Bittersweet

On the eve of my departure from Nicaragua, a listicle

Things I Will Not Miss About Nicaragua:

1. Constant street noise
2. Back sweat
3. Unavoidable bad music
4. Firecrackers
5. Handwashing my clothes
6. Saldo
7. My “chiclero” cell phone that is so outdated it doesn’t even have T9
8. People knocking on the door all day, every day
9. Zika, Chikungunya, Dengue, and Malaria
10. Fumigating for mosquitoes (I know, I want my cake and to eat it too)
11. Stomach infections
12. Not having an oven
13. Backpackers

Things I Will Miss About Nicaragua:

1. Seeing my friends and counterparts
2. Fresh fruits and vegetables everywhere
3. The light of the full moon shining down into my bedroom and bathroom through the weird hole/skylight thing in my ceiling
4. Hanging out with my neighbors Noel and Alexander (11 and 14, respectively)
5. Reggaeton (at the appropriate time and places)
6. Living close to the beach
7. The kindness of strangers

Goodbye pizza with Alexander, Noel, and my German housemate Nino

There are more things I am forgetting from both lists. But for now this will suffice.

Although I have spent a lot of time traveling through Nicaragua, the more time I spent here the more time I wanted to visited around the country, and I never got to see everything. Here’s some things and places that I would still like to visit on future trips to Nicaragua:

Higher Priority:

Caribbean Coast
Pearl Cays
Orinoco (Garifuna village)
Corn Islands

Ometepe Island
Concepción Volcano
Punto Jesus de María
Waterfall on Maderas Volcano

Miraflor, Estelí
Zapatera Island
Lake Tiscapa, Managua
Northern Caribbean Autonomous Region

Lower Priority:

San Cristóbal Volcano
Padre Ramos/Estero Real, Chinandega
Mogotón, Nueva Segovia (tallest mountain in Nicaragua)
Volcanoes Rota, Chonco, and Casita

And in case you were wondering, the final status of my Occidente Bucket List:

• Isla Juan Venado
• Salinas Grandes Beach
• Volcan Cosigüina
• Volcan San Cristobal
• Volcan Telica
• Momotombo
• Momotombito
• Nagarote
• León Viejo
• Jiquilillo Beach (I went a few weekends ago – it is not worth a blog post)
• Wetlands of Chinandega
• Climb the Cathedral
• Ruben Darío Museum (which is a block from my house)
• Myths and Legends Museum
• Botanical Gardens

I have a lot more reflecting to do, and I have already began drafting some final reflections on my time in Nicaragua and my service, but for now I wanted to leave you with these listy thoughts.