Engaged

Yes, engaged....but not the married kind. The busy kind. That's my excuse for being such a lax blogger. When I was home over Christmas, someone told me they check my blog every so often. Another told me she searched and finally found my blog site. How wonderful that people actually read it!

Here's a quick update of the past few months....

In August 2007, I quit my job at MEDA. After 12 years, it was time to do something new! I decided to try freelancing (graphic design/web site design). Because it takes time to build up a business, I decided to continue living in Nicaragua. Mostly because it's cheap...or at least it can be. Partly because I wanted to keep my distance from another Canadian winter.

Went home for brief stint in August to buy a laptop and to vacation at Effingham Lake. Here I am with fellow Monopoly and Life enthusiasts. We had so much fun. And I think I won most of the games, right guys? :)



On Labour Day weekend we were a crowd of 12 or so. That included Stan and Yvonne Madigan who flew their Piper plane in from Peterborough. Stan gave a couple of us rides…what awesome views!

I flew into Nicaragua on September 4, the same time that Hurricane Felix was whipping up trouble. Felix did a lot of damage on the northeast coast. Managua is on the west coast and only suffered lots of wind and rain.

New Roomie
In September, I moved into a new place with Megan Gavin. Megan is a former Peace Corps volunteer who now works at The World Bank. In February 2008 she starts a new job for American Institutes for Research (AIR). She's a great roommate. I love her! And as an added bonus, I also got part ownership of chiquia, nuestra gato favorita!


New Work
I did intensive Spanish classes in mid-September until the end of October. It was great and I learned a lot, but I had more freelance work than I thought I would starting out…so it was busy! I decided to call myself Little Lake Graphics (my website is under construction).

New Age
“Well, birthdays are merely symbolic of how another year has gone by and how little we've grown. No matter how desperate we are that someday a better self will emerge, with each flicker of the candles on the cake, we know it's not to be, that for the rest of our sad, wretched pathetic lives, this is who we are to the bitter end. Inevitably, irrevocably; happy birthday? No such thing.” (Jerry Seinfeld). I tried not to think of my sad, pathetic life for a day...and actually did have a happy birthday on November 4th. That thanks to my wonderful friends in Nicaragua (especially my roomie) who threw me a fiesta divertida at the very fine Seminole Hotel.

In December, Megan, Kyra, Shannon and I flew to Little Corn Island on Nicaragua's east coast. It was a blast. We stayed at a place called Casa Iguana, and spent our time relaxing and laughing and eating. I tried scuba diving for the first time and loved it!

San Juan Surfers

We spent Thursday at Madera Beach. We rented 2 surfboards and a boogie board. We also paid for a few hours of surfing lessons. It was great! Brad was a natural. Katie and I needed a little more practice!

'Da Flying Frog

'Da Flying Frog is San Juan Del Sur's Canopy Tour company. I took Mom and Dad ziptrekking too, but this time--after 2 1/2 months of rain--everything was beautifully lush and green. Katie and I did the Superman (no hands, face down) and the Butterfly (no hands, face up). We had to do so "attached" to a guide since the brake system is not so sophisticated (the hands). Brad didn't care to be attached to the guides...

Never a Dull Moment

Brad likes vehicles of any kind...so we rented 4-wheelers late one afternoon. We didn't have a guide which was maybe a bad idea since that made me the guide and Nicaragua doesn't believe in direction signs. On our way out of town Katie's 4-wheeler stalled....right in front of a bus that kept honking until she got out of the way. I'm really sorry that I don't have a photo of that! After that we got lost trying to find a beach. We went up a laneway to ask directions and got the foreign owner piping mad for coming onto his property (geesh). Finally we found the beach and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. We took some photos and decided that we'd better get going in order to get back to town before dark. Well, the fun didn't end there. One of the 4-wheelers kept stalling on us. We got it going but ended up struggling to find our way in the pitch dark... and rain! We did make it back finally...a bit late, wet and muddy...but otherwise intact.

Fishing in San Juan Del Sur

After climbing the volcano, we ferried back to the mainland and took the bus to San Juan Del Sur. In SJDS we went on a fishing trip. It was my lucky day...I caught 2 fish (a Mackerel and another -- I don't remember what it's called). Katie had the big one that got away, and Brad didn't even get a nibble.

