Ah our hotel stay at Hacienda Merida keeps getting better and better! Last night we toured around some more and found another bar down the way where we can watch the world cup final today. Go Espana!! We went for a lovely swim, the water here is actually cool and refreshing unlike at Laguna where it was warm bath water. We have a really nice dock here where we can jump off from pretty high. We made some really nice friends! Two couples, both around our age and all teachers too! One couple is from Portland Oregon and the other from England. Their accents are bloody fantastic! We share a balcony with the couple from England and shared some cocktails last night. Beers are only $1 here! We all had a delicious breakfast together and are watching the game together later.
A tropical storm came through so it will be rainy all day but we don't mind spending our morning laying in hammocks under our balcony reading and watching it rain! A tropical storm here is equivilant to a thunderstorm home, not a big deal. When the rain clears we have our choice of a variety of activities- many hiking options to volcanoes and waterfalls, kayaking to monkey island, biking, horseback riding, sailing...
We love it here!
We were unable to find a new card reader but we are sure we can borrow one from someone to upload more pics soon.
Love D&J
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Hola,
So we are all packed up and ready to leave Laguna de Apoyo early Saturday morning. We are off to Isla de Ometepe. Today was our last day of classes. Dan went to the city Masaya today and went to the artisans market, an old political prison where people were tortured and killed (this freaked him out), and to a pollution site. He says it was more interesting than it sounds! Haha!
Yesterday we went kayaking on the lake and we learned the hard way that this lake is a million times bigger than it looks! We were determined to get to the other side and an hour and a half later we made it! It was worth it! It was an experience we will never forget! The water was clear, blue- green, and the thick green jungle covered the seemingly endless mountains. The best part was the loud Howler monkeys echoeing down through the jungle and over the water! We saw huge red winged grasshoppers. It was an amazing jungle experience and totally worth the blisters and three hour trek!
We hope to buy a card reader on our travels tomorrow so we can share the pictures.
Have a good weekend all!
Love D&J
So we are all packed up and ready to leave Laguna de Apoyo early Saturday morning. We are off to Isla de Ometepe. Today was our last day of classes. Dan went to the city Masaya today and went to the artisans market, an old political prison where people were tortured and killed (this freaked him out), and to a pollution site. He says it was more interesting than it sounds! Haha!
Yesterday we went kayaking on the lake and we learned the hard way that this lake is a million times bigger than it looks! We were determined to get to the other side and an hour and a half later we made it! It was worth it! It was an experience we will never forget! The water was clear, blue- green, and the thick green jungle covered the seemingly endless mountains. The best part was the loud Howler monkeys echoeing down through the jungle and over the water! We saw huge red winged grasshoppers. It was an amazing jungle experience and totally worth the blisters and three hour trek!
We hope to buy a card reader on our travels tomorrow so we can share the pictures.
Have a good weekend all!
Love D&J
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Buenas Noches!
D&J
This is in our hotel in Granada, Nicaragua, in one of the many gardens.
This is the Cathedral in Parque Central in Granada. Granada is the oldest European city in the continetal Americas. This city is over 400 years old!
This is a monkey who lives on an island in Lake Nicaragua,
This is Toto the parrot! He was the pet of the owner of this bar we stopped at, on an island on Lake Nicaragua.
This is Volcano Mombacho. Notice the black volcanic rocks that this volcano shot down into Lake Nicaragua 50 million years ago! This volcano is now inactive.
This church is more than 400 years old, and was burnt down by William Walker, an American mercanary who took over the country of Nicaragua and declared himself President in the mid 1800´s. There were many very old churches in Granada, others were older than this one.
This is the main street in Granada, looking up towards Parque Central. It was so pretty here, each building was a different color.
This is Jessica doing laundry in Laguna de Aopyo. This is in the common area of where we are staying.
These are our cooks at Laguna de Apoyo, Laura and Leslie. Leslie is also Dan´s Spanish teacher. They are very nice and wonderful cooks!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Sarah thank you for the advise there are coconuts everywhere!
