Souvenir Shopping

As our trip home to Finland is fast approaching, it was time to do some shopping for souvenirs to take home.  Fortunately, a friend of mine has the same dilemma, and we decided to take a girls' shopping day, leaving Chuck and Kaleb to spend quality bonding time at home.

Everyone knows Masaya's Handicraft market. It's a market created for tourists, and the prices are accordingly. However, less known is the handicrafts section at the Masaya Municipal Market, with much lower prices (maybe one fifth of the price).That's were these savvy shoppers were headed!

It's not as fancy and clean, as the tourist market, but that's part of its charm. (Picture by Hans Sterkendies)

I just had to share what I bought and at what price. I was amazed.

So, I got a wooden bowl, made of different local woods, a ceramic, decorative house, a t-shirt, wrist band, hair band, chandelier earrings and a woven bag for the total of $ 32! Oh, and if my folks are reading this... now you know what you'll be getting...

 After the exhaustive time shopping, we went for lunch at a "best, most authentic" Mexican restaurant in all of Nicaragua. We had yummy enchiladas and margaritas for lunch, and it only cost $ 17 for two, including a 10% tip. Oh, and best of all, we didn't have to pay any "gringo-taxes" to the local police on the way!

Glimpses of Ordinary Life

Here are some pictures of ordinary things around the house, things that are a little different than what we're used to back home, whether it be in the USA or Finland.

Here's our dishwasher. Well, that's mostly me, but there is a technique to it, that I have to admire. Requires a lot of water tho, and elbow grease :)

So, you have a sponge and a tub of dishwashing soap. You grab some soap on the sponge and wash the plates and all under the running water, at the same time rinsing them. We have a drying rack, so we don't have to towel dry them, at least. This method is fine when it's just a few plates and things, it'd be a lot more work for a whole family! Oh, and there is no hot water, everything is tepid.

Another tidbit about living in Nicaragua. Most of the plumbing here is so old and the pipes so small, that you can't throw your TP in the toilet, but put it in the wastebasket. Luckily here in San Juan del Sur, trash is collected everyday, where we live, many times a day.

The maroon toilet set was purchased by our landlord (editor's note).

With so much poverty in Nicaragua, it's important to keep your items and home safe.Therefore, even the poorest houses have wrought iron bars on the windows. 

Because there is no postal delivery in town, and the newspaper can only be bought in the store, advertising is done more creatively.

All sorts of cars, here's just one example, drive around town with loudspeakers on top, playing recorded messages from our advertisers. We don't understand much of it yet; what we thought was an animated, high-pitched political speech from a Hitler-wannabe, turned out to be an ad for a circus coming to town. The only ad we have understood was our friend Bonnie's for El Timón restaurant. It was in English.

Electricity is a little sketchy here as well. Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't. Like with the rainy season upon us, and the thunderstorms we've been having, the power goes out more often than not, during those storms. Here is an example of a power pole in our 'hood.

Made you go "no wonder" huh? :) 

My life is a dream tho, especially when I found a local store that actually carries Diet Pepsi, or Pepsi Light, as it is called here! Party on!

Visa Extension

It's already been almost 3 months since we moved here! All we can say, is that time moves real fast, although not sure we've accomplished much... Well, since our 3 months here drew to an end, it means that it was time to get an extension to our visas. You don't need to apply for a visa when you come to Nicaragua (from USA). When you enter with your passport, you can stay here for 3 months (90 days) as a tourist. After those 90 days you have to either go to another country that stamps your passports, or get a visa extension from a "migration" office.

We'd heard stories that having migracion stamp your extension isn't too complicated, and we needed to go shopping in Managua anyway. There are Migracion offices closer to us, like in Granada and Rivas, but they take your passport and you have to come back to get it in 3 days (or more, who knows). So, we called our friend Bladimyr for a ride. He's got a company with some other drivers and they are pretty cheap, helpful, and a lot of them know English. Bladimyr couldn't make it himself, so he sent Camillo, who spoke great English and was ready to take us where we needed to go.

Now, I decided, in my infinite wisdom, of course, to take the route less traveled; go to Multicentro Las Americas Mall for the renewal. That location wasn't much talked about, so I figured it would be faster than other, more popular locations. First we had to take copies of our passports. We had heard stories about copies costing $1 per page, so we decided to go to a photo shop away from the migracion office. It paid off: the copies only cost 2 cordobas a page (8 cents). Next we went to the migracion office. A guard on the door let us in, after we showed and somehow kinda explained what we were there for. He told us which line to go to, and get the forms. The forms cost $5 each (we needed 2).

(Pic from Wikipedia)

Our lawyer had said the forms were easy to fill out. Bollocks! We called our trusty Camillo to come help us out, and he translated the things needed. Altho, the form seemed to be the same for applying a Nicaraguan passport, cedula or whatever, and the extension. So we probably filled out a lot of unnecessary information anyways. Like I don't think they need to know the names of my Mom and Dad, but oh well...

