Day 12: 24 Hours in Managua (Running into Ortega)

Friday began with a 6a transport to Managua, the capitol of Nicaragua. We quickly learned what makes this city different than many others: lack of addresses. Directions go something like this: Around the 9km mark, turn up the hill (no left or right) then look for the house across from the green door. There are no street names in Managua. It reminds me a little of direction in Chilhowee. Like turn onto old Shannon Road or down from the old Willcockson place, only here the directions might be nine houses down from the cathedral (and the cathedral burnt down 50 years ago).

In Managua we were all staying together again. We were very appreciative of our hosts, Carlos and Mercedes, for welcoming in all five of us (as well as Mercedes' parents and son, Juan Carlos).

Juan Carlos has been on a GSE before so they were very conscientious of our rest time. In the morning Christi and I took a nap and the guys headed to relax by the pool (I was clearly exhausted if I passed up pool time for a nap).

When we awoke, the family took us to lunch at a very nice country club to meet the president of their Rotary club. We are not missing any meals in Nicaragua. Our hosts have fed us very well. The club had a gorgeous view of all of Managua.

Following lunch, we set off in search of cigars. We have heard Nicaragua has the best cigars in Central America. This is again where lack of addresses played a part in our journey. We drove around a central area for quite some time trying to find one building.

Once found and cigars purchased, Juan Carlos took us to the lake. This is the small lake in Nicaragua and is contaminated, however, it was very beautiful. The area we sat at was like a boardwalk of sorts.

On our way home we ran into this guy.

The president of Nicaragua, Ortega. He apparently likes to drive himself around.

Juan Carlos is a member of Rotaract. Jimmy, Christi and I joined him at GHOP for the meeting. GHOP is George's House of Pancakes (George is a member of Rotaract). The club is comprised of about 10 members and they aren't quite as strict on the age requirement and many members were a bit older than 30. We got to learn a lot about the projects their local chapter works on. They are small but very mighty. It was incredible to see how much they do with so few members. Following the meeting, the club took us our for some much welcomed cervesas. We were able to let loose and relax a bit knowing we didn't have to wake up super early on Saturday morning.

We're now in a car on the way to Jinotepe. Another 24 hours in Jinotepe. Then 24 hours in Granada. Then another early Tica Bus ride to San Jose, Costa Rica.

 

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