Masaya, and photos

I have posted a few (completely random and disorganized) photos on Flickr, at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44864786@N00/

I wish I had the bandwidth (in both senses) to do a better presentation, but our connection here is reaaaaaallly slow, so any more uploading/arranging will have to wait. Meanwhile, enjoy the randomness.

Today was our first day of interviewing in Masaya, Nicaragua’s “Cradle of Folklore.” We did not have the best impression of the town yesterday when we arrived, since the electricity and water was out all over the city (apparently, all over the country.) It gets dark here quite early, around 7 pm, and since we did not know the city our general sense was of threatening, lightless streets. With streetlights, everything now seems much safer and more cheerful. The first hotel we tried was not working for us, but we are now in the best hotel in town, which is every inch a Central American “best hotel in town.” That is, the front room and street entrance is luxurious and impressive, radiating colonial privilege with its elaborately tiled lobby, fancy furniture, gold drapes, and chandeliers; the interior patio is lush and befountained, but more Nicaraguan in style, with ceramic floors, hammocks, plants and rocking chairs; and the 3-person room itself, where we guests are actually staying, is basic, cramped, and adequate, with mismatched cartoon character sheets adorning twin bunk beds with foam mattresses. But it’s one of the few places in town with an electric generator, so - overall luxe factor high! The electricity is still out in some of the town (including where we are) although most sectors have regained service for the time being. I am writing to the gentle sounds of splashing water and the not-so-gentle pounding of the generator.

Today, by chance, I ended up going to San Juan del Sur, which is one of the most touristy spots in Nicaragua (famous for surfing) about 2.5 hours from Masaya on pockmarked, intermittently paved roads. Although the FINCA clients were still poor, with overall fewer consumer goods than in Managua and similar per capita expenditures on average, they seemed generally, well, happier. People smiled! In fact, everyone was uncommonly warm and welcoming. Perhaps I’m projecting a bit, but it felt almost like being in another country. This is what I remembered from Nicaragua 2 years ago. Today, I was genuinely happy to be here - and doubly happy when I could take half an hour to stroll along the beach.

One lady I interviewed, who makes “enchiladas” to sell to schoolkids at lunch (these are more like Argentine empanadas than anything you may be thinking of from a Mexican restaurant, and contain about 400% of the USDA recommended daily dose of fat in each tiny, tasty greasebomb) told me that her house, and the entire street, now have plumbing and indoor bathrooms courtesy of an American who is installing a hotel at the very top of the street. He is also paving “his” street - I guess this is what you call corporate social responsibility. A nice contrast to the scads of real estate agencies that infest the town, buying up land from naïve campesinos for $5000 an acre and selling it to foreigners at $50,000 a plot.