Las Isletas

Another great day in Nicaragua! Dude is eating a little and drinking a lot. Whatever bug he had seems to have passed. After another fun day if classes we headed to lake Nicaragua to see the Isletas (the little islands). Lake Nicaragua is the only freshwater lake that has sharks, tarpons, and sawfish. This islands were created from thousands of rocks that were expelled from a Mombacho Volcano eruption. 365 islands were formed. Some are owned by the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican elite families, some are resorts, and some are inhabited by scary looking monkeys.
Our boat tour was amazing and informative for some of my students it was their first time in a boat. They will never forget this.

First day of class

Dude held up pretty well through the night. He woke up happy, without fever, but still refusing to eat. Today is the first day if class for my students. I'm so surprised that they love their classes! Shout out to Casa Xalteva for pleasing a very difficult audience. They said they speak a lot in class, play a lot of games and laugh... A LOT. The most important thing is that they are learning while on their own cultural journey.

Dude took a long long nap today and woke up ready to eat. Alpha Poppa spoke to dude's pediatrician today and they think its a 24 hour virus that needs to run its course, I think they're right. The rest of the day was chill and calm. After an amazingly delicious dinner we all say outside on the porch talking and enjoying the night breeze. This seems to be what the whole city does ever night. It's amazing how open ever house is. The people leave their doors and windows wide open all night. Few places in earth feel this safe.

Cemeteries, vomit, and basketball (Sunday)

Our morning started off with a rushed breakfast that Dude refuses to eat... Again! Our tour started off as a walking tour of the city of Granada. We started out early in hopes of avoiding the heat but that quickly showed itself as an impossible feat. We walked over to a nearby cemetery to look around and to get a quick history lesson on how the Spanish came to Nicaragua and started their cruel colonization process. It was an interesting lessons and my students and chaperones asked a lot of great questions.

Cemeteries in Nicaragua are above ground and are quite different from most American cemeteries. We walked around looking at the intricate tombs and after a while decided to get to cool drinks and shade as soon as possible. While leaving the cemetery dude told me that he had to do #2 and that it was an emergency. We had to duck behind a tree to let him go. This may be too much information but it came out like a gush of chocolate milk , it was so gross! This is why when you travel with kids you should always have wet wipes in your purse. I'm so happy that i had them on hand. Afterward he said he felt better. Within 10 minutes we were in a nearby restaurant drinking Gatorade and grabbing a small lunch. I should have known that something was wrong when dude asked to go #2 and then again. Right when we were about to leave he reached his little arms up for me to lift him, as soon as I did he throw up in my face hair and down my shirt!!! Oh the glamour of motherhood. It was DISGUSTING!!! The restaurant owner our tour guide and my students help me clean us up as much as they could but we were just a mess! Once we left the heat beat down on us so I made the decision to leave the group under the control of our guide and the other teachers so that I could get dude back home where it was a little cooler and more relaxing. We jumped in a taxi and headed back to our host family. Throughout the day he threw up a few more times and started getting a little fever. The host family offered to call a doctor to come make a house call to check on him. Nicaragua has free healthcare (including medical house calls ). I told them that if he continued to throw up that I'd take them up in their offer but it was still a little soon. After taking some tylenol and a nice long nap, he woke up more upbeat and more like himself.
Around 7 pm our host brother-in-law asked us to John him at te basketball court to watch him play with his very small league. Since dude seemed to feel a little better we decided to join him. While dude and I sat and watched Zane played catch with some kids and had a great time. After about an hour there I left Dude in his seat so I could go to the bathroom by the time I returned (5minutes later) he had already thrown up again!!! Thank goodness it wasn't much and he continued to play with his friends as if nothing had happened. Lets see how he does tomorrow!

Drinks from a bag, ceramics, and Mimes (Saturday April 6)

Today was filled with pleasant surprises. We slept in late and had a chance to spend a little time with our host families. We live in a house with children and boy are my kids happy they have playstation in the house and a park across the street, new friends and even a dog to seal the deal. My host family is super sweet and boy can my mama cook!
We met up with my students at Casa Xalteva at 10am and laid around catching the breeze. We late walked from house to house meet host families and checking everything out. One of the host families had a store and we tried natural fruit drinks served in a bag. words cant describe how delicious they were. After lunch with our host familia our tours began.
We met up at 1pm for tours and stared with a lesson in how ceramics have been made for thousands of years here in Nicaragua. The process was amazing . They get clay from a special part of the country, dance in of for 3 1/2 hours to prepare for spinning, then mold it using a foot propelled machine. They paint and shine it over 26 days and cook it in an ancient kiln until its perfect. We were all amazing!
After our ceramics lesson we went to a local fruit stand to try new fruit that had no English equivalent for a name. Some were sweet others bitter or sour. We also locales at the well-known high quality local plants grown and sold in that area..
We then went to the Laguna Look-out. It was breath-taking! We rode horses took pix and laughed it up. Formerly a volcano this Laguna is not a fresh water whole and is the cleanest water in the country.
Our last stop was the panaderia for sweet bread and off we went back to Casa Xalteva, but not for long. We all went home to quickly freshen up and head to a Mime Show that features local kids as an initiative to educate them, teach them comedy and acting, and basically to keep them off the streets. The show was awesome Zane and Dude ooohed and aahed just like the rest of us.

