Jennie Starr in Nicaragua

An 8 hour tour to visit the Embera Indian village

2010-08-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

Arriving at the Embera village. The band started up!

Delicious fruit for lunch!

The men played music while the women danced.

It started to pour, but that didn't bother the soccer players!

The women and girls did a variety of dances.

Our boat navigator was amazing at avoiding rocks etc.

Of course Jennie got up first to join in the dance!

Great friends!

These bugs get really noisy in the evening.

A lizard on the trail.

Our dugout canoe.

The Embera village that we visited.

We hiked into some falls and had a wonderful swim!

This terantula was walking across the road and our driver stopped so we could take pictures. I was soooo scared so my picture is blurry!

They had their handiwork for sale. We bought a basket and a few bracelets.

The woman on the left was proud to know a few words in French.

This is tree bark that they soften and use for bedding.

Picture posing after the dancing.

Back into the boat!

Historic Panama

2010-08-18T16:45:00.001-07:00

The Kuna people are one of the indigenous people here. The women dress in very bright clothes and wear beads on their legs and arms. They don't like having their picture taken. After I bought some of their work, this woman said that I could take her picture.

This was our English speaking tour guide of the old city. His grandmother had taught him to read at an early age and he has taught himself all that he knows about the city through his reading. Very nice young man.

One of the beautiful old buildings that will be renovated into a nice hotel in the future. There were little squares like this one throughout the old city.

Walking through the old city. A mix of run down and renovated places.

The white building to the right is the presidential palace. We had to go through security to get onto this street.

The Pacific Ocean. Sitting on a wall in the old city.

The Kuna people's handiwork.

We climbed an ancient cathedral tower. I took this picture through a tower window. I liked the mix of old and new architecture.

One of the handicrafts here is basket weaving. This lady does beautiful work. She showed us the technique.

This is Jessy. We bought some handicraft bags from her and she gave me a necklace as a gift.

First Day in Panama

2010-08-18T16:27:00.000-07:00

This is the Panama Canal. We had fun watching large ships go though this set of locks. There was also a museum and film that told about the building of the canal. The canal is 80 km long and unites the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

This view is towards the Pacific Ocean.

Mary and Mark, our Canadian friends who moved here 2 1/2 years ago, took us up to a great view point that overlooked Panama City and the Canal. Mary's husband Dave was at work, so couldn't join us.

Enjoying lunch with Mary and Mark, at their place.

The white building on the right is the building where we are staying. We were up on the roof enjoying the view. Unfortunately the infinity pool on the roof is being repaired.

Looking down on the historic district of Panama City.

Panama City.

Manuel Antonio National Park

2010-08-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most popular national parks in Costa Rica. The little town at the entrance gate has some funky hotels and the market is cool.

Inside the park is some beautiful flora and fauna, but unless you are a naturalist, you need a guide to be able to see most of what is there.

Our guide, Danny Garcia, was so enthusiastic, he quickly drew us into his love for the park and all its natural delights. He pointed out things that we never would have seen, showed them close up in his telescope, and even got great shots with our cameras through the scope, like the one below of the sloth.

A curious little white-faced monkey stole someone's sunscreen, but when it didn't taste good he dropped it.

Danny's tour ended at a really nice beach, where we floated in the waves and dreamed that we lived here.

Jaco Beach - Tarcoles - Orotina

2010-08-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Jaco Beach is a surfing town. This day had small waves but it was still fun to watch. Mike is relaxing in our comfy condo. It´s quite luxurious!
So today was our crocodile river outing with Jose´s company. We got a private tour! Lucky us! It was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. The crocs were up to 18 feet and sooo close to us!!!
The mangrove forest was incredible. There were so many nature sounds and it was so beautiful.
At time´s, Jose´s assistant was almost knee deep in mud as he fed raw chicken to the various crocodiles. There is no way he could have outrun
them.

We also saw many unusual birds.

