Crossing the border of Honduras into Nicaragua was an interesting journey and we met a few weirdos. Danli, Honduras, turned out to be a not so great city that was not what we were expecting. Safety was an issue of concern as we were hissed and glared at by the locals in the streets. Anyway it did not matter because we only stayed for a day. From Danli we had to catch a bus to a small town called El Paraiso. On our way a very drunk man willingly sat next to us and so began the terrorizing 30 minute journey to El Paraiso. He claimed to be a cop and talked a lot of shit for 30 minutes and even had the nerve to insist that I give him my dictionary because he needed it. Yea, right. I am sure a man who speaks no English needs a Spanish English Dictionary in an only speaking Spanish country. Gimmie a break. He told us we needed to get off the bus at a certain location. God bless a little old man who had been listening to our conversation because he warned me not to get off the bus and continue on because the stop we needed was far away. I asked the bus driver and he said we needed to stay on. Turns out the crazy fake policeman wanted to rob us. Anyway, he went on his miserable drunk way and we continued on. From El Paraiso we had to take yet another bus to the border town of Las Manos. And of course, at that bus stop there was a strange man who sat and stared at us and when we entered the bus he willingly sat next to us. This one did not bother us, but he was staring at us a lot. It was that moment that we decided we would not travel by bus back up to Guatemala because the hassle just is not worth it.
The border crossing was a bit surreal. For kilometers before the crossing there were hundreds of semi trucks parked alongside the road waiting for inspection. Under the trailers of the trucks, drivers gathered together and hung hammocks from under the trailer to lie on. At the crossing there were just dozens and dozens of young guys with huge wads of money waiting to exchange your Honduran Lempiras to Nicaraguan Cordobas. This is pretty much your only option because the banks around here do not want foreign currency unless it is American Dollars. So, the black market it is. But it is safe, as long as you know the exchange rate, you are alright.
We walked up to the window of Honduran Immigration and hadd to pay our ¨Gringo tax¨ for leaving. Then we walked about 3 steps to the window of the Nicaragua Immigration, got our passports stamped and paid another Gringo tax for entering. Sly dudes.
Happy to be out of Honduras, we happily talked about finally be in Nicaragua. A bus was waiting up the road and we were finally in Nicaragua. As in Guatemala and Honduras, the public buses are more often than not old used American school buses. This particular driver took great care of his and inserted red curtains along the windows. It made for a very ambient bus ride. As the bus drove along and randomly picked up passengers waiting on the sides of the road, we knew we had entered a country much different than the previous two. As the women and children and men entered the bus, we were greeted with warm and curious smiles (much different from the evil glares in other places). The poverty level was definately noticably lower. Here is some info courtesy of UNICEF
¨Nicaragua has a population of 5.1 million and an annual population growth rate of 2.7 per cent; 53 per cent of the population is under 18 years of age. Nicaragua's main challenge is to overcome inequity and poverty, which affect children and women most severely. The breakdown of income distribution shows that 45 per cent of all income goes to the richest 10 per cent of the population, while only 14 per cent goes to the poorest. Nicaragua is the third poorest country in the Americas, with a per capita gross national product of $453. Poverty affects 2.3 million persons, 831,000 of whom live in extreme poverty, mainly in the Central and Atlantic regions.
One of every three children has some degree of chronic malnutrition and nine per cent suffer from severe malnutrition. The maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 150 per 100,000 live births is unacceptably high. In the Atlantic region and areas difficult to access, MMR may be twice as high as the national average. Adolescent pregnancies account for one of every four births nationally. Safe water and sanitation coverage continues to be low, particularly in rural areas and those with dispersed populations.¨
But, do not let this statistic allow you to believe for a minute that the people here are some of the most incredible that we have ever encountered. The people are proud, proud, proud. The people here fought (literally) for their freedom of culture and politics. Nicaragua is just embellished with art and culture. Nicaragua boasts great world known poets and revolutionaries.
We would break Nicaraguan people down into 4 categories. The first would be the people who live in extreme poverty and we have not had much experience getting to know that. From what we see on the side of the road while on a bus, the poverty is very bad. Very, very bad. Very sad. People live in tiny one room houses with wild animals running around and trash everywhere. You usually find them standing in the doorways watching as the buses go by. The second category would be the elders who experienced many years of wars and revolution. Their eyes have seen many devestations. Here, in Esetli, during the revolution, every single family had a son or more fighting. Yet they remain positive and have understood that that is the way life is. The third category are the kids who resort to drugs and prostitution. The most exhilerating category are the young adults. We had the privilege of meeting Juan Carlos at the homestay we did. He was the symbol and epitome of what the young generation is passionate about. Well educated, bilingual, and ready to make some serious serious changes to their country. these people are real diamonds in the rough. It is inspiring and a relief to see young adults so motivated to make change.
Security is not an issue in Nicaragua, for the most part. We can walk freely around the streets during the day and night without fear of being bothered. Society is very tranquil and accepting of foreigners. Of course you get the few hard asses in the streets who carry on calling you a gringo americano, but whatever. We take it with a grain of salt.
Streets are filthy and dusty, buildings are colorful and graffiti makes an appearance quite often. When you get off the filthy streets and into the lives of these people, the filth subsides. Amazing place, Nicaragua.
We stayed in a city called Ocotal for a night, in what we later realized to be a sort of sex hotel, and are now in Esteli.
Esteli was the center of the revolution and has well repaired itself. We just completed a week of Spanish school and homestay. Our Spanish school was situated in a center for handicapped children and we were able to meet the kids and help out a bit. Amazing experience. Esteli offers a lot of Holistic options such as doctors and pharmacies. Me, Julie, being extremely interested in natural and holistic medicine loved loved the opportunity to buy and learn about Nicaraguan ancient remedies.
Tomorrow we hop on the bus again and are off the Leon, a very famous colonial city for museums and universities.
¡Hasta Leugo!
