finally some futbol

When I said I was going to practice driving the motorcycle yesterday, I didn't think it would be very much. Just in the streets near my house, practicing starting from first and stopping, starting, etc. But boy, was I wrong. I left the fast food joint where I was on the internet (where I always go to write new entries... also where I am right now) and called Abdhie to see what Vinny and the group were doing. Keren answered the phone, and said that they were just about to go visit La Chureca for a little while. I said I'd meet her in the motorcycle and rushed home to get it.

I knew the way, mas o menos (more or less), because I take the bus towards that area of Managua all the time. I only made one wrong turn, but corrected myself quickly and found my way to the back road that winds behind the dump. I found the entrance, the better of the two by far, and slowly bumped my way to the school. Street dogs and kids were all over the path, so it was good practice for me as I made my way to the school. Reina, who is a really nice girl and one of the best nicaraguan friends of my good friend Chez from Virginia Tech, ran up to me and asked for a ride. I said alright, and she got on and I drove (poorly) her to the school. At the exact time we got there the group showed up in a truck. They told me to follow them, but I had no idea where they were going. They started to go out the other entrance, which is always horrendous. I really didn't want to go that way, but I had no choice because they were on their way and I had no way to catch them if I went out the back.

I was so scared. The mud was between two and eight inches deep, maybe deeper in places, with water and trash everywhere. I thought for sure I was going to fall into the mud head first and ruin the bike. A sharp turn came, and I prayed almost out loud that I wouldnt go over. The engine went wild as I squeezed the clutch and slowed to an abrupt stop. A guy standing nearby broke into a smile, and came up to the back of the bike. "I'll push you," he said, and so I slowly started up again and wobbled on down the sloppy mess of a road. Only by the grace of God did I make it through, with a bunch of dump workers laughing at me and helping me when I got stuck. Both of my shoes got submerged in the muck when I had to stabalize myself, and my shins were plastered with mud. La Chureca mud is by far the worst I've ever experienced. you have month old or older rot sitting in the water and dirt, and it is the worst smelling stuff you'll ever see. That's really the only time I was actually scared while driving the bike.

It's only from stories that I'm scared of the people there. I'm not scared of them, but when I was struggling on my way out of the dump, I was scared that they might do something to me. From my personal experience with the people there, I would never dream of anything happening. Just as I experienced in the muddy road, they are kind and willing to help when problems come around. People tell me to be careful there, that they jump you and take all you have, but I really don't think that's who they are. Yeah, they have done it, and yes I try to be careful, but if I treat them as humans instead of dirt, they are just like anyone else. I felt absolutely ashamed of myself for being scared of them. From now on I'm not going to be, because there's no reason to be. If I'm careful and friendly with them, they'll treat me just the same. They are people, after all. And beautiful people at that.

So, I made it out, my legs caked in refuse, and I followed them to some historical sites in Managua. We saw a tomb of a soldier who fought to overthrow Samosa, and also a shrine to honor him after he assassinated Samosa. We also visited an old building that had visible bullet holes in the towers, left from a battle between the dictator's army and the Sandanistas. Vinny gave us a little history lesson, and then we headed to his favorite restaurant: Ola Verde (the green wave). All the food at Ola Verde is organic, which really excites Vinny, but which I could care less about. One girl in the group had a grub in her salad and freaked out. The waiter apologized with great humility, but she wouldn't even accept a free desert or other dish. We all ended up getting a free brownie on the way out.

From there the team went to the market, but I went home quick to shower and rid myself for the moment of La Chureca. Esmir was in the room, so he hopped on the motorcycle with me to meet back up with the group in the market. When I parked the bike, a man said he'd look after it (there's always someone around eager to make a few cents) and wash it if I wanted. I said that would be great, and asked how much it would cost for him to wash it. "15 cordobas," he said, which is less than a buck, and I said, "Dale, pues!" which means "Deal!" in this senario. That was really a blessing. We went in and met up with the group. There was a woman trying hard to sell some hamocs, but I didn't have money (I wasn't going to say this in the blog, but I ran out of money. I guess it was a mistake to buy the bike, because it took much more than I expected to pay. I got it for $800, but some fees that I didn't know about took it up to $890, and then I had to buy a year of insurance in one payment, amongst about another $50 of small fees including license plates and a helmet. At the moment I have only $1.38 in my bank account, and about $6 in my pocket. Don't worry though please, because I'm getting paid about $90 on Tuesday, between my High School Musical gig and my English teaching job. Then I'll start with Vinny in the internet cafe, and I'll have more than enough to live on. It's just the past week or so that I've had to pinch pennies). Vinny really wanted to help her out, so he asked me if I could use a hamoc. I said no, but that I could give it to Lauren, our friend who's down here for a few months. "That works," he said, and bought a hamoc for $5, which would probably feed the woman and her family for a week.

