La Canicula

As you may have gathered from the last couple of posts, it's been a particularly wet, wet season here in Nicaragua.  However, since the fateful 'truck in river' incident, we've been fortunate enough to experience a three day stint of sun.  This may be the start of  a phenomenon called "la canicula," which is a short, hot dry spell in the midst of the rainy season.  The term is derived from an astrological occurrence involving the helical rising of Canis Major and Sirius.  Canis Major is of course, dog and Sirius actually means scorching.  This is where the term "the dog days of summer" comes from.  All in all, we're happy that we were able to move our truck to the other side of the river, that the offshores are back and that I've finally gotten my nose out of a book.  Panga Drops has been clean and fun the last few days and it looks like the winds are going to cooperate for the week.  We took a nice walk to the ridge a couple of days ago and snapped a few photos of our house from above.  Notice how thick the canopy is.

ocean view from the ridge - lots still available!

Our neighborhood in the foreground

our 240ft well 

Lea, our hellian, keeper of the monkeys, La Vista's biggest fan, and recently, our worst nightmare.  Oh little Lea, La Sed (the thirst), digger of trashcans, killer of chickens, pisser of floors, sleeper of couches, face full of burs, why must you be such a rascal?

The River takes its First Victim

Last night as we were settling into sleep, the steady rain intensified.  In fact, it rained so hard that we knew, without question, the car would officially be stuck on the La Vista side of the river until further ado.  At around four am it let up, and in the morning Ian walked to the crossing and there was no question.  

At eleven in the morning we got a call from our friend Jason, who also has a completed house and is living in La Vista, telling us that Lorena Cruz had come to deliver a bed and low and behold ..... they attempted to cross.

So, the river has taken it's first victim this season.  The boys are currently waiting for a tractor, yes a tractor, to pull them out.  I bring you this update live and will post pictures of the rescue, when the rescue occurs.  

A Managua Timeline.

Our intentions for travelling to Managua were certainly not for pleasure so, in an effort to give you the full effect of our experience, I think the best way to convey these two days, is to do it over a timeline.

Wednesday July 7th

400pm (still in Gigante) - Gardener Felix, tells us that it is going to pour rain overnight.  Knowing that a) we are leaving for Managua in the morning and that b) our passport stamps expire on the 8th and that c) the river out of Gigante is impassible after a storm, we d) pray that he is wrong.

600pm - We run out of gas while buying eggs at the pulperia.

605pm - Ian borrows a motorcycle to purchase two gallons of gas at the church up the road.

620pm - It begins to pour rain.

700pm - the power goes out.

Thursday July 8th

600am - it is still pouring.

700am - We decide that the river is impassable and sleep a little longer hoping that the rain will stop, the river will go down, and that we can leave by nine or ten.

830am - the rain stops, Felix the gardener arrives for the day, and tells us that in fact, the river is "not that bad."

930am - we lock the dogs in the bottom part of the casita, beg for them to not do anything stupid, then leave for Managua.  We cross the river with no problems.

1000am - we drive past the Guacalito pulperia, decide to turn around to purchase one more gallon of gas to ensure that we make it to Rivas.

1005am - Lady Grey starts making suspicious noises.

1010am - we decide that it is a possibility that the afore mentioned pulperia, put diesel in our gasoline engine.

1015am - the car is still making suspicious noises like a) she is running out of gas again or b) she is pissed off because she is ingesting diesel instead of gasoline.

1020am - we find some random house on the side of the road in Tola who will sell us another gallon of gasoline.

1025am - the car is still making suspicious noises but runs smoothly in fourth gear but we opt to stop at our mechanic's house, who is on our way out of town anyways.  Good thing ...

1030am - mechanic tells us that in fact, we DO have a little bit of diesel in our tank and that it IS in fact, bad.  He checks the spark plugs.  Two have been fried from the diesel.

