MIA for a few days....

(Tania's uncle Miguel)


(that's us during the march!)


(people dancing in the street while we walkby)


tired feet:(

For those of you who have been keeping up with our blog, you might have noticed that we went missing for a few days...here's the update.

Friday:

Uneventful. We spent most of the day sleeping and relaxing with the fam. Summer days in Nicaragua...

Saturday:

The Repliegue

The morning started with the usual: sitting out in the backyard, chatting, and having breakfast. As the day went on we continued to lay around and rest. Tania's uncle Miguel had promised take us along on a Nicaraguan celebration. Since we are in Nicaragua "celebration" means something totally different: in this case, 18 miles of walking. The repliegue, which means retreat, and is an event that memorializes the mass exodus from Managua in the late 70's. The US had sent out a warning that they would bomb Managua and the people of Managua had to retreat to nearby towns. Being that it's a 3rd world country, and it was during the time of a war, people had to walk with their families and belongings. So, this being said, Tania, Miguel, and I literally walked from Managua to Masaya amongst a million people (seriously, a million people). We were about 20 minutes into the walk, when it started to rain. This meant that for the remaining of the march, our clothes were soaking wet. Masses of people, young and old, all in unison walked along a 30 kilometer walk to acknowledge the people who died along the way.

The march started at 3pm and we didn't get to Masaya until 11pm. It was night time, and the roads had no lighting what so ever, but the sounds of people laughing and talking in front of us guided our path. Along the way, a few thoughts occurred to me: one thing that I began to realize within a few days of being in Nicaragua is that you have to learn to accept things as they are. There are tons of people, the heat is unbearable sometimes, there are bugs everywhere, and sometimes (as Tania's grandmother puts it so eloquently) "when you smell shit you know you're in Nicaragua." You have to learn to accept the fact that you can't do anything about any of these things and just live with it. The repliegue, above all else, truly made me feel like I was a part of everything. My feet hurt, I was cold, I was tired, and I was hungry. But so was everyone else, we all shared in the pain and sorrow, and we were all in it together in celebration. That is what I believe is the true essence of Nicaragua.

Once we reached Masaya, the president Daniel Ortega gave a speech. Ortega, despite the criticism that he has been receiving in the news and from Nicaraguans, walked in the 18 mile march with the people. We didn't stay until the end of his speech because by the time it would've been over, it would've been around 2am and we still had to make it back to Managua (a 45 minute bus ride).

Finding the free buses back to Managua was an adventure of its own. Despite the fact that masses of people were expected to attend this march, it was evident that the march lacked a bit of organization: there were no signs designating the buses of their destinations, and street signs in the Nicaragua seem to be non-existent. The three of us made our way to the buses by asking people on the street, until finally Miguel managed to convince one of the bus drivers to drop us off near where we were staying in Managua. By the time we reached the bus, it was 1am, we were wet and soar from the walk, hungry, dehydrated, sleepy, but somehow, amazed that the three of us had managed to make it on the 18 mile journey.

Sunday

Pain, exhaustion, and soar limbs from marching......enough said.

Monday

Went to breakfast at a local restaurant and had a typical Nicaraguan breakfast: Gallo Pinto, maduro, and cream, with eggs with Daniel and Vincent. Daniel wanted me to taste traditional Nicaraguan food, and ooh I tasted it all. At night, Tania's mother (who I refer to as "la General") arrived from the US and she will be staying for two weeks. Future plans include going to the Island of Ometepe, which is a remote location that is competing for one of the "9 wonders of the world", and possibly going to Costa Rica for the weekend. Will keep everyone updated on what we end up doing.