Penpals and Diplomats Friday April 5

Today was a day we'd all been looking forward to. It was the day that we for to meet our penpals. In January I get this epiphany that it would be an amazing experience for my students to have a penpals in Nicaragua who they could meet face-to-face during our visit there. That is exactly what today accomplishes. For 3 months we've emailed back and forth, skyped, and participated in a virtual classroom project. Today we got a chance to meet this great group for the American Nicaraguan School. This bilingual school is the best in the country and is known as the preferred school of diplomat's children. The school grounds were beautiful and well kept. Anything you could imagine, they had... Pools, courts for every sport, and state of the art everything. We had a quick introduction together then broke off in small groups for lunch, after lunch Mu students attended a class with their penpals and shadowed them as part of their learning experience,

After 2 1/2 with them were rushed off to a briefing at the US Embassy. This high security visit consisted of giving our passport info weeks in advance, submitting our passports, leaving all electronics (cameras, iPods, and cell phones ) behind and meeting 4 US Diplomats to Nicaragua. The Diplomats were cool laid back geniuses. Their was 1 from US Aid, the economic sector, the consular sector, and the political sector. They told us about their lives and their work and we got to ask them questions about life working to the US State Department. This is a job that not only I hope to have someday but that some of my students are now interested in.

Our day ended with us returning to Casa Xalteva our language school and volunteer spot for salsa dance classes and introductions to the staff and students.

Plane delays thurs April 4

Our whole journey to Nicaragua consisted of flight delay after flight delay. Our flight leaving Atlanta was delayed while we were on the runway, apparently storms in ft lauderdale were to blame for an hour late departure. Once in ft lauderdale we ( me, Zane, Dude, 11 of my students, and 3 adult chaperones) ate dinner from Nathan's and laid around whole e waited for our 11:48 flight that was delayed 3 times. We finally left at 2:50 am. That didn't get us into Managua until very late. Our bus and driver patiently waited for us and we took off for Granada in the wee hours of the morning. We were dropped off to our host families 2 by 2 and were told to take an hour long nap, eat, wash up and get ready to begin our busy busy day.

When we arrived at our new bedroom dude was ecstatic to see that our room has "tents"! Oh yea this trip is going to be a winner.

Sharks in a lake?!

Now, when my colleague and good friend, Jorge, informed me that there were sharks in Lake Nicaragua I thought he was just joking.  If you know Jorge, like I do, then you know that he is always joking and trying to get a laugh out of you.  So, it wasn't until he really started spitting out facts that I realized he wasn't playing.  There really are SHARKS in the lake!

Lago de Nicaragua (Lake nicaragua)

 

 

 

I couldn't wait to get to my laptop to further research, and share my findings with you. Here is what I found

Lake Nicaragua Facts

• Despite being a fresh water lake, Lake Nicaragua has sharks, tarpons, and saw fish!  
• Initially scientist thought they were a unique species of sharks but later realized that they are Bull Shark, a species known for entering fresh water in other parts of the world.  
• They were presumed to have been trapped in the Lake Nicaragua by volcanic activity that shut it off from the Pacific Ocean. 
• It was later revealed that the sharks jump along the rapids of the San Juan River (which connects Lake Nicaragua and the Caribbean Sea) almost like salmon.
• Nicaraguans call the Lake Lago Cocibolca or Mar Dulce (literally, Sweet Sea; in Spanish, freshwater is agua dulce).
• The lake has sizable waves driven by the easterly winds blowing west to the Pacific Ocean
• The lake holds Ometepe and Zapatera which are both volcanic islands, as well as the archipelago of the Solentiname Islands.
• The lake has a reputation for periodically powerful, unnavigable storms.
• Lake Nicaragua is the largest lake in Central America

Since our home base will be in Granada, a city on the edge of this unique lake, we will definitely get a chance to see the lake itself.   So now the questions is will we see the sharks of Lake Nicaragua?
Only time will tell....

Forget snakes on a plane, we have sharks in the lake! 

                                                         Wait a minute... do you hear the theme song from Jaws playing?!

Countdown!

We have 2 weeks to go until we depart for Nicaragua.  We have changed our program city from Managua to Granada.  I've been busy, busy, busy getting everything prepared for my students and making sure their families are well-informed and comforatble with each and every detail. 

It's so amazing that this year I will be taking a group of 11 students!  There were many neigh-sayer who didnt believe I could get another group of inner-city young men out of the country again.  But, thanks totheir awesome parents we were able to make this happen.  Last year I took 5 students and this year that number has more than doubled. 

