Swell's Swell

Sah-weet!  I've been having some issues with Blogger these last couple of days so, I'm going to try and squeeze in a quick post while it's up and running properly.  The weather has taken a turn for the worse here.   According to magicseaweed.com, our trusted website for storm trends and wave models, we've got about four days in a row of a "zero-star" surf forecast in our future.  Monday and beyond looks promising though, just in time for the arrival of little sis.  Will Sarah bring the sun (with my extended list of sundries?)  In the meantime, it's been rain, rain, rain and grey skies.  Our kitchen floor looks like a mosaic of muddy paw prints and the river is running at La Vista.  Ian finally got to surf Manzanillo a few days ago.  It's only accessible by boat and on Monday, the boys went out and scored a bunch of waves with no one out.  As soon as Ian got back, he came with me to Amarillo and we both got a bunch of good rides there too.  I caught the  nose of my board into the back of a wave on a fairly decent size drop in Melly standards, then got rag-dolled through the water pretty hard that afternoon.  All in all, it was the last good day of waves we've had.  As I said in the previous post, the boats have been pulled out of the bay for a good size swell rolling through.  Yesterday, the tide was the highest we've seen it, and water came through the backyard of Swell like a river.  Ian helped Jason dig a trench to divert it's path around the house, as the ocean's natural course would have been to flow through the back door, into the living room and out the front walkway.  It was a beer drinking afternoon.  I am the "Sorry" champion of Gigante, winning two games in a row yesterday afternoon, much to Jason's dismay.  I'm sure a heated rematch is in my future.

In house news, things are really starting to come together.  Ian had to make his first forced errand run to Rivas yesterday.  We're getting an outdoor shower put in and unfortunately, didn't have the right part for the job so Ian braved the storm, (with no windshield wipers, which incidentally, will be fixed on Monday - moms), and on the way, picked up nine, yes count them, nine Nicaraguans and gave them a ride to Tola.  Two riding shotgun, four in the backseat, and three in the way back.  Luckily, the Nicas informed him that there is, in fact, a ferreteria (hardware store) in Tola, which is about three-quarters of the way to Rivas.  So, Ian dodged a Rivas trip which is always tiring and slightly maddening for reasons such as, having to go to ten different stores for ten different items.  Ah, Latin American business tactics.  When will they learn?  Anyways, good news.  The windows will be here on Friday!  Solar panel, inverter, and marine batteries, next week.  And hopefully, keep your fingers crossed, we'll be able to move in in two weeks!  Sarah will be here for the transition.  Next on the list - Managua.  Our savings account is about to rapidly dwindle as we begin purchasing all the necessities - i.e. - fridge, stove, beds, pot, pan, fork ... you know, everything.  But, oh how exciting ... lots of gallo pinto (fried Nica rice and beans) in our future.  Love you all, not much else for now.

But some random pig pictures

The Resurrection of Lady Gray, The Great Gigante Dog Roundup, and Running Water at the House

To start things off today, Lady Gray is back in action.  We're so happy to be mobile again.  We had a mechanic named Douglas come up from Rivas to take a look at the clutch and it turned out to be a cracked seal.  He returned to Rivas that morning, found the part, and four and half hours later, we drove to Amarillo for an evening session and sunset beers.  All said and done, eighty dollars.  The parts were forty and he only wanted twenty-five for the labor.  We gave him the extra fifteen and assured him that he was officially "our guy."  Douglas also brought his friend along who is a jack of all trades.  While the car was being repaired, he fixed Chanelle's water pump, a couple of busted fans, and one of the electrical sockets in our casita.  All and all, it was a very productive day.

If you may recall from earlier posts, the woman whom we are renting from, is one of the world's biggest animal lovers.  She had recently informed us of an organization named World Vets that do free spay and neuter clinics in foreign countries.  This week they were in Rivas and it was Chanelle's goal to round up some stray Gigante dogs and get them fixed.  So, on Tuesday morning, we went down to a couple of local eateries and asked the owners if we could take their patio pooches and get them checked out and fixed up by some volunteer vets.  The Nica families handed us over a couple of girl pups, and a male pup named Tarzan.  We also had Chanelle's four month old boxer pup with us too.  We transported the dogs in Lady Gray and checked them into the clinic around noon.  We did some shopping in Rivas and while we were at the Texaco, Chanelle came back to the car with a mangled street dog wrapped up in a sheet, looking like a scene straight out of ET.  The poor dog was the worst case the clinic had seen yet.  His nose was caked with mucus, he was covered in ticks and the poor guy seemed like he hadn't eaten in months.  Well, wouldn't you know it, "Tex" is here at the house today.  Chanelle opted to stay at the clinic to make sure Tex checked out, and we returned to Gigante with the dogs from Margarita's and Gaviota's.  Ian and I were a little concerned about the interaction we were going to have with the local families when we handed over their drugged up puppies but, his Spanish proved worthy enough because the smiles the Nicas gave us were priceless.  Five new fixed dogs in Gigante equals a hundred unborn, uncared for puppies.  Thanks to Chanelle for being the motivation in what turned out to be, a very cool day.

