catarina mirador

Last weekend Matt and I convinced our German long time [4 months] roomie Sally that she should come with us to check out the infamous mirador Catarina. So we hopped on the chicken bus and off we went. 1 hour later, after passing through the quaint town of Diriomo, we were dropped off on the highway and began our walk up to the lookout point. Along the way we spotted lots of beautifully made crafts and trinkets, and a plethora of gardens galore. If you want to go plant shopping for everything under the sun, this is the place.

This fruit stand was by far the prettiest we've seen, however the prices were raised to match. Check out the maranon [cashew fruit] below!!

Maranon, looks amazing but isn't very tastey
[although it's supposed to be good dried] .
For now, we'll just stick to the nuts.

Nicaragua's always proud of revolutionary and political leaders

Ah the famous trishaw, aka mototaxi of Catarina. These things were everywhere and we had been desperately wanting to take a spin in one for months so today proved just the day for that. See bottom pictures.

The town church.

''He works so hard he has to sleep standing up.'' Says photographer Mateo of this brilliant shot.

I know. It looks fake. It could be a painting on a mural. A flawless backdrop. Hence the hype of going there, and the overpriced entrance fee and food options upon arrival. Good thing we're smart enough to stick to pupusas and not fall for the cliffside view tourist trap restaurants.

Did we mention it was windier than hell here? I literally had to buy a pair of traditional pants to wear underneath my dress so it wouldn't blow up in front of everyone. Good thing I had been longing for a pair of those pants for the past 4 months.
Ok so watching the trishaws zooming by as we head out and back. We stood at the bus stop with no idea when the bus for Granada would arrive, and after about ten minutes Matt just couldn't take it anymore and discreetly hailed one of the red buggies over to see just how much it'd be to take us back in style. Not to mention we were haunted by the idea of overcrowding and sardine-like bus accommodations... so he says 10 bucks for the 3 of you. Deal!

So you get the picture. In front is JUST the driver.

The back bench fits 3 normal sized people comfortably, or 5 or 6 Nicaraguans!
20 minutes later we were back.

The day's adventure = SUCCESS!

catching up - random fliks

Baile los viejos. Yes this is really us.

Navi's 1 guitar performance

Monkey boy Christopher

Cleaning day!

Burning the trash in the back

Burning the trash, aka leaves, in the front. Interesting that I got in trouble for this very act as a kid their age. Here it is a way of life.

Playing soccer barefoot might lead to the following photo

Matt's big black toe

"Do you want a mango? I'll climb that tree for you." - monkey boy's primo

A real Nicaraguan Lei from the San Juan Xoche tree

One of our finest house pets....

Iglesia Merced

Is that guy selling pot?

Loving the way the sun hits the colorful buildings

Just another big party street parade in paradise!

lessons from the 3rd world

Many things are not always readily available at our fingertips living in the 3rd world. Reflecting on this statement we realize things we likely took for granted having them readily available in the 1st world, and that in turn leads us to a more humbling outlook on situations, needs, wants and what we already have.

Here is a basic list of pertinent items needed on a daily basis, not always available, and how we feel about them now:

1. Water - they cut the water here a couple times a week normally... which means if you are thirsty, hot, sweaty, dirty or want to cook or boil anything..... well you just have to wait. 1 hour or all day. HOWEVER we lucked out in casa Santa Lucia as we have an outdoor emergency water supply that we can use in such dire times. Others are not so fortunate. And adjusting to the cold showers hasn't been that bad during the middle of the day, but we do miss a hot one some mornings.

2. Electricity - this we don't lose as often, but when it does happen it usually means the fans go off (which while you are sleeping instantly wakes you up as the cool breeze is crucial), and the refrigerator decides to thaw and leak water all over the floor. This also means our vegetables may have frozen and thawed and then end up in the trash!

3. Gas - There is nothing quite like the feeling of getting up to make some coffee or a tasty meal and going to the stove with the necessary preparations, only to realize there is no gas, and therefore you will not be cooking anything. What to do - walk down to the tropigas (aka gaseria) delivery house and ask them to please bring you a refilled tank of gas for the kitchen. Matt says it's too bad my spare storehouse can't light the stove in times of need.

4. Change - You know things are inexpensive when busting out a 200 (10 dollars) or 500 (25 dollars) cordoba bill is likely to get rejected because whoever you are buying something from or paying the amount to doesn't have change for such a large sum. The beauty in this is that if they don't have change perhaps the taxi driver accepts 27 instead of 30 cordobas, or the lady who runs the pulperia (corner store) says "bring me what you owe me later". Or they will go and ask anybody down the street, in the neighborhood, or nearby to help them get change for you.

