Hola Amigos, one more week has passed and my spanish still sucks. One area where I think I have improved is that I know now that puedo mean can I and I have graduated from saying que, which means what, when I don´t understand people, to saying pardón, friggin polite right. right now we are in a town called El Castillo which is a little fishing village on Rio San Juan, staying in a hostel for 3.50 dollars, a couple down sides are that I´m sleeping on a wood board and the river shrimp that I want to eat is the same price as our days budget. Bummer, but the upsides out way the bad. We are saying in a hostel that is overhanging the river, it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, the people are really nice, I have semi clean close, we are with a guy from Holland, a guy from denmark, and a guy from england, and they are awesome. The guy from england is one of the funniest people I have ever met and prepares stories for us all day in his head and tells us them once its the right setting. The Denmark guy is hilarious as well and just get real excited about everything and I continually laugh at him. The Guy from Holland is alittle more mellow but is hilarious as well and is one of the most beastly men I have ever met.
Alright so for the past week we havent been doing what we originally planned on doing but God put some people into our path that have been amazing to get to know and love. We got to Granada a week ago and stayed in a hostel there for 7 bones which was a bit pricey for our budget but we really liked it so we stayed anyways. There we met some people who we talked to alot when we were there and we liked alot but after a couple of days in granada we didnt see them again. The second day we were in Granada we decided to go to Lagona Del Poyo which is a crater lake in a volcanoe and is supposed to be the best swimming in all of Granada. So we get on a Chicken bus which is a old school bus from the states which is decked out in any way the driver sees fit. They all look pretty awesome and I wish they did something like that to all the school buses in the states. So we are riding on this bus and meet The guy from holland, england, and denmark, as well as a girl from ireland and Australia and another guy from Oregon. We hang out with them all day and get to know them pretty well and learn that they are awesome. We end up having to borrow money from them to get into the resort which we have to go to inorder to have fun at this lake and so we chill with them all day then have to meet back up with them that night so we can pay the irish girl back who lent us money. We meet at a bar and it was a hilarious night we sat with the English guy who is hilarious and tought us a game that was amazingly fun and hilarious and we will play in the states. The next day we all decided to go to Ometepe which is an island with two volcanoes on it one of whic his active haha. The Island is amazing we get hasseled at the port buy hotel owners then get a place to stay watch some soccer in the town and then the next day we have planned to hike up the bigger of the two volcanoes with all these people that we met plus three americans. We wake up at like 530 which here really isnt that early and hike this volcanoe, with our guides Willie and Juan. Willie speaks english and is pretty nice guy and Juan cannot speak english but litteraly giggles countinuosly for the entire time we were with him. Instance love for this 5´3 giggling Nica. After a long endeavour of trying to get food and water for our trip and Holland litterally packing his pack with chips and cookies we were off. At the time we couldnt see the size of this volcanoe because of the mist and clouds and little did we know what we were in for. To start the hike Willie climbs a mango tree and gets everybody a couple mangos which were the best mangos I have ever had. Then we were off we take a fair amount of breaks but the hike starts off pretty mild not too steap just like hiking a normal mountain, but the higher we got the steeper the trail got. Also to help you understand in Nicaragua they dont seem to like to really wind trails up the side of the mountain but instead essentially have them going straight up the mountain. So ast we are tackling this beast and we get up about half way which I thought they were saying was the top, I mentally broke down and wanted to go back but everybody else decided to go so I figured I couldnt go back so I had to go. There I dubbed us the Volcanoe goats because like mountain goats we were litterally climbing the face of a mountain but it wasnt a mountain it was a volcanoe, so we were alittle more BA. After this halfway point me Denmark Australia, and England continued up the mountain at a very slow pace and this was where I learned that England liked to make up stories. He made up a story with a couple suggestions from myself for super powers and talking animals, and Denmark with the suggestions of a dragon and magic. With that formula his mind worked. I literally crawled up the last 600 meters of the volcanoe dying alittle bit with every step then we get up to where there are only small plants and Juan gets alittle scared. He smells sulfur, oh and by the way willie stayed behind at the half way point with one of the guys who couldnt make it up and Juan came with us and informed us that he actually had never been up the volcanoe before. So we were 1300 meters up an active volcanoe with a guide who usually giggles at everything got really serious and scared and had never been there before... hahahahahaha. After him telling us it was twent five more minutes about three times and telling us 4 more minutes about 4 times and stopping alot to get alittle more scared about the sulfur fumes, and the burnt plants from lava and the fact that the volcanoe literally erupted a week before and the fact that he had never been there before, and that we werent legally allowed to be there my heart was pumping hard with excitement and we reached the top. No plants just rocks, really hot rocks, and mist every where we compared it to frodo´s journey to mount doom for all of you Lord of the Rings lovers. It was intense. WE then took pictures and left quickly because Juan was pretty scared and so we climbed all the way down made fun of willie for not going to the top and by the time we got back to the Hotel we realized that that was the hardest this most of us have ever done. I litterally couldnt walk and was dying slowly with every breath. I thought to myself why did I do that but was glad I did.
