Crazy Hectic Week

But then - how is that any different from all the other weeks?!

Living out of a hotel is fine for a while, but having our own place would make us feel like we were home.  Knowing the house was ready was exciting beyond words.  This was kind of a big day in that we really felt like part of the community and the commitment we'd made to stay for the full year seemed achievable.  As social and extroverted as I am, I enjoy my privacy and quiet time - neither of which is possible at the hotel.  Our own home would allow us time to unwind, time for us to be ourselves and not have to always be 'on'.  

Our first round of shopping for the house now complete, it was only a matter of waiting for the phone call that we could move in.  We had things pretty much ready to go, except for our clothes and personal items.  Heck, we had time to get that stuff packed later that afternoon, right?  (foreshadowing…)  

Hamilton said he could arrange for a truck to come to the hacienda to load us up and deliver directly to our new home.  This turned out to be money well spent.  All we knew is that the move was happening Monday (10 Feb) and that it would happen late afternoon.  So imagine our surprise when Hamilton, the truck and five guys showed up around ten AM!  Ah, Nica's and this thing we call 'time'.  No matter - we scrambled to get our crap shoved into suitcases and backpacks, made sure the Super Volunteers could cover classes for the afternoon then fire-lined our belongings onto the back of the flatbed truck.  From the time they showed up to the time we drove away from the hotel took maybe five minutes.

Load 'em up...

… head 'em out!

And maybe five minutes after that, we were parked in front of our house!  The crew unloaded our stuff in a matter of minutes and - poof! - drove away.  Amazing thing, too, considering that there really isn't an actual road that runs to our house.  It's more of a wide-enough-in-most-spots trail that the driver was able to pick his way through to get to our front yard.  Our official address is 'near the evangelical church, 100 meters toward the lake'.  So if you wanted to send us home-baked cookies, a nice lasagna, some Alaskan salmon or Chico's pizza…

Volcán Maderas in the background

Our office

The owner of our place, Cindi,  lives in New Mexico, USA.  She has a property manager who lives in Moyogalpa and he met us at the house.  Adolpho is a great guy and we have some cool pics of the 'key exchange', when we moved in and received the keys.  We wanted to send them to Cindi so she could enjoy the moment from afar.  

No novelty size key was available.

Our house…  In the middle of the jungle… Our house...

The house came furnished with a new queen bed, a hand-made wood table with four chairs, a CTCU (Cerveza Temperature Control Unit or 'refrigerator') and a two-burner, propane cookstove.  Home sweet home!  First thing we did was move the bed to the front bedroom on the lake side of the house because it has two windows, air circulation being a key to survival in this climate.  Plus we like looking out the window and seeing the water.

I scrounged up enough bricks on the property to build a cute little fire pit and a small bench…

For roasting marshmallows… or iguanas

Or meditating about marshmallow stuffed iguanas.

We got our 'unpack and organize' game going, which was a lot of fun.  And when I say 'organize', I mean that in the loosest sense of the word because, you see, homes here aren't big on closets or shelves or cabinets.  Our place?  Two small shelves and a fair amount of counter space in the kitchen.  And that's it.  So when I say we got organized, I really mean we unpacked and created assorted piles of stuff on the floors, the table and the counter.

[Note:  Since moving in, we have commissioned and received a medicine cabinet for the bathroom (a beautiful, handmade piece with a mirrored door) and a very large shelf unit, which contains most everything - clothes, suitcases, musical instruments, etc.  Most of the floor is now clear!!]

Now that we had our own place, it was also time to go grocery shopping.  if you know us, you know that this always puts a smile on our faces.  We love to cook and, even though our kitchen was somewhat basic, we were ecstatic to be able to cook for ourselves.  There are limited options here - several pulperias (small convenience stores), usually run out of a home; the 'WalMart', which is essentially a large pulperia, that also carries some clothing and shoes - lots and lots of shoes; Fruitlandia - a roadside produce stand run by Doña Clara and her family; Margarita's, run by Tia Margarita, where we purchase our beer and rum.

We hit the stores, bought what we could find and stocked the fridge and the shelves as best we could.   Since we walk around the village almost every day, we typically buy stuff each time we're out.  The stores here get deliveries, yes, but once they're sold out of something, it's gone til the next truck makes it here.  Check out what Bex! has to say about our food shopping experiences in her terrific blog post here.  Or, you know, back there a few words on the clickable part.

Profesora on her way to teach, first walk up the path from our house

The rest of the week went well - we taught our classes, we marveled at the wonderful volunteers we were blessed to have and we thoroughly enjoyed being able to watch sunsets from our porch, sleep in our own home, shower in our own bathroom and cook meals in our own kitchen.  Since we were now in our new house, we figured we'd make it official and have a housewarming party!!  This was mostly inspired by The Swiss, who are all 19 years old (mas 0 menos), enjoy a great party and kept asking when the housewarming party was going to be.  Plus, Liz and Kelly mentioned it a few times.  And, hell, we like a good gathering, too.  So - boom! - party time.  There are good parties but the sign of a great party is when uninvited guests show up.

"The cows brought milk to the party.  What did YOU bring, Horse??"

We bought beer and some snacks, a couple of bottles of Flor de Caña appeared, friends from the community as well as our fellow volunteers came and we had a grand old time.  It was during the party that Bex! spotted a cockroach in our kitchen!!  We figure he was just checking out the new occupants.  We 'evicted' him, if you know what I mean.  Haven't seen any since.  While it was great to have our friends here, with drinks and music and dancing and games, it was a gift from Liz and Evan that was really special.  If you recall, Liz and Evan are from Aurora, Oregon so they're practically neighbors of ours.  And they gifted us with some Oregon hazelnuts!!  A taste of home, to be sure, and one we cherished each time we enjoyed them.

The party was awesome and everyone had a good time.  Sunday was spent recovering from the frivolity, of course.  Usual chores, planning for the week, requisite swim in the lake.  Sunday evening we were invited over to a friend's house for dinner.  Nora works at Hacienda Merida and her son, Franklin, is in the OBS kindergarten class.  This was our first invitation to a locals home for a meal, so we didn't really know what to expect.  We got there, met Nora's family and sat around a big table in their front yard.  Like many places in the world, families often live in close proximity to one another.  Nora's brother lived next door, other relatives lives across the path.  Her mother and father even showed up to dine with us, even though they are no longer married.  This was quite an honor, really.  

Well, weren't these self-described foodies shocked as the food came out!  Perfectly baked thin crust pizza, a delicious vegetable lasagna, delicately breaded and fried chicken.  What an amazing spread!  Don't get me wrong - we knew the food would be incredible but we were expecting plato tipico - traditional Nicaraguan fare.  This meal had a somewhat Italian slant to it, which caught us off guard just a wee bit.  Then we met Nora's brother.    The same Nora's brother who married an Italian girl and lived in Italy and was visiting the island for a few weeks.  Ah!  This explained the menu!  What a special treat!  The food was amazing, we had a blast conversing with Nora and her family.  Her brother speaks English so, with Bex!, they were able to help both sides along in conversation.  It was a fantastic evening, made even better when a bottle of vin santo appeared on the table, straight from Italy and was served in the appropriate style - with cantucci, a biscotti-type cookie which you dunk in the chilled vin santo and eat.

We've had vin santo and cantucci before, back home.  Bex! brought it back from her trip to Italy a few years ago.  But never in our wildest imaginations did we expect to experience such a feast and such a dessert on our jungle island in Nicaragua. 

Buenas noches de la casa de professores.