Most gringos who live on the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua leave for their other homes during the months of September and October because it is the rainy season. Surfers don’t come at this time because the winds are “on shore”, and the water is brown from the turbulence of the rain. So some tourist businesses close, give the required vacation to their employees, and if the owners remain in country, they organize repairs to their business and regroup for the following year.
Personally, I like the rain. It fills the wells–posos–, makes everything beautiful and green, lots of flowers bloom during these months, and minimizes the prevalent polvo–windblown dirt, especially where I live on the road. My 4WD Forerunner can negotiate the steepest roads, calmer rivers and creeks, and my backyard mud. Although I did complain when I had to use 4WD just to get out of the place where I park behind my house.
SIDE STORY: The ox cart brought in two loads of ocean sand–arena–that one of the family members ordered to fill the backyard puddle. The sand caused a slip and slide situation worse than the original. So several of the young men who live here dug out the sand, filled the area with large flat stones and bricks that were laying around the property, covered this road with the sand, and then I drove my “camioneta” back and forth to flatten out the new road. (15′ x 15′) I no longer have to use 4WD to leave but this status isn’t going to last long as the area already has ruts about 10″ deep. So I try to alter my path with every movement of my vehicle. Incidentally an SUV in NI is called a “truk” or camioneta.
For me the rain alters my lifestyle very little. I still go out when it is raining, use my sailing jacket for protection–my huge umbrella is stored at Leah’s. I keep a pair of sturdy flip flops on the windowsill outside my front door to change in to when exiting the house to venture within the compound. I wear my boating shoes when I go out in the car to Rancho Santana, or other places for visits or shopping.
Rain didn’t stop students from coming to my Cuidadores de Personas class two weeks ago either. To give a progress report of the program, there are now four certified cuidadores for hire. I wish I could get some work for them before they forget everything they learned in the 20 hours of class. Grain by grain, it will happen. The class that I had planned for this week is cancelled because no one showed up yesterday. Next class on October 7th already has one person signed up and paid for by a potential user of a cuidadore in the future–my older friends at Rancho Santana. I plan on making a trip to MINSA–Nicaragua Ministry of Health–in Managua next week to present my program for approval at the national level. Keep good thoughts coming for this process.
Back to the consequences of rain. The air is very humid on some days. I now remember why Lennie and I had a light bulb in the clothes closet when we lived at Cocoa Beach to keep the mold out. Last week I discovered that my long denim skirt and pants from my suit were solid pieces of mold. No light bulbs for closets here. FYI, I had the clothes washed, am checking the closet more frequently, and put baking soda in a sock and put that in the closet to absorb moisture. The next time I go shopping I will buy several pounds of baking soda to put in other places. If anyone has some great recommendations for mold prevention, send them my way.
Good news today from Dońa Carmen here at the compound. They are getting rid of all the pigs–three killed for food (birthday parties), the rest sold–and next to go are the chickens. Carmen said that they are too destructive to planting anything. I think I have made some tiny bit of impression in this regard when I told Don and Dońa that on the farm where I was born, our animals were penned and fed in the pens. Here the pigs and chickens forage in the yard. Pigs are gone and I’ll wait to see about the chickens. I am going to miss the family that I watch daily–one Cocky Locky Rooster, his hen, and six little chicks who patrol around my house. Cocky Locky is a good father and very proud of his family. He crows loudly when in the presence of humans or other roosters. Since the chickens roam the property and roost in the trees or other hiding places at night, there aren’t eggs to be had from these birds. It will be nice to be able to plant basil and mint and some other things without having the tiny sprouts disappear within hours of breaking the ground.
All in all, life in Nicaragua is good to me. Next month I will hopefully have positive news about the Cuidadores de Personas presentation to MINSA and more news about the commercial business that I have planned with my partner, Ana Zavala, here in Limón Dos.
The photo is William Ruiz–son-in-law of the Guzmáns–birthday dinner party. William in black, his brother–the clown–, me William’s daughter Ubelke, and William, Jr. There were 30 people for dinner in the rain some of us were sort of under the roof–a tarp.
Margie Fincham in Nicaragua 