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