¿Y Entonces...?

What a great weekend!

After returning from the Peace Corps workshop with my training group in Matagalpa, I came back to Jalapa with LOTS of people and LOTS of corn awaiting me.

Volunteers from all around came up to enjoy all the festivities and from Friday thru Sunday, we had a great time.

On Friday, my friend and I met up with people from his Agriculture group. We checked out the fair, had some chicha bruja (aka fermented corn beverage that can be quite strong) and welcomed some more volunteers at the end of the night.





On Saturday, people from my group showed up, including one of my best friends from Rio San Juan! I was so excited she decided to make the trip. There was a parade that showed off the Reinas de la Feria (Queens of the Fair) in which their floats and outfits were made ONLY of corn. It was very impressive, and I felt some true Jalapeño pride as I watched the parade go by.













During the afternoon, the rains came and made the fair grounds SUPER muddy. Did that stop us from heading down later on and enjoying the rides and food? Nope.


We all got mud everywhere from our waists down, but it was totally worth it. Some of the other volunteers and I went on a ride that would GUARANTEED be illegal in the states. Imagine you're on a tilt-o-whirl/gravitron, without seat belts. We pretty much had to hold on with our life or get thrown out. Long story short: it was terrifyingly awesome. Plus, I think that with so many gringos on the ride, they were making it extra intense.

Saturday night brought a fiesta at the local dance club/swimming pool. Prior to this weekend, I never leave my house at night nor "party" at the club. I want to have a positive image in my site, though it is over 60,000+ people, I can still be pointed out as the only gringa in Jalapa when my friends aren't around. However, being in a big group of gringos, especially with guys that I felt safe around, I decided to indulge for a little while. A live band came out and played a great set with lots of dancing. I took a short video of one of their songs HERE.




However, at midnight, though most of the group was still raring to go, I was exhausted (being a hostess to over 10+ volunteers is tiring!), and rounded up my friends staying at my house and left.

Sunday was when the majority of the volunteers left. Some had long trips to make and after having breakfast at my favorite little restaurant, I sent them off at the bus terminal. My friend from RSJ stayed with me one extra night since she had to be in Managua on Monday and we enjoyed the Hípica (and rain!) that went through town on Sunday afternoon. There were lots of horses and it was a great little show to watch go through the streets. I took a video of one particular little guy HERE.









All in all, it was a great time, but I'm very happy I only have to play hostess one more time during my service for the event. It was fun seeing volunteers from different parts of the country, eating corn and enjoying being a Jalapeña!

This place is beautiful!

We are having a Nica 58 reunion/training with our Nica counterparts this week.

Yeah, I could get used to this place!

Volcán San Cristobal, the highest activity volcano in Nicaragua, erupted this morning in Chinandega, caused by an aftershock of the earthquake in Costa Rica last week.

All of the volunteers in that department as well as León were all evacuated to Granada until it’s safe. 

I’m about 7 hours away from this volcano, and am completely safe, but please keep good thoughts for all Chinandeganos and Leones!

Sunday: I went to Ocotal to pick up some packages that were waiting for me. Thank you Auntie! I also received an amazingly great care package from a girl that has followed me on my fitness blog. I was NOT expecting it, but it was such a lovely surprise.


That night, I stayed with a friend, an Agriculture volunteer who lives in a town called Mozonte, about 15 minutes outside of Ocotal and we made an awesome Cilantro Chicken Salad for dinner.


Monday: Off to Managua. I caught the bus at 6:30am and rode with another volunteer who is about to "ET" (Early Termination). She is set to "COS" (Close of Service) in November of this year, but she got a great job opportunity at an NGO in Washington, DC and she starts in two weeks. She was headed to Managua to do all of her ET medical appointments. Upon arrival, we went to a fachenta coffee house, got iced coffees and BAGELS.


It was my first bagel in who-knows-how-long, and it couldn't have been more delicious. It was good talking and hanging out with her and I wish her the best. I then went out to dinner with some other volunteers who were down from Nueva Segovia that night and had a good time enjoying good company.

Tuesday: Carazo! After eating a great salad from Quizno's (yes, you heard that right) I went to go visit my training host family, whom I haven't seen since I became a volunteer.


Bad news upon arrival: My Maya had died of a puppy cancer. One of the other two dogs also died because of old age. Poor little Chanel, the rottweiler, is the only pup left. I was heartbroken at the news, but the rest of the visit was nice.


The family told me my Spanish has improved immensely and that I look like I've lost weight! That's always encouraging to hear (especially since I'm cooking for myself now and working out with P90X/Insanity DVDs and running 3 times a week.

Wednesday: León! I met up with a friend who I spent the rest of my vacation with. We stayed at a hostel called Chilli Inn...for $5 a night and 2 free drinks for every  night you stay there, with a themed party (aka BBQ night, Karaoke night, etc.), how could we say no?


It was a great hostel, and I know that whenever I go back to León with anyone who visits, we are probably going to stay there. Oh, and they have a resident puppy, named Tequila, who I fell in love with.




We walked around the city a bit, enjoyed the architecture and went to a Mediterranean restaurant that one of the Segovian married couple volunteers had recommended going to. Hands down, amazing. 5 stars. The meal itself was maybe $15 (C$375) for everything we got, and in the states the same meal would have easily cost at least $100. Again: for people who are visiting, we're eating there!

Thursday: BEACH! We met up with two other volunteers from León, from the Agriculture and Business sectors, and the four of us went to the Las Peñitas beach about 19km outside of León City. One of the other Vols knew of a hostel that had their own area of the beach...and it was all ours. The weather was a little overcast and it was extremely high tide, but the day couldn't have been more perfect.


My friend and I then returned to our hostel and enjoyed dinner at their restaurant and two Health volunteers from the group before mine met up with us to eat as well.

Friday: Journey up north. We were doing great on time, and after breakfast at a great little restaurant called Desayunazo, we headed out of León at 11am on a microbus to Estelí. After a relatively short wait time of about 10 minutes, we caught a NICE, air-conditioned Expreso bus to Ocotal. Those buses are very few in this country, and we thought we had lucked out. About 45 minutes into the ride, the bus stopped. We were asking what was happening and when looking out the front window, we noticed a pile-up, caused by a tranque (road-block). Tranques are common in Nicaragua-mostly farmers or military members protesting something or rather and they usually let traffic go thru about once an hour.

So we waited. We called our Security Officer at Peace Corps in Managua to advise him of where we were and he just asked for us to keep him updated. After 2 hours of waiting and no signs of letting up, we grabbed our bags and started walking, along with many other people who had the same idea. We tried to hitch a ride with some passenger cars, but after about 2km worth of walking, we caught a bus that was originally going from the pueblo of Murra to Estelí, but had decided to turn around and take the load to Ocotal and it was PACKED, but we were lucky enough to catch a seat.

By the time we got into Ocotal, it was about 6pm. My friend had told me that there was a Jicaro bus that sometimes leaves at 6, and if we had missed it, we were going to call our Volunteer Leader who lives in Ocotal to crash for the night. The minute we stepped off the bus, we saw the Jicaro bus leaving the terminal and we BOOKED it with all of our bags, and made it last minute. We finally got to my friend's house at about 6:45pm and not even an hour later I was sleeping hard.

Saturday: I made it back to Jalapa safe and sound, and I'm already looking forward to my next vacation in mid-September. It's actually a Peace Corps workshop with our colegas but it is in a really nice hotel called Selva Negra in the department of Matagalpa, and I cannot wait to see it.