Grandfather’s illegal border incursions
Chapter 12. The Atlantic Coast and its Caribbean pirates
Cuernavaca Historical Center, Morelos, Mexico
We kept on going towards the coast. When we were finally about to arrive to San Juan del Sur, the coastal port on the Caribbean side, Grandfather settled into a detailed description of how the gringo, William Walker arrived in Granada, with his army, and how he attacked the city, and yes, how he set fire to Granada, once more, destroying almost all of the beautiful colonial city.
“God Almighty, now that crook didn’t think that burning down the church and a few houses was enough to prove his point. No, sir, he had to torch the whole city! Still unsatisfied with the results, he set up this huge sign at the entrance to the city; the sign reads: HERE WAS GRANADA! That miserable, no good skunk, two-time petty conniving thief, miserable low-lying rat…” As sometimes happened, Grandfather managed to work himself up! I had seldom seen him that mad before, and he actually frightened me a bit.
But then, I guess he realized that I was uncomfortable; smiling reassuringly, we climbed higher, until the river was a ribbon far below us. Smirking, he turned around to face me. For a moment, he transformed himself into a naughty little boy. He then banked abruptly to the right or southwards, and crossing to the other side of the river, he yelled “Costa Rica!”… Then, he banked hard to the left or towards the north, as he shouted “Nicaragua!” on the other side. Now, he veered quickly to the right again, and as we crossed to the other bank of the river, he cried out “Ticos!” Immediately after, he turned to the left and we both cried out “Nicas!” (Which meant Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans respectively). We did this a few more times, until we tired of laughing so hard, and we couldn’t keep it up.
In the land of volcanoes’ Chapters Purchase the book