Cute, even with the runny noses - the photo was their suggestion, followed by them putting their grubby hands all over the camera and taking several videos...it was worth it for their smiles and giggles.
Nicaragua is a very religious country - the state is very much tied to the catholic church. As such it has great laws such as no abortions - not even in the case of a raped child. It's a common scenario here, so it's fortunate that there aren't illegal hospitals. Another brilliant tradition is the holy week of Semana santa - there's a national holiday for a week to celebrate Easter. So the population takes a reverent approach by getting extremely drunk before heading for the nearest large expanses of water, in which to try and drown themselves.
Sarcasm aside, this is a bizarre celebration. A combination of street parades, increased church congregations, drunken people laying in the street, 100's of non-swimming people in the local lakes and as much noise as inhumanely possible. I enjoyed it tremendously for a day, but only because i was drunk, didn't have any classes and am capable of swimming. This year around 29 people died of drowning in Nicaragua in this week alone (another 27 were murdered and 9 died from motor incidents!). I'm told over 100 have died in previous years. A couple who were staying at the school witnessed 3 near drowning in 3 days - half filled beer bottles help you float allegedly. I saw countless people - male and female who couldn't stand up, some decided to stay on the floor for the night. I also saw fights and arguments and even got involved in some bother as i had my camera on me while an argument was occurring. I´m glad i blended in with the locals.
It was pretty much a nightmare trying to study at the school for a whole week. I'm so glad i got to witness this holy event and feel part of the Nicaraguan culture. God bless us all.
