Granada!

Hola otra vez! It's been a while since we've updated the blog -- so busy! -- so I'll try and get at least all our weekend adventures up for now.

Another Friday had come around, and we once again caught the local lunchtime bus out of Chacraseca. We were headed to Granada, the most beautiful city in Nicaragua, with wonderfully restored colonial architecture. At the station in Leon, we jammed into a minibus and arrived in Managua 90 mins later, where we got into a 3rd bus and by far the most comfy bus for another hour and a half. We were dropped off in the center of town right on the plaza, and we quickly found our hostel down a side road.

Beautiful hostel with a very professional owner, however, it was in the GHETTO. The local street market featured all kinds of interesting foods and items and smells and strange people, but after a while, and especially at night, it got old fast. Luckily we were very close to nice stuff and walked to nice stuff as quickly as we could. 

View from our front porch. A little creepy at night.

Granada has a beautifully restored city center, but unfortunately that's about it. The rest of the city lacks much pizazz, and after 1 full day there Nicole and I were ready to leave. But as always, we really packed it in.

I had a lot of fun with the panorama on my phone. This is the Central Park.

Friday night we strolled down THE STREET for outdoor eating, bars, and people watching--Calle La Calzada--and ate at a delicious local restaurant. Very touristy, and the amount of street performers was ridiculous. Restaurants would battle with the street musicians by turning up their music, so that they street artists would pass on more quickly. But people watching was good. In addition to the hundreds of millions of American church groups milling up the street, we saw many wealthy Nicaraguans. It's wonderful to see at least some of them aren't living in poverty.

This kid was here 2 days in a row.

We wake up early, even on weekends here. Not exactly sure why, probably just the excitement. Anyway we were up before 6 and ready to explore the city. We went to breakfast at Garden Cafe, which will be our future home. We did a 4 hour walking tour of the city, seeing all the key sights, and ate a late lunch at a local cantina in a park next to Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America. The fish, people watching, and blasting reggaeton was amazing! Wonderful meal.

Garden Cafe. We mapped out a hypothetical floor plan while we ate. I LOVE how many buildings here are half inside, half outside!

Cathedral and one of several restored mansions.

Courtyard in a mansion. These were all art vendors, and all closed because it was the weekend (?!).

Inside a 500 year old convent! Now an art museum.

10 minute walk down Calle La Calzada...

Best view in the city! Atop one of many church steeples.

It may look like election time, but it's not. Political propaganda for the Sandinistas is everywhere.

We wandered around a bit more, then WENT OUT FOR PIZZA! Probably the best decision we ever made. Split 2 mediums and a bottle of wine, and boy did we sleep well that night!

Next morning, after failing to procure bicycles for a day trip to some local beaches, we decided to head back and play tourists in Leon for the day. We had a wonderful time, and realized that we like Leon more. It may not be as pretty, but there is a palpable sense of community in the air in Leon. And it's more Liberal.

These guys are always trying to sell me the sunglasses I already have.

One of the most gorgeous churches (and women) in Leon.

Biggest Cathedral in Central America. Looks like Europe inside.

All that remains from a church that was hit during the contra wars of the 80s.

Sunset!

Pigs

Whilst wandering the roads of Chacraseca, you are equally as likely to see a pig as you are a human. Pigs are everywhere, of every shape and size. And we love them. So much better than the chickens, cows, and stray dogs that also are everywhere. (HOWEVER, we did witness a very horny rooster ambush an unsuspecting hen that was just clucking there minding her own business. In a blur of feathers and dust, it was over as soon as it started).

After all, we have many reasons to love pigs. They are cute, in a dirty sort of way. They are SMART. They taste good. And they have personalities. See below:

Cuteness: aside from general oinking noises, and the fact that they are pink blobs that roll around on the ground all day, the smaller pigs in Chacraseca all where large triangular collars made of 3 sticks tied together. Primary reason is to keep pigs from wandering through the barb wire that lines all the fields. Secondary reason is to make them cuter.

Smartness: tales of the porcine intellect had reached our ears before, but man were they confirmed the other day. We witness 3 pigs sauntering down the road like the punks they knew they were, and a cute little puppy, playfully chasing and biting all 6 of their ears. 2 pigs ran away, while the third stopped in his tracks, laid down in the ground and PLAYED DEAD until the puppy quickly got bored with him and chased after the others. He then got up and continued in his way. Genious.

Tastiness: self-explanatory

Personality: some pigs make friends with other pigs. Nicole and I once witness 2 pigs separated by barbed wire, frantically running back and forth trying to find a place where they could squeeze through so that they could be together. A woman came out of the house laughing and told us that they were brothers.

Photogenic pigs below

Stymates

So friendly!

Piglets everywhere!

I want one

This is Don Pancho. This obese pig weighs 400 lbs. Story: we were walking down the street minding out own business, when suddenly we hear a "SNORT!" and Nicole jumped a foot in the air! But Pancho was being such a good pig! He was laying in the shade right next to a leaky faucet which had made a very appealing muddy puddle. Having settled himself in said puddle he proceeded to start start playing with trash.

