So as the subject line suggests, I had a pretty busy but awesome weekend here in Nicaragua. Since I know some of you (Kurth) don’t like long posts, I’ll break this one into two parts.
On Friday night, my roommates, another volunteer and I went to the house of the Director of Fabretto (who is also Joe’s cousin) for a dinner with a group of the organization’s major donors who were visiting from the States. The house was in a part of Managua where I had never been, and it was beautiful. The dinner itself was a little bit of a culture shock after being in San Isidro for so long – and I was also out of practice as far as networking goes. Still, the food was really delicious, the other volunteers were good company, and they had an open bar (with Diet Coke!), so I was a pretty happy camper.
On Saturday, my manager Enrique generously offered to take me to Granada, the colonial city where he lives, to take a tour and stay at the house. It was a really nice visit, and as you’ll see from the pictures that I will post, Granada was beautiful.
First, in the late afternoon, Enrique took me, his wife, his three kids and his cousin to Lake Nicaragua to take a boat tour of the tiny volcanic islands, or isletas. This was a real treat because it was so relaxing and beautiful as the sun went down over the Mombacho volcano.
One of the major highlights was that we got to stop on one of the islands and walk around. It turns out that our boat driver, who was a friend of Enrique’s, is in charge of watching many of the islands because their owners rarely use them. In the cases where he has an especially good relationship with them, they also allow him to use the islands whenever he wants. As you’ll see in the pictures, this is a very generous offer, since the scenery is unbelievable. On this particular island, there was a picnic area and there were also two natural pools. Enrique’s kids, who apparently love to swim, were especially excited about the latter, and they stripped down and jumped right in! They couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to join them, and I told them that I was too old to swim in my underwear with strangers and/or co-workers. One other side note – when I asked how much it cost to own an isleta, I was told they were ‘very expensive’ – $80,000 for the most expensive of all. While that is a lot of money, especially by Nicaraguan standards, I’d say it’s not a bad price for a little piece of heaven.
After the boat tour, we took a walk downtown Granada and got some Fritanga (grilled food) at a hostel that was owned by another of Enrique’s friends. The city was bustling because there was a big international poetry festival coming to town, and we saw many foreigners on the streets. I enjoyed people watching in general, and found the city to be reminiscent of Europe, which makes sense since it originated as a colony of Spain. I would like to make a return trip on my own some time when the city is a little less busy to do some more exploring (and get some gelato!)
Pictures of day one are here...enjoy!
Stay tuned for the second half of the weekend tomorrow…
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