El Nica, bending rebar

His name's Jhonny but I think they call him El Nica. I'm not sure why. Sometimes it's best not to ask too many questions.


Nica is short for Nicaraguan and I don't even know if he was born in Nicaragua or not. There is a significant amount of Costa Rican style pacifist racism against Nicaraguans so Jhonny's nickname could be a bit like a guy from England who was a bit tight with his money getting called "The Scot". Or maybe Jhonny really is Scottish. The possibilities are endless.




While Jhonny bends rebar, into the shapes required, El Gato is tying together the pieces to form a long rebar column or beam.

I have no idea why people call him El Gato (the Cat). Or maybe they don't. His real name's Francisco. One theory I have is that he told me his name was Gato just because it was easier to remember.