Interlude

We are taking a break from the "each person does an in-depth post" series to give a little update on what has been going on lately.  Since our last post, Jeff, Emma and Hannah went back to visit our friends the Valles. When we got there Jeffrey Jr. and his brother were away but we got to spend time with Aileen Jr. and her parents. There was no traumatic river crossing this time but we did get to watch our lunch (chicken) being killed and prepared.  It was so very touching to watch Hannah running around with the semi-developed chicken eggs and other innards that they let her play with.  That evening we stayed at a hotel in the town of El Sauce owned by our old friends the Blancos.  Xiomara and Francisco are amazing people and we were very happy to hear that all three of their daughters were doing well in their chosen professions.  This family is a very bright light in a country where the future often seems so dark.  It was energizing to be around them and we plan to go back very soon.

To the Valle's house we go....

In other exciting news, our zoo continues to grow. The Valle family decided to give Hannah a chick since she loved playing with them so much.  Aileen Jr. and Hannah forced Jeff into submission and we took the little sucker home.  It had to spend the night in the Blanco's hotel with us. Muji (hen in Chinese) is the newest resident of our chicken coop and she seems to be adjusting well.  In addition to Muji we now have a bat living in our patio named Bat Girl.  Bat Girl is probably there to enjoy a nice meal of chicken blood and hopefully not feasting on our dog too.  Actually we chased her away the other day but I would not be surprised to see Bat Girl again.  Speaking of the dog, Cuate is getting HUGE and is lots of fun for all of us when he is not destroying various items he gets his mouth on.

Bat Girl

Thanksgiving was another highlight of the month.  Aileen cooked a wonderful meal of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce.  We were not able to watch football as there was no power all day and we had to cook and eat by candlelight.  The next day we visited a pre-Columbian museum in a nearby town called Chaguitillo. The museum guide (Jimmy) took us to a creek to see petro glyphs that were about 1500 years old.   Not only was the trip really interesting, Jimmy was a really nice guy who just got a scholarship to study nonprofit management in the USA.  Jimmy is another bright light and we plan to hang out with him before he leaves.

Thanksgiving Nica style

The really big event this month was the end of the Nicaraguan school year.  Hannah had her preschool graduation which was a huge affair.  It started with a mass in our beautiful little church.  The mass was lovely but Jeff found himself muttering in Hebrew and keeping an eye out for lightning bolts (only partly joking).  After mass there was a graduation ceremony and fiesta back at the school.  Jeff had to walk Hannah down the aisle which was good practice for the pending marriage to Oscar - her friend who swears he is coming back to the USA with us. 



Hannah getting her diploma

Emma did not have a ceremony per se, but we did have to go pick up her report card today which was sort of ceremonial.  Teacher Carmen told us that Emma was one of the best students she has ever had (and she has been teaching for 30 years).  Emma did incredibly well and has a growing reputation as the town scholar.  She is at the library every other day picking out books to read (English and Spanish).  Both of the girls will miss being at school.  They have made many friends and have been spending more and more time playing with their classmates.  Though they are making lots of new buddies, Emma and Hannah have REALLY bonded.  It is wonderful to see them together (except of course when they are fighting - which gets surprisingly physical sometimes).

Diploma and report card

School starts does not start again until February and we are about to begin our vacation travels  Jeff, Emma and Hannah leave for Costa Rica in a few days and will return mid-December.  Aileen cannot go as she is taking off many weeks of work in 2011 for our trips to the USA and Peru.  Besides all that, she has started a new school project in another community and is getting really busy again.  The travelers will try to blog on the road but if not, we will post when we get return.  Oh yeah, that is if we are even able to leave.  We just found out we need an exit visa for Jeff to take the kids out of Nicaragua without Aileen and it may be impossible to get one at this late date.  We cannot wait to make another trip to immigration!