The maroon team
Color wars!
After a long day and night of goodbyes and muchos bailar, we headed to the airport in the morning with Chepe, Neythen, Elise and Cesar, fittingly riding in a pile of bags in the back of a pick-up truck. We were all pretty exhausted after finishing everything on our Sunday to-do list, including zip-lining on the volcano, a pork lunch in the park, gift-buying, meeting with Chepe about his new contract, re-organizing what was left of the equipment, packing bags inside of other bags, making sure we purchased a lifetime supply of bachata music, and enjoying the fiesta Dona Bertha was hosting for us.
As if we hadn't committed enough faux-pas, we learned that at a Nicaraguan fiesta the guests of honor are supposed to serve the other guests, NOT serve themselves food as they wait for the perpetually late Nicaraguans to arrive. For example, if it were your birthday and I threw you a party, it would be your job to serve the guests, not mine. Chowing down on some pretty stellar mix of rice and chicken that Dona Bertha had cooked up, we slowly noticed that no one else in the family was eating...and bit by bit we pieced together the rules of etiquette we had clearly broken. Lucky for us, all the Nicaraguans arrived so late that we had finished our second and third portions by then, and were ready to wait on them all they wanted.
Five year old Jose Luis stole the show at the fiesta, living up to the nickname we gave him, Casanova. He danced with every single one of us, both bachata and regeton, and then found himself another 5 year old to dance with. The little girl, Denise, was very obviously jealous when she had to sit on the side while Lea taught Jose Luis the running man.
Home now for nearly 48 hours, it's been quite a culture shock. Living on less than 10 dollars a day for the last 6 weeks, within the first few hours of being back I had already spent 10 times that here...between parking costs, meals, gas, and an all-important oil change. It's incredible to think how far that money can go in a place like Granada, even if just once in awhile we would forego that Panera sandwich and opt for some Ramen. Thinking about this along with how to ensure this project doesn't end here are the next priorities for us now that we're home. As things unfold, I'll be sure to keep this updated, so don't take it off your list of procrastination websites forever!
Til then..
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