A Wrong Turn (pt. 2 The Rescue)

Enrique, Ryan, the Farm Owner (?), and 'Tomás'

Aimee and Ryan introduced themselves to the tow truck drivers.  At this point, Enrique returned, as well as an older man and a young boy, apparently coming to watch the excitement.  (Ryan and Aimee later guessed that this may have been Enrique’s father and son, and/or the owner of the farm.)  Enrique still had not found a light for his cigar and began asking all the new comers if they had one.  At this point Ryan decided to earn some good will from the rest of the towing crew and offered everyone cigars.  Several of them accepted the offer.  Fortunately, someone in the broader group had a light, and Ryan, Enrique, and several of the guys enjoyed some fresh Nicaraguan cigars. 

While Ryan and Enrique enjoyed their cigars they watched while the crew pulled a chain out of the truck bed and connected it to the car.  They began pulling the car with the chain, and the truck’s wheels began to spin, while the car was only sliding back and forth.   Suddenly, Enrique turned and sprinted up the hill again.

Meanwhile, it quickly became apparent that some branches and a big fallen tree trunk were in the way of the car, so the crew began to clear them out and attempt to overturn the large log. Ryan ran over to provide some additional manpower, and quickly the tree and branches were clear. 

The Tow Truck

Enrique Bringing the Heavy Machinery

As Ryan got out of the way and the crew got back to pulling the car, Enrique returned with reinforcements in case the truck couldn’t get the traction it needed to pull the car out---a yoke of two oxen.  They stood at the ready about 10 meters up the hill. After only a few minutes of pulling, and spinning tires, the truck was able to get the car out of the mud, and back on solid ground.  Ryan and Aimee cheered, and the oxen turned and slowly went back up the hill, no longer needed for this job.

One of the towing crew jumped in the car, turned it around, and drove it a little way up the hill.  As the crew figured out what the rest of the plan was, Ryan once again thanked and apologized to Enrique.  Aware that it’s customary to tip locals when they help out, but also aware that he only had only US$1 in his wallet, Ryan offered it to Enrique telling him though he owed him quite a bit more, this was all he had with him.  Enrique laughed, shook his head, put his hands up emphatically declining the offer, and said it was absolutely not necessary.  Enrique wished Ryan and Aimee a good trip, told them to enjoy the rest of their honeymoon and be careful. 

Though $1 wasn’t much, it is likely a non-trivial amount for a farmworker in the rural mountains of Nicaragua, and Ryan was once again humbled.  He and Enrique shook hands and shared a “bro-hug” and said their final goodbyes.

Ryan asked one of the tow crew where the keys were for the car.  He laughed and told him in Spanish “You’re not driving.  We will get it out of here for you.  You’ll ride in the truck.”

As Ryan and Aimee headed to the truck it was clear there was not enough room for everyone up front.  Ryan jumped in the bed, and while one of the crew offered Aimee the front seat, she strenuously declined, and jumped in back with Ryan, and a couple of the other crew.  For the next 30 minutes or so, the crew alternated driving the car behind the truck or pulling the car with the chain.   One driver in particular (who’s name I unfortunately either didn’t get or do not remember, so I’ll call him Tomás as I’ll be referring to him often) was in his mid-50s sat on the tailgate and would jump off every time the chain needed to be adjusted on the car. He’d run back to the car, climb under it, adjust the chain, and run back to the truck and jump on (keep in mind the truck usually started driving before he jumped on, and did not stop for him to jump off. 

Tomás Running to Catch the Truck

Comapañeros Para la Vida Riding in the Truck

During the periods that Tomás was riding, Ryan and Aimee joked with him quite a bit about the predicament.  Aimee was enjoying making jokes at Ryan’s expense which of course Ryan had to translate into Spanish for Tomás and the other crew member to understand.

She poked fun at the city boy trying to drive through the mountains, poked fun at the man not listening to the woman’s suggestion to turn around, joked about how for their honeymoon he left her stuck in a puddle of mud.  The crew was in stitches, laughing hysterically at Aimee who continued to poke fun while smiling dotingly at Ryan.  At one point between the laughing, Tomás looked in at Ryan and grabbed his knee, and said in a sincere and serious tone “Ryan, I have to tell you.  You are incredibly lucky to have a wife that after everything that has happened today, is still smiling, laughing and joking.  It is clear that you two have something very special between the two of you.   You have found someone that will be your companion for life.  A companion for life.”

