Tuesday, June 5, 2012- The Bus Mishap

The only downside to living in the “campo” again is getting used to the sleeping schedule. The family goes to bed at 8 and then gets up around 4. I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. It is relatively quiet, but there is a dog that barks off and on all night long outside, which then wakes up the roosters. Therefore, I did not get up until a little after 5.

During the morning, I basically just observed the routine of the family. They all get up around 4am to start chores. Don Polo, which means Mr. Polo, goes out and milks the cows that can be miilked. He does it in a corral by hand and brings the milk to the yard. Then, Dona Coco and Dona Polo (because of how last names work here Dona Polo is his mother not wife) separate out some of the milk for cheese and  put the rest in buckets to be sold at market. Next, one of them starts to clean the house while the other one starts preparing breakfast. Then, one of them gets up Luis for school and helps him get ready while the other makes tortillas. After breakfast, they both focus their energy on making cheese, which takes about an hour.

After they were done with their morning routine, I decided I had to get a couple of things done. I boiled a pot of water to see what the local boiling point was. Due to elevation, it was in fact lower than 100C. I also had to determine the average moisture content of the firewood that they are using, so I did some pre-measurements and put the wood in the oven to dry it out.

After lunch, I took the bus back to the office, so I could get more stuff and use the internet, but there was no internet. Therefore, I just grabbed some more stuff I needed. I have decided not to move everything I have to the host family since I will still be at the office a lot, and I will only be with them for about three weeks.

I wanted to get back before dark, so I decided to catch the 530 bus back. However, there was no bus parked when I showed up at 525, which is really unusual. The buses are normally on time in Nicaragua. As I was waiting, a taxi driver came up and told me that I had missed the last bus to Leon. It had left at 520, but he would be happy to take m where ever I needed to go. I immediately called Salvadore, who assured me there would be a bus at 6 and one at 630. However, as I waited, more and more people came up to me to tell me that I had missed the last bus. Finally I went into a store and asked, and they confirmed also. I called Salvadore back, and he said he would drive me home since a taxi would be pretty expensive. I felt pretty dumb, but I guess I know now when the last bus leaves.