News from Nica

Home Sweet Home

2011-01-30T14:37:00.000-08:00

We left the warmth and sunshine and arrived home safe and sound. Sadly, we went through a 50 degree temperature change from a high of 30 degrees to a low of negative 2o.

It feels strange to be back, but comforting at the same time.

Saturday Afternoon

2011-01-30T13:57:00.000-08:00

Transportation has always been interesting during our travels. The fact that we do not have our own vehicle to drive this time around requires us to be more adaptable to the circumstances. Today we decided to go farther up the coast to a more remote beach, but vastly popular to surfers. Santiago offered to drive us in his Toyota land cruiser that has a very short box. In preparation, here he is installing the safety belt across the back. Nora looks skeptical.And voila... that looks so much safer now - doesn't it??

I did not want to be left out and squeezed in with my back against the cab.
Once we were out of the town limits, and veered off on the typically horrendously potholed and washed out dirt road, we realized that standing up and absorbing the bumps with our legs was preferable to the spine crunching seated position. JD and I knowingly looked at each other and silently agreed that we were once again committing a parental crime.

But what fun we had in getting there.
And here we are: at yet another beach. Another day of sunshine, salt water, and fresh air.

Ometepe Island

2011-01-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

Today we took a ferry ride to Ometepe Island. In the native language of long ago, Ometepe means 'two hills' and the hills in question are Concepcion Volcano and Madera Volcano. It is truly a beautiful island and JD's favourite place to be.

Here's Elsie driving the ferry. It was rough water going across and while everyone was happy and content, I lay crumpled on the deck, not daring to move lest I lost my lunch.

Here's Averyl with a volcano looming behind her. The clouds are so low that they are hugging the peak and obscuring its true size.

Signs

2011-01-20T18:21:00.001-08:00

Every now and then I see something that is new and unusual, and definitely not found in Canada. This one is pretty self explanatory to those that live here, but in case you are having difficulties it is a picture of an erupting volcano.

This one I have never seen anywhere else before.

And this last one is just for fun.

Playa La Flor - Tortugas

2011-01-12T08:31:00.001-08:00

We just went on the best trip. EVER! We rented a taxi and drove for an hour on the worst road I have ever been on. We had to cross three river where the bridges had been washed out, the car had no shocks and bottomed out just about ever 100m, and to top it off the car smelled of diesel. However that can all be overlooked because our taxi driver safely delivered us to Nicaragua's famous national park: la Flor Wildlife Reserve where amazing things are happening. First of all it is a park dedicated to protecting the threatened tropical rainforest and second, it is the only protected beach where endangered sea turtles arrive to lay their eggs.

At 9:00pm at night we arrived and were introduced to our guide. We had to cover all our flashlights and cameras with a red film to reduce the intensity of the light (so all our pictures have been converted to black and white). Stepping out on the beach our guide showed us about six 'piles' of baby turtles emerging from the sand. At first I thought they were dead, but they just move slow as it takes a lot of effort to climb out over top of all your brothers and sisters.

Each egg pocket has around 40 to 60 turtles. They have greater success in getting to the water if they travel en masse. Amazingly, we were allowed to pick them up. They were so cute. No really, they were. Their little fins tickled your palm as you held them. The guide encouraged us to carry them closer to the water because they are often eaten by crabs, or other predators along the way.Here is a great picture of a cluster of turtles that we carried to the water and watched as the waves came up and carried them off to sea. You can see the moon in the sky.
After a couple of hours, the emergence of the baby turtles was finished for the night and it was time to wait for the momma turtles to arrive. They usually do so after the moon has set so they have better protection. The most popular times for laying eggs are in April and November. We waited, and waited, and waited, but no one showed up. Nora could not stay up any longer. So we considered it a night and went home.

Wow!

Santiago and Queen Fairy Gwendolyn

2011-01-10T07:23:00.001-08:00

Today we went out for an afternoon social visit in the country where Santiago and Gwendolyn live. It is a beautiful piece of land. As mentioned previously, they live in a school bus converted into their home. It is very cozy.

We planned on staying for dinner, but what I did not know, was that our dinner was still alive when we arrived. Santiago took the kids into the chicken coop where a plump chicken was picked out. Here he is explaining to the kids that if you rub under the chin just so the chicken will would calm down. It worked like a charm.

