Last Day In Leon

While we were in Leon, we were staying with a family in their house. The mother's name was Hilda and her daughter's name was Hildita (little Hilda).  They also had cousins that were visiting and the mother's name was Carla and her daughter's name was Danahi. Their cousin was also there visiting just for that day. We left on a Saturday so on Friday night (after our classes) we took them out to pizza. Before we went to pizza they had set up a little kitty-pool in the patio next door because Hildita didn't have school that day. When I was done eating lunch, I got my swimsuit on and went in the pool. The water was freezing !!!!!!!! Finally I got in and put my head under but it was still really cold so I was shivering.  While we were in the freezing cold water, we heard something that sounded like a leak. Danahi was looking all over the pool and she found the leak that had water pouring out of it! Finally we managed to plug the leak but there was already a river on the floor underneath the pool! The other kids got out of the pool to eat a late lunch and I got out with them.

After they ate lunch, Hildita dragged me into her room and she painted my nails with bright pink nail polish (I rubbed it right off when I got back into my our room) and put some kid make-up on my face (I rubbed that off too). Then she put a black wig on my head that covered my eyes so I couldn't see anything! I looked really ridiculous and she was laughing so much! When it was time to go, we walked to Pizza Hot (that was not a mistake... it's not Pizza Hut, it's Pizza Hot).  Everyone except my mom and I squirted a lot of Ketchup on their pizzas like all of the Nicaraguans that we met!! In the restaurant there was a playground with swings and things to climb on. When Hildita and I went on the swings, the whole jungle gym swayed back and forth!!

We heard noises (we usually did) and when we looked up(there was an open courtyard) we saw bright gold fire works that the church was letting go off for some sort of services.

When everyone had finished eating, we walked to the Parque Central (Central Park) to look at the jewelry and other art pieces that people were selling. Hilda bought a bracelet. As we were going home, we walked by the ice cream spot where everyone hangs out and my mom offered to buy us ice cream. Of course we said yes so went up to the counter to order our ice cream. As we were eating, Hildita's ice cream went plop on the table and her cone was empty! Everyone was laughing a lot and Hildita got another ice cream and this time it stayed on. In the back of the ice cream place, there is an arcade and we put money in the game where there is a grabber that you use to pick up stuffed animals but we didn't get anything out of it. Danahi and I played ice hockey and it was a close game but I won! We walked home and went to sleep in Leon for the last time!

The little stairway outside
of our room

The little courtyard

The little kitchen

The big table!

A weekend with Uncle Andy

Las Penitas

Before we left, Uncle Andy was going to visit us but because of the snow his flight got canceled to New York so he came to visit us in Nicaragua instead. His flight arrived on Friday at 12:20 but it took an hour and a half to get to Leon from Managua. He came to Hotel La Perla and we went to the beach. We took a taxi to Las Penitas and got dropped off at Hotel Suyapa. They had a pool there which was nice because the ocean was had big waves and the pool was calm. 

We ate dinner right on the water front and the food was really good. We could watch people surfing as we ate dinner. It felt great to be at the beach
because in Leon it was so hot and busy but the beach was calmer, more relaxed, and it had a nice breeze so the weather was a little cooler. At night there were very pretty sunsets. They were bright orange and the clouds turned to a light shade of pink. For lunch we ate at the Tsunami Taco Bar which is across the street from Hotel Suyapa and is owned by a Canadian. The shrimp tacos that we had tasted delicious.

We walked to the estuary(where the river flows into the ocean so salt water and fresh water mix)  at low tide so the middle was all sand and it burned my feet to walk on it! There were people coming back from fishing and they had to push the boat through the water back to land. There was a guy who picked up a turtle shell that was bloody and the backbone was attached. It made me cringe when i saw it. The back of the shell was beautiful with lots of different markings in it.


 There is a nice hostel/restaurant called Barca De Oro at that estuary that we went to and had a drink and washed off.  We walked  back to Suyapa's beach to swim. When we went body surfing in the waves, Uncle Andy took his camera(it is water proof) and took pictures and videos of us in the water. After we went swimming in the ocean we went swimming in the pool to rinse off. On Sunday  morning after a quick swim we left the beach and went back to Leon. 

On Sunday afternoon right after we got back from the beach, we went to La Perla and had a quick lunch.

Then we went straight to the Tierra Tours office(a tour company) because we were going to climb an active volcano!!! We waited in the office for a little while and then we were off to Cerro Negro Volcano. This time we didn't get lost like the last time we went!
When we got to the volcano, we signed our selves in and then we stared hiking. We could see Cerro Negro's baby volcanoes that had little craters in them.


