Bye bye fair/Adios feria...

Come on kids...let's get on. We've got a season pass!! Oh wait, let me take a closer look....on second thought, no.  Let's go kids. No you can't ride. Come on....I'm gonna spank you...LET'S GO!

Vamos niños. Tenemos pases libres. Ooo, esperen....déjenme ver....ummm mejor no...vámonos. No, no pueden subir. Vámonos. Les voy a pegar...vámonos....

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:27 p.m. in Curiosities/Curiosidades

Circus in town/ya llegó el circo

The locals in Cosmapa have been enthralled with the presence of this world class act. When the circus stars saw me taking a picture, they came a runnin'...telling us to come on in. I dunno. Those painted clowns scare me.

Los locales de Cosmapa están encantados con la presencia de este acto de alto calibre. Cuando las estrellas del circo me vieron tomando fotos, llegaron corriendo...invitándome a pasar adelante...no creo. Me dan miedo esos payasos pintados....

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:19 p.m. in

Another accident/otro accidente

These stay on the road for months or years...who knows what happened here?

Estas manchas quedan por meses o años...¿quién sabe que pasó aquí?

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:15 p.m. in

Dumb and Dumber/Los Dos Tontos

I found this Dumb and Dumber wannabe living in Estelí, Nicaragua. He's been living in Nicaragua as long as I have!!!

Hallé ese hombre que quiere ser de la película Los Dos Tontos. Ha vivido en Nicaraguan igual tiempo que yo.

Posted by Editorial Team on 5:42 a.m. in Curiosities/Curiosidades

Matagalpa

Another view of this favorite from the hillside....

Otra vista de esta favorita desde las colinas....

Posted by Editorial Team on 7:14 p.m. in

Waterfalls/Cascadas

I love this place, close to La Dalia, Matagalpa. See the three waterfalls in the background? They are awesome!!!

Me encanta este lugar casi llegando a La Dalia, Matagalpla. ¿Vean las tres cascadas? Fabulosas!!!!

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:19 p.m. in

Chevy Luv

This old truck has become a playground for these kids.

Esta camioneta vieja ha llegado a ser un lugar dónde jugar para estos niños.

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:11 p.m. in

Bad driver in El Viejo/Chofer malo en El Viejo

This truck driver took a wrong turn and then got hung up on that tree. So, he straightened the truck out and got out to see what the problem was. Instead of climbing up and untangling the tree from the truck, he decided to just take off, pulling the tree down with him. However, the neighbors were more than interested in the license plate here in the picture and soon thereafter took off to get the police. Ha ha ha ha

Este caminero giró mal y se enredó con ese árbol. Echó para atrás el camión y se bajó para ver que fue lo que pasaba. Sin embargo, en vez de desenredar las ramas, decidió mejor arrancar con todo y el árbol. Momentos después, los vecinos estaban muy interesados en conocer el número de las placas del camión. Apuntaron el dato y se fueron a la policía para agarrar el chofer y camión. Ja ja ja ja

Posted by Editorial Team on 12:02 p.m. in

Old school house/Casa de viejos tiempos

This is a typical construction is some parts of Nicaragua, dating back a few years obviously. It's make of wooden supports and mud. It's surprising that these houses are actually cool inside and they last for years, despite rain, wind, etc.

Aquí está una construcción típica de algunos lugares de Nicaragua, obviamente de antaño. Se ha construido de madera (para apoyo) y barro. Sorprendentemente las casas son bastante frescas y aguantan la lluvia, viento, etc. por años.

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:06 p.m. in

Guess...Adivina....

What is this? Any clues?

¿Qué es eso? ¿Alguna pista?

Posted by Editorial Team on 6:55 a.m. in

Chicken/Pollo

Tip Top is a Nicaraguan fast food chain. This offer looks pretty tempting, although it's not as cheap as some of the other local fare. $C62 will put you back about 3 bucks.