And then the grizzly part started. Santiago tied the chicken up to a tree, inserted a spike into it's

brain to kill it, and then proceeded to lop its head off.

Here's Elsie assisting Gwendolyn with the

de-feathering. Sadly, I was not able to 'pluck up' the courage to help.

And here is Gwendolyn. As can be seen on her expression, she is resisting the urge to involuntarily throw up.

All in all, dinner was good.

Lobolira

2011-01-09T16:31:00.000-08:00

We found an awesome place to rent for two weeks that far surpasses my expectations of 'roughing it'. It is a newly built house that has a kitchen, a bathroom and two bedrooms. What a joy!

San Juan del Sur

2011-01-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

We rented a taxi one morning and changed towns. We have arrived at San Juan del Sur. It is a popular destination for many white folk both young and old. Basically, it is a hippy town that has changed with all of its outside influences. Here we can buy yummy bread at le Pan de Vida (very similar to 'With the Grain') or have a great cup of coffe, or cappuccino at Gato Negro (think Planet Bean). There is a mercado where we can buy our local vegtables every day (not unlike our Farmer's Market). And so on, and so on.

Today we found the liberia and signed up . So, now we can get some books out and return them within a week. To sign up I gave them my name and home address and phone number. They did not ask to see any identification.

More Pics

2011-01-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

Averyl really enjoyed the horses

I'll never tire of $12 lobster dinners!!
Some colourful characters that we met in town

Beach Beach Beach

2011-01-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

One of the challenges of being on vacation is what to do with your time. Some people golf and can spend the whole day getting to the course and then playing. Some people ride motorcycles and plan day trips and check out all the corners of the earth. In our case, we have kids and the options aren't open to us. Luckily there is the the beach. La playa, as it is known here, offers endless hours of distraction. Favourite pastimes are collecting shells (Pop has put a limit on just how many that they are able to bring home). The age old 'cover some willing victim' with sand is a great hit. The kids seem to make friends where ever they go. This girl's name is Nayla and she also likes collecting shells with the girls.

Averyl, Elsie and Nora also found that just horsing around was a lot of fun.
One issue that exists all over the world is the amount of garbage. It is sad that the amount of plastic in the worlds oceans can now be measured as a percentage. These guys seem to be the only ones actually picking up around here.

Waterfall

2011-01-08T16:29:00.001-08:00

At every river, in every town, is a dam where most of life happens. People bathe, kids play, women wash cloathes, and everyone cools off from the heat. More than most do not wear bathing suits, but just walk into the water fully cloathed. My guess is that their cloathes dry so fast that it is not an issue and it feels good against the heat to be slightly damp for the next couple of hours. So, we all tried it and went in fully cloathed - well, not JD. He has issues with water that most of you know about. It was great fun, refreshing, and no salt and sand.

Lighthouse

2011-01-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

Today we walked along the beach. We waded through two rivers and arrived at a lighthouse. Against all precautions for danger, we climbed to the top to have a look. Half way up I decided this might not be the best parental move I had made and hoped that no one lost their footing. It was a straight ladder essentially up four flights.

Here's a view towards the north. Basically, while there is nothing to see, our property is at the far left of the photo, approximately 15 km from Masachapa.

Here's a view looking south. We are staying just around the last visible point.

Breakfast as usual

2011-01-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

We had a woman next door prepare us supper. I asked for a fish dinner that would feed five of us. She went off and about forty minutes later came to find us on the beach. She had grilled a large red snapper complete with head, (that kind of freaked the kids out) that hung over both sides of a large serving platter. It came with rice. salsa, limes, and fried plantano chips. I had to server the head and serve the meat before C-A and the kids would eat it. I am very happy here.

This morning I found the same woman and asked for a platter of eggs, beans and plantanos. This is working out well for me. I just ask and I receive. Don’t anyone tell Cathy (from the Apollo Restaurant) that she has been replaced - well at least temporarily.

Ode to Roberto Burle Marx

2011-01-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

While this is only a small fishing village on the Pacific Coast, someone has some good ideas about what to do with recycled materials. What a cool look! All the tiles are broken and no doubt came from many different found sources. Surprisingly, the installation is level but be careful.. stepping off the sidewalk is a hazard as the curb height ranges from 6 inches to 14 inches.

