However, when the driver stopped the bus, the engine shut down, no biggie at first. Then, as the passenger sat down he closed the sliding door beside him (it is more like a van, rather than a bus), but the door wouldn´t close properly, so the driver had to come over, as I am sure he has done a hundred times and try to fix the door. After a few slams and kicks here and there, there door was still slightly ajar, the driver tried to open it and since it wouldn´t open he figured, no worries.
He then gets back into the driver´s seat and turns the key. All of hear the sound of "chug, chug", like the dying cough of an old man. Silence comes over the passengers. Once again, "chug, chug... chuggg, chuggg" as the driver tried a little harder. Then a few of us moan and groan to ourselves, like, oh shit we´re in trouble now. And then once more time... "chug, chug, chug..." and the van is not cooperating. Eventually, the driver gets out of the car and starts to push the van backwards by himself, just from the opening of his drivers side; we roll back a couple of feet. The driver jumps in and tries to pop the clutch. Halt. And... nothing. He tries again, and again. All the while, all of the passengers are silent. Eventually, the man beside me says something in spanish, and I only understand the word "push" or "empujar". I think to myself that I am hot and sweaty, and I got my big ass backpack stuck between my legs, I do not want to push! After the man speaks, the driver says nothing, nor does anyone else for that matter.
The driver then pushes the van more and more, luckily we are on a slant, but going backwards onto oncoming traffic though. Finally he gets some momentum, and I am in my seat kind of bouncing up and down as if my movements will help with the momentum. He then jumps back into his seat and once again, pops the clutch... and presto... the engine turns over!! A loud sigh of relief overwhelms us all, and once again the man beside is the first to make a noise. He looks at me and he starts to laugh, and then I start to laugh as well along with some others. I then make a really loud, rolling of the floor crying kind of laugh for a few moments and then realized that I should stop, so that I don´t make a fool of myself. Silly gringo they´d think. But then for the next 15 minutes I couldn´t stop thinking about how funny the whole situation was and kept giggling to myself in my seat like a school girl. Oh... how I´m easily amused.
This is only one example of how slow and underdeveloped things can be here in Nicaragua. Again, it puts our western lives into perspective. For example, many people still use a horse and carriage as a form of transportation, last night in the city of Leon, we were out of electricity from 4:30pm to about 2:00am. I had to navigate through the streets with a flashlight and eat some street food with my two new dorm roomies since we wouldn´t be able to find a restaurant with electricity to cook us food.
Anyway, I am now here in San Juan, alone. Manuela left me yesterday morning. She went north and I went south this morning. I´m going to miss her, but eventually I have to learn to fly on my own. I told her she was like a crutch for me, doing everything. Man, I could´ve used her today while trying to navigate my way to San Juan, but I managed just fine. I may have paid a few extra cordobas here and there, but still managed. I gotta learn me some spanish! That´s what I´m gonna do here, settle down maybe for two weeks and take some classes...
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| I'm grateful for my friendship with Manuela. That's us with Kenny. |
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| Sledding down a volcano in Leon - that was fun. |
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