Momacita en Nicaragua!

All the months of planning and the many skype sessions to plan our epic journey across Nicaragua finally came to fruition July 11th when momacita touched down in Managua!  I had been envisioning the day my mom would finally come to Nicaragua and everything would go completely wrong and make her hate this country, but instead it was quite the opposite.  The taxi to the bus station went well and we even got two seats together comfortably on a public bus.  Things were looking good.

The first few days were spent at Aqua Wellness Resort Outside San Juan del Sur easing mom in to the journey ahead.  Our cabin was upgraded to beach front and sported AC and internet so we were living large.  We practiced yoga, snorkeled, kayaked, and went hiking to look for monkeys.  All of that went pretty well accept for getting stuck in torrential downpoor when spying on monkeys, pero este es la vida Nicaraguense especially during the rainy season. Be ready for rain, ALWAYS!  We ate well and took in the beautiful views of our private bay.  Just two bays down was the International Surf Competition which happened to start the day we left!  I would have been more upset if we hadn't been on our way to the airport to catch a flight to Little Corn Island.

View form our cabana

mom's first Flor de Cana rum drink

After an hour long flight to the eastern coast coast of Nicaragua to Big Corn Island from Managua, we took a half hour long panga(boat) ride across the Caribbean to the undeveloped Little Corn Island.   The panga raced across massive waves to deliver us to an island of about 500 people, half of them being tourists. We hooped of our boat to climb across 2 other boats to finally land on a dock.  There are no motors on this island.  No cars, no motorcycles, no roads for that matter.  Just a boy with a wheelbarrow to help us take our luggage across a dirt path to the other side of the island, in about 7 minutes.  The island is tiny and its parameter can literally be walked in maybe 4 or 5 hours depending on how many beautiful white beaches you stop to rest on.  It has a Jamaican feel as all its residents come from African American decent, but they speak creole which reflects the history of the british that first conquered the area.  Mom and I had our little cabana at Little Corn Beach and Bungalow was right on the beach looking at crystal clear blue water and white sand.  Their pina coladas were the best I had ever had with roasted coconut on top, as my Peace Corps friend Kelli says"they're like your island crack".  It took us maybe one morning to discover all the island had to offer, which in fact was quite a bit.  There are several dive shops, cute restaurants and bars that line one side of the island.  We spent most of our happy hours at bar Tranquilo with my Peace Corps friend McClaine and girlfriend Kelly as well as our new friends, a dutch couple that road the boat over with us.  We hit some amazing snorkeling spots where we saw sea turtles, nurse sharks, manta-rays, stingrays, lobsters and barracudas.  The rest of our time was spent lounging on the beach, doing yoga, or getting a massage. We ate very well on the island. One afternoon for lunch a local women made us Run-Down soup right out of her house which was truly amazing.  King fish cooked in a coconut curry broth with breadfruit, yucca, plantain and potatoes.  At night we visited Bridget's local where you could get a huge plate of several lobster tails any way you like it for about $10.  The two night we ate there I had garlic and then curry, which were amazing and we would have gone back there every night but we wanted to share the wealth.  I didn't leave the island with anything but pictures, a bit of coconut oil, and mother-daughter matching coco necklaces, but it's not a place where you come to accrue things, but realize how unimportant things really are.  It's a truly special place where locals and ex-pats work together to keep their beaches clean and stray dogs healthy, which is extremely rare in this country.

Amazing beaches that stretch forever, literally untouched

Happy hour with McClaine and Kelly, check out our mom-dot necklaces!

After 5 beautiful days we wheelbarrowed our bags across the island to catch the boat back, to get a taxi, to catch our flight, to catch another taxi, to take a bus to get yet another taxi.  All while I'm completely stressing because this is all happening on July 19th, Nicaragua's day of independence after the revolutionary war of the 80's.  As we were heading in a big yellow school bus to Chinandega buses and trucks overflowing with people were heading in to Managua to celebrate.  We had just missed the chaos by maybe 20 minutes.  We could already see the traffice backing up the Pan American highway from Managua.

