A Taste of the Old Life

Arrived in Granada for a week on Sunday Nov 2. Beautiful historic old colonial city nestled up to the west shore of Lake Nicaragua. The only fresh water lake with sharks. Lots of expats here as this is a choice destination. Loads of restaurants with indoor/outdoor seating, coffee shops, galleries, museums, parks and great for walking around. Old time horse carriages offering an hour tour of the city for $20. Very picturesque with views of the architecture, lake and volcanoes. One day headed to check out nearby Mombacho volcano. Had to park the car near the base, 4x4 only. Was told an hour and half to top walking, ok. Three and a half hours later, with feet slipping on the paved road because it was so steep, finally reached the top. Resting a bit, then hiking the trail around one of the craters was awesome. After slipping and walking down the 4 kilometer steep half  back down, got a ride back to the car, that too was awesome! The next couple days was pretty local without much walking. Other trips were to Laguna de Apoyo, a warm crater lake great for swimming, and a drive up the Masaya volcano. Car got to the main crater, but for a better view took a horse up higher and then walked/climbed up to an incredible overlook. This one is active, the main crater is smoking a lot. It last erupted in 2008.

Schools out for winter!

So the spanish class is done for now and my skills remain very weak. Looking back I think I should have stopped after 3 weeks, but I have learned a lot about the history and the area. My comprehension is way better, so it will come with time.
Starting off with a week in Granada, plan on visiting Ometepe then head into the north part of the country. Just heard about a canyon they just discovered in the last decade near Honduras that sounds awesome, along with other parks and reserves. Have a car rented for a month for less than $300, should aid in the exploration capabilities. Plans are set for a month in the beach town Jacó in Costa Rica for December.
The implant started well, but is on hold for now. Went in after a week to get the impression for the new tooth and when he screwed the new post into the implant, the implant came loose. So he did a bone graft and I will let that grow till after New Years and come back to wrap it up. A bit of a setback but should work out well in the end, not going to rush it at this point.

Been enjoying activities with Wi/Nic Partners on weekends. Last week they had about 60 kids at a "Bike/Hike" event where they had games and activities all afternoon on Friday. The local scout troop helped out too. Saturday was a monthly meeting of most of the leaders of the various learning centers in Nicaragua, to share ideas and progress. Am headed to one northwest of León on Saturday, looking forward to that.
Have had some other students in the house the last month, a couple from Ireland/England, Nick from Australia that has been working in Belize, and just this week a couple from New Mexico. Been checking out many different restaurants in town with Nick the last week enjoying some good conversation and fare. Being here the longest, I have been named "The Don", I prefer "Don Ray de León".

Homework? Really?

Just wrapping up three weeks here in Nicaragua. School is good and David, the teacher is great and can speak good English, which is great for explaining grammar rules, etc. Have learned a whole lot and still have two weeks to go, will be a very good start.
Haven't traveled too much, been to Managua twice to help with WI/Nic Partners and chilled by the Pacific beach once. Have seen many museums, cathedrals, and historical sites around León, the school owner takes me around some afternoons, he is a history buff and provides an awesome insight and really enjoys sharing about the city he loves.
First weekend in Managua helped build a concrete wood cook stove for a local school. They used to use just a metal plate over a fire held up by a few cement blocks. We finished the chimney this weekend, this group is awesome and helps so many. They are great people. Today they held a fund raising event at a park. There was music, cultural dances and food, very cool.
The beach town was quite remote and quiet. I was hoping to use an ATM but was told closest one was in León, 20+ miles away. Last Monday about 10pm there was an earthquake about 150 miles NW of León, 7.2. The house shook for almost a minute but no damage. Very strange feeling. Talking today, I heard it shook hard even here in Managua.
I found a dentist that speaks English, and had him do an implant, it will all be complete in two weeks. The hard work is done, I now have metal in my jaw and it went very well. It cost $1,000 here, would have been $6-7,000 in the US.
This is the rainy season and it rains every afternoon or evening, to the south the island of Ometepe is shut down because of the wet. There are two volcanos on the island and they are to muddy, dangerous to climb. I hope to go there, maybe in a month or so it will dry out. After school I plan to go to Granada, Ometepe, and San Juan Del Sur. Then to Jaco in Costa Rica for December.
This country is  quite poor and the job market is bad. Over 500,000 Nicas are working in Costa Rica. The riches they have are in being friendly and helpful, everyone you meet thanks you for being in Nicaragua. For all the hardships they have endured, they are very gentle, kind and helpful.

Leon at Last

With over a year of planning, I am finally here. The host family is great, very friendly and helpful. I am only steps from the school. Rolando, the owner of the school, came to pick me up in Managua on Sunday afternoon after flying in late Saturday night. The hour and a half drive was great as he is a history buff and explained much about the history here.
Today was the second day of Spanish at the school. There is a teacher for each student. Every week they will rotate. My teacher is David and went to 5 years of University in Leon. All people here have free access to all university programs, they only have to buy books. It's been a long time since I have been in school, but it is only 4 hours per day. Today the school offered an activity this afternoon which was a tour of the Leon Cathedral. This is the 4th one on this spot and this one was started in 1747. It is the largest in Central America. We got to go on the roof for spectacular views of the city. Leon is approx. 500,000 people in the city proper.

A real summer vacation

What a whirlwind trip back in WI. It has been so good to get in touch with friends and family. Fishing trips, concerts, baseball games, trivia nights, biking and time to

help the kids with a couple of projects. After staying at Comfort Suites for a month and a half, I moved into Dave Ladick's place, a very generous friend. Summers usually go by so fast but this doesn't seem like that, even though it was late June when I got here. It is truly amazing to have time to head off to whatever comes up, and it's summertime.
The tickets have been bought for the first round. Headed for Orlando to visit friends on Sept 17, then off to Nicaragua on Sept 27. I am registered for the Spanish immersion school in Leon, Nicaragua starting Sept 29. This should be interesting, I will be staying with a host family throughout the time. I am hopeful to become fluent in a month or so, but am willing to stay as long as it takes. The freedom it will allow to travel without the language barrier will make the travels after so open with options. After the school I want to check out Granada, Managua, and San Juan del Sur, all other cities in Nicaragua before heading south to Costa Rica and Panama. The local travel will be by bus.
A few final preparations are what I'm working on now. Packing everything needed for travel in one bag and a backpack is going to be a challenge. Getting excited about taking the leap.

Summertime in WI

Settled in at Stevens Point for the rest of the summer. Kind of strange not knowing where you will be staying, after a week and a half of bouncing around WI I negotiated a long stay at the Comfort Suites in town. Nice to be close to Austin's family, Carly is enjoying being back with her friends, lots of giggles and running around.. Have enjoyed having time to meet many friends that I haven't seen for awhile, did some fishing (out of state license required) with Austin, and now the Riverfront Rendezvous is going on at the park all weekend, had a coat and blanket for last night, this is July, right? Got on the bike for the first time in over a month, have a great trail right by the hotel. Mom looks great, had a nice visit early this week, met there with Jim, Kathy and Mary for a staff meeting. Had supper with Corey Ladick, a seasoned traveler, last nite and he brought up immersion language classes. Think that would be a great way to start this fall, will be checking on this, maybe will help steer me to a starting country.
Time for fun and music, happy July 4th to everyone!