Check in at the Rivas School of Agriculture and the World Vet Clinic

Gaviota's pup, Tarzan - also one of Lea's beach lovers

Tarzan getting tagged

Tex getting poked and prodded

Tex - look at his nails!

Recovery Room

Surgery Room

Tarzan and Taj on their drugged-up ride back to Gigante

In house news, we have water!!!  We also have walls, a shower, and a couple more plants in the ground.  It sounds like we'll have windows and doors by next week too.  The guys were working on a leech line for the septic tank when we stopped by yesterday.  We had our first porch Toñas to celebrate.  La Vista is so green now.  It rained a ton last night.  I can't wait to lay in a hammock on the front porch with a breeze coming through the valley, hearing only the sound of rustling leaves.  Ahh, serenity.  

 

Ian in our bedroom window

Shower

Our little Plumeria Tree

Water!!!

walls

Leech line coming from the septic tank

Our first porch Toñas

This week in surf, Melly finally scored good waves at Pangas.  It actually dropped to a size where I could sit inside and feel comfortable and I got one really good left and a handful of fun rights.  Pangas and I are now friends.  Well everyone, I'm finally getting bagel making down and today I'm experimenting with onion topping.  The dough has risen and I'm off to the kitchen.  Cheers!      

   

Itchy in Gigante

It's been a fairly uneventful week with the exception of Lady Gray experiencing her first real mechanical issues in our time of ownership.  The clutch is leaking and we're officially on foot again.  Uggggh.  How spoiled and lazy one becomes.  A mechanic was supposed to come take a look at it today, but apparently he was having troubles with his motorbike.  I'm not sure if we should be weary of that fact or not but regardless, Monday is the day as few Nicaraguans work on Sunday.   In the meantime, we are dangerously close to being out of propane, our Gigante money stash is tapped out and our food rations are dwindling.  If anyone is going to Rivas like, tomorrow, please let us know.  We need a ride.  Seriously.

There has been a lot of progress on the house this week.  The drywall is being hung, the spaces between the floorboards have been filled, the water should already be connected and the electrical sockets have been installed, but not wired.  We bought some more plants at the Rivas School of Agriculture including two plumeria trees (the official flower of Nicaragua) and an avocado tree.  We also bought a bunch of Eureka palms to line the front of the deck which will also hide the underside of the house.  I hope Ian's dad Jon, is smiling.  We know how you love those Eurekas!  All in all, it seems to be coming along much quicker these days.  The most recent debate is whether or not to buy a very expensive propane refrigerator, or to buy an equally priced second solar panel to power a much more inexpensive electric fridge.  We seem to be leaning in the direction of the latter.  As the time of move-in draws nearer, these are the conversations that have ensued.  Admittedly, very exciting.

On the surf front, there was a fairly decent swell this week.  Ian scored some mackers at Pangas.  I finally busted out my 6'3" rounded pin and am in love.  I can't believe it took me this long to ride it.  Not to mention, there are a pair of penguins on the underside of it and two half naked ladies staring up at me from the nose.  It has a much different artistic air to it than the demented skull of my Lost fish.  And it's faster.  I got a great feel for it at Amarillo over the last couple of days and have been having better luck going left.  Yea for new surfboards!!!

And finally, let's talk bugs.  I'm not sure which of the foul creatures I should start with.  We stomped out another scorpion running across the floor of our bedroom last week.  The flies have been absolutely atrocious.  Yesterday, as I was making another batch of bagels, I became so maddened that I finally resorted to Anna's mom's ancient Chinese fly detractor trick - a clear plastic bag filled with water and pennies hung on the wall over the butcher block.  That, and half a bottle of Raid seemed to do the trick which incidentally, led to Puna devouring their insecticide-coated carcasses scattered all over the kitchen floor.  Raid is like candy to her!  Then there are the beetles.  Two inch beetles that somehow slip through the window cracks and explode entrails when you smash them.  Then there are the locusts.  Last night there was some weird cross between a giant horned beetle and the largest roach known to mankind trailing four-inch antennas on either side.  In our bedroom.  We thought he was dead, but this afternoon as he lay on his back near the doorway, his arms were still moving - ten hours after his initial blow.  And worst of all, the zancudos.  Smaller than a gnat, these f*#^ers bite and you can't even see them.  Everyone in Gigante is covered in bites.  Itchy bites.  Very itchy bites.  And last but not least, there was the poisonous snake that Felix slaughtered in the yard the other day.  Ah, the tropics.  At least we're not working.

