Laguna de -- I'm never leaving

This first day of sightseeing with the group was relaxing and fun! We woke up a bit early and went out to our hotel restaurants' porch seating for breakfast. I went for the traditional Nicaraguan food which was gallo pinto. Basically it was rice and beans with some tortilla. It was very good. Then we went on a tour of the city. We saw churches, a huge graveyard, a train station, and Lake Granada. Our tour guide was very informative and nice. In the cemetery the graves toward the front are all marble and elegant. As you go further back they smaller and more modest. The wealthy generally have the nice ones in front, and the poor in the back. Separated by class in life and death. We also learned about the fish in the lake. They have Tilapia, bass, and Bull Sharks come up the river, and into the lake. Overall the city reminded me a little of Antigua, Guatemala.

A very old church. There are so many earthquakes there that a lot of old buildings are not being restored.

This was in the middle. Not as nice as the marble ones, but better than the the ones further in.

The whole group (minus Jim) near Lake Granada

After the tour we made a stop for provisions for the day and headed to the Laguna de Apoyo. It was absolutely gorgeous! It's a lake created in the crater of an old volcano. There are a lot of these in Nicaragua. We swam in waterfall filled pools, saw bats, ate delicious chicken and re-fried beans, and went kayaking and swimming in the laguna. I had a blast and managed not to get sun burnt. We also got to try Victoria Frost, another tasty beverage.

Laguna de Apoyo

The drive to and from the laguna gave us an opportunity to see some of the country side. April is the end of the dry season so it was very brown and dry there. I had imagined it would be more tropical, but some areas were still kind of leafy. I hadn't realized they had wet and dry seasons. I saw a lot of similarities to Senegal that probably hold true for many smaller and developing countries. For example, all of the street dogs look the same. Also all of the shops have the same tile, and outdoor signs. Traffic signs are merely suggestions. The roads were actually much better though.

Lorenzo was really making sure we had a good time, and answered a lot of cultural questions while we were there and on the way home. I could see the undergrads absorbing all of this new information, and some of it was unique to Nicaragua, and so new to me as well. When we got back to Granada we had the rest of the evening free from planned activities. I thought of our group as split into the "adults" and "kids". I was in the kids group, which is fitting really, as I have managed reaching 30 and not growing up. We got showered up and went into the streets. There were a lot of street vendors and I got a few trinkets. A cute purse, some bracelets, and talked to many local people. We went to a restaurant with street side sitting. It was more interesting this way as local vendors continued to show you their goods throughout dinner, or sing to you, or dance for you. It was a very tourist based area. The food was very Americanized, and I just went for the quesadilla. All of the undergrads had been in my entomology class the previous semester as my students so I already kind of knew them. However, as the night went on we got to know each other a lot better! It was such a cool experience to go from being a mentor to hearing about their personal lives, seeing other sides of their personalities emerge, and being free to share more about myself. I got to use my Spanish skills quite a bit, and as the night went on I swear I was fluent haha! We went to another place for more drinks and I asked the server if there was a place to dance. He suggested a place to us and even walked us there. It was like the dance club of the city. I think it was called Kelly's....for some reason I can't remember clearly. We had so much fun, but still made it home early enough to get a good nights sleep.

Fun times!

The Excursion Begins!

I've flown enough that I wasn't worried about my flights. I went from NOLA to Fort Lauderdale FL, and then to Managua. On the second leg of the plane I looked out the window. It was dark and looked like we were flying over some little islands. They were like so many stars in the ocean. My first thought was maybe Cuba. I later found out from my phone's GPS tag of the photo I took that I was over the Bahamas.

My $5 nest for the night, taken the morning after.

I was nervous about getting off the plane. I imagined a rush of people trying to take my bag and put me in a car. I arrived around 1 AM though, and there weren't many people around the airport. I looked around a bit, and a man approached me asking if I needed a taxi. The time to use my Spanish skills had come, and it was fine! I did spit out some Wolof as I was trying to help with directions, but overall it was ok. I arrived at the hostel where I had made a reservation, The Backpackers INN. Unfortunately there was a misunderstanding and the young lady at the counter didn't have me reserved for that night. If you reserve for 1AM Saturday, that means Saturday night, not Friday night. I was a little worried because where else was I going to go? She was really nice though and we made a deal. I could stay on the sofa in the front hall for $5. DONE! I was so tired and didn't know where else I could go so I was very grateful for what I got. I got some mosquito bites, there were some loud boys (definitely U.S. guys), and for some reason I was really worried someone would take my shoes. Maybe a lingering worry from Senegal. Am I always going to worry about people stealing my shoes when I sleep in a foreign country? Maybe, but maybe that's not a bad thing. I got a few hours sleep regardless and got up around 7 to start my day.

