Hello from the House with the Gray Door

As my plane descended into Managua, I could see them beaming into the night sky, pulsating out from an otherwise sparsely-lit metropolitan area: McDonald's golden arches. Gringos had branded the flight path into Nicaragua with that emblematic nod to mass-produced coronary failure. I began to wonder if McDonald's had actually paid the airport to align the runway so that incoming passengers would pass conveniently overhead. But I digress...

I've marked each paragraph's main topic in bold, so you can read selectively, if you like.

I arrived in Managua on Monday night. Rick picked me up from the airport with all 5 of my bags. (For those of you who are wondering, the computer tower made it safely, but the rolling duffel has some battle wounds.) We got a cab from the airport to our house in Las Piedrecitas (The small stones), a neighborhood in southwest Managua. The cab ride (30 mins) was 6 dollars, roughly 120 cordobas. The cab drove right by the new American embassy complex, which is just down the road from us. Compared to the rest of the city, the embassy looks like a fortress. Its definitely not an exercise in modesty, but that's about what I would expect from a country with our track record.

Our house is wonderful. There are 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, laundry room, and some awesome porch space. We also have a great garden and some fruit trees out back. Just in case this sounds like total paradise, we don't have any hot water, which makes showering a little more brisk than usual. Also, the water tends to "go out" around 5PM and stay off until dawn. This adds a little challenge to dinner prep, but we are usually able to figure out something. We are especially lucky because we live across from a hospital, which means that we almost always have electricity, while most of Managua loses electricity after sunset.

Our roomates rock. Kevin and Rachel have lived here for roughly 5 months. Rachel works for Witness for Peace with Rick. Kevin does graphic design and pretty much operates as house handyman. He planted the garden and is currently building a little pin for the chickens we will be getting! Our other roomate, Patty, also works with Rachel and Rick. She is from Oregon and has some extended family here in Nicaragua. We had our first house meeting Wednesday night, where we decided we will consider getting 2 dogs for security (and for fun). The dogs are puppies that currently live at a neighbor's house. Everyone knows puppies are adorable, but these little guys drive it home.

On Wednesday we took a bus to a market down the road. It was pouring rain for most of the morning, so the market was operating at about 2/3 capacity. It is a total maze of cosmetics, household items, hardware stores, and food stands. Everyone is very friendly, and I was surprised to find that vendors didn't heckle us nearly as much as I expected. I think most people are just surprised to see white people. At one point a little girl who walked by yelled, "Adios Gringoita!" which pretty much means, "See ya later whitey!"

We wont need to go to the market too often because most of the things we need we can get right here in our neighborhood. In fact, there are vendors that walk around all the time selling ice cream, milk, doughnuts, and more. They know that gringos live in this house, so they will usually walk right up to our gate and yell inside. The ice cream man stands in the street out front ringing his bell for, literally, 20 mins every day. Our Nicaraguan friends, Martha and Loius, insist that we get ripped off at all the local vendors because we're Gringo. It's probably true, but the real truth is that we can afford to pay much more, so I suppose this is the barillo's own special communism--from each according to his/her ability, to each according to his/her need. The "rip off" prices are still much, much cheaper than we would pay in the states (2$ for a full lunch or dinner plate). I'm sure as we build relationships in the neighborhood the prices will start to drop a little, too.

On Thursday Kevin and I went to Price Smart. It is both an amazing and disturbing store. It is just like Costco in the States--you have to be a member and buy in bulk (we used Rick's boss's card). In fact, I'm pretty sure that Costco owns Price Smart b/c they have most of the same stuff, the same layout, and they only accept American Express. I was overwhelmed by the place, myself, and obly bought a few items. The prices are pretty high by Nica standards, and the tax is murder (15%!). Kevin, who has been here for longer, went on a total splurge, getting everything from Kraft mac and cheese to frozen burritos. I can see myself at that point in a few months.

Overall, I think of Managua as Los Angeles' shabby doppelganger--it has no functioning metropolitan center, sprawls outward into loosely connected neighborhoods, and is lined with strip malls. Also, the bus system is abysmal, and, oh yes, the air carries that distinct flavor of diesel. That being said, Managua, like LA, has an undeniable draw to it. There is so much to discover that I don't even know about yet. At first I wasn't sure that I wanted to be in Managua, because I had heard a lot of negative reviews. However, I'm very excited to be here. The resources that Managua offers will let Rick and I really make the most of our time in Nicaragua. Also, the ex-pat community here is vast and young--which makes for some great friends. We've hosted 3 parties at our house already, and will be having another one tomorrow night!

I'm going to try to update this blog regularly, and I would love comments and email from any of you. I miss you all very much, and look forward to sharing my adventures with you.

I'd better go make dinner now. Hopefully the water hasn't gone out yet...