Roberto Burle Marx was a landscape architect, designer, artist born in the early 1900's and died in the 1990's. Google Copacabana Promenade, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil for a good look at the 1970's famous sidewalk. Here's a picture that I copied.

Masachapa

2011-01-04T07:56:00.000-08:00

The kids hit the beach with ferocious zealous. The wave jumping was -and still is- an excellent attraction. They have easily slipped into life on the beach. Here are some photo's of our surroundings.

We had a lot of fun on this rock for the obvious reasoning that it looked like a sunken skull. The girls kept stepping in and out of the 'eyesockets' with glee.

Nicaragua 2010

2011-01-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

We have arrived safe and sound. The travel went fine. Averyl has officially overcome her tummy trauma’s at take-off and touch-down via air travel. Yeah! The only complaint is airport food really does suck and it is expensive. We shared our first plane ride from TO to Atlanta with a celebrity - Justin Beiber. Strangely, nothing to report on that, just name dropping. Our kids were unimpressed as they did not know the teen idol.

Upon arrival we were greeted with warm sweet air. It truly is wonderful here. We hired a taxi to drive us to our first destination: Masachapa - a small fishing village on the Pacific Coast. We had to ask the driver to stop so we could take off all our travel cloathes before we expired from heat exhaustion. Socks are just not something of importance in Nica. Nor are long pants or sweaters.

Casa LaSasso. We are staying at a typical Nica establishement - unrefined, casual palapa on the beach. These places can often cause me grief in terms of keeping our stuff organized and clean, but I also think that is precisely the reason I am travelling - to come to terms that life in Guelph is very organized, clean, safe, and predictable. And knowing that it exists and is waiting for us upon our return makes me take in all aspects down here with a zen like perspective.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

Christmas eve at home with the family. The kids each opened one present. Elsie got a camcorder and is making movies. This should prove to be amusing over the next few weeks. Evan is showing off his new pook toque- 27 different styles to be worn. Averyl received "The Lightning Thief" series by Rick Riordan and is no longer noticing anything going on around her, and Nora is dancing to the tunes of her new music box. C-A and I are looking forward to the traditional Shifflett champagne breakfast tomorrow.

Shopping- The End of Nicaragua 2009

2009-01-23T19:00:00.000-08:00

A little different than the produce department at Zehrs.

Nicaragua

2009-01-23T18:52:00.001-08:00

Here are some miscellaneous pictures that capture the essence of Nicaragua. We are going to miss this place. Some things more than others.

We call this the "widow maker" shower. They call it hot water. It only ever get luke warm, tepid at best.

A shoe shine in Esteli. The boys sitting around got a good laugh at Carol-Ann taking the picture when I was half way done. They also laughed at me for wearing white socks.

A fun version of a rooftop garden.

A classic Nicaraguan hazard.

Call 911

2009-01-23T18:28:00.000-08:00

So.... after a good day of checking out the Nica version of the Ontario Science Centre with the, how do I say, 'creative' exhibits, I lay down in the hotel room and let the kids run amuck. I was just dozing off nicely when Nora lets out a scream and it sounds as though a river has changed course into the room. I get up and am required to jump into action. The water tap below the sink, yes, that is correct, a tap under the sink broke when Nora tried to stand on it. Ooops.

As the room quickly filled with water I realized that something needed to be done. Carol-Ann ran away. I looked at the hole at the end of the pipe, then I looked at my finger and thought of a little dutch boy I've read about. (You know the one...the little boy puts his thumb in the dyke to stop the town from being flooded)

I was soaked to the bone and unable to move. What felt like 2 and a half hours later, Carol-Ann came back with the Manager. He shook his head and left. No jokin. He evidently thought my solution was good enough.

The water eventually stopped. I guess the Manager turned it off and we left the building. Returning many hours later, the problem was fixed and we never mentioned it again.

We did get a discount on our rooms, however, it had nothing to do with the water issue. Math is not a strong point for many people it seems.

Lumber Update

2009-01-21T08:11:00.000-08:00

Our lumber, as delivered to Salvador's house and well protected by Capitain.

Esteli

2009-01-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

For our last adventure we drove up into the interior north of the country. It is wonderfully mountainous with incredible valleys that offers you panoramas of the landscape.

