Nicaragua

Granada, Nicaragua.

So Wednesday night is Ladies Night here in San Pedro and knowing that we had to catch a 7:30 am bus to Nicaragua in the morning, we thought it would be a good idea to go out the night before anyway even though our Tica mamá advised us not to. Needless to say we woke up to our mamá frantically running into our room at 6:30 when the cab was already outside waiting for us. Still a bit tipsy at this point we piled into the cab and headed to the bus station. Once on the bus we all put our headphones on and drifted back into our comas. We were awoken about 5 hours later to a man asking for our passports and $16 which he continued to put into a plastic bag with everyone else's. We looked around at each-other a bit confused but thought nothing of it because we were far too tired. We then stoped at the Costa Rican side of the border and got off with our luggage, walked up to a ticket counter with our passports, received a stamp and were hurried back onto the bus. A few minutes later, we stoped again, this time at the Nicaraguan side of the border and were immediately bombarded by people trying to rip us off by changing our money. Here we put our luggage onto a bench and someone came around to "check" all the bags, and by check I mean stared at for less than 1 second and made a hand gesture to move on. We were then called back on the bus by our passports, gringos last. 
We arrived in Managua around 4 pm and hopped into a shitty cab where the doors barely even closed. The first thing the cab driver tells us is to leave Managua asap and go to Granada because Managua is dangerous and ugly. We decided to stay and headed over to our hostel where they are also confused why we want to stay there. The hostel itself was very nice and we met some cool people and had a nice dinner. The next day we awoke early and heard back from a friend who lives in Managua and was more than willing to pick us up in his car and drive us wherever we wanted to go (We had met Alejandro in a bar in San Jose, CR and he told us if we were even in Nicaragua to call him). He picked us up from our hostel and brought us to a huge market in Managua that sold everything from useless touristy trinkets, shampoo, stereos, hammocks, anything made out of leather... Then realizing we had no idea what we were doing in Managua, Alejandro drove us to some of the best look out points through the beautiful roads of Nicaragua. In the afternoon he drove us all the way to Granada which took almost 2 hours and dropped us off at our hostel and walked in with us to make sure it seemed O.K. Nicas are so nice!

View from Managua, Nicaragua.

We settled into the hostel and waited for it to stop raining (it was pouring!) and began to venture the city looking for some cheap food. We ended up at a pizza place which was good and not terribly expensive and here we met our friend Ken. Ken (an American) spotted us from afar and somehow ended up at our table telling us all about Granada. He insisted on taking us to another bar and buying us far too many rum and cokes and we sat on the main strip drinking, people watching and learning all about Granada. He told us about the kids, as young as 4 years old, who roam the streets asking for money while huffing glue used to fix shoes from soda bottles and fall asleep in the doorways of the colorful buildings of the European looking city. Also, we learned about the 70 year old white men who come down there and buy property, meaning land, but also take advantage of the fact that prostitution is legal and anything you want won't cost you more than $20. Besides these minor details, which honestly most people probably don't even notice on their own, Granada is surprisingly safe (Nicaragua being the third safest country in the world). After a few bottles of Flor de Caña we walked around the city feeling its liveliness every step of the way. We ended the night singing and dancing in the gazebo in the middle of the central park.

Granada, Nicaragua.

Granada, Nicaragua.

The next day we ignored our hangovers and woke up at 7:30 to get a head start on exploring the city in daylight. We walked to the port and found a man who would take us on a one and a half hour boat ride through The Isletas, which is an archipelago of 365 little volcanic islands situated inside  Cocibolca Lake. They were formed when Volcan Mombacho blew its cone into the lake. Many of the isletas are already built upon or up for sale, some of them go for as cheap as $65,000!The boat was small and private, the sun was shining, and the views were amazing. It was a very tranquil boat ride and we even got to see some monkeys who reside on one of the small islands.

Doesn't this look like the cover of Big Fish??? 

Locals hanging laundry on one of the isletas.

One of the many beautiful homes on the isletas.

We then walked back through the city and decided to check out the central market. We were expecting something similar to the market in Granada, or the ones here in San Jose, CR, but this market was completely different. As we encroached, the hustle and bustle of the streets got louder and busier. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but once inside you could feel the life of the market bursting through. There were men and women from ages 0 to 100 hurrying around buying and selling pretty much everything. Men pushing wood wheeled carts down the street, and women with baskets the size of bus tires balancing atop their heads. The market was in no way a tourist attraction in the sense that it sold wooden boxes engraved with "Yo <3 Nicaragua," because it didn't. It was a place where the residents of Granada would go every morning to pick up spices and meat for the day, or underwear and clothing for their children. It is just as much a part of the city as the people who live in it.

