I Walk the Line

I think we all have lines in life. Ones to cross and ones we don’t dare even think about crossing. When I first came to Nicaragua there were a lot of lines that I had never dreamed of crossing or ever thought I would have to cross. That might be a little dramatic…but maybe it makes the story better. I had some line crossing and not crossing experiences this weekend. For example, my dear friend Henry and his two girlfriends who don’t even know about each other. I do not think I was suppose to know about the one here…but when people talk around you and they think you don’t know what they are saying you can actually pick up on some pretty good stuff. Like Henry and his multiple girlfriends. I had a slight crush on my new friend and two girlfriends is definitely a line I will never cross. The most frustrating thing is that he lied about it!! It’s not even that he lied about having a girlfriend, it’s that he seems to be the one person who I can trust and who actually wants to get to know me and he lied to me!! As much as I would really not like to talk to him for a long time I have to put it into perspective that he is probably my only friend here. When I say here, I mean in Quebrada Honda. I have actually made a lot of amazing friends they just live all over the country!! There are two girls who also teach English for Fabretto. One is located in Esteli, which is four hours from here and the other works in Somoto. They are both Nicaraguans and speak English. They are amazing women!!

Back to line walking… On Friday I decided to take a trip up to Cusmapa for the weekend to hang out with Callie. It was wonderful! When I got down to the bus stop an ambulance was going through and I decided to hitch hike my way up there. You are probably thinking I am crazy…but here I believe it is crazier to cram yourself in a bus that is 30 people over capacity, getting over charged because I am white and having to stand for over an hour. Granted it doesn’t sound that bad compared to death from hitch hiking…but that is just the way things are here. You can walk for miles and miles, wait for a bus which might not show up or you can hitch a ride. The man was very nice and funny and it was a free trip. He was saying something about his children and how he wasn’t married and something along the lines of a gringa… Maybe he proposed? I am not really sure…when situations like that happen I just say I don’t understand.

More line walking today…I have been sick with intense violent diarrhea for almost five weeks now…on and off. Well, I decided to put my foot down today and go to the doctor in Somoto. My health is not something I should walk the line with…especially here. So…went to the doctor…this one was a thousand times cleaner then the first one I had to go and see. He checked out my stomach and did an ultrasound and well…I have an infection in my intestines. Yeah…sick right? He gave me medicine then explained to me that I was going to need three shots in my ass. I had to go down the street to buy the medicine and then return with it so they could give it to me. Well the nurse/receptionist gave it to me and I really think it was probably the whitest butt she has ever seen. Turns out I need three shots all together. I have to get one more tomorrow and then on Thursday. It was my understanding I would be taken to the dirty clinic in Las Sabanas, which I guess is fine. As long as I see it is a clean needle I have nothing to worry about right? Then it was my understanding that I was going to be taken to Somoto again to get my shot. Fine! I don’t care! As long as I get it. THEN…I was told that some guy in the town in going to do it. THERE IS THE LINE!! NO! That is just what I need people talking about the gringa’s butt and how WHITE it is! Drop my pants in front of someone who works at the school…and it is not like there are confidentiality laws here!! It isn’t like I can just say no to this one either…I can say no to the salad and the juice and the water but infections…that’s just another line I won’t cross!