Climbing Maderas Volcano

I was very, very excited last week to host more visitors! My cousin Katie and her husband Brad arrived on June 16 and spent an action-packed week on Ometepe Island and San Juan Del Sur. Straight from the airport we went to Pochomil, the closest beach to Managua, with Serge and his girlfriend (who arrived June 15). On Sunday we headed to Ometepe Island via bus. Traveling by bus here is always an interesting experience. The Nicaragua transportation system is made up of old North American school buses. They often become full to overflowing (ie, passengers hanging out the back doors). You never need to worry about getting hungry or thirsty because vendors get on and off at major stops to sell you water, pop, cookies, chicken and salad with coleslaw, sandwiches, deep fried sweets...you name it!

On Ometepe Island we stayed at the Charco Verde, located inside a natural reserve and on a nice beach. On Monday, we decided to climb Maderas Volcano. Maderas is almost 1,400 meters high. What a feat!! What sore feet!! It took us 4 hours to climb to the top. At first it was very hot and humid, but it gradually became cooler as we climbed into the cloud forest. It was a challenging climb because Maderas is very muddy. Part way up we saw Howler Monkeys and an endangered White-faced Capuchin monkey. After reaching the summit, we climbed down to the crater lake. The volcanic soil makes the water bottom very mucky...entering the lake puts you knee-deep in mud. We rested for a bit and then started the descent. When we started out we met a bunch of other hikers going down into the crater lake. One climber told his guide that he would pay for a helicopter to come fetch him...we were liking that idea too! It took us 3 hours to get back down. Descending was the harder part in my opinion. About halfway down I thought my legs were going to give out on me. We walked funny for days afterwards....but WE DID IT!

Futbol

Last weekend I went to a futbol (soccer) game. MiCredito's lawyer, Pedro, coaches a team of young guys who live in a rough barrio of the city. Some of them were into drugs and petty crime...so of course Pedro wanted them to channel their energy into something more worthwhile. MiCredito sponsors the team so I was asked to go and take photos (to put on their website that I'm in the process of creating). It was a close and exciting game. In the end our guys lost in overtime, and therefore are finished for the season.

Isla Ometepe

Last weekend, Serge and I visited the beautiful Isla de Ometepe. It is the biggest lake island in the world...placed inside Cocibolca lake. It features 2 large volcanoes - Conceptión (1610 mts high) and Maderas (1394 mts high). There are about 45,000 inhabitants, who for the most part work in farming (volcanic ash has made the soil extremely fertile).

We stayed at a hotel called Charco Verde (Green Puddle). Like most places in Nicaragua, it’s a largely undiscovered treasure. Peaceful...secluded...lovely.

On Saturday we took a tour with a very friendly local tour guide named Daniel. We enjoyed a hike around the coffee farm Finca Magdalena, visited the beautiful beaches of Santo Domingo and then stopped in the city of Altagracia. On Sunday we hiked around the beach at Charco Verde and took advantage of the ubiquitous Nica hammocks!

Katie and Brad are coming for a visit in mid-June so the plan is to return...and maybe climb Maderas!

May Day

May 1st was a holiday in Nicaragua--International Workers' Day or Labour Day (a commemoration of the Haymarket martyrs who were arrested after the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago).

Fred Wall is a retired MEDA board member who volunteers a lot of his time helping MiCredito. He was in Nicaragua the first week in May and asked if I wanted to go to San Juan Del Sur on the holiday Tuesday. Serge LeVert-Chiasson, who is working for MiCredito for 3 months, joined us as well. We had a motorboat take us to a secluded beach and on the way to and from the beach we were entertained by dolphins! It was great...but very difficult to capture a good jump. Thank goodness for digital cameras.

Montelimar

I visit a church called International Christian Fellowship (ICF). It's an English speaking church (I tried a Nicaraguan Baptist church service--far too hard on my brain). At the end of April, ICF held a retreat at the beautiful beach resort of Montelimar. It is southwest of Managua on the Pacific Coast. Very much enjoyed the beach, was spoiled by the nice facilities and loved getting to know lots of new faces. My roommate, Pam Neumann, is from San Antonio, Texas. She's in Nicaragua working with Food for the Hungry on a 3-year contract. We had a great time and just last weekend got together at her place to cook and enjoy supper.

