Puente Traditions Continue: Surf Trip to the Middle of Nowhere

Two weekends ago my dad and brother came down to Nicaragua to visit me and catch some of Nicaragua's famed waves. After flying in Monday night, they quickly got their gears straightened out and took off the next morning to go surf at Los Cardones, the surf eco-lodge about an hour away. I was the lucky one who got to work all day. Fortunately for them, however, the waves were going off and they caught bombs at the river mouth close to the lodge. Then, the next day I got to satiate my quench for surf when we took off to the beaches around San Juan del Sur, the main surf town of Nicaragua. We got in late Wednesday afternoon and snatched up the best boards we could find and headed to our beach house, which my boss had been kind enough to loan us for the weekend. We were all totally amped to wake up early and get on the waves, so we were totally bummed when we woke up at sunlight to find flat waves out in front. We didn't give up easily; we jumped in the car and headed two coves north were the break was apparently pretty good. Once we got there and saw the small surf and jagged rocks, our hearts sank even more- though not for long. We struck up a conversation with a local fisherman who informed us that the waves here jump up once the tide fills in and we simply had to wait a couple hours. So, we simply sat on the rocks, watching the waves roll in and feeling out the break. Eventually we got bored and starting a home run hitting contest with rocks and sticks. Finally, the tide filled in enough to make the place safely rideable and the waves looked super fun. We hoped on it, paddling out with two other Americans and cathcing some great waves. We stayed out most of the afternoon and, being cautious individuals, neglected to put sun screen on all day. Needless to say, my skin was not happy with me. The next few days were cut from the same cloth: wake up, consume calories, wait for mid-tide, and then surf your brains out. The beach we were staying at was super quiet, so there wasn't much to do at night except eat at the local restaurant and try to pick up their wireless signal, which was a pretty ridiculous concept considering we were in the middle of nowhere, Nicaragua. Unfortunately as the weekend hit, the waves starting getting more crowded, so we shifted our focus to the cove in front of our house. About a mile north was a wedging right that was really fun. We caught a ton of waves there, and always surfed alone. And because it was contiguous to a big rock shelf, my dad was able to take a bunch of good photos while my brother and I surfed. Those are pictures are littered throughout this post. After a great weekend, we headed back to Managua and my dad and brother flew home. They had a great trip, really getting to know Nicaragua by seeing the beautiful countryside, experiencing the culture, and catching some great waves. I was sure happy to see them!

Well, as Nicas are know to say:
Da le pues

Mombaucho Volcano

Today, a group from work went to Mombacho Volcano, about 30 minutes outside Managua. We all met up around 7 am and headed out early to get a good hike in before heading down to the canopy tour zip line. It was a pretty leisurely paced trek, filled with a ton of beautiful views of the crater as well as overviews of both Granada and Managua. It was pretty wild on top of the volcano; it was super windy and, because we were in a cloud, really misty and pretty cold. Fortunately, the views got better as the day wore on and I was able to get some cool photographs. Thus, I’m attaching more photos than usual so you can see all the shots.

After the hike, we hopped back in the preferred mode of transportation at Mombacho: a Russian military truck outfitted with ten rows of seats in the rather large truck bed. We quickly gobbled our packed lunches and then went to the canopy tour. I was really excited, as we had heard how extensive their course was, though also bit nervous due to my left index finger still being bandaged up. My fears were quickly dissipated upon being presented with a glove modified to have an open spot for “handicapped” finger. Up in the canopy, we had a great time zipping from tree to tree for a good hour and a half. I even was able to do the famed “Superman” and upside down positions on two of the legs. Then, on the last leg, we zipped from a tree down to level ground and the guides made you bob up and down by toying with the line. I’ll try to attach a video of me going through this; it was a pretty crazy feeling going up and down so much. In general, the canopy tour was a great experience, but it did make me very sentimental for Jill’s trip to Nicaragua a few weeks back. I have to confess though; she was the only one to do the “superman” during our Tiscapa canopy tour.

We concluded our active day by going to downtown Granada and getting a little dessert at the “Chocolaté Café.” My chocolate cake and strawberry shake were delicious. Then, we just mingled a bit around the town square, soaking in the sun in Central America’s oldest city. Of course, this also added to the sentimentalism of the day, as Jill and I also did this.

