Meet Angelina!
We met this young girl in Masaya, Nicaragua, after stopping for a quick look on route to Lago Apoyo. We’d heard of a funky little folk market that was worth checking out, so decided to spend the night having a look. While the market turned out being a bit of a let down, our chance encounter with this little cutie made out stop worthwhile.
Being our usual budget selves we were scouring the small town of Masaya for some cheap eats when we stumbled across her grandparents restaurant. We were initially met with some curiosity, probably because we were the only Westerners in the shop, but with some smooth Spanish we were quickly ushered in like we were old school buddies.
On the menu today- try and guess. Rice and beans? You got it! Gallo Pinto, the Nicaraguan speciality. Throw in a fried egg, some plantain and a slice of salty white cheese and you’ve got yourself a pretty stock standard Nicaraguan breaky. But hey, for $1 a plate we couldn’t complain.
While we were eating breakfast the curiosity of young Angelina got the better of her. Slowly but surely she inched her way closer to our table until she was finally siting on a chair next to us.
She was carrying a box of coins, counting them aloud and making a funny game of it. Every time she got to the end of the coins she’d jump up, yell out the number and then burst into chuckles. Her laughter was infectious and before long we were counting and laughing along with her. We weren’t exactly sure what we were laughing about, but we were having fun all the same.
Her grandparents looked on with a smile, happy to see our empty plates and satisfied faces. After a few more games of coin counting we thanked everyone for a fun afternoon and headed off. Another brief travel encounter, but one that reminded us it’s okay to let go and let the little things in life send you into a laughing fit.
Awww. What an adorable kid.
Thanks Brian, she certainly was a cutie!
You made me laugh with your rice and beans menu…same as “Arroz con pollo” in Peru and Bolivia (and sometimes adding a couple of potatoes and pasta to it to make it healthier).. The little girl is lovely
Yeah the staples foods do get a little repetitive haha. We were so used to eating beans everyday that when we finally stopped we couldn’t get full anymore haha.
She’s so cute, interacting with children was always one of the nicest memories of our travels. Actually we even created a section in our blog called Pulserita Viajera, which is about our handmade bracelets we gave to the children. You might be interested in checking it out and participating, as we would like to share people’s similar memories in that section of our blog.
Awesome idea, just checked it out. We have a beautiful memory of a similar moment. When we were living in San Cristobal in Mexico we befriended a group of street sellers and when we eventually left Christine made them all bracelets. We also printed some photos for them. They were great kids, miss them a lot!
Adorable and great photo! Interacting with local children is always fun! 🙂
Thanks Ashley. You learn so much from the local kids you meet along the way. It’s a great cultural exchange.
This little girl is so cute!! Awesome photo, too, I love the framing 🙂
Thanks Emily!