Bye bye fair/Adios feria...

Come on kids...let's get on. We've got a season pass!! Oh wait, let me take a closer look....on second thought, no.  Let's go kids. No you can't ride. Come on....I'm gonna spank you...LET'S GO!

Vamos niños. Tenemos pases libres. Ooo, esperen....déjenme ver....ummm mejor no...vámonos. No, no pueden subir. Vámonos. Les voy a pegar...vámonos....

Circus in town/ya llegó el circo

The locals in Cosmapa have been enthralled with the presence of this world class act. When the circus stars saw me taking a picture, they came a runnin'...telling us to come on in. I dunno. Those painted clowns scare me.

Los locales de Cosmapa están encantados con la presencia de este acto de alto calibre. Cuando las estrellas del circo me vieron tomando fotos, llegaron corriendo...invitándome a pasar adelante...no creo. Me dan miedo esos payasos pintados....

Another accident/otro accidente

These stay on the road for months or years...who knows what happened here?

Estas manchas quedan por meses o años...¿quién sabe que pasó aquí?

Dumb and Dumber/Los Dos Tontos

I found this Dumb and Dumber wannabe living in Estelí, Nicaragua. He's been living in Nicaragua as long as I have!!!

Hallé ese hombre que quiere ser de la película Los Dos Tontos. Ha vivido en Nicaraguan igual tiempo que yo.

Matagalpa

Another view of this favorite from the hillside....

Otra vista de esta favorita desde las colinas....

Waterfalls/Cascadas

I love this place, close to La Dalia, Matagalpa. See the three waterfalls in the background? They are awesome!!!

Me encanta este lugar casi llegando a La Dalia, Matagalpla. ¿Vean las tres cascadas? Fabulosas!!!!

Chevy Luv

This old truck has become a playground for these kids.

Esta camioneta vieja ha llegado a ser un lugar dónde jugar para estos niños.

Bad driver in El Viejo/Chofer malo en El Viejo

This truck driver took a wrong turn and then got hung up on that tree. So, he straightened the truck out and got out to see what the problem was. Instead of climbing up and untangling the tree from the truck, he decided to just take off, pulling the tree down with him. However, the neighbors were more than interested in the license plate here in the picture and soon thereafter took off to get the police. Ha ha ha ha

Este caminero giró mal y se enredó con ese árbol. Echó para atrás el camión y se bajó para ver que fue lo que pasaba. Sin embargo, en vez de desenredar las ramas, decidió mejor arrancar con todo y el árbol. Momentos después, los vecinos estaban muy interesados en conocer el número de las placas del camión. Apuntaron el dato y se fueron a la policía para agarrar el chofer y camión. Ja ja ja ja

Old school house/Casa de viejos tiempos

This is a typical construction is some parts of Nicaragua, dating back a few years obviously. It's make of wooden supports and mud. It's surprising that these houses are actually cool inside and they last for years, despite rain, wind, etc.

Aquí está una construcción típica de algunos lugares de Nicaragua, obviamente de antaño. Se ha construido de madera (para apoyo) y barro. Sorprendentemente las casas son bastante frescas y aguantan la lluvia, viento, etc. por años.

Guess...Adivina....

What is this? Any clues?

¿Qué es eso? ¿Alguna pista?

Chicken/Pollo

Tip Top is a Nicaraguan fast food chain. This offer looks pretty tempting, although it's not as cheap as some of the other local fare. $C62 will put you back about 3 bucks.

Tip Top es una cadena de comida rápida en Nicaragua. Esta oferta es tentadora...aunque no tan buena como la otra comida típica. $C62 es más o menos tres dólares por este golpe.

Fun in Chinandega/Diversión en Chinandega

The fair is in town for a few weeks. Check out these very inventive rides...you've got about 20 of those kids rideable plastic cars tied down to a wooden floor, on a center with a motor that turns them round and round...all this fun for only C$10 ($0.50)) a swirl. Hey the kid doesn't seem to mind. Liability insurance? Haaa!

Están los huegos aquí en la ciudad por algunas semanas. Miren este juego inovador...hay más o menos 20 de esos carritos plásticos atados con mecate al piso de madera, piso que está conectado a un centro con motor que los da vuelta y vuelta...solo pagas C$10 (US$0.50) por algunas vueltas en el chunche que te gusta. El niño no toma conciencia de todo esto. Asegurado por accidentes??? Jaaa!

Shrimp/camarones

There is a large shrimp production in the Chinandega area thus many local people also get involved in their own little harvest and selling. These things sure look better at Red Lobster than here huh?