5. Laundry - we definitely are not roughing it enough to have to wash all our clothes by hand. We do have a laundry machine, which only works when there is water. And works all the better when the water pressure is actually present. Somedays you have to fill it with a bucket to have it full within the hour. And when you put your clothes on the line to dry, be sure they are not cooking next door or all your new clothes will be covered in smoke.

6. Produce - Remember how in the states you can get an avocado year round? You can pretty much buy whatever you desire whenever you desire. It doesn't mean it won't cost you an arm and a leg or that it will be ripe, but here we are actually learning the patience and value in enjoying things when they are in season. We miss having access to Pitaya (a delicious cactus fruit that was around when we first got here) but we were thrilled the day we found an avocado in the market. And now ripe mangos are also a prized commodity.

7. Bathrooms, toilets, and hygiene - I think both Matt and I will be thoroughly delighted the day we are back to having a bathroom door and toilets that flush well and don't get backed up with septic tank problems. As far as public restrooms, we will enjoy having access to soap and water at every pitstop. Let's just say we're sure to have our antibacterial hand gel handy.

8. Transportation - In the states, when you wanted to go somewhere odds are you took your car. Here driving a car is perhaps one of the scarier options. And hands down, the public transportation system here beats Albuquerque by far! It's cheap, it's accessible, and it's what all the cool people are doing. You can get a taxi on any corner for 50 cents a ride. Buses are only 25 cents. However, matt suggests that shocks might be illegal here or that they fill their tires with cement because it is always a rough ride. And don't count your chickens before they hatch on getting to your destination on time. Perhaps the buses are late, or not running today, but then again nothing is on time here in Nicaragua, so what's the worry for.

9. Internet speed - It's like turtle. It's so slow we can't do any mandatory updates and matt's computer is going on revolt! There is no 3G or 4G speed, everything is at the speed of pong or astroids (only computer nerds from the 80s will get this reference).

10. Attire - What's that you're wearing Matt? Another white t-shirt and kackis. Isn't that like the 5th day in the row? He says he's like batman, 15 pairs of the same outfit. When it doubt, turn it inside out.

11. Trash - it is definitely humbling to see neighbors or other people rummaging through our trash the moment we set it out on garbage day. They go through it and pick out whatever they see fits their need. Including a bag of old ramen noodles complete with its own pair of mice and their droppings.

12. Homes, or the lack their of - never before have we seen so many kids on a daily basis asking for money or food. And perhaps they are not all homeless (and Granada does have some good shelters) but some have made a bad habit out of asking for things from tourists. However there is truth to problem when we pass 3 adolescent boys crashed out on the sidewalk covered in a thin sheet at 8 o'clock in the morning.

All of these things make us reflect back on silly complaints we had in the states and just how irrelevant they are now. It makes us realize we don't need to have everything handed to us or readily available at every moment. We take pleasure in being innovative, arising to the challenge, or just going with the flow like everyone else. We are happy whether we arrive early or late and we know that no matter what, in the end it's going to turn out ok. Such is the Nica attitude and the lesson we want to hold onto when we leave here.

cosas pequeñas, cosas sencillas

Just a week or two ago the weather was much cooler, with a strong breeze blowing in off the lake, and it became necessary to sleep with 2 sheets instead of just 1 at night. Now we are inching back up to the level of sweltering, busting out the hand fan, taking more showers. It is all pleasurable and by no means is this description a complaint. If you know me, you know I'll take sweltering 365 days a year.

Ripe mangos have become available for purchase recently as well, which is definitely a plus because green mangos are SOUR! But apparently there is quite a market for them here as well.

We've started running conversational English classes with a handful of local women, 2 of whom have been teachers for over 12 years which automatically means "me cae super bien", (we get along fabulously) and 2 of whom are studying tourism at the university. They are all very lively and full of smiles. We really enjoy the new connection and if we are lucky they will take us out salsa dancing! And we are further entertained by not only our silly slips of the tongue but theirs, "my grandma has to eat my dog when I am not there".... hmmm... perhaps "feed" was the word you were looking for.

Last weekend we were privy to witness the battling of the two rival cellphone companies here, Claro and Movistar, as both companies put on large concert type events just around the block from each other. We caught the end of the free Claro show who's band played a mixture of cumbia, salsa, and merengue. Then we walked about a block down to the Movistar concert but decided to not pay the entrance fee and instead enjoyed another free concert, drinking beer and looking in through the chain link fence, as the Nicaraguan group Perrozompopo started out with an acoustic guitar and singing show and then picked it up into full Spanish rock. A major highlight of the second show being the digital displays projected onto the facade of a favorite colonial church. Nothing like mixing the old with the new.

Summer school has been extended by a week or two, which means more time to play teacher. It also means I am going to pull my hair out because of the quantity and aggressiveness of the mosquitos at school. Seriously my least favorite living thing ever! The littlest kids have started yelling out "Mateo no se bano" (Mateo didn't bathe!) every time he puts repellant on as surely that's why the skeeters love him so much..... me on the other hand, there is no other explanation than pure sweetness.

