Wheels

Hello everyone!  Let's try this again.  I just lost an entire post, pictures and all, twice.  Internet in Nicaragua.  I'm just thankful to have it.  My creative chi is almost drained but I've managed to get all the pics back up.  Let's start with this one of Ian and Brad.  Freakin' adorable.  I never thought I'd fall in love with a squirrel but let it be known, I have.  Lea is obsessed with Brad.  She sits at the base of whatever tree he is in, and anxiously awaits his descent.  Unfortunately for Lea (but fortunate for Brad), this little guy is way too fast and way too smart for our silly little mutt.   

To continue from the last update, we finally got our first storm.  Last Saturday, as I was finishing up a lime and cilantro marinade for a tasty chicken dinner, the sky opened up.  We quickly learned that with the rain, comes power outages.  We managed to whip up a quick meal by candle light (the stove is propane) and somewhere along the way, decided that it would be a good idea to indulge in excessive amounts of rum to help put ourselves to sleep.  (Bad idea.)  By the time the computer battery died somewhere in the middle of our fourth episode of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," we were pretty lit.  Between the stagnant, ninety degree air, the absence of a blowing fan and slight inebriation, sleep was not in our favor.  Then, just as we thought it couldn't get any worse, the monkeys chimed in from the trees outside our window.  They did their thing all, miserable night long.  At sun up, the electricity came back on.    

So, as many of you have noticed from our FB "status updates," we're mobile.  This is our '88 Isuzu Trooper that we bought for the lovely price of $2500 from a guy named David who lives in San Juan Del Sur.  She is rusty and old but we had Roger's mechanic take a look at it in Rivas, and she checked out.  The four-door option is nice, as there is plenty of room for boards and dogs.  Wouldn't you know it though?  Three hours after we bought the Isuzu, the Land Cruiser lady called and said she be willing to part with her baby for five.  I'm a strong believer in signs, and Ian and I had already discussed that even five grand would be pushing our budget at this point.  We both agreed that the Trooper came into our life that afternoon, to stop us from buying the Cruiser.  Plus, we wouldn't have been able to have the Toyota for another month and already yesterday, we were able to drive over to La Vista to check out the progress on the house, have a nice breakfast in Iguana, and surf fun, Melly-size Colorado's.  And today, we're going on an adventure to San Juan Del Sur.  We decided the extra $2500 is enough to fill our new house with furniture and appliances.  So be it.  And here are some pics ....  

I had to post this picture of what I call, a "Party Papaya."  Apparently this is a small one too.  I was skeptical as I cut it open yesterday thinking it's size would hinder its sweetness.  I was wrong.  The meat was as sweet and juicy as Hawaii's sunrise varietal.  We've been eating really well since we've been here.  Ian has been making a ton of guacamole and yesterday we fried up some corn tortillas and made fresh, homemade chips.  Yummy.

And here's one more cute pic of Taj.  He's getting bigger by the day.

Well, more later.  It's been such a struggle trying to get this one up that I should post while the internet is cooperating.  

Settling In

Where to begin, where to begin.  Actually, I'd like to start by commending the mutts.  Unfrickingbelievable.  Puna was the perfect service dog.  She calmed my 'generalized anxiety' and I think Ian and I calmed hers.  The co-dependency was remarkably effective and the amount of smiles, comments and praise we received during our twenty-four hour journey was enough to put me at ease.  We cleared one minor mishap with a Continental baggage embargo that could have sent me over the edge.  (No surfboards allowed from March 26th-April 7th - naturally, the seventh was our departure date.  Through all our fine attention to details in transporting people, things, and animals to Central America, somehow this one slipped through the cracks.  Props to Continental, though.  Maybe they believed I would have a panic attack if they didn't let us bring the boards, but whatever it was, they let us slide.)  That Big Wave Ale at Kona Brewery might have been the best beer I ever tasted, once we made it through security and Puna was at our feet, adorned in her little red Support Dog vest.  The second greatest moment of the journey was seeing with our very own eyes, Lea, moving up the conveyor belt with everyones luggage, on our connecting flight to Managua.  At that moment, we knew we were home-free.  At least all four of us would be together when we got there.  Ian was there to receive Lea when we landed.  Ten dollars, out the door.  It was a stressful journey for Lea, as we noticed in the hotel, a significant chunk of kennel missing from the right side of the respective container.  I imagine if she had more time, she actually might have eaten her way out.  Little ole' Lea's tail didn't go up for a full day.  I'm happy to report though, that the dogs are psyched.  Here in Nicaragua, they can go with us anywhere, i.e. : breakfast at the Best Western.