Christine it has been around 90 everyday with at least 95 percent humidity but it rains in the afternoons and cools things down. I heard it's been hot at home. Today we had the tail end of a tropial storm come through so it poured rain all day.
We are bummed that our card reader broke so we can't upload any pics but we can buy a new one on Saturday so we will have lots of pics to catch up on.
We heard back from the new volunteer program we start next week and dan and I will have our classroom! We are so excited about it, we will be in charge of our own lessons, schedule, and everything! We can't wait to start. We will have anywhere from 10-25 students. We are worried about the community Juquilillo where the volunteer program was shut down b/c today's storm hit there the worse :(
I am feeling ok the nausea comes and goes but it's not too bad.
Christine it has been around 90 everyday with at least 95 percent humidity but it rains in the afternoons and cools things down. I heard it's been hot at home. Today we had the tail end of a tropial storm come through so it poured rain all day.
We are bummed that our card reader broke so we can't upload any pics but we can buy a new one on Saturday so we will have lots of pics to catch up on.
We heard back from the new volunteer program we start next week and dan and I will have our classroom! We are so excited about it, we will be in charge of our own lessons, schedule, and everything! We can't wait to start. We will have anywhere from 10-25 students. We are worried about the community Juquilillo where the volunteer program was shut down b/c today's storm hit there the worse :(
I am feeling ok the nausea comes and goes but it's not too bad.
Yesterday was a good day here at Laguna de Apoyo. We started our individual Spanish lessons yesterday and they are going great. We both really like our teachers. We hiked to the hot springs yesterday with our teachers and friends,but it was so hot out that we only dipped our feet in. The lake water is warm but refreshing. It gets very humid in the afternoons. We like it here a lot, it is like a family, we all eat our meals together in the dining area. There are two dogs who live here. One is racist tho and only likes white people, he bites Nicaraguans! The food has been so good! We made it thru the night without any disturbances from large tarantulas!
Today has not been as good. We had breakfast early this morning and went to class which was good but then a big storm rolled in and Jessica is sick. The owner said if she is not better soon he will get her some antibiotics. Others here have been sick too and no one knows if it is a stomach bug or bacteria from the food or water. Either way it is not serious. Kim, Jessica does not want you to worry, she will be just fine:) Luckily the rain has cooled things down.
Adiós
D&J
Today has not been as good. We had breakfast early this morning and went to class which was good but then a big storm rolled in and Jessica is sick. The owner said if she is not better soon he will get her some antibiotics. Others here have been sick too and no one knows if it is a stomach bug or bacteria from the food or water. Either way it is not serious. Kim, Jessica does not want you to worry, she will be just fine:) Luckily the rain has cooled things down.
Adiós
D&J
Monday, July 5, 2010
Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were just sleeping soundly and Jessica woke up to a giant Terantula on our mosquito net!! I woke Dan somehow. I was frozen with fear and speechless. We could not tell if it was on the outside or inside of the net so we slowly crept out and thankfully realized it was on the outside. We just stood in our room frozen not knowing what to do. Luckily some people were still up and they grabbed a book and a cup, but the cup was too small! Eventually we, well our new friends,caught it and let it go outside.
Yeah, I don't think Im sleeping soundly this whole week Im here!
We were just sleeping soundly and Jessica woke up to a giant Terantula on our mosquito net!! I woke Dan somehow. I was frozen with fear and speechless. We could not tell if it was on the outside or inside of the net so we slowly crept out and thankfully realized it was on the outside. We just stood in our room frozen not knowing what to do. Luckily some people were still up and they grabbed a book and a cup, but the cup was too small! Eventually we, well our new friends,caught it and let it go outside.
Yeah, I don't think Im sleeping soundly this whole week Im here!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy 4th of July!
Yesterday we toured the city of Granada more with a horse drawn carriage then we took a private boat tour of Lake Nicaragua and the many islands. Mombocho volcano erupted 50 million years ago and dropped hundreds of islands into the lake. All the rocks are black volcanic rocks. We stopped at a bar with our boat captain and had beers, watched the soccer game, swam in a pool, and made friends with Toto the pet parrot. We also stopped at an island and saw monkeys!