Thank fully we made it to Coco Loco by 2 pm to enjoy lunch after all those various methods of transport to get there.  The next 5 days would be spent at my second home, Coco Loco, surfing and just plain chillen.  The plan was to get my mom to try surfing, but my first day out on the water I managed to come back with a swollen face and black eye after my board hit me upside the head.  My mom took one look at me and swore off surfing, chillen it was.  We took in amazing sunsets and enjoyed tasty dinners.  It was nice to have her finally see where and with who I spend my weekends with, just really awesome people at a really feel good kind of place.  On Saturday we took a day trip up to Consiguina volcanoe where my friends have a ranch to do the same horse back ride I did with my bro and cousin.  We road through the wetlands and took in the views together as well as a great meal with my friend's fmaily.  On Monday Waves of Hope, the non-profit arm that I help out with held their first ever surfing invitational for the local rippers.  They told the kids to show up at 7 am for a surprise and low and behold!  Holly ended up awarding surf boards to first and second place and my mom donated money which will go to building a repair shack for the local kids to learn how to repair their own surfboards.  We had a lovely time and Mom rolled away with over $200 dollars of jewelry from my women's group who makes earrings, bracelets, and necklaces from local shells and seeds.

Check out the shiner!

There was a tie for 1st place!  The winners with Jamie, Ben and Holly Beck

We finally pulled ourselves away from the beautiful beaches of Chinandega back in to the sweltering city where I live.  Mom trailed around with me to my classrooms, my NGO, my yoga class, and to meet my family.  At times she didn't think she could outlast the heat, but she was a trooper and we made it through our time in the city before heading down south to Granada.  Our last super in Chin was a lunch of albondigas(basically chicken and corn balls in a vegetable broth) soup with my entire family at our house.  My host mom went on and on about how I'm always running of to teach yoga then to teach class and then to salsa and then for a evening run and finally off early to surf.  They said they never see my face because I'm so vaga(always out of the house).  My mom just nooded her head and said, yes that sounds about right, thats my girl.

Mom sneaking shots of me teaching

Mom with my counterpart teacher and the owner of the cafetine where I eat lunch

When we arrived in Granada we were pleasantly surprised to have been upgraded to staying in the hotel owners' house with a beautiful pool and private courtyard.  My friends Kelli and Noelle came from afar to spend the evening getting to know my mom.  We chatted over wine and a nice dinner together to wake up the next day to massages at the house and more hanging by the pool.  None of us wanted to part, but mom and I had to get to Jicaro.  We spent our last three nights together at a beautiful all inclusive eco-resort on a tiny island on Lake Nicaragua, about 20 minutes by boat from Granada.  The island literally had a restaraunt, fresh salt water pool, 9 cabanas, a yoga deck, spa deck and nothing more.  It was so excluded from the mainlaind with Volcan Mombacho hovering in the back ground.  One day mom and I did a hike around the volcanoe base and then kayaked through the hot springs.  We mainly just relaxed and enjoyed the incredible food that was served.

Sunset on the lake

Our lakeside treehouse

kayaking by Volcano Mombacho

At the end of the trip I asked mom what was surprising or unexpected during our travels.  Since we had spent plenty of time in Mexico as I was growing up she said there weren't any surprises really, but she did say that she observed how hard it would be to live here.  Not just in regards of transportation, but access to things, the heat, the culture would all be challenging especially long term.  It was nice to have someone so close to me realize it for themselves.  She did also say that she was surprised how happy the Nicaraguan people seemed, but yet there was still a depressing vibe amongst the country.  After her conversation with a local about the revolution and how the government operates today, she had a better understanding of why.  My mom is one of the most compassionate persons I know and to see her morn for the dogs and want to reach out to the children made me more aware of how I've become numb to the many tragedies that plague this country.  It scared me that I viewed some of these things as normal.  I'll never get used to the burning trash in the streets or the starving animals, but somehow I've began to turn the other cheek.  Having mom here was an opportunity to keep my compassionate side in check and realize that I do have an amazing country to go back to in one year.  I hope to make the most of these next 12 months that I know will fly by.  Thanks mom for an amazing 18 days of great friendship, comfortable traveling and fine dining.  Now its back to reality here.  Miss you a ton already!