Nicaragua Pictures - Part I

Crossing the border into Nicaragua!

Waiting in line for the Nicaraguan border crossing to stamp our passports.

The truck that picked us up from the border crossing!

In the truck!

View from the truck, passing Lake Nicaragua. You can kind of see the island in the middle.
Stacey and Amy
Jane and CaitlinGigantic wind mills! Way cool!
The beach! Not the prettiest, but the first beach we saw!
Caitlin, keeping dry from the crazy freak rain with her beer!Hollyn, Macy, Amy and Jane doing cartwheels!

The following are from our first big beach trip to Madera:

The cutest picture of Amy I have ever seen!! The thing about these beaches is that the wind was always blowing! Whenever anyone lay on the beach, they got covered in sand!
The crab I caught. She was so pretty!
Sea Anemones in Costa Rica!

Catching the wave just right!! One of my favorite things to do!

Well, that is all for now. This is only through Monday at the beach. Tomorrow hopefully you can see the amazing sunset I got on Wednesday at Madera.

Hugs!
K

Coming to you from Nicaragua!

I can't post any pictures, but I have to explain my week so far...it has been outstanding! But let me start from the beginning...

Last week ended with, well, an explosion. It was the worst week I had had so far and hope it is the worst week for the rest of my trip. I had a rough week with personal relations and then to top it all off, I find out that I didn't get into graduate school. The reasons are not important right now, especially since I am trying not to think about it, but it hit me pretty hard.

So by the time Sunday morning, at 6 am, I was ready for some fun. A week away from the crazy weather and hills of Monteverde was exactly what I needed. The ride to the boarder was fine, I slept through most of it. The journey through the Costa Rica exiting and the Nicaragua entering was uneventful and, according to some of the well traveled members of our group, the most unorganized boarder they had ever seen. The truck that picked us up was totally perfect. It was a truck with bench seats in the back and no top...I'll post pictures when I can, but for now use your imagination. When we get into the truck and are ready to leave, the sky opens up and pours buckets on us, who are in shorts and tanktops. It lasts for 15 minutes or so and then the sky is clear and gorgeous again. (And I thought western Oregon had crazy weather!)

For the rest of the story, remember that I am 1. a redhead, 2. burn like toast, and 3. there isn't enough sunscreen in the world to change these facts!

I had lathered myself with sunscreen (SPF 70!) while we were waiting in line at the Nicaragua boarder crossing and then an hour later we spent 90 minutes in the coverless truck. The sights were amazing and, again, the pictures will be up asap. However, I managed to get sunburned on the top of my sholders. So cool, whatever, I'm used to it. We get to the house that 8 of us were staying at, where some of the classes where going to be and where we would eat meals. It is a tight squeeze for Macy, Hollyn, Stacey and I to fit into the room, but we make it work. Dona Rosa, our host and the owner of the Spanish School House of San Juan del Sur, was wonderful in welcoming us and making sure we were all comfortable. After lunch, we headed to the beach.

The beach of San Juan del Sur proper isn't all that amazing because it is a working port and there are a ton of tourists, aided by the fact that there are several cruise ships that dock here, uck! We made the most of it and since it was a beach we didn't care. There wasn't any shade however. I was a bit worried, since it was day 1 and I was already red. I decided that wearing a t-shirt on the beach is the way to go, so most of my picutres I am in a t-shirt.

The first night was hot, made slightly better by the oscilating fan in our room. At 7:30, we had a great breakfast and met our teachers. Most of us were one-on-one, some were with one other person. I lucked out and got a teacher to myself. Her name is Julia and she is the best. She is knowledgable, patient and has a sense of humor! I suprised her a bit with how "much" I knew, but we reviewed some important stuff and I was excited for the next day.

After lunch, a trip to Playa Madera (Madera Beach) was included in our costs. A half hour later we were at one of the most amazing beaches I had ever seen!! I lathered up, put on my t-shirt and headed for the biggest waves I have ever seen. Aparently, Madera is one of the top 5 surfing spots in Nicaragua, so the waves were amazing! I learned to boogie board and just had the time of my life riding the waves and then finding some small tidepools and playing with the crabs hidden in the cracks during low tide...again, see future pictures.

