Cooking Class

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Today is our last full day in Nicaragua.

Early in the morning I was able to attend a public health overview seminar on my computer by a group I am affiliated with. I was able to do this with the hotel computer since my little laptop didn´t support the software necessary to receive the information. There were some technical difficulties but I was able to see and hear most of the presentations.

After that Rich and I had our pancake breakfast (batter, oil and mixed up pancake mix is provided by the hotel), you just have to cook them up yourself. Yesterday I showed a group of ladies at the hotel a technique I learned from a woman I lived with in Costa Rica where you add oatmeal and raw shredded carrots to the pancake to make them more fiberous and more nutritious. Several of us ate these and Rich and I added bananas and mangos to ours. Also at the hotel they provide free coffee all day from a coffee farm owned by the owner of the hotel. The farm is in Miraflor, Esteli a place I visited last December when I lived on a family´s farm with them for several days.

Later in the morning we went to our friend Dorian´s bookshop and he walked us over to his mother´s house where we met her and she went to the store to get stuff so that she could demonstrate some Nica cooking for us. I think that she decided on the most complicated series of recipes she knew and made every single one of them. My head was spinning from all the steps for each prepared dish and all of them in Spanish. She has quite a nice garden with coconuts, mangos, herbs, ginger, birds of paradise and other beautiful plants. She also has a parrot, a dog and a cat who we met as well.

Still the cooking class was really nice. Carmen is mother of Dorian and Yuri. Dorian and Yuri are brothers who run the bookshop that happens to be one of the few places to find used books in town. Most books and even magazines are so expensive especially from publishers in the US. Other than the books at the library in San Juan del Sur, I saw no other place with so many books. I can much better appreciate Jane Mirandette's ability to get so many Spanish and English books in one place AND free to the people to borrow and enjoy.

Rich and I had discussed the possibility of doing a historic tour of Leon with a guide that we had met named Luis. However, after all the Spanish we spoke at Carmen's house and the huge meal she prepared for us -- we were not in the physical or mental state to walk around Leon, nor to absorb any history about this city. We decided to go back to the hotel and cool off and get ready to pack up for our early morning trip from Leon to the capital, Managua. Moving around in Managua requires quite a bit of concentration and we wanted to be rested for our long day on Wednesday.

We have a great time in La Concha, Jiquililo Beach and Leon but are quite happy to start our trip home tomorrow.

We are home now, arriving in the wee hours of the morning. Our friend Paul was great to come and get us so late at night. We are slowly recovering and hope to be back to normal soon. With all that I have to catch up on and all the sleep I never got on my trip, I am taking it slowly, or poca a poca.

Love,
Dawn and Rich

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Photos

The Bell Tower
Even though Rich and I didn't get to take the historic tour, we did get to climb up on top of the Cathedral in Central Park. This was very interesting because I have seen this in movies about the revolution.

Domes
On top of the cathedral one can see the domes that make the inside arches of the church so impressive. It is also wonderful to see the panorama of all the places we had visited and read about.

Volcanos
From atop the cathedral we could see almost the entire range of volcanos known as the Cordillera Los Maribios. Some are active, some are able to be climbed and one is Cerro Negro which one can snowboard down. We were not that adventurous.

Buying Books from Dorian
This guy Dorian was so sweet. He arranged for me to take a cooking class with his mother in the suburbs of Leon.

Don Quixote Liberia
I am amazed at these two young amitious boys, Dorian and Yuri who have their own business. They were so great to us and I wish them the best of luck in their business.

Veggie Tortillas
Here is just one of the many dishes Carmen showed me how to prepare. Their were two different types of tortillas, one make with carrots and one made with slices of squash which are filled with cheese. Yum!

Carmen and I
Here is my cooking instructor for the day in her kitchen. She worked so hard to show me so many things in such a short time.

Mario
We met Mario at Carmen's house and he helped me practice Spanish while Carmen went to get groceries. He was born in Hondoras and has spent many years living and working in LA and Miami as a Spanish singer. He is quite a character with many interesting stories.

Carmen in her garden
Carmen had a very nice sized yards for a person living in the city full of herbs, flowers, and good stuff to eat. This was the area at her front door and she had another garden out the back door. Here we are in front of some giant red ginger plants.

Comments

[diane]

WELCOME HOME !!!

[DawnW]

Thanks Diane!
I am really glad to be back, but am not enthused with all the work I left behind. Where did all these weeds come from? Thanks for all your comments during my trip. Dawn