Blog | Masaya |
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| Written by Keith Rhoades | |
| Wednesday, 01 October 2008 | |
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Well, it is 9 pm here....rather late for me and a bit tired...but tonight i ate first. I had chorizo and liquado leche con papaya...both were excellent...i only hope i dont get sick...so far so good. mom will not be happy i ate chorizo! Well, it´s been a busy 24 hours! It is funny because so often on this trip it triggers memories of previous trips like my trip last year with Michael or several years ago to Costa Rica with Hanlan...I have these flashback moments to things that i had forgot..but are rekindled by stuff that happens here. Its very nice. Well, after i last wrote i stopped by to see Jose and give him some treats. He can only stay at the center until 10 pm when it closes. Last night I got his whole story...so bear with me. He has no father and his mother is very ill with diabetes and a few years ago she gave him to his grandmother who hated him and kicked him out at age 10...for two years he has been living on the streets in managua. Five months ago he got mugged and his flip flops were stolen while he was sleeping and he hitched to granada. He found a school and the center and does that. He goes to school from 8 to 4 and then the center until 10. At night he goes down to the lake and sleeps there for the night where all the other chavalos (street kids) sleep. All of this at age 12..but he is so unlike the other street kids...he desperately wants to go to school and learn and is very disciplined. He likes to draw and showed me his drawings. I went to bed and had a good sleep. This morning I was going to do a tour to Masaya but it was $40 and I thought maybe I can do this by myself. In granada I found my way to the bus station and it was an old US School bus...I actually had to climb a ladder on the back of the bus while moving....it was a chicken bus...with chickens, bags, logs, milk, cages, etc. I got to masaya and needed to get to the Volcano.  I found a young man Guillermo who said he would take me for a few dollars....and he was excited because he never seen the volcano either and he grew up in this area. The climb was very hard but I got to the rim and all the glory. There was a sign that said you could not stay on the crater for more than 20 minutes because the fumes and sulfur and smoke were deadly. It was incredible. It is the most active volcano here and erupts regularly. It is very dangerous. If it was in the USA they probably would not allow you to climb it. After the volcano I went to the lagoon de Masaya which was very nice and then walked about a mile to the center of the town of masaya which has a renowned artisans market and the local market. I love the markets to see the food, fruits, meat hanging there...though it does make one nauseas to see chickens and animal party just hanging there with flies all over it. but it is fascinating. I of course lost control and bought a bunch of souvenirs and ended up getting lost in the market. i finally found my way out to the bus station which was nothing but a large field filled with puddles, mud, and chaos!! What a fiasco but i found a bus back to granada and the rains came.  While i was at the market i bought some hygenie stuff for jose and some paperw and colored pencils...all for like $2 I stopped by the center and gave him the stuff and he was so happy. He wanted someone to take a picture of us and asked me to send it to him in the mail because he has never gotten any mail and he can pick up his mail at the center. He then asked if I would go to his school with him tomorrow at 10 am because he wants to show me his school. He is so very proud. Since I planned tomorrow to hang around granada and have a lax day I agreed. it will be interesting plus it seemed very important to him. I then went home and rested and cleaned up and headed out to dinner and now I am here. So tomorrow I will do some local stuff here in Granada, hang out with Jose and figure out my lodging for Leon. I did coordinate my transportation to Leon...a bit pricey but it is direct and I dont need to go through Managua. I have to find lodging up there. I did find out I can get from Leon to Choluteca Honduras for only $15 and that is the half way point to Tegucigalpa so I can break up that 12 hour bus ride. Plus it will be a border crossing which always is a fiasco...i hate transport days and espeically transport days with a border crossing. Well my friends and family...i guess that is it for now. I hope all is well with you. Sorry to go on and on so much about Jose...but he has been the highlight of this trip..the human interest story of this trip for me. |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 14 October 2008 ) |
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