Overall, it was a great day experiencing Mombacho and just living life. Today really made me realize how fortunate I am to have this experience and I had to thank God for providing me with the opportunity. Well, my brother and dad are coming to Nicaragua on Monday; so next week should be a jammed packed adventure. I only have to work a few days, so we should have plenty of time to get some really good surfing in down near San Juan del Sur. I’ll keep the blog updated as much as possible. Until then, things should be relatively quite: church, tennis, and reading are the only items on my agenda tomorrow. Other than that, I’ll just be missing Jill and thinking about how much she’s enjoying lounging on one of Italy’s beaches.

I hope you enjoyed all the photos and found my blog meaty enough to be enticed for more.

Buenas Noches,

Lucas

Farewell Nail

So my hand currently resembles that of an alien. Let explain.
The Saturday after Jill left I had a bike accident and now am missing a finger nail. I was mountain biking on a mount above Managua and, on the way back down, lost control of my bike. The bike cushioned its fall by landing on my fingers. Miraculously, I didn't break anything, but I did manage to scrap up a good portion of my body and break the nail from one of my fingers clean off. It was pretty gnarly looking. Consequently, I've had to do some serious r&r and haven't had any more exciting expeditions. I've just been getting a lot of reading done and hanging around Managua with colleagues from work.
On a completely unrelated note, I attached the below picture to add a little "meat" to this more bland than usual blog post, I put this picture in from a barbecue I went to a few weeks back. The pig was, in fact, quite tasty.
Hope everyone is doing well at home; I'll be back in only a few weeks.

Catching Up

So it’s been two weeks since my last post and I have a lot to catch up on. First and foremost, Jill came to visit! She was here from July 2 to July 7, five nights and four days. It was a great trip for her (I hope…) and, naturally, for me as well. We got to pack a ton in the four days she was in Nicaragua. So, let’s start from the beginning.

Wednesday night Jill got in after her long flight from Atlanta and Managua welcomed her with its most celebrated tradition in July: rain. Pretty sad stuff, but we went to the mall down the street and had some good pizza and a relaxing evening together.

Thursday we got to indulge in my favorite part of Nicaragua- the beach. We got Luis, my trusty taxi driver, to take us on the hour trek to the beautiful beaches of Nicaragua. Once there, Jill treated all three (Luis included) of us to a delicious lunch of steak and rice at a hotel overlooked nothing but blue water. It and a small eco-lodge are the only two developments along a huge stretch of pristine beach. After lunch, we got a chance to lounge around the sand and swim around the bit. We were the only two people in sight along the beach. It was an incredible day, for sure.

Friday I convinced Jill to go a crazy adventure with me. We went zip lining across a lagoon in the middle of Managua. Jill was pretty nervous at first and I was trying my best to mask my anxiety and zipping over this lagoon at 40 mph. Nevertheless, we both got the courage to step up to the plate. Jill was even nice enough to let me go first, just to make sure the line was stable. Fortunately I lived to tell the tale and the experience was awesome. Jill barely survived her first run, as she and her guide got stuck in the trees and another instructor had to go rescue them. Nevertheless, she stayed courageous and kept on going. On the last leg, she even went “Superman” style, hanging totally upside down with her face about 2 feet away from the water. In the end, it was a great time and an experience we’ll both remember.

That afternoon we had about as patriotic holiday as possible in a foreign country- a barbeque at the Embassy. It was a fun time socializing with everyone and enjoying some good, American cooking. Jill and I also dominated an intense game of volleyball, thanks to my world-famous spikes! After the barbeque ended with some exhilarating sparklers, I decided to take Jill to our favorite post dinner activity, ice cream. We followed that up with by going to see Sex and the City (Spanish subtitles) in the theatre. It was a unique experience- funny movie with many subtleties missed by many of our neighbors that I just died laughing at. All in all, it was a great day, but nothing compared to what we had left!

Saturday Jill and I ventured down south to Granada, made famous by Samantha Brown of the travel channel. It’s a really cool town, the oldest in Nicaragua, and all built around a central square. After checking into our nice bed-and-breakfast (http://www.csf-hotel-granada.com/), we hopped in a taxi and went to the harbor of Lake Nicaragua, the biggest lake in Latin America. We hired a boat to tour us around for a few hours. Lake Nicaragua is beautiful and full of tiny islands created by an active volcano on the shore. We even got to see “Monkey Island,” where a vet had deposited a few monkeys years ago and, because monkeys apparently can’t swim, they remain today. They get their food from eager tourists and, consequently, are super aggressive. Here’s a picture of one getting a little too close to comfort.

