La Laguna and Restarante Asados Matagalpa

We have been trying to get to the local swimming pool with our friends Jason and Karena for a couple of weeks now and we finally found a day where we weren't busy and the weather cooperated for us. This little pool is not too far outside of town but it's about 2 miles from the main road. Since there were seven of us we had to take 2 taxis to get there. But after some clever taxi hailing we made it to the pool.

The pool is not heated and so it was very refreshing. It was a little cloudy, which we tried to ignore, but apparently it was due to recent rains. The kids had fun doing cannon balls and jumping in and swimming. The pool deck has several covered cabanas with tables. There were only a couple other families there besides us. Right after we arrived they walked over to the little restaurant across the dirt road and bought a big bottle of rum to go with the Coke they already had. They were really enjoying themselves.

We all swam around for a bit and Joe helped coach Karena on some stroke adjustments as she expressed an interest in doing a sprint triathlon when they return to the states. Doesn't he look at home in that coaching from the pool deck position?

After the kids grew tired of swimming they played some Frisbee across the pool. If you don't catch it and it goes in the water you have to dive in after it. Then we were all starting to get hungry and ready to call it a day. As we were packing up to go and the 2 families were getting ready to go some sort of challenge was thrown down between 2 of the men. It appeared to be a race but we later found out it was a contest to see who could swim the farthest underwater before coming up for air. It was quite the animated contest and I had to film it. (see video)

At the end of the video Gus comes up and asks me "What did you say about someone being so drunk they can't stand up?" because one of the women who had been drinking was requiring assistance walking up to their truck. Joe got involved in the judging of the "contest" and when it was over told me that if they offered us a ride in the back of the truck (instead of walking 2 miles on hilly dirt roads to get to the main road to catch a taxi) that he would take them up on it. To which I firmly replied that not only would we not be riding in the back of their truck but we would be staying as far away from their drunk driving as possible!! We make a good team as we seem to pick up on different things...

We started to walk on the 2 mile road when a big bus came toward us. We flagged it down and got on. The bus was empty and apparently not a public bus but the driver allowed us on and drove us the 2 miles down the road and dropped us off about 1 mile from our houses and wouldn't let us pay anything. That was very cool!

The restaurant was nicely decorated but empty. This would normally scare me about a restaurant but I don't know if we eat at weird times, but we have frequently gone to great restaurants with no one else there! That is not usually a good sign in the US! We ordered a great meal of beef, pork and chicken with gallo pinto, tajadas (fried plantain chips), and nica coleslaw. Then I decided to splurge and get a margarita and Joe and Karena ordered some sort of fiery coffee liquor with tequila drink. Jason ordered a maracuya drink. It was quite exciting to have flaming drinks at our table. I had to post the picture of the "sheesecake" on the menu even though we were too full to order any!

When we were done eating (and very full) the owner of the restaurant has the driver take us back into town. We had a lovely day with friends experiencing new things in Matagalpa. Just another great day in Nicaragua....

At the waterfall with friends...

Today we went to Salto Santa Emilia with our friends Norman and Virginia. We packed yummy sandwiches, chips, pop and cookies for a picnic lunch and also brought swim suits and towels. We headed out at 9:00 sharp to drive up to the waterfall. It's about 45 minutes outside of town on a road that has "character". The kids and Joe got to ride in the back of the truck but I got the plush accommodations of the back seat. It was a bit bumpy but better than it would have been on a bus.

The entry to the waterfall is through the property of a small restaurant. I think it cost 20 cordobas (or dobs as we like to call them, but no one in Nicaragua does) per adult to visit and kids were free. We walked down several stairs and we were all reminded our our house in San Juan del Sur with 95 stairs to get up to the house.

We laid out tablecloths to sit on and wasn't even 10:30 before Norman was ready for lunch and Gus never needs much prodding to eat. We cracked open the chips and started eating. I was also trying to get Bridget to eat more as she weighed 77.8 lbs when we left for our trip and we just weighed her here and she has grown an inch and only weighs 71 lbs. Both boys have lost about 1 lb each and grown about 2 inches. Bridget has lost 7 lbs and grown 1 inch!! WOW! So, while she still looks healthy (photos provided for evidence) and has plenty of energy, I am trying to encourage her to eat. So chips and sandwiches at 10:30 it is!!

Virginia gave Bridget a new sun hat which came in very handy when the sun came out. The boys also enjoyed wearing it. Then the kids and Joe hiked up to the caves behind the waterfall to check things out.

After lunch (if that's what it is when you eat at 10:30) the kids and Joe went to climb up behind the waterfall. There is a wide cave behind the waterfall where we have heard that bats live and that it is also available for camping (no thank you). Joe took the more treacherous route down and got a little rock climbing in.

