Esteli Nicaragua, a mountain town with a fresh climate.

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Hola Familia y Amigos,

We have been in the town of Esteli for the last week, again studying Spanish. The town is in the northern mountains at an elevation of around 4000 feet. The climate is much cooler and dryer than it is on the Southern Coast. We are wearing long pants and jackets in the evenings as the temperature dips into the 50´s. It has been very refreshing to us, of course not nearly as refreshing as the Colorado cold must me right now. Hope you all are enjoying your winter. We talked on the phone last week to a friend in Oak Creek, the guy who recommended the school and family that we stayed with in San Juan del Sur. He tells us that Steamboat has been dumped on this year. Maura, are you still in Steamboat, and if so, how are you enjoying the snow.

Esteli is quite modern for Nicaragua, Terry and I are both enjoying the city. It is cleaner than most of the cities we have seen so far. There are very few English speaking people around so we have gotten to practice our Spanish quite a bit. In the school we are attending none of the teachers speak any English. My teacher is terrible, so I am not enjoying my classes much. Terry is having a much better experience, his teacher picked up right where his last teacher left off. The activities at this school are not nearly as good as the activities in the last school. We are attending lectures that are all in Spanish and way over our heads. If you are reading this posting investigating Spanish schools in Nicaragua, I would not recommend Escuela Horizonte in Esteli. We have been talking to other students and for the most part they are not impressed. I am learning more on my own with my books than I am at the school. The Latin American Spanish School in San Juan del Sur was much better. The teachers were friendlier and the activities were much more fun. We did have one great afternoon of activities, though it was not planned. We went to see a new water well for a remote mountain community. Much to our surprise we found a group of musicians practicing for a new CD they were going to record of Nicaraguense music from the Northern part of the country. The band is famous in Nicaragua, it is the family band of Don Felipe Urrutia y Sus Cachorros (translate to Felipe Urri and His Puppies), Felipe his sons and grandsons. They play traditional Nicaraguense music, polkas y Mazurkas. We were able to sit on the porch with them and their small children while they played and let me photograph and take video. The children were fascinated with my camera. I really enjoyed the experience!

When we finish with this school we will spend some time exploring some other towns and nature preserves in the area. For now school is taking most of our time. Terry had some boots custom made for him while we were here, the vamp is made of boa. They are really beautful boots, hopefully the U.S. Customs agent won´t seize them at the border. He only paid $65 for them, and is he ever proud of them.

Well not much time for the internet. I have too much homework because my teacher is so terrible that I have to learn on my own. However, so far so good. Terry´s Spanish is really improving, and I think mine is as well. We will most likely continue our studies when we get home.

Here are a few more photos, enjoy!

Love from Kathy and Terry.

Ps Johnny it was great to hear from you and what a relief to hear you are doing so well. Keep up the good work and happy healing. Mom, it was good to hear from you, as it is from each and everyone of you that have replied to our blog. We don´t feel so far from home when we can hear from our loved ones each time we log on to our blog.

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Photos

The Youngest Puppy
Here is a photo of the youngest member of the Felipe´s Cachorros. This little guy picked away at his guitar and danced the whole time the music played. Except when he saw me taking a photo, then he would run to look at the picture, then run back onto the floor to dance, pick and sing. He was so adorable, had us all laughing out loud. He could really dance too, definitely had the music in his bones. Felipe, his great grandfather, beamed at us adoring him.

The Grandson´s of Felipe
The bass player is the father of the youngest puppy.

Felipe´s Sons
Two of the three sons, they could be twins.

Felipe Himself
We are told that he is very famous around here. Here he is with another of his great grandsons.

A little birdie told him
Terry receiving some valuable information.