Report For School

Here is a few of the games kids play(I played them myself when I was a teenager).

1-2-3 Punto, it is like a hide and seek game.(usually played at night)

Arriba y Libre, same as above.

Macho Parado, I liked this one, cuze girls usually wanted to play it also lol.

Chibolas, its a marble game.

Trompo, the Favorite Trompo game was, Mancha brava.

These were the 5 games I played myself in Esteli, I don't know if they call them the same in other cities, like in Managua.

FAP

HI: I was born in Nicaragua; but, lived in the USA as a child.. when I returned to Nicaragua [as a 12 year old] I brought back with me "Giidgette" my ,adored, pet puppy from the USA. I was very surprised that the puppy was not allowed in the house. You see, they kept all the dogs in a separate yard. Most households in Nicaragua do not allow their dogs [nor cats] inside the house. Dogs are ussually for watching the house [guarding] and cats are mostly ferral.

A very popular pet is a Lapa; I believe they live for 50 years, and many are in the same family for generations. It's a very large bird with beautiful red feathers with it's wings decorated in blue and yellow feathers, they naturally live in the jungles and keep their sharp beaks in shape by pecking at the minerals in volcano craters. Lapas become very attached to their owner... notice it's singular... they love to "talk".. repeating phrases and names... . Most homes in Nicaragua have an inner courtyard with tropical plants and trees, ussually the Lapas live in that area. Another popular pet is Loras, it's a medium size bird, green and also likes to "talk".

The school year starts early in the year [end of January or Feb], then everyone is off for Semana Santa [March/April].. which is when children go camping with their families to their "fincas" or to the Hotels in the Pacific Beaches [or their "quintas"]. Later on in the year.. school will be off for two weeks in July [mid-year vacation]. And by November everyone is getting ready for end-of-the-year "final exams" and for graduation. Vacation starts in December, when a lot of kids go to Miami to visit relatives or see Mickey Mouse, in Orlando, Florida. The weather is nice most of the time over there. August is ussually rainy-season... we're talking about torrential rain.

Nicaragua is a land of lakes and volcanoes. Just about anywhere in central Nicaragua part of your view will be including a volcano. And you can't go very far without hitting water. It is flanked in the East by the Caribbean [Pacific] and in the West by the Atlantic Ocean.

Some games kids play is tag, trompo [wooden spindle like, with a string attached to spin-it and make it "twirl" on the floor], yo-yo, hide-&-seak, marbles, cowboys and indians, tiny car racing. The favorite sport is base-ball, followed by boxing... In school for Physical Ed they have basketball, soccer and skit ball.

For food most Nicaraguans like a popular dish called vigoron with carne azada. The vigoron is thinly sliced [green] cabbage, with vinegar and worchestershire sauce [a must if you are Nicaraguan], accompanied by a tuburb: Yucca [much like a potato], and topped by chicharron [somewaht like crispy bacon]... on the side the carne azada, which is marinated pork in achiote [annato and sour orrange] barbecued over charcoal... [Mexicans have something similar called cochinita pibil].

Another popular food is fried fish in tomato sauce, accompanied by white rice and a lettuce with tomato salad. The fish is similar to Tilapia. The tomato sauce is a base of bellpeppers, onions and tomato stewed and spiced a bit.

For drinks you'll see a lot of natural tropical "refreshments": orange, lemon, pineapple, and my favorite "pitaya" [it's the scarlet fruit of a cactus, similar to the mexican "tuna"].

The most popular dessert has to be "sopa borracha" and "pio quinto".

Our language, like most of Latin America [with a few exceptions like Brasil] is Spanish. It is a very regionalistic way of speaking spanish... mostly old form: Vos; but, turned into a popular form. We are mostly very polite to our elders and will refer to them as "Usted"... a formal way of speaking. We rarely use "tu"... unless we "have to"...

As in the USA, we have a pet name for kids [little goat]... what we use is chavalos [from the french: little horse]... Well, I best say by. Good luck with your project. Iva

Your not with the Tampa Police Department are you?

Game All the kids in Managua seem to play marbles. Baseball and soccer in the street.

Food Gallo Pinto Eskimo brand Ice Cream

School starts and ends (dont take my word for this one) I am always confused by this but it appears that school is has their summer break from December to January and part of February as well as several weeks mixed in the year, Semana Santa.

My family has 2 dogs for pets. Our neighbors have 2 roosters and a few chickens. and our other neighbor has a cat. Someone down the street has a Parrot.

Sport 1rst Baseball 2nd Soccer

My Nicaraguan family enjoys going to the many beautiful beaches of Nicaragua on break