Our first Monday morning in Leon started with free pancakes, or as we called them "dense, rubber flatties" due to their lack of a crucial 'rising' ingredient like egg or yeast. But we loved them all the same...because who doesn't love free stuff? Marcus, Hannah, and I walked around the center of town, taking in the Spanish colonial style architecture of the main cathedral and the amazing doors on each of the house fronts we passed along the way. Side note, if you are ever dripping sweat while walking around Nicaragua (aka all the time), just pop yourself right on into a bank - the most air-conditioned place we have come across thus far in our travels! Kinda amazing! After a brief altercation with a money exchanger in the streets, we found a supermarket with the cheapest prices to date! We stocked up on the goods and made the decision to do the afternoon volcano-boarding session.
Volcano-boarding you say? Heck yes! Hannah, myself, and another couple from DC piled into the back of a old-school Land Rover type of 4WD vehicle and headed down another fabulously bumpy road, this time sliding back and forth on the bench-like seating that ran parallel to the side panels of the car. During the drive and a few times after we parked, our guide Denilo tried to convince us to switch from the boards to the sit-down toboggans - he was successful with the other guy, but we cautiously stuck with our original decision. So we wedged our boards through the shoulder straps of our backpacks and headed up Volcan Cerro Negro, the second youngest volcano in Nicaragua and one of its most active, though the last significant eruption was in 1999. The actual ascent up the volcano wasn't bad at all, but it was difficult remembering that the boards (about the size of a snowboard but wooden with metal edges) strapped onto our backs gave us a wider turning radius than that which we were accustomed. Thus, there was lots of running into boulders, getting wedged between boulders, nearly falling as the wind caught our boards the wrong way and threw our balance off, hitting Hannah in the arm, back, and shoulder when we stopped for photos as I turned to tell her something, etc. There were gorgeous views of the linear arrangement of neighboring volcanoes and surrounding farmland that extended for miles, allowing us to see just how far the lava spread from the '99 eruption. Once at the top, the path itself looked identical to many sand dune tracks in the desert minus the black colored pumice stone-like volcanic rock bits. It never fails to amaze when you look at a crater, and this one was equally mesmerizing. After our customary jumping pictures, we started to suit up in our neon yellow and green onsie jumpers and elbow/knee/wrist guards...add a couple thick gardening gloves and chemistry goggles that you can't see anything out of and that is the equation for hotness. We looked...special. The 45-degree incline itself was quite intimidating, as was reminded to us during the whole 1.5-hour hike. So here we are, looking like ghostbusters with a wooden board strapped to our feet by old belts, staring down the volcano as the two riding the toboggans shot down and out of view in a matter of 20 seconds, and when we thought it couldn't get more ridiculous, a crowd of 30 or so locals had hiked up the volcano just to watch us crash and burn. Awesome. Hannah and I feel that somehow, and certainly not meaning to, we become spectacles wherever we go. It was VERY difficult...in snowboarding, you simply glide across the snow; in volcano boarding, your board is constantly slowed by friction from the volcano, and you eventually sink into the softer ground beneath you. For a moment, the thought of never reaching the bottom before the approaching thunderstorm washed us down the volcano definitely crossed my mind. However, after what seemed like hours but was more like 12 minutes, we reached the safety of flatter ground. We looked like chimney sweeps once we finished...volcanic ash everywhere. Ps, aspirating volcanic ash is uncomfortable - I tried to keep my mouth closed on the way down, but sometimes you just get caught up in the moment and talk to yourself, like "holy crap, why didn't we just go on the toboggans" or "why do we ever think things like this are a good idea" or "I wonder how bad it would hurt if I just stopped, dropped, and rolled."
Tuesday morning was fabulous and consisted of a birthday Skype session with my mom! Over the past few weeks, I have gotten a few people we've encountered along the way to participate in a birthday wishes video that I could send my mom in lieu of a tangible present...I think she got a kick out of it! The video had to better than her other present, a 5.8 earthquake in DC? Luckily, my parents are San Francisco veterans and handled this one with ease. Our new German friend Kristin, Hannah and I set out to explore the city for the rest of the day - visited the Ortiz-Gurdian Art Gallery, which had a good amount of classic paintings and a great collections of more progressive, modern art in an adjacent building. The multiple open courtyards throughout the exhibits helped to relax the atmosphere a bit and remind us where we were - can't say that you'd be able to find hundred-thousand dollar paintings in an open courtyard or in any non-temperature-controlled environment. After ducking into a supermarket to avoid another one of the awesome Nicaraguan thunderstorms and torrential downpours, we tried the spiky red fruit called rambutan, a close cousin of lychee, after instruction from a supermarket stocker who thought we were insane. Due to the fact we were finally in a city that has a cinema, we splurged and went to see "Super 8," which I found amusing for two reasons: superb acting and decent writing, and enjoying how Hannah and Kristin responded to the action/suspense parts of the movie...they couldn't sink further down into their seats if they tried. Hannah just shook her head into her hands when it was over.
We woke up with another roommate, a smaller scorpion that was just hanging out in the corner. The young man running the hostel that morning seemed surprised but, like a rockstar, calmly killed it with the end of a broom. Before heading to Granada, we stopped off at a pharmacy to grab something and have decided that THIS is the place to come I'd you ever need anything...all antibiotics, no need for a prescription, and Haldol and Ativan just chilling in the glass shelves. Granada...we cannot quite figure you out. If the grunginess, city-feel of Xela got together with the colonial sophistication of Antigua on a Caribbean vacation and had a baby, it would be Granada. Great architecture, great old buildings, characteristic house fronts, great sense of community, fun cafes, safe...r, good artistic community, hippies and horse-drawn carriages. Once the sun starts to set, all the locals bring their chairs outside on the front stoops and just enjoy life with their families and neighbors - they would probably do it all day long if it weren't so hot during the day! Ended the night with a phone call to The G-Funk, the one and only Grandma Ro! The entire next day was dedicated to walking, exploring, and as Hannah and I discovered, stopping every 15 feet to take a picture of cool door, an old bike, or people riding bikes Nica style (one person on the bar in the middle who sometimes steers, one person on the seat pedaling...variations include up to 4 people). The Old Hospital is a photographer's dreamland - faded and chipping paint off destructed walls...great for photoshoots. Ironically, it could now be the perfect place for squatters and druggies. We spent a good deal of time wandering around with a security guard who decided to stick close to us and tell us about the hospital's history. Granada's old train station provides great pictures as well, as it still has classic engine and caboose cars of various types of train. We walked until the sunset - though there was a cinema, the one movie listed was "Wnny Poo," so we decided to pass on that. Free call home, perfect end to the day!
We call this the "Tetanus Slide of Infectious Fun!"
On Friday, we shortly explored the Granada shore along Lago Nicaragua before spending the rainy afternoon indoors taking an art/mosaic class. Side note: watercolors and pastels are very difficult to work with...just saying. However, the light rain on the tin roof, open terrace, relaxing music, and doing something outside of our usual routine was refreshing! Towards the end of night, when relaxing, journaling, and reading, I tune out sometimes - one example: this girl next to me asked me "something something -iter?" "Am I a fighter?" Questioned look on her face, "something something -iter." " Am I a writer?" She shakes her head, holds a cigarette up to her mouth and fake smokes, "A lighter, el fuego, do you have one?" "Ohhhhhhh...no." These kind of interactions happen more often than I'd care to admit.
Ridin' Nica Style!
Next stop, Isla Ometepe! Colonial towns of Nicaragua, we like you lots!
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