Pictures

Click here to check out ALL of my pictures from the trip. I'll be adding more once I get them from others. Enjoy.

Things I won't miss

1. Mosquitos
2. Putting on deet to protect me from #1 (which I'm pretty sure can cause neurological damage)
3. Dogs barking/chasing me as I run
4. Wearing the same clothes for a long period of time/"washing" clothes and not feeling like they were so clean
5. Not snacking between meals

And the things that I will miss? That list would be rather lengthy. Pretty much everything else I got to see and experience and all the people that I met over the past month. I'll work on pictures tomorrow. Just letting you know that I'm home safe and sound.

The end is near...

I can't believe that I only have one more full day here in Nicaragua. This month has flown by. However, at this point, I can say that I'm ready to be home. This really has been a great experience--I think I would stay longer if I was living with a family and volunteering somewhere in the community in addition to taking more classes (maybe next summer--he he). Nicaragua is a beautiful and very safe place. I've been able to meet some great people, improve on my spanish, and see so many things that I didn't expect.

Here's the report from my last weekend here: On Saturday I spent the day in Grenada--a beautiful colonial town but it was a bit too touristy for my liking. I know that I am a tourist and will always look like one no matter how hard I try, but we have gone to so many places that are not tourist filled that it felt weird being around so many other foreigners. Unfortunately it rained most of the day or was at least cloudy so the views of the lake and surrounding volcanoes were a bit obscured. We did head out on Lake Nicaragua on a small boat and got a tour of the isletas--many of which were owned by the ridiculously wealthy. There was a very small one for sale for only $100,000 if anyone is interested.
Today was a bit of a lazy day. I finally got to take a horseback ride up to the ridge behind Volcan Masaya. The view from up there was amazing and despite having to be on a horse, all was well. This afternoon I studied a bit of the subjunctive (no, I don't think I'll ever get it or use it correctly) and treated myself to a pedicure. It cost $5. You wouldn't believe how gross your feet could get in a month here. Currently I'm sitting out on the terrace enjoying a beverage and lamenting the end of Le Tour and the fact that I didn't get to watch any of it. Que lastima.

I'm looking forward to talking to all of you in person and I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as I can. What a month. It will be a shame when this place gets to be well known...I'm glad I came when I did.

I can't think of any title for this post at all...

Today is Wednesday. It's my last Wednesday in Nicaragua. This week has been a little tough. It started with the leaving of my "family" for the past 3 weeks. I guess when you're in a situation like one is in at a place like the Mariposa, it doesn't take long to get to know the other people you're around. In my case, the Winter family and Jean were exactly what I needed while traveling by myself for the first time. I felt included by them pretty much instantly and had a great time doing whatever--whether it was a weekend in Ometepe, our normal Wednesday night out for pizza, riding in the microbus, or just hanging out on the terrace. So when I had to say "hasta luego" to Jean on Sunday morning and to the Winter family at 4am on Monday, it was hard. Their presence here has definitely been missed this week. Things are a little quieter and the microbus is a little less crowded. Actually, I went to bed at 7:52 on Monday night partly because I didn't sleep well the night before, partly because I got up at 4am to say goodbye, and partly because I just didn't have my friends to talk to anymore. But...as with all things, Tuesday was a new day. I'm enjoying the company of the people that are still here and still having a blast here in Nicaragua.

On Monday afternoon, our group had salsa and meringue lessons with Bergman (teacher, guide, and dancer extraordinaire). I only dance in foreign countries so this was no exception. I still have no rhythm, but I have a great time trying. And it is much easier when you're dancing with someone who can lead you. However, while we were practicing, my main partners were 2 adolescent boys (the sons of Marybeth--Marybeth and I are the only 2 females here at the moment so we were in high demand for dancing). And before you ask, no, there are no videos or even pictures from this event. Sorry. Your imagination will have be just fine for this one.

