Once again I have failed in a huge way when it comes to keeping up to date with the entries. However, it has been remarkably busy here, which I suppose is a very good thing in the end! The highlight of the last few weeks was the first visit of a fellow New Mexican here in the wild Nicaraguan world...Patrick Murphy. It was a short and sweet visit, only 5 days, but we sure packed a lot in! He arrived on a Monday and left on that Saturday, taking a week of Spanish classes while here. Our week included:
- visiting Lake Nicaragua
- climbing up the belltower of one of the highest churches in Granada
- staying at a brilliant hostel named Hostel El Carmen
- eating Dutch Pancakes (quite authentic, as the owner of El Carmen is Dutch)
- taking a tour of the Isletas (little islands) of Lake Nicaragua
- eating at a street grill a couple blocks away
- studying Spanish
- cooking Frito Pie for Juan Carlos' family
- eating a traditional Nicaraguan breakfast with Juan Carlos' family
- an excursion to Masaya (a town 30 minutes away or so) on the public transit
- shopping around in the Masaya market, known for its hugeness and dirtiness
- eating the delicious lunch prepared by Olma (the cook here at Casa Xalteva)
- sharing a couple of glasses of Flor de Caña (the national rum of Nicaragua)
- eating gelato as well as Eskimo ice cream
- talking over some of Nicaragua's best coffee, and some of the best we have ever tasted in general
- walking about the city of Granada
- arm wrestling Andrés (and always losing)
I unfortunately don't have a ton of photos from our trip, as I forgot my camera an amazing amount of times, but here are a few of the pictures that I did manage to snap:
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| On our way to Las Isletas |
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| Out and about in the Isletas |
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| Pat and the parrot |
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| Me losing to Andrés in an arm wrestle....again. |
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| La Iglesia Merced (that bell tower is the one we went up) |
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| The cathedral from arriba |
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| Frito Pie at Juan Carlos'! |
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| A horse casually getting its grub on in the street |
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| ....to the top! |
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| Same cathedral, same vantage point, a little more zoom |
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| Mombacho Volcano in the distance |
Ya, so as you can tell, I mainly just had my camera with me when we climbed the bell tower. However, I have been taking a lot of pictures recently and the adventure here didn't stop with Patrick going through security in Managua...so be prepared for another post soon!