The next couple days we didnt move we watched the USA England game and realized USA is horendous, alittle pissed but at least we tied WOOT WOOT. The the next day we went biking around the small island which seemed to be an easy task. But once again we got into an incredibly strenuous bike ride which took litterally all day and it got dark when we were a couple hours from our town going through this rocky terrain. This was only because at the begining of the trip we were having a great time in which we stopped for smoothies for an hour and then lunch for about an hour an a half where we are 90% postive the woman killed a chicken for us. AWESOME. But after being on a bike for 10 hours my butt was bruised my palms were in tremendous pain and I was covered in mudd from head to toe. HAHAHA it sucked so bad. It was worse the the volcanoe. HAHAHA. Oh and by the way the people that went were me david Holland and Denmark. Denmark and I were just as weak as each other so we walked up alot of hills while david made up them for 75% of the time and Holand made up every one only really grunting once. He is a beast. That night after the worste thing I have ever done and being really pissed off that we did that I was laughing because how much it sucked and at the fact that England instead of going on the bike ride decide to go to a nice resort with a bath in the room haha, he doesnt speak spanish and just simply speaks english to everybody and we have only met like five people who speak english in this country, but people some how understand him and he gets all kinds of things some how. He got a 50% discount on his room and watched pride and prejudice with a Nicaraguan family that night just for a taste of how hilariously lucky this guy is. Well the next day we came here to El Castillo after an all night boat ride to San Carlos and an hour boat ride down the river. Its amazing and I wont have internet for a while because there is not much going on in the east coast where we are headed, just indigenous villages. AMAZING. Oh yeah and by the way PEACE.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
One great day
Two days ago we met a little boy in a touristy market when we were sitting at a table relaxing. This little boy named Manuel came up to us, missing his four front teeth gave us one of the best smiles we have ever seen. He asked if we wanted to buy a flower that he made (which I think David will have a picture of on his blog) we said no thankyou because litterally ever person that saw us tried to sell us something because we are white, so he walked off. But David had a great idea and asked Manuel if he would like something to eat and sit and chill with us and of course like any 5 year old boy who makes a living of maybe 1 cordoba a day (which equals to five cents) he ssaid yes. He said he likes chicken so we got him a chicken sandwhich and after the twenty minutes it took him to eat this tiny sandwhich, becasue of his lack of teeth and the fact that he is five, David asked if we could meet his family. He said yes and brought us to his mother. His family consisted of his mother older brother and sister. His older brother was in a wheel chair with down sindrome or some other socially paralyzing desease, his sister was deph, and his mother whose husband left her for another woman in Costa Rica, was selling cds and movies on the street to try to support her three children.
We went up to her and introduced ourselves and talked with her for a bit and she was the most amazingly nice woman. David then had another great idea and asked if we could take her and her family out to dinner the next night. She ontop of her extremely friendly nature humbily accepted eventhough it must be embarassing for her to have two 21 year old kids pay for her families dinner.
The next day we picked them up and told them we would go where ever they wanted and after gaining two more little boys to our group we set off for this place unknown to us that the children always rave about but have never been. After a very long walk and fun convresation with the little boys and girl, we arrived at our destination... Tip Top it was called and it was the equvalent to a KFC here. We though this was really funny to our selves but we realized why she chose to take us there. It was becasue her kids have always wanted to go there and we could tell by their excited yellng ¨tip top pollo¨in Nicaraguan children accents. This woman is amazing and chose a place where her kids wanted to go instead of some place she wanted to go. We order our food and as we are waiting all the kids, Manuel 5, Mercedes 10, Bryan 11, and possibly Tony who was 11, played in the play place equivalent to McDonalds. They had a great time then when the food came they rushed out of the play place and each got a couple peices of fried chicken, a roll, french fries, and a small drink. They savored their incredibly greesy chicken and drink then went and played again as the mom stayed with her son in the wheel chair and fed him slowly without eating herself, and then when her daughter lost her drink she bought her a new one without our knowledge, for a dollar. A dollar here for her was probably two days work and she bought her daughter a small soda to give her simply happiness for a short whil.e She must have been so hungry but thought of her children first. An Amazing woman.
