On the day before that field trip that I was supposed to be on now, I bought myself two pairs of perfect Going-to-the-field-Indiana-Jones-style pants for 6USD in an American second hand store. And then I found this pink linen skirt and had to buy it as well. Mainly for the sake of the funny contrast. And because it’s a nice little touch of colour to my otherwise mostly beige/white and dull office wardrobe.
To celebrate today’s girlyness, I will only be working until 20 (haha) and then I will be picked up by a friend and go try out the Managua sushi. Will it be anywhere near as good as in Mozambique..?
Beautifully filmed by Swedish Jesper Bolmén, this piece from 2011 manages to capture my exact impression and experience of life in a surfer’s paradise. Tobago, Tamarindo, Tofo. Palm trees.
Jonas Rathsman – Tobago (2011)
By the way, guess what, more surprises – that field trip that I didn’t get on my flight for today got cancelled three hours later due to external reasons. So if I had gotten a seat, I would have just had to travel straight back anyway.
Being surprised is one of the most interesting feelings out there and I adore the fact that life keeps doing this to me.
Due to the last minute changes I only got a waiting list seat and unfortunately the flight got full before I could board.
My camera and I are very disappointed to miss out on this experience and adventure, almost comparable to the level of disappointment I would have felt if my only choice for lunch in Managua would have been this cup of.. instant something with a touch of mustard.
On the other hand, the person having it at least got on the flight, and I have a million things on my work list that I now can take care of as previously planned.
Preparing for the field step 5: “Cut your fingernails.”
On topic: I found “dolphin friendly” canned tuna here in Managua.
I still don’t know at what time my flight leaves tomorrow, will find out once I get to the office in the morning. At least I got an email that my Security Clearance had been granted. This disorder is all because of riots in one of the areas close to where we are going, apparently a significant security risk, so the entire mission had to be rescheduled.
My camera is SO EXCITED to go. Me too. Hope there will be some network coverage so that I can share some insights. Anyhow, I have been told there is no electricity in the communities we will be sleeping in – and in that case I will most probably be offline at least until Friday. Just so you know.
The reggae artist El General from Panama is often referred to as the father of reggae in Spanish. During the early 1990’s he initiated the Spanish spoken dancehall, the beginning of what we today know as reggaeton.
This song is very often played in the clubs, shops and restaurants around here and when people dance to it they start cheering and throw their hands up in the air. There’s mostly a screen around as well, and I just had to share this video – it’s the Central American MC Hammer!
Suddenly found out that I will be going to the field this Monday instead of next week. Three nights in different communities in the Prinzapolka municipality on the Carribean coast of Nicaragua. Cooking facilities or access to food is not to be expected.
I’m waiting to be picked up by some friends by the office. Normally, I take a taxi outside and one of the security guards help me to write down the registration plates of the car I am leaving in, this leaves the responsibility of me and my things with the driver and they stay waiting by my gate until I wave that all is fine and close the door.
As I already told you, cabs are one of the worst places to be in here in Managua – and walking around by yourself in the evening is completely out of the question. Giving up the personal freedom to move around the way one wishes takes some time getting used to. I miss my spontaneous photo strolls and random encounters – but still, there are ways to get around these limitations. Taking a photo of the guard, for example.
My colleague Natalia would probably fill my inbox with “The importance of work-life balance” TED talks if she knew that I got home from the office less than one hour ago. Luckily, I’m actually enjoying my workload.
I left my computer in the office as I didn’t feel safe about taking it into a cab, and also to prevent myself from continuing working. So now I’m home, ready for bed, and trying to relax my mind which still is I’m working mode.
I trust my ambient playlist and Jónsi and Alex to come to the rescue. And my IKEA vanilla candles that I bring along everywhere, perfect for placing in closets and among stuff to make everything smell nice and homey.
“Stokkseyri is a small town in Southern Iceland, with a population of around 445 inhabitants.
Founded around 900 AD by the settler Hásteinn Atlason. It was an important fishing and trading village in previous times, and now it’s become more of a tourist attraction. The town is founded on the Great Þjórsá lava.
The experimental artistic collaboration Jónsi & Alex wrote a song named after the town which appears as track 4 on their album, Riceboy Sleeps.”
As I don’t have time to get out if the office to eat today, I’ll take the opportunity to be fair in relation to yesterday’s post and show you today’s lunch.
Here’s how you can eat for 1.7€ – ordered by phone in the morning, prepared at home by a certain doña Evelina and delivered to the office around noon.
This Monday has been just the way Mondays are supposed be. Busy, packed with planning and coordination, 2do lists, exciting Skype meetings and a beautifully presented traditional Nicaraguan lunch co-starred by a fruit smoothie with strawberries, mango, orange juice and papaya.
“That’s a lot of food!” My mother exclaimed last time I sent her a photo of a Nica plate.. and yes, they really serve proper portions over here. Basically, when I eat like this for lunch, I’m not hungry during the rest of the day and usually just grab a banana, mango or avocado in the evening. It’s a perfect set up as I usually get home around 8pm and find most things in life more interesting than cooking for myself.
“But you can’t eat out every day, that’s really expensive!” Well, you know what’s expensive? Buying groceries and cooking for one person. Buying small quantities turn out much more costly than when shopping for an entire family, vegetables get wasted really fast in this heat, I don’t have a big freezer to store food, and I would basically need to go grocery shopping every third day – by taxi. This plate, in one of the nicer (more expensive) places around, along with the freshly mixed fruit smoothie, cost me 4.5€. I often eat for around 2€.
That puts my absolute maximum monthly food & drink budget at 120€ per month. Including smoothies, excluding cooking, and saving me a huge amount of time – for blogging, and other important stuff. (Such as dancing.)
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After work today – Monday just wouldn’t let me go – instead, it dragged me out of the office at 6pm and took me all the way to a collective salsa class at El Quetzal here in Managua. For 15$ a month, twice a week, I shall learn how to twist and turn my limbs just like these pro’s that were showing off in the break during the class.
Three things to notice in the video below:
1. How the full age-range is covered.
2. Remember when I wrote that there were arms everywhere?
3. Those smiles and little playful twists that make dancing magical.
A very interesting place for people watching, and the class was actually a lot of fun despite being very basic, with clapping, counting and the instructor going “turbo!” for us to go faster. In some weeks, hopefully soon, the advanced arm twisting and spinning practice shall start. I need a pair of heels.