We received some really bad news. The community Jiquilillo that we had planned on volunteering at has flooded and the program we would have been working with has closed. Fortunately the hotel we will be staying at next week also runs a school and they are allowing us to volunteer at the school. They were delighted to have two teachers on board! Our thoughts go out to Jiquilillo, and we are excited to be teaching at a school.
We are now in Laguna de Apoyo. We are staying on the lake in the jungle. We are living like the locals here, where we wash our clothes in an outdoor sink, sleep under a mosquito net, and have no tv to watch. We start taking Spanish classes tomorrow. We went swimming in the crystal clear lake surrounded by mountains covered with jungle today and it started raining, but it was cool. There is an ecological research station here and everyone is really nice.
We are not sure if we will be able to upload pictures from here, but we will keep up with our posts.
Love D&J
Yesterday we toured the city of Granada more with a horse drawn carriage then we took a private boat tour of Lake Nicaragua and the many islands. Mombocho volcano erupted 50 million years ago and dropped hundreds of islands into the lake. All the rocks are black volcanic rocks. We stopped at a bar with our boat captain and had beers, watched the soccer game, swam in a pool, and made friends with Toto the pet parrot. We also stopped at an island and saw monkeys!
We received some really bad news. The community Jiquilillo that we had planned on volunteering at has flooded and the program we would have been working with has closed. Fortunately the hotel we will be staying at next week also runs a school and they are allowing us to volunteer at the school. They were delighted to have two teachers on board! Our thoughts go out to Jiquilillo, and we are excited to be teaching at a school.
We are now in Laguna de Apoyo. We are staying on the lake in the jungle. We are living like the locals here, where we wash our clothes in an outdoor sink, sleep under a mosquito net, and have no tv to watch. We start taking Spanish classes tomorrow. We went swimming in the crystal clear lake surrounded by mountains covered with jungle today and it started raining, but it was cool. There is an ecological research station here and everyone is really nice.
We are not sure if we will be able to upload pictures from here, but we will keep up with our posts.
Love D&J
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Hola!
So yesterday was a very long day of traveling. We got up at 4 am to get on the bus to Granada, Nicaragua and did not arrive in Granada until 3pm. We drove North through the mountains of Costa Rica and through the country side which was beautiful. We saw a lot of small, impoverished villages and it was sad. We knew we would be experiencing that, but nothing can really prepare you for seeing it for the first time. That is why we are here though, to help.
Entering Nicaragua took a couple hours, going through border patrol and customs. We drove up past Lake Nicaragua and Isla de Ometepe, and we were astonished by the size of the two inactive volcanoes on the island. We will be visiting there in 2 weeks! I (Jessica) got motion sickness, so I did not see much more of the Nicaraguan country side. The city of Granada is absolutley gorgeous! Every building is painted another bright color, the mountains touch the clouds as you look down the streets out of the city, the Parque Central (every city here has a central park) is vibrabt with color and decoration, and Latin music can be heard everywhere. We saw a 300 year old church, and we hope to see more when we walk around today.
Last night we ate at a local Nicaraguan restraurant and met another Ameican couple who were really nice. We knew the food was authentic because we were the only Gringos in the place! Both our meals and 4 beers only cost us $8! Our hotel is wonderful. It is decorated with indigenous art. There are gardens throughout our hotel lined with hammocks and tables where we have enjoyed some beverages while taking in the sights of butterflies, birds, flowers, and the blue sky.
We have had fruit for breakfast every morning since we arrived here and it is out of this world delicious, as well as the coffee. I am not a coffee drinker, but I have a sip or two because it is so good!
I can not get any pictures to upload right now, but hopefully later, I really want to share this city with you!
Have a great 4th of July weekend! We are sad will be missing the festivities and family and friends!
Miss everyone!
Love D&J
PS...today is our 8 year annerversary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So yesterday was a very long day of traveling. We got up at 4 am to get on the bus to Granada, Nicaragua and did not arrive in Granada until 3pm. We drove North through the mountains of Costa Rica and through the country side which was beautiful. We saw a lot of small, impoverished villages and it was sad. We knew we would be experiencing that, but nothing can really prepare you for seeing it for the first time. That is why we are here though, to help.
