A Loss, a Lunch, and a Libro or Two

Disaster struck recently, or so it seemed at the time.  I tried to pay for some groceries with my debit card and was asked, as usual for my cedula, my official residence card. It was not to be found, and I felt my heart in my throat as I fumbled for my passport to identify myself. Frantically, I retraced the previous few days to recall the incidents in which I was asked to produce my cedula. Paying the cable bill, seeing the oncologist, paying my rent at the bank. I spent the next two days revisiting all these places to see if I had dropped or forgotten the cedula. No luck. This little card that took me almost nine months to achieve, and that gave me legitimacy as a permanent resident in Nicaragua, had vanished. I was gutted, really, and could not sleep. What to do?

I called Noel, my famous lawyer, who investigated my options; it turned out that it is relatively simple to replace a lost cedula. So yesterday, I bused into Managua and met Noel at the bus terminal at UCA, the University of Central America. We spent the morning at Inmigración running hither and thither, in one line and then another, sitting sometimes. Eventually, I paid the 750 cordobas ($26) and was invited to return on the 30th to have my photo taken and receive my new cedula.

 Noel and I headed out for lunch at a rather novel restaurant called Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) which sports a colorful Disney mural (no trademark infringement lawsuits here). Noel was frisked as we entered, my purse was opened -- a first since coming here. The prices were cheap and did not include taxes, for some reason. The cevíche was good and the resident pigeons were very sociable, especially if crackers were crumbled for them.

The sign beneath the pigeons actually says "Cocteles - Fuente de Vida" -- they could use some graphic advice from Mr. Lopez, pictured beneath with his delightful mural!

As we were leaving, we were told that a chap outside the entrance painting a black wall was the artist who had produced the Disney mural. David Lopez is his name and his Facebook page attests to his wonderful talent.

Next, we taxied to Hispamer, one of the nicest stores in Managua. It is a bookstore, cum tech shop, cum cafe. Those bright colored pencils are a clever way to disguise the security fence around the store. I found a couple of books to send to Gabriel at his new teaching post, where he has many Hispanic children in his music class.