This experience is a fair representation of this past week for us. There have been social gatherings and encounters with many types. On Monday, we did cocktail hour with a retired couple from Oklahoma; the man is originally from Texas and is the spitting image- appearance and mannerisms- of George W Bush. So we took his words with a grain of salt. After cocktails, we attended a potluck style dinner with 30 other gringos. It's interesting to be in a different country but to be surrounded by gringos.... as is the resort life, I suppose. Tuesday, we went for a four mile walk on the beach to collect seashells for Angie and Osman's home. Wednesday, Micah golfed with my dad and two men who work for Gran Pacifica while I spent a few hours helping Angie in the office. Thursday night we found ourselves in la casa de Angie's boss, grilling the mackerel and sting ray he caught the day before, and drinking wine with 15ish other gringos, some we knew and some were new. We've enjoyed the stories, mostly retired folks who were wise to invest in an area like this and live a life by the ocean for a fraction of the cost. And there's a handful of young kids here too, either teenagers visiting their parents during school break or post-college resort workers who aren't sure yet what to do with their degrees. It's been a busier, more social week than previous weeks and we can definitely appreciate the differences between here and home; punctuality is nearly non existent in Nicaragua, laid back is the only life style, 75 degrees and a harsh sun are considered "cold", and resorts are a very secluded misrepresentation of a culture. Stats about Nicaragua: although it is more stable today than it's been in previous decades, it remains one of the poorest nations on the American continent; roughly 1/3 of the country survives on two meals or less per day; 46% live below the poverty line; minimum wage in the tourism sector for a good job with benefits is $7/day. We enjoy waving at those we have met as we wander the property and feel as though we've found a bit of a family here, but are looking forward to exploring Cental America, unfiltered.
The family headed out yesterday for a bit of an adventure, one last hurrah before my parents head home tomorrow. We spent a few hours at Laguna de Apoyo, an old volcanic crater that is now a natural lake. Think Crater Lake, but less crystal clear, slightly heavier wind and that you can swim in. It's an option to rent kayaks but we opted for the cheap fun; jumping off the 20' deck in to the blue and sunbathing on the floating dock. It took me a few minutes to actually jump off the deck, since I could see the bottom of the lake where I was sure to land... and when I finally jumped, I bounced right off the soft floor. Apparently I don't jump very far, as my family observed. Weird.
Micah, in flight
Las Smetana chicas sunbathing
Driving home yesterday, we heard rumors of an earthquake hitting around 4pm. None of us felt it, but we were in the car and people drive pretty crazy here, so hard to say whether the swerving and potholes were really an earthquake. The center of the quake was Chinadega, 4 hours north of us. It was rated a 5.2 and could be felt in Honduras and El Salvador; luckily no structural damage or injuries were reported. Imagining that won't be our last earthquake here!
We are fairly confident in our plans for the future. We will catch a ride to Managua in 2 weeks or so, where we plan to bus north. We're not sure whether we'll start Pacific or Carribean coast, but we'll head up one, either through El Salvador or Honduras, as far north as Cancun. And then we'll come back down the other side, spending 4 months exploring everything north of us. That should put us back in Nicaragua mid-June, in time to pick up our friends, Megan and Brock, before spending a week in Nicaragua with them. Come fall, our explorations will take us south to Costa Rica and Panama.
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