Granada and the Masaya Region

Last week as we were driving the dirt road to La Vista, we noticed that the hillsides had become spotted with golden trees.  A very special occasion indeed, the Cortez had bloomed, marking the start of the rainy season.  For two days, the landscape was abundantly bound with bright yellow flowers that would drop to the ground and become food for hungry iguanas.  I got a chance to snap a couple of photos but before we knew it, the gold was gone.  Cortez only flower once a year and now their delicate petals are shed, leaving only their barren branches again.  Until next year pretty trees ....

As car names randomly come about, so did Lady Gray's.  She's running better than ever after discovering that  she'd been firing on only two cylinders for over a week.  We couldn't figure out why all of sudden, she had lost much of her power.  That is, until Ian popped the hood and realized that two of the cords that connect to the spark plugs had rattled loose.  It was an easy fix and she's as good as new.  So, we decided to take her on the road again.  On Thursday, we headed to Granada, the colonial gem of Nicaragua.  Twice, we effortlessly passed by the national police and only once did we have to pull over because of a strange noise coming from the front right tire.  (another easy fix)  We arrived at lunchtime and dined at a mediocre establishment recommended by the Lonely Planet called Tercer Ojos that as Ian so eloquently put it, "was a jack of everything, but a master of nothing."  It should be a dead giveaway when someone offers Thai, Mediterranean, sushi, and pasta on the same menu.  Do one thing and do it well.  The sweet and sour chicken was okay but small, and the beef salad was just silly.  They dressed it with about two hundred whole peppercorns.  Who does that?  Anyways, after lunch we checked into a nice non-profit hospedaje called Hotel Con Corazon where our fuzzy little mutts were also welcome.  They have a lovely pool and we spent some time relaxing and drinking beers while trying to keep Puna out of their fern flowerbeds.  The remainder of the afternoon, we poked around the city which, reminded me so much of Salta, Argentina.  The square center was lined with restaurant patios and the middle was filled with artisan markets.  At sunset, Ian, myself and the dogs were escorted around the city in a horse-drawn carriage by a fine gentlemen named Mauricio.  We skirted the perimeter of Lago de Nicaragua and had a beer on the Puerto Asese.  We indulged in two dinners and a couple of cocktails after sunset, then headed back to the room, to find that our ceiling had incurred a fairly substantial leak from the room above it.  A quick switch resulted in an upgrade.  The new room's bed had four pillows instead of two.  Score.  In the morning, we cashed in on our free hotel breakfast which was by far, the finest desayuno we have had in Nicaragua yet.  Proper coffee, fresh squeezed juice, warm wheat bread from scratch, homemade chunky peanut butter, fresh jam, whipped butter, granola and milk, a fresh fruit plate, gallo pinto and huevos revueltos.  Seriously.  I wanted to put the rest of the peanut butter in my bag.  Four stars for Hotel Con Corazon.  After breakfast, we decided that we'd had enough of city life for this trip and were itching to see a little bit of nature and check out some of the locally-made furniture in the Masaya state, just north of Granada.  On the way out, we stopped at La Colonial, which has a fancy grocery store and appliance shop.  I finally found azucar glass (powdered sugar) and scored a fairly expensive bottle of oyster sauce for fried rice and other Asian delights.  We also got a peeler and a couple more ice cube trays which we're very excited about too.  

 

The Masaya region teems with lush, green plant life.  Butt up against two huge volcanoes, every little town has a unique facet.  Catarina offers incredible views of Lago de Apoyo and Lago de Nicaragua with Volcan Marumbacha off to the right.  This town is also known for its viveros which is the equivalent to a nursery.  Every flower, tree and herb under the sun is available for purchase at very minimal prices.  It's amazing how much life the vivid color of flowers provides against the mudded sides of homes.  This little town is simply stunning.  We bought our first plants here and got a chance to put them in the ground of our casita today.  After Catarina, we drove to Masatepe where Ian heard you can get good deals on locally made furniture.  He heard right.  You can get a beautiful wooden living room set for $250.  We'll be back when the casita is complete.  After Masatepe we decided to go back in the direction of home.  We needed to pick up some groceries in Rivas which we vowed never to do on a Friday afternoon ever again.  The grocery store was a mad house.  Quite the buzz kill after a pleasant afternoon in the country.

  

So, we're back home now.  Puna rolled in fresh cow crap this morning and we surfed Panga Drops after some coffee.  It's about time for Happy Hour, so I'm signing off.  Life as usual, here in Gigante.  

 

For the love of, waves?

This is only my second update of the blog since our move to Nicaragua some four weeks ago. The plan was for me to write about the house and surf and for Mel to write more about our day to day life here. Well not a lot has happened with the house in the last few weeks as we are waiting for the wood for our windows to dry in Granada. The septic system has been put in and is probably completed now. The floor for the lofts has also been put in and was being planed even on my last trip to La Vista, yesterday. I suppose I shouldn't say not a lot is being done. We are definitely making forward progress. I look forward to the day I move in more and more every time I see the house.

