Nomadic Narrative

“La joven está aquí,” the hotel manager said. I got up from one of the folding chairs surrounding the interior patio. In Moorish fashion, just beyond the building’s foyer was an enclosed, open-air patio. I had hired a local guide to learn more about the city of Granada, Nicaragua. I entered the lobby expecting to greet a college student in jeans. To my surprise, a tall woman in a brightly colored and embroidered traditional dress stood at the reception desk.

“My name is Gioconda and I’m going to introduce you to the history and culture of Granada,” she said enunciating her words with dramatism. She was holding three tattered history books and a map which she placed on the reception desk.

“Granada was founded in 1524 by Francisco Hernández de Cordoba,” she said while opening one of the books and pointing at a picture with hastily painted pink nails.

I typically avoid tours with the exception of hiring a local guide for a long hike or exploring a historic city center. When I do hire a guide, I like as much as possible to blend in to my surroundings. The thought of following a group through a city led by a guide carrying a flag is my worst nightmare. So, when Gioconda showed up in full regalia, I was surprised to say the least. Though, liking to be polite and to push myself outside of my comfort zone, I decided to just go with the flow and to learn as much as possible.

Gioconda was very knowledgeable and had a knack for remembering dates. Every street and every building had a story which she related in detail. We wound through the streets of Old Granada and took shortcuts and exited backdoors only a local would know. Occasionally, people on foot or in a car would capture her attention and wave. Gioconda returned the greetings while keeping pace with her impassioned tales of pirate invasions, a city burned to ashes and Nicaraguan heroes.

An hour into the tour, she stopped at the gated entrance of a home and dropped her books at the top of the two small front steps. Cemented into the building’s façade was a pre-Columbian stone sculpture. “This is La Piedra Bocana,” she said slipping her hand into a hole near the top of the sculpture explaining that at one point this is where people probably placed offerings. Today La Bocana is a popular reference point when giving directions. “Desde La Piedra Bocana a dos cuadras está el parque,” locals say.

“Now I’m going to sing you a song about La Piedra Bocana,” Gioconda said. Before I had time to close my mouth after my jaw dropped, Gioconda had cleared her throat and begun an operatic ode to La Bocana.
As it turns out, she’s an opera student! The tours she gives of Granada are “singing tours.” As she guides people throughout Granada, she stops at select monuments where she sings popular songs. I have to admit that she has certainly created a niche in the Nicaraguan tourism industry. Instead of going to the theatre in Granada, I *was* the theatre!