Exposure

So today I ventured out into Managua today with Carlos, the security guard at our house. I befriended him early in the week; he has been very outgoing and a great practice partner for my Spanish. I'd been complaining to him about the lack of affordable cell phones in La Galleria, the mall where I went to looking for a phone at, so he decided to take me out to do a little bargaining. After getting to the cell-phone store, he quickly found a good deal for a basic, pre-paid phone and I went ahead and bought it. For those interested, the Nica # is 977-0459, plus country code 505-2). So now I'm proud to say, I have a full-fledged Nica cellphone. Afterwards, we went to the national cathedral and toured around a bit. The pictures are right here. It was a huge, open-air cathedral and I'm planning on getting back tomorrow for mass in the morning. It was a great atmosphere there, everyone was very into their spirituality and very openly so. When we went, there were people jamming out to some music. I'm sure it has been host to some very inspiring sermons. Hopefully my Spanish comprehension skills will hold up tomorrow listening to the one tomorrow.



After the church visit, we hopped on the Nica bus out to Carlos' house in Tipitappa. Although I didn't realize this, its over an over an hour on the bus. Nevertheless, this was very interesting as I got to see the outskirts of town and more parts of Nicaragua as well as experience the local bus. In total, Carlos has and hour and a half commute to to work his shift, pretty rough if you ask me. Once we got there, his wife had prepared a huge meal of arroz con pollo with ensalada and, of course, coca-cola. It was a huge lunch indeed. However, I couldn't help but feel guilty while there. It is really tough to swallow how stark the contrast between his housing and mine are. Likewise, it is so easy to forget how blessed we are as Americans, to have the opportunities open to us that many around the world can only dream about. How lucky is it that we were born in such a prosperous country? I couldn't help but question my merit at being so fortunate compared to many Nicaraguans. What did I do to deserve the opportunities that I am privileged to have, especially when many deserving Nicaraguans won't ever have. Here's a middle-class Nicaraguan family living in a very basic house completely opening there doors to me and giving me so much. It really meant a lot to me, and exhibited how kind Nicaraguans really are.

Later, Carlos showed me a hot springs pool that is heated by the local volcano. It was really incredible to feel how hot the water was, particularly on top of the hot weather.
The picture to the left shows the water, and although it doesn't appear in the photos, is bubbling due to the heat. Truly incredible. The setup was also pretty interesting- everyone was hanging out around the water, but very few actually swimming in the water. Of course, like everything in Nicaragua, it was heavily commercialized. 10 Cordobas (about fifty cents) for entrance and then food and drinks were also available and very prolific. At the end of the day, we caught the bus back into Managua as the sun was setting. It was a great day, really getting to experience the country and deeply immersing myself in Spanish and the local culture. I hope more weekends will provide similar opportunities.