Adios, Nicaragua

The final three weeks in Nicaragua continued the be fun and eventful. Ryan and Rebecca (whom we'd met on Oma Tepe), and Rebecca's cousin, Rachel, were in Granada the weekend after our adventure on the island, so we met up for dinner on a couple of nights. Uncle Gerard and Maria Celia also picked us up one afternoon and gave us a lovely tour of some of the towns around Granada, including Catarina, San Juan del Oriente (where they do some amazing pottery), and the volcano which was pretty amazing.

One of my fondest days was the following Saturday. Uncle Gerard sent us the keys to the house on his island, and we invited some of our friends from Granada...Angelica (who manages the language school we attended during our first couple of weeks), Dali (another student, from Switzerland), and Ronaldo (from the English class at Carita Feliz). After chatting and swimming and messing around for a while, Dali noticed a fishing boat just off the island, and called the fishemen over to buy some fresh fish, which we proceeded to gut, cook, and eat. It was a fantastic afternoon!

The children at Carita Feliz were delightful and even more enjoyable than helping them with their work was reading with them, playing games, and walking to a nearby park one afternoon. Talking with children is a great way to practice and improve one's language skills, at least for me. Even though they don't often slow down their speech, I find I'm less self-conscious with them than with adults. I can be silly and relaxed with the kids. My last day with them was the Monday of our last full week in Nicaragua. We had planned to spend the afternoons of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday teaching English to Ronaldo, a young man from the English class. Due to low enrollment, that class was canceled, and Rebecca continued to tutor Ronaldo. Unfortunately, our plans to continue the tutoring that last week didn't work out, but we were able to get some shopping and packing done so it worked out.

The majority of our things were picked up and delivered to Maria Celia's house in Granada on Thursday and we left on Friday for the beach town of San Juan del Sur. This time we made sure to go all the way to the Rivas bus station to avoid an expensive and unnecessary taxi ride. We then managed to jump on the bus to San Juan del Sur just as it was pulling out. Unfortunately, this meant we had to stand for part of the ride, which meant we were more vulnerable, and I managed to get pick-pocketed! :( grrrrr... It was only $5, so I was less concerned about the money and more upset that I hadn't been more prepared.

We checked into the hostel in San Juan, which turned out to be a nice, private room. The weekend was very relaxing...a few walks down the beach, a little exploration of the town, poking our heads into a few stores, etc. etc. Uncle Gerard and Maria Celia picked us up on Sunday and we spent the night at her house in town. She also has a beach house, but a kitchen explosion in her neighbor's house a few days prior had damaged the property so we weren't able to stay there.

On our way to Managua the next day, we picked up our things in Granada and then went to stay a couple of nights with Uncle Gerard. The days in Managua were nice. We went to the markets to buy a few souvenirs, the post office for some stamps for me, and enjoyed drinks and conversation one evening with Uncle Gerard.

Looking back on our time in Nicaragua, I am very pleased with what we were able to do and what we accomplished. I can't say I'm fluent in Spanish, but I think I could certainly get by. There's still a lot to learn, though. So I need to keep practicing in order to avoid losing all of it!!!

Well, folks! That brings us to the end of Nicaragua. I've posted some pictures below! I'm almost to the end of my year of traveling, but not quite. An entire summer in Egypt is still in progress, and there's plenty to write about!!!