For the Love of Waves: Happy Holidays desde Nicaragua

It's been a couple of weeks since our last update and we've been keeping busy. As some of you already know, we've decided to head back to Hawaii to have the baby. It was a particularly difficult decision to make as having our little girl down here was our original intention but, in the end, it just didn't feel right. The need to be around family, friends, and the comforts of the first world ultimately reigned. Silently, I know that every day Ian and I flip back in forth in our minds about it but, we are both confident that we've made the right decision. So, over the ocean we go again! We leave Managua on the 25th with a four day layover in LA to bid Kellin and Sean a farewell before they head off to Italy.

Puna gave us a little scare a couple weeks ago with a 105 degree temperature. We took her to the vet in Managua and they had her on an IV all morning to bring down here fever and restore some of her fluids. They ran a series of tests and none of them came back positive for blood-borne illness so, he figured it was just a flu or infection. All in all, we had her on a series of antibiotics that did the trick and she's back to her grumbly old self again. Wow, and if anyone ever needs a vet in Nicaragua don't go anywhere else but Dr. Osley at Veternarios Asociados. They were stellar.

We spent Christmas eve relaxing at home with fried rice and a key lime pie. On Christmas Day, we visited Rancho Santana which is another beachfront community, one bay north of us. They just finished renovating their facilities and the ocean view dining room made for a beautiful sunset dinner. We went with our friends Jack and Patty who are retired and live down here full time. Jack is Ian's surf buddy and also the keeper of Panga Drops. Jack's house has a clear view of the lineup from his front porch and on any given morning, you'll find him catching all the set waves with Ian.

For my birthday, we decided to head up to the mountains of northern Nicaragua for a little change of scenery. And change it was! We stayed at Selva Negra, a coffee plantation high up in the cloud forest between Matagalpa and Jinotega. It got nice and chilly at night and both of us wished we had brought socks. We rented a cabana that even had a fireplace. Puna was in heaven romping around the forest in her days after recovery. Not to mention, the hotel even made proper lattes.

Other than that, as far as the house goes, we've put a false ceiling and ceiling fan in our bedroom to make it completely sealed off from any gaps in the roof. This is good news for the baby (and us) as we can officially keep this area critter-free and eventually get a small A/C unit to cool us off during the dog days. There is talk of La Vista going on the grid as soon as this year which would be a game-changer for this little neighborhood. As much as we enjoy the simplicity of off-grid living, there is something to be said about a sufficient amount of electricity. It sure would be nice to have a washing machine. This is neither here nor there at this point, and when somebody says 'a year' in Nicaragua, that generally means three. We'll see. We are getting a ton of cabinetry made for the kitchen which is supposed to be done on the 10th, but as in my afore mentioned example of Nicaraguan Time Elasticity, we're not holding our breath. We went to go check on his progress a couple of days ago, and young Micho hadn't even started yet.

And that's that. We just had one of our best Nica meals yet at Yolanda's in Limon II. (Yes, there is a Limon 1 and a Limon 2 here.) After lunch we checked out Buena Onda, which is another beachfront resort on Playa Maderas. Here are a couple of photos from the last few weeks. Did I mention we got furniture, finally?