Achuapa street scene complete with pigs. Only recently have some of Achuapa's central streets been paved with what are called "Somoza bricks." This is a huge improvement over the rubble-and-mud-and-manure that comprises street surfaces at the edge of town. Paving allows the increasingly popular use of bicycles, and forms a barrier to the rush of rainwater that regularly washes unpaved streets into near-impassibility. (There are no stormwater drains except the streets.)
Mornings in Achuapa begin early, with a cacophony of roosters at 4:30 or 5 am, followed by pigs squealing, dogs barking, and the sound of Dona Tomasa's hands making tortillas - slapslapslap pat pat, slapslapslap pat pat. Not long after, kids begin playing a modified baseball game in the street.