Things Don't Last

I have learned many things since I've moved to Nicaragua. One such thing could be titled "Things Don't Last Like they do in the States".


Example A: Clothes
It is summer weather all year-round, which means we don't have winter, spring, and fall clothes to rotate. We wear the same summer clothes over and over, so they get a lot of use. The clothesline is another issue. Do clothes dry quickly in the burning, hot sunshine? Yes. Do they fade like crazy and stretch out? Most definitely. Shirts that used to be normal length are about to be longer than my shorts. Some of my school pants are so baggy that they are officially too frumpy to wear to class. My friend had to gently tell me that my favorite red shorts are red no longer, but have most definitely faded to a nice shade of coral pink.

My swimsuit is a prime example:

Swimsuit on the left was purchased last June. It got plenty of use while I was in the States, but still looked pretty new when I came back to Nicaragua in August. I had to stop wearing it regularly in November because it was disgusting: faded, didn't fit correctly, almost see-through, with a nice dirt stain at the top. Swimsuit on the right is the same suit, brand new, brought from the States by a visiting friend.

Example B: Fruit
I used to buy fruit at the beginning of the week, naively believing it would still be fresh by the end of the school week. Now I know better, although sometimes I am still surprised by how quick things ripen. I purchased a very large and very un-ripe avocado Saturday night, assuming it would be nice and ripe and ready for guacamole making on Wednesday. Monday at 4:00 pm, that avocado was extremely ripe. One more day and it would have turned. Very green bananas, if I'm lucky, might make it to Thursday before they are fit only for banana bread.

Example C: Tires
I could write a twelve page essay on how quickly tires get destroyed here, but I will refrain. Let's just say that in less four years of owning my van, it has experienced almost 20 flat tires.