Mercado Central, Granada, Nicaragua.

Mercado Central, Granada, Nicaragua.

Mercado Central, Granada, Nicaragua.

Mercado Central, Granada, Nicaragua.

After the market, feeling alive and eager, we decided to walk to the the cemetery. The architecture of many of the tomb stones and buildings was beautiful and even more so were the inscriptions on them. The further we walked into the cemetery, the simpler the burials appeared to be and everyone we encountered on our way through greeted us with a kind smile. There was a burial occurring while we were there and a band playing music. Between the sweet music and the setting sun, the cemetery was transformed into a beautiful and tranquil place set aside from the bustling city. 

The next morning we awoke early again and headed out to the old train station which was honestly nothing special. Madeleine and I then continued on our journey to San Juan del Sur, while Cate and Laura stayed in Granada devoting their time to helping a select few children from the street by bringing them to the lagoon and offering them a place to bath and buying them lunch! 

San Juan del Sur is only about an hour from the Costa Rican border and is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We arrived in the afternoon and immediately headed to the beach, which was right across the street from our hostel, and lied in the sand until sun set. We headed to Iguana for dinner and some free drinks right on the beach, because every night is Ladies Night apparently. The next morning we woke up at 6:30 am, made some pancakes at the hostel and lied on the beach until it was time to head back to the Ticabus stop to embark on our 10 hour trip back into San Jose, CR. And here we are back in San Jose where the weather is almost 20 degrees cooler and the beach is much further away.. Needless to say, I love Nicaragua. 

Sunset at San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. 

8:00 am, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.

Rayito

Emily.

Dixie.

Ryan and Caylor.

Cristal and myself.

To be wealthy, not rich.

The other day someone mentioned that being wealthy is not the same as being rich. Ever since then I have been thinking a lot about the difference between these two words. It also reminded me of the quote which I posted in my first entry on this blog, where William Henry Channing states to be wealthy, not rich. At first I thought there wasn't much difference between the two as they are used interchangeably most of the time. But the more I thought about it, I realized that someone can be wealthy, but not necessarily be rich, and the other way around. I think wealthy is more of a state of being, as defined by "characterized by abundance." That being a very general definition, there is a lot of room to play with the word abundance. Abundance could be a lot of anything; money, love, happiness, material objects... Therefore, I believe, to be wealthy is to be full of.. something desirable. Someone who has a life full of substance is wealthy. It doesn't mean they necessarily have a lot of money or material objects, it means that they live a life where they are content with what they do have. 

Rich is a bit more difficult to define because it can be used in many different contexts. For example, something can be rich in color or in taste, or to be pure. For arguments sake I'm talking about the definition of rich as "having abundant possessions and especially material wealth." I wish the definition I found didn't use the word wealth but it's a great example of how often the words are used interchangeably. The difference in the definitions is therefore characterized by the adjectives used. To be wealthy is to have a life full of abundance, and to be rich is to have abundant possessions and material wealth. I think the difference between these is that being rich directly relates to having money or material objects while being wealthy does not. 

This post has taken me so long to write because each time I write something I feel it sounds a bit contradictory. Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated on the topic!

Life in Cedros

My walk to the bus stop on a clear day.

View from the balcony attached to my room. 

My house.

"The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail." ~Charles R. Swindoll

So I realized that I haven't really written much about my family or home life here in Costa Rica. I live with an amazing family in a beautiful house in Cedros, San Pedro, Costa Rica. The address to our house translates to: the white house on the corner across from the bakery in Cedros. Most places in Costa Rica don't have addresses the way we have in the United States, well really most places in the world. When I first got here, I found it extremely annoying that most streets didn't have names and houses didn't have numbers. Living in the U.S. you get so accustomed to a life where everything is so black and white, everything is so direct. You enter an address into your GPS and your car basically takes you there. Here you really appreciate all of your surroundings, because they are such a big part of your everyday life. I feel like we are so quick to take advantage of all the beauty around us and miss the subtleties of our environment.

I share my room with Laura, a 19 year old from Munich, Germany. At first I was upset that I had to share my room, because I left the dorms after two years for a reason (still love you Crin ;) !) But, things worked out fine and Laura and I get along very well. We have a balcony attached to our room which I love because it reminds me of my porch waiting for me at 99 Violet, and I love sitting out there and people watching. The only bad thing about being so close to the main street is the noise. Most mornings we are woken up at around 5 am by the neighbors dog, a loud motorcycle or bus, or the consequential car alarm. Although, the weather is the most beautiful in the mornings so being up so early isn't as bad as it seems.

