The Fatherland

Finally, after almost two years here in Central America, I had the chance to venture off to the fatherland - Nicaragua. We (as in my roomie Julie and I) had been planning this trip since February, and it finally happened (praise God that it happened). I couldn't have asked for a better time there.
     Although it was short, everyday was worth it. Here's the rundown of the 5 day trip.

SATURDAY - DAY 1: Crazy Bus Driver and a Welcome Home
     3am wake up call for a 4am bus trip down the mountain to then hop onto another bus leaving for nicaragua at 5am. What a morning! It was just our luck too - we apparently had a very upset bus driver. As we waited for the Dramamine to kick in, we held onto our seats, took deep breaths, and prayed for safe travels. After an hour at the boarder, and coffee in Julie's system, we hoped back onto the bus and landed in Nica after a total of 6 hours traveling (not bad for the bus system!). Eventually we found a taxi who would take us to our first destination at a reasonable price. What I will call Home #1 is the family that julie stayed with during her 5 months of living in Nicaragua (pre-Honduras). They welcomed us in, fed us breakfast for lunch, and we just sat around the table for a little catch-up conversation. One nap later, Julie and I head out for an ice cream adventure and returned just in time to leave for the Saturday evening youth group with the family. I was so excited to be there, and even understood about 90% of what the message was!! The worship band blew my mind away. They were too cool for school that's for sure.

I busted out with my artistic skills. 

He was sooo excited!

SUNDAY - DAY 2: Isabel, Fran, Pizza and Granada
     On Sunday we were able to sleep in a little, pack, and head out on the next adventure. House #2 will be referred to as Isabel and Fran's house. Here we had quality time with some of Julie's friends. I felt like over time they became my family as well! They are so precious, loving, and most of all welcoming. Fran, the animal whisperer, introduced us to his many friends. After a pizza lunch, Julie and I headed out to Granada where we would find our first hostel and figure out where we were. I of course had never been there before, let alone been to Nicaragua. Julie, on the other hand, had experience in this area which reassured me that we would be okay. Eventually, three buses later and an unexpected walk around town with our backpacks, we arrived at the Oasis Hostel. That evening we walked around the little city, comparing the ambiance with that of Antigua, Guatemala (some similarities, but still very different). After dinner, gellato, swimming at the hostel and some popcorn, I experienced my first night at an official hostel. Granted this hostel was a super nice one, the experience was overall pleasant. :)

MONDAY - DAY 3: Bike Rentals, Monkey Island and Paradiso (Paradise)

Monkey Island up ahead!

     Today we explored. After more free pancakes (apparently the breakfast of choice throughout the trip), we searched for liquados (smoothies) and checked out the bicycle rentals. We rented bikes for $1/hour and rode to our hearts content! It was definitely a highlight of the trip. I couldn't even remember the last time I was out riding a bike, but I got a hold of it pretty quickly. We rode down to the lake, across the shore and through a park over to the boat ride. One guy ran along side Julie trying to explain the boat situation to us while I tried to keep myself on the bike and not the ground. Fast forward to us on the boat, coke in hand, ready to see the islands. Monkeys. Finally. Monkeys. There was even a couple of Monkey islands specifically for the little guys. Our guide told us that they fed them on a regular basis and that they even had names! How crazy is that! Anyways, back on the main land, we gathered our things and headed out to the next hostel... Paradiso. This hostel is located in a volcano. Yup. In a volcano. And inside the crater of that volcano... a lake. Definitely paradise. Here we were able to really relax, take in some sun, and enjoy the scenery. Julie made some friends (one guy was from London, the other from Switzerland), and we later spent some of the evening playing cards with them. That night Julie and I made a brave move (I say brave mostly because I was freaked out about the whole thing). We went on a little night float over to the dock (a dock that was rather far from the shore) to hangout with the start. It was a trip! I, of course, became paranoid with the gradual sounds of the fish jumping out of the water after I was told that there were none, but I made it! It turned out to be more fun (a definite adrenaline rush) than I had imagined. (I hope that made sense... my English is quickly getting worse the longer I stay here.) A shower later, the moon appears in it's bright red/orange glory right over the lake, so of course the only way to experience that is with some popcorn, coke, and two lawn chairs on the balcony.

TUESDAY - DAY 4: Lazy Day and Return to Managua
     I slept in the bottom of the bunk bed and of course I would be the one to wake up and hit my head. Yes, the day started out like that. But then we had a lazy morning, so I guess that makes up for it. We laid out in the sun, with the cool breeze flowing over us, ate a breakfast of champions, kayaked a little more and then checked out for our trip back to Managua. We ended up at the mall where we dropped off our huge backpacks at the grocery store and ate some lunch in the very packed food court. The Real Madrid game happened to be on, and they scored - that was an experience. Then we made our way back to House #2 and did a little house hopping so that Julie could say bye to friends before settling down for the night.
   

WEDNESDAY - DAY 5: TICA, TICA, TICA
     4am. That's when our taxi arrived to take us to the TICA bus station. 4AM. We approached the counter with our tickets in hand. Julie went first and she moved on, I on the other hand was told that I didn't have a return ticket. Um... no. I did. Or I had bought one at least. The case ended up being that both of our tickets were printed for a Tegus --> Managua trip and not a Managua -->Tegus.  Bummer. They wouldn't change our ticket because "the office didn't open until 8am" and "there was no one there who could authorize the change". Whatever. Hopefully we'll still get our refund from the station in Honduras. After 7 hours on the bus (the boarder crossing felt much longer this time around), we ended up in el centro in Tegucigalpa, had lunch at a McDonalds (in which I forgot L400 in change, but was able to pick up the next day) and headed up the mountain to our little home. Needless to say, this was the roughest day. But we made it!

Again, even though it was a short trip, it was worth it. To sum it up: I reached all time traveler status, pancakes ad thick tortillas, giopinto, 100 degree heat, and plenty of exercise + 9 modes of transportation were used throughout the trip. I would not have wanted to experience Nicaragua for the first time any other way. I enjoyed it and may even go back someday. Who knows.


**more pics to come**