After only twenty dollars later to feed seven people at one of the more expensive places to eat, we were off to meet the woman´s, whose name is Alejandra, (i forgot to write that) mother and other family. After another long walk and loss of about a gallon of water because of sweat we get to her mothers house and sit on their front porch and talk for a bit then she and her three kids walk us home because it it supposedly a dangerous neighborhood for white people at night. She proceeded to push her son in this wheel chair with the other two kids swinging on us all the way back to the hotel where we have been staying so that we would not get hurt or mugged or robbed. Today we were supposed to go to the school for the disabled here with her and her son but during the night both her son who is disabled and her daughter who was deph got sick and had to go to the hostpital. So today after waiting for a little while she shows up sad and says sorry that she was late and tells us all that and David prays for her and she went off to the market to get the medicine. She is an amazing woman and a testimony of the strength Christ gives to the people with the most horrible circumstances. Pray that she stays strong and that she can continually find joy in Christ´s love for her and her family.
In the picture Manuel is to the left his mother is in the middle and the disabled boy is on the right.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
By the Way
It is the hottest place I have ever been with no AC and we havent stopped sweating since we´ve been here. Also Nicaraguans take alot of showers so Im pretty sure they think Americans are smell dirty people who dont wash their hair which I havent done yet, and smell like a foot. Sorry USA but we are giving you a smelly rep.
Dia 1
All you need for 2 1/2 months in Nicaragua is 2 shirts 2 shorts 1 bathing suit 1 pair of pants 1 poncho 1 water purifier 1 pair of shoes 1 shammy 1 tooth brush 1 bible 1 journal and 1 pen, everything else you find when you get there... hopefully.
We got to Nica at 8 in the afternoon after flying all day and talking to a few people about the extent of our trip. In the airport in Houston, where our lay over was, we met a woman name Virginia, haha, and she was from Nicaragua, coincidence... I think not. She is a lawyer in Managua and she gave us many suggetions for things to do and offered us a ride to any where we want to go. She was great and hopefully we see her again.
When we got to Managua we had alittle trouble with costums because we didnt know the address where we were staying that night, sound familiar ben and matt, but we got things straightened out and met up with the people that we were staying with for the night. The night before we left we called a woman named Anne Sharpe and she was had a thick North Carolinian accent and was the nicest woman in the world and we told her that we were coming on tuesday and we would like suggestions of places to stay. She was scared for us and worried so she offered for us to stay at her house until thursday if we would like so when we got to the airport she pick us up. She was with her friend Chris who is working with young life down here teaching the leaders english. We got to her car... A 4 runner... HAHAHA, perfect, we are really getting the cross cultural eexperience in a 4 Runner. Hahaha needless to say we were extremely comfortable and it was like we were in America with a southern woman, and two other english speaking men.
We get to their house and it is really nice. You walk in and it large and open with tiled floors and cementish walls and ceilings and she then showed us to our room which was amazing. two beds and a bathroom with a shower. Haha we were truly ¨roughing¨ it now. So the next day we wake up after what seems to be a long sleep, thinking it was about ten or so... try 545 in the morning hahaha. The sun comes up early here and it is hard to sleep past six. We then get bagels and cream cheese and coffee, haha so once again Nica is very different from what we are used to. haha.
That day Ann takes us to a coffe shop where they get their beans roasted for Vida Joven Coffee which is a Coffee that is grown and sold to pay for kids to go to younglife camp. Buy bags it is really good coffee, and I think they said it is 12 bucks a pound. Do it each bag pays for a kid to go to camp. So david and I drink our coffee then begin to walk down the street to Plaza Isreal which is supposed to be this huge market with all kinds of stuff at it. We were looking for a watch. After finding what we thought the market was numerous times, we eventually ended up at the one we were trying to find and it was crazy big and hectic. We walk to it from accross the street, which is always a hard thing to do becasue the drivers dont stop here, then enter this market by the fruit and fish and stuff and we are helped immeditely and told where to go. After being hit on and tried to be sold many things we find a watch. Swiss something or another, we were dooped, not swiss army. Then we ate the staple diet of Nica´s, gallo pinto, rice and beans, I´m in heaven I love rice if yall didnt know and beans and they always add what ever meat you want I usually get chicken. So we eat walk around find a mini zoo, it had three monkeys one chained to a wire above us as we walked through tthe park.
We then met a woman named Amira at the icream shop maybe a mile away to take us around and show us the Mana Project. This organization is a non christian service organization for the youth of managua. We went to this compound community center thing owned by the Augusts and saw an english class and played alittle soccer. For all the people who told me my shoes wouldnt last i would like to let you know that you were right my toms got a whole in them the first time I played soccer. Haha I guess you need more then one pair of shoes. hahaha. We got back for dinner that night at the sharps we ate echiladas and then went to a younglife club in a barrio in the city.