1031am - Ian tells Melissa that she should always double check to make sure that the eleven year old kid who is putting liquid into your gas tank out of a recycled plastic Coca-Cola bottle is, for sure, putting gasoline, not diesel, into your engine.

1032am - Melissa gets pissed at Ian because she feels like he is blaming her for the diesel in the tank, even though she asked for gasoline and the eleven year old kid's mom, told him to put gasoline in our tank.

1033am - Ian apologizes to Melissa.

1035am - Mechanic replaces the plugs and tells us to put more gas in our tank and to let the diesel work its way out.

1100am - We arrive in Rivas, put forty dollars worth of gas in our tank, go to the ATM and call our Managua driver Robert Ow, whom we are meeting just outside of the city, to be escorted into the mouth of the beast, where we can ditch our car at the hostel we are staying at, then get driven around to do our errands.  We tell him we'll be in Managua by one.

1130am - we get pulled over by the national police.  All our documents are in order, we present our fire extinguisher and safety triangles and he lets us go without having to bribe him.  A small miracle.

1200pm - we go the wrong way in the Masaya region.

1230pm - we realize we have gone the wrong way.  This may have been Melissa's fault even though she chooses not to acknowledge this fact.  Ian is irritated with her but keeps his mouth shut this time.  They sit in silence for a half hour until both are over it.

100pm - we call our Managua driver and tell him that we have gone the wrong way and that we would be entering the city from the southwest.  He sounds disappointed but slightly humored by our mistake, and arranges for a new place to meet us.  He tells us we have gone WAY out of our way.

200pm - we meet Robert in front of a Shell station off the highway and he escorts into the city.  We see our first stoplights in three months.

230pm - a very drunk homeless man is taking a piss on the building next to our hostel.

231pm - we buzz the hostel's front door and the very drunk homeless man runs past us, through the hostel's front door.  We become very skeptical of our chosen location.

232pm - we find out that the very drunk homeless man is a guest at the hostel.

233pm - very drunk homeless man breaks beer bottle on floor of reception hall.

234pm - we become even more skeptical of our chosen location, but don't care enough to change it.  We see our room which is very, very small and smells like piss and cigs. We park our car in their gates and get into the more luxurious ride of Robert Ow's.  Robert tells us he is from the Corn Islands and we like his accent very much.

300pm - we arrive at Tecnosol.  They have one propane refrigerator.  It is exactly what we are looking for and it costs two thousand, one hundred and seventy six dollars.  We buy it because we don't really have a choice and are well aware that the only other solar store in Managua does not have what we are looking for.  We throw in a rechargeable fan for an extra fifty dollars and arrange to have the fridge delivered on Friday.  We are relieved that we even found this illusive appliance without any hassle.

330pm - we celebrate at McDonald's.  We crush multiple cheeseburgers and a boatload of fries.  Fountain Coke never tastes so good.

400pm - we arrive at PriceMart.  It blows our minds because, as we find out shortly after our arrival, it is, in fact, Costco.  We haven't seen anything like it since Hawaii and we are excited over things like organic cotton sheets, fancy knife sets, industrial shelving, ranch dressing, Grey Poupon, and above all Kraft American Singles.

500pm - we check out with a three hundred and fifty dollar bill.  We quickly realize that we need to leave the city or we will be headed back to Hawaii sooner than expected.

520pm - Robert shows us the correct way to exit the city and tells us how to get to La Colonial so we can buy  fancy groceries on the way out of town.  By fancy I mean, anything other than the menial items they sell at the only grocery store in Rivas.

525pm - We transfer our items from Robert's car to ours, thank him for his services and go inside the hostel to drink a beer.

530pm - We walk to Metro Centro which is only two blocks from our hostel and inquire about getting our passports stamped.  We realize they close in a half hour and decide to deal with it in the morning.  Because Metro Centro is a mall, we weave in and out of stores looking for typical, new house knick knacks.  We buy a dustpan with its own small sweeper, some tongs, a bunch of clips to close things like bags of flour or sugar, a shower curtain and rod, and a knife sharpener.

