Saw some friends I'd met when I first came here

Took Lola out for a walk to make up for not taking her with me when I went to pay the phone and internet bill and buy soap and socks. We ended up seeing a friend who lives in Managua most of the time that I hadn't seen for a while. Talked about the guy who keeps going to other places and who comes back, never satisfied with any place, which was basically our conclusion. And, yes, I was still living where I had been living and the house hadn't sold yet. The other house hadn't come up for rent yet. He was going to see a friend in Honduras after doing some business in town. We talked about old friends, how we doubled back in our lives to reconnect with the people we'd known in our youth. In his case, a fair number died in the revolution and in the Contra War afterward. His life seemed to always been spread out over Central America and even further -- not just Nicaragua. He told me about the days when Harpy Eagles were in Jinotega Department. Coffee then was grown completely organically, and in shade, and the forests were full of howler monkeys and sloths, and things that ate them.

A US guy who comes in several times a year came in about then. Neither of them had met before, though I'd known the American as long as the Nicaraguan, and they both stayed at the same hotel when they were in town. My Nicaraguan friend thought we needed Electricians Without Borders same as Doctors Without Borders, and they talked about the various ways Nicaragua has for adding more electric service -- wind, solar power, geothermal, hydroelectric. Another hydro system is coming on line in the Apanas area. So, both should be at the same hotel for breakfast, but beyond that I don't know.

Parting words from the Managuan -- "The world is small."

I sometimes wonder if I would be happier anywhere else, but there's enough here that's worth it, like hummingbirds: