Greetings from Nicaragua.
This is not a vacation for the pampered.
It is definitely a place to get you out of your comfort zone. Of all the places I have visited, life here is completely different than life in the United States.
Let's start with the bathroom. Keep in mind that what I'm describing is pretty much the same as what all other students are experiencing. There is nothing exceptional about where I´m living. So the bathroom is semi-outdoors with a tin roof overhead. The toilet has no seat. Like Mexico and Guatemala, you must throw your toilet paper in a garbage can alongside. Unlike Mexico and Guatemala, to flush the toilet you pick up a rather large bucket of water and dump it from a rather high distance. Surprisingly, this works. Although I'm not thrilled about not having a toilet seat.
As for toilet paper, the guidebooks were right when they suggested bringing your own. My house has its own roll, but school and just about everywhere else goes without. Apparently people use newspapers or just about anything as a replacement. Luckily from day one I'd been carrying wet naps and now have bought my own roll which I will carry everywhere.
The shower was an even bigger surprise than the toilet. During the rainy season (which is now) most of the houses in Ocotal (the city where I am living) have problems with running water. Houses on the outskirts of town (that's me) have problems all the time. This is what showering now means to me for the next three weeks: I enter the stone or brick shower the top of which is open to the outdoors. On the cement floor there is a large bucket (larger than the one used for flushing the toilet). On day 1 I was given a bowl about the size of a dog food dish and was told (in Spanish) that the water only comes once in a while. Not sure that I understood, I walked into the shower and discovered the bucket and deduced what I was supposed to be doing. Needless to say I did not wash my hair that day. Today was the first day I attempted to actually wash my hair. I succeeded, but I have to say that it is not the most pleasant experience. I only have two and a half more weeks left of showering with a bucket and dish. I think this is the best way to approach the situation--wash my hair first, pouring water over my head only, and then wash the rest after my hair is finished. The mornings in Ocotal are actually a bit cool and so showering is as well.
While I'm sure what I'm describing doesn´t sound like much fun, I'm having a good time here. I am more immersed in Spanish here (by necessity) than I have been at any other location. There are approximately 10 students at my school, and I have seen only one hippie looking foreigner out on the streets.
Now I'm getting hungry for some beans and rice, so I'm going to end the post. I will write more soon and someday, probably when I am back in the United States, I will add pictures.
This is not a vacation for the pampered.
It is definitely a place to get you out of your comfort zone. Of all the places I have visited, life here is completely different than life in the United States.
Let's start with the bathroom. Keep in mind that what I'm describing is pretty much the same as what all other students are experiencing. There is nothing exceptional about where I´m living. So the bathroom is semi-outdoors with a tin roof overhead. The toilet has no seat. Like Mexico and Guatemala, you must throw your toilet paper in a garbage can alongside. Unlike Mexico and Guatemala, to flush the toilet you pick up a rather large bucket of water and dump it from a rather high distance. Surprisingly, this works. Although I'm not thrilled about not having a toilet seat.
As for toilet paper, the guidebooks were right when they suggested bringing your own. My house has its own roll, but school and just about everywhere else goes without. Apparently people use newspapers or just about anything as a replacement. Luckily from day one I'd been carrying wet naps and now have bought my own roll which I will carry everywhere.
The shower was an even bigger surprise than the toilet. During the rainy season (which is now) most of the houses in Ocotal (the city where I am living) have problems with running water. Houses on the outskirts of town (that's me) have problems all the time. This is what showering now means to me for the next three weeks: I enter the stone or brick shower the top of which is open to the outdoors. On the cement floor there is a large bucket (larger than the one used for flushing the toilet). On day 1 I was given a bowl about the size of a dog food dish and was told (in Spanish) that the water only comes once in a while. Not sure that I understood, I walked into the shower and discovered the bucket and deduced what I was supposed to be doing. Needless to say I did not wash my hair that day. Today was the first day I attempted to actually wash my hair. I succeeded, but I have to say that it is not the most pleasant experience. I only have two and a half more weeks left of showering with a bucket and dish. I think this is the best way to approach the situation--wash my hair first, pouring water over my head only, and then wash the rest after my hair is finished. The mornings in Ocotal are actually a bit cool and so showering is as well.
While I'm sure what I'm describing doesn´t sound like much fun, I'm having a good time here. I am more immersed in Spanish here (by necessity) than I have been at any other location. There are approximately 10 students at my school, and I have seen only one hippie looking foreigner out on the streets.
Now I'm getting hungry for some beans and rice, so I'm going to end the post. I will write more soon and someday, probably when I am back in the United States, I will add pictures.
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