Entering Nicaragua took a couple hours, going through border patrol and customs. We drove up past Lake Nicaragua and Isla de Ometepe, and we were astonished by the size of the two inactive volcanoes on the island. We will be visiting there in 2 weeks! I (Jessica) got motion sickness, so I did not see much more of the Nicaraguan country side. The city of Granada is absolutley gorgeous! Every building is painted another bright color, the mountains touch the clouds as you look down the streets out of the city, the Parque Central (every city here has a central park) is vibrabt with color and decoration, and Latin music can be heard everywhere. We saw a 300 year old church, and we hope to see more when we walk around today.
Last night we ate at a local Nicaraguan restraurant and met another Ameican couple who were really nice. We knew the food was authentic because we were the only Gringos in the place! Both our meals and 4 beers only cost us $8! Our hotel is wonderful. It is decorated with indigenous art. There are gardens throughout our hotel lined with hammocks and tables where we have enjoyed some beverages while taking in the sights of butterflies, birds, flowers, and the blue sky.
We have had fruit for breakfast every morning since we arrived here and it is out of this world delicious, as well as the coffee. I am not a coffee drinker, but I have a sip or two because it is so good!
I can not get any pictures to upload right now, but hopefully later, I really want to share this city with you!
Have a great 4th of July weekend! We are sad will be missing the festivities and family and friends!
Miss everyone!
Love D&J
PS...today is our 8 year annerversary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
This is the Poas Volcano steaming!
We hiked up to this Volcano and to an inactive crater that has filled up with rain water and is now a lake. We hiked through the dense forest and saw hummingbirds, other birds, a black turkey, a medium sized animal with a long tail that we forget the name of, and a very friendly squirrel! It was chilly up in the mountains.
We took a bus from Alajuela, North up into the mountains. It was a very steep and curvy bus ride. It took us 1 1/2 hours to drive up to the volcano park, and only 30 minutes to get back down. Driving through the small mountain communities was really interesting and cool. We saw a lot of small farms with cows grazing in fields, and gorgeous views as the one above!
We stopped in a small village selling souviners and I made two new friends!
We have seen a lot of street dogs, and Dan told me I can´t pet them, so I was happy to meet domesticated dogs!
Tomorrow morning we are getting up at 4am to catch a bus up to Nicaragua. It will be an 8 hour bus ride, but the busses are nice.
Hasta Luego!
D & J
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
We successfully made our way into San Jose and bought our bus tickets to Nicaragua for Friday. This task went well considering we forgot our map and our guide book. San Jose is a big city, but there are many nice parks. You can see the huge, beautiful mountains surrounding the city when you look down the streets. We explored the Mercado Central (Central Market) and that was so neat. There were touristy gift shops, places to eat, flowers, meats of all kinds (testicles, cow tounge, and every part of a chicken), herbs, hammocks, and even pets! We returned to Alajuela just in time for the afternoon rainstorm...good thing we remembered our rain coats! We took shelter in a Soda, a small neighborhood restaurant, where we had the first of many rice and beans meals, and it was very good.
This picture is of the variety of meats at Mercado Central. The middle pan on the bottom is cow tounge!
Tonight we will go out to dinner and get to bed early because in the moring we are going North to Poas Volcano National Park where we will drive to the top of the volcano and look inside it. There is also a very nice waterfall we will hike to.
Hasta Luego,
D & J
Hi All!
We safely made it to Costa Rica after a 20 hour travel day! We were unable to use the internet until this moring, and we apologoze for the anxious waiting, especially to our Moms! (Aunt Tracy, we started our post card collection for you :) )
We are now in Alajuela, Costa Rica which is just outside of San Jose. We are excited to see the city since it was dark when we arrived. We are haivng breakfast at our hotel now and then we are going into San Jose to buy bus tickets to Nicaragua.
We are 2 hours behind your time, so it is 8 am here and 10 am at home.
Love and miss you all!!
