When the Sun Goes Down

When the sun goes down and the cool breeze blows in the dark streets of the small city, there lurks a short, little man behind this tree or that telephone post waiting, stalking, and longing for the blood of gringas.
He sends out his relatives like a pack of wolves to find out exactly where the gringas are. They sniff, bark, and make their move. Be careful when you go to this city. For those you think are friends only enjoy this dark, sad tale of a one-sided love. When they are supposed to be your knight and shining armor, they turn out to be jokers laughing at every detail you tell…

The trip to Nica was full of ups and downs. I arrived at the Tica bus station with my friend Josh waiting for me, which was rather nice when you are a girl traveling alone. We went to the mall, which was in its own way a little culture shock to me even though I just returned from the States not too long ago. We saw the Pirates 2 movie and ate at Subway, which was quite a treat. The next day, he set out for El Salvador and I took an hour bus ride to Masatepe. I had a bit of a fever as soon as I arrived that lingered a bit into the church service at night. Church was rockin’ (quite literally) and I was so excited to be in a place where church is fun. My stalker buddy found me afterwards and was talking to me about something on the internet then finally went away. The rest of the week, I helped out teaching English class at the school. Apparently the gringa pursuer called a few times to the school to find out my whereabouts and my schedule. GRRRRR. But I spent my time catching up with some of my friends on their lives, their dreams, and the different difficulties they are going through. Two of my guy friends now have girlfriends, which is a huge deal there. It pretty much means they are getting married, just not sure of the wedding date. They were both so cute: couldn’t stop smiling when they talked about their girls. Sweet.
On the day before I left, I got really sick and didn’t think I’d be able to visit my PC buddy in Matagalpa. But praise the Lord, all the junk inside my stomach found its way out in one way or another (yeck!) and two of my Masatepian friends and I set out for the North. We met up with Bill, ate some Nicaraguan food, and went to a movie (which was rather dumb, but there isn’t much choice in these places). The next day before heading out, we had some REAL Italian food. Down a rather small street in Matagalpa lies an Italian restaurant that makes their food with mozzarella cheese! I was, for a short while, in heaven with that pizza we ate. If Bill put up a fight, I would have seriously punched him for the leftovers. But amazingly enough, he didn’t. (Probably because he ate part of a big salad, a whole small pizza and then two slices of the large).
Now I’m back in Sigua and happy to be here. In Masatepe, the water and electricity work when they want to. After this week though, I realized how often I take that for granted here in Sigua. I love the people in Masatepe, but I love the set up of the town of Sigua. Supermercados, Wendy’s, and people who speak English. I’m happy to be here. Work starts tomorrow, and new teachers are on their way. My boss just had her baby on the 13th. I like holding him and watching him sleep, but I’m so glad I get to give him back to someone else. He’s precious, and he sleeps a lot. One day…