It was wonderful, but when 4:30 came, we had to leave. As I am getting out of my bathing suit and trying to wring out the sand and salt, I notice I am more burned than before, despite my sunscreen and t-shirt wearing...oye. That night was interesting but good for the most part.

Class Tuesday was learing the past tense...we knocked that out! It will take a bit to get used to it, it is hard to learn a new tense when all I have known for 5 years is present tense...hard to make room for new conjugations but I am doing ok. It was awesome. During break I walked through town a bit and bought a rainbow braclet (big suprise) and a green Nicaragua t-shirt, to try to avoid the burning though a t-shirt thing again. That afternoon, most of us chose to pay for a taxi to take us to a different beach than the day before, Playa Masalla, that supposedly has even fewer people.

Fewer people, yes, but not less wind, which is what the sunbathers were looking for. The sand was also larger, which made the wind more painful. It was a beautiful beach, but our taxi drivers were being lame and we had to get leave by 4:30 again. As I was showering, I noticed that I had gotten bit by a san fea or something, beneath my t-shirt AND my one-peice bathing suit!! Awesome.

Class today was even better. We learned some of those weird verbs in the past tense and I have homework to practice with them, as well as learning the basic parts of the body. I walked around town again during break and found the most amazing bookstore/cafe, but I'll make you wait until the pictures to see why...it was just perfect!

The afternoon activity was a boat trip with fishing, which I opted out of to go with a group back to Playa Madera for as long as possible! Dona Rosa arranged a friend to drive us and so it was reliable, less expensive, faster and he was awesome and was willing to wait for us until 6 pm, so we could watch the sunset.

I rented a boogie board, but didn't end up using it much. I found that if you find the wave at exacly the right moment, and jump with the wave, you feel like you are flying...in the water! It is the most amazing feeling ever! Even the occasional salt water up the nose didn't detract from the fantasticness of the waves! As I was in the water, I feel "algae" around my right ankle, so I go to shake it off, and it starts to sting. Of all the places and all the times, I choose now to get stung by a jellyfish! When I finally chose to head in, I saw a lot of them on the sand, so I guess it wasn't too big a suprise, but it still hurt.

On the pervious trip a small group went for a walk around a couple of the rocky corners down the beach and found a fantastic little bar that makes the best rum and cokes, so we packed up and headed down the beach. We were going over at high tide, so it was tricky in a couple spots, but when we got there it was worth it in so many ways!

The bar was small, had simple chairs, a couple hammocks and Bob Marley playing. They fixed us the best rum and cokes ever and we hit the waves, before the run hit us. Oh, my , goodness. The waves were just as big, but the way they came around the corners made really interesting waves to ride. As the waves crashed past us, the wind blew the spray back into our faces and we could see the rainbows they made perfectly. I wish I had a waterproof camera! It was outstanding! As the sun began to set we were relaxing on the sand, enjoying the most amazing view and converstaions ever. I started my new book, while sitting in the shade of the thatched roof and watched as the sun began to set behind the rocks. Oh my goodness it was magical!

By 5:30 be packed up our stuff, paid our tabs and began to walk back to the main part of the beach, so we could leave righ after sunset. As we walked, with one eye over our shoulder to watch the sun, the waves lapped at the sand, the surfers waited for the percect wave and we watched the hundreds of little hermit crabs moving into the nooks of the rocks, or burrowing into the sand in preparation of night. As we approached them, we could see the shells rock a little, then stop moving as the crab hit inside in preparation of our passing. It was so cool! As we walked, I stopped to take pictures of the setting sun and the waves. Going around the last corner, I stepped on some rock that had a bit of algae on it and slipped/fell, bending my toes under my foot and twisting my ankle a bit. I barely noticed. Once on the other side of the beach again, we took a million pictures and all the ones with me in then turned out horrible, because the sunset colors bring out how red/orange I am right now...not very flattering. Almost everyone else looks gorgeous though. The pictures of just the sunset turned out perfect though. I guess that is all that really matters, right. :)

When we got home, I stepped out of the car and almost fell on my face, my foot hurt so bad! I limped up the stairs and took of my sandy sandles to find a rather substantial gash on the outside of my foot that I had gotten when I slipped. Taking a shower was interesting.