After our tour, we went back to Jose´s house and picked up his Canadian wife, Caroline. Her parent´s own the condo that we are renting.
While we waited for her to get ready, Mike and I walked the 3 minute walk to the ocean, from their house. There were 3 young boys riding bareback.
The beach was almost deserted and went on forever. It was very peaceful.
We drove with Caroline and Jose to a neighbouring city and stopped along the way so that I could buy a large colourful scarf/wall-hanging. While Jose got his haircut in Orotina, Caroline showed us around the market, shops and city park. I bought some unusual fruit that the vendor let me sample.
We had them drop us off at the bus station and we rode back in a very muggy bus. We were sooo ready for a swim in our pool, and some of the guys in our condo building had just BBQed sausages and offered some to us. Great way to end a perfect day!

Day 11&12 Off to Ometepe island

2010-08-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

We took a bus and taxi to get to the ferry over to the island of Ometepe. Once on the island, we found an internet store and then a delicious breakfast!!! They put together an incredible plate of tropical fruit and the coffee was delicious! Mike was happy to find cereal and milk!

I am loving the tropical flowers! Once we found out where we were heading, we took 2 local buses (about 2 hours in total) and arrived at the farm (finca) that we had reservations at. The picture of the swimmers( Jennie talking to 2 Americans) is a 10 minute walk from the farm. We are in Lake Nicaragua. This is the only freshwater lake with sharks in it. We didn´t see any sharks!!!

We walked up the path at the farm, which led us into the forest. We had no idea what to expect. So we were overwhelmed with the beautiful lodging that we got. The view of the volcano was breathtaking and the decor was so artistic! Christiano(Italian) and Sheri(Canadian) were incredible hosts. We chose to eat dinner and breakfast with them, and all of the delicious food was grown on their farm. The other couple eating dinner with us were newly weds from Victoria, Canada.
We only had time to stay for 1 night. We will definitely return to Ometepe. We loved it!!!

This rock has ancient petroglyphs carved in it. There are rocks with carvings like this all over the island.

Days 7-10

2010-08-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday was our day to spend with our friend Reyna. We met her late morning at the market. She arrived with her 20 year old nephew, Mauricio. The 2 of them took us for a great market tour and of course Jennie took tons of pictures! Mike got a few new shirts and Reyna did her grocery shopping for dinner. Then we dropped of all the groceries at our place and took them out for lunch and for a swim. The pool at Granada Hotel was incredible and so clean. Afterwards we went back to Reyna's place. There is a new evangelical church right across the street from her house. Reyna joined us there for part of the service and then slipped out to get dinner ready. What a feast she cooked up! Lots of her extended family joined us, which was nice. I have given lots of them the donated clothes that we brought and they are so greatful!
On Monday, at 5am, we departed for the bus station, and boarded a local bus with Reyna and her 2 teenage boys. We treated them to their first ever holiday. We went to the ocean town San Juan del Sur and stayed in a nice hotel with a pool. They loved everything about the trip: fancy rooms, hot water, bathtubs, pool, swimming in the ocean, visiting a turtle reserve... Great fun and good Spanish immersion for us!

Day 6 Granada

2010-07-31T14:53:00.000-07:00

So we finished our 3 days of private classes and both feel that we learned alot. Jennie`s teacher told her that she is now at a good intermediate level, which is a great improvement from her beginner level 3 years ago. She was able to have some great discussions with her teacher, in Spanish, this time.
This furniture moving was happenening right in front of our rented place in Granada. Love the means of transportation!!!

These dancers were in the central park in Granada.

The language school had a party. These kids were showing off their breakdancing and dancing skills. We also had delicious homemade tacos!!! The funny masked people are part of a cultural comedy act. Very entertaining!!!

Jennie went for some pampering at a spa in Granada that cost WAY less than at home!

Carita Feliz is a place where kids can hang out when they are not in school. It keeps them off the streets and out of trouble. Jennie volunteered here on her last trip. This time we stopped by to donate hairdressing supplies for the hairdressing program.

This is the former hairdressing teacher from Carita Feliz. Luz now runs her own beauty salon out of her house and is going to mentor our Nicaraguan friend, Reyna, who we are sponsering, as she trains to set up her own beauty salon.

