Twelve Days of Christmas

We left Ometepe on 15 December, heading to San Juan del Sur, where we would be for Christmas.  It was bittersweet because the day we left Hacienda Merida was also the day they were holding the graduation ceremony for the first class of kindergarteners for the bilingual school we had taught at for six weeks.  I think I mentioned before that an 11th hour schedule change for the graduation caused us to miss the ceremony, which sucked big time.

We had arranged for a ride to Mayogalpa so we could catch the ferry to the mainland.  We got up and had breakfast, finished packing and staged our bags.  After going through the room for the 5th or 6th time to make sure we hadn't missed anything, we walked over to the lot to watch the folks setting up for graduation.  Because the parents were involved, many of the kids were there and we hadn't seen them for a couple of weeks.  We kicked a ball around with them for a while and had some fun playing with them.  

The driver, Jorge, was there right on time.  We loaded up our bags, walked back through the grounds to say our goodbyes and drove away from this place that immediately began luring us to come back.  The drive along the crappy part of the road was interesting because we had biked it several times and as we crawled along, we realized we could ride it faster than we could drive it, even in this big van we were in!  At one point, we even had to get out of the van so Jorge could navigate a high spot in the road.  [insert gratuitous fat joke here]

As we've discovered in several instances, people here look out for family and friends, in the sense that if they can hook up some business for a buddy, they do.  Jorge had a friend who lives in Rivas and was a cab driver, so 'if we needed a ride from the port to San Juan del Sur' he could 'help us set that up'.  Why, yes, we did and so a couple of phone calls later we had a ride arranged for the mainland.  Crazy cool how it all works.

Jorge got us to Mayogalpa and to the ticket office for the ferry.  We paid him, tipped him and thanked him for being so helpful.  After buying our tickets, Bex! wandered off to find some lunch for us while I sat with the bags.  There was a ferry docked and another one coming in - and still no sign of the wife.  I was getting a little nervous but soon enough I saw her walking toward me with a bag full of goodness.  It must have been the look on my face: "Getting nervous?"  "Just a little".  A quick run to a nearby pulperia netted us some ice cold Cokes, and we were set to go.

This is not the ferry you are looking for

We watched as the inbound ferry unloaded and we waited for the call to board the other one.  Because, ya know, we assumed that the inbound boat would sit while the other one would make the next trip.  This call never came because, as we found out, the inbound boat was reloading and heading back!  In hindsight, it makes sense - Sunday; run one ferry, pay one crew.  Thank goodness we noticed this or we may have sat there with our bags for who knows how long!  Rookie travelers...

We got on the boat, found some seats and ate the lunch Bex! had found - tacos!  These were the Central American version, as described in previous posts - a thick tortilla, filled, rolled up and fried.  With a little slaw and rice - perfect lunch.

It was pretty warm inside and not much better outside.  We watched as the crew backed a large truck full of bananas onto the boat, right up to the window we were sitting near - with the rear wheels of the truck coming precariously close to our ginormous suitcase, which we had left on deck, tucked in a corner.  But our fears were unwarranted - these guys have loaded a few ferries in the past, it seemed.  Soon enough, the ferry pushed off and we started motoring across the lake to Puerto San Jorge/Rivas.  

Second cloud to the right and straight on 'til Rivas

Sailing, sailing over the lake so blue

The water was much choppier this trip.  If you recall, we had taken a much smaller lancha to the island six weeks back and the water had been like glass.  Thank goodness we were on the ferry this time!  A lancha would have been a little nausea inducing, I think.  In fact, the water was so rough that the crew had us all move inside.  I guess they were worried about losing someone over the side.  

Ometepe seems grumpy about our departure

Soon enough we made the port, the ferry captain making a nifty, tight little U-turn in the small bay so he could back in to unload vehicles.  Very impressive maneuver indeed.  We manhandled our bags off the boat and were met by Jorge's amigo, Pedro.  Pedro grabbed a couple of bags and we walked to his car.  I've come to appreciate the looks of amusement and surprise on the faces of drivers when they see the number and size of the bags we have.  It's a little embarrassing but, meh, whatcha gonna do.

Pedro was awesome.  He immediately started talking about Rivas and how one side of town was better than the other because it had many more fruit trees.  And, coincidentally enough, Pedro lived on the good side of town.  In fact, he zipped off the main road a few blocks and we pulled up in front of his house!  He pointed out all of his fruit trees - mango, papaya, banana, orange, lime - and was very proud to show it off.  We were so humbled that he shared this personal part of his world with us, gringos he had just picked up off the ferry not five minutes before.  Like I've said, the Nicaraguans are wonderful people.

The drive to SJdS took 40-45 minutes and once we hit town, it took a little detouring to get to the south end which we would be our home for the next 12 days.  In the time we had been gone, the city had torn up the entire main road into town.  No big deal except that the timing seemed odd given the glut of tourists heading to town for the holidays.  Oh well.

We got to our next home, the LoboLira.  Bex! found this place online and it turned out to be fantastic.  We were in our very own cabin with one bedroom (TV with cable!), a bathroom, a kitchen with a small refrigerator and an equally small four burner gas range and a huge porch, complete with a hammock, chairs, tables and a cat.  I don't think every cabin here came with a cat, I think we were just lucky.  We will definitely go back there again.  In fact, the LoboLira has various sized cabins, even one big place that would be good for a large group.  Like, say, if we ever had any visitors.  (Hint, hint!)  If you need more convincing, check out their website.  And the view from the top deck is spectacular - the bay, the beach, downtown.