Next, us and Camillo went to queue up again, this time to the other line. It didn't take too long to get to the officer, and with Camillo's excellent help, we were able to get everything done. Here's the kick tho. Now I don't know if they just didn't know things, regulations had changed, or they decided to get some pocket money, but we had to pay 500 cordobas for each month we wanted to extend our stay. Because we wanted 3 extra months, we had to pay up 3,000 cordobas (for 2 people)  in total (ca. $120). That's not what I heard. In addition to this travesty, we also forfeited the 7 days we had left on the passport, also different from what I had heard. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper. At least it was quick. We got to the mall at around 10, and were out and done with everything by 11.30.

So, a visa run to Costra Rica would've been cheaper, especially when Chuck ended up buying a specifically built computer for $1,000 and we went to PriceSmart too, to spend even more of our money. You can't do that in Costa Rica border camps! When we got home, we let our neighbor's dog in the house, that was for the last time ever! He peed over some of the stuff we bought from PriceSmart!! Hosing them down might've been easier if the water was on... luckily we had spare water in bottles, and we were able to clean the packages.

In any case, next time we actually have to leave the country, but that will be to Finland in July.

Semana Santa in San Juan del Sur

Semana Santa, or the Holy Week is basically a week of Easter celebrations in Nicaragua. Every Friday, during the 40 days before Easter (lent) there is a procession depicting the 14 stations of the cross Jesus took on the way to the Calvary. Priests, singing parishioners, and a band playing joyous music travel around the city carrying a statue of Jesus, and stop at 14 pre-determined stations around the town. These stops are altars set up by different parishioners in front of their homes, and the procession stops there to give blessings. Here is a picture from Good Friday, where everyone was wearing purple.

This is the religious part of Semana Santa. Mostly, it's about taking a break and partying. San Juan del Sur has a normal population of ca. 20,000, but during the Holy Week, it increases to 80,000. There are beer tents set up on the beach promenade, music is blaring well though the early morning hours, there's a smell of urine everywhere, and people are mostly drunk all weekend long.

The beach is packed and the police, some in bullet-proof vests and a shotgun patrol the streets and the beach. There are also horse - and boat rides available for the less sinister activities.

All the houses and hotels are rented for this holiday, and people can make double the normal monthly rent just during this week. Same as Midsummer's in Finland, there is an "incident count" for the week of Semana Santa in Nicaragua.

20 people drowned, 21 murdered, 10 traffic accidents. The police confiscated 36 pistols, 51 revolvers, 12 rifles, 17 assault rifles and 2,521 edged weapons. We survived!

Our Crib in San Juan del Sur

I must apologize for not getting to updates sooner. I considered our current accommodations temporary, but after over a month, we're still here, even tho our landlady is more than ready to move on. Not that we are bad renters, she just wants to finish the house to all the glory it is planned for, and we are paying too little for the amazement that is the house. 

Back to the train of thought... My computer was packed up, waiting for a move to a better house, but since it hasn't materialized yet, we just hooked up my computer and I'm using it on the countertop. What I was getting at, is now I can finally update the blog, since it was pretty impossible with the tablet. 

We like it here in San Juan del Sur. It's small enough to pretty much walk everywhere. And the great thing is, you can even take your dog with you to most places, even restaurants. Although some restaurants now make you sit on the side, which is not too bad, I guess. 

But more from San Juan del Sur later. Now, a picture cavalcade of our beautiful, exquisite, and luxurious house. 

The view is lovely. 

This is the view from the second floor loft.

These are the stairs to the rooftop terrace (they will eventually include steps), but from there, the view is unfortunately blocked by the tree you see in the front of the first picture.

Downstairs we go, where the bed and the kitchenette are. And the bathroom. The bathroom doesn't have a door. You can see straight into the bathroom from outside, if the door is open, not to mention anyone who's in the house. 

Since we are not exhibitionists by nature, we solved the outdoor bathroom problem by strategically placing our packing boxes in an angle so that they covered the door. 

The neighborhood (barrio)  the house is in, is not the best possible, but it is quite close to the beach. It's about a block from the beach, as a crow flies, but in reality you have to walk a maybe 3 blocks to the beach. Still, not bad. It's about a 5 minute walk to downtown where all the restaurants and little shops are. More about what San Juan del Sur has to offer later. 

We forgot Kaleb's food bowl on the floor once, and in a few minutes it was full of ants. The neighborhood wildlife got their treat for the day. 

Here's one of Kaleb's friends. Our neighbor has 3 dogs, this is the best one of them. The others are crazy and vicious. When the other 2 attack Kaleb, he tries to defend Kaleb instead. That's why we sometimes have the door open for him to step inside to cool down and have some water. 

The locals don't regard their dogs as pets. They're more there to scare away the bad guys (pretty much any guys that pass). They keep you awake most of the night, and we haven't gotten used to it yet. When Kaleb is not barking and howling with his friends, he likes his little cave under a bench.

Until next time! Adios!

