Secondhand

I was told early on that Nicaragua operates on a re-sale economy, and after keeping my eyes open, it seemed to me justifiably so: reuse and repurposing were everywhere. The local and intercity buses were often still covered in English, Arabic, or Korean text from their previous lives. Repair shops for everything from shoes to refrigerators covered the street. Handicraft vendors were said to go from town to town buying in markets and selling in others, from anywhere to anywhere else. Very little American-style profit was to be made, because very little new anything was available anywhere but in the ritziest shops.