La Dalia

In April I visited an eco-lodge outside of La Dalia. This place is north of Managua in the mountainous (and oh-so-nice-and-cool climate) of Nicaragua's Matagalpa region. The lodge is situated on a large coffee farm. Enjoyed the hiking trails, a refreshing waterfall, good food and the beautiful and peaceful setting.

Fun with Mom and Dad

I hosted my first visitors...a couple named Hazel and Russell from Canada. They took a chance with a novice tour guide, but I think they went home happy!

Mom and Dad arrived in Managua on March 19 and stayed until the 27th. We had a great time! I loved having them here...and now they know where I'm living and working.

I rented a car for the week. I was nervous about driving...it would be my first time driving; Managua is a busy city with lots of large, intimidating roundabouts; there are speed bumps all over the place and not always well marked; and I didn't know my way around that well. But we survived! The closest thing to an accident was when I backed into a parked motorcycle at the Masaya National Park. The worker who owned it assured me it was no problem and the rental car already had enough scratches on it that one more wasn't an issue...so it was all good! Our only other driving incident was getting stopped by the police because Dad wasn't wearing his seatbelt. I was told later that we were fined too much. Oh well, that officer had a nicer meal that night, I guess.

Anyhow, our first stop was Masaya. We visited the market and later drove up to the Masaya Volcano. We joined a tour that included a walk through bat caves and peering over the volcano's edge to see burning lava (gas mask was mandatory).

Our next stop was Granada. We stayed overnight here in a beautiful little hotel called Casa San Fransisco. It's owned by 2 American sisters. We enjoyed walking around the city, climbing a cathedral bell tower for a nice view and a visit to the market. We also took a boat tour of Las Isletas--a bunch of small islands formed by a volcanic eruption a long time ago. Many of the islands have been built up and have mansions on them. One island is inhabited by monkeys. Apparently if we would have had bananas, they would have jumped right onto the boat. Our only snack was plaintain chips which didn't tempt them.

We drove to San Juan Del Sur next. We rented a nice villa to enjoy for 3 days. Fun in San Juan included a canopy tour with a company called 'Da Flying Frog. For those of you who aren't familiar with this, they harness you up and hook you to a cable where you swing from tree to tree. It's also known as zip trekking. It was fun, but we were told it's much nicer to do in the wet season when everything is lush and green. Nicaragua is very dry now. Rain will start in May. Still, we had fun!

Another highlight was an all-day sail on a 42-foot yacht to a secluded beach. Along the way we spotted the large Olive Ridley turtles in the ocean. From July to December, tens of thousands of these female turtles nest and lay eggs on nearby beaches. At the beach we relaxed, swam in the ocean, and enjoyed a superb lunch. The sailboat had fishing poles rigged up at the back, and on the sail back they reeled in a bunch of large jackfish. We returned at sunset...it was wonderful!

MEDA Trust

Check out the MEDA Trust web site which is now up and running at www.medatrust.org

The site looks really good and we've been getting great feedback from users. Try it out...check out my client stories!

Surfer Dudette

Last weekend I went to San Juan Del Sur with my neighbours. San Juan is a fishing village, surfer hangout and a beautiful beach area on the Pacific coast of southern Nicaragua.

Inhabitants make their living fishing, diving, and catering to tourists. It took us 3 hours to get there by jeep (including stops). The town is small with everything you need located in walking distance from the main beach area. We enjoyed great seafood. We rented boogie boards and also hired an instructor for surfing lessons. What a blast! Our instructor would get us positioned (laying down) on the board and then after the wave crashed would let go while we tried to quickly jump up and balance as the wave took us into shore. I managed to stand up and balance about half the time...it would be hilarious to have it all on film. I couldn't help laughing when the others fell or got overwhelmed by the waves! Very good fun but the sun was hot and I got a nice, red back. It took 3 days before the pain subsided. Oops!