If you are a high maintenance girl, Nicaragua is not the place for you. Forget your blow dryer and your straightener. Leave your make-up behind. You can forget looking cute or pulled together. Just embrace the ugly or stay home.
For the past two weeks, the weather really has not been too bad. The rainy season has started, later than usual, which means that it has been raining a good amount. While the temperatures are slightly better and it is slightly breezier, the humidity level rises in the rainy season. So what does this mean? Temperatures between 75 and 95 plus high humidity plus intense sun with the exception of rain clouds. During midday the sun can be brutal and it feels like it is just warming the water in the air. Sometimes it is so unbearable the only solution is a to take a shower. That relief only lasts the duration of the shower because the water seems to warm nearly instantly once it has touched your body.
The sun at midday makes everyone start sweating. Even the locals who never complain about the heat. They deal with it better than we gringos do, but you can still tell sometimes that the heat is getting to them as well. It is really hard to keep your hair dry. You let it air dry out of the shower because many less expensive places have shared bathrooms and there may or may not be somewhere to plug in a blow dryer. Plus, it is often so hot that you couldn’t bear making yourself hotter. By the time your hair dries in the morning the sun is heating up the day and you are likely to find yourself with wet hair again. So forget straightening it. If you have wavy or curly hair, your curls will come back within a few hours. AC is rare here unless you want to pay extra for your hotel room. And since most of life is lived outdoors here, paying for the AC won’t do much for your hair during the day.
As for make-up, why bother? I think I have only put on mascara one time since I have been here. I never leave the house without it in the states, except for the gym. But here, make-up would probably just melt. And it is so humid that even powder turns kind of gooey. I personally started washing my face with cleansing wipes or water a few times a day. You have wash the grease off every so often to avoid breaking out (or at least I do). And who wants to reapply make-up multiple times a day?
I have have accepted the bad hair as well as looking even younger than I do normally in the states thanks to not wearing any make-up at all. It is a good thing Chris already loves me.
So, just in case you thought volunteering and/or vacationing in Nicaragua is glamorous, please know that it absolutely is not. And if you are a high maintenance girl planning on coming to Nicaragua who is addicted to her blow-dryer and eye shadow, I recommend that you stay home!
Aventuras Mías 
What part of Nicaragua where you at? In managua all the girls wear make up as well as iron and blow dry their hair. You’ve got AC in the malls also.
Of course there’s no AC in the more rural areas and in all the volcano and mountain attractions, but it’s not as underdeveloped as you’re portraying it.
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This post is in no way a commentary on how developed Nicaragua is. I actually think that it is more developed than most Americans realize. I am merely commenting on the weather. Even if you want to pay for air conditioning in your hotel, no one comes here to stay inside all day. We have been kayaking, hiking, bike-riding, etc. and if you’re outside it is hard to stay looking nice when it is this hot and humid and/or pouring rain. Frankly, knowing that I don’t have to spend an hour in the bathroom every morning trying to look perfect is quite liberating. I feel like I can focus on what I’m doing here rather than how I look while I am doing it. And in the month that I have been here, I haven’t seen a single other female tourist in make-up. And no one cares, which is the real beauty of it! The only point of this blog post is that if you are uncomfortable not wearing make-up or not doing your hair, you might want to find a place that is a bit dryer for your vacation.
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