Уроки английского
Time flies, it's already been more than three weeks... Feels like I've been here much longer. Including my 15 students and some school staff, I know perhaps about 50 people here by there first names, almost all of them locals. Though the total population of San Juan with all suburbs is over 18 thousand people, this place feels really small. I could get to any place worth getting to with my eyes closed. One of the pictures I'm attaching will provide a good bird-eye view of the town. It's core part, situated on the water, is just three-by-four blocks, and a brisk walk from one to the other end of the beautiful beach takes about a half-hour.




There are only two seasons here - summer, which is hot and dry, and winter when it rains every day, which makes it hot and humid. Right now we are in the middle of the summer season, so it´s really nice, around 30´C during the day and perhaps 20 at night. I can only recall one cloudy day in the three weeks I've been here... I have a fan next to my bed at home and it is enough to make my nights comfortable.

My typical day begins at 6:30 when I wake up and go straight to the beach, which takes about three minutes, for my little morning workout routine and a refreshing swim. Doing exercises on the cool morning sand in the rays of the rising sun... priceless. (San Juan has a gym - among other Western-style amenities - air-conditioning and all. Not sure who would want to use a gym here, but, well, to each their own I guess...)

A quick shower back at home, and at 7:30 Doña Marta, the lady of the house, serves me breakfast, which at my request is always the same - fresh-squeezed juice, fried eggs and gallo pinto (a traditional local dish of pre-cooked rice and beans, mixed together and lightly fried). A cup of tea after that, and I'm ready to go out at 8 am.

If I have classes, they start at 8:30, which gives me enough time for an espresso outside. Teaching is fun. I try to make my lessons challenging and very interactive - it's the only way to keep the students' attention - and it works. If I don't have classes, I put on my headphones and go for a beach walk which could be as long as I want - up to two hours sometimes - before having my espresso. I then go to the lab to prepare for my class and I stay there till lunch time.

My lunch at home is always a fresh bowl of fruit - again at my request - which Doña Marta puts in the fridge for me, so I can come and have it at any time of the day. If I feel hungry, I then go out and have a simple meal at one of the places where locals eat. It usually costs anywhere between one and three dollars depending on how hungry I am.

Another espresso and back to work, where I stay till 4 pm usually. Between 4 and 6 pm is the beach time. Sometimes, the locals set up a net and then I join them for a few games of volleyball. If not, I just walk. The sun sets in the waters of the bay around 6 pm - some of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen (see the picture).

Two days a week after sunset I also teach English to a group of five women, all of them owners of small local stores around here.

The principal part of my dinner is usually... that´s right, gallo pinto! Complemented with some salad, fried bananas, and a small piece of fried cheese (delicious!) or chicken or pork or fish.

I read at home after dinner, then go to the beach around 8:30, sit there by myslef, listen to music - mostly jazz lately - or an audio book. I also make myself cocktails - usually rum, orange juice, water, and fresh-squeezed lemon. This drink is more delicious and healthier, and of course much cheaper than at any waterfront bar - and without all the noise... (A 0.7 bottle of decent rum is $5 here. Of course the world-famous 7-year-old Flor De Caña is a bit more expensive, but I don´t really need that kind of rum for my cocktails.)

At around 10 pm I pack up and go home, read a bit more, and fall asleep easily before 11 pm.

Saturday nights I eat out, and then on Sundays I also have breakfast outside - just enough of a break from the gallo pinto to start craving for it again by Sunday afternoon :) On weekends the town gets really busy - with many wealthier people from Managua and Granada coming down - and I try to get out of town and explore other beaches around San Juan (see the picture). There are usually few people there, mostly surfers.




Well, that's about it. It´s good to be here. Good to be outside and on foot so much. Good not to be watching any TV at all. Good to have just one backpack of possesions and never feel any need for more
(well, having the guitar here would actually be nice...). Good to be doing something meaningful and different. Good to be talking Spanish...

It's still cheap here... Including the $10 that I pay for room and three meals, I think I'm spending around 17 dollars a day on average - including all the coffees, rum, cigarretes, water, juice, beer, occasional meals out, rides to the remote beaches and other good things. This place also still feels authentic. No McDonalds or Starbucks or Holiday Inns. Every place is small and unique, and the service is friendly and relaxed. Most of the foreign visitors are backpackers.This place is not for everyone. If you think you may be bothered with a few little friendly ants in your table sugar or a couple of tiny lizards making love on the ceiling above your head while you are having a snack, perhaps it is best to stick with Honolulu :) Water supply gets interrupted almost on a daily basis, at random times, without any warnings, and can last for hours. Same with power, although it is a bit more reliable than water. There is a great deal of garbage on the beach after the weekends, although it gets picked up - or washed away - eventually. Not all the locals are equally friendly - which is not a big surprise considering their recent history and the role the gringos played in it - although I would not feel uncomfortable going anywhere by myself at night.

Well, to me, these are the very things that help keep this place authentic. And sadly I think the authenticity might be gone in another few years, and then it might start feeling more like Costa Rica, with its more reliable infrastructure, complemented with cynical attitudes, plain food, and Canadian-level prices. I hope I´m wrong about this and I hope there is a way for Nicaragua to develop its tourism while remaining 'genuine' the way it is now. I just don´t know if it is possible at all... All the more reason to spend some time here now...

After this is over, I'm thinking of visiting London - I have a very good reason for that of course - and then perhaps also Spain, and if so, there would be very little excuse not to make a stop in Saint John on my way back...

I still have no idea what it is I want to do after all the travels are over (except that I know I will have to start making some living :), but, at least for the moment, this lack of certainty too makes me feel good...




Cheers! :)


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