Nicaragua, Part 2

And I'm beginning to hate it.
90 days were over again and I had to go abroad once more. Well, Nicaragua is still the closest country to go to and still the one of the cheapest. But this time Cristian came with me, thank God!
Our plan was to go to San Juan del Sur (a town on the Pacific side) to go surfing. But after we had brought Nala to a friend, parked the car somewhere close to the bus station, we realized that Cristian had forgotten his body board. So, we got back into the car, went back home, took the board and returned to the bus station. Fortunately, we still caught the bus in time.
At the border it was the usual: Waiting in confusing lines in a dusty and hot place. And again: If you want to get into Nicaragua, you have to pay! (Getting into Costa Rica is for free: I love this country!)

After paying, we went straight to one of the old chicken busses and Cristian wondered if this was a regular bus. Bus yes, it was. Nearly all the busses in Nicaragua are old, dirty, uncomfortable and noisy school busses from the US. The bus brought us to the crossroad which leads to San Juan del Sur. There we were sitting in the sun and waiting for the bus. However, after half an hour it still wasn't there, but a taxi stopped and offered us a very good price. So, with more comfort and just a little more expense we went to San Juan del Sur. There we quickly found a hostel which had private rooms. Per night we paid $20 for the both of us.
The receptionist said that at the beach in San Juan del Sur are just little waves and to go surfing we would have to go to another beach. Cristian was very disappointed. But when we took a walk to the beach, he regreted that he hadn't taken his board with him because the waves were not so small and would have been perfect for body surfing.
Although the waves in San Juan del Sur weren't so bad, we decided to see another beach. So, on the second day we went to the beach of Maderas. The waves were quite big and fast. Too much for me. I decided to stay in the shade and have a few beers. At the end of the day, Cristian and I were completely fried by the sun. Cristian hadn't even put sunscreen although he was in the sun all day. So yes, Latinos can also get sunburned!

On the next day we stayed in San Juan del Sur and I also did some surfing.

San Juan del Sur doesn't really offer anything else except the beach, a big statue of a nun on top of a mountain and little stalls that sell expensive jewellery.

So, and why do I hate it? Well, let's say it like this: Costa Rica wants tourism and therefore tourists are treated like kings. Nicaragua accepts tourism and treats their tourists like crap. Especially when you are travelling with a Costa Rican. Nicaraguans hate Costa Ricans because Costa Rica is much richer. There are thousands of Nicaraguans trying to get a work permit for Costa Rica and there are thousands of Nicaraguans who are illegally working in Costa Rica. Whenever I have to run an errand to get my residencia/work permit, I am always the only non-Nicaraguan person there. So, most Nicaraguans we met were unfriendly and unwilling to provide a good service.
On the way back to the Costa Rican border, we took two taxis. One from San Juan del Sur to the crossroad again and the other one from the crossroad to the border. Usually the taxis charge up to $25 from the border to San Juan del Sur, but if you take two taxis and the taxi already has one or two people in it, then they go down with the prices a lot. And we ended up paying $5 for getting to the border and only paid about $1 more than we would have in a bus.
To get out of Nicaragua you have to pay again. And then I finally was in Costa Rica again. I have never been that happy to be back home!
I might have to go abroad one more time before I have my residencia. And I'm thinking about going to Panama then!

Nearly Nalaless!

