Birthday Dinner with my Nica family and friends
Mama in Leon
The Lion of Leon
Birthday bonfire on the Beach in Leon
Nice sunset with all you ever needThe next day we got up at the hostel and were prepping to head to the beach. The group we were with were a little groggy from the evenings activities but actually beat us to the punch at getting out to breakfast and then finding taxis to the beach, guess you can do anything with the right carrot. Well Mama and I went to try another local restaurant that served organic/veggie dishes. I got to have some fruit with yogurt and Mama got French toast, not bad for Nicaragua. We then did some walking around Leon. I did want to get to the beach, but at this point we were going to wait for Jamie to get in from Managua and figured while we were here we should see the city and the churches. Mama and I walked around the market and saw the dozen churches that dot the landscape. I got a couple good shots of the old colonial architecture, but the market was quite a let down. Maybe it is because I am just so numb from the markets in Masaya and Managua, but this one wasn’t crazy enough, there were no insane vendors, vagos, or people shoving me for no good reason.
Jamie finally got into town around noon and we made our way to the beach, this is where our mini adventure begins. We took a taxi to the bus station, but since Mama was with us, we decided to splurge the extra $4 for the 20min taxi ride straight to the beach. We figured we would save some time and get all the sun we could. Well along the way the taxi light on top of the car blows off; strike 1. We then tell the drive we want to go to Las Rocas, but I swear he dropped us off in some remote area; strike 2. We think no biggie, beaches here are just weird, but through many odd texts and short phone calls we realize we are an hour walk from where we are supposed to be; strike 3. I was pretty upset, it was now 1pm, we can see the beach, but we are at the wrong one. The bus won’t be here for an hour and the taxi disappeared. We decide to start walking and luckily we are able to get a ride from a family to the hotel… homerun.
Once at the beach we get set-up in our rooms. Thanks to Racheal this was all taken care of ahead of time and all Mama and I had to do was walk in and drop our stuff off. We had a room overlooking the beach and first thing I did was change and head straight for the water. Mama of course didn’t go in, but I don’t blame her, the waves were pretty big and I got knocked around by the current. Later in the day we were able to play some football with a couple Nicas and even head out to a seafood restaurant for dinner. Now it is not what you are thinking, it was basically the upper porch of someone’s house and I knew it was a bad sign when I saw a rat scurry past our table. When we finally ordered our meal which was fish nothing more it was truly that, an entire fish taking up the entire plate with some tostados on the side. It was intense, it reminded me of our trip to CO when I freaked out about the trout. I don’t know what type of fish this was, but I was less than amused and ate only about half.
That night we got around to celebrating the birthdays. Mama and I of course kept it classy with wine spritzers and I even got her to partake in a few games of drunk driver and ring of fire. We had a nice run in with a random guy at our table and at one point we all shared the same look of why is he here and how do we get him to leave. Around midnight the owner of the place wandered over and started the conversation as…”I have a problem”. I of course went into panic mode, but he just wanted to know if we could use the wood and gas he had to start a beach bonfire. I guess his problem was that he didn’t want to do any of the work. Now, I am no official boyscout, but I pride myself on knowing several outdoorsy things, fire being one of them. I jumped at the chance and right at midnight (my birthday) I got a huge bonfire going for all of my friends. It made me feel like I was home and was a perfect conclusion to the night.
Now for most people, a night of partying and a late night bonfire would be enough for one’s birthday. However, I am not under normal circumstances and this was only the beginning. After another 6hr bus ride back to San Dionisio my mom and I were met by my host family and Jason’s family for a big dinner. They knew I was fed up with beans and rice and decided to make stuffed pasta with chicken and cheese. I made them a regular lettuce salad with Italian dressing and they surprisingly at all of it. It was a great conclusion to a long day of fires and travel.
Jamie finally got into town around noon and we made our way to the beach, this is where our mini adventure begins. We took a taxi to the bus station, but since Mama was with us, we decided to splurge the extra $4 for the 20min taxi ride straight to the beach. We figured we would save some time and get all the sun we could. Well along the way the taxi light on top of the car blows off; strike 1. We then tell the drive we want to go to Las Rocas, but I swear he dropped us off in some remote area; strike 2. We think no biggie, beaches here are just weird, but through many odd texts and short phone calls we realize we are an hour walk from where we are supposed to be; strike 3. I was pretty upset, it was now 1pm, we can see the beach, but we are at the wrong one. The bus won’t be here for an hour and the taxi disappeared. We decide to start walking and luckily we are able to get a ride from a family to the hotel… homerun.
Once at the beach we get set-up in our rooms. Thanks to Racheal this was all taken care of ahead of time and all Mama and I had to do was walk in and drop our stuff off. We had a room overlooking the beach and first thing I did was change and head straight for the water. Mama of course didn’t go in, but I don’t blame her, the waves were pretty big and I got knocked around by the current. Later in the day we were able to play some football with a couple Nicas and even head out to a seafood restaurant for dinner. Now it is not what you are thinking, it was basically the upper porch of someone’s house and I knew it was a bad sign when I saw a rat scurry past our table. When we finally ordered our meal which was fish nothing more it was truly that, an entire fish taking up the entire plate with some tostados on the side. It was intense, it reminded me of our trip to CO when I freaked out about the trout. I don’t know what type of fish this was, but I was less than amused and ate only about half.
That night we got around to celebrating the birthdays. Mama and I of course kept it classy with wine spritzers and I even got her to partake in a few games of drunk driver and ring of fire. We had a nice run in with a random guy at our table and at one point we all shared the same look of why is he here and how do we get him to leave. Around midnight the owner of the place wandered over and started the conversation as…”I have a problem”. I of course went into panic mode, but he just wanted to know if we could use the wood and gas he had to start a beach bonfire. I guess his problem was that he didn’t want to do any of the work. Now, I am no official boyscout, but I pride myself on knowing several outdoorsy things, fire being one of them. I jumped at the chance and right at midnight (my birthday) I got a huge bonfire going for all of my friends. It made me feel like I was home and was a perfect conclusion to the night.
Now for most people, a night of partying and a late night bonfire would be enough for one’s birthday. However, I am not under normal circumstances and this was only the beginning. After another 6hr bus ride back to San Dionisio my mom and I were met by my host family and Jason’s family for a big dinner. They knew I was fed up with beans and rice and decided to make stuffed pasta with chicken and cheese. I made them a regular lettuce salad with Italian dressing and they surprisingly at all of it. It was a great conclusion to a long day of fires and travel.
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