nicaragua part deux

after school let out on the 15th of june, i made a bee-line to nicaragua, leaving the next morning at 6:30am.  in retrospect, probably not the best thing for me to do b/c of the big move, but i'm glad b/c it made me get my act together and finish up the loose ends.  i need a fire under my butt to get things done; true in college, true now, too.

i had been planning to go by myself and had been stalking the ticket prices for a month or so.  rachel (and family) were too-- and we all pounced when the plane tickets hit $230.  i met up with rachel, jeff, maya and lexi, as well as ken/hav/sam in granada, hanging out with them and being an auntie for a few days.

this is why i love granada, nicaragua.  you can be walking along on a real street with cars (see the cable van?), and then a herd of cows passes in front of you.  so cool.  you have to be quick with your camera. 

the storms roll in quickly in these here parts.  we noticed some clouds in the distance, and within minutes they were in front of us and the wind was whipping up the lake.  this is a lake (apoyo) that was created in a volcanic crater, rumored to heal and restore its bathers.  i didn't go in.

i had already been to granada in december before heading home to boston, but they hadn't, so i got some repeats of things i'd seen before.  i was so exhausted this time around that i didn't get around to my grand plan of seeing a different part of the country (leon.)  on the first day i arrived in granada, i took a 3 hour nap, walked around the town, and then slept 12 more hours.  if you know me, you know that's way irregular: i hardly ever nap, and i hardly ever sleep more than 7 hours at a time.  i was toast.

but these babies help me relax.  open, add rum, and i'm golden.

***

after four nights in granada hanging out with these two families, i hopped on a tiny plane (12 seats!) and headed to the Corn Islands.  there are two: big corn island and little corn island, and i landed on the big one and took a little boat to the little one, first.  i hung out here for two nights, frolicking barefoot on a relatively unpopulated tropical island and eating all the whole fish i could find.  i did literally almost nothing for two days.

this was my little cabana on the beach.  spent a lot of time on that hammock, just reading and zoning out.

it was a perfect vacation, just what i needed.  my brain was mush and i was exhausted.

i want to go back.  if i'm ever missing in action in the future, i will probably be here.

although, perhaps going straight from running around a tiny island to a major US city/surburbia was not a good idea for reverse culture shock... :)

i was there.