It started to warm up a bit so the kids decided to go for a swim. It was a bit chilly and took some coaxing. Bridget and Gus decided to try to skip rocks instead until Joe went in. They all swam out to the waterfall and climbed on the rock. This was the kids first swimming experience since San Juan del Sur in November.

After swimming the kids played around skipping rocks and Joey found some clay in the caves which he used to create a clay house on a rock (which is still in my laundry room...) and then he caught a cicada.

We had a great day at the waterfall and headed out around 1:30. Norman was hungry for pizza (naturally because we hadn't eaten since 10:30) so we drove back down the road into town for second lunch (or was that early dinner?) and had pizza at Vita Bella. We told Norman they they had good pizza (we have eaten there several times) but he didn't believe us (he lived in New York City for 21 years and is a bit of a food snob) so we had to go there to prove it. Fortunately Vita Bella passed the Norman test and we all had a lovely meal.

Just another great day with friends in Nicaragua....

Selva Negra

We went on an adventure with our friend Sister Meg to Selva Negra (the Black Forest). Selva Negra is an ecolodge, restaurant, park with hiking trails, nature preserve and organic garden about 30 minutes outside of the city of Matagalpa. We always have fun on adventures with Meg and this one was no different. We took a bus that was NOT a chicken bus, but more like a nice Greyhound bus up the mountain where we were dropped off on the side of the road about 1 mile from the entrance to Selva Negra. The kids stopped for the obligatory photo op with the cannon. It was a beautiful day as we walked along the road to get to Selva Negra. I was so glad I wore short sleeves....

As we were walking up the hill toward the trails and restaurant we saw a VERY LARGE rodent bound across the road. It looked like a capybara (the only rodent I have a fondness for, thanks to Capyboppy) so we all ran up to get a better look. We weren't able to get a good picture but you can see the little guy in the bushes and then there's the photo I found of what he actually looks like. We were able to confirm that he was not a capybara but an agouti. After all that excitement and Joe's laughter as the kids and I all ran after a rodent (in stark contrast to ALL OTHER encounters with rodents), we headed to the restaurant to check out the offerings (even though we brought lunch). As we sat outside admiring the grounds it started to rain, making my choice of short sleeved cotton less ideal. So we watched all the ducks, geese and birds on the pond and listened to the monkey sounds in the distance.

One of our main goals for our trip to Selva Negra was a monkey sighting. We did a boat tour in Granada around the isletas but it was during the rainy season which meant that the trees were all very full and green and it made spotting monkeys difficult. We figured a trip to Selva Negra in the "dry" season (even though it rained on us) would offer better odds. After sitting on the patio of the restaurant for a while, we decided to brave the rain and head toward the hiking trails. There is a chapel on the grounds (built for the wedding of the owner's daughter) right by the start of the hiking trails. As I was trying to capture a picture of it, the rain started dumping (that is why Joey is in midair and Joe is running into the chapel in my photo). After checking out the chapel we headed up into the trails.

We hiked around listening for monkeys (they sound more like tigers than monkeys which is somewhat unnerving). After about an hour of hiking we came across a man from Alaska with binoculars who helped us spot a number of monkeys. It was absolutely amazing to watch and listen too. Watch the videos for a little peak.

After we watched monkeys for about an hour, we hiked back down to the restaurant. We hadn't planned to eat there because the word on the street was that it's expensive. But we went down to have coffee to warm up after our damp hike. Well to order coffee, they give you the full menu and it didn't take much to prompt me to order french onion soup, and Joe and Gus got to pining after a burger and Bridget and Joey decided on a plate of fries and Sister Meg opted for the Club Sandwich (or cloob san weesh, in Spanish). It was reasonably priced and the food was good and that soup warmed me up from the inside and I finished with rosy cheeks.

It turned out to be a beautiful day and our walk back out to the road to catch the bus was sunny and bright. We just sat on the side of the road with all the other people waiting for the bus and sure enough it showed up, this time it was a chicken bus. We asked someone on the bus about where to get off so we didn't end up on the other side of town and she directed us to what we later discovered was a stop too soon but it took us past our friends, Jason and Karena's apartment so we just had to stop by and say hello. Then it was getting close to dinner time and we had been out all day we just had to go out for dinner and our friends just had to join us! At the restaurant (Vita Bella pizza) Joe even paid the extra to have the musicians play for us.

All in all it was a great day experiencing so much of what Nicaragua has to offer and great time with great friends. I don't know why I am always so amazed at how God has provided for us abundantly in the area of friendships. Every step along our path in this adventure God has placed people in our path who have become amazing friends. We miss our friends and family back home so much and I am now starting to realize how much we are going to miss our friends in Nicaragua when we are gone! Now if we can just get them to come visit us when we get home.....

60 days left in Nicaragua...

