Thing I have learned (and re-learned) in Nicaragua.
By Stacy J. Sabo
Beginning October 20, 2006
Revised October 7, 2009


Even half-starved, beaten, one-eyed dogs can be lovable.
I don’t know how to fish with a hook and a piece of string.
Eating lobster and fresh fruit every day makes me skinnier.
Cleaning fish is hard work, but it pays off.
I am spoiled.
I take food and fidelity for granted.
Never work from one to three in the afternoon.
Nothing goes on the ground.
Hormigas bite.
If you pull a coconut tree’s palm down and to the right, it comes right off, even if it is really big.
If you touch Nicaraguan children on the head, they melt in your hand.
Sunsets are special and make me cry sometimes.
All dogs hate baths.
I can make stuff out of stuff around.
Pictures drawn in the sand make things clearer.
If a child can make it to 5 years old, they’ll probably make it to old age.
Three years of school is really enough.
I can be alone for long periods of time and still have fun.
Anything picked from a tree is good if there are half-eaten ones on the ground.
Hobbes was wrong. People are generally good-hearted.
Hammocks can induce temporary comas.
Country slang for a gecko is “perro sans popo”, or dog without a butt.
If someone’s family is bad/mean/vindictive, chances are they are too.
A good machete can do just about anything.
There are albino Nicaraguans.
For at least one person in Managua, a pick-up bed full of recently slaughtered, headless pigs makes for a comfy bed.
Hobbes was right. People are generally self-centered, self-serving, and dangerous if there aren’t any rules.
Change is easy. It’s changing that is difficult.
Managing a staff is hard work. It takes more time than I would have ever imagined.
ALWAYS look at your food and in your glass before eating or drinking.
Buddha does not live in Mechapa.
A pig will lose control of his legs and fall down if you rub his stomach.
If you live on the beach you probably will not swim in the ocean 1/10th as much as you think you would.
Cows only have teeth on top.
I can learn how to fish with a hook and a piece of string.
I have a lot of regrets.
Chickens have feelings.
People with “dietary restrictions” piss me off.
I can go 3 weeks and 5 days without ever stepping foot in a car.
Just looking out into the Pacific Ocean is considered “doing something.”
Never buy a nocturnal animal.