We make new friends

A few nights ago, at 4:30 am, Nicole and I were awakened by the sound of a car alarm--completely foreign in a place like this, an area where roads are dominated by horses and motorcycles. Turns out it was a bunch of gringos who have showed up to build 2 houses this week with another NGO. They were weird...they sleep on army cots in our front yard, and the first night tried to turn our patio light out at 8pm while we were eating dinner! However, they quickly learned we lived here and got a lot nicer. On Monday, one of them came to see me in the clinic cause he was sick...turns out he had strep throat. I have him a nice big shot in the butt of Penicillin, and the next day he was a new man! In gratitude for the free medical care, and sleeping on our front lawn every night, they invited us on an afternoon excursion to hike Cerro Negro--a nearby active volcano!

They literally sleep on army cots in our front yard. 25 of them. WEIRD.

Trying to catch some zzs during siesta. It stays 97 degrees here from about 1-4.

Half the fun was the transportation--we hopped in the back of their fancy new Toyota Hiluxes (the ubiquitous truck of Nicaragua), and bounced and bumped our way down various dirt roads in the countryside for about an hour until we were suddenly at the base of the black behemoth. We made friends with the students in the back of our truck, and got absolutely covered in dust.

Park entrance

Our incredibly filthy truck bed mates

Sizing up the behemoth

We begin the hike!

They put the fence up to keep stupid gringos from climbing down onto the steam vents.

The hike up was beautiful and windy, and after rest and pictures, we headed over to the rim where one of the newest Nicaraguan pastimes was born--volcano surfing! But our experiences sand boarding in Peru, plus the ridiculous cost ($20 USD per board, how much Nicole and I spend on 6 meals here), told us that sand boarding was not the answer. We ran down, and man was it a blast!

The view was OK.

And it was a little windy on the rim of the crater...

Gringos "surfing". It actually did look pretty cool. They got going fast.

The group cues up to run down. Nicole and I stayed up until the end to savor the view.

Running down. We are told the record to beat was 1:52. I think I smashed it but I have no proof.

At the bottom--still smiling! (This was exhausting. My quads are still sore 3 days later).

After collecting ourselves at the bottom we made another bouncy journey home. 

We appreciate bandanas so much now.

Ditto

My dust makeup.

Iguanas are Delicioso

I have a crazed desire to try any weird food (usually animal) I come across. Guinea pigs, turtle eggs, and elk have all passed through my lips. 

And now, Stacen and I can both add... Iguana.

Yes, it's true. One fine Chacrasecan gentleman, Manolo, hit it with a slingshot, gave it to the clinic, and Richard (as I named him in honor of our fearless nurse) made his way to us. The poor little guy was still warm, which we were told was a good thing, since it guaranteed he was fresh! 

Estacen, Richard (the nurse), Richard (the iguana), and Guadalupe (lovely medical student who is often confused at why we make her pose in so many weird pictures)

I held Richard for about ten minutes not knowing what to do. Then one of the nurses, Emilia, came to the rescue and sent me to her mama. As a skilled Nicaraguan chef, Mama Julia knew exactly what to do. She took Richard and told us to come back in an hour.

Holding my next meal

Upon our return, we were presented with "deconstructed" Richard. Just meat, onions, and delicious sauce. And... It was good! Think chewy chicken with a dash of fish. 

Voila! Beautifully cooked iguana

So next time you find yourself hungry and with iguanas to spare-- dig in!

Enjoying our fine iguana treat

Poneloya Beach! Cervezas and Sunburns

We actually got one of the hotels in our guide book and it totally paid off! I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves for the majority of this post. But in short, we ate fish, drank Toña (the national beer), walked up and down the beach a ton, swam in the wonderfully civilized temperatured Pacific, read a bunch on Nicaraguan history and culture, and pretty much thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We also managed to get some very red and painful "tans" which we are still recovering from.

Although everyone calls it Poneloya, Poneloya is actually north of here. The beach is actually called "Las Peñitas". Our hotel is at the very far end. Also worth pointing out, this is the closest thing to a black sand beach we have ever seen (everything around here is volcanic). It's much blacker in person and beneath the top couple of inches--all the shells brighten it up.

Locals escape the heat of the city (and the gringos) by mainly sticking to the bay formed by various sandbars. Much calmer and kid-friendly. Really cool landscapes!

Schick-a bow-wow! That sarong is so Bali.

We planned our late afternoons and evenings around the sunset (5:58), cause obviously, we watched it both nights we were there. And it was hilarious, because literally 3 minutes after the sun dissppeared, there was a mass exodus from the beach as everyone rushed inside to take showers and try and beat the dinner rush. 

This little cabaña right on the beach is one of our future homes.

We were amazed at how empty the beach was! 

This was my best "stray dog" impression. There was also a very soft cat that was photo-shy.

This was our hotel restaurant, and our room is just out of the picture on the left. Tough life.

When your friend accidentally sinks too far into the sand that she falls over, what should you do. Get it on Facebook ASAP.

Too bad we can't put sound clips in here...sounded as awesome as it looks!