600pm - we indulge in the blended goodness of mocha frappes.

630pm - we buy tickets to the only movie they have in English because we are too tired to decipher an entire flick in Spanish.  The movie is Kick-Ass which we have already seen but don't care because it kicks ass.

815pm - we choose to have dinner at the fancy hotel next to Metro Centro because we feel like we deserve it and whats another fifty bucks after spending 2500?  We immediately order a half bottle of rum, a chicken caeser and a bowl of French onion soup followed by a steak with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables.  They continually bring us fresh ice and more cokes for our cocktails and do things like replace silverware in anticipation of the next course.  Melissa believes that they could use this type of help at Indigo.  Our total bill - forty two dollars including tip.

930pm - we debate whether or not to take a cab the two blocks to our hostel because we question the safety of the neighborhood.  Then we question the safety of a cab.  We choose to run the first block, then fast walk the rest of the way.  We make it unscathed and unrobbed.

945pm - we watch cable in English until we fall asleep.  Melissa notices a pubic hair stuck into the paint on the wall next to her head and a mysterious dried-up brownish splash accompanying it.

300am - Melissa screams, and I mean screams, out of a dead sleep.  She is having a bad dream.  A very bad dream indeed.  Ian holds her and tells her everything is going to be ok.  He turns the TV back on to purge the demons from the room and Melissa tells Ian she thinks someone has been murdered in this room and that it is for sure, haunted.

Friday July 9th

800am - we get the fuck out of the hostel that we will never come to ever again.

830am - McDonald's again.  Mmmm.  Egg Mc Muffins and hash browns with piping hot coffee.

840am - Melissa clogs McDonald's toilet and we leave immediately thereafter.

900am - arrive at Metro Centro again to check out the passport scene.  A line of people occupying plastic chairs has already begun to form, an hour before they open.  We join the line of plastic chairs.

945am - the scene becomes very intense as more people arrive and start crowding the front of the line, indifferent to the crowd who had already been waiting for an hour.

946am - we question the morals of people in third world countries and hate on their line tactics.  We decide that Melissa will stand near the front in case a mad rush occurs, and Ian will remain in the line of plastic chairs.

1000am - a lady from the office comes out with forms and a mad rush occurs.  The line remains somewhat intact and we are thankful to be very near the front.  A horrible woman and her teenage child who both manage to bud their way to the front, get accosted by the Spanish women around them.  They are shamed and hang their heads but do not leave.  The women in front of us actually tattle on them to the lady in charge.

1100am - we leave with passports stamped.  Ninety more days in Nicaragua if our bank account allows it.  We are ready to get the hell out of dodge.

1130am - Ian begins to drive out of the city.  On the way out we stop at the Galleria which is Managua's fancy mall.  At a Macy's equivalent, Melissa falls to her knees in love.  They have all her missing kitchen items.  French Press, salad spinner, 9x13 pan, loaf pan, 9x9 brownie pan with fresh-top, measuring spoons, measuring cups, bread knife, a cookie sheet and some other random items.  One-hundred dollars later - Melissa can bake again.

1200pm - We stop at La Colonial.  Again, mind-blowing.  They have ten different varietals of lettuce and produce we haven't seen since we left - i.e. asparagus.  We seriously stock up because we are not allowed to do anything or go anywhere until we leave in October.  Two-hundred and forty dollars worth of groceries gets charged to our Visa, because we can.

100pm - we are officially on our way out of Managua.  We pull off the side of the road in Masaya to buy two hammocks.

200pm - we arrive in Masatepe to find that all the artisans have collectively decided to raise their furniture prices.  Our set that was $350 two months ago, is now $650.  We cannot afford this and nothing will bring these ladies down.  We are very disappointed and curse their business tactics.