Yesterday we visited a pina finca (pineapple farm). The particular farm that we went to is owned by a very nice family who told us about their farm and the whole process of the pineapple "industry". I'm a little bit embarrased to say that I assumed pineapples grew on trees...obviously not the case. I also learned that it takes about 18 months for a pineapple to grow and you can get about 25000 plants on one acre. A pineapple plant lives for about 5 years. The pineapples here sell for about 5 cordoba (20 cordoba = $1) and sometimes farmers can only get 1 cordoba for them during the times of year where there is too much supply. The only people eating Nicaraguan pineapples are Nicaraguans because they aren't able to export them. The product, however, is amazing. We ate a pineapple that was picked right off the plant--I've never had such a sweet piece of pineapple. It was also slightly warm as it was out in the sun. We also sampled some fresh pineapple juice which was also sweet and delicious.
Today has been kind of low-key--classes this morning (I started the subjunctive tense), a charla on the religion in Nicaragua this afternoon, and pizza tonight for dinner. I'm looking forward to my final days here with a Saturday trip to Grenada and a horseback ride along the ridge on Sunday. I continue to be amazed at the beauty of this country and the friendliness of every person I've met. People are very patient with my spanish and don't laugh at me too much. However, I would be laughing at me often--I'm sure I sound ridiculous. I'll try and post again after the Grenada trip, but am looking forward to telling you these stories in person. Thanks for taking the time to read these.

The 19th of July

I have never experienced anything like I have today. The 19th of July marks the day of victory for the Sandinistas. Today is the 30 year anniversary of that. It seemed like everyone was heading into Managua for the celebration and I have never seen that kind of national pride. In the States, we have more pride for our sports teams and schools than we do in our nation. As we headed into Managua, it looked like the telephone poles had a new coat of red and black, every car, van, bus, dumptruck, motorcycle, and taxi was filled with people and sandinista flags were flying everywhere. The streets were crowded, the bombas loud (and often), and the temperature was extremely high. We made our way (10 white people and Bergman--we stuck out just a bit) into the main plaza where the festivities were taking place. We got as close to the main stage as possible, but were still pretty far away. The people around us were "muy sandinista" as Bergman's daughter put it and were very excited. When they played a sandinista song, every single person was singing along. Hands were raised high, flags were flying, and the people were cheering as one. We stayed in the main plaza long enough to hear the beginning of Daniel Ortega's speech (and no, I really have no idea what he was saying but it was just cool to say that I heard him in person) and then found some food and more water and shade. We didn't stay too long just because it was really too hot and too crowded. However, I'm glad I had a chance to experience something like that--it was one of those times like, wow, how did I get to see something like this?

Sorry about the lack of photos. I'll post a link to all of my photos when I get home. It just takes too long to upload them here. Only 8 days left. I could definitely stay longer.

How did this week fly by so quickly?

I can't believe that's it's Saturday already. I've been having some computer issues and connection issues that has kept me from updating this as often as I'd like. Now you'll just have to read what is likely going to be a shorter summary of what I've been up to this week.

This past Tuesday our group had the opportunity to visit the Panama school. Panama is a very small poor town about 20 minutes from the Mariposa. A community of people live there without water. It takes about a half day to walk to the nearest water source and most people do this twice a day. In the winter (now), enough rain falls that people can get the water they need by collecting it as it runs off their roof. However, in the summer, there's no way they can live without making the trek to get the water. Many children don't go to school because their day is spent getting water for the family. The Panama school itself is small but better equipped than I was expecting. We observed a 1st-ish grade class for a bit and the students were happy and eager to participate. The class size here is much larger than classes in the majority of the US. The Mariposa has kind of partnered with this school and community and has donated many supplies to the school like children's books and notebooks, crayons, markers, pre-school materials, and also sponsors some children so they are able to pay for their uniforms and bus fare. Because there is no water available, the school has had some issues with bathrooms. A well-meaning group of women (generally wives of the people working in embassies) have helped with building a cafeteria and also built some very nice looking toilets. However, the toilets they provided require water. The Mariposa then provided the funds for a latrine to be built but did not have the money for walls. Therefore, children don't want to use the pit bathrooms--they do have a lovely 360 degree view of some very nice land though. Anyway, World Vision is providing the walls and actually they should be up by the end of the month. A note on World Vision--I've seen their presence here in a variety of communities, but Paulette (owner of the Mariposa) is not a fan because of what she sees as the lack of actual work being done here. When we left the school, we went a bit farther into the community and went to a shop where women worked to make goods out of paper. Several of us purchased necklaces, bracelets, and baskets made from old phone books or magazines. Panama has several obstacles to overcome (namely the water issue and the fact that nothing grows there because of the sulfur from the volcano), but with the partnership of organizations like the Mariposa and World Vision, things can only improve.

