Thursday, December 10, 2015

All Good Things Come to an End

We have landed on U.S. soil. As our departure date neared closer, we both found ourselves in a perfect state of contentment; sad to say goodbye but anxious to return to those we missed. It's hard to know whether these well balanced feelings were a result of the mental preparation that after 11 months of backpacking, our trip would be complete, or simply that the timing was perfect. Either way, we were both pleased that we simply felt ready. Micah's last blog took you through Sunday, which left us two days to soak up all the sun and Nica family that we could.

After Micah golfed 27 holes the previous day, we still had a pass with 5 rounds of 9 holes, challenging us to use them before we left. On Monday, I only managed 9 and Micah played a full 18. My game started well and by the end of the second hole, I was feeling pretty confident with how much I've improved this year. Then the next seven holes put me back in my place and although I did grow as a golfer this year, I remembered that I have a long ways to go. 

We ate a quick lunch before taking advantage of our last dip in the infinity pool, last sunset over the Pacific shores of Nicaragua, and last happy hour drinks. Angie and Kaiden joined us for a swim before heading home to make chicken enchiladas. Dinner was served and then packing began. The tricky tasks of wrapping bottles of rum in clothes, disguising cigars, and cushioning breakables was refined over the next few days as we continued to add items to our luggage and guesstimate the weight of our check-in bags.

Tuesday morning, Angie surprised me with a massage appointment at the resort. They have a masseuse on property with the perfect set-up: a massage table in a small palapa, opened towards the ocean. After my hour of relaxation, Micah and I confiscated Kaiden for our last beach adventure. We jumped in the waves, sat on the pieces of driftwood while imagining they were horses, and collected seashells. Our ulterior motive was to increase the bronze of our skin so as to look like we've spent the past year living on the beaches of Central America.

                                               On a seashell scavenger hunt

We did our best to keep Kaiden awake for the afternoon, intermittently as we completed packing. Angie was able to leave work early so around 2:30, the adults were ready to head in to Managua in preparation for the early morning departure time the following day. We hugged and kissed Kaiden, promised to FaceTime often and visit again soon, meanwhile he picked his nose and wiped his boogars on us. 

               This is how he combs my hair

On our way to Managua, we had a detour at a local orphanage. A surfer who Angie knows through Gran Pacifica works there and offered to show us around. It was an uplifting experience, as my expectations were pretty low, never having visited an orphanage even in a developed country, let alone Nicaragua. The location of The Children of Destiny orphanage was beautiful, set on 50+ acres, half of which was undeveloped and the remaining land housed open fields for soccer, fruit trees, and tire swings. The only children we had a short interaction with were two infants, two months old each. The other children were playing among the trees when we drove up to the orphanage. This place is currently home to 19 children, nearly all under the age of 5. Most are taken out of abusive environments or are abandoned. We were told the children are placed relatively quickly, either with family members or adopted. The orphanage is run solely on donations and fundraising by a gal that owns it; it was a quick and powerful reminder of how much difference one person could make to many.

There was a last minute souvenir trip to the market before we found a hotel in Managua. The four of us wandered down the road to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then unsuccessfully went in search of Churros, an appropriate dessert for our last night in Central America. We settled on banana splits, and then stopped in at a pharmacy on the walk home to pick up a two week supply of antibiotics (for $3.72), although we sincerely hope nothing will spring up once home to necessitate use of antibiotics. 

With a departure time of 8:40am, we arrived to the small, disorganized airport at 7am on Wednesday. We checked in one bag each, proudly weighing in at 49# and 46#. Hugs and a few tears later, we were through security and shortly after, aboard our plane. Our long travel day went smoothly, with a 4 hour layover in Atlanta and a rushed 50 minute layover in Seattle. Immigrations and Customs didn't even glance at Micah's Cuba stamps and weren't concerned that I had cigars in my suitcase (maybe because I fibbed and said they were from Nicaragua, so he didn't bother to look at them).

     Being American: drinking beer while eating a $12 hamburger and watching sports
                                                         Had to.

We were greeted at the Portland airport by Mark, Lucas, Tarah and chilly weather. Wrapped in our Mexican shawl and poncho, we collected our luggage and drove back to Papa Hoelter's. I wondered on the plane if I would feel claustrophobic amidst buildings more than two stories tall, or disheartened by all the consumerism around. I've had neither of these experiences yet, but as we drove home last night, there was a pleasant mix of awareness of the physical changes in Portland that had occurred in the past year, as if we'd been gone a long time, and the feeling that we never left.

Over the next few days and few weeks, our schedule feels full. We have Christmas parties, family get-togethers and birthday parties to attend. I have part time work lined up in Vancouver and Forest Grove for five weeks, beginning in one week. After that, we are unsure, although we have our hopes set on traveling the US for a bit while making a paycheck. Those plans will be finalized in time, and the thought of it makes me feel more comfortable with the idea of returning to a structured life, with a schedule and responsibilities. 

