Nicaragua!

Laura and I went for a beautiful hike along the peninsula at Lake Nicaragua.The lake is too polluted to swim in the areas close to Granada (One girl who swam in it apparently emerged with red bumps and a skin rash that lasted for a week. The city is extremely polluted. Trash cans don’t really seem to exist, and people throw their trash onto the streets), so we thought we would hike four miles out to find a beach where we could actually enjoy the water and relax.

On the side of the street

We headed and enjoyed a beautiful hike along this road through the rainforest. The rain continued to pour sporadically, but it was relaxing and beautiful. We made it maybe two or three miles out on the peninsula before this man (with a SICK grill) appeared out of nowhere. There aren’t houses around (again, we were in the middle of the rainforest), so this alone was pretty sketchy. However, he then proceeded to engage us in conversation, asking if we wanted to get on his boat to come to the islands. We declined and kept walking. However, he then warned us that we were in an area ‘donde hay muchos asesinatos.’ Though at the Lawra and I were not sure exactly what an asesinato was at the time, we were pretty sure it wasn’t a good thing (now, thanks to our Spanish/English dictionary, our suspensions have been confirmed. An asesinato is a ‘murder/assassination’). Our new friend then offered to escort us to the beach safely and protect us. Of course, we were immediately extremely sceptical, declined and turned back towards town. Luckily he left us alone, and we survived, making it back to town alive. However, we are pretty sure that this was an attempt to abduct and ransack us.

El Nino

On that subject, Nicaragua is far less safe than I anticipated. In any other place I have travelled, I felt safe walking around crowded streets during the day. However, here, I don’t walk anywhere other than the town square alone, even in broad daylight.

The crowded marketplace

And though the problems with taxis are not as severe here as in Managa, the taxis aren’t necessarily safe either, and people often lure you into taxis to then abduct you and drive you around down, making you withdraw money at every atm in the city. So in Nicaragua, you don’t carry credit cards or atm cards anywhere with you, unless you are going to withdraw cash. When I travel, I am used to carrying a credit card with me at all times as a safety net, but I am having to readjust my habits. But on a more positive note, people who are mugged or abducted are not injured. They are always returned, but just with fewer (no) possessions and money. One girl was actually mugged and driven around to atms and then returned with enough money for a bus fare to get home. Friendly thieves! It is frustrating though, to be so limited in terms of our activities by safety considerations.

A typical city street

A downtown restaurante

Laura and I are both working in the schools now every morning. My school is located right on the outskirts of Granada in a local slum, and Laura's is a busride outside of the city. We work every morning, and then I spend the afternoons going to kids houses to help them with reading while Laura coaches a soccer team. The kids are so cute, but it is unbelievable sad to see the conditions they are forced to live in merely as a consequence of their birth. They have almost no chance to escape poverty, and most drop out of school before 4th grade. If they make it through elementary school, the cost of high school is $40 a month, which is far beyond the means of 99% of the kids' families. I have been struggling in school because my Spanish is very rusty, and I find that I cannot be as helpful as I would like. The Spanish English Dictionary is a constant fixture on my person.

Locals

Laura and I are also enjoying the market-- yesterday, we ate local cuisine and found an alvocado just slightly smaller than a canelope. All the local goods are cheap and delicous.

A local transports his goods in the town square

Local Goods

Pinyatas

GIGANTE AGAVATES!

We also discovered the beaties of the northern side of town--where there is an awesome fortress with views of the entire city and an expansive cemetary.

Overlooking the river

View of the city and Volcan Mombacho from the Fortress

Another city view from the fortress

An awesome pastery shop we discovered on the walk to the cemetary

Other highlights so far… witnessing my first ten-year-old exhibitionist while I was playing with these sweet (?) kids at the lake yesterday afternoon, our SICK backne (LOVE the humidity), adorable gatitos (wayyyy cuter than Wally and Zuri, sorry Barz), 50 cent ice cream cones, the local pool, and delicious whole grain and coconut bread made by a local French couple.