This week I also had the opportunity to visit two schools in San Juan (the town just down the road from the Mariposa where most of the teachers here live). We went to the primary school first and the first thing I noticed was the noise. It was the day before a day off, but it was just ridiculously loud since everyone can hear what is going on in everyone else's classroom. The kids were very cute and think it's funny when an extranero comes and visits. The average class size here was 35-40 kids. I can't imagine trying to control everyone. Then we went over to the secondary school. Class sizes there were even larger--60-70 kids in a room. Kids are just packed into the rooms but seem to be engaged. It will make me think twice when I complain about anything that's going on in my school with my 25 kids and tons of materials and technology.

We ended the week with a fiesta partly because it's fun to have a party, but mostly to celebrate the Winter family and Jean. They are all leaving this weekend (so I'll be without my pseudo family the rest of my stay here). The party was a blast. I guess it was a typical Nicaraguan party--everyone sat in a circle (students, teachers, workers, cooks...everyone came) and eventually we starting dancing (after beverages were served of course). I have a dance lesson on Monday so I was dancing my own steps but was having a blast. It's always fun to dance with people who know what they're doing and don't care if I look like a fool. For anyone who has seen me dance, you know that I look like a fool most of the time. And it always seems that I only have the opportunity to dance when I'm in a foreign country. Oh well.

On Saturday we went to the beach. I swam in the Pacific Ocean for the first time and it was great. However, I did not re-apply sunscreen like I should have and am paying the price today. Sorry, mom. I don't know when I'll learn. We spent most of our time in the water--the waves were great, the undertow wasn't terribly bad, and the water was clean. Dad, there were no lifeguards and you would have had a blast.

So overall things are great. As far as the spanish is going, well, it's going. I feel like I'm understanding more (as long as people speak slowly) and I'm a bit more confident with what I'm saying. In the conversation part of class this past Friday, I bored my instructor with an hour and a half of talking about the Tour de France. I learned lots of new cycling related words though. I have 6 more classes in spanish and I hope they go well.

See you in a little over a week!

If anyone has been worried about me losing my life...

Sunday would have been the day to do it. We (Gary, Sally, Ian, and I--Jean spent the day relaxing and studying spanish which might have been the better choice) climbed Volcan Concepcion. It's only 1600m or so, but it was a very difficult climb. Gary, Sally, and Ian, who live in Oregon, have a lot of experience with climbing various mountain and volcanoes. I have never climbed a mountain unless you count my ascent of Half Dome last summer. I have done some physically and mentally taxing things in my life, but Sunday's climb may take the cake.

We met our guide and started out the road that led to the trail. The road itself was slightly uphill but relatively flat. However, our pace was ridiculous and I was dripping sweat in the first 15 minutes.

When we hit the actual trail, it got very steep very fast and stayed steep pretty much the entire time. In addition to being steep, it was very rocky and often required using our hands to help us up and over various obstacles. It was some of the hardest hiking I've ever done. On the way up, we again heard the howler monkeys and quickly made our way past that point and into the clouds. During the winter (now), the top of the volcano is obsured by clouds. However, in the summer, it's generally clear. We knew that once we reached the top we wouldn't be able to see anything, but we still wanted to say that we did it.
Our guide kept urging us onward especially when we wanted to break for a snack. We tried to make it to the halfway point before eating something, but we caved early. Once we did make it to the halfway point, things seemed to get harder. We had been in the clouds and wind and it was getting cloudier and windier. Now instead of being soaked with sweat, we were soaked with mist and rain. Sally made the tough decision to stop at this point because she wasn't feeling well (I don't think any of us were feeling great except for our mountain goat-like guide) and Ian stayed with her and they headed down to try and find a more protected spot to wait for Gary and me as we pushed on towards the top.
The next 30 minutes or so were ridiculously hard with the wind practically blowing us off the mountain and the trail becoming extremely steep and wet. I often thought that this was insane and that I shouldn't even be up here in the first place. However, we got to a level point and which the guide told us that it was only 10 more minutes to the top. We practically crawled up this last part, hugging the side of the mountain because the wind was so strong. We stopped about 10 feet from the top (it was in sight) because the guide said it was dangerous. And when HE thought things were bad, you knew they were. He also made some comment about not wanting us to get blown into the crater. That might have ruined the hike if that would have happened. We posed for a picture, my bandana was blown off my head, and we made the slow descent to safer ground.
It didn't take long to reach the spot where Sally and Ian were camped out and we were glad to be all together again. We hiked down a little farther and Gary and I had some sandwiches and cookies and then we made our way down out of the clouds and into the sun once again. Coming down was extremely painful and my quads have not recoved yet. I'm pretty sure I haven't been this sore since I ran in a marathon. Both Sally and Gary (mountain climber extrordinaires) promised me that when I come out to climb mountains with them in Oregon that I will not fear for my life. One volcano climbed...hopefully many more will be as well.