We gave some of the donated hairdressing supplies to Luz and she was very greatful for everything.

Day 4 Granada

2010-07-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

This morning, we both had 3 hours of Spanish class - mucho por la cabesa!
Afterwards, we went to the market and the supermarket to buy food for supper (we invited Reyna and her boys and Jennie´s Spanish teacher and his wife. This will be a good experiment in cooking in our little kitchen.
We then visited Carita Feliz, where Jennie volunteered 3 years ago. It is an organization, started by a Danish man, that works with poor people, teaching them skills they need to succeed in school or to make a living. It has made amazing progress in the 3 years and now offers its courses in bright, clean and spacious halls. We´ll be bringing lots of hairdressing supplies there tomorrow (donated by friends in Langley and White Rock) to help the hairdressing instructor teach young girls how to do that job.
We have to borrow a card reader to post pictures, so we won´t be posting them every day. You´ll have to wait until the next time!

Day 3 Granada

2010-07-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hola Amigos!

It´s our third day in Nicaragua. We have reconnected with our friend Reyna and her extended family through shared meals and much talking, showing pictures, gift-giving, etc. Reyna´s kids and her nephews and nieces who we visited three years ago are growing up. The niece who is Gabrielle´s age is now married! (Don´t get any ideas, Gabrielle!) One of Reyna´s sons has graduated from primary school and is learning the trade of carpentry.

We had dinner with a nice couple who Jennie connected with a year ago via e-mail. They rebuilt a nice colonial house with a beautiful courtyard. They have started a bamboo house business - the ultimate in environmentally-friendly building materials. We toured the factory that has begun turning out kits for low-cost housing in Haiti and other places where earthquakes can be a problem.

We met three young people, from France and Spain, who are volunteering in Costa Rica for a year. We visited Granada´s market and some artisan shops. We started Spanish lessons at Casa Xalteva.

Mucho occupado!

Here are some photos to give you an idea of our surroundings.

Some street scenes in Granada.

Here´s the house we´re renting for 2 weeks.

We "had to" get a membership at a pool for the week. It´s so hot here. It really helps to cool off in the pool.

Reyna, Manuel de Jesus, and Juan-Ramon. Jesser models the clothes we brought him.

Mercedes served up a feast in her backyard at lunchtime today. Here daughter and daughter-in-law smiled a lot. Her middle son modeled his new jacket and the newly-weds posed for their first pi cture as a couple.

The bamboo house factory. The founder is at the bottom.

We've arrived in Granada, Nicaragua!!!

2010-07-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

David kindly drove us to the airport last night. Jennie´s backpack didn´t make it through security without being totally emptied. I´d forgotten to remove my school scissors from an outside pocket and also 2 fort Langley hooks made in the blacksmiths shop! OOps! Quite embarassing. We left on time at 11:15pm and arrived in Houston at the wee hours this morning. So my ears didn´t explode with the flying, but they were uncomfortable, so I didn´t sleep a wink on either flight. I drank a ton, chewed lots of gum and put hot, wet compresses over my ears during descent. Wow, did the humidity ever hit us when we arrived! A nice Dutch man was there with a sign and drove us to our cute 2 storey place. I´ll post pictures tomorrow. We unpacked a bit but were literally dripping with sweat, so we came here to the outdoor pool and got a one week membership. The water is wonderfully refreshing. At 5pm we´ll leave to get a taxi to Rena´s house. Then at 7:30pm we´re meeting a new couple that moved here from the States and built a beautiful colonial home. Full day! I imagine we´ll crash after that! ps We have air conditioning!!!

Heading back to Nicaragua on July 25th, 2010

2010-07-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Leaving in less than a week. Exciting! We're looking forward to reconnecting with Nicaraguan friends that we made last time we were there. Time to start packing!

I'm back in Langley

2007-08-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well it's good to be home with my family, but I already have plans to return to Nicaragua in 4 years with my daughter. Next time, we'll also visit some other Central American countries.
I met so many wonderful people in Nicaragua, loved learning about the culture, learned quite a bit of Spanish and I've been asked to be godmother to a baby that will be born in 3 weeks in Granada. What an honour! So thanks for your interest in my adventures and let me know if I can follow your adventures.

