Category Archives: Memories of Nicaragua

04/15/13
gran pacifica resort 121 b

Surfing My Way Home To Nicaragua

Author: Jonathan “Gallo Loco” Griffin, Co-Owner of ThunderBomb surf camp in Nicaragua.
Photography: Jimmy D. Mendieta

© Jimmy D. Mendieta. All rights reserved.

© Jimmy D. Mendieta. All rights reserved.

Hello there.. I was born north of Boston in the USA. I never really fell under the stereotypes the world portrays Americans. I never trusted my government, my news or the law enforcers (no I don’t have a criminal record). I do however have very serious addictions…Surfing and surrounding myself with happy people. Eventually knowing I had to move to Central America I immediately canceled out moving to Costa Rica. It reminds me of Southern California. All signs from my research were pointing me to Nicaragua. I sold everything I owned.

I arrived on Halloween night Continue reading →

04/11/13
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I love Nicaragua

Author: Anke Fängewisch
Photography: Jimmy D. Mendieta

© Jimmy D. Mendieta. All rights reserved. A Nicaraguan family.

© Jimmy D. Mendieta. All rights reserved.
“…the true beauty lies in the people and what they represent, even in the midst of difficult circumstances.” – Anke Fängewisch

It was just a brief encounter in the middle of every day’s life, but it made me think afterwards. The sickly looking older woman asking for money on the street wanted to know where I was from. When I told her she was amazed. Why would I ever want to live here? Isn’t it much more beautiful in Germany? I explained that my home country is indeed beautiful, but that Nicaragua in my opinion is as well. She didn’t buy that. “It is not nice here”, she declared vehemently. I couldn’t agree and encouraged her to find the beauty in her own country. Back and forth we went, and even in the end there was just an incredulous “Do you really like it here?”

Shortly afterwards I am on my way home. On my faithful bicycle Continue reading →

04/10/13
volcan masaya_129

A Play Called Sunset

 

Playa la Boguita, Carazo, Nicaragua. © Jimmy D. Mendieta. All rights reserved.

Playa la Boguita, Carazo, Nicaragua.
© Jimmy D. Mendieta. All rights reserved.

This is the first story ever submitted through the “Share Your Story” link. We hope this is only the beginning.

Author: Lester Zamora
Photography: Jimmy D. Mendieta

No matter where you are in Nicaragua, nothing can beat a sunset with the different shapes of this country. Although my favorite part of the day is this one, the geography of Nicaragua provides us many stages as if it were a theater with mountains, volcanoes, lakes, lagoons, rivers, forests, small villages, pretty cities, beaches and more which amaze us.

Volcan Maderas, Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua. © Jimmy D. Mendieta. All rights reserved.

Volcan Maderas, Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua.
© Jimmy D. Mendieta. All rights reserved.

A theater with a play called sunset where the star performers are the sunlight, the wind, the clouds and the Fog, the rain, the birds, the cattle on the fields, the workers going home. An unfinished story about life in a place really warm near to the sea or cold up in the mountains, with different scenes in summer with the sun or the rain in our tropical and wet winter.

Because of this Nicaragua is beautiful, not because of the play it self (there is a sunset everywhere) but the theater of this country  helps us and takes us to appreciate this play called sunset.

07/1/12
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The Founder of Casares Beach

Ir a traducción en Español

Author: Dr. Edmundo Mendieta Gutierrez
Contributer: Jimmy D. Mendieta
Photography: Jimmy D. Mendieta
Translator: Jimmy D. Mendieta

This story was told by Don Crisanto to my uncle Edmundo when he was only 15 years old, in the beach of Casares. Dr. Edmundo Mendieta Gutierrez, married the granddaughter of Don Crisanto, Mrs. Daisy Briceno de Mendieta. It is the story of how my great-grandfather Crisanto Briceño (father of my grandmother Mrs. Ernestina Briceño) is the founder of this beautiful beach of Casares.

My uncle Dr. Edmundo Mendieta Gutierrez writes…

“The moon of March, a mystical moon in various regions and religions of ancient peoples, as its full moon was the closest to the spring equinox and therefore the precursor of green fields and flowering of trees, as well as warm temperatures inviting swimming in the beaches and rivers. The diriambinos, were no strangers to this influence, which was considered more of an enchantment, which fortunately coincided with the completion of the harvesting and sale of the coffee crop, the main crop of the land. In this peaceful and quiet town of Diriamba lived a pretty young woman named Juanita Echaverry, to which two young men courted her, with the gentlemanly rivalry of that time. Both were of the best families and wealthy, but with a difference. While Enrique Granja, tall and elegant, with a large fortune, carelessly spending it by the hand full, Crisanto Briceno could not do the same, as even though he possessed a considerable fortune when he was orphaned, it was administered by an executor who gave money in instalments. Continue reading →

07/1/12
My brother Jimmy, my sister Jamie and I playing in Casares.

The Little Pool

Ir a traducción en Español

Author: Jeffrey G. Mendieta
Photography: Jimmy D. Mendieta

I remember as a young boy when my family camped at the beach in Casares which is about a 30 minute drive from Diriamba. I was about 4 years old with sandy blond hair, fair skin, light brown eyes, a little pot belly and skinny little legs. We had a special little spot called “La Posíta” (The Little Pool). We called it “La Posíta” due to a rock formation which sectioned off a small pool like area where we could bathe safely. This photograph is of that exact location.

This photo is of the exact place. You can see “La Posita” in the center of the photo where the rocks at the edge of the water are. ©Jimmy D. Mendieta A. All rights reserved.

This photo is of the exact place. You can see “La Posita” in the center of the photo where the rocks at the edge of the water are. ©Jimmy D. Mendieta A. All rights reserved.

You can just make out the little pool in the center of the photograph where the rocks are just at the edge of the water.

Only about 100 feet away from “La Posíta” Papa Raul, my grandfather, owned a little beach house with a couple of small rooms, a kitchen with only the essentials and a small open space for sitting. The little beach house was made of large, rough, grey bricks cemented together. The windows were just metal rods each about half an inch thick laid out vertically, kinda like what you would see in a jail. No glass. Most of them were very rusty due to the humid, salty breeze coming from the sea. The floor was made of ceramic tiles but I can’t remember the color. The doors were made of wood which was also old looking and very worn down and barely strong enough to keep people out when locked. Continue reading →