Onto the next country! I´ve been zipping through Central America since I´m in a bit of a rush to get back to Canada, so I don´t want to spend too much time wandering and getting lost in this section of the world.
Each border crossing can be so different. To get into Nicaragua involved hauling our bags off the bus for a search, and our bus was even hosed down - apparently to remove any harmful agricultural cling-ons?
Ummm...
These money changers were seeping through and dripping off the chainlink fence, trying to get our attention and convince us to change currency. Basically, the same thing as most borders! I´m starting to get used to seeing people walk around with huge wads of cash in plain view.
I arrived in Managua at night without a hotel reservation = not the best idea. A guy at the bus station came to ´help´ me find a room, but each place we asked said they had no space. The guy then took me to a place by Chavez Boulevard where I secured a ridiculously overpriced room in a ´hotel´ which just looked like somebody´s house. These types of people receive a commision from hotels, and they usually take you to the one where they get the most money. It`s the same deal with taxi drivers, and it`s common for them to lie and tell you that the hotel you want to go to is already full.
The guy said I looked more Honduran than Canadian, but once he found out I was from Canada he offered to help me get booze and weed - the basic diet of all Westerners!
I also found out that the reason why the hotels were so full was because the next day there would be a holiday - Revolution Day. The day is a celebration of the FSLN political group´s success in overthrowing the Somoza dictatorship. People celebrate by drinking, dancing, and listening to music with a big street party, and Nicaraguans come from all over the country to Managua on this day.
If I hadn´t been chatted up by a local Managuan on the bus, I would have thought that the holiday and what it represents to be a peachy remembrance, but not everyone is a fan. I got to hear about the other side of the FSLN who are currently in power. If not, I would have just seen the big street party with smiling, celebratory faces and not given it a second thought.
I didn´t find too much of interest wandering around the capital. Also, many places were closed for the holiday. Audio/visual guys were in the street setting up displays, some laying in a hammock on the metal scaffold supporting screens or speakers. Security guards and police were everywhere. I even saw one guard with a handheld metal detector filtering park grounds.
More than anywhere else I´ve been, never have I received so many cat calls one right after another here in Managua. I was wearing jeans to look less tourist-y and didn´t have a provocative piece of clothing on me. It can be a shock when you´ve been raised in Canada since men in Latin America whistle, hiss, air smooch, and yell things at you as you walk by. Avoid eye contact at all costs!
The party starts.
I went back to my hotel in the evening but all of the chanels had this sign. It felt like the holiday celebrations were the only thing going on today. And you must be part of the celebrations!
Blurry shot of a mom painting ´FSLN´ on her daughter´s cheek:
Until we meet again, Chavez.
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