Texans

Today Allegra and I went to Mobacho, a volcano in Central Nicaragua. It was a beautiful day for a little mountain climbing. We took a bus out of Granada and then walked three kilometers up a small paved road to the entrance of the national park. We purchached tickets to take the "eco-movil" up the side of the mountain (there was nothing "eco" about this movil). We were peacefully siting in the shade waiting for the movil to go when two truck loads of Texans arrived. It was so odd to encounter a group of Texans in the middle of rural Nicaragua. What was striking about this group is that most of them had no previous cross-cultural experience and they did not seem to have much information or training about Central American culture. Most people do not make it all the way to Nicaragua without some idea of what is normal in Central America (this group came for a week to help with a church building project). I have met plenty of lovely people from Texas and I don´t want to unjustly reinforce any stereotypes but these Texans fulfilled every Texas stereotype I have. They were nice enough as people, but as travel companions they were freakin´ annoying. They were loud and obnoxious and astute at pointing out the obvious like, "hey, there is a cow". I was so cranky about it. I do not mind if other people experience Nicaragua differently than I do but when their experience happens so audibly that I can not hear myself think I quickly become a travel snob. When Allegra and I got to the top of the mountain we decided to run the trail so that we could get enough ahead of the Texans so that we did not have to hear them.

When we set out down the trail is was like setting out into the Valley of the Elves in Lord of the Rings. It was green and moist with mosses and vines hanging from the trees. The entire earth was covered in green except for the trail and the bright butterflies and unusually large insects. There were wisps of clouds among the treetops which made the whole place feel mystical and surreal. At certain points we walked along the edge of a crater and we could see lakes and fields and a huge sky. At other points we were completely submerged in the forest canopy... Truely an amazing experience.
It turned out to be very fortuitous for us that we decided to run. As soon as we finished the trail and returned to the building, it began to rain very, very hard. We got a few sprinkles, but the Texans got soaked. After the peaceful walk I had more patience for the Texans which was good because wet Texans are somehow louder and more grandiose than dry Texans.
We all piled into the ecomovil for the precarious descent down the mountain. We hitched a ride with the Texans to the main road where we started walking in the direction of Granada waiting for a bus or some kind motorist to give us a ride. It continued to rain... and it rained... and no one came. A few people on motorcylces stopped to tell us that we should walk in a different direction and take a bus to a different town where it would be easier to find a bus to Granada. That did not really sound like a good idea given how far we had already walked. We figured that the worst thing that would happen is that we would have to walk the 10km back to Granada in the rain.
I was secretly hoping that the Texans would decide to visit Granada and stop by to pick us up. Apparently, being a travel snob gives you bad karma. We walked for a really long time and were sopping wet before a bus finally came. Such a sorry sight.
However, it was the first time that I have experienced the sensation of cold in several weeks and that was actually kind of neat.