Half an hour into the game, it started pouring. The rain was so serious that after 5 minutes, they decided that it's probably best to cover the field up with a plastic tarp to keep it drier for the game. Unfortunately, they had to bail because it was literally pouring cats and dogs.
I'd really like to see how much the tarp could keep the field dry
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Nicaragua (at least in the Caribbean Coast). Bluefields, being the capital of the municipality of Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur (R.A.A.S.), is the first city to have a baseball stadium in the Caribbean Coast (Thanks to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega).
"Thanks, Daniel, for your support in sport in the coast!"
Because Bluefields was the first to have a stadium in the coast, of all the stadiums in the coast, stadium here is the oldest, smallest, and doesn't even have lights to play games at night. Even the stadiums tiny towns like Kukra Hills and Corn Island has bright lights and big fields to play in.
Man updating the scoreboard with his little house on the side
The top three languages spoken in Bluefields are Spanish, Kriol English (or Creole English), and Miskito. To get a taste of what Kriol English sounds and looks like, here is a poster created for blueEnergy's recycling campaign. The best part is that written Kriol is not standardized, so most fluent Kriol speakers see the posters below will immediately assume that it is in Miskito and not even read it.
Kriole English
Standard English
While I'm at it, I'll throw in Jump by RDX with lyrics. Try and see how much you can catch without reading the lyrics, then try and see how much you can understand reading the lyrics.
This is a Jamaican song you will hear everyday coming from bars, cabs, other people's houses, etc. in Bluefields this summer.
Lobster's favorite food is cow skin (basically unprocessed leather)
There are two holes in a lobster trap for the lobsters to enter the cage. The lobster cages are generally left at the bottom of the sea for 20 days. The longer the wait the more lobster they will catch.
the best bait to catch lobsters are other lobsters. When a lobster sees a group of lobster, they immediately believe that it is a safe place with food; hence the longer the wait, the more lobster they will catch.
On Big Corn Island, we were trying to take the bus, but only to find out that because the priest just passed away, the bus services are then canceled to take people to the priest's memorial services. This is one of the many reasons I haven't seen a single bus running in town in the Caribbean Coast. They've got priorities.
Catching the plane to Corn Island at 6am. After check-in, we took a nap at the waiting area (remember, we need to be at the airport >1.5 hours before the estimated flight departure time). Melisa slept very briefly while we all knocked out, and this happened:
Airport Officer: [comes to sit right next to Melisa] Do you speak Spanish? Melisa: yes. Airport Officer: Great. [hands out a thick folder] When you get to Corn Island, could you please hand this to the airport officers there for me? Melisa: Umm... Aren't you the people who tell us NOT TO take things from strangers at the airport? Airport Officer: No.... [looking very confused] I have no idea what you are talking about. Thank you.
I've seen this too often that I have to share... Not sure why they like to leave their freshener in the packaging, but I'm sure if I ask, I will get different answers from different people.
There is a stray horse in Bluefields.
Likely because the owner got really drunk and fell off the horse and died,
leaving the horse on the street. How no one reclaimed the horse? I don’t know.
The phone lines here in Bluefields are so
saturated that you cannot get another line in the entire city. This
problem has been going on for at least six months and the private telecommunications companies just don't care.
In Manhattan (a little town of 40 families south of
Pearl Lagoon), every family you visit will make a plate a food to welcome you.
Be prepared if you plan to visit muiltiple families in a day.
The kind woman of the house making delicious food for us in Manhattan in her smokey kitchen hut
Sometimes, if you're very lucky, not only does the panga have a hood, but it would also have loud stereo blasting reggae tone. Obviously, when it starts pouring, we pull out that tarp for protection regardless of the nice facility.