On the surf front, the weather has been pretty lousy for a solid ten days. Lots of rain and onshore winds. Its hard to complain about the rain out here because the dry season runs for seven months out of the year.  May marks the changing to the Nicaraguan winter. The change of seasons often bring rain and sadly onshore winds but the landscape is quickly transforming from arid and dry to green and lush. Two nights ago the lightning was constant. The night sky was bright more often than dark and it rained so hard our downstairs had an inch of water in it. It was the worst weather of the past two weeks. It was also the end of that weather pattern.

The wind has switched offshore and the waves since then have been incredible. The rain has moved all the sandbars into place and with the offshore winds conditions are great. Its incredible how a few days of really really really good surf can re-energize you and just make you smile more. I surfed three times yesterday. Twice at Colorados, once with Mel. The afternoon session for lack of a better way to put it, is why I am here. Mel and I surfed Amarillo at sunset and she was catching some great waves. It was a perfect end to one of my favorite days out here thus far. Then this morning at Amarillo it was as good as I have seen it. Almost head high, hollow and fast. Guess what the plan is this afternoon? Thats right, more surf. The internet has been touch and go recently and as I type this I realize I should upload this, grab a beer and get ready to go to the beach. Thanks for reading, Ian.

Nica Wedding Crashers

Hey everyone!  We've got a couple of fun things to talk about on this gray Sunday afternoon.  Let's start off with this picture of Chanelle towing her friend Jason off the side of her driveway.  I wish I had a photo from where the stuck truck started from but this vantage is nearing the end of Team Canada's efforts.  Chanelle's boyfriend Jeremy, is also from Vancouver Island and worked for nearly an hour shoveling mud and repaving different areas of the driveway with rocks in order to pull the car from a very precarious angle off the side of the hill.  We're still not exactly clear how the truck managed to find its way into the ditch in the first place, but it was definitely dark and stormy when the incident occurred.  Luckily the truck was towed out unscathed but unfortunately for Chanelle, it seems that her burly Land Cruiser is forever stuck in four-wheel drive.  Keep your fingers crossed that it's only something minor.

Well, the next order of business is comical indeed.  As you all know, yesterday was May 1st.  In Hawaii, this is also known as Lei Day and on the mainland of course, it's May Day.  Here in Nicaragua, they have Maypole celebrations which designate the start of spring, or so we thought.  Yesterday morning as we were making breakfast, Juana and Felix (our Nica maid and gardener) stopped in to invite us to some festivities at the local church.  Eager for culture, both of agreed that it would be something fun and different to attend.  Felix told us that he'd be back up to the house around 2:30 and from there, we could all drive down to the church together.  At two o'clock it began to rain.  We weren't sure if Felix was going to show but we showered and dressed in our finest garb anyways.  Sure enough, at half past two, there he was in his button down yellow collared shirt, rearin' and ready for a ride in the Isuzu.  We weaved down the dirt road to Amarillo and parked at Felix's dads house which was familiar to us both from our past walks to my favorite surf break.  Felix's dad turned our to be the old man we've seen sitting on the porch, every time we pass by.  The rain had ceased at this point and we waited at the house for Felix and Juana's kids to show up.  As we were waiting, a shocking discovery was made.  In so many Spanish words, Ian figured out that we were attending a wedding - not a Maypole celebration.  And it was Felix's brother who was getting married!  Classic.  What unfolded before our eyes, was a beautiful Nica ceremony involving not one couple getting hitched, but two.  A dual wedding complete with an out of tune electric guitar and a mariachi style synthesizer.  It was awesome.  At one point a ten year old boy got up on stage and rocked some mean vocals on what I'm assuming, is a traditional Nica wedding song.  After the painfully long (but fondly memorable) ceremony, we were invited back to the family's house for food.  Being the only gringos in a crowd of almost two-hundred Nicaraguans, we decided that we were satisfied with our experience and that attending the family's reception might have been a little weird.  Who knows though.  Maybe not attending it was weirder.  What we do know now though, is that we're not just the white people that walk the road with surfboards to Amarillo anymore.  We're the white people with surfboards that were at the Nica wedding on Saturday.  Hopefully, that's a good thing.  We're thinking it is.  By the way, maybe I'm an idiot, but Maypole celebrations are a pagan tradition and come from Europe.  I'm pretty sure they don't celebrate it in Central America.  And here are some photos from the wedding.

      

Lastly, I found these suckers in a pile of clothes today.  One dead.  One live.  Sprayed it with some Raid to slow the bastard down, then flushed him down the toilet.  Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiack.  I hate scorpions.