O Granada

Where else can you stay in an ex-president´s house (ex as in exiled, unwelcome like so many Latin American leaders make themselves) for six bucks a night, take a horse carriage around the central square and then be hugged by street kids wanting your money? Okay, probably anywhere. But Granada may be the only place in all Central or South America with Mountain Dew.

I mention this as an allusion to its assimilation of Gringo culture. Not entirely, of course. At least not yet. About three blocks behind the Cathedral have been bought up by foreigners and turned into boutique hotels and fancy restaurants. If it sounds like I´m put off by this, I´m not; I´ll gladly pay through my nose for a cold Mountain Dew to fend off the indefatigable Nicaraguan sun. At the heart of it, is that nobody captures the feeling of home like a foreigner. You may have come to experience local flavor, but how many plates of rice and beans can you stomach before you give in a grovel for waffles and granola and unlimited refills of coffee made without powdered milk? You pay more, sure; but at least butter is included with the toast, as opposed to being an additional charge. Sometimes it seems as if every corner is cut to lower expenses-- at the expense of the consumer. That might sound like the American way, but it takes a lot of getting used to; we expect free bathrooms, free refills, free condiments, we hope for free breakfast and internet.

The down side is that we follow this trail of freebies to a cheap hostel where we´re seduced by the hammocks and soft music, and the allure of fellow travelers. And then we don´t leave. We stay isolated in our little domicile, self contained, shut away from the country and culture at large. It´s a balancing act, and you´ll meet people from both extremes: those who go to any length to avoid meeting other tourists, and those who go from the airport to the Hilton and back with the windows up and A/C on. Travel should bridge these worlds; to accept the changes we affect, instead of ignoring them always.