My mama Tica (host mom.. Costa Rican mom..) is so sweet! (Don't worry Shelly you're still the best!) Marlene makes us three delicious meals everyday and always has fresh coffee waiting for us in the kitchen. She laughs at us when we make mistakes in Spanish and corrects us, and tells us when she thinks we should wear something different. Her husband works for a company which exports pineapples and is usually away on business for the majority of the time. Marlene has two children, Massiel who is 23 and works a lot so we don't see much of her but she is also very sweet! Also, Esteban who is 17. Currently there is also another German girl and a Swiss girl living in the house who keep to themselves for the most part. I am so blessed to have been placed here!

Come Con Ellos! Eat so they can!

I can't take credit for the following pictures, because they were all taken by the children at Carpio.. amazing :)

Madeleine with two girls.

Pan.

Waiting for food.

Camilla and I.

One of my favorite pictures so far.

Peace.

This past Saturday I helped out at a soup kitchen in Carpio. Hazel organized most of it with a lot of help from other volunteers who work in Carpio. Hazel works at Maximo Nivel (the organization I volunteer though) and spends a lot of her spare time helping out at the volunteer projects. She is an inspiration to us all with her hard work and positive attitude. Thanks to everyones hard work and support we fed over 200 people, mostly kids, at the soup kitchen. There were also other volunteers juggling, walking on stilts, playing guitar, and entertaining the kids. It was an incredible day and the love was felt greatly from both the volunteers and the families of Carpio. 

Rayito de la Luz

This week I started a new volunteer project. The location is called Rayito de la Luz (little ray of light). It's a day care center where kids stay from 7 am till 5 am Monday through Friday and are fed breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are 40 kids who come to Rayito, although most days there aren't that many there at one time because many go to school a few days a week. The kids here are very poor and really need us which is why we travel so far to get there. I wake up every morning at 6:30 so that I can walk 45 minutes to the bus stop, and then take 2 buses which usually takes another 45 minutes. Before my first day I didn't know if I would want to stay at a project where I had to travel so far and pay around $3 a day in bus fare. After meeting the kids and hearing their stories, the commute seems like nothing, I'm actually starting to enjoy it (with the help of my Ipod). Most of these kids don't have a father, and live with their mother and up to 6 or 7 other siblings. Many of the families have problems relating to drug and alcohol abuse and don't have any money for food or clothing for their children. The kids come in Monday mornings with dirty, ill fitted clothing, old shoes, empty bellies and a strong desire for attention and love.

Imagine

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined.  - Henry David Thoreau

 This past week in my Spanish class we have been talking a lot about imagining things for your life in order for them to happen. For example, my teacher had 2 children when she was pretty young. For the first few years, things were really tough for her. She lived in a small apartment for a while and said she would always dream of a different house, not necessarily big, but enough space to be filled with close friends enjoying each others company. This past Friday she invited a few of us into her home to make dinner and say goodbye to one of her students. We were all sitting in her kitchen helping cook, playing games, eating, drinking and talking and she told me how us being there was what she had wished for for so long. It felt so nice to be a part of someones dreams and her positive attitude made me further realize that if you dream something, one day you can have it.
Also, while at her house, a few of us were sitting on a small landing about 1 story above the ground and felt the whole thing shake for almost a minute. The third earthquake Ive felt since I have been here! I thought it was cool, it was a strange feeling; I really felt alive, for the first time, like I was actually physically apart of this world. They do say you can find beauty in disaster.
I am trying to sum up my past week and realize that this is becoming disorganized, but then again so is my life. Saturday morning we woke up at 7 am and Laura (my roommate from Germany) was like.. ok lets go to the beach!.. I wanted to sleep later but I am glad she made me get up! We got to Jacó (a beach town on the Pacific coast about 2 hours from San Jose) in the late afternoon and got to our hostel. I dont know if I could even call it a hostel though. It was a house about 2 blocks from the beach owned by a woman from Hungary. Most of the people staying there were from Eastern Europe, picture people in their 30s walking around in their underwear, smelling a little of BO and cooking strange food and sleeping where they fell, couches, floor, hammocks... That night we went out to a bar in the town, and then when that bar closed we went to another after hours bar and danced and eventually went home a little after the sun had come up. The next day we lied on the beach and all got a little too much sun but it was beautiful and relaxing after a long night. Definitely an interesting weekend!