They had a community shower there. Cold water only, but it was warm out so it was fine. I had brought some granola and munched on it while I asked other people in the hostel where they were from and what they were planning to do. There were some sights I wanted to

The Hostel Pool

see and decided to just to go find them on my own. My pack was pretty heavy though, it was very hot out, and taxis are expensive when you are alone. So, I went back to the hostel after about an hour of walking the city. I decided to spend some more of the hot morning hours swimming in the pool and talking to people. There were people from Finland, Massachusetts, Canada, and D.C. Then a few of us decided to go get some lunch. We walked around for a while, maybe an hour and a half checking some sites as we went. The big statue of Sandino being one of them. Managua does not have many sites. The city is kind of busted from earthquakes and there is some gang violence.  I ended up being glad I had a couple guys walking around with me. It was also very empty as it was the Easter holiday and most people go to the beaches. This had the effect of making the city a bit more desolate than it may seem at other times. We were hot, hungry, and a bit tired when we finally went to a little restaurant in a shopping mall. I had myself a Victoria Classico beer, chicken, and rice. It was really good.

This is a statue of Augusto Sandino. He is considered a national hero in Nicaragua. He was a rebel in the 1920's. Pretty interesting. The statue is HUGE. This was taken from the other side of the lake the statue sits next to.

We decided to split a cab back to the hostel. There were some new people there then. A guy from Mexico who was really cool and nice, as well as a guy circumnavigating the globe on a bike. Crazy awesome. It sounded like he was having the trip of a lifetime. Then I tried another Nicaraguan beer Tona. I told them about some of the places I still wanted to see in the city, but hadn't made it to yet, and a group of us decided to go. We shared a taxi and saw El Parque de Revolucion. There was a really old church you could see cracks in from the earthquakes, a beautiful palace, tombs, statues, and lots of Christmas type lights. There were these big trees that light up all down the main stretch of the city. Then it was time for dinner and there were not many options. This was the worst part about people being gone on holiday. There was no one selling street food! I ended up trying TipTop. A fried chicken place similar to Canes in Louisiana.

These are the "yellow trees" that line the streets. 

At night the trees light up!

My new friend Curtis

We made it back to the hostel where I continued to chat with other travelers waiting for my groups plane to come in. Finally I headed to the airport where I met a guy from Germany waiting for a friend to come in. Managua was definitely a meeting ground for people from all over! None of them seemed to be sticking around long though. I learned later that was because there are so many more beautiful and amazing places to go in this small country.

My group finally arrived. It included LSU faculty and staff, graduate students, and undergrads. JC and Ivana were in charge. There were two other grad students Shelli and Cristina. All four undergrads Chelsea, Brad, Peyton, and Myra, had been in a class a TA'd last fall. Just a small group of 10. We also met Lorenzo for the first time. He was a tour guide, facilitator, translator, and by the end of the week a friend. We headed out of Managua to Granada very late. Chelsea and I decided to room together. The hotel was a beautiful open air place with a pool. They had nice showers, and after my long day I was ready for bed.

Inside the hotel courtyard, the next morning.

Preparing for my Newest Adventure

Last fall I saw a scholarship announcement for an agriculturally focused trip to Nicaragua, including rice production, and thought, "Why not?". I should at least put my name in the hat. I was so excited when I found out I had been selected! Finally, after 2 years back in the U.S. I was stepping out again. I immediately began Google-ing things in Nicaragua to get an idea of what I was in for. It seemed at least that the potential to get sick was much reduced as compared to Senegal. I had never really thought about the agricultural products of Central America, and was excited to learn that I would experience production of some crops I had never seen before.

I began making a list of some "must see" places even though I knew most of the trip would be predetermined destinations of agricultural interest. I knew I wanted to go down a day or two before the rest of the group to be able to see a few more places. I also wanted to make sure I would be able to comfortably move all of the belongings I took on my own. This caused me to reach out to some friends who could suggest backpacks. Thanks to Jessica Wesling, I was able to select and buy a sweet pack amongst other goodies. Thank you Jess!

I love this pack. It was all I took for the week. Note the awesome orange zombie water bottle that is still in Nicaragua. I bet it's the only zombie related item in the country ha!

The time before the trip seemed to creep by. Finally, we were told to purchase our tickets. I wanted the cheapest flight I could get. I ended up finding one that put me there a mere 24 hours before the rest of the group. Just enough time to see the capitol Managua. I was pretty happy about this as the city was not one of the places on our itinerary. I thought about arriving at the airport and worried a little that my Spanish skills wouldn't come back. I took the opportunity to practice with some friends before going, and I am very grateful for their help!

When the day to leave came (a Friday) I finished up my packing, stopped by the lab, hugged Kiki, and went for a final run before going down to try all of the street food I could get my hands on. So excited!!

Kiki wants to travel too!