My husband, Mike, joins me for 6 days

2007-08-06T08:15:00.001-07:00

Mike arrived last Thursday morning and I`ve hardly let him rest since!!! From the airoport, we went directly to Mombachu Volcano
to join students from my language school for an afternoon hike around the top of the volcano. Fortunately it was a clear day and the view was incredible. It helped Mike to get oriented. He kept up pretty well considering that he had only slept 2 hours on the plane the night before!After our hike we went to Granada and took his bags to my place and rested a bit before dinner. It was nice and breezy on the volcano but the heat in the city was a bit of a shock for him! After dinner we walked around town a bit, bought some cakes for a farewell party at our favourite nightclub and at 9:30pm we met everyone at Cafe Nuit for great dancing and visiting!Friday, Mike came to my last class at Casa Xalteva and he learned quite a bit of Spanish! At the break we bought some snacks to eat with my teacher Fernando, who has been great! Mike is impressed with what I`ve learned.

It was sad to say goodbye. It was like a family there. After lunch, we walked to Calita Feliz where I have been volunteering. Mike brought some hairdressing books and material generously donated by my hairdresser Karen and we took them to the woman that teaches hairdressing to young girls. She was soooo happy to get the material!!!Mike also taught the English lesson, which was fun! Then we went for a refreshing swim at the pool! After our swim we took a bag of clothes to Rena and her extended family. They really appreciated the gifts!

Saturday morning, we got on a local bus( quite a hot experience) and a shared taxi to get to the city of San Juan del Sur. We stayed in a lovely Inn and took a shuttle to the surfing beach for the whole afternoon! Beautiful beach andit was fun to watch surfing! For dinner we went to a beachfront seafood restaurant. My soup had every kind of seafood! Delicious! Coming back to Granada wehad a full afternoon and evening visiting friends for lunch and dinner. Incredible hospitality!!! They have nothing and yet both family went out of their way to feed us wonderful Nicaraguan food and entertain us with their daughters dancing and teaching us to dance. One of the two girls dancing is Gabrielle`s age and is going to write to her.The picture of us sitting outside a house is at Rena`s house. She had the table all set for us and when I went in her room there was water all over the floor. I asked her about it and found out that her roof was leaking in 2 of the 3 rooms. Her bed was soaked and there were pots everywhere to catch water. Today, Mike is out shopping with her uncle to buy the material to replace part of the roof. He went with his dictionary since neither of them speeks the others language.

These people have so little ! The place where we had lunch, her husband had malaria and his whole body was covered in a terrible rash but they had no money to buy the medication needed. We found out that $20 would help him alot so that was nice to be able to help.

Living in paradise for 4 days

2007-07-31T17:20:00.000-07:00

These are some of my pictures from Little Corn Island in the Atlantic Ocean, off the east coast of Nicaragua. I went with 3 girls from my language school in Granada and we all LOVED the island!
When we checked in in Managua, we were given a boarding pass that was a real board! What a joke ! So, we took a photo! We flew to Big Corn Island and then went 8 miles on a motor boat in the open ocean to Little Corn Island. What a paradise! No cars! One main sidewalk and then paths that led to various places. The whole island is 3km square. The locals speak Spanish and Creole, which is sort of like
English.We were met by a woman from Casa Iguana and a guy with a wheelbarrel for our bags. We walked on a path through the jungle to the other side of the island, where there was a lovely breeze and an incredible view. Wow! We loved our accommodation. We had our own quaint cabin and then there was a central lodge to hang out in during rain storms or where we could eat breakfast and dinner. At dinner we all ate together(30 in all on the first night) and we were from all around the world!