Dinner was perfect and I am now sitting here, telling you all this because:

Despite the sunburn, the sunburn though the t-shirt, the sand fleas, the jellyfish and the falling on rocks...this is the best vacation I have ever had in my life. The ocean is revitalizing me, I am learning TONS and I am with the best group of friends I have had in a very long time. I know that the next year may not go as I had hoped, or planned, it but I do know that this internship is the best experinece I have ever had and that the ocean will always be in my blood. No jellyfish can take away from that.

Thank you for your prayer and thoughts. Don't stop, but know that they are reaching me this far south. I love you all and can't wait to share the rest of this adventure with you.

Hugs!!

K

Weekly update - hopefully this won't be the pattern...

One of the better things that came out of last week's insane weather. It was so beautiful! Can you see the faint second one?

This week has been very eventful! I am truly sorry for not blogging often, but since I am teaching, my internet time is prioritized by the research I need to do for the questions that the 9th graders ask in class (which is sometimes A LOT).
Monday and Tuesday, the 7th and 8th graders were working on their volcano projects. Monday they were building them and Tuesday was the competition. We had some of the teachers and interns come to judge the volcanoes on how realistic it was, its uniqueness, and how good of an explanation the group members were able to give about the reaction between vinegar (acetic acid) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Some of them were really good! After all the students volcanoes were judged, the scores were tabulated and the winners announced. There was first, second and third place, and each got a certain number of extra credit points. Then, Anna and I set off a little “volcano” of our own. Bring out the diet coke and Mentos!! Some of the kids had seen it, but a fair majority didn’t know what would happen! It was so cool! So I dumped the Mentos and RAN! My friend Jane got a good picture of the diet coke going off, with me running away. Then I gave a brief explanation of the science of the reaction. For those of you who don’t know, it is NOT a chemical reaction, it is purely the mixture of the sugar on the Mentos and the carbonation and flavoring in the coke. The surface of the Mentos make a difference, which is why the really smooth candies (Skittles or M&Ms wouldn’t work purely on the type of covering they have). It was pretty fun!

Some of the students' volcanoes:

Dumping the Mentos and running!

Explaining the science behind the reaction.

Wednesday, I started teaching the 9th graders again (they reviewed on Monday for their test on Tuesday). They are still doing pretty well with me, except that the questions get shouted out at random points in the lecture and it gets a little crazy sometimes. I am just happy that they are engaged in the subject and enjoying having me teach them. We have now finished the skeletal system and types of tissues and today we start the muscular system. They seem pretty excited about it, but after they learn all the names of the muscles they have to know they may not be as enthusiastic.
In the afternoon, during the "elective" course, we had a couple of friends of our environmental education teacher were in town. They helped us understand the basics of interpretation and how to make nature guides and trial signs that are helpful, informative, and interesting. They had set up a few wildlife traps in the forest that were designed to catch reptiles and see the foot prints of some of the mammals in the area. We saw some pretty cool tracks, plus a Mot-Mot in a tree. It was beautiful! Their tail feathers are so unique and they are almost a bluish green metallic color.
Thursday was a pretty normal day until the evening. School was fine, students did well and the weather was pretty nice. I went to the café to work on my internet searching, which turned out to be pretty successful (I found the image I was looking for after trying three or four different types of searches, and the internet being difficult). At about 6 I called my friend that I made on the bus, who lives in San Jose, and he said he was planning on being in Monteverde on Monday, so we could hang out! Yay!! Then I took a shower and got a little dressed up to go out with friends.
There is a little bar/club like thingy in Cerro Plano (up the hill from Santa Elena, where I live, but before Monteverde proper) called Moon Shiva that has Latin night on Thursdays. I met with some friends (Charlotte, Macy, Catlin, and Hollyn) at Catlin’s house and just chatted and had fun. Then we all piled into a taxi (they don’t charge per person, so it can get pretty cheap) and went to Moon Shiva. It was pretty crowded but for some reason I was totally fine! Usually in crowded places with low-ish ceilings I get really uncomfortable, but this time I was completely fine! There were several people there I knew, which helps, and we danced for about 3 hours! A couple guys asked me to dance, but I am still pretty horrible at it, but it was still fun! In addition to the 5 of us from Caitlin’s house, Jane and Stacey were there as well as four or five of the younger teachers from the school. It was so much fun!! I stayed out the latest I have since I got here (only midnight)! I am a little tired today, but completely fine considering how much fine I had!
Tomorrow is the school’s biggest fundraiser, the Carrara/Caminata. It is a 5k walk or 9k run that you pay to participate and it is a fundraiser for the school! The entire town knows about it (for the most part) and today the entire school is walking down the hill into Santa Elena carrying signs and playing drums to let everyone know. It is apparently a pretty big deal. After the race there are some games and activities for the students and other kids who come. Things start pretty early, I have to be AT the school by 6:45, uck, but things finish around 1, so I can go home and take a nap. Then in the evening, we are all going out for a nice-ish dinner to celebrate Charlotte’s birthday, #22.

