Alex in Nica!

Well, I have quite the exciting week to report on! After much discernment, Alex decided to come visit Nicaragua for over a week! November, 2011 has been a long time coming for him, as he will be taking his last CPA exam and starting his career in the next couple days.  Since he knew he wouldn't be able to take vacation time until next summer, we decided to take the opportunity for him to come in his last weeks of "freedom" to visit Nicaragua and actually see and experience what life is like for me here, as it is much different than anything he had ever experienced before.  With only a few weeks notice, he booked his tickets and I began planning away, trying to figure out how much I could cram into just 10 days! From the moment he landed, everything was a new experience--riding in crazy taxis and public buses, eating at street venders or in our humble kitchen, and of course the Nica Spanish! Here's a little run-down of everything we were able to do together, including a few pictures. Disclaimer: We actually spent a lot of time at the house with the community and doing my "normal" things, but of course most of the pictures are from the really exciting and different things we splurged on :)  All of the pictures from his trip can be seen in my latest Facebook photo album.

He arrived in the evening of the 20th of October (happy birthday, Dad!) and we spent almost the entire evening unpacking a 50-pound suitcase FULL of deliveries from home. He had everything from hiking boots for Ana to  two 2L bottles of Dr. Pepper (and a can from one of his planes!), from five bags of m&ms to brownies from Matt's mom in California, from crazy nightgowns that mom sent to letters, cds, and pictures from friends back home. Everything looked, felt, and smelled like home.. it was beautifully overwhelming to not only have him, but so much love from so many others!

Friday morning we went with Chepe (our local coordinator) to Cantera's farm outside of Managua.  He gave us a tour of the grounds, which include soil-making (from red worms' poop?!), all sorts of fruits and vegetables, an experimental farmhouse, horses, cows and sheep, fruit dehydrating facilities, and beehives/honey processing.

On Saturday, some of the boys in the neighborhood convinced Alex to play baseball with him while I made lunch. They're already asking when he's going to come back to play with them some more! We spent the afternoon in Mateare, for the "Miss Ambientalista" (Miss Environmentalist) Pageant that the teens had been planning for weeks. They had six candidates and each had to model several outfits, including a dress they created from recycled trash.  Over 100 people attended and the teens were proud of how it all turned out. They were also soo excited that Alex was able to come for their biggest event! Saturday evening we met my community members and saw a movie at one of the malls in Managua (the opportunity for air-conditioning and movie-theatre-popcorn is rarely turned down here!).

We then traveled to Granada from Sunday to Tuesday (happy birthday, Andy!), enjoying an afternoon swimming at Laguna Apoyo, visiting my host-family and Casa Xalteva, and a Canopy Tour on the Mombacho Volcano!

I had intended to go to work in Mateare on Tuesday, but their plans changed so we ended up spending the afternoon at the Cantera office in Managua, so Alex got to meet and chat with everyone there and see my office where I work on stuff for delegations and donor relations.  When we got back to the house, I did some laundry while Alex "studied for the CPA exam":

Then, Tuesday night we had our weekly dinner/reflection with Chepe and the seminarians who live with him and nixed reflection for a little "Jack-o-Lantern" carving (with a Nica twist!)...

You can't even tell they're wanna-be pumpkins!

 Wednesday we went into Mateare and hung out with the teens. Unfortunately there was no Libros para Ninos, but the kids were excited to get to know Alex and show him around Mateare.

We walked a few blocks away to the shore of Lake Managua, where we met some local fishermen/farmers. One of them opened up a 50lb rice sack and revealed a pile of IGUANAS! Wasn't expecting that when I peaked in! Evidently they make for a pretty good dinner.. I'll take their word on it ;)

On Thursday morning, we headed down south toward San Juan del Sur (the most popular tourist beach).  Rather than doing it the tourist way, however, we took public transportation buses (run-down school buses from the states).  The first one was to take us to Rivas, where we would catch a bus the rest of the way.  When I explained this to the driver, I was imagining a bus terminal of sorts, where we could choose from a variety of buses with different destinations.  I was a little nervous when he dropped us off at this deserted round-about and sped off! We came to find out that it is actually the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to get the bus we needed, but definitely not was I was expecting!

We spent most of our first evening in San Juan del Sur just exploring and getting settled.  We stayed at a super low-key hostel (salmon-colored on the far left) owned and run by a Nicaraguan woman.  It was simple, clean, comfortable, and most importantly - affordable! :)

On our way back to the hostel before dinner, we were awe-struck at the beautiful sunset over the ocean..

The next couple nights we made sunset a priority.. and the sites made for close competition for the first night!  On Friday, we took a bus to Playa Maderas, a beach to the south of San Juan del Sur.  We spent most of the day there, swimming, walking, collecting seashells, laying out, and eating out at one of the restaurants right on the beach.

The sunset Friday night :)

 Saturday was a pretty exciting day.  When we first arrived in San Juan del Sur  we made it our mission to make it onto a boat for the sunset on Saturday.  Sooo we spent all morning calling around and walking to various places to try to find something affordable for that evening.  Finally we got set up with a "booze cruise" (definitely not what we initially had in mind!), which included a three-hour boat ride, fishing, and a free beer!  It was a simple deal, but was very personal and we had a ton of fun.  My personal favorite part (especially because I don't like beer) was seeing DOLPHINS!! Wasn't expecting that! And there was soo many and they came SOO close to our boat! They were so peaceful and graceful. I could hardly take pictures I was so excited! Here's a couple of the better ones, but they still don't do it justice!

After they moved on, we finished our little tour and anchored down for the fishing extravaganza.  Sadly the fish we cut up as bate ended up being bigger than anything we caught, but we really enjoyed it.  Dad, Ryan, and Andy will be so proud to hear that I caught TWICE as many fish as Alex! ;)

My first catch! It was so pretty I didn't want to let it go!

The ride ended in a little sunset-gazing (and photoshoot).. I couldn't get how beautiful it was and loved watching it change colors :)

Alex and I on the boat

The sunset as we headed back to shore.. ahh.

On Sunday, we spent most of the day traveling back to Managua (the cheapest travel isn't generally the quickest!), walked to Mass at the cultural center where the VMMs volunteer, and then had dinner and reflection with my community.  All too soon it was 5am on Monday and we were back at the airport.. :( I was so sad to have to say good bye again (already), but am sooo thankful that he was able to make the trip possible.  We both had a fabulously memorable week and now he's able to picture exactly where I am, who I'm with, and how [hot!] I feel! It was definitely a growing experience for both of us :)

The day after he returned he took his final CPA exam (pray it went okay!) and the day after started his new job at McGladrey in Omaha!  After a morning to catch up on sleep and stuff around the house, I've stayed busy with work meetings the last few days. I feel a bit renewed and feel as strongly as ever about taking Alex with me on this journey. Looking forward to what God has in store next!