My 3 companions wanted to sleep on the beach when we arrived so I went exploring by myself! At the far end of the beach, a native islander, Frank; came out of the forest and in creole, asked me if I wanted to have a coconut. I said that I didn`t have money on me but that didn`t bother him. I finally said sure and thus began our ¨walkabout¨, which was a 2 1/2 hour walk around the island. I got my coconut and drank its juice, ate mangoes and guavas, swam in the oceon, walked through the jungle, climbed a high tower(very scary!) to have a great view of the whole island and was shown town from one end to the other. Then Mr. Frank walked me home and was rewarded with a $10 bill that he had suggested numerous times would be an appropriate reward for a nice island visit. I agreed so I didn`t even bargain(which I do love to do!) Our time on the island was so relaxing! Snorkeling(beautiful colourful fish and coral!), reading, playing games and doing puzzles, visiting, swimming, dancing, eating, taking pictures and lots of walking. It was hard to say goodbye to the island on Monday and one of the girls in our group actually opted to stay behind for a few extra days.

Now I`m back in Granada and back to private Spanish classes since John moved on to Costa Rica.
Mike arrives on Thursday and I`m going to keep him sooooo busy for his 5 days here! No surprise for those of you that know me! The lady in orange is Mike`s cousin Jennica`s mother in law, who is Nicaraguan and lives in Portland, Oregon, but happened to be in Nicaragua while I am here. It was great to see her in Granada and Masaya!!! Well, I`m off! Bye!

Flying to the Atlantic Coast and tropical Little Corn Island

2007-07-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

I`m off on another adventure at 4am tomorrow morning. We`ll take a taxi to Granada and then a 17 seater plane to Big Corn Island followed by a boat to Little Corn Island. I´m traveling with three beautiful 19 year old girls,one is Canadian, one Brasilian and One British. They will attract alot of attention for sure!!!!Check out where we are staying at casaiguana@mindspring.com. We`ll return to Granada and Mike joins me on Thursday morning. Spanish class continues to go very well. My classmate of this week moves on to Costa Rica next week. We celerated our last day together in class today with cerveza and 3 different pastries.Our little Fiesta!I`m off to a neighbouring city(Masaya)tonight to watch traditional Nicaraguan dances.Bye! love Jennie

Touring Leon and home to Granada

2007-07-23T20:21:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos from Leon. The man on the left was our Nicaraguan tour guide and for $5 , he gave 3 of us an amazing 2 hour walking tour of his city, telling us in fairly good English the history of Nicaragua and how it directly affected his life and the direction that his life has taken. He was the son of a sugar cane farmer and never had the opportunity to go to school because he had to work with his father. At age 13 1/2, he was walking home from playing baseball and Somosa soldiers grabbed him and accused him of being a socialist and supporting Sandinista. He was put in jail and tortured for 8 months as they tried to get him to talk, and only allowed to escape when the Red Cross learned about him. He then joined the revolution. Only now at age 40 something is he starting his education. Reagan and the Somosa governments did terrible things to the Nicaraguan people!

While in Leon, I also visited many churches with incredible architecture! For some reason I was unable to sleep in past 6am, so I`d slip out by myself and visit the city while it was slowly waking up. One morning I went to the market and had fun buying fruit for a fruit salad to feed 6 of us, bread, juice and jam. I didn`t know all of the necessary words to communicate my thoughts so they laughed with me as I danced around to make myself understood! This little girl was sleeping near the doorway to our hostel and was so cute! I asked her mom if I could take her picture and then gave mom a little money to help them out.

On Saturday afternoon we went to the beach that you see and played in the waves and collected shells. There were a few surfers and not many tourists for such an incredible place. A few kids came by and sold us necklaces made of shells for a few dollars. We had seafood dinner at a beachside restaurant and had a crazy driving taxi ride home!!!! Today is Tuesday and I`m back in Granada. I have a new student, John from London England, in my class. We have alot of fun and are at the same level, which is very nice! This afternoon we are off on a field trip to Masaya, a city with a huge market and a volcano that we will tour by night! Should be fun! Lunch is ready, so I`m off! Bye! love Jennie