Wow.

Nicaraguan soil is incredibly fertile in the northern region. It is here that they grow coffee, chocolate, all the vegetables for the entire country, and of course tobacco. In the early 1960's, Cubans began moving to Esteli, along with their precious tobacco seeds and so the industry began. Today, we toured a cigar factory. Not the average school field trip for children, but hey, it was still a field trip. We saw how the tobacco was brought in and each leaf was de-veined. The leaves were then pressed and left to dry. Strangely, the leaves are not crushed or shredded as I had originally thought. The leaves are rolled whole. Different plants with different leaves are used for rolling the outside of the cigar.

Unfortunately, there are less things to do with the children up here. There are few watering holes, no shells to collect, and the central parks are great places to play, but they just don't cut the allure of the beach.

JD-Back at Work

2009-01-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

"You can take the man away from work, but you can't take the work out of the man."

Any guesses who I am talking about?

Yup, JD. While at our property we noticed that a very large tree had been cut down. Our neighbour, Colin, said the crazy woman did it. The crazy woman, who was not so crazy, said Colin did it.

We also noticed that Colin had a very organized pile of wood stacked up. Here is picture of JD and Colin discussing the event.

Over 150 years ago, the majority of western Nica was deforested due to logging and exporting. As a result, today no one is allowed to cut down a tree or transport any lumber, without permission.

Well, the wheels in JD's head started turning and he decided to go through all the hoops to get permission to cut the fallen tree up into lumber. After all, it was now lying on our property.

It took a lot of patience to circumnavigate the local municipal government - la Alcaldia. JD had to talk to everyone. Each time the conversation went around in circles.

JD would explain the situation: A tree was felled on our property and I want permission to cut it up into lumber to build a house. And everytime he was told that you can't cut a tree down without a permit.

Eventually, he was given permission to cut the tree, but then they wanted to know exactly how many pieces and what sizes he was going to cut. Again, a conversation of circles. JD would explain that he had no idea what he was going to get from the tree until he started cutting. So they gave him an open permit to cut the tree into lumber, but halfway through the process and before he transported the lumber he had to return back to the Alcaldia to register the quantity.

JD was thrilled. He found a guy with a chainsaw, who found a guy with a truck, who found a couple of guys to help.

And now we have lumber ready and waiting to build our eventual house.

Yeah!!!

A note on beer

2009-01-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

Beer is delicious here and is always cold. The one litre bottles are a real commitment for me because C-A doesn't share them with me. Cost: ice cold in a restaurant is $2.25 CAD per litre.

I limit my beer days to three per week or I will end up with a belly. The fried food doesn't help much either in this respect.

Food is a bit of an issue with us.........more on that later.

Las Pinitas

2009-01-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

We went to the beach again. This time to Las Pinitas. This quaint village is to the north of the country, close to the colonial city of Leon. We stayed not on the ocean, but along the river that leads into the ocean. Everyday we rode the tides out to the ocean. It seems like the largest water park I have ever seen.

Along this river, but much farther up into the swamp zone of the mangrove forest you can find all sorts of animals....like crocodiles. We hired a boat and a tour guide to make the trek into the 'scary zone'.

Also along this stretch of river we swam with hermit crabs, a family of pigs, black vultures, plenty of dogs, and even more children. We watched as the fishing boats came back every day and would unload their catch. There were sting rays, hammerhead sharks, and plenty of fish with unknown names. (Oh yeah, we named one Henry)

Now I have never seen pigs fly, but I have also never seen pigs swim. How bizarre.

Playa Miraflores - Our Property

2009-01-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Here it is. This is the view from our property. We front onto the Rio Citalapa with a view to the Pacific Ocean. JD and I have been thinking already about house designs. We will make sure there is sufficient space to allow for visiting guests.

But, that will be in many years to come. We have a lot of work to do first.

Here is a picture of our lot with all the splendor of vegetation.

What you cannot see are all the little prickly seeds that come from a particular plant that is everywhere. Nor can you see the mosquitoes that live in the crab holes which are everywhere.

Hmmm. Sound inviting? Anybody booking their tickets just yet?

While we are here, we have hired some locals to clear the land of brush and to erect a fence surrounding the property. This is to confirm that the property is owned and that squatters will not be able to set up house and claim rights.

