22 de Enero 2011

Mari and I are now in Granada. Located on the northwest corner of Lago de Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America. We arrived today in hopes of finding a cooler climate, as Leon was scorchingly hot, but its still quite warm here. Googling the temp right now I found this:

Right Now in Granada

Parcialmente nublado
91°F
Feels Like: 95°

Feels like 95 degrees is right. It is still hot out. Unfortunately we left behind our beautifully wonderful hostel in Leon for a nothing special here. We compared 5 different places upon our arrival and chose the least worst. Its called Hostel la Casita and costs us $10. But we are looking forward to the kitchen, as we have been without one eating out for weeks now. Its quite rewarding and nice to hit the markets and buy the wonderfully fresh produce and prepare a homecooked meal. Lack of kitchens is my biggest complaint about hostels and hotels in Honduras and Nicaragua so far.

Mari and I are trying to figure out what to do here in this new town. There are two volcanos nearby, one active one not. Plus the lake, and over 300 islands that can be visited with sights like monkeys and spanish forts and things like that. We have to rummage through some info and prices to find what we are looking to do.

Some things I wanted to relate about our journey so far.

Vendors. There are vendors everywhere. Of course there are stores, but there are street vendors selling items on racks and tables along the street. There are little carts that sell everything from prepared food, to cheese, to fruits and veggies, to underwear and bras. Plus there are central mercados (markets) in each town that run maze like full of anything and everything you could imagine. Toiletries, fruits and veggies, meat and fish stands that buzz with flies, old women on the floor selling razors and batteries - its quite a sight to behold. But what got me thinking about this today was our 2 leg bus trip today that took us from Leon to Granada. At each stop, vendors come to the bus, or board the bus and walk the aisles selling their goods. This ranges from soda and water in bottles, to soda and water in plastic bags, to peeled oranges, tacos, enchiladas, tomales, pasties and cookies, breads, chips and fried plantains. Any snacking food that can be bought and sold on the trip is bought, sold and eaten. They walk around the buses selling through the windows as well. Its a very central american thing so far. I was thinking the other day that Nicaragua lacks a certain identity and culture, compared to say Guatemala, yet when I really started to think about it they definately have a lot of the central american culture. Which made me think of reporting on this vendor idea.

On some of the long rides, you get a person in the front that does a 15 to 20 minute presentation on their product, orating to the trapped and present audience whiling away their time on the bus. These typically are medicinal products like throat lozenges, or pills of some sort, but the best one yet was a guy selling a little pamphlet informing the poor mountain people how to eat properly, and relating the evils of cheap candies and coca cola. It was a brilliant way of informing the local people on good eating habits as they have all the access in the world to fresh and vibrant local produce.

Well, I suppose I should help formulate a plan with Mari. Ciao!

T