Tip Top es una cadena de comida rápida en Nicaragua. Esta oferta es tentadora...aunque no tan buena como la otra comida típica. $C62 es más o menos tres dólares por este golpe.

Posted by Editorial Team on 8:07 p.m. in

Fun in Chinandega/Diversión en Chinandega

The fair is in town for a few weeks. Check out these very inventive rides...you've got about 20 of those kids rideable plastic cars tied down to a wooden floor, on a center with a motor that turns them round and round...all this fun for only C$10 ($0.50)) a swirl. Hey the kid doesn't seem to mind. Liability insurance? Haaa!

Están los huegos aquí en la ciudad por algunas semanas. Miren este juego inovador...hay más o menos 20 de esos carritos plásticos atados con mecate al piso de madera, piso que está conectado a un centro con motor que los da vuelta y vuelta...solo pagas C$10 (US$0.50) por algunas vueltas en el chunche que te gusta. El niño no toma conciencia de todo esto. Asegurado por accidentes??? Jaaa!

Posted by Editorial Team on 8:10 a.m. in

Shrimp/camarones

There is a large shrimp production in the Chinandega area thus many local people also get involved in their own little harvest and selling. These things sure look better at Red Lobster than here huh?

Hay una gran produccion de camerones en la zone de Chinandega y muchas personas locales se involucran en su comercializacion. Claro, se miran mejor en un restaurante que aquí a aire libre, ¿verdad?

Spanish multinational Pescanova inaugurated "the world's most advanced" shrimp processing plant in Chinandega, northern Nicaragua, of an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons.

The whole shrimp production process will take place at the new plant that covers some 20,000 sq m and features three processing and canning lines. The end product, made up of fresh shrimp, is canned shrimp ready for freezing or outright marketing.

Pescanova eventually will acquire ready-to-farm shrimp fry from its laboratory and cultivate these in its farm centres.

The laboratory has a production capacity of 500 million units per month, which essentially guarantees a "much-needed supply" in the years to come, said Fernandez de Sousa.

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:10 p.m. in

Mountains of Matagalpa/Las montañas de Matagalpa

This nice scene is found between Matagalpa and Jinotega, high up in some excellent coffee country mountains. It's cool and nice here!!! When I grow up, that's where I want to live!

Esta agradable escena se encuentra entre Matagalpa y Jinotega, un lugar alto en medio de montañas de excelente caficultura. ¡¡¡Hace friiito aquí y es muy agradable!!! ¡Cuando yo sea grande, quiero vivir allí!

Posted by Editorial Team on 8:55 p.m. in

No ones king of the road/Nadie es rey del camino

Here in Nicaragua it's at times hazardous to be on the highway. Why? Because everybody and his brother is on the same highway, driving whatever and hauling whatever. I leave you three examples that speak for themselves....A veces aquí en Nicaragua es peligroso estar en la carretera. ¿Por qué? Por qué hay personas manejando no sé qué y transportando no sé cuánto. Para muestra...tres botones.

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:03 p.m. in

My lunch

Here's my lunch, saying hi before he was eaten...that's Nicaraguan broccoli with Nicaraguan chicken, Nicaraguan rice and Nicaraguan honey on the chicken (with some soy sauce). Ummmmm


Aquí está mi almuerzo, diciéndoles adios antes de ser comido....el brócoli es Nica, el pollo es Nica, el arroz en Nica y la miel (encima del pollo) es Nica (la salsa de soya - China). Ummmmm

Posted by Editorial Team on 12:20 p.m. in

ﻮ๏๏๔ ๓๏гภเภﻮ!!

Those are genuine Nicaraguan chicken eggs. Today we purchased 15 eggs for C$25. That comes out to about...$0.08 per egg. Throw in a few cents for tomatoes and we have a $0.20 breakfast + tip.

Posted by Editorial Team on 7:44 p.m. in

A new book!!!!!

FlipMyText for Dummies

Posted by Editorial Team on 6:28 p.m. in

Less is more....

