The Inevitable Top Ten List

Life in San Ramon, Matagalpa has been exciting, interesting and challenging. We spent the last month getting settled and were not focused on keeping our journals or updating this blog.  In order to give you some idea of what our life in Nicaragua is like, we will each share our ten most notable or memorable experiences so far (in no particular order).

Aileen
1.  One of the activities at the girls' school health fair was a speed eating contest. The winner was whoever ate 5 bananas the fastest. The prize was a box of Cocoa Krispies.

2.  I've seen 3 ambulances that actually have functioning sirens and flashing lights speeding down the road. In the almost 5 years that I lived in Nicaragua before, I NEVER saw this once.

3.  The day we met them, the kids across the street gave marbles to Emma and Hannah. The family is made up of a single mother, 5 kids, and two elderly grandparents living in a tiny shack. Though they have very little, these children were eager to share with their new neighbors.

4.  There's a place where I can get a pedicure in San Ramon!!

5.  To be able to stay in Nicaragua for one year, we need 29 different documents, about half of which have to be notarized, and half of those have to be verified and authenticated. Another half of the 29 have to be translated (and of course the translations have to be verified). By the time this gets straightened out we will be leaving.

6.  For the patron saint festival parade, Hannah needs three costumes, one of which is a bathing suit???

7.  Four people get held up at knifepoint while hiking (not us) and the police claim they can't do anything because there were no witnesses. (They were victims, and the witnesses have to be someone else.)

8.  Cell phones have transformed rural life. Instead of spending a lot of money to bring their crops on a 10+ hour bus ride to sell at whatever happens to be the price that day, farmers can call the market in the morning and instantaneously find out what the prices are. For me, I can schedule meetings with rural communities, and check on material deliveries and construction progress by phone rather than making a long drive and hoping folks are around when I get there.

9.  The house we're renting was actually ready the day the owner said it would be.

10.  I awed by how great Emma and Hannah are doing with all of this. They are AMAZING!

Emma
1.  Mommy drove her truck into a huge ditch and it took us a long time to get out with the help of a nice truck driver who knew what he was doing.

2.  The first day of school was one of the best things. School is really loud especially when it rains. I love my teacher Carmen. I really like studying and learning multiplication and other things.

3.  We went to El Chile which means the hot pepper. I learned how to weave purses.

4.  I went to the City of Granada and had a really good time there because it was pretty and we saw lots of dancing.

5.  We went to my parent’s favorite beach called Las Penitas. We went for a walk on the beach while it was raining. I learned how to go body surfing with my Daddy in a place called the boca where the tide was not too strong.

6.  I have lots of new friends and I think my best friend is Lescania in my class. My friends always come to my house and we play ball in the street and do other things.

7.  My new guitar teacher is Melvin. I really love him and he is really nice. Melvin broke his leg at another job and I have to go to his house for class. His cast is on his whole leg and he cannot really leave his house.

8.  I really like my new bed. It is comfy and I share it with Hannah. We sleep under a mosquito net.

9.  Before we moved to our house we stayed at a hotel called Sueno de la Campana which means dream of the bell. It is called that because it is on a hill that looks like a bell. It is really pretty with lots of flowers and butterflies and certain butterflies like certain flowers. My favorite butterfly has red dots that look like paint and you cannot see unless you get really close.

10.  I love learning Spanish and learning about Nicaragua.

Hannah
1.  There are dogs running around all over the place and I saw a cat in the restaurant with a blue eye and a green eye.

2.  We went on a hike and there was sloppy mud.

3.  We have a new house where I can do cartwheels but when it rains it is very loud.  I made hurry-up cake for my friends in our kitchen.

4.  Our neighbors are very poor and their house is made of paper, wood and garbage.

5.  There is lots of coffee for my Daddy and I saw where it came from.

6.  A long time ago America tried to take over Nicaragua with guns but they couldn’t.

7.  I chased a chicken and caught it by its tummy and then fed them corn.

8.  There are no strawberries here but we still have a computer and some books and toys.

9.  I caught a macho (huge bugs), baby lizard, frog, moth, butterfly and other things.  I saw monkeys and other animals too.

10.  My friends had a piñata and I got lots of candy. Me and Emma and Daddy stayed at my friend's house for one week when we studied Spanish in Matagalpa before we moved to San Ramon with Mommy.

Jeff
1.  Sitting in a café with Emma and Hannah during a major rainstorm and watching the water cover the entire street, enter the restaurant and almost make its way to our table. Speaking of rain, we almost missed the first day of school because we could not cross a bridge as it was swallowed up by a river that looked like melted chocolate (turns out this is because there is no sewage system here, yuck).

2.  Attending my first parent meeting at the girl’s school and volunteering for everything including fixing a water tank, cooking a meal for the class, buying toilet paper, buying office supplies and cleaning out a closet in Hannah’s classroom. I felt like Marsha Brady (pardon the obscure pop-culture reference).

3.  Cooking, cleaning and caring for my family, Nicaraguan style (describing what this means would be a blog unto itself involving constant power outages, water shortages, etc).

4.  Breaking all US traffic laws and ignoring common sense by letting the girls ride in the bed of Aileen’s pick-up truck. They now jump into the bed of the truck every time we go somewhere and we have to chase them around to get them in their seats.

5.  Hiking from our front door to a beautiful waterfall with a new friend who has a long list of other places we can hike to with the kids.

6.  Watching the girls thrive: playing with their new friends; walking to school in their adorable uniforms; discovering new natural wonders; learning Spanish; going to the store themselves to buy tortillas; and enjoying the freedom that comes with living in a small town.

7.  Seeing dozens of GIANT worms on a tree; they were as big as my arm (seriously). I was told they were some form of caterpillar; if that is so the butterflies must be the size of airplanes. I did not have my camera so you will have to take my word for it.

8.  Meeting our gringo neighbor named Giff.  He came by because he lost his keys and needed help breaking into his home, which we did by tearing a section of zinc off his roof and jumping in. This was a very Nicaraguan way to meet.

9.  Playing wiffle ball with the neighborhood kids. When the bat cracked, we just kept playing. When the ball fell apart, we got some tape. When it got dark we just gave it our best shot. So much joy from a $2 bat and ball!

10.  Having more time than I thought existed. I can listen to music, going on outings, watch thunderstorms, do nothing, chat with friends, take each day as it comes, and most importantly spend time with my family every single day. All of my plans to volunteer at a local nonprofit, study Spanish, write a novel and think deep thoughts have apparently been melted by the heat (at least for now).