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

update from Carol

Carol from college (formerly Carol M., now Carol K since her marriage to Sherry K in 2002) sent a link to baby pictures of their daughter Lucy Juliana, who is absolutely adorable! I also love the name, incidentally. If you want the link email me and I'll send it to you.

While I'm at it, here are some wedding pictures... a little overdue... :-)


Under the chuppah (sp?)


Freshly married brides coming back down the aisle--look at those smiles!


Carol being carried around in a chair during that traditional dance


Carol and Sherry doing something with the cake

spam, a lot

It's been a while since I've deleted the accumulated spam in my spam folder (gmail is close to 100% accurate in nailing spam; very impressive). among the 100+ items, here are some of the subject headers that amused me:

• pinpoint cuticle
  
• cockeyed termite
  
• reflexive
  
• competent contemplation
  
• differently experienced
  
• humanely
  
• sunscreen trumped-up
  
• pee
  

and my favorite pair (though "pee" was a close runner-up):

• your cash, oath-breaker
  
• your health, mud-heap
  

ah, summer in the country

So we drove back home last night... I was lying down in the car because my back was hurting, so I watched as the city lights and grimy air gradually faded away and the stars appeared, in greater and greater numbers... I always forget how many stars there are... in New York we used to joke about "wow, it's a really clear night, I can see all three stars!"

The lovely country smells welled up, too. The air smells so delicious out here. That's probably what I miss the most in the city... the gorgeous rich smell of the earthy, green air. Well, there's the occasional manure-spread field or smashed skunk, but hey, it's all natural... the last twenty miles Loopy was constantly dodging wildlife... she would suddenly say, "run, little fox!" or "c'mon, silly possum, which way are you going??"

There are a lot more bugs in the country. In the city, one of our windows didn't even have a screen and we could still leave it open, even at night, without being inundated. Here, different story. This morning I got up and a huge moth was fluttering madly about the windows. I don't like huge moths, as you may know, but I wanted to get it out of here, partly because I don't like them. So I got an empty jar and snuck up on it... after much sneaking and coaxing, it was in the jar and I took it outside.

It fluttered about for a bit before alighting on the ground just below the door. Great, I can't open the door now without it flying inside. I contemplated it for a moment. Then it moved, and Jackie spotted it and gobbled it up. Mmmm, yummy, she said, licking her chops.

Well, so much for the moth. And welcome back to the country.

ah, summer in the city

We spent the last week in Chicago which was blissful, because I had nothing scheduled every day and spent at least a couple hours every day (sometimes much more than a couple) getting shit done. Took a lot of lovely walks down pretty streets, most with Loopy who is all about exercisin' these days. It was great all around!

Spending time in the easy-care apartment makes me resent, a little, the burden of dealing with a whole damn house. I know, I know, lots of people would kill for a whole damn house, but it's a pain in the ass after a while... my "to do" list is as long as my arm and everywhere I look there's something else to add to it. Ugh.

So anyway, it's finally warm in our part of the world and last week was very warm, so all the windows were open, and I got re-acquainted with the low constant cacophony of city noises that drift in those open windows...dogs barking, cars honking, trains passing, machinery working, a/c rattling, footsteps and snatches of conversation as people walk past below.

So one morning R and I were, uh, getting busy and suddenly a voice said "Hi!"--right in the room it seemed. We both just about jumped out of our skins. But she was downstairs in the alleyway. That was funny.

It also reminded me of when our dear friend Carol lived three floors below us in our apartment building in Manhattan. The windows opened onto a narrow airshaft between our building and the next, and you could hear all the sounds from all the apartments on both sides... every time I hear "Back on the Chain Gang" I think of the anonymous person who blasted that song at top volume every time s/he was cleaning his/her apartment, or needed to get going in the morning, or, well, a lot. There was also the couple I called the cops on several times... my only problem was I could never identify where they were. "They're either in our building or the next one... uh... can you hurry?" Yeah, sure, to some building or other, that's so helpful, we'll be right there.

So anyway, one Saturday afternoon we ran into Carol in the elevator and she smirked at us and said, "Were you guys having sex this morning at about...uh...10:30?" Uh, yes......We all had a good laugh.

Ah yes, summer in the city. No privacy... and you get used to it.

yes, I'm alive

sorry I haven't been posting much. my recollection is that I posted about how I was totally cured now, for like the third time, and then I wasn't after all of course. And then I was too embarrassed to post. And then we had a flurry of houseguests and then we were in Chicago twice, and then I taught a couple lessons at my old student-teaching school, which seems to have restored me to some measure of self-confidence, and since then, I've actually been working pretty continuously, not screwing around at all... weird huh. I have a job fair on saturday and I just finished my resume. And next week I'm going to Nicaragua, yay!

Also my mom canceled her surgery and is being TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE. Blech.

I'm just posting this rapid catch-up because I finally have something funny to post which I'm gonna do separately. Although I might not have time....

THanks for askign where I was, Mush!!! It's nice to know you care. ;-) I'm convinced no one else will ever come back to read, now that I've been quiet so long... btu I'll try to post more in the future.

greenhouse guilt & gas prices

With Loopy driving back & forth to Chicago all the time, we're thinking she should get a hybrid car. She's eager to still have 4WD for Wisconsin winters. Without doing a whole lot of research we're thinking Toyota Highlander--the only Japanese hybrid 4WD, as far as we can tell.

According to this site, by switching from her current vehicle to the hybrid Highlander she would save at least*:

• 566 gallons of gas
  
• that's $1748.94 at $3.09 a gallon
  
• 10,751 pounds of CO2 emissions
  
• 177 pounds of CO emissions
  
• 11 pounds of nitrous oxide
  
• 15 pounds of hydrocarbons

*(I say "at least" because her current car is too old to be on the list so I picked a similar car.)

So that's kind of cool.

I know I was going to post about something else but I can't remember what right at the moment.... oh I'm going to Nicaragua in June and Nadine is coming to visit in July! Yay!