Breakfast as usual

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

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

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

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

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

A little different than the produce department at Zehrs.

Nicaragua

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

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

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

Esteli

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.