...I am still in Granada. Let me explain!
After I last wrote, travel-buddy Jenny and I completed a guide-book-museum-tour of Granada. Our choices were the Tres Mundos art school inside La Casa de Los Liones near the main plaza, the museum of history in La Iglesia San Fransisco, La Fortaleza La Polvora, and the chocolate museum. We also spent much time in el parque central drinking tiste and chicha, and on the street behind la Plaza de la Independencia drinking iced sangría, or back in the park with a local cigar after dinner. We enjoyed much street food, and even viewed the sunset and bell-toller in the cathedral La Merced. The city-center is colonial, with tiled rooftops scooping into central courtyards stretching into a view of Volcánes Mombacho y Concepción, as well as the hilltop city Catarina. Jenny was due for a flight Tuesday, so we went back to Playa Gigante with all our purchases. Turns out, since Erin, Alex,and John were leaving soon they were heading back to Granada with our newest addition (Monica) to see some sights. As Eliot and Russell were leaving for the Corn Islands soon, at the prospect of staying at the project alone I decided to return to Granada. And here I am still!
But I haven´t just been sitting here on the internet. My new travel-buddy Monica and I went ziplining in a canopy in the base of Mombacho (at a local´s price, since I had a misunderstanding about what a canopy-tour is and thought that $28 per person was outragous for a walk around some trees). The first time was terrifying, the others were fantastically fun. Then we spent the rest of the night eyeing street vendors, and talking before John left for the airport. In the morning we all had breakfast together, and while the girls went to Masaya for the market-place I rented an all-day bicycle and rode uphill for two hours to the lookout at Catarina. Toward the end I got off to walk twice because the hills became so steep, and stopped between Catarina and San Juan de Oriente for a passionfruit refresco...but I made it! Again, a place I cannot explain. I will tell you I cried at the top from the sense of accomplishment and the mind-blowing view of la Laguna de Apollo, Granada, and the Lago de Nicaragua. I met a few travellers at the top, had a lunch of tostones, fried cheese, salad, and beef stew at the overlook, then coasted at top speed all the way down to Granada along huge red cliffs, Volcán Mombacho, fíncas, and mango trees. When I returned, Monica and I climbed the belltower of Catedral de Granada to watch the sunset and see the bells toll. From there we got macuá coctails and returned to the hostel to talk late into the night with a sweet woman and her daughter.
Today, we kayaked through Las Isletas. They are gorgeous, verdant water-pastures with a small Spanish fort on the outskirts of the Lago de Nicaragua. The guide was helpful and sweet, giving us a taste of a lemon-tasting fruit that grows in the water and pointing out rocks that landed in the trees after an insect created an explosion (?? I swear that´s what he said because I asked several times, but perhaps my Spanish isn´t that good. I told him he was lying and he swore it was the truth!). He talked about how life in Nicaragua is difficult now, because for the past four years things have grown more and more expensive. Four years ago, Nicaraguans could purchase 15 units of rice for the same amount that 10 units costs now; two shirts then cost the same as one shirt now; and he says that he does not ally with any party, Sandinista or no, because he observes that those in politics keep promising a better life, but they never work for it. So the best political alliance is none, only work pays for the costs of life. He was eager to hear about what we did for our Playa Gigante project and wished us the best of luck with continuing it in the future. Like most Nicaraguans, he was very patient with my broken Spanish and good-natured. Afterward, we grabbed pupusas and kebabs for lunch, discussed life and religion for hours, then explored town in time to hear the students playing instruments in the music academy and watch a spray-paint artist perform for a crowd. We found the heart of the market-place and bought more than enough for our dinner for 23 córdobas, about a dollar. At the hostel we feasted on steamed corn, sweet tamales, avocado, and leftover rice (after an appetizer of pan de leche) and prepared coleslaw salad for tomorrow´s dinner.
Where shall we adventure from here? Hasta luego!
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