So for the most part, a good week, despite its craziness. One more week and a good number of us are off the Nicaragua for 6 days of Spanish lessons and the beach!

Thanks for your patience!

Hugs,
K

I'll try to put more up on Monday!

Last week and San Jose

Sorry for the lack of blogging this week. Monday and Tuesday were pretty relaxed, but then things got really crazy. I started teaching on Thursday, human anatomy, so I spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday planning lessons and trying to find images that work well for teaching the material. The school doesn’t have enough biology textbooks for me to use them in class (one per table, there are 6 tables…sad huh) so I have spent a lot of time trying to find images on-line that I can use with a projector and the white board. For the most part, that works out pretty well.

I really enjoy teaching the students. Fortunately, this subject is interesting to them so I get a lot of questions (can you break your ears? What is osteoporosis? What was the appendix used for, why can it be removed? How many bones are in the body?...) which keeps me busy in the afternoons trying to find the answers. I did human anatomy in 9^th grade, and took one semester of vertebrate physiology last year, but that was only the nervous system and excretory system. So for the most part, I am learning right along with them. Anna has some very ambitious goals for them, which means I have to try to give them as much information as possible, without confusing them too much with unnecessary details. They are sponges for information, whether or not they will retain the details for a test in another question.

So that has occupied most of my time. This weekend I made the trip to San Jose to pick up some stuff that a friend in the states brought with him (Thank you Esteban!!!). His stepmom picked me up from the Multiplaza in Escazu (outside of San Jose) and they were very hospitable to me and so nice. I stayed the night at their house, a very unique and comfortable place, and slept in a REAL bed! The next day they helped me get to the Multiplaza, where a bought TCBY, a webcam and new white board markers for the classroom, and then they called a friend who is a taxi driver to take me to the bus station and make sure I got the right ticket. I am very grateful for their hospitality and kindness for all they did for me. I was able to get a few “luxuries” from home (peanut butter, green tea, long-johns, and some familiar scents) as well as all the stuff I got for the classroom: dissection kits (10), magnets, multimeters, digital scales (4), one hot plate, magnifying classes, posters, thermometers, and flasks. (Thank you so much to my church family for helping me bring all this stuff for the school!) I had a great trip.

I think the best part was the bus to San Jose. I sat next to a guy from Costa Rica, who had been working for a coffee company in Monteverde for a little while. We chatted and got to know each other and it was amazing. I think he is studying engineering and business in his home city, can’t remember then name right now. We exchanged emails so hopefully we can get to know each other more through email. It was definitely a unique “cultural” experience that I am not likely to forget for a long time.

This week at school

The kitty at my house. His name is Misingo (I think that is how you spell it). He is so precious!

Scorpion that was found and Daniel was playing with it. It isn't poisonous, just irritated.

A ridiculously huge walking stick!

