El-Banko

We don´t meet many Americans where we are. We´ve met Canadians and tons of people from Holland, but no Americans. They do exist here...we´ve heard them talking along Calle Calzada (the main tourist street), but they don't seem to frequent the same places as we do. However, in order to walk from our apartment to Carita Feliz (the center where we´re helping teach), we walk along Calle Calzada, and hear bits of English conversations. I need to explain this to you, because you have to understand my amusement and delight over one particular snippet I was lucky enough to hear. This man from the south (or is that The South?¿?) was speaking in English, and then turned to a Nicaraguan and said something about "ehl bank-o." It´s moments like this that make me glad to be alive.

And now, to speak of my weekend. Elizabeth and I left for the weekend to see Ometepe Island, the largest island on the lake here, sporting two whole volcanos. Cool, eh?¿? You´ll have to excuse the "eh..." we hung out with a Canadian couple while we were there. We had a great time. When we arrived in Moyogalpa, we boarded a bus for Charco Verde, which is near the middle of the island, and is supposed to be relaxing. We were not disappointed. It was pretty out of the way, with no busy cities nearby. Not that there are any huge cities...it´s the biggest island on the lake here, but it´s still not THAT big. We stayed in a hostel right on the coast (is it still a coast if it´s a lake?). It was well priced, so they made up for it by charging too much for meals and giving a little food. It turned out alright though, because our Canadian friends (who shared our dorm room) knew of a little place about ten to fifteen minutes away that had great food for great prices. The owners got to know us, because we were there for every meal. They had different options all the time, and everything was great. We even got to try Sebiche, which is a traditional dish here.

Sunday was Elizabeth´s birthday, and we celebrated to the best of our ability.  In the morning, Rebecca, Ryan, Elizabeth and I went hiking along the hiking paths in the area.  We saw some wildlife (no monkeys unfortunately, but we did see monkeys the first day on our way in to the hostel) and got some good views of one of the volcanos.  They always seem to have a ring of smoke around them...wonder why that could be...

That afternoon, after lunch (at our regular place, Sinai I think was the name), we took a taxi to Ojo de Agua, a relaxing location with hammocks and chairs located next to a pool/spring.  Because of the hot weather here, the springs were delightful, and we relaxed and chatted all afternoon.  After we had finished swimming, we relocated to the hammocks and chairs, and chatted for a little while.  The subject of Elizabeth's birthday came up, and it was decided we should ask around if there was any kind of bakery with cake around.  As this was being discussed, a nearby woman who had overheard us walked over with a plate of cake and handed it to Elizabeth.  Turns out, they had been celebrating a birthday as well, and had plenty of cake.  What a delightful coincidence!  

That evening when the taxi driver picked us up, we had him drop us off back at the restaurant, as it was now dinner time and honestly, where else were we going to eat?  As I understand it, sebiche is something of an appetizer, and so Ryan ordered one large for the four of us.  When he brought out separate cups for us, we thought he must have separated it for us...until we thought about it more logically, assessed how very large each cup was, and came to the opinion that rather than one large for four, we got large sebiche cups for four.  Hence, the appetizer became the meal, our bellies were full, our mouths happy, and our pocketbooks satisfied, as they were kind enough to charge a little less for the sebiche, due to the mistake.  :-)=  Afterwards, Rebecca (no, I'm not discussing myself in the third person, silly) asked if they had anything suitable for birthdays.  One kind soul ran to another store and picked up little Eskimo ice cream containers, and we celebrated a little more with vanilla ice cream with chocolate topping.  My birthday present to my sister was a nice birthday massage (I'm certain I put a little more care into this one than our regular "My-neck-is-killing-me-just-like-every-day" massages).

And now it's back to work, but I don't mind.  It's kind of like coming home.  Three more weeks now, and then we'll be heading back.  I'm sure by the time we leave, we'll just barely be feeling like we're getting the hang of Spanish, and the weather will just be getting better and cooler, but I guess that's the way it goes.

Okay...phew...it's taken me a long time to get this blog written.  I've just been too busy with other things!!!!  Like watching House, for instance.  ;-)=  Anyhoo, that's about it for now.

Did ew know...?

Taxi drivers are as evil as lawyers.

Thank you for choosing Lod's Little Tidbits, and have a nice day.