Here a list of our scheduled trip highlights (April 4-16):

• Spanish class in the mornings
• Volunteering  with children in the afternoons
• Tours to:

1.  American Nicaraguan School (where we will meet our penpals)
2.  US Embassy briefing, Las Huellas de Acahualinca
3.  San Juan de Oriente & Cataria, Granada city tour
4.  Las Islaets boat tour of Islands on Cocibolca Lake
5.  Mercado Masaya & Verbenas
6.  Volcano Masaya Night Tour
7.   Volcano boarding at Cerro Negro
7.  Poneloya Beach.

All of this cost $1030.90 per student! Including airfare!! 

We are all so excited.  My students are excited and nervous, ready and cautious.  A few have never been on a plane before.  Some have never gone to the beach before.  None have ever been to a volcano.  This will be a positive life-changing event for them all. 

It never escapes me... not even for a moment... how luck I am to be able to share my gift with these young men. 

I. AM. GRATEFUL.

-Echo

Land of Lakes and Volcanoes

Can you guess where our next journey will be?  Hint: The Land of Lakes and Volcanoes.  If you are like me (prior to booking this trip) you have no idea.  But if you are a smarty pants or have visited this beautiful country you know that our next adventure will be in... Nicaragua!

Nicaragua 

I've coordinated this trip as another Study/ Volunteer Abroad Program for 10 of my Spanish students (4 of whom traveled to Panamá with me in April 2012) and a few teacher/ chaperones who want to travel with an expert.  I originally dreamt of the colonial streets and cool sea breeze of Cartagena, Colombia.  This hostoric gem would expose my students to the crisp Colombian accent, tropical beaches, and important world history.  Unfortunately, that dream was quickly killed by our school Principal who couldn't get his mind past Colombia's bad reputation.

I did not want to return to Central America this year, but airfare was way too expensive to other South American destinations and Spain.  It seemed like life was pointing us back to Central America, but where to exactly?  We already visited Panamá, so maybe Costa Rica?  As lovely as Costa Rica is, it has almost become cliché and I figured that my students will get many offers to visit there during their life-time.  Costa Rica is one of the placed I learned Spanish, I absolutely love it there.  While living there I made life-long friends and had a plethora of positive life-changing experiences, it was amazing!  Many travelers I met there loved it too, but for many it was nothing compared to how much they loved its northern neighbor, Nicaragua.  "There is a place that's better than Costa Rica? Impossible!"  That was my first reaction to the many people I quickly categorized as delusional.  It was obvious that all of these people were crazy because there could not exist a more perfect place.  

 

This year my group of participating students, and their parents, chose Nicaragua as our back-up country in case Cartagena, Colombia was not approved.   So, with Cartagena taken off the table, and with Nicaragua's rave reviews in mind, we began to plan.  Some of the things we reviewed were safety, airline prices, study/ volunteer prices, exchange rates, and tourist attractions.  Nicaragua's capital, Managua, was recently named Central America's safest city, that was a great sign!  Due to the $1USD to $23 Nicaraguan Córdoba exchange rate the study/ volunteer rates were lower than what we paid in Panamá and the plane tickets on Spirit Airlines were low.   Once we'd gathered and reviewed all this information we were thrilled.  Parents rushed me money for airfare and after much ado dealing with school-related bureaucracy we were able to purchase our plane tickets at $340 per person!

It didn't take long to realize how much there is to do in Nicaragua.  The active volcanoes Masaya and Mombacho, Volcano boarding at Cerro Negro, Las Huellas de Acahualinca (6,000 year old footprints left as the earliest evidence of man in the Western Hemisphere), the city of Granada, Las Islas de Ometepe, and surfing in San Juan del Sur.  This is just a list of things to do near the capital!  The Caribbean coast also offers tropical beaches, Bluefields, Big and Little Corn Islands, rainforests, and Nature Reserves.  I know that it will be impossible to cover it all in our 12 days there, but having options is always a good thing. 

 

Poet Ruben Dario

 

Volcano Boarding at Cerro Negro

Las Huellas de Acahualinca


Masaya Volcano

I'm currently in contact with several programs in Managua and Granada to see which will provide us the best combination of Spanish classes, volunteering, host families, and tours. To find them I simply conducted Google searches for "Spanish schools in Nicaragua".   I also flequently look at reviews on the Nicaragua forum on TripAdvisor.com, each organization's FaceBook page, and recommendations in the Moon Travel Handbook on Nicaragua. All of the Directors at these language schools speak perfect English and are highly efficient. Most of our communication is via email, but Skype conversations and phone calls are also options. Similar language schools exist all over the world and most have English speaking staff to help if you do not already speak the language. When planning for these trips courage is far more important than foreign language skill.  From the way things are looking we will be able to complete this 12-day adventure for less than $1,000! 

Now that this trip is on a roll and the details are quickly falling into place I have a list of preparations that I will begin working on and sharing with you all.  Stay posted, and if you haven't applied for that passport yet, do it now.  That is the first step toward a world of adventure!

E.