Eventful Week

This past week was a little wild. Between birthday parties and going away parties, we had something going on every night of the week. I took it pretty easy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, as we have to be up pretty early. Thursday I went out a little harder. I went to the creatively named "El Club" for the first time. On Thursday nights, they charge a cover but then offer free drinks until midnight. This is obviously a dangerous situation, especially when we had been drinking before we got there. We all took full advantage of the open bar and had a fun time. After midnight, we were going to head to a karaoke bar but stopped at a bar/club called Cafe Nuit instead. I had a couple beers, did a little dancing, and almost got in a little scuffle with four European guys. One of them gave me a good two handed push for an unknown reason. I turned around and asked him what his problem was, we argued a little, and 3 of his friends showed up. I kind of laughed at them. These were not your local Nicaraguan tough guys. They were trying to act intimidating and failing miserably. I told them what I thought. Luckily, Tiia pulled me aside at this point and asked what was going on. I realized immediately that I was wasting my time arguing with these guys and that it was time to go home.


I was in bed by about 1:30. This is not exremely late, but I was still pretty tired when I woke up Friday morning. I headed to school feeling very tired and slightly hungover thinking that it was going to be a long day. But, it ended up being a really great day. It was fun from the moment I left our house until I went to bed. While walking to the bus, I saw two women carrying a big black garbage bag with something in it down the street. I did not think much of this until I saw the bag start to thrash about and bark. The two women sat the bag down and pulled out an average sized dog. They did not seem to be tying to hurt the dog, but I was unable to think of a good reason that they would have it in a black plastic garbage bag. It was one of those moments where I just smile, shake my head, and think, "only in Nicaragua." When I got on the bus, there was an old wrinkly guy who sells ice cream sitting in the back of the bus with his cart full of treats. A younger man in the front of the bus was yipping and whooping, and the old man would respond with a high pitched yip or whoop. It was entertaining everyone on the bus. When we got to our stop and hopped off the bus, the old man got off as well. He crossed the road with us, pushing his cart in front of him. The little old guy smiled as he mumbled a constant string of gibberish. I decided I had to get some ice cream from this guy. As a couple of us picked out our treats, a much younger man came up on his bike. He started speaking to me in pretty decent English. We got our treats from the old man, as he continued to yip and act goofy(I have a video of him that I will attempt to post of Facebook at some point), and then headed down the road with the younger man on his bike. He told us his name was Tony and that he had lived in the U.S. for something like 10 years. We learned that he had come back to run his family farm, which is called "Ranch of Love." I had noticed this ranch when we were on the bus to Mombacho. The ranch is painted in all red and white and says ranch of love in Spanish on the house. Tony told us that he grows coffee beans and fruit and that he has dairy cows. We had a fun conversation. I eventually asked him if we could come visit his farm sometime. He said that we definitely could and that he even rents a room out for $6 a night, if we wanted to stay over. I am not sure if I will stay there, but I will definitely go check his farm out. I recently got a cell phone, so I was able to exchange numbers with him. I look forward to a tour of his farm.


I was still feeling pretty tired when I got to school. I was worried that it could be a long day, but the morning's adventures put me in a good mood. It turned out to be my favorite day with the kids so far. They were well behaved all day and in good spirits. I just played and had fun with them all morning. A few of them were really in the wrestling mood. Two of the older girls, who are probably 5, kept jumping on my back. It seemed like one or both of them was on my back most of the morning. I got so used to one of them hanging from my neck, that I would sometimes be playing with another kid and forget one of the little buggers was back there. It was a really fun day, but also Erin's last day at school. She will be missed at the school.

After school, I lifted, showered, and headed to one of Granada's cathedrals with Erin to take in the views and watch the sun set from the bell tower. It was a perfect evening to watch the sun set. Below us, were the typical sights and sounds of Granada. Cars honked and rumbled down the streets, street vendors called out there products and prices, and two boys kicked a soccer ball back and forth on the large church patio below. Above us, were scattered clouds which turned a number of shades of orange, yellow, purple, and white. Each direction offered a different amazing view. To the east, we could see Granada's main cathedral, central park, and the lake. To the south, Mombacho sat with a cloud scraping its highest points. And, to the west we could see the sun setting behind smaller volcanic hills. The interesting architecture of Granada could be seen in all directions. At first, the clouds grew more and more colorful and beautiful and then began to fade. At this point, two young male Nicaraguans came up, rang the bells, and ushered us down. It was a great experience, and I was glad to be able to share it with a cool girl.



I took it easy Friday night. I was not in the mood for going out, so Erin and I took on Steijn and Marleis in a couple games of 500. We got great cards and won both games. Marleis is very competitive so it was kind of funny to see her get frustrated as we got such good hands. But, I also felt kind of bad. After our games, I walked Erin to her host family's house and headed to bed. I was happy to have a day with a lot of fun memories.

On Saturday, I headed to the lagoon with the volunteers who worked the summer program at Juan Diego and the 3 young locals who work with us. It was another nice sunny day. The lagoon is beautiful and always very enjoyable to visit. It feels great to jump in the water after many days of heat and dust. We swam, chatted, threw a frisbee around, and had a pot-luck lunch.

There is an Italian bakery that makes great hearty breads near the market in Granada. They also make lasagna supper for groups who make reservations. We headed there Saturday night for a good-bye dinner for Dorinne. I was not feeling too well, but enjoyed the great homemade lasagna anyway. We headed to a karaoke bar after supper. Nick and I sang Sweet Caroline and Piano Man. We all had a few drinks, but took it pretty easy. I was home by 1AM and had a much needed good night's sleep.