The income of this area is sugar cane. It looks like a very large Miscanthus Grass in many an ornamental garden that I have planted. It is very beautiful. The stocks are cut down and hauled away to be processed into sugar just 17 kms down the coast at a town called Masachapa.

This is another beautiful sunset, but captured along a service road between fields of sugar cane.

Motorbiking

2009-01-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

We have been checking out our property this week. JD and I found two great nica girls to look after and play with our three canadian girls while we drove off on motorbikes.

What a trip. Me on a motorbike! Not your everyday occurrence. As a result JD took soooo many pictures.

-just to document the event and make sure he had a reminder of it

- just in case I never get on a bike again.

After all, I went on twisty curvy roads, had to swerve for cows, pigs, horses, chickens, dogs, people, cars and potholes and before all that started, I had to get myself out of the the crazy city of Managua. Previously to the motorbiking I drove exactly two times in our rented Jeep and can you guess how many times I was pulled over by the police? yup. two. But in my opinion they were for ridiculous reasons. The first was because a taxi stopped in front of me on a green light and appeared not to be going anywhere. I made the choice to go around him. Wrong choice!! You are not allowed to change lanes in an intersection. Due to my limited spanish I failed to ask the police if it was legal to stop at an intersection on a green light. The second was equally as ridiculous. You are not allowed to pass another vehicle just prior to or on a bridge. However, there are no road signs to indicate that a bridge is up ahead. Hmm.

Anyways. I apparently am a better driver on a motorbike.

Our first destination was our property at Playa Miraflores.

Trip to Maysaya Volcano

2009-01-02T18:24:00.000-08:00

Some close up photos of Volcan MasayaSide

top
and crater

Choice

2009-01-02T16:13:00.000-08:00

Surprising as it may seem this is a land of choice.

You can choose between strange looking red things, strange looking green things, or strange looking yellow things. All available conveniently delivered to you doorstep in the back of a pickup.
You can take one of the many brightly coloured buses or you can walk.

Pepsi or Coke.

New Years

2009-01-02T15:31:00.001-08:00

Best wishes to all. Had a relaxing couple of days in a small fishing village called El Gigante. Fantastic beach and a great Surf Camp called 'Giant Foot'. Then it was back to Sal's house because all the hotels had been prebooked for the holiday.
There were roadside vendors selling thousands of fireworks, most of them homemade, the rest chinese. We bought a bunch to bring in the new year. When in Nica do as the Nicas do. The firework show all over the country started at 6pm and continued until dawn. The explosions were so loud they would set of the car alarms in our neighbourhood, much to the delight of the perpetrators (more noise the better). A house on our street hosted a Nuevo Ano Fiesta which meant loud polka type music till dawn. There was an upside to this though.... the noise completely drowned out the barking dogs and roosters crowing.
Throughout the country people made effigies and placed them, in different poses, in front of their homes. In the pockets they place their resolution lists and at the stroke of midnight they set fire to them and toss them into the middle of the street to burn.

San Jorge

2009-01-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

Well we finally decided that there must be more to Nica than a bunch of foreigners and surfer dudes hanging out in a beautiful bay, so we packed up and moved on.

Next stop was to be the island of Ometepe. To get there we would need to book passage on a ferry. This turned out to be impossible due to the Holiday season. Nicaraguans were on the move too. Seems that they had the same idea as we did and the ferry was booked solid for the next two days. When I came back from the ticket office with the news I saw C-A breathe a sigh of relief, because while I was gone she had tossed the kids in the lake and was in the process of wondering if that had been such a good idea. The waves were crazy and last time we were on a ferry in rough water she had spent her time barfing over the railing.

Averyl and Nora loved the waves and Elsie liked playing in the black sand.

We booked a room and treated ourselves to some fantastic seafood at the 'Gran Diamonte' restaurant.

Killer Chicken

2009-01-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a MUGSHOT of the bad-ass chicken that chased the littlest Shifflett around a San Juan del Sur restaurant.

If you see this thug RUN!!!!

Nora, mind you, wasn't the least bit amused. The rest of us may have giggled a bit though. It was quite a sight.

Collecting Shells

2008-12-31T21:57:00.000-08:00

Averyl loves collecting shells and she is very successful.

