Vacation

First of all Happy April and Happy 1 year of dating to Frank & me :)  Yep, it's already been a year!  So crazy, but here it is.  The Holy Week (week before Easter) vacation lined up quite well or us to spend some time together to celebrate both which has been nice.  We were originally planning on going to a beach resort, but with Frank still finishing up his medicine and having to stick to simple foods, we decided we would postpone that til a later date when he's back to normal and can eat to his heart desires :)

So, we decided to head out to La Laguna de Apoyo (a lagoon inside a volcano) to spend a couple days swimming in the lake.  We got there late morning and were eager to go sailing as it was a gorgeous day and very windy, however the manager didn't really want to help us get the catamaran in the water so we said we'd be fine waiting til the next day since we were staying a few nights.  We enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and even saw two other PCVs and hung out with them during the stay.  They were two health PCVs that came in a few months after us.  We shared some food and played cards and had a grand ole time.  It was nice because the hostel has a kitchen so Frank & I made all of our meals there and didn't have to buy the expensive things there.  We had purchased food before and brought it with us.

The next day was really nice as well and we got up a little early to take a dip in the lake before breakfast.  The water was cool and refreshing :)  We hoped that that day would be our sailing day, but unfortunately, there wasn't much wind and the manager of the place kept giving us excuses every time we asked about the boat.  Bummer.  Well, we were on vacation so we were determined to enjoy ourselves so we took the kayaks out and paddled around the lagoon enjoying the nice breeze and the sun setting over the edge of the volcano crater.

The last day we were there, we woke up to another beautiful morning filled with sunshine and a nice breeze off the lake.  We were too tired of dealing with the manager so we decided not to ask about the boat today and just enjoy the rest of the time we had there so we went swimming and played on the floating docks.  After a little while, we packed up, checked out, and caught the bus back up to the highway.

Frank is ALWAYS reading, which is a great hobby.  He loves his Kindle :)

View from our room at the lagoon

Our friends Sarah and Anna 

The second part of our adventure was to Granada.  As we headed back up the volcano’s edge to the highway, the bus stopped a few times to pick people up.  One stop was for a drunk man being kicked out of a “bar” at 11:45am.  They also loaded up his bicycle too.  Not quite sure why they even let drunk people on the buses, but the owner of the bus was very eager to get rid of the guy.  We made it to the top after about 15 minutes or so and we jumped off the bus to walk over to the Granada bus stop.  I glanced back and saw the drunk man lying in the middle of the highway with his bike.  Not sure if he was riding it or just fell over with it.  Fortunately, he made it to the middle lane without getting hit by a car, AND, there were police there doing traffic stops so they were able to go get him and his bicycle and bring them both to the side of the highway. 

After all of that, we got on a microbus to Granada and made our way to our hostel to check in.  Frank had to go to Managua for a quick appointment so we ran and grabbed some lunch for him in the park and then he hopped on a bus while I stayed and got something to eat and relaxed a bit.  While at my restaurant of choice, I saw one of the newer TEFL PCVs that lives in Granada and I shouted her name and she came over.  She’s a sweet lady in her 70’s and fun to chat with.  We sat there for about 45 minutes or so just talking about our experiences and teaching.  It was nice to have someone to talk to since Frank was out of town for a bit.  We then went to the park and sat there and enjoyed the shade of a tree and people watched for awhile.  It was getting a little late in the afternoon, so Sophia decided to head back to her house and I went back to the hostel to catch up on some emails.

Frank finally got back and we had to jump in the pool because it had been such a hot day and I was starting to get a heat rash ugh!  The pool at this hostel is always so cool and refreshing which is such a treat because Granada is one hot city! 

We went out to dinner and found something Frank could enjoy, steak and potatoes.  Those were simple enough, but different than the everyday beans and rice.  I had some quesadillas and a sangria—yum!  We were too tired to watch a movie that night (our usual tradition) so we went to bed to get some good sleep for our next day’s adventure.

The next morning we cooked up some breakfast and caught a bus out to another volcano, but this one was for hiking.  We got to the ranger station at the bottom and found out that you could either walk up the road to the top for free (or probably a small fee or entering the park) or pay for a ride up to the top.  We were told it was only 5km, but another PCV had advised us to take the ride.  We were very glad we paid the $6 for the roundtrip truck ride, even though it was in the truck bed.  This would have been a miserable walk since most of it is very, very steep and there was pretty much no shade the whole way.  We had to wait an hour at the ranger station before the truck left, but that was ok since we had brought our cards and there were picnic tables. 

On the way up, we passed by a family who had left to walk up when we got to the ranger station.  They weren’t quite to the first checkpoint and an hour had already passed.  It was nothing but steep hills after that and lots of HOT sun.  Well, we made it to the top, listened to a little chat about the area, and then hiked around on the trails.  It wasn’t anything strenuous, but there were a lot of steps so it would be difficult for people with knee problems. 

