Becoming Acquainted

First weekend in Leon. No stories yet, just impressions. I sit writing this in one of the hostels in town, Big Foot, which is bound to become my second home for three reasons: 1) It has wireless internet, 2) It offers super cold beer (not always the case here and something to be valued; as an aside, 1 liter costs less than $2, as I found out when ordering a “large” beer last night, thinking it would be 0.5 l at most), 3) Most foreigners who pass through Leon stay here, so it is a good place to strike up a conversation (for those times when I am tired of not being able to say all and exactly what I want to say in Spanish).

The city center is very small and quite walkable, although the heat really permits you to walk around only in the morning or late afternoon. Trees don’t seem to exist here (except in people’s courtyards) so finding shade is somewhat challenging, especially given the fact that all buildings are at most two storeys high. The city center consists of many small stores, bazaar-type places (which remind me of Bulgarian clothing bazaars in the 90s), and street vendors – selling everything from pirated CDs to cut-up mango and papaya.

Well, I have learned several things since my arrival in Leon:
1) People here never take hot showers; hence, the lack of hot water in the house where I am staying. With the heat, I am starting to understand why that is, but the cold water does take some getting used to. (An aside from this is the fact that the water pressure isn’t always what it should be so you can’t always count on being able to take a shower. But I guess, one also gets used to that as well. Plus, I do have some training from the good old water-rationing days back in Bulgaria.)

2) A siren sounds at 7am and noon every day throughout the town. I am glad my supervisor warned me about this ahead of time, because the siren sounds like something signaling a military attack, i.e., “Head for the bunker, NOW!” Well, looking on the bright side, I guess I don’t really need an alarm in the morning.

3) It gets dark around 6:30 pm - something I haven’t experienced in a while.

4) Leon is home to 16 churches and the biggest cathedral in Central America (which, stories claim, is only due to the fact that the architect mixed up the building plans on his way from Europe; the cathedral was supposed to be built in Lima).

5) Addresses don’t exist. Streets do have names or numbers (e.g., 1st St SE or 2nd St NE) but most houses don’t have numbers or these numbers are unclear. Therefore, directions and addresses are given by first referring to a landmark and then counting off the blocks or meters east, west, north, or south. For example, my address can be given as follows: “1.5 blocks west from the north side of the cathedral or 0.5 blocks west from the central park, across from Enitel" (that’s the Nicaraguan phone company).

6) Most people wear jeans. Which, given the heat (over 30 degrees Celsius), totally surprises me. I find that women rarely wear skirts or open-toed shoes, which I also find somewhat peculiar. No-one wears shorts.

7) All vehicles (even bicycles) carry a minimum of two people. For bicycles, this mostly means that a child or woman rides on the bar up front; for trucks, it means as many people as the truck can fit at the back and some hanging off the sides. Safety doesn’t really seem to be much of a concern, as I see couples seat their toddlers between them on motorbikes, and no-one wears a helmet.

8) The fact that, at 29, I am not married surprises everyone. This is also the second thing people usually ask, after inquiring about my age. I really should ask what the average “marrying” age here is.

9) For some unknown reason, my landlady has a framed picture of Nicole Kidman (a cut-out from a magazine), sitting next to pictures of a baby (her grandson maybe?). I have no idea why that is but I find it pretty interesting.

10) Ortega billboards still adorn highways and walls, despite the fact that the elections took place at the end of 2006. What I find strange though is that you can only spot old billboards of Ortega and none of his rival.