On our final day in Nicaragua, we just walked around Granada and did a little shopping. I’m normally not a big fan of shopping, but I love bargaining (thanks Fisher & Ury). It was a good day, just hanging around town and chilling out.

Finally, we headed back to Managua and got Jill ready to return home. It was a sad good-bye, but it’ll only be a few more weeks before we see each other again.

Well I hope I’ve adequately filled everyone in on my time here; I still have some more catching up to do, but I’ll leave you with a little suspense until next time.

Chao,

Lucas

Surfing

Today I got to go to the beach with a few colleagues from work. This was my second trip to the beach thus far in my trip. Last Sunday, I went to Gran Pacifica Hotel, or "North Beach." It was super quiet, but had a great beach break. It's actually a huge, luxury development that is still is the growth stage, as evidenced by this aerial photograph. Today, however, we went to Los Cardones, an eco-lodge about an hour outside Managua and only a few miles north of Gran Pacifica, despite the stark contrasts in style. Despite not having Although I don't currently have a surfboard here in Nicaragua, the lodge had boards to rent. So I quickly snatched up a board and paddled out right in front of the lodge. It was quite daunting at first, as I was the only one surfing out front. Apparently the other surfers staying at the lodge had walked a few miles south to a fast point break. Despite the aquatic isolation, murky water, and overhead waves, I remained steady in the lineup. The tide was dead high and the wind was off-shore, as it commonly is in Nicaragua. This made for some really solid waves. The tide made the paddle pretty easy, as the period between sets was fairly long and the waves a bit softer than usual. My initial perception of a mushy wave was quickly thrown out the door after I took off late on my first wave and got quite humbled. Once I got the rhythm of the waves down I had some great rides. Eventually I got freaked out and got a wave in when the foam started turning red. At the time, I had no idea what was causing this and was still totally alone in the lineup. It was totally a bizarre experience, so I decided that it was definetely time for lunch at that point. I later learned that the rust-red color was caused by wood and leaf sediment from the river mouth, that was only a few hundred yards away- hopefully it won't cause any genetic mutations. At lunch, I had a delicious plate of grilled chicken and rice and we had a great discussion, in Spanish, about the current state of affairs of Nicaraguan politics. It was a really unique experience, surfing great waves in the middle of Central America alone and then following that by having a highly cerebral conversation in another language. After lunch, I decided to have another go. I paddled out bit further away from the red foam, but again solo. I had some more great rides though. The waves were really pumping, with sets pushing two feet overhead. The only real problem of the day was that the fin on my board was too small and I encountered some serious turbulence on the bigger waves. The great session came to a close when it was getting close to our scheduled departure time. Sitting in the lineup alone, I saw a sudden thrashing about twenty yards away. It was definetely meal time for something and I didn't care to find out. Again freaked out, I caught a wave in and called it a day. All in all, it was a great day at the beach with some really fun surfing. Hopefully I can go back with Jill on Thursday. She'll be here for July 4th weekend, and we're going to try and make it to the beach then. I'm pumped!
Until next time,
Lucas

Different Mindset

Funny Story. The other night I went to my boss's house for her son's first birthday. It was a pretty relaxed gathering, with macaroni and cheese and hot dogs being the food served. They happened to be served on disposable plastic plates. After everyone finished eating, we all took our plates to the kitchen where the maids were waiting. Assuming they were going to be throw away, we left. This was a simple assumption, as it would be really unusual to do otherwise. However, as you might be guessing by now, the maids decided to wash the plastic plates and put them on the drying rack. Although we all thought this was pretty humorous, it goes to show the just completely different mindset that Nicas have. Makes sense considering they're the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. In general, funny experience, but humbling nonetheless.

Exposure

So today I ventured out into Managua today with Carlos, the security guard at our house. I befriended him early in the week; he has been very outgoing and a great practice partner for my Spanish. I'd been complaining to him about the lack of affordable cell phones in La Galleria, the mall where I went to looking for a phone at, so he decided to take me out to do a little bargaining. After getting to the cell-phone store, he quickly found a good deal for a basic, pre-paid phone and I went ahead and bought it. For those interested, the Nica # is 977-0459, plus country code 505-2). So now I'm proud to say, I have a full-fledged Nica cellphone. Afterwards, we went to the national cathedral and toured around a bit. The pictures are right here. It was a huge, open-air cathedral and I'm planning on getting back tomorrow for mass in the morning. It was a great atmosphere there, everyone was very into their spirituality and very openly so. When we went, there were people jamming out to some music. I'm sure it has been host to some very inspiring sermons. Hopefully my Spanish comprehension skills will hold up tomorrow listening to the one tomorrow.



