Last Saturday afternoon, Micah and I were lucky to FaceTime with Tarah and Lucas during the reception of Jess and Julia's wedding. We were able to congratulate the beautiful brides, and then were taken on a walking tour of the grounds and waved hello to all our friends. It was the best we could ask for and seeing all our friends faces was icing on the cake. That evening, we drove the 11 km dirt road to Big Bob's Restaurant for dinner, happily eating pizza and drinking in honor of those back home.
Sunday we decided to hit the beach. All seven of us piled into the explorer and drove 10 minutes to the North Beach, where the waves are smaller for beginner surfers and the sand is flat and perfect for play. We brought only the body board and had one plan in mind: teach Kaiden to surf. For his first time, and for being two and a half, he rocked it. Osman would take him out to where the water was a few feet deep, position him on his belly, and let him go when a wave would catch him. The assembly line of family was ready to push him slightly if his direction began to veer, or scoop him up by his life jacket if he went under. He rode waves for over half an hour and even after wiping out two times, told us he wanted to go back out. The rest of the week, he would tell us that he went surfing and he even went out again a few days later with his mom and dad. We were thrilled to be witnesses to his first surf lesson.
The team, taking their places
On Monday, Micah and I made our way down to the resort pool to discover we had front row tickets to the Miss Mundo Nicaragua contest. The girls were being filmed as each one would walk down a slight hill directly in front of the pool, get wacked in the face by palm tree fronds, contort her body into a pose, and then walk in a circle. Apparently this event isn't as much a beauty pageant as it is a reality show; we were told this was the prelimaries for the real Miss Nica contest, and three girls were eliminated each night after certain competitions were held throughout the day. It will air for four- one hour shows in September. We left the pool when the storm clouds started to roll in, and wondered how the girls faired while we watched a beautiful lightening storm from our back patio.
With Kaiden in hand, Micah and I headed back down to the pool on Tuesday afternoon to catch more of the action but didn't see the girls around. We spent two hours in the pool and then went for our typical sunset drive in the golf cart.
Wednesday morning, I was woke up by Micah and Kaiden asking if I wanted to see what was in the pool. During the rainy season (now), it's not uncommon to find crabs or cute frogs going for a dip in the pool. Although the size of a frog, the tarantula in the pool was not as pleasant of a site. I steered clear while Micah had tarantula duty for over an hour, attempting to drown it by trapping it under the net. It seemed to enjoy the game, every few minutes scrambling quickly up the pole, seeing its chance to get on to dry land. Micah would run frantically to the pole and shake it, causing the spider the size of a grown mans palm to fall back in. When my sister's boss informed us that tarantulas can survive under water for hours, we needed a new plan. Micah carefully lifted the net up and over the planter into the driveway, Angie nonchalantly (she's done this before) brushed the spider off the net to the ground, and my dad viciously beat it to a pulp with the back of a shovel. My self appointed job was to videotape the well executed plan. This less than desired first time experience has left us slightly more alert when walking and prompted our discussion of when we would leave property.
Kaiden woke Thursday morning with another bug bite that was becoming red and swollen, similar to how mine started. Osman and I took him back to the Villa El Carmen hospital to get more antibiotics and cream and I was able to show two of the nurses that worked with me how my leg has healed. We returned to the house late morning to find Micah power washing the planters and patio. My mom and dad have a few more DIY projects around the house, including draining the pool for some maintenance work and painting it. Seemed like the right time to power wash everything, so Micah and I spent the better part of the day working on our tans while playing with the strong hose. The excitement peaked when we found another less than desired creature in the planter. The 6 inch scorpion tried to escape but Osman took care of it with a rock. After the work was completed, mom and dad thanked us with a few happy hour drinks down by the pool.
Angie surprised my dad and Micah with a retirement/birthday present of deep sea fishing on Friday morning. Although it required getting up at 4:30am, Osman, mom and I decided we wanted to tag along. Our guide was Dan, a good friend of Angie and Osman's that moved from California with his family five years ago to work on a boat all day instead of wearing a suit and tie. On the boat by 6am, we rode 6km from our starting point at Masachapa to begin trolling for fish. Within 45 minutes, we had caught three mackerel and a needle fish. We sat for the next hour with Toñas in hand, waiting for the next bite. She was worth it; with a bit of help, my mom spent nearly 10 minutes reeling in a 20+ pound snapper. We ended up with three more fish after that, for a total of nine fish (4 mackerels, 2 barracuda, 1 needle, 1 tuna, 1 snapper). The trip was complete with spottings of Dolphins and turtles mating.
Still recovering from an early morning the previous day, Saturday was a quiet day around the house. I fixed my backpack's broken zipper with some shoelace and the boys watched golf. We had some friends over for a BBQ that evening and feasted on snapper, mackerel and piña coladas.
Yesterday (Sunday) our groups split up. Micah and my dad headed out to golf with two other guys that live here, devising a competition in which the loser (not Dad or Micah) had to purchase drinks for the others. The girls + an intern temporarily working here drove the 90 minutes to Léon for a day of shopping. We also caught a movie in the air conditioned theater for the afternoon before returning home.
Today, we have an agenda. Besides laundry and packing, I am in the process of applying for a PT license in Washington for some temporary work when we return and I'm hoping to finish the application. Tomorrow we will head to Granada, bringing my parents along for a taste of public transportation in Nicaragua. We've carefully planned this with Angie and if all goes smoothly, she will meet up with us on Thursday after a bus ride to Costa Rica to renew her visa, and will safely escort my parents home. From there, we'll head south, and it'll be three more months of backpacking for Micah and I.
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