Wolf whistles, walking and water

I see people walking in Managua, but they don’t get stared at like I do. They don’t get the same wolf whistles, the same kissy noises. Is it to with being a white girl in a Latino country? Or am I just missing when they do the same to Latino women? 

I walked a lot on my first full day in Managua. 22,000 steps. I went for a run and did a workout - both poorly executed but at least it was something. It was hot, and i got burnt despite having sun cream on. I got a taxi back, and thankfully the guy that also got in - the taxis seem to run a car pool system here - could speak English and helped the driver and I communicate. I got safely back to the hostel. 

I walked through to the historic centre to see the sea. I also saw the National Palace and a massive cathedral. 

Today, I went to Ometepe island. The tour bus was late - stuck in traffic - and when it finally turned up it was just me. No kidding. I expected a big group of people, but it was just me, the tour guide Edgar and the driver. 

We talked about volcanos and earthquakes and his home town Granada. We discussed poets - I couldn’t remember  William Blake’s surname for 20 minutes. I suddenly shouted it out and he wrote it down. I told him about Leicester City football club. 

I saw a man sweeping the street with a hunched back and a tree branch. I saw small bonfires from the side of the road and horses tied up outside houses. 

We took the ferry over to Ometepe, and there were picked up by a local driver, Ime. Edgar took out a map on the back of a hotel flyer, and showed me where we’d be going. 

We visited El Ceibo Museo, and a tour guide showed us round the pre-Columbia’s art exhibits and then around the money exhibit. Everyone there’s a new president they get new money. I learnt that the currency, the Cordoba, is name after the Spanish conqueror Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba. 

After the museums we went to Charco Verde - apparently this means green puddle. We had lunch (pasta for me, salad rice, eggs and plantain for Edgar) and we talked about work. 

A small trip to the butterfly garden which was wonderful - muchos mariposas. Then down to the edge of a Laguna- not one to swim in. 

Next and final stop on the tour was El Ojo de Agua - the water’s eye. It’s a natural pool, and boyyyy was it fresh! (That is mine and Edgar’s understanding on cold) I sat on the edge for ages, dangling My toes, coaxing myself in. Eventually I went for it - in the big kids pool that had a super deep bottom, so I had no choice but to swim (badly). 

After that, I sat talking with Edgar (try explaining nine different tattoos and their meanings to a man whose first language isn’t English). Then as I was about to go in one more time it started raining so I asked to leave. My tour, my decision. 

Straight back to Moyogalpa, the port city and a short walk of the streets and onto the ferry back. I watched Altered Carbon to take my mind off the waves, and when we got back to San Jorge it was dark.

We discussed music on the journey home - Edgar likes Avril Lavigne and One Direction and recommended Osuna as a good Spanish singer. We tried to talk French to each other (mine is so poor) as he is studying French. I caught my face in the rear view mirror as I typed this and I looked like the Mirror from Shrek, all pale skin and silhouette eyes. Edgar asked about the “one really smart guy in England”. He meant Stephen Hawking. I told him he was a genius before and despite his disease.

It was a surreal but lovely day. And my sandals broke but I fixed one with a hair band. 

Ometepe Island 

Listened to: Spanish radio, which at one point played Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On. I played Edgar a Little Mix song and sang some Avril Lavigne to him. 

Watched: telenovela on the ferry - based (possibly) in a women’s prison. I saw one women get stabbed. Then Spanish Judge Judy on the way back - The name, Caso Cerrado, translates to case closed. 

Ate: unripened avocado for breakfast, yuk. Pesto pasta with vegetables and some cute garlic bread at lunch. 

Drank: Toña - a national beer. It’s better than their Victoria beer.