On Sunday, the 11th of April Nala was hit by a car. We were taking our walk in the late afternoon and I saw that her collar was becoming undone. I wanted to adjust it and the moment it was a bit loose, Nala saw a dog on the other side of the street and escaped. However, she did not run over the street right away. She ran to the side of the street, sniffed the grass and then decided to cross the street slowly. However, the driver of the police car was either blind or didn't like dogs because he accelarated even more and hit her on her left side at about 60 km/h. (I'm pretty sure it was on purpose because the police car was just on its way back to the base, so there was no reason to go that fast on a street full of dogs and kids. Plus he must have seen her on the side of the street because although Nala is only 5 months old, she is really not small. And when I see a dog on the side of the street, I slow down instead of speeding up. Last but not least, if you happen to hit a dog accidently because you didn't see it, then you stop and see if you can help the owner to bring it to the vet. But of course, the police car did not stop.)
The moment she was hit, I was sure she would die. Although she came running back to me, she immediately lay down and didn't move at all. Blood was running out of her mouth and left eye, she was breathing heavely and very loudly, she had little wounds everywhere and when I wanted to take her into my arms to carry her home, she cried like crazy. Fortunately, Cristian came as fast as he could home from work and we drove Nala to the town of Las Juntas to bring her to a vet.
But of course, both vets were out of town because it was Sunday evening. We had to wait two hours until one of them arrived. She had already been in the bus when we called her, but far away. Since Nala was breathing with such difficulty, I was afraid that her rips were broken and piercing into her lungs.
When the vet finally came, she gave Nala something against the pain and some liquid. She assured us that nothing was broken which seems like a wonder. But her breathing was still very heavy and she had had internal bleedings. But since no vet in Las Juntas had x-rays or an ultrasound, we couldn't find out where she was bleeding internally or why she couldn't breath well.
At 10 pm we took her home and spend the whole night beside her on the floor. In total I probably slept like 2,5 hours that night.
The next morning we brought her to the vet again and although she said that her belly wasn't as hard or swollen anymore, she was worried about Nala's breathing. She expected water or blood in her lungs. Plus she could barely walk because everything hurt her so much.
So, we decided to bring Nala to San José to a vet with x-ray and ultrasound. (Of course, I should have been working on Monday, but I told them the truth that I can't come to work because my dog had an accident.)
Close to San José, in Heredia, we found an animal hospital where they took great care of her. They made an x-ray and saw that really nothing was broken, but that one of her lungs had collapsed. And the ultrasound showed that the internal bleedings had already stopped. But because of her breathing difficulties, they wanted to keep her at the hospital.
So, we went back to San José without our beloved baby. On the way, Cristian hit a motorcycle and it wasn't even his fault because the motorcycle was on our side of the road. However, it was a big problem because although Cristian drives fairly well, he only has a licence for motorcycles, but not for cars. So, he gave the driver some money, so that he wouldn't call the police.
On Tuesday I still couldn't go to work because I felt like crying all day. And the hospital called us for the permission to make a little surgery. I'm not sure what it is called in medical terms. But it is done to get the air surrounded the collapsed lungs out of the body and then the lung can inflate again. However, shortly before the surgery, Nala was breathing much better and they didn't have to do the surgery at all. That day at night we visited her and we could already see a little improvement because she could get up and stand and was really happy to see us. And they told us that her lung is now slowly inflating itself again.
Since Cristian had to go back to Las Juntas and I had to work on Wednesday and Thursday and didn't have a safe place for her to stay in San Josè, we decided to leave her in the hospital until Thursday. I didn't have time to visit her on Wednesday, so on Thursday I expected to still having to carry her around all the time. One of the doctors carried Nala into the waiting room and when she saw me, she went crazy. She wanted to be put down, came running to me, jumped and was the happiest girl alive. She didn't look sick at all! I couldn't believe it because I had been so worried that she would never be able to walk normally again.
On the way to San José, she showed her very worst behaviour though: She growled and barked at Cristian's mom and she peed and shit in the car. (Just about a week before she had already thrown up in it. Poor car, it really doesn't deserve it.)
Well, although she seems to be doing so much better now, we still have to give her antibiotics and she has to rest for the next 15 days. I built her a little prison with our furniture and she hates not being able to run around. Although her breathing is much better, her lung is still not fully recovered. I guess, at the moment, she is breathing with 1 1/4 lungs. She still has an ugly-looking wound on her left elbow and her left ear looks pretty ripped up. There is also a big scar on her right hipbone and I think she lost two or three teeth, but those might have been baby teeth. We will see in a few weeks. And due to the antibiotics she is not eating too well because they make stomach aches. However, as soon as you give her something really delicious, like cooked liver or chicken hearts, she forgets the stomach aches and eats everything. I try to trick her into also eating her actual dog food in mixing it with the pieces of liver.
The vetarany bills in total are about $260 and in a country where the average wage per country is around $500 per month, that bill is huge. Cristian and I both earn a little more, but it's still a lot of money for us. However, we think it was worth every cent of it!!!

Prison Girl:

The happiest dog alive...

...is Nala. Well, she is at least the happiest and most spoiled dog in Costa Rica.
The longer I have her, the more sorry I feel for all the other dogs in Costa Rica. Most dogs here only get table scraps and have never seen dog food. Nala gets special chewing bones and toys (which I hold for her so that they won't slip away when she chews them), little treats for dogs, cookies that are good for her breath and teeth.... I sometimes even brush her teeth.
I am the only one in Las Juntas that regularly takes her dog for walks. All the other dogs are either only in their backyard or have to go for walks alone. Lately lots of people asked me if Nala bites. And I now found out why. The only reason why you would have a dog on a leage in Costa Rica is if the dog bites. However, I have Nala on the leage when I walk close to a street because I am afraid she could run onto the street and be hit by a car. And I see enough dead smashed dogs along the big street just outside of Las Juntas.
Of course, there is no other dog in Costa Rica that is allowed to sleep in the owner's bed or sit on the sofa. Nearly all the dogs are not even allowed to go inside the house. Here in Costa Rica dogs sleep outside.
What I have also realized is that Nala is the cleanest dog in Costa Rica. Since she is mostly inside and sleeps in our bed, I try to keep her really clean. When she is dusty from outside, then I brush her fur and when she is very stinky than I give her a bath. Our neighbor's dog looks grey because he is so dirty. But his original color is black. Furthermore, compared to other dogs, Nala's fur looks unnaturally shiny. But that shinyness is a sign of a healthy and happy dog.
I hope Nala knows how lucky she was that we bought her. I bet all her brothers and sisters have a much simpler life than she does. I now feel obliged to get many more dogs to save them from their terrible fate in Costa Rican families and I might also start feeding our neighbor's dog; he's so skinny!

PS. My favorite nickname for Nala is "Püppi" which is German and means "doll".

Always the first in bed...and the last!

Looking cute.

Being lazy. (It looks like she is wearing lipstick!)

Püppi is giving Cristian a hug.

Playing ball at the beach.

Her hunting position.

Running like a crazy girl.