Glory Days

There's a bit of nostalgia for me in visiting my sister at Gran Pacifica. It is a place associated with happy memories and it has become a comfortable second home. I'll be the first to admit that I am nostalgic about many parts of my life. As much as I enjoy planning the near future, I spend a lot of time reminiscing over happy times from my past and wondering how to recreate them. I imagine one day moving back to Montana; if I could live in the pseudo-trailer apartment from my sophomore year of college with my best friend and swing dance every weekend, I would in a second; and I'd love to quit my job (yes, again) and travel for a period of time longer than a typical vacation. But if I am never able to repeat theses things, at least I know I'm able to return to my sister's home and step back into the same lifestyle with the same people that make this place worth returning to.

 In León we chose to head "home" instead of a side trip north. We spent two days in León, gorging ourselves with jalapeno chicken (Nicaragua's signature meat dish), climbing atop the roof of the blindingly white cathedral, and some basic shopping. We caught a bus from León to Managua, confronted the bus helper for intentionally overcharging us (impressively, only the 3rd time in all of our international travels we feel this has happened), and got off at the cross roads. Timing was impeccable as the bus we needed to switch to picked us up on the side of the road within a few minutes, and we were on our way.

Blue skies

Volcano views from the cathedral

Luckily, little changes at GP (Gran Pacifica) between our trips so it does feel like we were just here weeks ago, instead of an entire year. There are small, notable differences: few new houses have been constructed on property; there are crayon marks and dirt on the walls that we spent weeks painting; piña coladas have returned to the happy hour menu. Otherwise, our days and time at GP have been the same. Although now we're helping my sister and her husband keep two small humans alive.

We follow the same pattern each day- breakfast once we get out of bed, practice throwing the frisbee with Kaiden, make faces and noises at Dominic in an attempt to make him laugh, eat lunch, swim in the pool, eat dinner. We spice up the schedule occasionally with walks, rides in the golf cart, fishing (unsuccessfully) for barracuda, and trips to the beach. We haven't yet made it golfing or surfing, but we're content for now.

A few of the men

Micah and Osman fishing off the point

Fighting a big one (seaweed)

Dominic's first swim- cheeks and chins for days!

An evening run in the rain before jumping in the pool in p.j.s (Julia, Micah & Kaiden)

Two days have differed from this norm. The first of those days was Thanksgiving Day. If you recall, last year we made the turkey, gravy, and stuffing with Mark's help for the restaurant's "American" Thanksgiving feast. After hearing stories of how awful the Canadian thanksgiving meal was one week prior, Micah and I gave Angie the ok to offer our services again this year. Her boss accepted, and we made a grocery list for items needed to cook 30 pounds of turkey and 3 batches of stuffing. As the day approached, there was some hesitation whether the dinner would occur, thanks to Hurricane Otto's projected path floating just south of us. By Wednesday evening, we got the thumbs up to cook regardless, with hopes that the 70mph winds and heavy rain wouldn't hit until late Thursday night or Friday morning. All was smooth and by noon, we had 1 turkey in the oven with the 2nd turkey on its way to begin the cooking process. When Micah returned to the condo where we were working for the day after turning the second oven on, he stated with disbelief that some random person had just told him that we were evacuating. We shrugged it off, but two minutes later the boss' daughter frantically stormed in to the condo and told us that Angie sent her to evacuate us immediately. We quickly learned that there had been two earthquakes, approximately 60 miles off the Pacific coast and just north of us, registering at 6.8 and 7.2. We decided to turn all ovens off and ended up ridding with Angie in the golf cart off the property and <1km further on the bumpy dirt road to slightly higher ground in preparation for a possible tsunami. Most of the restaurant workers and permanent residents were already there; the Nicaraguans were telling jokes and laughing, the gringos were a bit more concerned. None as freaked out as the intern they currently have at GP though, who told Micah she was practicing holding her breath in anticipation of the large wave that was going to hit her. The entertainment, at her expense, was amusing.

The calm before the storm

Slightly higher ground

There were reports of the water receding, indicating a tsunami was coming. We sat in the shade on the side of the road, Kaiden showing his mini dump truck to the local construction guys, for just over an hour and a half. We learned that there was in fact a small tsunami, likely just a visible swell and large wave. When we got the ok to return with the warning that we were still on tsunami alert due to potential after shocks, Micah and I turned four ovens on and got back to work. Dinner was only 30 minutes late despite our set backs, and we ended up not needing to use the 3 natural disasters that hit as an excuse for gross food; the turkey and stuffing turned out great. And luckily, Hurricane Otto's side effects missed us that night, and didn't hurt the country as much as was feared.

"Cheers"ing to a memorable Thanksgiving

Our other atypical day at GP was this past Tuesday. Micah and I, with the help of a girlfriend of my sister's, were able to pull off a surprise baby shower/welcome home BBQ for Angie, Osman, and the niños. We cooked hamburgers and drank Toñas with 20 of their friends, and made people tie yuccas around their waist and fight to be the first to get the tip in a bottle. Our friend from Texas who reminds us of George W was the priceless winner.

Yucca in the bottle

Party

Yesterday we rented a vehicle and headed into Managua with the family. We took advantage of cheap foreign healthcare and went to the dentist for $30 per person, followed up by some market shopping. Around 1 o' clock, we said adios to the others and Micah and I took a taxi to the bus terminal to head north. When traveling to Nicaragua from Honduras, the map revealed that the only part of Nicaragua we'd neglected to visit was the north eastern towns. Since we headed to GP after León, this was our chance. We boarded a chicken bus with 56 locals and a goose and drove up the mountains to Matagalpa. Once arrived, we dusted off the cobwebs and began our hotel search. After four attempts, we found a winner one block off of the smaller of two central parks, a great view of the urban city, and less than $20/night.

We set out to explore last night and discovered that this bustling city thrives on its coffee plantations and used clothing shops with few tourists. Nestled in the highlands, it's refreshing to wear long sleeves again. We walked through the parks, stepped into the cathedral and peeked in a few of the stores. Had success in one store in particular, where we purchased Micah an authentic Nicaraguan wedding ring! Found our typical plate dinner and were reminded of how well Nicaraguans season and cook their meat.

Full plate of grilled meat, gallo pinto and plantains for $3

Iglesia Catedral San Pedro

This morning we both agreed that this town deserves a second night of our attention. We always enjoy towns where there are few other gringos to be seen, the food is cheap, and there are hills to climb. We paid for a second night and are now planning our last few days on the road. Need to soak up as much of this budget traveler lifestyle as we can, knowing that we'll be back in the U.S. and putting on work clothes before we know it.