We had to hand over out little feline amigas this past week which was definitely sad to say the least. After getting a smack on the hand from the owner, we decided our adventures in raising mousketeers had to come to an end. Good luck gallo pinto, we miss you already!

And basically loving every day and soaking in every little part of this beautiful country we have come to call home.

ringing in the new year with mama julia y tia la reina

Matt and I were giggling and grinning ear to ear the last hour we waited for familiar faces, moreover family, to finally get into Granada! And after putting their bags down, we wasted no time in finding some fried, non-vegetarian Nica food for them to try on the Calzada. And of course some Flor de cana y Tona! Everyone here thought Lo was Julie's sister, therefore my Tia, and so we decided to go right along with that. And they got a kick out of the Spanish translation of Lorraine into La Reina, yes that's right, the queen has arrived!

Our second day in Granada we had a very important date to bring my family to meet the kids' family we work with. The kids were delighted to have us, and jumped right in singing, dancing, and playing hand and word games with both Julie and Lo.

And then we headed out of town and down to la Isla de Ometepe, an island of two volcanoes (one active and one extinct) in the lago de Nicaragua (the largest lake in the Americas). It was an adventure to get to our destination, as we first took a shuttle for 1 hr and half to San Jorge, followed by a ferry to Moyogalpa on the Island (another 1.5 hrs) and then the last 3rd of the journey was taking a minivan taxi 4 wheeling over rocks and through puddles, on some of the worst roads in history. The funniest part was asking the driver if he thought it was going to rain, to which he replied with a confident no, seconds before there was a downpour inside the van! However, we settled right in at Hacienda Merida where we had the lake as our backyard and the volcano Maderas as our doorstep. And we all slept good, after that 1st night where I woke up Matt scared to death of the creepy crawlers in our bathroom (centipedes and perhaps a kissing bug). Let's not talk about that.

Ometepe allowed for lots of phyiscal activity and incredible sights. Basically, you are one with nature. Julie, Matt and I kayaked for 3 hours up the lake, through the river swamp, and back to our hotel. The views of the volcanoes were magnificent, and we saw a plethera of birds and monkeys within a couple yards distance. Here's Julie and our tour guide Simion in front of volcano Concepcion.

And here's Matt and I in the river swamp, in front of Maderas, just before he thought it'd be real funny to run me into a tree with spinas that scratched up a good chunk of my arm and leg. But in his defense, his arms were really tired from having to paddle the whole way there pulling up any of my slack as I took many rest breaks, took pictures, and played with the water. (It worked out wonderfully that we all got massages on the last day back in Granada, after yoga in the morning, and I am still sore!).

This mono congo is a male. If you want to know how, just ask our guide (like Julie did) and he'll respond with - because he has huge white balls. See for yourself.

New Year's Eve was spent at Margarita's bar in the tiny town of Merida where we waited for the much talked about climbing of "el palo lucio" (a slippery pole, covered in soap and cow fat). As we waited they began to set up the bare dirt dance floor with 6 or 8 ginormous speakers, as if KISS was coming to town. But once the climbing began, it was well worth the wait, as boys and men strategized and persisted many times to get to the top where there was 4 prizes to be claimed (including money, rum, beer, and a mystery prize). One strategy included filling your pockets with dirt and grabbing handfuls to get a better grip.

One of our favorite activities was checking out the daily sunset over the lake. A picture truely is worth a thousand words.


And our last big adventure was hiking to the wasser fall of San Ramon.... which ended up taking us a total of 7 hours round trip. This is the view of what it looked like as we headed in. And we knew we would meet some rain on the way. However unlike the day before when Julie, Matt and I were caught off guard in a rain storm as we attempted to bike to a natural swimming hole, we were better prepared with wind breaks, and banana leafs on hand. La Reina was the only really smart one who remembered to bring her poncho.

Julie hiding contently under a tree during the brief sprinkle.

Can you see the waterfall?

And even though we thought for sure we were going to have to turn around, as the farther we went, the harder it got, with boulders to climb over, and the path ever steeper, we did succeed in reaching San Ramon, where we promptly collapsed and ate beef jerky and lara bars (THANKS MARIE AND LEON!) to sustain ourselves. Can I just say that my Tia is one strong lady, and even though she was about to be deserted on the side of the road on our return wondering where the heck the taxi was to take her back, we found hotel Monkey Island just in the nick of time where we were saved by the grace of Tona and dinner!

Sadly, we packed up our bags and headed back to Granada after 3 days in our tropical Paradise. We all would have gladly stayed another 3 or more. Here we are on the Ferry back to San Jorge.
Goodbye Ometepe and goodbye visitors. Come see us again, and we'll be back to the isla soon!