Peace Corps Gringas Gone Wild(ish): Misadventures in Managuan High Society

Managua is always an interesting place to visit as a Peace Corps volunteer. For security reasons, we spend most of our time during visits in very fachenta places, such as outrageously nice malls and upscale neighborhoods. This usually results in hilarity since the elite Managuans who inhabit such fancy places look really good all the time and the average Peace Corps volunteer, arriving after a long bus ride on decidedly ordinario transportation, looks a step up from homeless. Sort of like a scruffy, unshowered, medical student doing his or her residency. Secondly, going to such fancy places merely reinforces the fact that, despite what we might have had in the States, we do not have a lot of money anymore. For example, I thought about buying exercise pants until I realized they would have cost more than my food and rent for the month. Since we are paid on par, or more than a lot of the population, this raises the humbling question: Who has the money to shop here?

Anyways, my friend Caroline and I, went to the fanciest mall in the country, Gallerias, to get her computer fixed, while we were in Managua the night before a meeting. Having had 6-7 hour bus rides and in Caroline's case, also an early morning panga (boat) ride on top of everything else, we were badly in need of some coffee. So badly in need, that we neglected to realize that we had gone to the Flor de Cana rum brand's coffee stand, and the reason that the coffee was so expensive was that it had rum in it. No wonder the man had looked at us funny when we said we wanted our coffee to go. Needless to say,that was about the last thing that my body needed, but having spent a lot of money, I refused to not drink it. Which led to me wandering around the mall, rather giggly and socially suspect while we pretended that we could afford things, before giving up.

After stocking up on  things at the grocery store, we went to a spinning class, with a spin instructor who was sort of like a flamboyant, Latino version of my Uncle Jimmy. He was very crazy and demanding, which was entertaining, because I was still sort of tipsy, hadn't been to a spin class in months, and was finding that some newly acquired hermosa-ness was impeding my ability to do what he wanted.  

After dinner, we decided that we would spend whatever it took to get a really good dinner. We got sushi with a nutella crepe for dessert which was AMAZING, if not a very coherent menu.

Morals of the story: 1. Sometimes it's ok to treat yourself.
2. Managua isn't that bad of a place if you have money.
3. Don't buy coffee at the Flor de Cana stand unless you actually want to get tipsy.