After Paxeos came to pick us up from the hotel on Friday morning, we drove through Rivas to get a phone and some groceries and were bombarded by men with boxes wanting to transport our food from the checkout line to the car.  I would imagine we were the tallest, whitest people in Rivas that day and paying a couple of guys two bucks to carry our crap to the car is only providing them a service which, we gladly used.  One more stop at the cerveceria for 48 Toñas and quick stop for some fruit in Tola and it was on to our new home.  Weaving down the dirt road through the barren, littered landscape brought me back to a time in Peru.  I think that particular moment, and the initial scent of burning plastic when we landed, made me realize that I was abroad again.  What an awesome, displaced feeling.  Even more awesome, when the man you love, and your two dogs are sitting next to you.

The casita we're staying in is owned by a lovely lady named Chanelle who is originally from Vancouver Island.  She runs a cool little restaurant/bar on the beach in Gigante and is the ultimate animal lover.  Besides caring for her pack of dogs (some hers and some stray), she has a pet squirrel named Brad who comes to her kitchen window every morning for his plate of peanuts and avocado.  We were a little concerned about Lea's obsession with small, fuzzy, moving creatures, but over the last couple of days, trekking through people's backyards containing pigs, piglets, cows, horses, chickens, more dogs and cats, has seemed to desensitize her from the whole hunting scene.  It's become apparent, that being surrounded by many, many animals is what she's needed all along.  I think eventually, she will completely lose interest.  (Though, she's not over the cows on the path from our house to the beach yet.)  And today, for some reason, Puna developed a fear of pigs.  She refused to go around them, just like monk seals on the beach in Hawaii.  She chose the most round-about way possible, actually dipping down to the beach before meeting up with us again on the trail.

We got to see the property today - the most exciting part thus far.  It's coming along for sure, but is not much farther from the last video update.  It's so amazing to finally see it in it's wooden, thatched-roof flesh.  The exterior walls are almost complete and it's bigger than we expected.  Standing in the loft, we could feel the cool breeze of the valley which is a relief after spending the last couple of days in the sweltering heat of Gigante.  The view from the ridge is amazing.  We spent the afternoon with Seth whom Ian knows from Tahoe and who also owns a condo in Hacienda Iguana.  Seth has got his finger on the pulse of the area and is good people, for sure.  He has high hopes for Ian and the business opportunities that will come with the growth of La Vista.  He has already paved our destiny by introducing Ian and myself to his friends as 'the people who bought in La Vista and are going to open up a restaurant.'  Wouldn't that be a dream come true?

After touring the property, we paddled out to Colorado's.  It's exactly what I expected : a dumping, barreling shore break, that wasn't even really barreling this particular day.  Ian got some nice waves and I cowered in the channel which has seemed to be my definition of surfing lately.  I refuse to get down on myself this early and can see the potential for some fun, fast, challenging waves as soon as it comes down a little bit.  I need a good session but I also need to muster up some confidence which I've been gravely lacking recently.  There are waves up and down the coast here, and I know there's a spot for me.  I've got plenty of time to find it.

So, that's our first couple of days in an extra-large nutshell.  I'm on the computer in the downstairs part of our rental casita, while Ian is in bed already.  We've been rising with the sun and retiring with it's setting.  As of now, she sunk hours ago though, so it's safe to say, it's officially past my bedtime.  More later ya'll!