Mi Vida en Costa Rica

¡Hola! I'm sorry for not posting anything for a while. I went to Nicaragua for Holy Week and completely lost track of things. We had a very nice trip north. A group of students from the Language school went to Granada, Nicaragua. It is a very old city with a lot of the old architecture still intact. Those old building and cathedrals were beautiful to behold! The views from some of the bell towers in the cathedrals were simply breathtaking. It was also quite hot. I felt like I was back in south Texas:)--all that heat coming from above and below, but it was nice too, since it reminded me of home. After touring the cathedrals, we went to a nearby town, Masaya, to do a little of the tourist thing on top of a hill (and ate ice cream!) before going to church. The leader of this whole venture is a pastor, and he and his family will be stationed there once they finish school. The church is one where he is often appearing. After the service--which was nice--the kids put on some traditional dances for us, which were quite enjoyable. We then ate chicken for dinner that the women made for us--chicken that had been milling around and clucking, etc, when we first arrived! Fresh chicken is quite tasty, I must say. :)

Monday some of us went to a nearby beach for the day. The main beach was really crowded and rather cluttered/trashy, so most of us traveled a little farther north where it was far more isolated. Now, this area of Nicaragua is very dry--as I said, it was like being back in Texas--and the area before you get to the beach is sandy--not beach sand, dirt sand. It was also very windy, so when the wind would blow, we were pelted by a mini-sand storm. I never realized how sand could sting:). On the up side, the water was nice and cold--not cool, cold--and I found some whole shells while I was waiting for my sunscreen to soak in:).

Tuesday we went to a nearby Volcano. We could only be at the top for 20 minutes max because past that, the fumes are toxic for a human body:) We then went to Masaya again to meander through a very large market. They had everything imaginable there (and you could smell it, too!), and we had only made a quarter of the touristy section! But many locals shop there too. It was an interesting experience. I was almost overwhelmed by all the stuff!

Wednesday I went with a small group on a boat tour of Lake Nicaragua, on which Granada sits. We stayed near the mainland, going around and by some of the islands. Most islands had people living on them, which I hadn't expected, and you could see kids swimming in the lake, women doing the wash in the lake, men and boys fishing with nets, and the occasional commuter in a little row-boat as they headed to the mainland. One island had spider monkeys, and the guide let one into our boat. Her name was Lola. She was like a big, skinny, really hairy, tough baby, and kind of cute. The rest of our day was free, so I had a late lunch with the Tatum family, wandered through the central plaza where there were sites and vendors, then made my way to another house where some others from our group were staying. 4-6 stayed in houses that we had rented for our time there. This house was very nice, and had a pool! Of course, I think the house I was in was much nicer, far more fancy, but we didn't have a pool:).

We left Thursday morning, and instead of spending 5 1/2 hours at the border like on Saturday, it only took us about 3 1/2 hours on Thursday:). Now, when we got there on Saturday, it took 3 hours to get through this huge, snaky line in order for Costa Rica to stamp us out of the country. It then took a little over 2 hours for us to get stamped into Nicaragua. So we were all, during that time, in limbo/no-man's-land! We thought it was quite entertaining:) Thankfully, it was not so bad when we were returning.

The whole trip was quite pleasant, and I'm very glad I was able to go. I have no strong desire to return, however:). While Granada has it's beautiful parts, the city was still very dirty and smelly. The country we saw, and in the small towns and cities, was covered in trash in every direction. The country is extremely poor, and you can see it as you drive or walk by. Ironically, Nicaragua has the lowest crime rate of Central America....they say it's because so many have left to live in Costa Rica for a better life:). Doing work in La Carpio shows that here, they do live better. So find my pictures of La Carpio, and realize that that is better than what many have in Nicaragua.

I was very pleased to be back in Costa Rica. I have definately become accostomed to this climate:)

Pictures will be coming soon!

Paz