The club was very fun, i had alot of games like six or so and then a short skit and talk. It was fun we got picked on and i had no clue what was going on because to remind everybody I dont know spanish. Then we went home i sewed my shoe and went to bed.
The next day we woke up early again at like six and had breakfast then went to the dump. The dump is called la Treica which is where the poorest of the city live. It is a tow in the middle of the city dump where thousands of people live and they make their houses out of what ever they can find in the dump. It is a sad sight and the poorest people I have ever seen.
We then went to the sharpes who took us to Bella Amenicer, ¨beautiful Sunrise, I dont think I spelled it right. And this was nicer then La Treica by alot but was still considered a shanty town. we went there because we were going to have a homestay. each of us was going to live with a family for a night and see what the neighborhood was really like. I dont know spanish so this was an interesting night and day. We get there meet the area director for younglife in managua, Narcisso and he tells us his testimony and how he used to be a gang leader and how Christ has completely changed the community through younglife and people were become christians five at a time perday. He said it was amazing and is amazing. Then we get to our houses, Im staying with Julio who doesnt know any english which lead for interesting interpretations of each other because i of course did not know spanish. I basically blindly follwed him where ever he took me. We had a great time luckily I had a spanish english dictionary thanks to Aunt Cheryl, sorry I realized i dont know how to spell your name, and we tried to teach each other more words in english adn spanish.
The next day we woke up ate gallo pinto and eggs and had a coffee and then play soccer with a bunch of guys. It was awesome except for the fact that both david and I fell in the mudd hahaha. There goes one pair of cloths we brought and my shoes are still muddy today haha. They may have fealt like socks at first but now they feel like a stitched up pair of mudd made shoes. They are working so well.
We then later that day catch a bus to Masaya and walk around. We get a room for 90 cordobas each which is four dollars and fifty cents haha. Then we start walking around leave our bags in the room becasue it was a nice place and safe and we liked the guys there, maybe not the best idea but it worked out fine. We then went to the market and found a place where a bunch of people bring food they have cooked and alot of the town goes there to eat every night. It was great food but it kind of sucked becasue it seems like alot of the people either dont like us or are afraid of us becasue they just like to stare at us. But we are alittle scared most of the time of them becasue we have no clue what is going on in this city and whether or not it is dangerous, we are simply meandering. We eat gallo pinto an enchilada, a taco, and a plantain. Phenomenal Woot Woot. Thenwe go back to the room alittle bummed out because we didnt meet anybody.
We get back to the hotel and sit down for a bit and meet a bunch of Nicaraguans and go out with them have a couple beers and they told us we have places to stay in a couple different cities in Nica. And ouyr night has turned around.
We sleep in the next morning until 8 and get a coffee and meet a couple more guys who then give us some more contacts and we are now have a great time. God is good.
Also the watch broke the first day we got it. hahaha so we never know the time which is Awesome and oh yeah ps. WOOT WOOT. Peace
We got to Nica at 8 in the afternoon after flying all day and talking to a few people about the extent of our trip. In the airport in Houston, where our lay over was, we met a woman name Virginia, haha, and she was from Nicaragua, coincidence... I think not. She is a lawyer in Managua and she gave us many suggetions for things to do and offered us a ride to any where we want to go. She was great and hopefully we see her again.
When we got to Managua we had alittle trouble with costums because we didnt know the address where we were staying that night, sound familiar ben and matt, but we got things straightened out and met up with the people that we were staying with for the night. The night before we left we called a woman named Anne Sharpe and she was had a thick North Carolinian accent and was the nicest woman in the world and we told her that we were coming on tuesday and we would like suggestions of places to stay. She was scared for us and worried so she offered for us to stay at her house until thursday if we would like so when we got to the airport she pick us up. She was with her friend Chris who is working with young life down here teaching the leaders english. We got to her car... A 4 runner... HAHAHA, perfect, we are really getting the cross cultural eexperience in a 4 Runner. Hahaha needless to say we were extremely comfortable and it was like we were in America with a southern woman, and two other english speaking men.
We get to their house and it is really nice. You walk in and it large and open with tiled floors and cementish walls and ceilings and she then showed us to our room which was amazing. two beds and a bathroom with a shower. Haha we were truly ¨roughing¨ it now. So the next day we wake up after what seems to be a long sleep, thinking it was about ten or so... try 545 in the morning hahaha. The sun comes up early here and it is hard to sleep past six. We then get bagels and cream cheese and coffee, haha so once again Nica is very different from what we are used to. haha.
