The house was very different than mine in Managua. The floors were dirt, the rooms were separated by cloth, and barbed wire was used to hang clothes. My bed had a mosquito net and my roommate was a duck, who would come in every night to sleep in the corner. There was one sink area outside that served as the dishwasher and laundry machine (all by hand). My bathroom was a latrine. Families of chickens would hang out in the front yard with the cows, while the dogs kept coming onto the porch only to be shooed away by my host mom with a broom. However, the best part of the house was the shower. Positioned right by the sink area and made out of trash bags and tarps, the shower was clearly visible for everyone to watch from the front porch. It did have a shower head which surprised me at first, but it doesn't always work so some of the time you use a bucket to wash yourself. The shower walls were also not very high. Latinos are typically shorter, however my family was short even by those standards. So for me, I was exposed from the stomach on up, which was ok but there were times when the wind would blow the "door" open, allowing everyone to see the gringo showering. But after hiking around or getting back from playing soccer in that humidity, you no longer care, you just want to cool off.
Speaking of soccer, the people of La Paz are crazy about it. Everyday around 4ish, all the boys go to the soccer court to play and practice. But this wasn't an unorganized game of pick up soccer, you had to pay five cordobas (roughly 20 cents) to play. The teams were five on five and the winners take the money and get to keep playing. The court was slick concrete so people would fall all over the place and get pissed at the other players for fouling them. Everyone not playing would shout and holler at the players as well as any female that passed by the field. It was definitely something to see.
Life in el campo (the country) was certainly different. My host dad works 6 or 7 days a week on a farm and my host mom and kids would do the chores, like milking the cow (which I tried but when I leaned in there the cow freaked out so my host mom had to step in), chopping wood for the stove with an axe (more up my alley), and in the afternoon we had to go retrieve the cows from the fields, which was the best part. The cows walk on their own so then you get to look around at the stunning scenery. The landscape in Nicaragua looks like prehistoric Earth more than anything. The forests have exotic birds, every tree has a different type of fruit and every city seems to have its own volcano. You half-expect that you'll see a dinosaur come around the corner, forcing you to haul ass back to the jeep and drive as fat as you can. Anyways, the volcano in La Paz de Carazo is named "Volcan Mombacho", and it looms in the background, covered by clouds. Everything was very beautiful and green and from this you can see why the people are so happy to live there. It definitely makes you put things into perspective. Yes, they are very poor, but they're also very happy and content in not having things that many of us couldn't survive without. It makes you think about what things are actually necessary in life.
La Paz de Carazo was an amazing experience and I definitely want to go back when I have some free time. But for now it's back to Managua. Class starts tomorrow!
Me and most of my La Paz host family.
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