Interesting Happenings in Corinto

1. It was so hot today that even the Nicas were sweating! I felt somewhat normal sweating for the first time in 4 months.
2. Randy Moss (Patriots Moss) is being represented here in Corinto...I almost fell off of my bike when I saw the jersey.
3. The ants have gone totally crazy here-they are EVERYWHERE.
4. The last official day of school vacation was this past Friday, yet somehow none of the teachers and only a quarter of the kids showed up for school on Monday.
5. Today I road my bike for about a mile while carrying 24 large plantains, 24 eggs, 5 pounds of beans, a pound of oatmeal, 5 tomatoes, 3 peppers and a gatorade.
6. More than 30 people died during Easter week-the large majority from drowing and the majority of the drownings were from swimming while extremely drunk.
7. Barcelona beat Madrid (finally) the Celtics are in the semi finals (woot woot!), the Sox are winning (so Ive heard...havent been able to watch many games unfortunately), and the Bruins are still in the playoffs!
8. I´m trying to learn how to make my own fishing net and got offered a lesson in spear fishing, which I just may have to say yes to.
9. There are thousands of refrescos (natural handmade juices) here- so far I have had carrot, melon, orange, chia, tamarind, rice with pineapple, coconut and a variation of mixes of those and many other fruits that I have no idea how to say in English.
10. A bowl of beans and a boiled BBQ chicken wing is breakfast some days.
11. Easter week here--beach or church, but usually not both.
12. I came in 2nd place in a dance concert out at a club-that´s right Nicas, even gringas can dance!
13. When you see lots of really white, really old couples walking around Corinto, you know there must be a cruise ship in town.
14. If you take a shower or splash yourself with cool water right after exercising, you will get sick.
15. I love bucket showers and I do not miss hot water!
16. I also really enjoy washing my clothing by hand.
17. While I hate having to wake up at 4:30 am in order to fill up 3 barrels of water for the soup kitchen because that is the only time there is running water there, Corinto is really beautiful at 5am when no one is in the street. Sometimes it´s actually a little cool and if I am lucky, there´s usually a beautiful sunrise.
18. Free mangoes and coconuts is a wonderful thing
19. The word ¨full¨in regard to busses here does not exist...Even if you are jammed as close as possible to the people around you and it seems like they could not possibly stop for more people, you realize there´s always room for 1, 2 or 10 more-whether it be on the roof, in the doorway or in your lap.
20. The people of Nicaragua are some of the nicest most friendly people I have ever met. They will go way out of their way to help you out, especially if they know you are a gringa joven with no parents living in the same country-they all want to take on this role of parent!