The hike up was on black and gray rocks of all different sizes that made us feel like we were walking on the moon. The reason that Cerro Negro is all black is because it is one of the youngest volcanoes in the world. It first erupted in 1850 in a corn field and unlike other volcanoes, it erupted very recently in 1999. So, while the other volcanoes are covered with life, Cerro Negro is all black. That is why it is called Cerro Negro because it means "black hill". 

top of the world

The path up was steep and the view over the side was a green and yellow valley between the volcanoes. At the top the wind was so strong that we felt like we were going to be blown over!!! The guide took us inside the crater and we could smell the sulfur(eeew!), feel the heat(sooooo hot), and see the smoke/steam(awesome)!



When we were walking on the ridge of the crater, one of the other people we were with had his hat on.... and then it wasn't on. The wind blew it down the side and it got stuck on a rock so the guy went down and he got his hat back! After
                                                    that he didn't wear his hat at all.  What we saw was amazing with        volcanoes in every direction.  The guide, my mom, and i all jumped with joy like we were at the top of the world! 

looking into the colorful crater

Only Uncle Andy(and two other people from Austria who were standing) went boarding and he got all suited up with a yellow jumpsuit, gloves, goggles, knee pads, wrist pads, elbow pads,  and of course a board! The first two went down and they kept falling down and not being able to get back up again! We were laughing our heads off because it was very funny to watch them. Uncle Andy went down after they did and he just went straight down the side off the volcano.


 Then it was our turn to go down so we started walking but found that we could jump, run, and hop and it felt like we were on the moon again! It was soooo fun to go down and by the time we were at the bottom, we had tons of sand and little pebbles in out sneakers!

The sunset was stunning with a fuchsia stained sky and a scarlet sun disappearing until there was nothing left but mountains in the distance. The guide brought candies and we ate them in the van.  Tierra Tours provides fruit so we ate watermelon back at the ranger station. We threw the rinds in an iguana's cage that they had at the station so the iguana's could eat them! When everyone had shaken out their shoes and taken pictures we got back in the van and headed home(and we made it without a problem this time).

On Monday my mom and I had classes in the morning so Uncle Andy stayed at his hotel until 10:00 when he met us at our favorite bakery, Pan y Paz. After that Uncle Andy went to the cathedral while we did our second half of classes. The afternoon activity was to go to San Jacinto hot springs. We were going to pack a bathing suit and we thought that it would be nice to go in these hot springs. 

We were wrong. The hot springs were hot mud pools with boiling mud bubbles and really hot steam coming out of them! We decided that we didn't want to go in them (no one would want to go in them) and they were just for looking at. One of the boys there said that it takes about 5 minutes to boil an egg. They collected the mud and made pottery out of it that the children were giving to us. Our guide bought some and so did Denise and Cloudio.

Tuesday morning Uncle Andy left so we went to see him before our classes and his flight was at about 1:00 but he had to leave earlier to make it on time.

Leon Favorites

Iglesia San Francisco

Pan Y Paz at Break Time!

During the three and a half weeks we were in Leon, we found some places that we liked a lot. Since Hilda made us dinner, we did not eat at restaurants a lot but we did once in a while. The first place is a place we went almost everyday at about 10:15, Pan y Paz (Bread and Peace) right around the corner from Dariana Spanish School. It had really good bread and chocolate croissants "and good coffee" said my mom. 


The next restaurant is El Mediterraneo which had free wi-fi so we went there frequently to use the computer. Once when we went there I had shirmp and avocado sushi!!!! We had dinner there when Uncle Andy was visiting and had pizza with capers on it. They have a "chill out" room which has pillows that you sit on, on the floor. It also has lights strung on the walls and black umbrellas hanging from the ceiling!

Cocinarte

Cocinarte (cooking art) is a vegetarian restaurant that we went to twice. They have a couple of dishes with chicken but you can ask for tofu!!!!!! 

Via Via

Via Via is the fourth restaurant. They also have a hotel, bar and free wi-fi. In the bar they have a pool table and in the back of the restaurant  they have a courtyard. If you sit at the front of the restaurant you are basiacly on the street because, like most places in Leon, there are no windows except windows without glass. The whole front is open and when Via Via closes they shut huge folding doors. 

La piscina at Hotel San Cristobal

One weekend we went to Hotel San Cristobal and they have a pool so we went swimming in the clear blue water. We ate ceviche, shrimp, and salad for lunch. They also have free wi-fi so we used the computer. 

Museo Ortiz-Guardian

The best art museum in Central America is in Leon and we went there a few times. The things in the museum are a private collection but it only costs about one dollar to go in! They have an old part and a modern part. The displays are all around open courtyards with fountains and plants. They have Picassos, a Diego Rivera, and other famous pieces from all around the world.  