Awesome flowers on campus. They are all so colorful and pretty. Thank goodness my camera does good close up shots. Besides animals and the ocean, I think they are my favorite things to photograph.

Well, things have been a bit rough for me this week. Things will be getting better though, I hope, and if all continues to go well, I will begin teaching on Wednesday to the 9th grade about human anatomy. Needless to say, I am doing some brushing up of my own! I'm nervous, but excited too. From what I hear, these are some of the hardest students to win over, the young ladies in particular are very judgmental. I should go. I have papers to grade and lessons to plan.

Missing you all!

Hugs!

K

The Moteverde Reserve

The most enormous fern ever! It was as tall as a tree and the fronds are as long as I am tall. These are from prehistoric times! Too fun.

Wicked cool flowers that I finally got good pictures of. They are obviously pollinated by humming birds, because of the long shape of the flower. I love the way they look.

This little guy is called a pizote. He is a mix between a badger and a raccoon. They are the scavengers of Costa Rica and get a little annoying at times but he was really cute. They walk with their tails straight in the air.

One of the more amazing stranger figs I have ever seen. The figs begin life as a seed deposited by birds on trees, and they grow down from there. These vines obviously had an interesting trip down. The path was then cut underneath the different legs of the tree. The original tree is probably dead, or close to it. I just thought it was beautiful!

One of the fantastic strangler figs at the reserve. I love the details all the vines make on the trees.

Waterfall we hiked to. One of the six or seven trails at the reserve.

This is a local artist who does glass sculptures right there at the reserve. We watched him make a little poison dart frog, and it was amazing the way he could heat the glass and then essentially draw the toes out with the heated glass. It was really cool to watch.

This was a fantastic place.

Hugs!!

K

The beach!

Holy cow the beach here is amazing!!

Before I continue that, a few updates:

My host mom is named Marlene, but it is pronounced Marlenny. Sorry for the confusion.

The weather here is a little psycho. In the morning it is usually cloudy and a little rainy and windy, the afternoons usually warm up a bit, usually not exceeding 80 or 85 F (I think, my thermostat is a little confused up here). Once the sun goes down it gets pretty chilly and the wind really picks up. At night the wind usually whips around the house, over the roof and past the windows, making whistling noises and you feel like you should wake up in Oz! The windy season usually only lasts for a month or so, because the winds are switching. Sometimes when you look at the sky, the clouds are going the opposite direction that you are feeling the wind.

Ok, now to the beach.

I will upload as many pictures as I can, but I am very tired and very sunburned, so I will try my best. We went to Playa Samara (Samara Beach). It was absolutely fantastic. Since there were eight of us going, we were able to pay for a private car to take us. So instead of having to take three different buses and seven hours, it was a comfy car with friends that only took about five. The hotel we stayed at, RBO, was small and out of the way, but very close to the beach and really practical. Amy, Ruth and I shared a room which turned out to be an interesting grouping, as you will find out soon.

The first night we got there, we changed and showered after a half day at school and a rather warm car ride. In attempting to find somewhere to eat that was cheap, we found that the hotel/hostel served food. So at a very large picnic table, we all ordered food (most of us got the pasta) and enjoyed the cool breeze and the company of each other. We laughed and chatted as we got to know each other better.

(Me, Amy, Stacey and Jane, and note how white I am)

(Stacey's papas fritas (french fries) came with toothpicks in them)

After dinner we walked down “main street” and onto the beach. [Now, for those of you who don’t know, I have been swimming in tropical waters once, but have not spent much time on a tropical beach.] It has also been a long time since I have been to the Oregon beach. Hearing the waves calling me, I quickly abandoned my shoes and felt the fine sand between my toes and ran toward the water. Samara is a small beach town with some local artists selling things and some small hotel/hostel places, but there are very few bright lights. So not only was I on a tropical Pacific Ocean beach, but it was a cool night, the warm water lapping at my feet and above me, the long arm of the Milky Way. Oh My Goodness! There were so many stars! It was incredible!! There are NO words for how amazing it was to stand there! I saw four shooting stars that night and I was in love with how warm the water was!

