Hey everyone.
So we arrived to Nicaragua on Sunday night, absolutely exhausted from the trip. We got up around 5 after going to bed around 2, ate some toast, checked out of the timeshare, and hopped in a taxi to the bus station. Our bus left at 7:30 for Managua, and it's about a 9 hour ride from San Jose, but our bus trip was about 8. After going through the bizarre process of crossing the border on an international bus, which required us to hand over our passports, and eventually all get off the bus and wait outside until they called our name to get back on, on both sides of the border, we were in Nicaragua. We exchanged our money, and hopped back on the bus for about a 45 minute ride to Rivas. From Rivas we took a taxi to San Jorge, and from San Jorge, an hour long ferry ride to Moyogalpa, on Isla de Ometepe, in the middle of Lago de Nicaragua. As we approached on the ferry, we were in absolute awe from the beauty of the island. It was created by the lava flow of two volcanoes, and looks something like an 8 from the air. The Volcanoes sit majestically on the island, towering over everything, and topped with clouds that look like fluffy whipped cream, or even snow.
Of course when we arrived it was raining, because every time we travel anywhere it does. We dragged our things through the brick streets of Moyogalpa, trying to find a decent place to stay the night, and a place to eat something, because we hadn't eaten since the toast that morning, and it was fast approaching 4pm. We went directly to a place that was mentioned in the lonelyplanet book as popular for backpackers, but found it empty. We didn't care too much, as we were planning on staying only one night, and went ahead and paid for a room. Once we got into the room we changed our minds a bit. It was swarming with mosquitoes, filthy, there was no toilet paper... ugh. So we were debating whether we wanted to ask for our money back or not when the power went out. We decided to go somewhere else.
So we got our shit and dragged it back through the brick streets, muddy and rainy as all hell, searching for a place. We met a couple from Finland, who were in the same situation as we were. We ended up finding a place for $15 a night that was bearable. They opted for air conditioning which was $25, and just out of our budget. We got caught in the middle of a parade of sorts, for a political party. It was a huge caravan of people voting for the Sandinistas in the upcoming election. The spirit here is much like in the US right now, just much more interesting. We found a place to eat called Yogi's, named after the owners dog, and decided to try it out, mostly due to the fact that we were starving and the town was all at the political festival, not leaving many businesses open. We ate there, being entertained by the bizarre ex-canadian owner who gave us the feeling that we'd gone to someones house to eat dinner. He regaled us with stories of times he'd smoked a joint and did something and then smoked another. Needless to say we ate our food and left, after making false plans to stop by tomorrow and help him bake a cake, and maybe do some laundry. We headed back to the hotel, and crashed at about 6:30. The next morning we got up early to shower and eat a bite before catching the 8:30 bus to Merida. We ate breakfast and drank coffee with the girl from Finland, who we hope to run into again when we head out to Granada tomorrow.
The bus ride to Merida was about 3 hours long, wrapping around nearly 3/4 of the island on dirt roads which had slid out from 9 days of rain. It was a beautiful but rough ride, on an old yellow school bus. We met a couple who were going to Balgue, on the same volcano as us, but on the opposite side. They were older and told us again and again how beautiful we were, and shared their Nicaraguan sweets with us. They chatted about the weather, and the road conditions, where we were from, etc. They were sweet, and we were sad when they left us.
When we finally arrived in Merida it was pouring rain, the street was muddy, and well, there wasn't much of a town. We found Hacienda Merida right away, and dragged our bag through the street which was more like a muddy river. When we arrived there was only one other person checked in. We got a dorm room for 4 to ourselves, that had a private bathroom. For 5 dollars a night we couldn't beat it. There was even mosquito netting on our bed (thank god!) to protect my flesh from the bloodsucking demons.
We ordered some lunch, which took an extraordinarily long time, but ended up being absolutely amazing. The food here is delicious; mostly vegetarian, all made from scratch to order, just really quality. It's not quick, but it's worth it. We went for a walk that evening and saw one of the most amazing sunsets that I've witnessed. The girl who was here already joined us, and while we found her slightly obnoxious, she was ok. When we returned there were 2 Danish girls here... 2 extraordinarily bitchy Danish girls at that. It was nice because the other American instantly latched on to them, though even more obnoxious to hear the way she spoke with them.
We planned to go to a preschool and cook them breakfast and play with the kids the next morning, so we went to bed fairly early.
The next morning after we ate, we discovered that the school had been canceled because there was an outbreak of hepatitis. The weather wasn't great, so kayaking wasn't really an option either, so we spent the morning putting some of our pictures online. In the afternoon, we met with a boy named Horacio who is studying english. He's 14 and absolutely adorable. We talked with him over lunch, he asked us some question, we asked him some. It was quite sweet. Then later that evening 2 more students came back with Horacio; Helen and Darwin. Helen was only 11, and Darwin was also 14. We all talked and laughed, and they were so freaking cute! I loved speaking with them. Lindsay headed in to bed fairly early to read where it was less windy and less buggy. I was on the computer for a bit more, and while I was I met a guy, 20 years old, and studying. I had kind of been smiling at him for the past two days, so he finally started talking to me. We walked out onto the cement dock and sat under a tree and talked in the moonlight for a while. He was sweet, and surprisingly un-creepy (don't worry, I had my pepper spray just in case, and Linds had a time frame to come and look for me), so it was nice to just sit and talk with a local around my age.
Today Linds and I slept in (finally) and when we got up, we ate something, and went for a swim in the lake. The waves are rough because the wind and the rain, but it was fantastic none the less. The water was perfectly warm but refreshing. If it wasn't so rough I could have stayed for hours. Which brings me to now. Tonight at sunset we plan on another swim. We're going to leave the island tomorrow, which means an early day, so I probably won't be staying out until midnight talking to a boy. But really, I absolutely love it here. Isla de Ometepe is gorgeous, even in the fog and the rain and the wind. I can only imagine on a sunny day how absolutely stunning it must be. It so tranquil and peaceful here. I think I could get sucked in and stay forever if I didn't leave soon. So that's that. Miss everyone and I'll try to write again soon!
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