Cruisin' Through Corinto

I wrote part of a blog about a somewhat strange and awkward experience of Nicas taking pictures of me and fellow gringos. Very often, I find myself the topic of discussion in what they think are hushed voices or the center of a photo or the focus of a staring contest. I realize that this is because I’m kind of white-ish (although yesterday someone mistook me to be Mexican…even after I kept speaking Spanish with my not-so-perfect accent). After all this time though, I’ve gotten used to it and even have noticed that people were not staring at me when I came home to visit this past May. It’s interesting how fast we can adapt to certain things. Anyway, apparently I have gotten so used to being stared at and so used to only seeing Nicaraguans here in Corinto, that I do the same thing they do to me. When the cruise ships come through Corinto, I stare. I stare at the white old couples as they walk past my house in their cruise clothing: sneakers, cargo shorts, white button ups and wide-brimmed visors. They stand out so much. It is not an intentional thing; it’s out of curiosity. Where else have they been and where else will they go? Do they have a single son or grandson around the age of 25? Where are they from? I wonder what they think I am doing here…or maybe they think I’m just a light-skinned Nica (although I doubt that is the case). Que se yo. By also staring, this allows me to almost see myself through the eyes of a Nica (without the cruise clothing, of course). I’m just someone new in the neighborhood who does not look like everyone else. People are interesting to look at and I dig it.