of canyons and granada and a long three days

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Exhausted.

Monday went to the Cañon de Somoto with Lenin and the youngest cousin. That was a long day, though definitely an adventure! We went to the top part of the cañon.... or the upper part of the river. Got out of the cab, hiked for a while, came to a fork in the path, chose one at random, and came upon a house. Ended up talking with the old man about the canyon and how many gringos pass by. They offered us food! Fresh tortillas, BLACK beans, and hardboiled eggs. It was awesome. And then he said he would guide us down to the canyon. So we had a guide.

Not gonna lie, though, I was frustrated for a good part of the morning. The guide and the boys just wanted to hurry the hell up. Whereas I wanted to swim and relax and not fucking run through just watching where I was stepping from rock to rock and not enjoying it. Andaba enojada. But por fin we arrived at the ¨good¨swimming place... and as I took my shorts out of my bag to change into to swim, they slid down the rock and into the water. I attempted to reach them, and promptly slid down the rock into the water after my shorts... so I changed in the river and threw my clothes up on the rock to dry out. The water definitely helped my mood! Turns out Lenin cannot swim well, and neither can my little brother. I just about drowned Lenin because the idiot didn´t hold his breath when I pulled him in the water.

Yes, judgy wudgy was a bear.

So after a long time swimming, we got out and ate the oranges and peanuts I´d brought. I had to put another hole in my belt as it was wet and stretched (PS I have now lost 65 pounds. Exactly 10 pounds every month, so 6.5 months. Without even trying.) Got dressed in my semi wet clothes and prepared to hike up and out. But we reached a point where we had to basically rock climb ... or get in and swim again. So I opted for the wall... meanwhile the boys were making a rock crossing for the river... I had my Tivas on and didn´t have the problem of walking through the shallows as we crossed over and over. Anyway, as I was climbing the wall, one foot went in the water, and hit the slick as shit algea, and I promptly fell in...

Fully clothed, again. But this time with my camera. Whoops. Now my camera is broken. The memory card seems fine, though. Not sure what am gonna do about that. Haven´t had time to think about it.

After we finally got out and back to the highway... I was dusty, wet, sunburned, and had two huge blisters with gravel and cow shit and mud packed into them. They are currently infected and hurt like hell.

HOWEVER. All in all it was a great day. The canyon is literally on the border of Honduras, up by the border town of El Espino where Lenin works for the aduana. My cell phone was on Honduran signal. The south entrance to the Cañon is much more tourist friendly with guides and maps and intertubes and boys who will follow you in a boat with your stuff so that, for instance, your camera isn´t on you when you fall in.

So that was all day Monday. Got back late. Washed my clothes by hand and took a bucket bath in the waning light. Went to talk to my counterpart about the rest of this week. And finally ate dinner and Lenin and I retired to my room where we promptly passed out.... and the alarm went off at 5.15am. We each had to catch the 6.30 bus, him to work at El Espino for the next 24 hours and me to go to Granada with my counterpart for a AgBiz Workshop.

Thus, I have spent the last two and a half days in Granada, a city full of gringos and ridiculous drink deals. The workshop itself was mildly interesting... depending on who was speaking and what topic was being discussed... but for me, it was cooler to catch up with my fellow volunteers, to meet new Small Biz volunteers, and to see a new city in Nicaragua. We had a house party last night at some TEFL Volunteers´house.... which was swanker than most American houses. I mean, wow.

Today was a long day. First only got 4 hours of sleep last night as we got in late.. or early. Then, this afternoon our Expresso bus broke down so it took me three hours to get to Estelí instead of two... and I had to stand up for two of those hours after we all jumped the broken bus and got on a full expresso to Ocotal. So I am exhausted. Booked a bed at the hostel. Promptly decided I wanted Chinese food. Just had a beer and pretty decent kung pao chicken by myself. And now I am rambling on here.

Going to hang out in Estelí tomorrow and then go stay with Moncha´s family tomorrow night... and maybe Saturday night, too.... we shall see.

Class all next week and my site visit from the BossMan on Tuesday.

It´s now 7pm and I am ready to go back, brush my teeth and fall into bed.

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Comments

[cassi]

swimming
i totally judge people who can't swim too. in fact, it tends to make me really angry when people can't swim. seriously, we float naturally. i especially get mad when they won't put their faces in the water or lean their head back to learn to float. i have to stop i'm getting angry just writing this.

[mom]

well,........
Yes, I read Cassi's comments. I have no comments to make at this time. ;)