My diary - July 8-10, 1972
- Susan Fisch Good
- Nov 8, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 10, 2024
July 8, 1972 Sat.
Dear Diary:
Oh, the bugs here its awful. They sure like my blood it must be awful sweet. We forgot loads of things cause we rushed so yesterday to get out by 1:30. I went with Mom & Dad to Leon. I stayed in the car. Read newspapers. We went for a walk on the beach (ponoloya). I hope to get real tanned. Watched some T.V. Becky’s sick.
BYE!!
Note:
León is the second largest city in Nicaragua after Managua the capital. It has long been a political and intellectual center of the nation. It has the second oldest university in Central America, the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN-Leon) which is now primarily used for medicine majors. It is also the home place of Rubén Darío, a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-literary movements of modernismo that were influential through the 20th century. He had a lasting influence on Spanish literature and journalism. He also became a diplomat.
I contacted my friend, Mayra Haney, who reminded me of the poem we had to memorize in Mrs. Habed's Spanish class: "A Margarita Debayle." It is a poem about a beautiful princess wanting a glowing star from the sky.
Mosquitoes and I still don’t get along. They are attracted to my carbon dioxide and type O blood and I now end up with allergic welts. If anyone knows of an effective deterrent that doesn’t have deet, please let me know.
July 9, l972 Sun.
Dear Diary:
We (Mom, David & I) went to church. When we came home I read newspapers ate lunch. I put my bikini on. We went for a walk. Having a party next door. Mom & Dad went over. We played scrabble. The owner of this house came for the party & brought newspapers the brown bag (with book, you diary, candy etc) & the bathroom key. 3 girls 8, 9, 9 kept coming over & watching up finally talking to us. 1 is the Carolina the owner of this house daughter. Went swimming. We got a fan for our room, aleluya.
BYE!
Note: If I could go back in time and advise my teenage self, I would tell her to cover up and protect herself from the sun. I inherited my Mom’s Irish skin which never tans; it just burns and gets freckles. For the last 30 years, I have dealt with skin cancers. Fortunately, I have the best dermatologist. I know the signs and we catch them early.
Dad saved all the Miami News Heralds from when we were gone so I had lots of catching up to do!
July 10, 1972 Mon.
Dear Diary:
Ate breakfast. Put my bathing suit on. Sat in the sun by the water sorta daring it to wet us. Went for a walk. Got some shells. Went swimming for awhile with Dad & Becky & David. Took a bath. Read papers. Mom, Dad & David went to Leon. I read newspapers. I finally finished all of them. I took a bath. Watched T.V. We had spaggatti for supper. Zancudos go away!
Note: I loved walking the beach. The sand at Poneloya was brown from the volcano rock, not white like in South Florida.
Zancudos are mosquitos!
The zancudos were bad in Costa Rica too...we had those smelly green coil things you'd light up, and the smoke was supposed to keep the skeeters away. Mostly it just made your clothes smelly.
I got the worse sunburn ever at Brasilito beach one time, back when Brasilito was so inaccessible, only Gringos were crazy enough to venture there. (1966)
The insect repellent that we like to use is Picaridin, made by Sawyer. We bought it at REI for our trip to Costa Rica 10 yrs ago. We've used it ever since. It's a lotion. Check it out! BYE!!
I hate Zancudos too, especially the big ones, but the little ones and no- see-ums bite too! Funny to read about you getting a fan at the beach, but it does get hot! I prefer not to go back to those days without AC, but am thankful we did have window fans at home and a window AC unit. I bet if you hadn't been an educator, you would have been a librarian 😊 Your interest in reading and stories is very much a part of your life still
Do you realize how unusual it was for it a young girl to be reading newspapers? You’ve mentioned this before—-you won’t be surprised to hear I did it too!—-and it is a very telling thing. Even then you were interested in what was happening not just in your own life, but in the wider world. I loved the picture of Wesley and Trevor, and remember perfectly those bright faces. They’ve changed——but they’ve not changed.
Kh
Yes no clue on the damages sunning would bring. As always, thank you for sharing your diaries and the maps and culture. Mg