For now, we have a few things to do to return to normalcy, such as become owners of cell phones, pick up my car, etc. I look forward to figuring out what normalcy is over the next while. I continually asked Micah while we were traveling what changes stuck once he returned from his previous long backpacking trip: if it was difficult to spend $10 for a meal after spending $3 for the past year; if it was difficult to become so much more accessible to others because of cell phones and Internet; if it was as difficult to wake up to an alarm as I imagine it will be. Over the past 24 hours I've had to remind myself numerous times that it's safe to drink the water from the tap now and that it's ok to throw the toilet paper in the toilet.

Although I'm unsure when or how often, we will continue to post to this blog. We have a lot of pride in our little excel program that shows every penny we spent over the past 11 months, so that financial breakdown will result in a post in the next week or two. At times exhausting and overwhelming to write a blog, I'm thankful that we have a play-by-play to remind us of all the amazing experiences we had this year, and I'm grateful to our friends and family who have faithfully followed along.



Sunday, December 6, 2015

Eight Days A Week

This has been one of the toughest blog posts to write. With just a few days left of what has been an 11 month journey, I don't feel very motivated. With that said, I will apologize in advance for the lazy tone of this entry. 

On Sunday we got a ride up north to León with Angie and ate chicken shawarma for lunch. We waited an hour at a hardware store for paint to be mixed and I contemplated buying a machete. My father and I were dropped at Museo de Arte Fundación Ortiz-Guardián which was unfortunately closed for renovations. From there we walked around the city center while the girls did girl things. We checked out the large and impressive central cathedral as well as a few of the other beautiful churches. That night we watched the Portland Timbers advance to the MLS championship game and gave my Dad one last taste of typical Nicaraguan food at one of León's popular outdoor street grills. 

                 Inside Iglesia de la Merced
                  Street grill behind cathedral 

We woke up early on Monday with the goal of climbing to the top of the central cathedral for spectacular views of the city and the surrounding volcanoes. The bonus would have been seeing the Telica Volcano which recently erupted and is now covered in light gray ash. We were unlucky again, as the cathedral staircase was not open at 8am like we had hoped and with my Father needing to catch a 9am airport shuttle, we strolled back to the hotel. The van arrived ontime and we said our goodbyes which were easy since we will see each other again in 10 days. 

Despite the closures in León, I think the past 2 weeks couldn't have gone better. It was a good mix of backpacking and resort life. We showed my Dad some of the culture with chicken bus rides and local food, then did the relaxing golf and poolside happy hour. Definitley glad he came down. 

For the rest of Monday we got back to our backpacker roots. After some bargain shopping in the markets and thrift stores, we ate lunch at a bus terminal kitchen and caught a bus to the junction town of Los Cedros. There, we waited an hour on the side of the road for another bus to take us down to km 49 and the beginning of the 11km dirt road to Gran Pacifica. When this 2nd bus dropped us off, we stood on the side of the road and stuck out our thumbs. All of our previous hitchhiking attempts have been successful and we were hoping for our last attempt to work just as well. After 20 minutes of no vehicles, a lady driving a work truck rolled by us, waving us off and apparently saying that she was stopping shortly. Then she stopped and backed up to us. We said "Gran Pacifica" and she said that she was stopping at her house for about 15 minutes before continuing on to our destination, if we didn't mind waiting. Of course we didn't mind, and soon found out that she was the mother-in-law of Big Bob (owner of Burrito Bandidos) and she knows Angela well. She must have recognized Julia and that is why she stopped. After helping her unload some food at her house, we hopped in the bed of the truck and soon arrived back at our temporary home where we were greeted by Kaiden running toward us. 

                 Another successful hitchhiking 

The next few days are a little easier to describe as we began the big project of painting the outside of the house. 

Tuesday: Pressure washing and cleaning.

Wednesday: Prepped and painted. Saw smoke rising in the distance from the eruption of Momotombo Volcano. It had been 110 years since it's last eruption and we watched the local news showing it spew lava into the night.

Thursday: Prepped and painted some more.

Friday: Prepped and finished painting the main walls of the house for half the day, then attempted to snorkel before spending the final few hours of sunlight by the resort pool.

                            How we paint

Saturday: We painted the windowsills and bases of the pillars for one last day of brush strokes and balancing on ladders. Just as we finished, some friends of Angie and Osman's came over for a BBQ and kids playing in the pool. We feasted and drank, enjoying the perfect night weather and a colorful sunset. Since it is less than 3 weeks until Christmas (although it doesn't feel like it down here) I was asked to don a Santa suit and give the kids some holiday cheer. It was my first time playing the jolly fat man, but 2 of the 3 kids were convinced I was the real thing. 

                        Kaiden and Santa

Now it is Sunday again and I have to say today was a good day. The girls again headed out for a day on the town doing girl things in Managua. I took the opportunity to play as much golf as I could, which happens to currently be 27 holes in this heat. I played well, enjoyed myself and got back home in time to cleanup and make some ramen for lunch. Then joyfully watched the Portland Timbers win the MLS Championship while typing these words onto my iPad. 

This will be my last post from overseas. We do plan on keeping this site updated as we arrive back home and pursue temporary job opportunities around the US in 2016. We will also post some recaps and top-10 lists from our year in Central America. But first, we have to finish this trip and get back home. Check back in a few days for Julia's post on the dramatic conclusion.