While we were at Playa Gigante, Averyl was sorting her latest finds and showing them to us. It so happens that this simple display scared the wits out of C-A and Averyl.

A beautiful blue spotted crab and and his friend crawled off the table where Averyl had spread them. We let them get away...back to the beach. They were probably just as surprised about the event as we were. However, the two run-aways probably had a head ache after their fall from the table.

Now Averyl always checks to see if anyone is at home first before putting them in her bag.

The Shiffletts meet the Saighs

2008-12-26T11:01:00.001-08:00

We all know about towns that have 'sister' cities. Meaning that both towns possess similarities in population, altitude, industry...etc. Well, can that apply to families?

While hanging out in Granada, at the park, the Shiffletts met the Saigh family. They originate from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Myles, the father, is a carpenter and rides dirt bikes. Katie, the mother, is the book keeper for the family business and abides by homeopathic practices. They have three kids, ages 7, 5, and 3.

Once we found each other, we hung out for five days until our plans took us to different locations. Here are all six kids playing at the park.

This is an adorable picture of Nora and Elias, three year olds, while on a boat trip.

Christmas

2008-12-25T19:53:00.000-08:00

'Twas Christmas eve and all through the town, not a creature was sleeping or wearing a frown.

Firecrackers going off, every minute and hour, with loud music blaring at maximum power.

Our children slept through it, they had no cares, in hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.

The pinata was twisted, and so was JD, who bought the Tazmanian Devil for the ninas three.

Santa filled it with candy, and presents... a few. Wrapped up in banana leaves, newspaper too.

Tooth Fairy

2008-12-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

We all discovered something new today.

The tooth fairy pays out Cordobas for teeth in Nicaragua. Averyl lost her sixth tooth yesterday while brushing her teeth. She happened to drop it, while at a restaurant called Big Wave Daves. But in good faith the tooth fairy payed out 10 cordobas (about 50 canadian cents).

Sunsets

2008-12-24T12:35:00.001-08:00

The sunsets of San Juan del Sur.

What else can I say...that pictures don't say.

...hmm... there was a warm wind when I took this photo.

..hmm.. i had sand in my sandals.

The clouds at dusk, just after sunset.

Santiago

2008-12-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a story...

Long, long ago in a land far, far away JD was hanging out with Zinger at his house in El Tuito, Mexico. They happened upon two guys riding motorbikes and struck up a conversation. One guy was named Jim. They hung out for 5 days and partyed.

Fast forward twenty years...

In a land far, far away, JD was riding his motorbike through Nicaragua last January. He was approached by a guy interested in his motorbikes and struck up a conversation. His name was Santiago. After a while, JD looked at him and said.."Is your other name Jim?"

Indeed it was. It was the same guy and he lives near San Juan del Sur in an old converted school bus. The kids just love this part. We had dinner with Santiago and his partner Gwendelynn last night. Oops, I forgot to take a picture of his bus.

But here is Santiago and Nora sharing a moment.

Surf's up in San Juan del Sur

2008-12-22T10:18:00.001-08:00

We hit the mecca of tourism in Nicaragua. San Juan del Sur.

This is us at the beach. JD, well known for melting when he gets wet, stayed on shore and took pictures.

Nora, in her element.

≈

Coconuts

2008-12-20T15:28:00.001-08:00

Well, no adventure would be complete when travelling to a tropical country without a story about coconuts. And guess what....we have one.

While having a picnic with the girls in the garden, I asked Sergio (the house gardener) that when a coconut fell, could he please give it to us. But he took it upon himself to haul the ladder out, climb up on the roof and use a metal rod with a hook on the end to shake the tree.

Down came many coconuts.

With his long machette like blade, Sergio hacked the outer skin away and then I put a straw in to have a drink. Wow. I have never done that before. Neither had the kids. Elsie took the first sip and spit it back out, Nora basically followed suit but Averyl and I had a good long drink. It was very good. Nothing like I have every tasted before. (I aim to have a real honest to goodness pina colada while here)

Once done drinking the liquid from the centre, Serio then cut it in half.

And we all took turns scooping out the flesh.