We made it around the volcano crater and took pictures of the beautiful views and flowers.  It was super hot out so we tried to stay under the shady trees and made our way back to the reception area just as a truck was getting ready to go back down the volcano. That worked out perfectly because the next truck wasn’t scheduled to leave until another hour or so. 

As we headed down the hill, we saw the family that I mentioned earlier, almost to the top of the volcano to start their hikes around the top.  That was 3 hours after they had started walking from the bottom.  How miserable!  I hope they had lots of water!  This made us even more thankful that we paid a little extra to not be exhausted and dehydrated.  Also, since we made good time, and we were close to Carazo, we decided to visit Frank’s training host family.  It was really nice to meet them and they were excited to meet me, Frank’s girlfriend.  I met my “Nica mother-in-law” as she referred to herself when she greeted me with a hug and kiss on the cheek.  Nicas make me laugh sometimes. 

Anyway, it was nice visiting them and they must have picked up on our ravished looks and offered us some lunch, which was eagerly accepted.  They were also making these corn treats called “rosquillas” for Holy week and offered us some fresh out of the oven—yum!  Well, we didn’t get to stay too long until it was time to leave so we could catch a bus back to Granada.   I was getting a little stressed and feeling anxious since a few people told us that the last bus already passed, but fortunately, even Nicas don’t know their own bus schedules and we were able to make it back to Granada just fine.  It was getting dark when we got back, but we had time to jump in the pool before going out to dinner.

That night we decided to watch a movie.  It was getting a little late and the movie was long, but we lowered the volume and continued watching.  Someone disturbed our movie night though.  The room we were in shared air space with two other rooms so we heard our fair share of someone’s nightmare.  The walls were about 15 feet high, but the ceiling was probably 20 feet or so, which left open space and a sort of echo.  An older man was in a room across from ours and we think he must have been drinking and having several different dreams or nightmares.  He was quite the sleep-talker/screamer and it actually creeped us out a few times.  Sometimes it was just odd when he was groaning and cursing fairly loudly, sometimes it was funny when he was asking questions and saying random things, but he also had this creepy laugh that you would hear in some kind of horror film right before the guy is gonna kill someone.  I’m glad Frank and I were together and we weren’t watching a horror movie.  Unfortunately, the sleep talking continued throughout the night and woke us up several times.  Frank woke up once thinking that the guy had scaled the walls and was looking at us, which made it real difficult for me to fall asleep after that.  But, we finally got some shut eye.  We’ll make sure to not get one of those rooms next time, although I’m sure that man won’t be there again.

Mombacho Volcano

The hike around the crater

Looking out over the crater to Granada

Top of the volcano

Inside the crater

Looking out over Granada and the little islands

Steam vent

Saw this while waiting for a bus.  It's a usual site, but it was funny because there were some department of transportation workers there, but they didn't have them pull over, just the buses to check paperwork.

Rosquillas (Row-ski-yuhs).  Yummy baked corn treat, although only good when fresh and crunchy--have been described as a milder flavored cheeze-it cracker

Baking in the oven

Making (and eating)

Waiting to be eaten

Well, that was our last day in Granada, so we grabbed some breakfast and played cards by the pool.  It was nice to have some time to just walk around Granada a little a look through the shops.  There were even some recycled material items that kept Frank’s interest for awhile :)  We then grabbed some lunch and decided to catch a bus before it got too late and too crowded. 

The bus ride out of Granada and to the north highway wasn’t too bad, but the buses were super full heading north.  After a bus pulled up, we walked over to the back and tried to see if there would be enough room for us to squeeze in before the guys put our bags on top of the bus.  As I was trying to hand my bag to the guy, another guy climbed up the bus behind me and the zipper of his back pack caught my hair and started taking me with him.  I shouted out and Frank grabbed my hair to pull it back.  This was certainly not pleasant.  The bus guy yelled at the guy who eventually came down a little so they could free my hair.  Ugh.  Not fun.  The worst was over though.  I didn’t even mind that we had to stand the whole way back, I was just thankful my hair didn’t get ripped out and that we made it back to Frank’s in one piece.   The bus guy tried to charge us for our bags (they’ve been doing this a lot lately), but we just said no and walked away.  It’s funny because they usually will say one price and then quickly lower it when we shake our heads and then they usually don’t fight it when we just walk away.  They’re not supposed to charge you for your bags unless you have A LOT of stuff that they have to load and unload, so I really didn’t feel bad about it.  

So, the third part of our vacation is here in Ciudad Dario where Frank lives.  It's pretty chill here and they have a beautiful courtyard and patio that's nice to relax in.  We've been playing cards, watching movies, and just hanging out (oh, and we hand-washed some clothes).  Nothing too exciting, but it's nice just to relax.  There were thunder and lightning the past two nights though, and a little rain really cooled the place down last night which was wonderful.  Now it's just time to soak up the R&R before it's back to the grind...

Flower in the patio

This is Maia--the little girl at Frank's house.  She will be 2 next month and she's so cute.  She definitely weighs less than Dyland.  Remember, he just turned 1 last month...  Anyway, this is an outfit that Frank's mom gave her last year and she can finally fit into it (She was a preemie).