N - Nicknames


“Her name was Magil and she called herself Lil, but everyone knew her as Nancy”

Over the past year, I’ve come to know some of the nicknames for the different coastal towns. They come in all manner of tones and meanings; some are cute or funny, and most of them are close to accurate. Here are a couple of examples.

Our town, Puerto Lopez, was named after Daniel Lopez, a philanthropist from nearby Jipijapa. However, we have a couple of season-appropriate nicknames used by locals along the coast:

  • Puerto Lodo (Port Mud): During the rainy/garua season, our streets (which are mostly dirt) can get pretty muddy. Mud accumulates on shoes, tires and every else that comes in contact with the ground.
  • Puerto Polvo (Port Dust): During the six months that it doesn’t rain, those same streets become very dusty. The dust can get pretty thick at times, so much so that I’ve known people that have moved away from our paradise for health reasons.

I find both of those monikers funny, although not everyone does.

A nickname that I think some people might find offensive is “Puerto Pobre”. It’s the name assigned to Puerto Rico, a town just south of here. I disagree with this one personally; the town has very nice people and a number of destination resorts, but the name still sticks.



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