Have you heard the expression: "One man's junk is another man's treasure"? That rhymes true in the case of these Nicaraguan boys who have located their own Saturday morning playground outside of the municipal garbage dump in Chinandega. If you could measure happiness, I would say that these guys were off the scale...compare that to your typical child with PS3, WII, cellular phone, etc. who is not satisfied with anything. Can we coin another frase here? "Less is more...."

Posted by Editorial Team on 7:14 a.m. in

Ready for the beach!

This horse in Corinto is definitely suited up and rearing to go the the playa. He is giving classes today, teaching a new technique called "horse paddling". Sign up! Classes are about to begin!

Posted by Editorial Team on 6:20 p.m. in

Marbles or chibolas

Nicaraguan children go through seasons of change with regards to the games they play. Right now, shortly after the rainy season starts, marbles seems to be the name of the game. Later they will get bored with marbles and move on. However, in the meantime, please enjoy these children at play....

Carlitos: Jugamos chibolas?

Jorge: No, mejor trompo.

Carlitos: Bueno, entonces juguemos trompo un ratito y después chibolas.

Jorge: Noooo, mejor trompo, que no ves que si jugamos chivolas nos revolcamos y después nos mandan para la casa castigados?

Carlitos: Va pues, juguemos trompo, pero a la salida jugamos chibolas.

Most children understand the game of marbles the first time it is explained, but to make it easier, these drawings show the most common plays, such as frequently occur in marble tournaments. In studying these diagrams imagine that two children are going to play a game. To determine who shall play first each child lags with his or her shooter marble. printer-friendly version

FIG. 1: To start a game of Ringer the children lag from a line, drawn tangent to the ring, to a parallel line across the ring, which would be 10 feet away. The child whose shooter comes nearest the line has the first shot. Players must lag before each game. Practice lagging, as the first shot may mean the winning of the game before your opponent gets a shot. In lagging, a child may toss his or her shooter to the other line, or he or she may knuckle down and shoot it.

FIG. 2: This shows child No.1 who won the lag, preparing to knuckle down. His knuckle has not quite reached the ground, which is necessary before shooting. he can take any position about the ring he chooses. Notice how the 13 marbles in the ring are arranged at the start of the game.

FIG. 3: child No.1 knocks a marble from the ring on his first shot and his shooter stays in the ring. He picks up the marble. As he has knocked one from the ring, he is entitled to another try. Players are not permitted to walk inside the ring unless their shooter comes to a stop inside the ring. Penalty is a fine of one marble.

FIG. 4: Here we see child No. 1 continuing play. He "knuckles down" inside the ring where his shooter stopped on the last shot. This gives him the advantage of being nearer to the big group of marbles in the center of the ring for his next shot. Expert marble shots try to hit a marble, knock it out of ring and make their shooter "stick" in the spot.

FIG 5: On this play, No.1 hit a marble, but did not knock it from the ring. At the same time his shooter, too, stays inside the ring. he can not pick up the marble, neither is he allowed to pick up his shooter. He must leave the shooter there until the other child has played.

FIG. 6: child No. 2 may start by "knuckling down" anywhere at the ring edge. In this case he may shoot at the 11 marbles in the center or if he wishes, he may go to the other side and try for No.1's shooter or the marble that No.1 almost knocked from the ring.

FIG. 7: child No.2 chooses to try for No. 1 child's shooter and knocks it out of ring, winning all the marbles No.1 has taken and putting No.1 out of that game. Or he could shoot as shown in Fig. 8.

FIG. 8: child No.2 hits a marble but does not knock it out of the ring yet his shooter goes thru the ring and stops outside. The marble remains where it stopped in the ring, and as No.2 did not score, it is now the turn of No.1 to shoot again.

FIG. 9: No. 1 "knuckles down" inside the ring where his shooter stopped (Fig. 5). he is going to shoot at the marble nearest his shooter. By hitting it at the proper angle and knocking it from the ring he can get his shooter near the center of the ring for his next shot.

Posted by Editorial Team on 4:45 p.m. in