Back in Leon

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Hi!

Rich and I are back in Leon where I recovered from my cold two weeks ago. I like that I know the basic layout of the city and can show him around. We went to the french bakery, the air conditioned internet and to the grocery store that has really nice stuff. Now we are staying at a hostel where our friends from Jiquilillo Beach are (the kids from Boston) because the only girl in the group forgot her Iphone and we said we would meet her at the hotel and deliver it. The hotel is really cute and has a nice kitchen which guests can use so we decided to stay. They also provide pancake breakfast for free and I am writing my blog while I wait for these pancakes to be made.

Yesterday we had to travel by bus from Jiquilillo Beach to Chinandega. There in Chinandega I spent about 45 minutes talking with the vet´s wife and ordering drugs. Drugs for the animals are sooooooo much cheaper here. However, it seems that they keep a limited stock and hardly use any oral antibiotic. They think they get more effectiveness from the injections. And I was searching for antibiotics for the Mangy Mango dog for Marissa, the one who plans to care for him. Also, they don´t seem to use many drugs to anesthetize the dogs. They just give valium and have the owner or someone else hold down the dog. That is why I offered to come back and do some small animal work for the owner. I thought I could show him how smoothly it would be for both the patient and the vet (and the owner and technician) if the patient was sleeping and painfree.

After the visit at the vet´s place we went to the park to get something to eat. Lots of people try to sell you stuff and a few kids try to beg. I really don´t like this begging and really try not to give kids money because I have heard that they use the money to buy glue to sniff in coke bottles under their shirts (I actually saw this in several kids in one place and wasn´t aware of what they were doing.) So when a kid came begging I asked him what he would use the money for. When he said he would eat, we told him to sit down with us and we would buy him food. He ordered a hot dog (surprising that they served that, but I see it a lot -- a strangely pink thing that they slice somewhat before putting on a very large bun and add mayo and tomato). So we got to talking with him and his name is Juan. He said that his father lived in the US and he lived with his mom. Then I noticed that his really dirty shirt had the name of a soccer team ¨The Peace River Soccer Association -- Bartow Florida¨. According to him, his father lives there and has a job and sends money to his mom in Nicaragua. I told him that I grew up very close to that place where his Dad was and that my parents lived there now. He wasn´t as wowed at the small world connection as we were, but we had a nice time with this kid. When I paid the bill with my 200 cordoba note ($10), he whistled at my wallet and we told him that we had money because we studied for a long time in school and we never took drugs (we didn´t mention beer and wine ).

After the park we got one of the rickshaw drivers to take us to the bus station. These young guys pedal and sweat with us and our luggage in their tricycle and then ask for $0.45. Our driver told us that he was studying English 3 days each week if he could make enough in his tricycle (Funny, though, he says this whole explanation to me in Spanish). Rich asked him in English his name and stuff but he could hardly talk with all the panting and sweating, but he did understand our English well.

The ride from Chinandega in a nice minivan was sweet compared with hard seated, bumpy school buses we were used to and we were in Leon quickly. We got a cab ride to the Tortuga Booluda (The Lazy Turtle) where we had a relaxing night (even though it was quite hot) but with no bugs.

The hardest thing about Jiquilillo Beach was that our feet were always dirty and sandy and that clothes never completely dried and all my clothes stunk of mildew to me. Now in dry, hot Leon, clothes are easy to wash and dry and we walk on cleanly swept tile (in Jiquilillo there were always dirt floors and the mangy and normal dogs are all over it!)

Bye for now, I am going to go get some pancakes!

Love from Dawn and Rich.

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Photos

Juan
Here is our friend Juan. Can you read the words on his shirt? The small words say Bartow, Florida Soccer Association.

Vulcan San Cristabol
If the volcano does blow, we are on our way to Leon. Rich was able to catch the fumes coming from the volcano while we were in the microbus.

Habitacion
Here is our room at the Tortuga Booluda. I like that there are lots of hooks on the wall to hang your stuff. We have a cold water shower, of course. But in Leon, no one could appreciate a warm shower.

Cool Colors
We really like the cool colors all over this hostel/hotel. There are not too many people here this weekend, since there is a surf championship at the nearby beach.

Maps
All over the hostel are maps of the world, as well as flags and murals on the walls. It is interesting and we are enjoying as much as I enjoyed the other hotel with the lovely gardens.

Kitchen
The nice thing about ¨The Lazy Turtle¨is that they have a well equipped and very clean kitchen. Now, they are making pancakes and I want to try some.