“Excuse me, Señor,” you say. “Where can we find the bus to Managua?” You are deep in the Nicaraguan interior in the city of Juigalpa, having just visited the beautiful Lakes Nicaragua and Managua in the valley on the edge of the Sierras de Amerrique.
The elderly gentlemen looks at you, says something in Spanish you don’t understand, purses his lips, juts out his chin, and smiles. You try to explain that you don’t speak Spanish, but he doesn’t speak any English. Still smiling, he purses his lips again. You think to yourself, ‘If he would just point me in the right direction, I’d be able to find it.’ Little do you know, he already has.
In Nicaragua, especially in the country, it is typical for people to point to things using their lips. Pursing them out, and with a slight nod of the head, they can tell you everything from where the bus is, to where you can find the coffee. Make sure to watch for this gesture, as well as the wagging of the pointer finger, the universal sign for no.
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