...... was the smart thing to do! The traffic was intimidating any time of day, but Sunday morning proved to be the calmest/safest time.
We had spent three days in this town, wound up consulting the good doc, got some antibiotics for James (turned out he developed bronchitis) and found out that my blood pressure is a bit unstable......stress? I can feel something like an endless stream of negative thoughts going through my head while riding......annoyed by every whistle, every noise people here produce ( and loud noises - the further we travel south, the noisier people seem to get, or is it really just my stress level? I don't know anymore, but I don't want to be unfair either) The same questions, the same reactions, firecrackers, dogs....Some people have the habit of YELLING suddenly when they are the closest - like as a surprise effect, or honk their horn, even spit out the window and throw stuff. Again, it doesn't seem to be aggressive in any way, more like on a level of getting attention, like, when you poke a strange creature (something you can't make sense of) with a stick to see what it will do......
I can tell my nerves are stretched, I am on some kind of edge here and something is gotta give. Three days might not be enough. Managua is a town which had it's heart ripped out by an earthquake in 1972 and all it's old buildings were destroyed. Leaving the city as a sprawling series of suburbs, with shopping malls rather than central plazas as centers of community life. So, in a way it was good, because it made us stay put and not venture out much from our cheap, but quite pleasant little hotel.
So, we left
on Sunday morning, heading to Granada by Lake Nicaragua- only 50km on a paved road (ahem, we are back on route: the great Pan American Highway). Easy does it....watching my negative annoying thoughts. Did I lose my sense of humor? We are not even half way to Tierra Del Fuego!