A weekend in review

Now that I'm back from the island of Ometepe, I can tell you all about it. However, I'd like to back up to Thursday night. We spent the afternoon/evening in Masaya where we spent time in two markets. The first one had some touristy things but when we got out of that area, they also had normal things that a market would have like food and clothes and lots of shoes. Things were cramped but it was fun to walk around and see everything that was for sale. We then headed to the "tourist" market which was much higher priced even though the items for sale were exactly the same. However, that market was more spacious and things were clearly marked (and there was no food for sale)--I guess you pay for that convenience. Later in the evening we had dinner and watched folkloric dancing. We had a great time with excellent food (we all had a massive amount of meat) and a very entertaining dance contest.

On Friday after our classes, Sally, Gary, Ian, Jean, and I headed to the island of Ometepe. We were driven to the ferry, took the ferry to the island, and then took the bus to a hotel where we were staying. All in all, it took about 6 hours to get there. Ometepe is an island made up of two volcanos and is located in Lake Nicaragua. On the shore where we stayed, there was a constant breeze and it was pretty much delightful. We ended up staying in two different hotels because the first place we stayed at (which is said to be the best on the island) only had room for us on Friday night. It was a great place with excellent food--it felt like we were on vacation.
Saturday was beautiful and we walked/hitched a ride on the back of a truck to a place that had a bunch of petroglyphs and checked out all the rock carvings. The petroglyphs are pre-columbian and they are scattered throughout the island. We noticed smaller ones being used as doorstops and as decoration. We walked back to the hotel via the beach in time to move our bags two hotels down the street where we stayed on saturday and sunday night. After getting settled and having lunch, we decided to walk down the road in the opposite direction to check out "El ojo del agua". It's a pool of water that supposedly has healing and restorative powers to it since it has many volcanic elements in it. You'll have to decide if I look 10 years younger or not. Healing powers or not, it was very relaxing. The water was clear and cool and deep enough to swim around in. The rest of the afternoon was spent reading and relaxing and preparing for Sunday's adventure.
On Sunday, we climbed Volcan Conception (the higher of the two on the island) and that story deserves a post of its own so that's what it will get. Since we were all pretty much exhausted after the climb, we had some dinner and went to bed. We took the 5:30 bus from our hotel to catch a ferry (which we missed so we ended up taking a boat and I'm glad I'm not a person who gets seasick) and then were picked up and driven back to La Mariposa. We were all less than excited to have classes this afternoon, but we survived.
Ometepe is a beautiful place (and was recently in the running for being included in the 7 Natural Wonders of the World) and I would gladly visit again.

A little over one week down...

Time has really gone quite fast here so far. However, there are other times that I think I've been here forever--especially when I'm talking with the other group of people that are here and I think I've known them for several years. Overall, things have been going very well--the spanish classes have been good (however definitely don't expect me to be fluent anytime soon since it takes me about 8 years to form a complete sentence), the food is excellent--lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, the people are amazing--it's an easy place to get to know people well in a short amount of time, the landscape is beautiful--I love looking out on a variety of volcanic peaks every day, and I'm learning a lot about the history and culture of Nicaragua. I'm very much looking forward to the rest of my time here.