After a decent sleep in a queen bed, shared with Amy (fortunately I didn’t kick her or try to steal all the blankets) we woke up at nine, had breakfast downstairs on the open patio (pancakes!), and by ten thirty we were swimming in the water! Amy and I are both very fair skinned, but she doesn’t have the red head curse. We lathered up with sunscreen before we even left our room, but alas, it wasn’t enough.

The water was outstanding!! By Oregon ocean temps, it was practically hot! I was in heaven. I saw a couple fish swimming by and chased after them like a five year old yelling “Fishies, Fishies!”. My friends thought I was a little silly, but they care all the same.

(Allison and Charlotte sunning)

(REAL palm trees!)

After 45 minutes in the water, I couldn’t take the salt anymore so I got out, spread my towel in the shade and read my book, with the sound of the palm trees and waves in the background. Ruth had neglected her sunscreen at first and so 15 minutes after getting out of the water her back was already red. We took care of that, but some of the damage had already been done. By the end of the day, I had slept for about 30 minutes in the shade, been swimming three more times and watched a squirrel like animal break into a coconut, and spill the milk all over the sand beneath the tree. Amy and I were feeling the sun more than the other people so we headed back to the hotel around four to take cold showers. That felt almost as fantastic as the ocean. We then discovered how badly we had each been burned. Amy had sunbathed for an hour or so, but the equatorial sun was stronger than she had thought and she got pretty scorched. After our cold showers, and aloe vera for both we went back to the beach for the sunset and to find dinner somewhere.

At dinner: Amy, Jane and Stacey

(Stacey and I, note how burned my shoulders are)

(beautiful sunset)

The beach we were on didn’t face full West, so the sunset wasn’t the most amazing, but the colors were pretty to look at as the sun set behind the hill. Jane, Amy, Stacey and I went to find dinner and stopped at a little place to have empanadas, a tortilla filled with cheese, chicken, or beef and folded over and fried a little. They were pretty good! We all met back at the beach for a cool evening of watching the stars, listening to the waves and some other shenanigans that shall remain unsaid. Jane, Amy, Stacey and I were not down for such activities so we went for a walk down the beach, barefoot and feeling the cool sand and breezes on our sunburned skin.

That night Amy, Ruth and I slept ok, but we were three of the worst burned. We were the room of lobsters. Sunday morning we prepared for a less intense day at the beach. We began with a simple breakfast of tortillas, banana and some peanut butter! The peanut butter was very expensive but it tasted SO good!! There were two pastures across from the hotel and yesterday morning we had seen them all move from one to the other, without direction or anything. This morning we put the banana peels on a burn pile in the pasture and one of the larger females moved toward us and scarfed them up! We then put the rest there and watched the cow lick them up.

(Allison and the cow)

(Jane and the cow)

We covered up and didn’t swim as much. It was a lot windier, so we all ended up with sand everywhere! I took a two hour nap (how wonderful!) and watched as coconuts fell from the trees because of the wind. I was sitting under a palm that didn’t have any coconuts yet. Our driver got to the hotel by about 4 so we went back, rinsed off, packed up the last of our stuff and headed home.

The drive was a little rough on the sunburned skin but the stop we made at the halfway point was wonderful. There was a place that was selling postres (desserts) and I got some chocolate cake and a little piece of cherry cheesecake. Then in the trees near the store, were at least 5 scarlet macaws! They live in the warm weather places, so I didn’t think I would see one at all, but there they were! Granted it was dark, so the complete splendor of their colors wasn’t there, but you could see how big they were. I tried to get a couple pictures, but the flash wasn’t strong enough, which was fine, I didn’t want to blind them. I did get one that you can kind of see the red tail. It was very cool.

When I finally walked home from where the car dropped us, it was eight o’clock and I was ready for a cool shower and bed.

It was a fantastic weekend and one where I learned that me and sun and water don’t mix at all, unless a full body suit is involved. As much pain as I am in right now, it was mostly worth it. I had never seen such a beautiful beach and the water was fantastic. I think I still prefer my cold, windy Oregon beach, but this was a great opportunity and a perfect escape from the misty, cloudy and cool mountains of Monteverde.