Whitey Cobb

Did a lot of fun things in Leon, Nicaragua. I tried to buy an extra large t-shirt and found out that Central American XL means a lot smaller. I was trying to buy this 'gallo pinto' (a local favorite food item) shirt but couldn't find an actual XL. Of course the 2XL was actual size and felt like a moo moo on me. I dared not try it on due to the oppresively hot climate Leon has. I felt as if I drank 2 gallons of water each day I was there. I was hoping to catch a baseball game, but missed the weekly game by a day or so. I also found out that Nicaragua subscribes to the same philosophy that Hollywood does in keeping their movie theatres extremely cold. I saw 'Up In The Air' which was just ok but the temperature was delightful. I actually got a bit chilly in the theater. Another thing that was really fun was being called 'whitey'. It seems that people in this part of the world address each other by color if they are extremely light skinned. The word 'chele' pronounced 'chay-lay' means light skinned. My translation is 'Whitey'. When I was in El Salvador my surf instructor was nicknamed Chele. I was told that kids in El Salvador receive their nicknames as a newborn, oftentimes. Unlucky for my surf instructor he ended being the darkest fella in the town, so the nickname stuck due to the irony of it all. He didn't like being called 'Whitey' so I called him 'Che'. He was cool with that. I, on the other hand, rather like being called 'Whitey'. I try to smile a lot down here, and those of you that know me will not say i'm going out on a limb by saying that I am rather nice. Those two characteristics together make me a rather endearing lad to the Nicaraguans, if I say so myself. So when an 80 year old man and I were crossing the street, in opposite directions, and he said, 'Oye, Chele!', it caught me by suprise but I smiled a bigger grin than he did. Since that time I have counted about 5 or 6 times just in Leon where random people have said, 'Hola, Chele' or 'Buenas, Chele'. I feel like the locals are kinda messing with me, but in a loving way. More of a 'your condition is so unfortunate i can't help but make fun of you' way than a 'i'm insecure about my manhood and therefore i need to belittle you to make myself feel better- high scholl' kind of way. I can only assume that it is a sign of affection. Therefore, on my return to the US, I am going to insist my friends refer to me as 'Whitey', and try to make this thing stick. Sure I have friends who are "whiter" than me. If I also have friends who have bigger beer bellys' than me yet some people call me 'Tubby'. Does that mean they can't call me 'Tubby'? Surely not! If my unfortunately more transparent friends choose to come to Nicaragua and pick up this nickname then perhaps I will yield, but until that day comes, 'Whitey' it is!