro Pablo, who is every bit as awesome as Original Pedro. 

One very important item on our shopping list:  hammocks (qty - 2).  Our house has a big porch facing the lake and we had already cleared it with Hamilton and Adolpho (property manager), so we were going to make sure we had these babies for our relaxing  time.  In Nicaragua, if you're buying hammocks there is only one place to get them - Masaya.  The artists there have been making them for decades and they are top quality, hand made, gorgeous - and cost us $40 for two of them.  The entire craft market was insane!  Remember I said how much we enjoy the scene?  This was sensory overload.  Pedro Pablo knew exactly where to take us, so after zigging and zagging around to get us parked, we were off to find hammocks.  First we had to walk around the outdoor part of the produce market - kinda like the pre-market.  The street was lined with vendors who maybe can't afford to rent a stall in the regular market area, so they set up on the sidewalk and along the road to sell.

We followed Pedro Pablo, trying to keep up with him as he maneuvered his way into the market proper.  I don't have any pictures of this because it was all I could do to push my way through the crowded narrow aisles while trying to keep Bex! and our tour guide in sight.  Wow!  This path curved along the outside of the market building.  These vendors had carts and stalls and pop-up tents set up along either side, making the width of the walkway even narrower than it already seemed.  I looked up to see Pedro Pablo stopped, then he turned to make eye contact with us and motioned us to follow him inside.  Ahhh - a short cut.  The street scene was too crowded and he felt we could make better time inside. 

We went from narrow aisles outside in daylight to dimly lit, skinnier aisles inside the building.  And - seriously - once inside, I couldn't quite tell which way was out.  This market was huge.  Pedro Pablo zigged left and zagged right several times and finally we ended up in an area of the mercado that had a bunch of folks selling what we came for - hammocks.  After that, it was on us to find ones we liked.  After much searching for the right style (yes, hammocks come in different shapes, lengths, designs, etc) and colors (too many colors/combinations to grasp!), we picked two and started the negotiation.  This is the fun part!  The vendor, a middle aged woman, had a twinkle in her eye.  She was up for this, too!  We asked how much.  She responded with something ridiculously high.  We countered with something way too low.  She countered.  We countered.  She said no.  We started to walk away.  She called us back.  She agreed, smiled and we handed her two 500 cordoba bills ($40).

Then she explained that she was going to take the money to the cashier, the person who handles the money for the vendors in the stalls.  This lady worked on commission, so she told us she was going to take the money over, tell the cashier that she sold the hammocks not for 1,000 cordobas for 900.  Then she would bring us back 100 in change, which we would slip to her as a tip.  This way she makes 100 cord ($4) from us directly and gets a commission for selling two hammocks.  Fine by us.  Maybe that's why she had that twinkle in her eye.

After Masaya, we drove into Managua.  This was our first trip here, other than arriving in the dark at the airport four months before.  Pedro Pablo drove us straight to Galarias Santo Domingo, one of the largest malls in Managua.  It was like Miami threw up in Nicargua.  A different world than anything we had experienced in quite some time.  Huge, sprawling, glitzy, flashy, LOUD.  All kinds of stores that we'd last seen way back in the US.  A teensy bit overwhelming for us.  Pedro Pablo told us the best store for us to hit for the things we were looking for - Almacenes Simon - and he was right.  We found our bed sheets there; towels; pots and pans, plus a nifty little all-around pot for boiling/pouring hot liquids.  We had a few instances of total deer-in-the-headlights bewilderment because there were so many choices - too many choices.  But we got through it and found Pedro Pablo waiting for us at the mall entrance.

After this, it was off to Alke, a popular kitchen supply store, kind of like a Kitchen Kaboodle back home.  They carry everything from home cook stuff to professional size and grade restaurant kitchen equipment.  Here we found nice wooden spoons, a cutting board, kitchen tongs and the Holy Grail of MY personal shopping agenda - a French press for my coffee.  As far as I was concerned, the trip could end now and be considered a success.

No such luck.  After we scored at Alke (there's a joke in this name somewhere, but I can't quite get it right in my head so will leave it be) we went to the MetroCentro mall, specifically to hit a large libreria (office/school supply store).  Here we found a small pizarra (whiteboard), great for our classes.  Since it was right before classes started for the public schools, this store was a madhouse!!  We picked up a few items here and were pretty much done in Managua!!  Hooray!

We left the big city and found a roadside parilla (grill) just out of town for lunch.  Great food!  Cool spot, open air, huge wood-fired grill going out front, busy place with lots of cars, trucks, horse carts stopping in.  After lunch, we headed back toward Rivas and, on the way,  had a great discussion with Pedro Pablo about his country's politics.  