From the market we went to the hotel where the group was staying to meet up with some kids from an orphanage to go swimming in the pool. We got there, and Esmir and I enjoyed a half hour of small talk with two men who were working for Vinny as chofers. I knew both of them previously, but it was fun to get to talk with them about my bike and joke around about my bad driving (on the way to the hotel I had one incident with the clutch that made the bike do a little wheelie and it freaked us out a little). Esmir loves to exaggerate ;) We then had a great dinner in the restaurant, made by a Belgian chef who's live in North and West Africa, Costa Rica, and Belgium previously, but who now has resided in Nicaragua for just a month. It was delicious, and I had a nice, though brief, conversation with him.

The plan was to go to the movies afterwards, but part of the group was going to San Juan del Sur (including Esmir). So, I left early with the truck that was going to San Juan del Sur because the group going to the movies was going to take a taxi, which would be hard to follow in the dark on my motorcycle for the first time. Felix, the driver of the truck, was going that way anyway to go to San Juan so he didn't mind showing me the way. I parked the bike in the lot, and walked to the entrance to wait for the others to arrive. There was a man with autism standing outside the theater saying hi to everyone that passed by and trying to shake hands. Everyone was ignoring him, and some people gave him dirty looks. The security guards seemed to know him, though, and left him alone. I decided to talk to him while I waited. He didn't have a whole lot to say, but he was quite a character nonetheless. Abdhie called me after five minutes to say that Vinny didn't feel well and that they weren't going to come. I said by to my buddy and drove home in the rain. It was just a soft sprinkle, but it reminded me that I still have to buy a raincoat and some booties.

Esmir was gone for the night, and I found myself a little bit lonely. I just read a little in Romans and listened to some good music before bed. In the morning I was going to play soccer.

I got up at 7:45 and got on some shorts and shirt, grabbed my cleats, phone, wallet, and helmet, and headed out to try to meet Esmir's friends to play some futbol. I got there and asked some guys if they knew Esmir, but they said no. I asked if I could play with them anyway, and they said they were full. So, I looked around the place and didn't really see any other group to play with. There were three guys there but they were just sitting in some chairs and smoking, and didn't really look like they were ready to play. I called Esmir and he told me to look for Jorge Roudes. I said I would, and when I hung up the three guys asked me if I was waiting for someone. I said that I was waiting for a group of my friend's friends. It turns out they were who I was waiting for, and I sat and talked while we waited for more to come. They were pretty cool guys, all around my age, but mostly out of shape. They said they studied with Esmir, who they called the "sheep," and asked me why I was here. I told them I was living here for a while working with the people in La Chureca and other volunteer work. They asked me how I got there, and I told them I just bought a bike. When they heard I had just learned how to ride two days ago, they busted up laughing, saying, "Este maje tiene huevos, no frege!" which means, quite literally translated, "This dude has balls, no joke!" It was a lot of fun laughing with them, and later playing. When we finished I followed some of them to a little shop for some beers and lunch. I had lunch, they had beers, and we just chilled for a while. I was a little worried about how much the lunch would cost, but when I asked, they said not to worry about it. That was pretty nice of them I thought. I think it only cost about a dollar fifty, but when you only have $6, that's a lot. I said thank you and headed home.

I'm finding myself strangely calm with the fact that I only have $6 to my name (the $1.38 in my bank account I can't touch because it would cost me more than that to take it out of an ATM). There's someone bigger looking out for me, and I know I couldn't be in a better place than where I am right now. So please, just forget I said I was out of money because I'll be just fine. Money isn't everything, and I have some on the way anyway. Just pray that God will hold me close and keep me on the right path. And also for my brother who just had surgery on his knee. You do that, and I know that I'll be fine. Until next time.