Last minute decision to go to Leon for the weekend

2007-07-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

At 1:15pm I decided to join 5 friends from my language school and go at 2pm on a weekend trip to the city of Leon, a university city about 3 hours by bus from Granada, heading north west.We are 40 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean where we will head for a swim and seafood tomorrow night after touring the beautiful churches and museums during the day. Yesterday , after 4 hours of language school, I went to the 5th largest volcano in Nicaragua and hiked for 2 1/2 hours with my own private tour guide who was incredibly knowledgable about plants, flowers, wildlife and history and all in quite good English! In the evening, we had another great dancing evening!I love latin music and dancing! It is beautiful to watch and really fun to try to dance! They also have lots of Spanish songs that everybody in the nightclub sings along with! When I went to Calita Feliz this week to volunteer, I took some bags of hairclips, that were donated, to a hairdressing class for girs. The clipe and elastics were really appreciated and I ended up staying with the group for an hour. They demonstrated a French braiding type of hairdo and then had me try it on one of the girls. We conversed in Spanish the whole time which was quite exciting. They asked if I could help them get hairdressing books with pictures that the girls could see a variety of hairstyles in. Mike can bring them here if you have any. Well I`m off to bed, so bye for now! Jennie

Pictures from San Juan del Sur, Rena´s home in Granada and city of Katarina

2007-07-17T18:16:00.001-07:00

I last wrote on Friday, from San Juan. I have included a photo from the wonderful pool and the kitchen from our fancy villa. The next morning, after an incredible breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and then took a taxi to Coco beach(1 hour away). Unfortunately the road was so washed out that the taxi had to stop 1 1/2 km from the beach and we had to walk the rest of the way. It was very hot and humid and we were dripping by the time we got to the beach. I swam in the ocean in my clothes since I had left my backpack at the hotel(woops!) The sand was wonderful and the waves pushed us around! We relaxed and explored until we got poured on. We arrived back at our taxis pretty wet! Yes, the taxis just hung around and waited. Forrest and I took a taxi back to Granada that night($20 each for a 2 hour taxi drive). The next morning Rena, our house help came. She and I went to market where I bought flowers and a vase for her mother(she chose fake flowers because she could keep the souvenir forever) I also bought chips, rum and coke to take as gifts. Rena had invited me to her home(very simple) for the afternoon. Back at our house, she gave me a cooking lesson(all in Spanish because she doesn´t speak a word of English). After lunch, we taxied to her house. She had invited all of her family to meet Sarah and I but unfortunately neither Sarah nor I knew that Sarah had been invited and Sarah was still in San Juan. There was a beautiful cake and so much wonderful hospitality! My facebook has many pictures from Rena´s home and family. On Monday I went back to volunteer teaching English to kids at Calita Feliz but the kids were too hot to focus on English. Somehow we got into French and I held their attention and the group grew bigger for the next 1 1/2 hours. They wanted to know how to meet friends (particularly the opposite sex!).
Today is Tuesday. My lessons are going well(still private classes!).I´m learning how to use the past tense. This afternoon we went to a village called Katerina that is known for pottery. We went to one workshop for a demo and then tried the wheel ourselves.Fun! My pot was a disaster. Then I bought a ton of pottery! The shops around town were very colourful! Bye for now! love Jennie

On the Atlantic coast at San Juan Del Sur

2007-07-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

We left Granada at 3pm and traveled by 2 local buses(3 hours) to this lovely laid back seaside town. This area is surfers paradise! We will explore the beaches tomorrow! I will try to photograph others with surfing talent. Six of us decided to splurge and we are staying at this incredible resort villa for $40 each. It has 3 pools, an incredible view and our villa is to die for with a kitchen that I want to take home!!! Two girls decided to stay at a hostel and we went to meet them while we waited for our pizza to be delivered. While we were gone, the electricity went out, as usual, but thankfully there were candles everywhere.so we found our way around. I was the only one who opted for a candlelight swim in the pool(their loss!) and the kind pool boy escorted me back to my faraway villa when my candle was extinguished by the rain. The swim was soooo nice! We had a lovely evening discussing politics,religion and education and then walked the 2 girls back to town. I got great sunset pictures that I will post soon. Tomorrow lets hope we have good beach weather. Apparently we have a free breakfast and we'll try out the pools before we check out at 12pm
Bye for now!
Jennie

