20 to 70 in the blink of an eye

After the 12 hour day I spent at Miraflor enjoying everything about Nicaragua´s country side I was about ready to jump into my hard mattressed and lumpy pillowed bed that looked like heaven and call it a night- however my host family had alternative plans. A knock at the door and ´Yessica´ with a Spanish accent was enough to drag my sorry butt out of bed and into the family. A night of bonding was clearly on the agenda regardless of the languages barrier. Armed with my pocket sized Spanish phrase book I was about to jump into true Nicaraguan life, not any of that tourist mumbo jumbo I have been experience thus far. (well maybe minus my dictionary) The night began with Tona, Nicaraguan cervesa and ended in shambles. My host brother Ivan and I went to a Spanish karaoke and dance bar. I didn´t attempt the karaoke partly because I wanted to spare my new Spanish friends their hearing and since I can´t even speak the language .. singing it would just lead to trouble. I tried out the Spanish dancing which was a lot of fun, however as the night came to end so did the fun. As Ivan and i left the karaoke bar we walked back to our house thinking that we would save 20 Cordoba ( which in Canada is about equal to 2 very cold wonderful Pepsi's.) Me living day to day in those wooden shoes god blessed me to be in made a bad decision, and ended up losing 70 Cordoba and my sense of security. Not 2 blocks away from home Ivan and I got jumped by 5 Nicaraguan men. It was dark and Ivan and I were to trying to speak in broken Spanish to each other not noticing them around the corner. They took our money and ended up bruising Ivan with large rocks. The money is nothing to lose sleep over however the fear, shock, loss of control and personal invasion brought me to an unimaginable low.

Before the night I was beginning to feel comfortable in Esteli and now I feel as if I have taken five steps backwards and I wear paranoia like it´s a t-shirt that isn´t going out of style. It´s always one of those things that you think will NOT, CAN NOT, possibly happen to me EVER EVER EVER. Well 1 week in, and 1 huge reality check under my belt I now know that walking late at night is not okay, no matter who you´re with., and a taxi is the best option regardless of the cost. Beyond Borders is not simply an extra long worry free stay in a warm climate. It´s real life, with real people, this means the good the bad and the ugly.
All for now,

Peace