Due to some internet issues and afternoons full of activities, I am a bit behind on what I've been doing here. On Tuesday we went to a nature preserve called Chocoyero. There are more national parks/preserved pieces of land than I expected here. We hiked a loop that took us past a variety of trees and other vegetation. Bergman, our teacher and guide (he really knows everything about everything), pointed out many birds, insects, and types of plants. As we walked we could hear the howler monkeys high up on the mountain--thankfully during winter, they seek refuge from the mosquitos in the higher elevations. The sound they make is quite terrifying and I really had no desire to see them up close. We ended up at this large rock face where the chocoyero lives (it's a type of bird--kind of like a parrot I think). Their nests are these holes in the rock and they fly in and out of them very quickly. It was cool to watch.
Yesterday we had a relaxing day with classes in the morning and a discussion on Nicaraguan history before 1900 in the afternoon. I also did some laundry. I've decided that if I didn't use a washing machine on a regular basis, I would wear a lot less clothing during the week. I would also rewear things more than I do now. Yesterday also marked the first real storm that I've experienced while here and it's currently raining now. It's not bad, but it makes drying clothes, very difficult. Last night we had our usual dinner out at a pizza place in San Marcos where they were televising some soccer matches from the Copa del Oro. The two teams playing happened to be the US and Hondoras--a bit ironic considering the current politcal situation.
I don't have time to post pictures at this point but hopefully I'll be able to next week. This weeked I'm heading to the island of Ometepe (supposedly a beautiful place) where we'll be relaxing on the beach and climbing a volcano. It should be a 10 hour hike or so. Of course, I'm looking forward to it. I hope all is well with you and that you're enjoying reading these.

A day in Leon

Yesterday Sally, Ian, Amy, and I woke up early and took a 2.5 hour drive to Leon. It's an older city in Nicaragua and is home to one of the oldest cathedrals in the country. Bergman took us and also served as our tourguide. On the way there, we had a great view of several volcanos. After stopping for breakfast outside of Managua, we arrived in Leon and walked around the Cathedral. A service was starting shortly after we arrived so we didn't have too much time in the very ornate church.

We spent the rest of the morning going to the Museum of the Revolution (It was a room that had newspaper clipping and pictures detailing the events of the revolution. Nothing was protected or preserved but the man that was giving us the "tour" was very proud of what he had to show us. This is something that I don't remember learning in school in our history classes and hearing about it from a Nicaraguan perspective is very interesting.

We also went to the home/now museum of the famous Nicaraguan poet, Ruben Dario. They had some furniture there and his personal library along with some original writings of his on display. Our final stop of the morning was an art museum that included work from all over the world but the more modern paintings were mostly from Nicaragua.

After lunch (where I had chicken on bone--yes, I took the chicken off the the bone myself), we went to the ruins of the first spanish church in Nicaragua. It was on the property of this older woman and after walking around the remains of the church, we talked with her for a bit. She had a picture of her grandmother (who lived to be 114) and I think her family had been on this property for several generations.

On our way back into the main town, we stopped at the house of a man who was a woodworker. He carved saints out of tree trunks and is well known for this in this region. He showed us some samples of his work and gave us his card in case we needed his services in the future.

Leon is a very nice city with beautful architechure and it supposedly wasn't as touristy as Grenada (I'm going there later so I'll let you know what I think). It was rather quiet and a nice place to walk around.

The cathedral in Leon
The museum of the Revolution

Happy 4th of July!

This is the second year in a row where I don't get to celebrate the forth of July with fireworks at home. However, I'm quite glad to be celebrating here in Nicaragua.


Yesterday was a low-key kind of day with class in the morning and a discussion on issues in Nicaragua such as trash, electricity, and water. It was very informative and because most of it was in english, I could understand what was going on. The classes have been very good and while the conversation is exhausting, it's excellent practice for what I've learned in the grammar part of the class. Last night we went to a bar that's know for its pork. We checked out the "kitchen" which was a room off the main dining area that had a ton of raw pig sitting on the counter. After it was cooked, it was delicious. After that, we went back to the pizza place that we went to on Wednesday because on Friday night they have a mirimba band. They were excellent but there were only 2 other people in the place so no one was dancing which was rather disappointing.


