Acción de Gracias

We celebrated thanksgiving here in Nicaragua! Though it is impossible to put together all the American classics with the venues we have here, we tried to scrape together a few of the basics. I prepared mashed potatoes and a papaya cornbread (we were VERY creative)

And Laura put together a traditional stuffing (without the actual turkey. . . )

We tried to look nice for the occasion, but the only blow drier turned out to be our bedroom fan . . .

For the big meal, we got together with the other volunteer house and had a great meal. It was a very cross-cultural experience-- We got to introduce the Germans to American Thanksgiving!

Friday, Laura and I hopped on the public bus and headed down to San Juan del Sur for the weekend. We arrived at the bus station at 3 to find the hood of the bus opened and lots of Nicaraguans peering inside, talking in fast Spanish that neither of us could understand. However, less than a half hour later, they had the bus running and we were on our way! It took us just three hours to get down to the coast, and the ride was beautiful. Just as the sun was setting, we passed several smoking Volcanoes.

As we passed the Volcanoes, I pulled out my camera to take a snapshot. NOT a smart decision. Immediately, I noticed this guy from several seats up staring at me. So I put the camera away, but the guy keeps staring. A few minutes later, he moves into the seat next to me (I was sitting with Laura, in the aisle, and he moved across the aisle from me). At this point, I am getting a little nervous, and turn to Laura, telling her this guy is really starting to sketch me out. Throughout the remaining hour of the bus ride, this guy literally DOES NOT take his eyes off me. I keep telling Laura, keep telling Laura, and she honestly just doesn’t believe me and thinks I am being 0overly paranoid. When the bus stops at San Juan del Sur, it is 6pm, and the beach is the last stop. I tell Laura to stay in our seat until this guy goes—and he just keeps waiting for me to get up . Finally, he motions for me to go in front of him, as if he is being polite. I refuse. He tells me this is the last stop, and I should get off.  I just say “esta bien,” and remain in my seat. So the guy goes. He walks away literally at a snails pace, looking back every five minutes to see if we have left yet. Laura and I finally get off the bus, and when he is not looking, sprint down a different street, taking a detour on our way to the hostel.

That night, Laura and I had dinner on the beach before hitting EL DISCOTECA! We sat beachfront, and I ordered three lobster tails and a beer for just $11! In the US, tip on ONE lobster tail would alone be around $8! It was insane, and so delicious! The next night, we went to another place on the beach and ate this amazing seafood stew—crabs, an entire lobster tail, clams, shrimp, a (random) chicken breast. Cost? $4! The even funnier part is that this kind of dining is a splurge and not quite in Laura and my budget….

My lobster tails

Seafood Stew

We enjoyed going out both nights. The first night we went to a bar/dance club on the beach, La Iguana. The club was very Americanized, but it was fun to talk to all the different travelers passing through, to hear about their experiences, and to get ideas about what we should do next.

Random friend

A few Nicaraguans were interspersed. Best pick up lines? “Do you want sexy me?” and “You look very delicious for me!” Oh, and actually, one of the best lines came from a fellow travelling from New Zealand: “There is a famous song in New Zealand which says that I am a pearl in an oyster of a world. But I think they had it wrong. I am the oyster, and the world is my pear, you know?” SUCH A TOOL THING TO SAY! This guy tried so hard to impress us all night with these cheesy,  very philosophical epiphanies.

 Miley Cyrus came on. . .

On Saturday night, we went to a bar further down on the strip that had a live reggae band, fire throwers, and an acrobat. It was very surreal to sit on the beach, listening to music, the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, and watching shooting stars above  us.

Saturday, we took a bus to Maderna, a secluded beach about 15 minutes from where we were staying. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Very awkward-- Locals who wanted to take pictures with us

We found a lobster on the beach

We rented boards, and spent the morning trying to surf the low tide to no avail. MANY nosedives (the waves were really sharp and, as novices, impossible to catch), but by the afternoon, the tide had come in, and the waves were awesome. We had so much fun, but both realized we needed to work on our upper body strength so that we would be able to pull ourselves up faster.

 Sunday, we woke up early and hiked an hour to the GIGANTE JESUS statue overlooking the city.

The incline on the way up was very impressive—maybe 40-50%? We had no idea how a car would make it up that road, much less a Nicaragua car (aka PIECE OF SHIT). We had a quick worship

 

. . .  And then enjoyed the breathtaking views of the entire coastline.

 

 

 

In the afternoon, we crashed five star resorts before catching the 2 pm bus back to Granada.

 

 

 

 

This morning was my first swim lesson. Lotte and I only had two children to work with today due to technical difficulties, but it went really well. One of the boys we were working with was nine years old and had never been in water before! The poor Nicaraguans bathe themselves not even in a shower, but with wet cloths that they run over their bodies. As cheesy as this may sound, it was really fun to be able to give him that experience and to watch him jump around and have the time of his life. We worked on becoming comfortable in the water, submerging our haeds, kicking, and floating.

Medical Afflictions

They have begun. Atleast we dont have mold growing on our faces  . . . . yet.  Yes, that ACTUALLY happened to several of the girls here.

