Category: Nicaragua 2013

Caroline BachLeave a comment

Tulululu!

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I’m in Bluefields airport, waiting for my 15 minute flight to Corn Island. The airplane is too heavy so people have to leave their checked in luggage and pick it up with the next flight that comes in the afternoon. Another reason to travel as light as possible and try to bring no more than hand luggage. Unfortunately, they found my lethal killing machine, so I had to check it in. But as the ticket I got is bigger than the mini-nailclippers they took away from me, they promised to try to get them on the flight anyway. I doubt they will be affecting the weight of the flight.

By the way, isn’t my second hand leather handbag the most beautiful camera bag you have ever seen? I love the fact that my camera fits perfectly in it, and that it doesn’t scream: “I carry very expensive stuff – please steal me!!”

Anyway, so we went to a suburb and danced the traditional Palo de Mayo yesterday, the landlady’s daughter and I. I can still hear the “Tulululu!” shouting and music in my head.

There will be a lot of photos and videos from the night, here’s a small preview:

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Caroline BachLeave a comment

Hey, Bluefields!

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This place is a little treasure full of diversity. I have so many stories and beautiful faces to share with you!

I am blogging this from my phone using the photos I have transferred using the WiFi on my new Canon. Love it!

I found a small guesthouse just in the center where I am staying with an old lady and her 28 year old daughter. The girl also happens to be a hairdresser so she gave me a 1€ haircut. And tonight she wants to take me out dancing.

I’m on the Caribbean coast!

Caroline BachLeave a comment

Momotombo @ Bar Uruk Kalli

“You really needed this, right?”

The huge smile on my face when dancing to along to the electronic madness of the Nicaraguan band Momotombo yesterday must have been very revealing, a live concert was exactly what my whole body had been longing for!

Momotombo plays an energetic electronic fusion of something that sounds like post-rock, jazz, funk and sampled beats from random songs. The atmosphere was really, really good and people were completely letting go and dancing their heads off. The concert was set up in the bar that has become my favourite here in the city, Uruk Kalli, a place that features artistic vibes, interesting details, and a very pleasant evening breeze.

Also, obvious highlight of the night, I got to play with my new camera.


Oh, and apparently I forgot to set the video settings, so you’re getting this in low-res. Sorry about that! :)

Caroline BachLeave a comment

EOS Remote

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My new camera is fantastic, I adore the wifi function! There is an app for the phone where I can see what the camera sees, choose focus, ISO, and release the shutter so now you’ll finally be able to join my world in high resolution and from an outside perspective.

Here’s me, working on a Sunday.

I have a lot of feedback and thoughts to share related to today’s blog post. But that will have to wait until tomorrow. Thank you all for being such beautiful friends, for commenting, for texting me, and for sharing!

Caroline Bach1 Comment

L’amour est un oiseau rebelle

Yesterday the European Union, The Central American Integration Programme and the Italian, Spanish, Finnish and German Embassies here in Nicaragua organized a cultural evening of opera and a pompous buffet (with strawberries dipped in chocolate and drinks worthy the tastebuds of connoisseurs) for the diplomatic representation here in the country, the international development cooperation sector and Nicaraguan guests.

I joined some friends and was very happy to visit the Rubén Darío National Theatre and finally get to see Georges Bizet’s Carmen from 1875. And there she was, in her full Gypsy splendour, la Carmencita, sung by a Cuban guest and slightly overshined by the voice of her lover, the elegant toreador Escamillo. I knew many of the arias by heart (and I’m sure that you’ve heard them too) which brought some extra tingling to this fantastic story and opera. It was interesting how the sets had been painted on fabric hanging in the background instead of wooden and plastic sets – not as impressive but fully functional and probably a way to save money – the only annoyance during the spectacle were some minor mistakes in the illumination and the people in charge of the translation projection who managed to lose track completely a couple of times which was extremely distracting. Costumes were nice, voices were generally good, there was a touch of comedy, and the 4 act play of three hours was overall really, really entertaining.

After the dramatic ending and standing ovations we were invited to the beautiful ballroom with high ceilings, huge chandeliers and a striking amount of people. There was a hunt for plates and then we saw the buffet.. and officially agreed to set our detox week on hold for the night. Obviously.

Caroline BachLeave a comment

Long meetings

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Mondays are often are packed with important planning meetings which are essential for coordination but sometimes manage to drag out and, most importantly, hinder people from using valuable working hours to finalize what’s on their to do list.

Ironically, I had written some points on these things in preparation for a meeting that ended up lasting almost two and a half hours. It was an important meeting and I was very content to finally vent what I think about things such as copy-pasted text. But still, two and a half hours, cutting into lunchtime.

That’s when that simple “I’m hungry” note to the person next to you gradually gains exclamation marks and transforms into a rawring lion with eyelashes.