Eventually, the truck and car made it back to the main highway.  Ryan thanked everyone again, and said that if they could, he’d love to buy them all dinner (as long as it was somewhere that took credit card!)  They looked at each other and talked among themselves in Spanish, and finally said yes, they’re good for dinner.  Tomás said he would ride in our car with us, and the truck would follow.  Ryan asked if they thought the car was still in good enough condition to drive long distances.  They said they thought so, but they popped the hood so everyone could give it a once over.  Ryan climbed under and looked for leaks, and a couple of the other guys checked the oil and transmission fluids to make sure that nothing had caused them to leak out.  They were both full, and nothing under the car indicated a leak.  It was good to go!

Everyone jumped in the car and truck and drove less than a kilometer to a small local restaurant on the side of the road.  They all got out, and walked inside.  There was no electricity, the floor was dirt (and a chicken was walking around.)  There were only a handful of old wooden tables, with plastic yard chairs around them.  As they walked in, Ryan and Aimee received some friendly but confused looks.  Ryan pulled Tomás aside asking if he would be able to pay with a credit card. 

Dinner With the Crew

“Tranquila” Tomás responded.   “We’ll pay for it in cash, and when we get to Matagalpa you can reimburse us.  Ryan asked if he was sure that was OK.  Tomás repeated “Tranquila!”  And said it was fine.

There was a bit of confusion when it came to ordering.  A large picture on the wall offered the choices…or maybe the only meal.  It wasn’t actually clear if there was an option, or just one dish.  Ultimately the food was ordered, and options for drinks were provided.  Coke, or Fanta.  The meal began arriving, a dish at a time.  Tortillas, fresh sour cream, cheese, beans, rice, eggs, and some fresh salsa.  The group fell to a relative quiet, as all enjoyed a much needed, and well-earned meal.  While the group was eating, one of the tow crew pulled out his phone and passed it around showing off the pictures he took of the two goofy cheles riding in the back of a pickup truck on their honeymoon after getting their car stuck.

After dinner, Tomás told Aimee and Ryan that the crew would accompany them to the ATM in Matagalpa, as it was near their office where they were heading anyway.  Tomás again rode with the now well-fed newlyweds so he could provide directions.  On the 30 minute ride back into town Tomás shared his background.  He began fighting as a soldier in the Nicaraguan revolution at the age of 13, and continued fighting for 14 years.   Throughout this time he was shot multiple times.  He lifted up his shirt to show where he had scars from 3 bullet wounds in his abdomen.  He said he still had a bullet stuck in his back.  He also had a scar that ran from his sternum down  to his belt line.   He said that he was full of some sort of plastic, although the cause of this wound got lost in translation. 

Tomás then pointed out that his right foot had extremely limited movement.  He had no ability to bend his foot upwards at the ankle.  At this point, Ryan had a flashback to 45 minutes earlier when Tomás was running behind, jumping on and off the moving truck.  All with a barely functioning foot.

Ryan, Aimee, and Tomás talked quite a bit about their families as well.  At one point, Tomás pulled out his phone and showed off pictures of his newest grandchild. 

Finally, the group made it into the city, navigated the maze of streets and came to an ATM.  Ryan withdrew some cash and asked Tomás how much the dinner was.  Tomás didn’t answer right away though and asked if the newlyweds knew what they were doing for the night.  At this point it was almost 6:00pm and starting to get dark.  There was no way Ryan and Aimee were going to drive 2.5 hours to Grenada tonight.  Ryan had figured he would do some quick searching on Trip Advisor and find a decent and reasonable hotel in the area, but hadn’t yet.  He tried to pass off Tomás’ question and said that he would find somewhere local to stay.

Tomás however pressed on the question.  He began to say something that Ryan didn’t understand.  Ryan could make out something about a nice hotel, and cheles.  Ryan looked at him confused, and once again Tomás said “Tranquila!”.  Ryan tried to change topics to the money he owed him.  Again Tomás said “Tranquila!” and said they’d take care of it at the office. 

Now Ryan was somewhat confused.  Tomás was getting back into his car.  Ryan tried to translate to Aimee what he understood to be going on.  All he knew was they were going to the office, and something about a

Hotel San José

hotel.  A few minutes later, their small motorcade pulled up in front of the Hotel San José.  This was a small guesthouse, with a pristine lobby with shiny white porcelain floors.  Tomás went up to the front desk and spoke with the receptionist in Spanish.  He then turned to Ryan and said something to him as well.  At this point, Ryan was mentally fatigued and confused, so he asked the receptionist if he spoke English.  He did.  He explained that there was a room available for us for $70 a night, that Tomás said that reimbursement for dinner was $20, and that if we wanted to provide Tomás a tip, it was certainly not necessary, but would be appreciated.  Upon the completion of the translation, Tomás, dropped his eyes, and bowed humbly towards Ryan.  Ryan settled up and of course gave him extra for all the help and company that he and his crew provided.  Ryan and Tomás hugged, and then he turned and shook Aimee’s hand, and wished them save travels on the rest of their trip. 