Laundry

2008-12-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

There are some things that I may never figure out in life. Laundry might just be one of them. JD and I both can't figure out how anyone can dress in white here. I see children, adults, seniors all dressed in immaculate white cloathes... and then along comes the Shiffletts. We are a dirty looking bunch. My kids love to play in the dirt. Pile it up, sit in it, sift it through their hands and then their hair. Nora even went so far as to do a sand angel, face first, in a pile of sandy lava dirt that is the ground surface of all areas that do no have vegetation.

Upon arrival back at Salvador's house (aka 'home away from home') I asked Dora, the house attendant, to do our laundry. What she gave back to me made my mouth drop. Our cloathes were white! Seriously white....including the dirty stained t-shirt of Averyl's that she wore here on the plane that I have never been able to get clean. How did she do it I do not know. My spanish is not that good to ask or to understand. WOW.

Granada

2008-12-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

We took the local bus from Managua to Granada today. Yes, it truly was a ride to experience. No chickens thankfully but extremely crowded and lots going on. Nora had the grace to fall asleep in my lap and cause my slight discomfort to expand. The girls have started a game of counting buses while out in the bustle of the city. Once on a bus, however, it soon changed to taxis and the count from one city to another was 225. That's a lot.

We are staying at the Oasis Hostel in Granada. It has many hammocks (we bought one) and a pool (already in the pool business). This is a favourite spot of JD's as you are able to grab a cold beer as you enter the hostel. My favourite...there is a lot of eye candy (currently, six strapping young Belgians)

The city, like the rest of Nicaragua is poor, but generally happy. The concept of contentment is different here. The concept of disposable income and consumption does not exist here, as I expect it does not exist anywhere else in Nica. Today Elsie did not finish her lunch and asked to take it with her. She gave it to the little boy that was sitting on the steps.

Granada is the oldest city in Nicaragua and the oldest city in the Central America for that matter. We took a carriage ride through the city. Elsie was excited as she was the lucky one to sit up front with the driver (ok, she was the only one brave enough to). Here is a picture of the church of Eglisia Guadalupe with us on our carriage.

Other adventures during our stay included climbing the bell tower of the Eglisia la Merced. It provided us a nice view of the city rooftops (which by the way are all made out of clay 'u' shaped tiles) and far off in the distance we could see the Lago Colcibolca (the largest lake in central america at 160 kilometers long)

Having breakfast one morning, we were able to share it with a parrot which made the girls giggle and smile. Speaking of food, eating is different. We can eat eggs with rice and beans every morning with plenty of local fruit. But come lunch time, all things are different. To JD, who usually goes out for lunch during his working days, all seems normal. He can saddle up to any place offering beer and be content. Me, on the other hand, has experienced mild difficulty, I guess in terms of mental adjustment to eating out for every meal, coupled with the confusion of how and what to eat. So, I found el supermercado. I solved my problems by being able to walk through the aisles, read all the ingredients, and start to know just what exactly all these words in spanish mean. Also, I feel entirely at ease now when my kids are hungry and I can feed them immediately.

We are back at Salvador's house again and are going to hang low for a couple of days and plan our next outing and our longer range plans.

Cheers

C-A

Arriving in Nicaragua

2008-12-15T06:45:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it. The kids were fabulous and are great travellers.

The weather upon arrival was 80 degrees, with a slight breeze and a moistness in the air that is not available in Canada. (well, maybe in July and August)

We were greeted at the airport by a man holding a sign

that read J.D. Shcifgtletft. We figured that was us.

The man drove us to Salvidor's house. It is here that we

will call home and drop our stuff.

Here is a picture.

We are off to Granada today. We are going to ride the bus.

The kids are very excited.

Getting Ready

2008-11-30T17:46:00.000-08:00

Jd has figured out Skype. So, if you send us an e-mail and let us know when is a good time, we will call you and Skype only costs pennies per minute. It is a computer thing, and if you have Skype on your computer it is less than pennies, it is free.

We have a camera on our computer so you can even see us as we talk. (Just like in StarTrek) Cool eh!! We promise not to call you if we are not properly dressed.

So, does everybody know that we are hoping to have visitors?

The countdown is on!! 13 more sleeps!

Adios amigos

We purchased our tickets

2008-11-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

Hola!

Greetings from Guelph. We are setting up this blog so all of our friends and family can check up on us while we are travelling in Nicaragua. We leave on Saturday December 13th and will return six weeks later on January 25th.

A quick pic of us at home.