After the church visit, we hopped on the Nica bus out to Carlos' house in Tipitappa. Although I didn't realize this, its over an over an hour on the bus. Nevertheless, this was very interesting as I got to see the outskirts of town and more parts of Nicaragua as well as experience the local bus. In total, Carlos has and hour and a half commute to to work his shift, pretty rough if you ask me. Once we got there, his wife had prepared a huge meal of arroz con pollo with ensalada and, of course, coca-cola. It was a huge lunch indeed. However, I couldn't help but feel guilty while there. It is really tough to swallow how stark the contrast between his housing and mine are. Likewise, it is so easy to forget how blessed we are as Americans, to have the opportunities open to us that many around the world can only dream about. How lucky is it that we were born in such a prosperous country? I couldn't help but question my merit at being so fortunate compared to many Nicaraguans. What did I do to deserve the opportunities that I am privileged to have, especially when many deserving Nicaraguans won't ever have. Here's a middle-class Nicaraguan family living in a very basic house completely opening there doors to me and giving me so much. It really meant a lot to me, and exhibited how kind Nicaraguans really are.

Later, Carlos showed me a hot springs pool that is heated by the local volcano. It was really incredible to feel how hot the water was, particularly on top of the hot weather.
The picture to the left shows the water, and although it doesn't appear in the photos, is bubbling due to the heat. Truly incredible. The setup was also pretty interesting- everyone was hanging out around the water, but very few actually swimming in the water. Of course, like everything in Nicaragua, it was heavily commercialized. 10 Cordobas (about fifty cents) for entrance and then food and drinks were also available and very prolific. At the end of the day, we caught the bus back into Managua as the sun was setting. It was a great day, really getting to experience the country and deeply immersing myself in Spanish and the local culture. I hope more weekends will provide similar opportunities.

Nica Adventure

So last night I had my first, real Nica adventure. I was driving with a friend to dinner and his car and his radiator starting overheating. He pulled into a petro-station and asked if they had any supplies. Predictably, they didn't; so I decided to take a taxi and go to the hardware store (la ferreteria) and get some rudimentary tools to fix the issue. On the way, the taxi driver and I hummed along to some MC hammer and discussed the downfall of los Yankees this year. Anyways, we got the problem fixed with his help and everything worked out. Then made it to dinner and watched some of the Lakers-Celtics game, in which the Lakers soared to a huge early lead (though they ended up losing). In general, it's great how American-friendly every one is here and, likewise, how much they enjoy discussing American sports. My Spanish continues to progress, which is good news, and things is general are going well. I'm excited for my first weekend in Managua and am expecting to really see the city and truly experience it (albeit safely). I'll keep in touch. Hasta luego...

Settling In

So I've officially been in Managua for 24 hours. I love it so far. The city is really dynamic- poverty is rampant but the people are vibrant. Fortunately, everyone here is really friendly and very patient with my Spanish, which is slower than the ultra-rapidly speaking Nicaraguans.
On a sadder note, the earthquake of 1972 has had incredibly far-reaching implications, as significant areas of the metropolitan area still have yet to be rebuilt. However, the house I'm staying in is great- really quaint with all the basic necessities (Thank God for A/C). In general, I'm really excited about my time here in Nicaragua. As I get more free-time, I'll be exploring Managua and hopefully on the weekends long stretches of coast-line and the other cities, such as Leon and Granada. Hasta el proximo tiempo....

Ready to Head Out. Hoo-RAH!

It's the night before I embark on my journey to Managua. All the packing is pretty much done and now just closing up a few loose ends around home with friends and family. It's a pretty intimidating task trying to pack for almost 2.5 months, but two bags did the trick OK. Overall, I'm pretty excited about the trip, though also slightly nervous. Hopefully all will be well in Nica, as the country is affectionately called. I can't wait to see for myself how everything looks and feels (hopefully not too hot) down south. Anyways, I'll be updating my blog often with pictures, comments on life in Managua, and other assorted anecdotes.