Crossing into Nicaragua, by Kevin
Oh my word. First we went to the wrong side of the building and waited in line (not too long, but long enough for Sadie to wander off and be lost for enough time that Jodi and I started yelling her name over and over -- she decided she wanted to get something from the car) just to find out that we were on the "entering Costa Rica" side. Then that started the process of getting stamps or passports checked or give small amounts of money to around 8 people/offices in order to cross the border.
Then, 3 minutes into the drive I look out the window and there's this massive lake next to us with a big volcano sticking out of it. So awesome. Then a few minutes later there are these two horses I see up the road, one was rearing up and looked like it was kicking the other one or something. Of course, I'm like, "Wow! Hey guys, check out those horses! I think they're fighting!" Which was just in time for everyone to get an up-close-and-personal view of the horses definitely "doing something," right close enough everything-- the horses were right next to the road with no fence, nothing to obstruct the view. As I realize what's really going on it's all happening too quick and I can't think of anything to distract them. Jodi just starts busting up laughing. Then everyone is laughing/gagging. Someone's yelling about mating. Someone starts asking what mating is. Someone starts asking why the horses have to be together to make babies instead of the Mommy just making them by herself. Welcome to the birds and bees, kids.
We keep driving, Granada is about an hour or so from the border and it got dark. There are no street lights and no emergency lanes so every so often I need to lean away from the side because some family of four is crammed onto a motorcycle or a bike and is right on the edge of the road riding home. We keep driving and all of a sudden we are inches away from plowing into a horse-drawn wagon with a bunch of people inside. We're going around 50 mph. They had no lights, no reflectors, and there were cars coming the other way when we barely swerved in time to miss them, super, super close call.
Then, of course, we couldn't find our house for 30 minutes because our directions were, "3 blocks East of the square, toward the lake, it's a green house on the corner of Calle (some 'L' word)." That's it. Well, it's dark. I've never been to Nicaragua, let alone Granada. I don't know where the lake is. I don't know which way East is. And, I don't know what or where "the square" is.
We were the ones that signed up for an adventure by moving down here, right?
Luckily, the GPS found the right street. We found a cool cathedral we thought might be "the square" (it wasn't). We found the lake. Then, back-tracked West (thank you iPhone compass), found the very beginning of the "L" street, and followed that street until we found a house that looked exactly like the one from the vrbo website (there are way too many similar-looking houses).
I bought dinner from two different street vendors. They use a huge green leaf as the To Go container, put fried plantains on bottom, then plantain chips, then whatever meat you want, and you can add a rice and beans combo for 60 cents. It was pretty dang good.
The house is pretty sweet, too. It looks like something straight from Spain (at least, I assume seeing that I' e never been there but it seems European and definitely not Central American). The only issue (that we found out this morning) is that the showers are pathetic, imagine someone peeing on your head. Yeah, not fantastic. Sorry for the visual. Otherwise, cool and different tile in all the rooms, neat paintings in the rooms, antique tables, dressers, desks, chairs, a little pool with a fountain, a little, tropical courtyard backyard that the house wraps around, bamboo ceilings, bright colors.
Our breakfast this morning was really good. A little place called The Garden Cafe that we walked to (before getting ready for the day), around two blocks down the road from where we're staying. Tessa thought the Hertz car rental place (a house converted into a big ol' garage) was cool. Autumn and I liked the different tile on the sidewalks in front of the each house. Jacko thought is was funny, "Welcome to Nicaragua", that the cars and bikes don't even pretend to yield to pedestrians. The layout of the restaurant was real similar to our house with the restaurant wrapping around a tropical garden. The kids played in the hammocks and explored the little garden while we waited for our food. We got a bunch of tropical drinks and smoothies while we waited, too (tie between Lime-Pineapple-Coconut and Strawberry Lemonade for the best one). Jodi and I ordered Nicaraguan breakfasts, a tamale-type thing for me and gallo pinto and eggs for Jodi (and some nasty goat cheese). The kids ordered blueberry pancakes and chocolate chip pancakes. Everyone was stuffed by the end.