Wow, it's hard to believe that we have 60 days left in Nicaragua. Our 9 month trip is winding down. When we arrived here, 9 months seemed like forever. It's basically a year. We left in August and started our 2010-11 school year and by the time we leave Nicaragua on May 5th we will have completed 6th, 5th and 3rd grade (far earlier than our American school friends). WOW! A lot has happened in these 7 months and with only 60 days left we are forced to look at all we still want to do.

We still have not visited the colonial city of Leon. When talking to Nicaraguans about the city of Leon, you cannot have a conversation about the city without someone telling you that it's hot in Leon. This is alarming to me considering it comes from people who live in Granada, Managua and San Juan del Sur (all cities that I will describe as "very hot" when recalling time there to my friends). But Leon is a city I would love to visit before we leave and there is no excuse not to go since it is only a 2 1/2 hour $2 bus ride from our house. Leon is a young intellectual city with many colleges and bookstores, or so I have been told. I would definitely like to visit Leon before we leave. I am hoping for some cool photo ops...

We really NEED to go on a zip line canopy tour. You might not think of this as a need but zip lining was the selling point on this trip to our kids. We showed them videos of zip line tours and really talked it up. They were all fired up about doing it. We did not do it in Costa Rica because we were only there for 2 nights and so focused on getting to Nicaragua. We settled into San Juan del Sur for two months and spending $150 for all 5 of us just seemed extravagant and we weren't in a hurry since we have 9 months to do everything. Then we traveled to Jinotega to see if we wanted to live up north, then we moved to Matagalpa, then we visited San Juan del Sur where we were so busy we didn't have time for ziplining. And now we have settled into life in Matagalpa, had a few illnesses and all of the sudden we have 60 days to go zip lining and no zip lining prospects near home. So somehow we are going to have to squeeze it in or I will feel like the worst mother in the world. I should also point out that the kids have not mentioned zip lining for quite some time. If we didn't do it, I don't think it would harm their view of the trip but I feel like my word is on the line so we must go ziplining....

I would really LOVE to go to La Isla de Ometepe. Ometepe is an island in Lake Nicaragua. It has 2 volcanoes on it. It is definitely something to be seen. Unfortunately the logistics of getting there from here mean it is unlikely that we will make it this time. Instead of being disappointed about that, I am going to focus on the other, more feasible, things we want to do before we go and make them happen. We are already starting to think about our return visit to Nicaragua and Ometepe will have to be part of that trip.

We have met some friends, from Pennsylvania, who told us about a swimming pool not far away that is 25 meters long and clean. I don't know why but going swimming in that pool is something I want to do before I go. I have only worn my swimsuit once since we have been here at a beach outside of San Juan del Sur, though the kids got lots of swimming in there.

There are a couple of little restaurants that we have been meaning to check out. I definitely want to go to both Italian restaurants again. I still have not tried Tres Leches cake which is like "the dessert" of Nicaragua.

We have seen and experienced so much during our time here and we have also kicked back and had a lot of down time. Our kids have become amazing friends to each other. There aren't many kids around to play with in Matagalpa like there were in San Juan del Sur but we have a big backyard that the kids have been having adventures in. Most of them have been safe and sane with the exception of tether rock. They go out after lunch and just play. They really enjoy playing at night when it's dark (and cooler). I have caught Joey (12) unabashedly holding hands with Bridget or Gus as we walk around the city. The most common conflict they have is when two of them are playing together and the 3rd feels left out. I can't remember the last time someone said they were bored. They are a lot more aware of their surroundings when they are walking around. It only took Gus getting honked at and swerved around once while crossing the street to get even our "dreamiest" kid to stay alert. It's not a rosy, perfect, ideal environment here but it has been a blessing to watch our kids grow and thrive. I know we will all remember this trip for the rest of our lives but I hope that our kids remember this time as one of intense family togetherness and harmony.

My one disappointment with this trip is that I have not blogged as regularly as I hoped. I have definitely stayed in touch on FB but I wish I had a more comprehensive history. But hopefully between Joe's blog www.joehafner.com and mine and all the pictures we have taken, our history is safe.

I am really looking forward to my completed 365project. Since I started on January 1st I will have one photo each day for all of 2011. It will include five months of our life in Matagalpa, our travels back to Costa Rica, our flight back home (14 hours from take off in Costa Rica till we touch down in Seattle), the next adventure which is finding a house, car and life back in Renton, swim team, triathlons, half marathons, marathons, reunions with friends and family, meeting my new nephew (who won't be so new anymore), and any other encounters we may have between now and then. I am so excited to be able to make a photo book of what I am already planning on titling "Our Epic Year".

So there are my ramblings for today. I am going to try to do a better job of posting more frequently as we continue to live out our adventure....