That day Ann takes us to a coffe shop where they get their beans roasted for Vida Joven Coffee which is a Coffee that is grown and sold to pay for kids to go to younglife camp. Buy bags it is really good coffee, and I think they said it is 12 bucks a pound. Do it each bag pays for a kid to go to camp. So david and I drink our coffee then begin to walk down the street to Plaza Isreal which is supposed to be this huge market with all kinds of stuff at it. We were looking for a watch. After finding what we thought the market was numerous times, we eventually ended up at the one we were trying to find and it was crazy big and hectic. We walk to it from accross the street, which is always a hard thing to do becasue the drivers dont stop here, then enter this market by the fruit and fish and stuff and we are helped immeditely and told where to go. After being hit on and tried to be sold many things we find a watch. Swiss something or another, we were dooped, not swiss army. Then we ate the staple diet of Nica´s, gallo pinto, rice and beans, I´m in heaven I love rice if yall didnt know and beans and they always add what ever meat you want I usually get chicken. So we eat walk around find a mini zoo, it had three monkeys one chained to a wire above us as we walked through tthe park.
We then met a woman named Amira at the icream shop maybe a mile away to take us around and show us the Mana Project. This organization is a non christian service organization for the youth of managua. We went to this compound community center thing owned by the Augusts and saw an english class and played alittle soccer. For all the people who told me my shoes wouldnt last i would like to let you know that you were right my toms got a whole in them the first time I played soccer. Haha I guess you need more then one pair of shoes. hahaha. We got back for dinner that night at the sharps we ate echiladas and then went to a younglife club in a barrio in the city.
The club was very fun, i had alot of games like six or so and then a short skit and talk. It was fun we got picked on and i had no clue what was going on because to remind everybody I dont know spanish. Then we went home i sewed my shoe and went to bed.
The next day we woke up early again at like six and had breakfast then went to the dump. The dump is called la Treica which is where the poorest of the city live. It is a tow in the middle of the city dump where thousands of people live and they make their houses out of what ever they can find in the dump. It is a sad sight and the poorest people I have ever seen.
We then went to the sharpes who took us to Bella Amenicer, ¨beautiful Sunrise, I dont think I spelled it right. And this was nicer then La Treica by alot but was still considered a shanty town. we went there because we were going to have a homestay. each of us was going to live with a family for a night and see what the neighborhood was really like. I dont know spanish so this was an interesting night and day. We get there meet the area director for younglife in managua, Narcisso and he tells us his testimony and how he used to be a gang leader and how Christ has completely changed the community through younglife and people were become christians five at a time perday. He said it was amazing and is amazing. Then we get to our houses, Im staying with Julio who doesnt know any english which lead for interesting interpretations of each other because i of course did not know spanish. I basically blindly follwed him where ever he took me. We had a great time luckily I had a spanish english dictionary thanks to Aunt Cheryl, sorry I realized i dont know how to spell your name, and we tried to teach each other more words in english adn spanish.
The next day we woke up ate gallo pinto and eggs and had a coffee and then play soccer with a bunch of guys. It was awesome except for the fact that both david and I fell in the mudd hahaha. There goes one pair of cloths we brought and my shoes are still muddy today haha. They may have fealt like socks at first but now they feel like a stitched up pair of mudd made shoes. They are working so well.
We then later that day catch a bus to Masaya and walk around. We get a room for 90 cordobas each which is four dollars and fifty cents haha. Then we start walking around leave our bags in the room becasue it was a nice place and safe and we liked the guys there, maybe not the best idea but it worked out fine. We then went to the market and found a place where a bunch of people bring food they have cooked and alot of the town goes there to eat every night. It was great food but it kind of sucked becasue it seems like alot of the people either dont like us or are afraid of us becasue they just like to stare at us. But we are alittle scared most of the time of them becasue we have no clue what is going on in this city and whether or not it is dangerous, we are simply meandering. We eat gallo pinto an enchilada, a taco, and a plantain. Phenomenal Woot Woot. Thenwe go back to the room alittle bummed out because we didnt meet anybody.
We get back to the hotel and sit down for a bit and meet a bunch of Nicaraguans and go out with them have a couple beers and they told us we have places to stay in a couple different cities in Nica. And ouyr night has turned around.
We sleep in the next morning until 8 and get a coffee and meet a couple more guys who then give us some more contacts and we are now have a great time. God is good.
Also the watch broke the first day we got it. hahaha so we never know the time which is Awesome and oh yeah ps. WOOT WOOT. Peace
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