Spanish classes begin

2007-07-10T12:57:00.001-07:00

I had almost finished a nice long entry and just lost it, so this will be a shorter version. I just finished day 2 of my classes and I have a wonderful instructor named Fernando. We have covered so much in 2 days and since I appear to be the only one at my level, I have a private class! Lucky me! Today we learned the simple future and past tense so maybe I can start to put together sentences that make more sense. I still find, however, that even with broken Spanish I have been able to have quite good discussions with some of the women and also with my instructor. School is from 8am til 12am, with a short break in the middle. By the end, I am pretty brain dead. In the afternoon, the school organizes outings. Yesterday we went on a boat ride around the islettas(islands). Many of the wealthy locals have built fancy homes on these little islands, sometimes one home per island. There was one teeny island that had 3 friendly monkeys that the guides fed and the monkeys put on quite a show for us.We picked up some delicious pizza for dinner and then went for another relaxing swim at the pool. We even felt cool when we got out of the pool, which happens very rarely! Today we opted out of the outing so that we can go to volunteer at a centre that provides free activities for kids in a poor part of town.
I am feeling pretty exhausted today. We have hardly stopped since we got here and I have yet to have a good sleep. I think I´ll try to have a low-key evening!
A group of students are planning a trip to the ocean for the weekend and I want to go for Friday night and all day Saturday. Its a 4 hour local bus trip one way to a place called San Juan del Sur. On Sunday I plan to attend the Spanish Baptist Church and then go back to the home of one of our maids for an afternoon visit(solomente en español). This maid, Rena, visited us yesterday and during our conversation, told me that she couldn´t read because she couldn´t see well. I was so happy that I had brought an extra pair of reading glasses that I was able to give her. I wish that you could have seen her face when she could see clearly.
Life is good here! Thanks for all of your wonderful messages! I hope that you are also having a great summer! I am constantly reminded here that what is important in life is not what we own, but what we have in our heart. These people have big hearts!
love Jennie

adventuring out of GRANADA

2007-07-08T19:36:00.001-07:00

Today we went to the cathedral for church. It was a special service for catechism and the bishop was there along with over 1000 people. Its always amazing how you don´t need the language to be able to follow in the catholic service. The singing was wonderful! Then we drove 1/2 hour, squished in a little car(7 of us!) to a lake that is in a volcano crater. Just after we arrived we watched a huge storm move in! Wow it came fast and hard! We decided to go swimming in the pouring rain(lovely warm water!) which was fun until thunder and lightening started and we swam to shore so fast!!!!!!! On our way home we stopped to visit the home of the other weekend househelp( Rena) so that I could give her 2 beautiful blankets that were handmade with love and sent with me to give away. Rena´s sister has a 2 year old and is 7 months pregnant. 3 families live in a 3 tiny bedroom house with dirt floors, cardboard walls inside and plywood walls outside, and a tin roof and yet you couldn´t meet friendlier people. I also gave the kids and father clothes. They were robbed recently and all of their clothes were taken. Thankyou again for the generous donations and let me extend the thanks that you are getting from grateful hearts here! The Nicaraguans are beautiful people!!!!!

Sabado in Granada

2007-07-07T17:21:00.001-07:00

More relaxing day today. What a joy it was to give away some of your donations to our cleaning lady and her 2 grandchildren! The children`s mother was murdered when the kids were babies and they have been raised by grandma, the sole money earner in her family, which means that they live on $100 a month.They were so excited to get clothes, a nerf football, barbies, a notebook, a paint set and stickers. They kids are helping to teach us Spanish.We also went to market with my host mother(that`s her with me). We held on tight to our belongings. Very exciting! While we were walking to the pool, we got poured on!!!! We didn`t care because it had been so hot and humid that sweat was pouring off my face! We had fresh squeezed lemonade at the pool(my new favourite drink) and a refreshing swim!