Setting Up in Managua

Every now and then I've posted on Facebook about our frequent trips to Managua. This time, we were to meet up with a possible attorney to set up our business, and later on, residency. I had read about Dr. Paul Tiffer on Nica Living forums, where he was highly recommended. We also asked our customs agent, if she had heard about this attorney. She had, and only positive things. As a matter of fact, they worked together on a lot of things. Excellent!

So we hopped on the express bus, which was only 20 cords per head (about $1), and which was sufficiently fast. It beats the $60 one way price that taxis charge. The trip on the express bus takes about 45 minutes to over an hour, depending on the driver, but more about on a later posting. It's exotic!

Once we arrived at the university bus stop, a familiar taxi driver was ready to take us where we wanted. He knew he'd get good money out of those gringoes. Dr. Tiffer said that normally he didn't go to the office on a Saturday, but he would make an exception for us. He'd be there around 9:30 am, and we agreed we'd be there at 10 am. It was a couple of minutes after 10, when the attorney finally arrived. It wasn't like him at all to be late, but he had an excellent reason. He had to wait for an electrician to show up on an unexpected visit at his home that morning.

It was all good, it was a Saturday morning and it wasn't all that late at all. We agreed to start up an S.A., a Nicaraguan corporation, and then go on finding our piece of land, and then applying for a residency based on the investment. Just like that. Dr. Tiffer answered all the questions that we had, and we were very pleased with the meeting. He also spoke very good English, which was essential to us...

After we concluded our meeting, he took us to see the sights in his car!!

Can you imagine an American lawyer doing that? I can't. After seeing the sights, he drove us to Price Smart, which is like a local CostCo or Sam's Club. We had applied for a membership, but we hadn't heard back from them. Dr.Tiffer knew the local manager, and he said he could arrange the card for us!

So we went to Price Smart, Chuck found the back-up battery for our computers he needed, but the manager hadn't returned Dr. Tiffer's call by the time we were ready to leave. Well, the only thing to do was to use his card for our purchases!! Can you imagine an American lawyer doing that #2??

After everything he had done for us, we offered to take him out for lunch. He took us to a Nicaraguan steakhouse, and I actually got to eat a chicken covered in delicious BBQ sauce! Heaven I never thought I'd find in Nicaragua! Unfortunately, my gringo ways are still hard to get rid of, and I hurried to end the lunch before the dessert was even suggested! Boy did I feel dumb! I need to get into the laid-back attitude of locals, there's always mañana to get things done!

All in all, I would wholeheartedly recommend Dr. Paul Tiffer's services to anyone who asks. Not only is he a competent, bilingual attorney, he is also a great person! We felt very comfortable leaving everything in his hands.

Granada

So, we are staying at our landlady's house in Granada, until she gets the house in San Juan del Sur in a move-in condition. Her house in Granada is just outside the main Granada city. The address is a typical Nicaraguan one: 55 kilometers on Highway X to Y, pink house on the right. Needless to say, there aren't any mailmen around, not that I've seen any anyway... That's quite a mouthful to say to a taxi driver (mind you, in Spanish) every time you want a ride home.

The apartment is off the highway, up a little dirt drive. It's a gated complex, altho a very simple one. The tall fence is topped by a barbed wire all around. Behind the house, there is a cemetery, and between the cemetery and our house there is a dump site, a field really, where we take Kaleb out for a dump too. Sometimes you can here cows mooing right next to the gate. That drives Kaleb nuts and he's ready to go get whatever is making that noise. Fortunately we're smarter and keep him away from those hooves.

Our landlady moved here from Costa Rica, where she still has a house, but she will probably come here to stay, as a lot of other expats. They just prefer Nicaragua to Costa Rica these days. The apartment is converted from a storage area to a comfortable enough studio. There is a gas stove and a fridge, and she even has a washing machine. I don't have to do the laundry the old fashioned way a lot of the locals still do it.

The washing machine doesn't even have a setting for cold/hot, because the water from the tank up on a pole will only comes in a range of temperatures from freezing cold to mildly tepid. The showers are a treat. It's not likely that you will want to linger under the ice-cold tickle very long, but at least it's not the infamous suicide-shower with open wiring susceptible to water.

Of course, you will have to throw the TP into a waste basket, or like we have at the moment; a plastic bag. It isn't as bad as it sounds: you'll get used to it, and they come pick up the trash 3 times a week. Besides, you'd rather do that than have water flowing inside the house from the toilet every now and then, because the old pipes just can't take the blockage.

The first couple of days were pretty intimidating, not knowing the language and it seemed we couldn't do anything. But little by little things improved and we got to know the city by the volcano better, and actually like it here now. Because we live outside the main city, taxes are important to us. And it's not like using taxes will bankrupt you. Taxi for 2 costs 80 cents for 2 people inside the city. Of course, you will have to share the taxi with anyone. The taxis stop for every person anywhere, until they are full. Sometimes you see a taxi crowded with at least 6 people, and it looks hilarious. You just tell them where you want to go, and you'll eventually get there, provided they know where it is.