Un montón de fotos!

In this edition of the my evolving blog there will not be a unified story nor a long and involved story either.  Rather a collection of photos from my recent adventures with some captions to help tell the story.

Volcano Boarding: This is a nascent 'sport' similar to sand-boarding but with the goal being to set speed records (In fact watch this video to get an idea of how fast is possible) while sitting on a peice of wood with a little pedazo of formica pasted onto the bottom.  The pictures should help get the idea too.

The volcano with the road leading up to it.  It's an active volcano that has erupted over 20 times since its birth in the 1850s.  The last eruption was in 1995ish so we're due an eruption soon...

From the top - like I said, active with the steam and hot rocks to prove it.

Gotta do the tourist thing!

Absolutely beautiful.  Can't wait to see how the panaromas turn out!

These are our sweeeeet protect my skin jumpsuits.  Unlike sandboarding, volcano boarding hurts when you fall over - and I fell over a lot!  In fact I was god-awful.  They clock your speed wit the record being about 87kph at the bottom.  The max in our group was 50ish and mine was a whopping 24 - but it sure felt fast...

You can just make out our truck at the bottom...it's super steep

Laughing cause I was awful.  Laughing for joy that I didn't end up with a bloody head or black eye (both happened in my group). Laughing that I will never get all the black soot out of my hair, ears, mouth.  Or just a combo of all of the above.  And looking forward to the ice cold beer waiting in the truck...

Poneloya - or my first visit to the Pacific.  Leon is super close to the beach and it is a normal weekend excurision for the Nicas.  Turned out to be a lousy beach day but that doesn't mean the food wasnt good...

Doing the - this is the 1st time Ive touched the Pacific dance and thinking "wow i cant wait to swim in this in a few weeks!)

Sopa de marina - Riquisima!!!!  What you can't see is the half of a fish that's hiding under all the shelled goodies!  And the best part - it costs a whopping 6 dollars!

The aftermath.  It's hard work to eat all that food!

It's nice to eat with a great view.

Struck me more like Africa than Nicaragua...

Fiesta de San Jeronimo:  The Nicas love their fiestas.  The week before was the Virgen of the Merced.  This time for San Jeronimo.  But the difference was night and day.  Virgen de la Merced is a rather religious affair with masses, the rosary and very little alcohol.  San Jeronimo is a giant party with only 1 mass, no rosaries and lots and lots of rum.  I spent the Thursday night in the hospital of Leon with the surgeon who nworks in El Sauce and sutured alot of drunk guys with head lacerations.  So the next morning I had to go see what the deal was all about.

Here's the scoop and recipe for disaster.  Make a turtle-like shell to put over your head and body - without a way to see.  Fashion a head that nominally resembles a bulls head.  Find two large, preferably sharp, bulls horns and attach to the head.  Find people to bang on some drums.  Gather with a bunch of people who have similarily built turtle/bulls and buy lots of cheap rum and beer.  Put the turtle/bull on your head and while your budies pelt the shell with sticks jump up and down and spin around.  Repeat for 36 hours.

The statue of San Jeronimo.  All in all a very interesting event.  The best part - I saw at least 2 guys I had sutured the night before back out on the street the next morning - bandage on head and rum in hand.  Gotta celebrate!

El Sauce - a bird's eye view.  On the first day I walked back from the hospital I saw this little mountain top in the near-distance without any trees on the top and thought - wow I bet the view from that is awesome!  I tried to make plans to climb it but it didn't work out - until yesterday.  And I was not disappointed.  The walk was simple and I passed some beautiful houses a good hour away from Sauce and not very accessible except for on foot.  A good way to see another part of El Sauce.

That's El Sauce down there!  And a bit to the right - the Hospital.

Well worth the trek!  Another one where I can't wait to see what the Panoramas look like.

But just so I wouldn't forget the fact that I am in Nicaragua - the poorest Spanish speaking country in the world and the 2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere.  At least they have a Zinc roof.

This week I will be heading off to Honduras to experience some more Latino culture, some Mayan ruins and even a chance to hang with some Rochester peeps in San Jose.

Virgen de la Merced

This weekend saw another visit to the city of Leon, this time with another friendly and welcoming family.  The hospital here in El Sauce is an interesting place in that nearly all of the younger people who work in the hospital - doctors, nurses, techs and more- live in Leon and work in El Sauce.  Leon is about 1.5 hours away by bus or interlocale(minvan that is waaaaaaay more comfy - usually) and is the capital of this department - and some would argue - one of the better cities in Nicaragua.  So the people live in Leon with their families but spend the week here in El Sauce in rooms provided by MINSA - government department of health.  So one of the doctors invited me to Leon to experience the festival and stay with her and her family - so I did.  Just like everyone that I have met so far they were incredibly welcoming and warm - ready to chat and share their food, their house and their time.  And it was quite the sharing - since there are 7 people who live in the house that is not very large to start!  The doctor and her 8 year old son.  2 of her sisters - one of whom has a son of 2 years.  The doctor's brother.  And then their mother - la dona de la casa.  So I made 8 and then there is actually another sister and her husband who live elsewhere but spent a lot of time with us so there were really 10 people in the house!

But as for the fiesta.  This whole month there are special masses and rosaries in honor of the virgen but the real fun started on Friday.  That night they were saying the rosary all night and the church was packed and beautifully decorated.

Then at 8 and again at 9 everyone gathered in the plaza outside the church for music and event where "toros" ran through the crowd.  These 'toros' are pywood sheets that have fireworks - roman candles, sparklers among other things - attached.  Some guy carries it above his head as it is lit and then runs through the crowd - amid screams, squeals and general chaos.  I am sure it is incredibly unsafe, but it certainly was interesting.

Waiting for 9pm.  There is an unwritten Nica rule that you are not allowed to look happy in photos...

El toro.

2 toros.  There were 2 at 8pm and 3 at 9pm.  I am pretty sure the safest place to be was underneath the board itself!

The next day began bright and early with Masses at 5,6,9 and 11 am - each an every one stuffed full.  Then at noon the statue of the Virgen left from the church to parade around the town.  The procession lasts about 30 blocks but doesn't return to the church until about 10pm!  Each street that the Virgen passes is decorated by the owners to show their faith and devotion. I had the great luck that the procession passed by our house - but for the family this meant an entire day spent preparing the house - with flowers, ribbons, posters and more.  It was really quite nice.  Unfortuantely the rain arrived just before the Virgen.  However, this only served the make things a bit damp - the Virgen and her devoted rode out the storm like champs - nothing a little plastic sheeting can't take care of.

La Virgen de la Merced.