Adventures in Granada- by Hailey and Alex from Lehigh

Hola Amigos from Nicaragua! Today marks Hailey’s fourth full day and Alex’s LAST full day in Granada, and we cannot believe how fast it has gone. We thought that we could fill you all in on some of the adventures we have had thus far. Here is a list of some of our favorite things and some things that you can do in Nicaragua but most definitely cannot do in the US.

10. Applying 50 SPF sunscreen every hour and still managing to get sun burned.

9. Using charades as a functional form of communication. Alex and I have not found our Spanish to be proficient enough to get through a normal daily conversation, thus we have depended on using charades and various hand gestures to try and get our points across. Alex has found that adding an –O on to any word does not translate exactly to how she wants, but still she tries to get her point across this way, whereas Hailey has relied on the phrases, “No se” or “No entiendo” relentlessly, and both of us continually just smile and say “Si” to anyone that speaks to us. Therefore, we have no idea to some of the things we have agreed to, but hopefully it hasn’t been anything too binding.

8. With the brutal heat and humidity, all we do is wonder how all the locals do not die wearing long pants and jeans. We are drenched in sweat as soon as we wake up in the morning, so Alex has made it a focus to find inventive ways to stay cool. Alex employed the help of our homestay “hermano” Pedro, the four year old terror, to help her dump water all over her head. The next day, he was so excited to play this fun game again, instead of just pouring water on Alex’s head, he decided it would be a lot more fun to throw water all over her body… very funny. So funny that our “hermana” Ariana and our “madre” Monica joined in too.

7. Hunting for mangos has become one of our most favorite activities. There are mango trees all over, and it is so easy to pick them off of the trees. If we are hungry, we have found it fun to use a soccer ball or anything to try and knock mangos off of the trees. And the best part is that you can just bite right into it and peel of the skin, throw it in the street and enjoy a delicious, free snack.

6. We love that all of the houses here are painted outrageous and ridiculous colors. We keep trying to imagine full neighborhoods of houses these colors in the US, but we know that this just would not fly. Alex’s favorites are the teal colored houses and Hailey’s are the bright pink and orange ones.

5. Walking through the “Mercado”, we have seen some of the most ridiculous and interesting things. There are hundreds upon thousands of carts set up selling everything from bras and diapers to raw meats and eggs. We could not believe that there were people butchering raw chickens in 95 degree heat, leaving all the parts out to display for purchase. There are even mysterious places to eat in that have no signs in front, where you just go in and they make a plate for you inside their house. This place has become known as the “comedor mysterioso”. Needless to say, the market is a happening place that we felt entirely lost in.

4. The “what is this” food game has become one of our favorites as well. Most of the things we have been eating have not been easily recognizable, so out of instinct we have asked the other girls what everything is, but the trouble is that they will not answer us until we have already eaten it, so we have no choice but to try everything and spit it out if we don’t like it. Usually, the answers to the questions are that the food is either some kind of plantain, some kind of potato, or “I don’t know, just eat it”.

3. Nicaragua is truly a plastic bag economy. Everything comes in a bag, and our favorite is Juice in a Bag, aka frescos. So they literally hand you a plastic bag with juice in it, and sometimes they give you a straw. If they don’t give you a straw you just bite a hole in the side and drink out of it. We have found our favorite fresco vendors and they are always so great about letting us try all of the flavors since we have no idea how any of the fruits translate into Spanish. We have found that Calala is Passion Fruit and is definitely one of our favorites, but Mango is a close second.

2. Hitch hiking is something that both of us can cross off of our “Bucket Lists” because we successfully took a “hitchride” four times on our tour of Los Pueblos Blancos. We took a bus to get outside of Granada, then we were directed by our trusty tour guide Suyen to get off of the bus so that we could hitch a ride to our next location. We thought she was kidding, but as soon as she shoved us to the side of the road with our arms out we knew she was not. We did not have to wait long before someone stopped for us, but we were a bit hesitant because the first thing we noticed was 3 policemen in the back of the truck as well. But we figured, hey, it can’t be illegal if the police are doing it. We were pros by the time we had to hitch our second, third and fourth ride. The last one was extremely memorable because it felt like we were going at least 100 mph sitting in the back of a truck.

1. Lastly, we do not feel like we could have met as many different and incredible people if we had not made this adventure. The interns and locals working with Soccer Without Borders are incredible, with the time and effort they put into what they are doing here. We admire their hard work and resiliency, especially with the language barrier, and they were able to teach us so much about ourselves and this culture. So we want to thank everyone who made our stay unforgettable.