Casa dulce casa

I know!  We'll move to SJdS and start a postcard shop!

We traveled to SJdS on a Sunday and started another week of Spanish language school the next morning.  I had signed up a few weeks prior to our return.  Bex! decided at the last minute to do another week, as well.  I enjoyed my previous week with Gladys, so I had asked for her again.  Bex! had a new teacher, Xochil (pronounced 'Sho-chee') (or thereabouts).  My first day was review of what I had learned with Gladys last time.  Then we tackled a huge amount of stuff in the remaining four days.  Conjugation of irregular verbs, past tense, future tense, even when and how to use 'por' vs 'para' - which I still don't quite understand.  By Friday my head was ready to explode and it showed on the test.  I did okay on some aspects and others were just a jumbled mess.  Ugh.  Very frustrating, but I felt I learned a lot and increased my vocabulary and understanding quite a bit.  Still need to work on stringing together full sentences, though.

Happy student.  This must have been on Monday.

Bex! started her week doing more verb conjugation, but felt her class time would be better spent if she just worked on tightening up what she already knew.  So Tuesday, she asked Xochil if she could switch up her program and work on more conversational situations.  She rocked this!  In fact, she spent the last two days teaching the teacher, as a method to reinforce the knowledge for her and to demonstrate a thorough understanding of what she knew.  My wife is awesome, folks.  

We loved cooking for ourselves!  Each day after class, we would walk down a block to the market.  This is where we met Pedro, the butcher.  If meat was on the menu that evening, we would buy it from him.  Then we would pick up the fruits and vegetables we wanted for the next day or so.  There is a small pulperia adjacent to the market and it was here we would buy spices, eggs, juice, etc.

We discovered a panaderia (bakery) nearby and started buying bread there.  We found the liquor store so we could stay stocked up on Flor de Caña, the Nicaraguan rum and local favorite.  Check 'em out here.  The Nica Libré is one of the national drinks, made from rum, Coke and a fair amount of lime juice.  It's delicious, especially after a long day of book learnin'.

We ate out occasionally, too.  We went to Big Wave Dave's one afternoon to have lunch.  It was here I had bacon for the first time in two+ months.  Two straggly pieces on a very good cheeseburger.  They don't have a webpage but check out their FB page here.  We had drinks and apps one evening at the Barrio Cafe, an unusual place in that the service was very formal and the food, ours and what we saw coming out of the kitchen, was exceptional.  Highly recommended.

But our favorite place to go was Mauricio's Pizzeria San Juan.  Mauricio is an elderly gentleman from the north of Italy and makes everything from scratch.  His pizzas are fantastic - crusts crispy and chewy, generous toppings, great sauces and even a decent wine list.  Plus his pastas are all scratch made - linguine, fettuccine, raviolis, etc.  Mauricio usually comes out at some point during your meal, asking if you're enjoying the food.  We LOVED this place, hitting it three times while we were in town.  Sitting outside, view of the park, lots of 'people watching' to entertain us.  Again, no website for this place, but read about them and many other restaurants in SJdS here - you'll see that the food scene is awesome. 

Really, the only other thing we did daily is - swim!  The afternoons, after school and our daily market trips, were usually spent in the Pacific Ocean.  Beautiful beach, soft sand and warm water.  Heck, my wife even bought a bikini!!  I damn near cried tears of joy.  We'd swim out a little ways, float on our backs, play in the water - and conjugate verbs in Spanish.  

This was a daily occurrence and usually culminated in a stop at one of the beach bars for a beer, piña colada or michelada.  We also discovered two new drinks - the macuá and the caipirinha.  

The macuá (ma-kwa) is considered to be Nicaragua's 'national cocktail'.  Yeah, I know - I've mentioned the Nica Libré several times, which is really just a Cuba Libré served in Nicaragua.  

The macuá is made thusly:
1-1/2 oz. Flor de Caña Gold Label rum
1 oz. guava juice
1 oz. orange juice
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/3 oz. simple syrup
Fill shaker 2/3 with ice; add ingredients; shake, shake, shake your booty; serve in a Tom Collins glass with an orange wedge garnish
Bex! had this drink blended, which she preferred.  Either way, it's damn good.

The caipirinha (ka-pur-een-ya) is Brazil's contribution to the world's national cocktail list.  The ones we had were made with rum (you can even use vodka - but why?).  They are, however, traditionally made with 'cachaça' along with lime juice and white sugar.  Cachaça is similar to rum, except it is fermented before it is distilled.  

To make a caipirinha:
Put 3 T of sugar into a pint glass
Cut one lime into 8 wedges, removing the white pithy part in the middle (bitter!)
Put lime in glass and muddle the crap out of it in the sugar, pressing as much juice out of the lime as possible
Fill glass with ice
Pour in cachaça (or light rum)
Stir and drink

See?  We told you this would be an educational adventure for us - and you.  Enjoy!!

Eeeny meeny miny mo, to which bar do we choose to go?