Rudyard Kipling said “The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” Yes, it is so true! Think about.… you are spending one week with us in Chica Brava learning and empowering yourself through surfing and the entire experience is letting you to going deeper in a new culture and smell his essence. Walking in the street while you are going to yoga, listening to people around you while you are drinking a smoothie, enjoying food in restaurant or dancing Latin music in town makes you realize how many cultural differences from your home country there are in San Juan del Sur and how is easy to experience the real Nicaraguan one.
Have a look on the most evident differences:
Chicken Bus
One of the most famous public transportation is the CHICKEN BUS! The term is referring to a colorful and decorated bus that connect not only all the main cities of Nicaragua but also people and goods between Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama. So, the fun question is: why chicken? Because you will easily realize that these buses are crammed with passengers that most the time are bringing with them animals (especially chicken)!
Triciclos
It seems to be a copy of the Asian TUC TUC, instead it is a three-wheeled bike commanded by a man who are the most reckless in the city! So, being much more cheaper than a taxi the majority of the Nicaraguan instead of walking they rather prefer to gently be ride on this evolved bicycle!
Horses
The first time I came here didn’t believe that a lot of people they were still using a horse as a daily transportation! And do you know which is the most amazing thing? It is that they are parked in the street as a real car.
Plastic Bag
If you buy a drink on the street, on the bus or even in the simple market, you won’t get a cup or a bottle. Instead you will ladle your drinks in a plastic bag. It’s amazing how they can knot it securely and you can easily drink it without doing a big mess.
Chicken Lady
In every single moment of the day you can smell a barbecue perfume coming from what is traditionally called “chicken lady”. This cute families with a BBQ on the street serves roasted chicken, fried y plantains and Gallo Pinto (for more information about typical Nicaragua food have a look on my previous blog). With 5$ you can have an amazing plate and feeling extremely full!
Street Sellers
“Chicken, Soda – Chicken, Soda”. It’s pretty normal when you are walking in the street listening someone screaming these words. Especially if you go out from a Chicken Bus you will see like a procession of woman and man balancing wooden trays of food on their heads selling to you any kind of food. That’s simply rustic and amazing.
Fiesta
How not to mention the best element of being in Latin Country: FIESTA! Each community has an annual Fiesta that revolve around the local Sain’t birthday, but the actual party may extend for days or even for weeks. These fiestas involve bands, parades, food all night and dancing with typical customs. The biggest and more felt is the SEMANA SANTA. This week celebrates and commemorates the last week of Jesus’ life, his death and resurrection, and is the busiest time for religious workers in Nicaragua.
Being a Latin fiesta all bars, restaurants are filled with tourists as well as locals. It’s exciting and fun!
During the day, a lot of games and competitors take place on the beach, singing and dancing under the starlight and as in a typical festive mood you will find people out and about in every corner.
Micaela Reynaudo
Administrative Manager