Nicaragua Day 1

Dear Loopy,

I love you and I miss you! I'm sorry I can't write you directly today, because I can't get onto the computer that works with gmail. But then it occurred to me I could write you on my blog and then other people could hear all about my adventures as well.

I wished you were here a lot today, except the heat/humidity combo woulda done you in. Even in your new, buff, trim, walk-a-thon state. But you would have loved the birds and the mango trees and the boat ride that was just like that boat ride at Disneyworld, except real.

OK, I'll start at the beginning.

I arrived yesterday (as you know since I talked & IM'd with you, but I'm just catching up anyone else who might be reading). My first instincutal impression at the airport was, "wow, this is just like New York." Not the heat/humidity, or the somewhat decrepit state of the airport, but the crowds of people fashionably dressed speaking Spanish.

We came back to the hotel and I recuperated while everyone else went off to a meeting (since the only people here besides me were staffers). In the evening we had dinner and watched some hot folk dancing that made the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico look like a bunch of nuns processing into a church. Lots of hip action.

Today I went with Susan, one of the staffers, on a bus to Granada.

The bus was an old school bus from the U.S., with some modifications, like a big chain that made a loud horn blow, and some stenciled and stickered proclamations about Jesus.

The most interesting thing was that it didn't really stop to pick up or drop off passengers...just slowed down a lot while people jumped on and off. Also they did this wherever they wanted to, not just at designated stops. In fact, the way the conductor knew that people wanted to get on, was that he hung out the door much of the time yelling, "Granada! GranadaGranadaGranada!" and people who wanted to go there would wave and run up to the bus to jump on.

We arrived in Granada where Susan met her friend Victor and we went to a hip bar/cafe, painted purple and red and decorated with buddhas, where we had beer, ceviche, and bruschetta.

I left them there and walked a long way through the town and along the shore of Lake Nicaragua (it's huge--go look at a map, I insist--you can't see the other shore!) to the place Victor told me to go (La Cabañita Amarilla), where I got on a little flat-bottomed motorboat and had a little tour of "Las Isletas," (the little islands or islets) which, as far as I could understand from the boat driver (and as far as anyone else I asked seems to know), were just belched out of a volcano and landed in the lake as a bunch of blobs.

We drove in and out among them and like I said, it was just like that ride at Disneyworld, only much better. The birds were the best part. I saw a yellow and gray bird, a lot of snow-white egrets, a blue-headed bird shaped like a kingfisher, and things that looked like herons and cormorants. There was a thick jumble of amazing plants, including gigantic trees, bigger than any I've seen in my life. In the distance the volcano towered, the top shrouded in clouds.

The smaller islands were wild, but the larger ones had rich people's houses on them. There were some amazing houses, all built in among the trees and overhung with dense growth... some made of stone, looking like part of the islet, and some brightly painted, all different. There was even one house built over the water that stretched from one islet to another!

The weirdest thing I saw was a bunch of things hanging from a tree that looked like straw basketballs suspended in nets of straw. The driver stopped the boat and pointed them out, saying something in Spanish that sounded like, "those are the suspended balls." I asked if they were made by birds, and he said no, but I didn't understnad the explanation. I'm starting to think I should have brought a guidebook.

I made my way back to town, part on foot and part by taxi that finally happened by. Along the shoreline road, I should say, is a long row of huge mango trees. I didn't realise what they were at first, until I started hearing things fall out of them; soon after I came upon a small group of boys throwing sticks into the trees to knock down mangoes to eat. I also saw two boys chase down a mare and foal with lassos.

Back in town, I looked in some churches, took some photos, and we got back on the bus to Managua. There's not much more to say about today.... so I'll write again tomorrow.

Oh, there is one more thing. The national beer is called "Victoria." So for those of my friends who sent me off with "hasta la victoria!" -- I already had victoria! a bunch of them!

I miss hearing your voice, Loveylove! I wish you were here! Let's come back together someday!

xoxox
me