Sunday, October 14, 2007

Fiesta! Fiesta!

Nicaragua is tight. I think I am growing to love Nica more and more each day.


new birthday pictures posted:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwnicaragua


Yesterday was my birthday celebration, perhaps the ultimate day of Nicaraguan success thus far. I started my morning rewashing the clothes that I have washed two previous times, but that just never manage to dry on the clothesline due to the incessant rain. As a result, they pretty much permanently smell of mold and mildew. I woke early and thought that I might take advantage of the brief sunshine, and quickly rewashed and hung my clothes. Unfortunately, the sun did not last long enough – and my clothes were soaked by the rain about an hour later. Perhaps the fourth times the charm? We shall see.

Anyways, sometime later Dylan and I stopped by La Union (the supermercado) to stock up on groceries and supplies for my birthday fiesta. What exactly happens at a Nicaraguan birthday party? What are you supposed to serve people? Dylan and I certainly had no idea. Our plan, if anyone questioned, was merely to exclaim that whatever we were serving them and offering for entertainment was how things were done in the states – figuring no one could question us.

After loading up with groceries and party supplies - including a rainbow and cloud themed cake (that the baker managed to drop, thus smudging about 2 inches of the blue sky frosting – we were hoping for a discount after still agreeing to take the cake, but no such luck), the grocery store guy helped load us and all of our groceries inside a taxi in the midst of the downpour, all the while ensuring that I, and my precious rainbow cake, were shaded from the rain. We were set for the party – a semi-broken piñata, my frosting smudged birthday cake, a stocked fridge, and lots of Nicaraguan snacks.

Again, the incessant rain put a bit of a halt to our original plans of a pool party, but we quickly adjusted. Last week I had casually mentioned to Esmir that I would like 23 coconuts, chopped out of the trees by the pool, as a birthday present (what doesn’t taste better when drunk out of a coconut?). So, when Esmir arrived, he quickly grabbed Dylan’s newly purchased machete and headed out towards the pool. Obviously, we all followed. Esmir dragged one of the poolside chairs over to one of the coconut trees and scrambled up the back of the chair so that he could more easily hack the coconuts off. As I watched, wide eyed, Don Luis (the guard) comes running out of his security post arms waving. My first reaction – Dylan and I are done for. We are going to be kicked out of the neighborhood for defiling the community garden. But, again, I must remind myself, we are in Nicaragua. Don Luis was not actually running over to reprimand us – he was hurrying over to offer an easier suggestion – a ladder. He scolded Esmir for not realizing that he kept a ladder behind the fence for just such purposes and that Esmir was more than welcome to use the ladder to cut coconuts down for me. Once Esmir had cut down about 10 coconuts, he got to work hacking apart the coconut shell so that we could get to the actual meat.

Once again, Don Luis comes scurrying out of his security post, arms waving. This time – Esmir had not noticed the wooden cutting board nestled into the ground – again, for just this purpose. Oh Nicaragua. Needless to say, not only did Don Luis receive a bit of all of our fiesta goodies – but I spent the remainder of the evening drinking everything out of my coconut.

Other than that – the rest of the evening was delightful. Dylan and I had no idea who to expect at the party, as we had not requested anyone to rsvp – but we had about 10 guests show up for the party. Who knew we even had 10 Nicaraguan friends? We spent the majority of the afternoon with everyone crowded around our little living room area, the soccer game on in the background, while everyone chatted and got to know one another over drinks, snacks, pizza and cake. Did I mention that our pizza was delivered – in the midst of the downpour – on the back of two mopeds? Anything can happen in Nicaragua.

Over cake and ice cream, Angel – our friend from Momotombo (the real estate agency) regaled us with stories about all sorts of ridiculous “Nicaraguan” healing soups – cockroach soup – or tea if you prefer – to heal a cough, rat soup (according to Angel, all meat in Nicaragua is made of rat – they just don’t tell you. But don’t worry, we’re pretty positive this is a lie.). Granted these stories came out after Brad told us about starved tape worms emerging from people’s mouths into a cup of milk and cockroaches getting stuck in people’s noses for two weeks before dying and falling out. Perfect cake conversation, don’t you think?

Unfortunately, the piñata did not make it into our celebrations last night – but he is now hanging (quite literally) from our staircase, on display. We have decided it might be best to save him for a party with the kiddies. In the meantime, he serves as the sole decoration in our home.

All in all, I believe it was definitely a birthday celebration for the memory books. I am so blessed to have been surrounded by friends and to have been able to celebrate and have such a wonderful time down here. Nicaragua is full of such warmth and generosity and it is truly a gift that Dylan and I are being exposed to it each and every day.

Much love to you all.

Lauren

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