Models outside Dariana Spanish School

el Cathedral

One of the different things we noticed about the buildings here from the United States is that buildings here usually are around an open courtyard set back from the street. We had fun(especially at night) walking around the streets because you could look in people's houses and see their courtyards. Overall Leon was a nice city and we had fun staying there.

Tomb Ruben Dario

Leon has the biggest cathedral in Central America and we went there as an afternoon activity in our school. We went on the roof where we had a good view of Leon and it was very windy. To get to the roof we had to go up a very narrow stair case with a couple of landings that the huge bells were on. A very famous poet named Ruben Dario was buried under a stone sculpture of a lion in the middle of the cathedral. 

Looking East from the Cathedral Roof

statues at the Cathedral

West view to Volcan San Christoba

 

















Right outside of the cathedral is the central park where there are lots of people selling things, walking around, cooking, and blasting music. There are lots of trees in the central park and animals too. 


Here are some pictures from around town... 

x-Cafe Ben Linder

in Leon

plastic is everywhere!

typical food stand

A note from Nadine: Leon is known as the University town of Nicaragua, with  a dozen or so Universities. It is also proud of it's position as one of the strongholds of the Sandinista and progressive traditions, the place where the first Somoza was assassinated by a young poet and where student uprisings were brutally repressed. This all stands in contrast to Leon's long time rival, the more conservative and more refined southern contender historically for capitol of the country, Grenada. Somehow, I knew we'd be more comfortable there than in Grenada, amongst the murals and revolutionary history of the more gritty town.

Hello from Sabana Grande

Well, we are behind in our blogging, with a backlog of things to write about, including our favorite spots in Leon, the many afternoon excursions we did with our school there and our weekend with Uncle Andy visiting! We will post more soon about that, but right now we are in an internet spot in Ocotal, about 20 km north of our new home in  El Proyecto, Sabana Grande. FYI... its Nadine writing this time!


We left Leon on Saturday afternoon with Susan Kinne, the director of Grupo Fenix. Luckily we got the express bus north to Esteli, and from there a taxi to our next bus stop for the express to Ocotal.... it was a mob scene, but we did get on with all our stuff smashed in the luggage hold below. About dark, 6pm ish, we got to la tabla de Totogalpa, our stop, and were met by Yelba , the mom of our new house, her 14 year old daughter Scarleth, and their neighbor Yubelki,11. We had to drag all of our stuff about a mile to their house in the dark...it was not much fun!


The family and the house are lovely, though. Papa Jorge also works at the Solar Centre, and their son Angel is 7 years old and everyone, including the cutest little 2month old puppy, are very friendly..... which is good, as our spanish is still borderline and they do not speak English. There is electricity ..solar and conventional, in our house. No running water, but a good dry latrine and a shower stall to take bucket showers in, refreshing! Actually, it is cool at night, which is so welcome after the heat of Leon!


Today was the first day of school this year. We did not go, but instead worked on school work from PBES! We are going to do some short projects in this next 10 days while we are here before the  Mariposa School... Yesterday we visited the Sabana Grande school and the Solar Centre, checking out the solar cookers, efficent stoves, both wood and charcoal, a solar water destiller, solar lamps,and the in construction Solar Restaurant. Hopefully tomorrow we will start a painting project at the Centre, and possibly a gardening project at the school which just got a well!!!!


We have some great pictures, but we do not have our computer today, so they will have to wait to be posted...next time.

Spanish School

margot and the sign!

Hard at work with Cecilia

Florence getting her certificate of
 achievement from the school

Today was our last day of taking Spanish classes at Dariana Spanish School. They provide morning classes from 8-12 and activities in the afternoon (only on the week days). You can also do a home stay.We participated in all three for 3.5 weeks. The classes are 1 on 1, so everyone has their own teacher and usually students switch teachers every week. I (Margot) had the same teacher for the whole time (Cecilia), but my mom had one teacher for half the time (Carmen) and had another teacher for the second half (Glenda). All of the students are in one big room but at different small tables all around.


My teacher Cecilia and I played various games in Spanish to help me learn Spanish in a fun way. We also drew pictures and made crafts. Two days she did my hair like a Nicaraguan girl! A big part of learning Spanish is the verbs which are very complicated(!). Also we have to learn which words are feminine and which words are masculine so we can put the right prepositions in front of them. Some nights I had homework and some nights I didn't, but my mom got tons of homework each night! 

one of Cecilia's creations

another hairdo from Cecilia's class!

an aid to learning!