El Presidente Daniel Ortega  is actually somewhat popular, mostly with the younger crowd, mainly because he accomplished most of the agenda he promised when he was elected in 2007.  This was mostly in the form of road improvements that the previous dictatorship had been promising for years.  He got it done.  I've mentioned in previous posts that the primary roads in Nicaragua are generally fantastic, much superior to Costa Rica's.  Pedro Pablo explained that Ortega kind of snuck in because the opposing party (the Samoza regime) was divided between two candidates - incumbents with a long history of corruption and bad blood.   As a third party candidate, Ortega was able to slide in because Nicaragua's two main candidates were constantly infighting, backstabbing, bickering, mud slinging and generally not accomplishing a damn thing.  Sound familiar, United States of America??  Yeah, I thought it might.  These two knuckelheads split the vote and Ortega took advantage.  It's a lot like Ralph Nader splitting the Democratic vote or the Tea Baggers fracturing the Republican Party.  It was a very insightful conversation and it was good to get this amount of detail from a regular guy, not a news organization or politician.  

Ortega isn't perfect.  For example, he recently pushed through legislation abolishing term limits, which equals 'dictator' which equals 'bad in the long run'.  For a lot of older Nicaraguans, too, memories of life under Ortega's Sandinista party in the 1970-80's are too vivid for them to even consider supporting the modern-day party led by him, but this time around he's put people to work and improved the infrastructure of his country.  Politics aside, Nicaragua is on the rise.  It's breathtakingly beautiful.  Visit before it turns into Co$ta Rica.

Since our shopping had wrapped up earlier than expected, thanks to the mad skilz of Pedro Pablo, he suggested we detour off the main road and visit the mirador (viewpoint) overlooking  Laguna de Apoyo.  The viewpoint area was bustling with visitors and vendors selling the usual Latin American souvenirs.  The town near the mirador is known for it's nurseries and artesian wares.  It's a very beautiful little mountain town that caters to tourists.  The views over the lake were spectacular.

A beautiful lake in the crater of dormant Volcán Apoyo

That bit of white you see at about one o'clock (looking at the picture above), is the oldest town in Central America - Granada; and beyond that is Lago de Nicaragua, the lake where our home of Ometepe is located.  After soaking in the sights and relaxing for a while, it was time to finish the drive back to Rivas.  

Feeling rather accomplished - and worn out - we celebrated by going to Mango's for dinner.  This time we weren't alone!  There were actually several other people there, which made it seem more festive.  We had a great dinner and chatted with Alain, one of our new friends who lives in Rivas.  After dinner, we meandered through this diamond-in-the-rough of a town and made our way back to the hotel.  Needless to say, we slept well that night!

The next morning, we had breakfast, checked out, and loaded our bounty into Pedro Pablo's cab.  We had him stop at the MaxiPali so we could pick up some food and household items.  This was mostly painless except that we were in a bit of hurry so as not to miss the particular ferry we wanted.  It didn't take too long, thankfully.

Yoinks!  Purple broom or blue broom?  Green tea or black tea?  This pot or that pot?  Decisions, decisions!

We finished up shopping and headed to the port.  But first, Pedro Pablo wanted to show us his house and introduce us to his parents.  We stopped off at his place where we met Señor and Señora Pedro Pablo and also got a tour of their expansive orchard, which is located right in their backyard in the middle of this residential neighborhood.  Impressive!  Coconut, plantains, bananas, avocados, grapefruit, oranges.  They have a lot of land.  Best thing we learned is that instead of selling the literal fruits of their labors, deemed too much work by Señor Pedro Pablo, they give it away to family, friends, neighbors, churches.  Pretty awesome!

After saying our goodbyes to the folks, we were dropped at the port to catch our water ride home.  One cool thing we noticed is that Pedro Pablo made sure we got waved through the tourist checkpoint.  You see, tourists pay an extra fee to enter the port area.  We're not considered tourists; we're residents.  Yep, we're Nica.  We thanked Pedro Pablo for a great weekend and for all his help.  In typical Nicaraguan fashion, he replied 'con mucho gusto' - with much pleasure.  He was happy to help us and we were glad to have him.  We waited a bit…

"Guard that fan with your life!!"

… and soon enough, the boat arrived and proceeded to unload.  

As soon as we could, we wrangled our goods on board and found seats.  The guys running the boat actually charged us a little extra because we had 'cargo'.  Yeah, okay - whatever.  We made the crossing and were on our way back to Merida.  

We were ready to move into our new home!!