Last weekend it was my roommate's birthday. We went to the city of Masaya to get smoothies. The restaurant is outside and you can sit on obnoxiously high chairs while they blend up whatever fruit you want.
On our way out of town we noticed a carnival.
(Side note: I've always enjoyed carnivals and fairs in the United States. Bright lights, fun rides, delicious fattening food. I have never been able to pass up the snow cones, cotton candy, and corn dogs. I enjoy the rides as well, but the food is the best part.
Before going on a ride, have I ever had the thought, is this safe? Sure. Then I remember a million people have been on it and I hop on for a good time.)
 |
| Enjoying Arnold Park |
(End of side note)
So, we saw this carnival on the Masaya side road. Some people in our teacher van got excited. The conversation started:
Should we stop?
Yes!
Wait, is it safe?
It doesn't look safe.
Do you think the rides are rejects from the States?
Probably, look how old it looks.
We should check it out.
No, let's go home.
Hey, is that cotton candy?
Are there even people there?
It doesn't matter, let's stop. It's Emily's birthday!
etc etc etc
We pile out of the van. Excited by the potential rides and cotton candy, we begin making a scene.
The question of the safety of the rides continued, but with cotton candy and tokens in hand, we decided to give a ride or two a try. Besides being a little rickety and a minor run-in with a tree branch, we survived the first ride and thought we could give one more a try.
The next ride looked interesting. We asked the man what it did, and he told us it simply spins in a circle and goes up and down. Abe asked why it didn't have a bar to hold onto, or even seatbelts, and the guy gave him a look and said, "Because it spins in a circle and goes up and down. You don't need one." Abe assured us it would be just like those space ship rides in the states that go round and round so fast that you stick to the wall. The only difference would be that we sit down on this one. "Excellent!" we said, and climbed on. In all, there were four of us gringos and four teenage Nicaraguan boys across from us. We lounged in our seats, waiting for the good time to begin.
Well, the good time began and ended very quickly. I have not been that terrified in a long, long time. The ride was certainly unsafe and most certainly needed a bar or seat belt. If there hadn't been bars behind us, we would have fallen off the ride. The guy running the ride forgot to tell us that the ride doesn't go straight up and down, but at an angle. He also failed to mention that he can make it bounce whenever he chooses. Of course, he only chose to do that when we were at the top of the ride. I am not talking about a little bounce. I mean a big bounce that had us flying out of our seats while we are at an angle up in the air. There were times when we weren't touching the ride except for our hands awkwardly hanging on to the bar behind us. As we bounced along, I glanced down at my two friends who did not go on the ride. They both had looks of horror across their faces. Apparently it looked as bad from the ground as it felt to us. All our screaming and the sheer unsafeness of it all brought in a nice spectator crowd. When the ride FINALLY ended, we snapped a finger wagging, two thumbs down picture and ran out of the carnival.
We have learned our lesson and will never go back to a Nicaraguan carnival. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, please decline. Even the cotton candy didn't make that worth it.