Home in Granada, Nicaragua

2007-07-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

Let me introduce you to my city for the next 5 weeks. It is wonderful! The trip here was very smooth, with a stopover in Houston. We arrived around 8pm and were met by someone at the language school ,who drove 3 of us to the city of Granada(1 hour by car). Sarah(from Langley) and I live with a wonderful single mom and her 25 year old son, Juan. Our host mom doesn´t speak a word of English, which is great for us! Forest, the other student who arrived with usand is from Texas, lives around the corner and has joined us when we go exploring or dancing. Last night, after putting our bags in our rooms, we went out for cold drinks, walked around town to get oriented and then went dancing. I had fun learningto dance the Salsa and Merengue(fast, twirly and very fun!)

We didn´´t sleep too well because we aren´t used to the heat and humidity, but the bed was comfortable and I´ll do better tonight.

I woke up at 8 and was told to quickly take a shower before the water stopped running for the day. We had a delicious breakfast of fresh bread and guava jam, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, fried potatoes and fresh orange juice. Our house has an open concept , as you can see in the pictures. Everything is open to the inner courtyard, where there are Guava and lime trees,plants ang 8 pet guinee pigs that wander around . Our rooms and the bathroom have 4 walls, but not the livingroom , diningroom and kitchen.

After breakfast, Forest joined Sarah, Juan and I for a grand walking tour of the city!!!! Juan has training as a tour guide so we are truly spoiled. We try to speak as much Spanish as possible with each other. All of us are here for 5 weeks and we all want to do volunteer work in the afternoons. We walked down to the lake, which is immense! you ca´t see the other side and there are sharks in it!

On our way home, we stopped by Calita Feliz, a place that offers free programs and food to poor village and city kids. WOW!!! We were so impressed and they asked when we could start! They really were excited to hear about all of the supplies that I had brought! We will head back tomorrow and on Monday we´re going to help to teach an English class. They want us to make it fun , so we plan to lead songs with a guitar and play various language games. After leaving Calita Feliz, Juan showed us a hotel with a nice big outdoor opool and we´re going to get a 1 month membership. Yeah!!! It really is hot. It finally started to pour half an hour ago and this has helped a bit. Tonight we´re meeting up with lots of Juans friends to go dancing.

So, as you can see, everything is going beautifully!!! Yo hablo mucho, mucho español y la vida es bonita! I can´t wait until Monday when my Spanish lessons start. That will help soooooo much!

Hasta luego!

Jennie

Heading to the airport

2007-07-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

Today was a big packing day. I covered our living room surfaces with all of your donations, and laid out five big duffle bags that could each take 50 pounds. I am happy to say that everything fit! Now the challenge is to carry these bags to their destination. You may wonder why I have five bags. Two are mine, two are Mike's (he'll be joining me at the end of week four), and one is for Sarah, a student in International Studies, who is going to attend the same language school.
So we're off to the airport now to spend the night at a hotel there and take off at 7:45 tomorrow morning. I'm so excited!!! I'll talk to you next from Nicaragua! I hope they have more internet cafes than Langley!
Love Jennie

Starting to pack with 7 days to go

2007-06-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who donated clothes, sports equipment, toys, school supplies, shoes and even 2 handmade baby blankets, to take to kids in the orphanages and local schools. I am also doing some last minute Spanish "cramming" to try to have at least a few words to say to my host family. I won't be very talkative for a while!!! School ends tomorrow, so then I can really focus on getting ready ( along with hosting David's 18th birthday celebration and celebrating Canada Day!). Adios!! Next entry will be from the public library, when I'll try to download pictures from my digital camera. The technological learning curve for this trip is BIG!

Jennie

Twelve days to go!

2007-06-23T20:15:00.001-07:00

I leave for Nicaragua in just a few weeks and I'm getting excited! Today I start taking Malaria pills. Yesterday, my school newsletter had an article about my trip, with donation opportunities of school supplies, sports equipment, clothes, and shoes. I plan to pack little for myself, so that I can take many items to donate to charities in Granada.