Today was a trip to the Mombacho volcano. It was a beautiful day and we headed up to volcano in what seemed to be an old World War 2 era vehicle. The road was narrow and extremely steep (I think it was steeper than some of those roads we rode up in Italy, Jonathan). We took a break halfway up where we sampled some coffee which was excellent. When we finally got to the top, we joined a guide who took us on the Puma trail around the main crater. I thought it was a dormant volcano but we could smell the sulfur and could see the gases at some points. At the start of the hike, it was rather cold but as soon as we started to hike, it became humid and hot. The area was very green and lush and the hike itself was strenuous. We were constantly hiking either up or down but the trail was well-maintained with steps built into the terrain. It was also very windy at all the lookout spots but we had a great view of the crater and surrounding towns. Overall, it was a great national park and if you're ever in the area, I'd highly recommend it.

"We looked into the mouth of hell...

and they told us to hold on to this pole." That was a quote from Sally after we had returned from the Masaya Volcano. We went there last night and it really was a great time. I had never been to a volcano so this was a new experience for me. It's a national park and a hot tourist spot--mostly english speakers and possibly a high school track team (actually it was probably a mission group) were there when we were. We drove up to the top of the volcano and walked up to a view point. A cross was placed there by the Spanish in the 16th (?) century and there's one there now--it's replaced every two years because the gases from the volcano corrode the materials. It was rather cloudy/foggy but you had a good view of the surrounding area and it was cool to watch the smoke and gases billow out of the mouth of the volcano.

We then hiked to the top of another hill to get a view of another extinct crator and also a view of Lake Masaya. Again, because of the cloudy conditions, we couldn't see much but the wind picked up enough that we could get a view of the lake.

Our next stop was the lava caves. We all put on our hard hats (you know how I love wearing a hard hat) and got our torches out and headed into the caves. You could feel the bats flying past your head. There were also examples of the 3 types of lava--Pahoehoe, Aa, and lava bombs.

Our final stop on our volcano tour was "La Boca de Infierno" where we put on gas masks and held on to a pole and looked down into the crater where we could see the glowing lava. It was completely and totally safe since we were holding on to that pole.

I believe we'll be visiting another volcano tomorrow but during the day. So things are good and I'm having a blast. I'm laughing hard with the other students and learning a lot. The spanish instruction can be exhausting but each day I feel like I'm picking things up a bit more quickly. This weekend we will be taking day trips on Saturday and Sunday. I haven't decided if I want to ride a horse to a lake or spend the day in Leon. Decisions, decisions...

I'm here!

Travelling went smoothly yesterday. After waking up at 2:30am and taking a 5:40am flight out of Baltimore to Houston and then Managua, I met a person who was picking me up at the airport. He was just holding a handmade sign that said "mariposa spanish school" and I trusted that he would be taking me where I was supposed to go. Thankfully, that was the case. It was about a 40 minute drive from the airport to La Concepcion where the Mariposa is located. We drove through the city and more rural areas and you can definitely tell that Nicaragua is a developing nation.

The school itself is off the beaten path and the grounds are amazing. There are a ton of animals (most of which I try to avoid) roaming around including a monkey. I stay far from him. Because I got here just after the other students had left for their afternoon activity (which was a trip to a lake), I had the afternoon to myself. I had some lunch--everything here is pretty much grown on site with mostly fresh fruit and vegetables. Then Manuel, one of the people who takes care of the grounds gave me a tour. Of course this tour was all in spanish so I didn't really get everything he was telling me about each plant and its fruit and what you can eat and what you can't and the medicinal properties of everything. He also pointed out several different kinds of birds and could imitate their calls quite well.

When the other students came back, I got to meet them and have dinner with everyone. There's a couple and their son from Oregon, a teacher from New York, a librarian from Arizona, and another woman who works for the NY Times here at the moment. Some will be here most of the time that I'm here but a few are leaving at the end of the week.

This morning I went running with two of the other students before breakfast and it's super hilly here so we didn't go far. I also had my first spanish class. The first two hours are grammar (It's amazing how much I have forgotten since high school and college) and then the next two hours are conversation. The conversation was pretty exhausting since I have to pay attention and figure out first of all what question is being asked and then figure out how to respond. Hopefully that will be easier as time goes on. I'll keep you posted.

It really is beautiful here and while it's stinking hot in Managua, right now I'm enjoying a lovely breeze here. The food is delicious and the accomodations are simple but adequate. I'll post some pictures at some point.