We just got back from breakfast, the kids are playing in the pool while Jodi and I get ready. Well, I'm writing you this note instead of getting ready. My food is settling. :)
Following are a few pics from breakfast:
(Requirements for just one of the windows)
Then, 3 minutes into the drive I look out the window and there's this massive lake next to us with a big volcano sticking out of it. So awesome. Then a few minutes later there are these two horses I see up the road, one was rearing up and looked like it was kicking the other one or something. Of course, I'm like, "Wow! Hey guys, check out those horses! I think they're fighting!" Which was just in time for everyone to get an up-close-and-personal view of the horses definitely "doing something," right close enough everything-- the horses were right next to the road with no fence, nothing to obstruct the view. As I realize what's really going on it's all happening too quick and I can't think of anything to distract them. Jodi just starts busting up laughing. Then everyone is laughing/gagging. Someone's yelling about mating. Someone starts asking what mating is. Someone starts asking why the horses have to be together to make babies instead of the Mommy just making them by herself. Welcome to the birds and bees, kids.
We keep driving, Granada is about an hour or so from the border and it got dark. There are no street lights and no emergency lanes so every so often I need to lean away from the side because some family of four is crammed onto a motorcycle or a bike and is right on the edge of the road riding home. We keep driving and all of a sudden we are inches away from plowing into a horse-drawn wagon with a bunch of people inside. We're going around 50 mph. They had no lights, no reflectors, and there were cars coming the other way when we barely swerved in time to miss them, super, super close call.
Then, of course, we couldn't find our house for 30 minutes because our directions were, "3 blocks East of the square, toward the lake, it's a green house on the corner of Calle (some 'L' word)." That's it. Well, it's dark. I've never been to Nicaragua, let alone Granada. I don't know where the lake is. I don't know which way East is. And, I don't know what or where "the square" is.
We were the ones that signed up for an adventure by moving down here, right?
Luckily, the GPS found the right street. We found a cool cathedral we thought might be "the square" (it wasn't). We found the lake. Then, back-tracked West (thank you iPhone compass), found the very beginning of the "L" street, and followed that street until we found a house that looked exactly like the one from the vrbo website (there are way too many similar-looking houses).
I bought dinner from two different street vendors. They use a huge green leaf as the To Go container, put fried plantains on bottom, then plantain chips, then whatever meat you want, and you can add a rice and beans combo for 60 cents. It was pretty dang good.
The house is pretty sweet, too. It looks like something straight from Spain (at least, I assume seeing that I' e never been there but it seems European and definitely not Central American). The only issue (that we found out this morning) is that the showers are pathetic, imagine someone peeing on your head. Yeah, not fantastic. Sorry for the visual. Otherwise, cool and different tile in all the rooms, neat paintings in the rooms, antique tables, dressers, desks, chairs, a little pool with a fountain, a little, tropical courtyard backyard that the house wraps around, bamboo ceilings, bright colors.
(Our house for the weekend)
Our breakfast this morning was really good. A little place called The Garden Cafe that we walked to (before getting ready for the day), around two blocks down the road from where we're staying. Tessa thought the Hertz car rental place (a house converted into a big ol' garage) was cool. Autumn and I liked the different tile on the sidewalks in front of the each house. Jacko thought is was funny, "Welcome to Nicaragua", that the cars and bikes don't even pretend to yield to pedestrians. The layout of the restaurant was real similar to our house with the restaurant wrapping around a tropical garden. The kids played in the hammocks and explored the little garden while we waited for our food. We got a bunch of tropical drinks and smoothies while we waited, too (tie between Lime-Pineapple-Coconut and Strawberry Lemonade for the best one). Jodi and I ordered Nicaraguan breakfasts, a tamale-type thing for me and gallo pinto and eggs for Jodi (and some nasty goat cheese). The kids ordered blueberry pancakes and chocolate chip pancakes. Everyone was stuffed by the end.
We just got back from breakfast, the kids are playing in the pool while Jodi and I get ready. Well, I'm writing you this note instead of getting ready. My food is settling. :)
Following are a few pics from breakfast:
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