Day 415: No Soy Chino! Soy Singaporean
Nicaragua: Granada to Rivas
Distance: 68 km
Time: 7.05 am to 2.31 pm
Cumulative distance: 14,980 km
Day 411-414
If you are fooled by my April’s fool post on Facebook announcing to quit my tour and return home. Well, Happy April’s fool. And April’s fool day coincide with Easter Sunday, the Resurrection of Christ, and also my tech Support Iris’s birthday. Me being Catholic, have to stay in Granada, the crown Jewel of Nicaragua to celebrate the holy weekend and attend 3 days of mass. Good Friday procession was indeed an eye opener for me. Hundreds of devotees followed the statute of Christ being crucified and Mother Mary and a Roman Soldier carried by more than 20 devotees on a fiery day through the streets of Granada. We did the 14 stations of the cross as we walked around, chanting the Lord’s prayer and hail Mary. Of course I did mine in English. In Singapore, we never did such procession, everything was done within the confines of the church. Singapore is bureaucratic on such procession. Permits and red tapes must be applied. And here, streets are closed. No cars are allowed on streets on this hour. Therefore, it was an experience for me, my first holy week in Latin America where everyone is Catholic.
On Saturday evening, Yves and Fed arrived in Granada, staying in the fire station which is right opposite my hostel. We gathered for an expensive pizza dinner, which I have to budget my meals for next few days. They left for rivas the next day while I celebrated Easter Sunday. Throughout the holy week mass, I made friend with a homeless guy, who also begged for money. Instead of giving the alms to the church, I gave it to him. Catholic Church has billions of dollars already. Why not give it to the poor. Nothing much, just sufficient for him to get a cheap meal.
Throughout Central America, everyone on the streets have been shouting Chino, whenever they saw me. Sometimes, it turns to racial slur like Ching Chong Chang. Though my ethnicity is Chinese, I don’t really identify as Chinese, I see myself as Singaporean. No Chinese or whatever. I always replied back “No Soy Chino, Soy Singaporean” but Singapore being a tiny island nation, nobody here ever heard of it. I have to explain to them that it is near Malaysia and Thailand, some countries they will know. Asia isnt limited just to Indians, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. There are lots of ethnicities and nationalities in Asia. Finally, once a guy actually guessed I was from Thailand. I was so glad cos it was a close answer. My sunburnt dark complexion distinguished me as Thai , no longer as the typical Chinese now. Now, I will probably pass off as Filipino. Then I don’t have to explain why I have a Catholic name and why am I a Catholic as Philippines was a Spanish colony for centuries.
Day 415
After the Resurrection of Christ, it is also time for me to return to the road. Leaving Granada was a small hill which I have to climb. Not too steep that I have to walk. The temperature, by 8 am, began to soar. Without my Garmin GPS watch, I can’t gauge how fast and far I am going. But luckily, there are the milestone markers indicating the distance to Costa Rica border. From the marker, I can calculate how many km left to Rivas.
As usual, the highway was smooth. The wind was keeping me cool and slowing me as well. On Nadame, left highway 4 and switched to Nic-2. Everything remained the same. At 11 am, stopped at a Comedor for lunch. Best lunch for a long time. Chicken stew with rice. It was only 60 C or 2 USD. Must enjoy these cheap meals while I am still in Nicaragua. Once to Costa Rica and Panama, things gets real expensive. Almost western Europe standard. Then again, when it comes to Expensive countries, I tend to spend less. Camp cooking and camping to reduce cost. And there isn’t much for me to spend on cos everything will be too expensive for me to even consider spending. Less temptation. Whereas, cheaper countries, everything is so cheap that I am more tempted to spend more. Still, I am getting more bangs for my buck.
From lunch place to Rivas was only 26 km more. I took a short nap at bus shelter but it was crowded. Resumed at 12.30 pm, since it wasn’t that hot with the wind, to finish the last 26 km. At 2.30 pm, I arrived at Rivas Fire station. It was a 3 storey building. I got the whole 2nd floor to myself for tonight. There were two kids, Jeffery and Lucia. They tried to communicate with me in English they learnt in school but it wasn’t sufficient. Being a former teacher, my teaching instincts kicked in. Taught them few basic english phrases and corrected their homework.
Tomorrow, I will try to leave my pushcart in the station, as I will be going to Playa Gigante to meet up with Marge Magic Hair to celebrate her upcoming birthday on the 4th. Playa Gigante is another detour off the pan American highway. Not wanting to skate the same way, I try to hitchhike or get Magic Hair to transport me there. Another couple days off in the beach. Gawd, I am never going to reach Argentina at this pace.
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