230pm - we stop at one more shotty-looking shop in a last ditch effort.  They sell us a couch and coffee table for $250 and we are pleased.  The couch gets strapped to the roof with twine and the table gets wedged into the already full car.

430pm - we arrive in Rivas to purchase one more propane tank for our oven.  The tank only fits at Melissa's feet and she is now pancaked to the front seat.

445pm - we are relieved that we are close to home.  We buy some beers and drink them on the very slow, very bumpy road home.

600pm - we arrive at La Vista and unload the car.  Seth and Lindsey come up from Iguana to help us.  They have tequila in them and are very anxious to help.  We love them very much for this.

700pm - we drive back to Gigante to drop off some Pricemart items for Swell and eat dinner before heading back up to Chanelle's.

800pm - We arrive back home to the dogs who are both surprisingly calm with no signs of defecation on the floor.

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

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.

Adventures in Nica Driving

Quite possibly the loudest clap of thunder I've ever heard, jolted the entire town of Gigante awake at around two o'clock in the morning on Tuesday.  Miraculously, the power stayed on all night as the storm moved through - it's strength paled in comparison to the initial racket the heavens produced.  We began our day around nine with a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs and homestyle potatoes, then headed to La Vista to meet Rich and Clint.  We all had a nice talk about the progress of the house and what can and can't be done to get it moving along a little bit quicker.  The real issue is the windows.  You can't speed up nature and the drying process takes time.  We've still got about two months before we can call it home.

Over the last couple of days, storm models have been predicting a massive swell for Nica's Pacific waters.  The wave hype inspired us to take a little drive down to Popoyo where a cool little restaurant called Magnific Rock offers a sweeping view of the coastline.  The previous night's rain made the drive somewhat treacherous as we forded a couple of small muddy rivers and climbed a steep hill to arrive at our destination.  The building and view were amazing but the beers weren't nearly as cold as we've been used to and our plate of Dedidos de Pollo was mediocre.  As we ate, storm clouds formed over the hills and the color washed out of the landscape.  Our Trooper needs a motor for the windshield wipers and the puddles we crossed to get to Magnific made us eager to get back on the road before the rain started up again.  We had a chance to snap some cool photos before leaving.  The sepia setting seemed appropriate for the remainder of the day.  On our drive back the car stalled out after we plowed through the last big puddle.  A kind, young local lady helped us push the truck as we attempted to pop the clutch.  After a few failed attempts, the car started up again.  We learned that it doesn't take much water to stall her out.  It should be an interesting wet season, indeed.  The four wheel drive also started acting up on the way back but we think it was just a bunch of mud or possibly a rock stuck somewhere it shouldn't have been because, a couple hours later she was fine.  Did I mention that the waitress at the restaurant tried to hustle us out of our change too?  All and all, we were glad when our mini adventure was over and spent the rest of the afternoon drinking beers at Swell with our friend James.  

  

Restaurant Magnific Rock

views from Magnific

 

more dogs

Sunny, Jason's daughter.

Gigante town

Un Sabado Perisoso

It's a lazy Saturday morning for me.  I've been catching up on emails and praying for some rain.  The sky is grey for the first time today and it seems like a possibility.  Ian left this morning on a biking adventure to La Vista.  Rich's brother is in town and they are meeting to brainstorm some ideas for a deli/convenient store at the entrance of the neighborhood.  The fruit truck just stopped by and I picked up a few more avocados for Ian's world famous guacamole and purchased the biggest papaya I have ever seen.  Juanita is doing some of our laundry on the cement washboard outside of Chanelle's house and she looks like a baker when she works, kneading the clothes like a ball of dough.