Hay una gran produccion de camerones en la zone de Chinandega y muchas personas locales se involucran en su comercializacion. Claro, se miran mejor en un restaurante que aquí a aire libre, ¿verdad?

Spanish multinational Pescanova inaugurated "the world's most advanced" shrimp processing plant in Chinandega, northern Nicaragua, of an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons.

The whole shrimp production process will take place at the new plant that covers some 20,000 sq m and features three processing and canning lines. The end product, made up of fresh shrimp, is canned shrimp ready for freezing or outright marketing.

Pescanova eventually will acquire ready-to-farm shrimp fry from its laboratory and cultivate these in its farm centres.

The laboratory has a production capacity of 500 million units per month, which essentially guarantees a "much-needed supply" in the years to come, said Fernandez de Sousa.

Nicaraguan fast food/Fritanga de Nicaragua

Mmmmm, delicious. This table of food cost me C$87 ( $4.26). Good stuff! Let me break it down for you: 1.5 liter Pepsi, plate #1: rice and beans (gallo pinto), fried cheese (queso frito), fried plantain (un maduro) and cole slaw (ensalada de repollo); plate #2: fried plaintain slices (tajadas), cole slaw (ensalada de repollo), rice and beans (gallo pinto) and a cottage cheese filled crepe (manuela); plate #3: same stuff but with 2 manuelas and a little spicey tomato, lemon and onion salad (chile).

Mmmmm, delicioso. Aquí en la mesa gasté 87 córdobas o US$4.26. Buenísimo!!! Ustedes ya saben de que se trata así que no voy a volver a traducir toda la comida. Basta decir que estaba....RICA!!!!

Monument dedicated to the working class/Monumento dedicado a los trabajadores

Check this out. It's at the entrance of Chinandega in the round about. It's dedicated to the working class and it's a man chiseling himself out of stone/iron. Cool huh? Click on it to see it bigger.

Miren esto. Está ubicado en la rotonda de la entrada de Chinandega. Esta estatua se dedica a los trabajadores...consiste de un hombre que se está cincelando a si mismo de la piedra/hierro. ¡Impresionante! Dale click para ver la foto en grande.

Mountains of Matagalpa/Las montañas de Matagalpa

This nice scene is found between Matagalpa and Jinotega, high up in some excellent coffee country mountains. It's cool and nice here!!! When I grow up, that's where I want to live!

Esta agradable escena se encuentra entre Matagalpa y Jinotega, un lugar alto en medio de montañas de excelente caficultura. ¡¡¡Hace friiito aquí y es muy agradable!!! ¡Cuando yo sea grande, quiero vivir allí!

No ones king of the road/Nadie es rey del camino

Here in Nicaragua it's at times hazardous to be on the highway. Why? Because everybody and his brother is on the same highway, driving whatever and hauling whatever. I leave you three examples that speak for themselves....A veces aquí en Nicaragua es peligroso estar en la carretera. ¿Por qué? Por qué hay personas manejando no sé qué y transportando no sé cuánto. Para muestra...tres botones.

My lunch

Here's my lunch, saying hi before he was eaten...that's Nicaraguan broccoli with Nicaraguan chicken, Nicaraguan rice and Nicaraguan honey on the chicken (with some soy sauce). Ummmmm


Aquí está mi almuerzo, diciéndoles adios antes de ser comido....el brócoli es Nica, el pollo es Nica, el arroz en Nica y la miel (encima del pollo) es Nica (la salsa de soya - China). Ummmmm

ﻮ๏๏๔ ๓๏гภเภﻮ!!

Those are genuine Nicaraguan chicken eggs. Today we purchased 15 eggs for C$25. That comes out to about...$0.08 per egg. Throw in a few cents for tomatoes and we have a $0.20 breakfast + tip.

A new book!!!!!

FlipMyText for Dummies

Less is more....

Have you heard the expression: "One man's junk is another man's treasure"? That rhymes true in the case of these Nicaraguan boys who have located their own Saturday morning playground outside of the municipal garbage dump in Chinandega. If you could measure happiness, I would say that these guys were off the scale...compare that to your typical child with PS3, WII, cellular phone, etc. who is not satisfied with anything. Can we coin another frase here? "Less is more...."

Ready for the beach!

This horse in Corinto is definitely suited up and rearing to go the the playa. He is giving classes today, teaching a new technique called "horse paddling". Sign up! Classes are about to begin!