Memory Cards and Leon

Hello Everyone,
Oh its been a great balance of ups and downs here in Nicaragua. After a very long working week the gang had a great friday night in honour of our great pal Jon Daley, who left us for his home in England this past Saturday. Needless to say it was a great send off dinner and dancing that followed at the Sandinista Bar called Ricon Legal (Legal Corner.) Saturday was another FUNARTE extravaganza, but this time good old Benny came to visit me at my work. Saturday afternoon I found four very lost looking california guys and decided they should be escorted to Hostel Luna beside Cafe Luz, as it is the best hostel in Esteli. They were thankful and we ended up meeting up again at Cafe Luz that night. After our beer fest with the Intercordians and the guys, Jess and I boarded a taxi with the four to Somafero to dance the night away. In retrospect this was a very bad idea as I had to wake up way too early for Leon the next morning and already was feeling under the weather. Anyways got home safe woke up for the bus to Leon and no sooner realized my memory card for my camera was gonzo. I had taken it out of my camera to make sure it would be safe incase my camera was stolen. This was counterproductive as my camera was left untouched and my memory card never to be seen again. OI VEY. Luckily everyone else (mostly Benny) have taken many many photos that they will put on cd and share with yours truly.

Leon is a beautiful city. I couldnt get enough of it. It is SOOOO hot, but it has this rustic Spanish feel that I haven´t come across anywhere else in Nica. Sunday was suppose to be a relaxing pacific ocean beach day. Ohh how naive we were in believing that! Megan, Laura, Benny and I took forever to find the bus to the beach. That was our first struggle. Then we load off when everyone else does thinking that would be a good idea. Huge mistake. It was the blind leading the blind. We ended up at the local´s beach in a horrific restaurant where the food took forever that the flies were EVERYWHERE. The bathroom was an aluminum sheet constituting as walls surrounding a toilet bowl, no back, no flush, in the middle of the dinning area. Disgust. After that little taste of hell, we decided to set out to find this beautiful beach we had heard so much about. Ended up walking down the entirety of three full beaches, stumbling across a used bent syringe, naked bathing Nicaraguan men drinking Toña, and a dead possom thing that looked like a gigantic rat (I screamed soooo loud when I first realized it was right infront of me. Grossest dead animal I´ve ever seen.) So tired and forelorn, we sat by the ocean. No idea where to find a bus back home we decided to trust a kid that was clearly high on glue. He showed us to the street behind the beach and said that the bus would be there in half an hour. I kid you not, we were stuck in Hotel California. Ya know the place that you can check into anytime you like but can never leave?? A green water pool with bathing men to our right, zombie children on glue to our left, mud beneath us, and a darkening sky above. Finally the bus despelled our doubt and came. Our relief only lasted ten minutes as the next thing we knew, we were stuck in a hole. No one was willing to give up their seats and get off the bus, so the bus driver struggled to get us out with around 95 people on the bus. Mmmm the smell of burning rubber and sweat. Finally all got off and within about an hour and a half the bus had been rescued from the hole and back on track. My feeling under the weather quickly bloomed into full blown laringitis, miagrane and sinus infection. By the time I got back to Via Via hostel I decided I could not climb up Cerro Negro (the volcano I had my heart on climbing the entire time. Bummer.) Megan stayed back from the volcano climb with me and the two of us roamed around Leon. We climbed to the top of the Cathedral instead of the volcano. Beautiful view. People in Leon are just nicer, I´ve decided. Megan and I ended up spending our afternoon talking to an amazing Nursing student by the name of Richard (another bloke from Cali.) He was traveling alone and wanted a few hours company, which we were very capable of providing. After missing our bus back to Esteli Monday night, we had to go to Ocotal and hitch a ride back on an express bus from Managua to Esteli in the pouring rain. Let me tell you, nothing goes smoothly or without obstacle when travelling in Nicaragua.

Took yesterday off work to get healthy, Back here today. Recharged and ready to work this week well and head off for Granada and Isle of Ometepe next week when FUNARTE goes on holidays.

XOXO
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