D&J
We safely made it to Costa Rica after a 20 hour travel day! We were unable to use the internet until this moring, and we apologoze for the anxious waiting, especially to our Moms! (Aunt Tracy, we started our post card collection for you :) )
We are now in Alajuela, Costa Rica which is just outside of San Jose. We are excited to see the city since it was dark when we arrived. We are haivng breakfast at our hotel now and then we are going into San Jose to buy bus tickets to Nicaragua.
We are 2 hours behind your time, so it is 8 am here and 10 am at home.
Love and miss you all!!
D&J
Monday, June 28, 2010
We had a great day in the big city! We had coffee and bagels with Aunt Cathy and went to the dog park with her and her dog. We witnessed beagles who were not leashed or had shock collars on...this amazed us! We were also amazed by the Modern Art Museum and Museum of Natural History. (Livs and Jake I wish you were there I felt I should be teaching! I have a few lessons planned for you! I know you can't wait!) We also went to The Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Tower) and saw all of NYC. We had a fantastic dinner with Cathy and Ron and now we are packing for our early departure to Costa Rica!!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
We had an exciting Sunday! Aunt Cathy and Uncle Ron picked us up from the bus and dropped us off at the Gay Pride Parade where we met up with cousin Theo and had lunch. We walked passed the 9-11 site, saw a weird recorder concert, saw the Statue of Liberty from a far, and eventually found our way back to Cathy and Ron's in Brooklyn. We had some drinks and scrumptious chili with the fam and some friends on the back patio and are now ready for bed!
Thanks for a great day Cathy, Ron, Theo, and friends!
Thanks for a great day Cathy, Ron, Theo, and friends!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
We are traveling to Costa Rica and Nicaragua for 6 weeks to volunteer!
Our travels will begin Sunday June 27th. We are taking a bus to NYC to visit Dan's Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ron in Brooklyn. Our flight to San Jose, Costa Rica leaves Tuesday June 29th. We are staying in Alajuela, Costa Rica for 2 days before we catch a bus up to Granada, Nicaragua. We stay in Granada for 3 days before leaving for Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua where we will be taking Spanish lessons and enjoying the natural beauty of the Nature Reserve that houses a volcanic crater lake. Jessica will be observing in elementary school classrooms here as well. We will be here for 7 days.
The following week we have free and will be visiting other cities such as Leon, Managua, and Isla de Ometepe. Isla de Ometepe is an island formed by 2 volcanos rising out of Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America.
For the next 3 weeks we will be in remote Juquillo, Nicaragua on the Pacific coast. We will be volunteering within this small community at an After School Program and teaching kids how to swim. We are living in a cabana on the beach where we hope to learn how to surf. Many volcanic hot springs and other interesting sites are all within a half days hike.
We will then make our way back to Costa Rica and fly back to NYC, where we will be greeted by some good friends, luxurious accommodations, and a concert in Central Park with Gov't Mule! Finally we will come home to Tully on Thursday August 12th, to be with our missed beagle Samson :)
Our travels will begin Sunday June 27th. We are taking a bus to NYC to visit Dan's Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ron in Brooklyn. Our flight to San Jose, Costa Rica leaves Tuesday June 29th. We are staying in Alajuela, Costa Rica for 2 days before we catch a bus up to Granada, Nicaragua. We stay in Granada for 3 days before leaving for Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua where we will be taking Spanish lessons and enjoying the natural beauty of the Nature Reserve that houses a volcanic crater lake. Jessica will be observing in elementary school classrooms here as well. We will be here for 7 days.
The following week we have free and will be visiting other cities such as Leon, Managua, and Isla de Ometepe. Isla de Ometepe is an island formed by 2 volcanos rising out of Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America.
For the next 3 weeks we will be in remote Juquillo, Nicaragua on the Pacific coast. We will be volunteering within this small community at an After School Program and teaching kids how to swim. We are living in a cabana on the beach where we hope to learn how to surf. Many volcanic hot springs and other interesting sites are all within a half days hike.
We will then make our way back to Costa Rica and fly back to NYC, where we will be greeted by some good friends, luxurious accommodations, and a concert in Central Park with Gov't Mule! Finally we will come home to Tully on Thursday August 12th, to be with our missed beagle Samson :)
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