Liam's Interesting Ride Home

I (Liam) have a short drive home from school each day, but as I drove home on Sunday, I realized that even in that short drive there are typically many things that are very different from what I would see if I were driving in the states.  Here's what I saw...what does your drive home look like?

First, a police stop in the road just beyond school.  Traffic lined up both ways because of high traffic coming from beach (Sunday afternoons sometimes like that) and it was difficult to get past a car that had been pulled over.  One motorcyclist rudely blared on his horn since traffic wasn't moving and I was pleased to see that the police pulled him over as well.

Just past the police stop, I noticed groups of kids walking with small bags in their hands.  They are coming back home from the local Catholic church, which hands out candy and other small gifts to kids who attend the "Purisima" (Immaculate Conception) services in December.  My mind wanders to wondering whether this is a good practice or not, and what the historical roots of this tradition might be.

Turning onto our side road, I passed a taxi and noticed that a large man was leaning on the back of the taxi and vomiting onto the road.  He appeared intoxicated and I'm guessing he had too much to drink.  Alcoholism is a big problem in Nicaragua, and it is unfortunately all to common to see scenes like this on Sunday afternoons and evenings, especially on weekends after people have been paid (the 15th and 30th of the month for most people).  In the beginning of December, most people also receive an extra month of pay as a Christmas bonus, and unfortunately for some people with drinking problems, this money doesn't ever make it home.

A little further I reached the gate to our community and was reminded that today I needed to pay the $12 contribution we give twice a month for the salary of the guards that watch the 35 houses in our immediate community.  Since it is December, I gave the additional $8 suggested donation toward their "Christmas Chicken" (okay, Christmas turkey might be a better translation, but turkey is not common in Nicaragua).  The note they had given us thanked us in advance for our help with their "gallina navideña".

Finally, nearing our house, I stopped because in front of me on the dirt road was a 5-foot-long boa constrictor, probably enjoying the warm afternoon sun before it set.  It was fairly fat and did not seem like it had plans to move.  I stopped the car and ran past it to get the kids and family so we could see it and take a few pictures.  Although there are snakes around us, we do not often see such a big one or have a chance to stop and admire it (or fear it).  After a few pictures, it started slithering away toward our car, and to our horror, went under the car and started to attempt to climb into the engine.  I quickly jumped in the car and drove it to our house before it could find a nice warm home in the engine, which would undoubtedly cause plenty of problems the next time we wanted to use the car.

The 1.5-mile drive between school and home isn't always this eventful, and sometimes we are so used to many of these things that we forget to stop and write about them.  Hopefully you enjoyed "coming along for the ride."