1.) Laura's eye infection
2.) My skin disease (ie weird, fluid filled bumps covering my hands)
3.) My possibly broken (or definitely seriously sprained) finger

 

4.) General backne
5.) Unidentified growth on Laura's neck

6.) My two month old tick bite that wont go away

7.) Misc. sunburns

8.) Constant dehydration (ie bright yellow pee after waking up in the morning due to intense overnight sweats, even after drinking 2-3 nalgenes a day without peeing)

9.) General obesity

10.) Laura's knee/ surf injury

11.) Laura's ear infection

12.) Laura's triggers-- She was COVERED in these tiny, tick-like creatures after our hike to the bat caves in Tisay (they form a feeding tube on your body, which remain intact for several days until your body manages to  break them down).

 

13.) Bushwacking leaves Laura with a slash down her leg. . . .

 

14.) My tick bite is turning really interesting colors. Also, please note the very attractive leg hair. Oh, life in the wilderness. . .

 

15.) A spider's bite inside of my belly button. Never a good thing, especially when you have belly button phobia.

 

16.) This isn't really an illness, but the level of dirt, sweat, and (in all likeliness) mold and bacteria covering our bodies is truly appalling. These are our dirt lines after just one day of hiking.

 

17.) Food poisoning/ amoebic parasitic infection. Laura and I spent two and a half of the most miserable days of our life rejecting any and everything that entered our bodies. I won't get too graphic here, but it was not pretty. Luckily, we happened to be staying in a hotel that was on the top of a pharmacy (and we happened to have our own room and, most importantly, bathroom), and the woman who owned the shop pumped us full of unknown drugs that we were way to sick to question. Two days later, we were finally able to walk again (and keep down a few Ritz crackers). Definitely the most sick I can ever remember being, and this includes my boughts of food sickness in Asia.

18.) Laura's copious back sweats

Life in Granada has been pretty good to us. Apart from enjoying an average of two to three ice cream cones each per day (who could RESIST at only 7 cords/ 40 cents a scoop?!?!?), we are really enjoying our work in the schools. Summer vacation starts next week, so our duties will be changing a little bit, but right now, we are both teaching math, art, and reading and assisting the teachers in two different schools. 

 Laura, getting fat

My third grader, Jaime, working on his multiplication tables. My biggest challenge is usually not the language barrier, but preventing him from cheating by pulling multiplication tables our of his pockets, notebooks, and getting the answers from other students.

The kids are locked into their classrooms every morning. Here are a couple kids trying to climb into another room.

And a few others giving me the eyes...

Other volunteers at work

I have been working with third graders at the school, tutoring three kids over the course of a day. Yesterday, I actually got a spitball and paper airplane thrown at me during the lesson! I failed a little on the disciplinary front…and just burst out laughing.

Los Estudiantes

 

Low point of the week? Definitely have to say falling into the river on my walk to school. Well, it is hardly even a river—mostly urine, both human and horse shit, and trash. The water is nowhere near clear, it actually more closely resembles milk than water.

The stream we cross every morning

A huge problem I have become aware of in Nicaragua is that none of the locals know how to swim, despite the proximity of Lake Nicarauga, which is just down the road, and the Ocean, which is a two hour bus ride to the southeast of Granada. My Spanish teacher told me that even the adults cannot swim, and that there are no teachers available to instruct. Drowning is actually a huge problem because there is so much water around, and the locals are terrified of water. One local told me that there is a legend that Laguno de Appollo (where Laura and I went last weekend) “sucks people into its depths” because there is a dropoff about four feet out in the lagoon where the depth rapidly increases. Because the locals cant swim, they fall off the ledge unaware and drown.

I have been trying to figure out how to provide swimming lessons because this just seems like such a basic skill. And beyond that, these people are so poor and have so few joys in their life, it seems like they should at least be able to take advantage of the natural resources so close to home. However, the lake is so polluted that only the locals can swim in it without falling ill or developing a skin condition, and the private pool is so expensive that I can barely afford a membership, and joining is out of the question for the kids a work with, who cannot even afford to eat three meals a day or buy pencils and paper for class. However, today I met with the owner of the pool, who is an American from New York, and he agreed to let me conduct swim lessons once a week in the mornings before the pool opens. So my friend Lotte and I are going to bring my third graders, one auydante (a teaching assistant who is 20 and articulated that he wanted to learn to swim), and my Spanish teacher every Monday morning for an hour. We are hoping that over the next two months, we can teach them some of the basics, and that the agreement with the pool can continue with other volunteers after we leave.

 

We spent the weekend at Laguno de Apoyo, a lake formed by a natural spring in a volcanic crater. It is only a half hour outside Granada, and it was great to get out of the city for a little while. The views were awesome and the water crystal clear!

 The Monkey Hut on Laguno de Apoyo

PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE THAT WE ARE ALIVE!  (this is for you, Mom and Dad!)

We kayaked around the lagoon and explored the shoreline

And watched the sunset from our hostel, and then enjoying drinking and getting to know the other volunteers in our group a little better.

Laura LOVED the hammocks

And I loved ROCKING OUT in the hostel

New friends!

After a midnight swim . . .

On Sunday morning, we headed back to Granada and took a boat to some the small islands in Lake Nicaragua. It was awesome to be out on the water, and we got to see a group of monkeys just feet away from the boat on one of the islands!

 On the boat

Leaving the mainland

Laura enjoys a coconut on one of the isletas

El Mono!