Aimee and Ryan headed to their room, leaving a trail of mud that was crumbling off their shoes, clothing, and suitcases onto the previously spotless white porcelain.  They got to their room to see that it was no less beautiful than the rest of the hotel.  

After a warm shower, Ryan and Aimee realized it was still fairly early. It seemed like this was absolutely a day that needed to end with a drink, so they hit the streets outside and walked around the area looking for somewhere low key to hang out.  After a couple blocks, they came to Rubén Darío park, named for a writer and poet born in Matagalpa in whom the entire country places a lot of pride.  They took a quick walk around the park to see if there were any food trucks that looked interesting.  They quickly noticed that the park was full of teenage and tweenage locals, most of whom had their face stuck in their smartphones.  Then it all made sense---Ryan and Aimee walked under a banner at the entrance of the park.  "Welcome to Rubén Darío Park.  Free Wi-Fi".  

After walking around park once, they decided to head back to one of the first places they walked past: a local watering hole called Vy-Pay.  All the patrons appeared to be middle class locals. It was loud, basic looking, with a TV showing soccer, a bar, a kitchen and somewhat dimly lit. The front of the restaurant was partially open and faced the Park. 

Ryan ordered a Toña beer and Aimee went straight for the Flor de Caña rum (with a bit of coke to mix it with).  They ordered a bit of food as well, and sat and recounted all the incredible events of the day, and the incredible people they met.  

As they finished up their meal, a young girl of about 9 years old, came over to their table, and motioned towards the mostly empty plates.  They weren't quite sure if she was related to one of the workers and was helping clean up, or if she was asking for the food. The answer quickly became apparent as she sat down and began eating every remaining crumb from the plate, and even using her fingers to wipe up every bit of sauce on the plate.  She did not speak any English, but was very polite and spoke fairly clear Spanish, allowing Ryan to engage in some small talk, about her family, and his and Aimee's family.  After finishing the plates she thanked them and left.  

Relaxing and Drinking at Vy-Pay, Matagalpa

Ryan and Aimee were about to leave, when one individual that was sitting at a loud table of locals all night, drinking lots of Toña, turned around and said in very plain English "She saw you guys coming!"  "Where are you from?"

At this point Ryan and Aimee got up and sat down by this individual.  It turns out he was a local named William, who spent many years in the US, got heavily involved in the west coast gangs, "did some really bad things" and ultimately got deported.  He had since turned his life around and was a teacher in Nicaragua.  He explained that the girl's mom would send her and her 2 siblings out to beg for food.  Said they were decent kids, but that the mom was entirely exploiting them.

Ryan and Aimee spent another hour talking to William about anything and everything, including the days events on the farm.  By the end of the conversation, William said he wanted Ryan and Aimee to come to his wedding in a couple weeks, however, they would be long gone and back in their normal routine in the states by that time.

The crazy day finally started catching up with the newlyweds as it was approaching 10:00pm, and they decided it was time to get back to the hotel and go to bed.

When they got back to the hotel, the two of them climbed into bed looking forward to a good night’s rest after an incredible day.  Although by any measure the day could have been considered a disaster, Aimee and Ryan agreed that this ended up being one of the highlights of the trip to date---an unparalleled adventure, and the opportunity for another reminder that in every corner of the world you can run into some of the best of humanity, with whom only a brief encounter can create memories that will have a lasting impact on the rest of your life.  Today was perfect evidence of why they picked a location like Nicaragua.  Although it hadn't exactly been planned this way, it provided the environment within which they were able to create bonds with a Nica farmer, tow truck hand, nine year old beggar girl, and a reformed gang member.  This is what makes travelling worthwhile.

As Aimee and Ryan were finishing up final messages for the day back to their families at home, letting them know the adventures were done for the day and they were safe in a hotel room, there was a bit of a “pop” heard outside in the distance, and suddenly the power went out in their hotel.  They looked out the window, and it was clear that this entire section of city had no power.  They laughed, shook their heads, climbed into bed, and went to sleep.  The power remained out until shortly before dawn.