My diary -April 27-29, 1972
- May 24, 2024
- 2 min read
April 27, 1972 Thurs.
Dear Diary:
Nothing to much new in school. Boring as ever. Kickball in P.E. So much dust outside. Bad on one’s eyes. Kermess Parade today. I didn’t go. I brought David’s books home today. I read on the book “Going on Sixteen” by Betty Cavana. I did my homework. Mom was gone all day at some women’s society at the Vahns beach house. Talked to Missy. She left tonight to Costa Rica. Watched T.V. Read on “The Big Family.” Some man’s here talking to Mom. Dad comes back Mon.
BYE!
Note: The volcanic dust in Nicaragua was incredible. If you sat something out for a few minutes it would be covered. We had Volcano Momotombo nearby and when it was active it rumbled and produced earth tremors with lots of dust. It was difficult if you had pulmonary issues or wore contact lenses.
We had 40 volcanos in Nicaragua; the two I was familiar with were Momotombo and Cerro Negro. I remember taking a Jeep partway up one of the volcanos and then hiking up to the top. However, my siblings don’t recall this. At one of these volcanos, there was a flat area with small bubbling hot springs that smelled like sulfur. I also remember a museum where the footsteps of people trying to escape the lava were preserved, but my memory is fuzzy about the location.
April 28, 1972 Fri.
Dear Diary:
Substitute for History. We had a discussion on what girls don’t like in boys & what boys don’t like in Girls. Also on Vietnam. We only had 2 ½ classes. We made posters for our jail. Kermess today. I went with Becky to her lesson. I went to the Kermess. I worked from 3:00 to 4:00. I got soaked by water balloons!! Uh. One right in my face. Jail was next to the Water Balloon Throw. Saw Noel. I stayed to about 6:30. Had fun. I’m full of mud.
BYE!!
Note: The Kermesse fair was always lots of fun. All classes worked hard with their different booths, yummy foods, and all the festivities.
April 29, 1972 Sat.
Dear Diary:
I got up at around 9:30. For once I didn’t have anything important to do & I enjoyed it. I always have a report or something to do. I read old magazine. I cleaned my top drawer out. I drew a few pictures & listened to Radio Juvenil. I watched T.V. Patridge Family about a skunk & Brady Bunch making a movie. Mom went to eat at the Duffields. I sleep with Mom.
BYE!!
Note: Radio Juvenil played the latest popular music. It was usually a few months behind what was popular in the U.S. but it was new to me.
I loved watching the Partridge Family and will have to see if I can find the episode about the skunk on YouTube along with the Brady Bunch making a movie.
Mrs. Duffield was a good friend of my Mom. I believe her husband was with the U.S. Embassy. She made a charcoal drawing that she gave my mom. Mom hung it in her bedroom for many years. I would love to get in touch with them if anyone has any contact information.
We kept a few notable slides (photos) of us little kids standing right on the rim of volcán Irazú, looking down into the crater, belching smelly steam and ash, (the volcano, not us), on the upwind side of course. Irazú had had 3 major eruptions in it's history, each time leaving a cone shaped crater near the top. We were actually standing at one of the dormant craters, the active one being about 1 KM on the other side. It made for a great photo, tho. We wanted to hike over to the active one, but dad said no.
I'm convinced Radio Juvenil was a multi-national franchise of some sort, as we got it in Bogotá also, I'm pretty sure.
I'm sure dealing with the volcanic dust was bothersome. While in Guatemala, I climbed a dormant volcano and we had lunch in the crater and rested. We walked a path and had to pause often as we got higher up because it got harder to breathe. That was without dust! While in El Salvador we went to a beach that had black sand and a lava rock field from nearby volcano. Awesome and a bit scary at the same time.
Love the charcoal drawing by Mrs. Duffield - very lovely. I hope it is now in your possession! Susie in all my years in Nicaragua - I did not notice the volcanic ash. Maybe because I did not wear contacts. Think ANS had way more activities in your day there... we had kickball yes and dances were held there too... Of course the boys had a baseball team - Peter and Paul H top players, of course!
So happy you and Missy got to visit! Tootsie
I remember the brownies or girl scouts hiking up to the volcano that blew its top off. They had us tie ourselves to a buddy. Didn't make sense to me. If one of us fell in we would then take our buddy with us. I'm pretty sure that was one you referred to. It was off of the road to Masaya. I also remember a school trip to the caldrons and the Pompei like display. I think that one was off the road to Grenada ,or in that general direction.
I always love your stories. Your school days were different than mine at Nichols for grades 1-8 and then LCHS.
I watched those TV shows. I started in grade 6 with band and stuck with it through 1967!
See you soon!
MJ