Yesterday, Chanelle let Jason, Ian and I borrow her truck to go into Rivas and take care of a few errands.  On our way into town, we got stopped at a checkpoint and received a good old-fashioned hassling.  First, he wanted all of our passports which of course, none of us had.  (We were also traveling with two German girls)  Jason calmly explained to the police that it's not safe to carry around our passports and that only Immigrations can legally ask for them.  He provided the officer with his CA driver's license as identification and convinced the officer that a DL should be sufficient.  Then, the officer asked for registration and insurance, which he produced, but one of the documents was expired.  When Jason explained that it wasn't his vehicle, and that it was our friend Chanelle's, he asked Jason to call Chanelle so he could talk to her.  As Jason was calling her, the officer hassled him even more for not having a mandatory fire extinguisher or hazard triangles in the vehicle.  A short talk with Chanelle and a ten dollar bribe had us on our way again.  Classic.  I guess ten dollars can buy almost anything down here.  

Except for a car.  The Isuzu we saw in Rivas was a piece of shit.  One look at it, and we knew immediately.  The truck bed was almost rusted off, the shocks were shot and one of the tires was completely bald.  Plus, it was an American car and it ran on gasoline.  $2500????  Loco.  We caught wind of another car for sale in Gigante that is owned by a well-to-do, local woman and has been maintained meticulously.  We got to drive it when we returned and she's a beaut - not beat to hell like most of the other vehicles in the area.  It's a Nica Toyota Landcruiser with tinted windows, a tight clutch, nice paint and a solid, solid motor.  We heard she was selling it for five grand but when we asked her, she told us eight.  We explained we had heard differently and that eight was well over our budget.  It's her husband's truck and apparently they have a new car being shipped over in a month.  She told us she didn't care how much they got rid of it for, and that she'd talk to her husband.  I know I'm nuts over Land Cruisers, but without any bias, this is a solid rig.  Ian and I both really want it and hope they'd be willing to let it go for a significant amount less.  Maybe it's a pipe dream, but everyone keep their fingers crossed.  She's exactly what we're looking for.      

I pause this blog entry to give you a brief weather update:  Yeah!!!!!  Live, from Nicaragua ... our first clap of thunder!  The dogs, Felix, Juanita and I are going crazy!!!!  How exciting!!!!  Rain is so desperately needed!  Hopefully, it's not just heat thunder.

We got a couple more essential items in Rivas yesterday.  We've been cooking with salt and red wine vinegar for the last ten days and were stoked to get inside information on some American-aimed grocery stores.  We were able to pick up some very expensive olive oil and balsamic vinagrette, a few spices and some Kraft macaroni and cheese which we scarfed up for dinner last night.  Ian got super ambitious and made some homemade jalapeño poppers which came out really well for his first attempt.  Unfortunately, he learned the hard way about rubbing your face after cutting up spicy peppers.  He had even more trouble this morning after he replaced his contacts and spent breakfast with burning eyeballs.  My poor babe.  He's also been taking the brunt of mosquito feasts.  They seem to love his tall, white blood.  Apparently, he went into an itch fit in the middle of the night last night.  Our Benadryl and Hydrocortizone cream are going quickly.  

On the surf front, Amarillo, Amarillo, Amarillo.  My new PP.  I love Amarillo.  It's low stress and playful.  My favorite kind of surfing.  The waves have been really fun at high tide over the last couple of days.  The local boys put on quite a show out there.  They can get multiple turns, all fins out, and mini barrels on knee-high waves.  Super, super impressive.  The water has been ultra clear and huge schools of fish swim through the lineup while giant fish make random appearances on the sandy bottom.  The jellyfish were out two days ago and we all of received multiple stings but it didn't hurt that bad at all.  Certainly not bad enough to get any of us out of the water.  I'm happy to have this spot and did a real live little floater yesterday.  Woohoo!  I rip.  My stoke is back.

Anyways, it's Ian's turn to throw rocks at the cows tonight, it's my turn to wash the dogs this afternoon, and it's my turn to set up our makeshift entertainment center for pre-bed movie time.  Rum and cokes for sunset on the porch and chicken stirfry for dinner tonight.  Life is good.  An Ian update coming soon ...