Hello listeners. When I left you last I had just finished hiking to the waterfalls in Isla de Ometepe (Nicaragua) and Pieter had hitch-hiked back to the hostel after falling off his bike.
So we´ll begin there. That night Pieter, Carla (Pieter´s Sister), and I had one last celebration before they left for Costa Rica the next morning. The two of them were nice enough to leave me $40 dollars seeing there weren´t any ATMs on the island and I was broke. The next day I rode around the island on one of the bikes we had rented and was caught in a 45 minute flash monsoon. I was feeling pretty manly after biking through such a torrential downpour until I realized that I had lost twenty of the dollars they had given me. Which meant I didn´t have enough money to pay my bill at the hostel. But travelers are always willing to give. The next morning at breakfast I met two Californians who said they would lend me the money until we got back to the mainland. So I paid my bill with the twenty dollars I had left and told the manager that the two Californians would pay the rest. Then the two Californians got their bill and realized they didn´t have enough money to pay their own bill. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the bus was leaving. Without thinking I grabbed my pack, ran for the bus and fled the island. I still owe that hostel $13 and am waiting for my bad Karma to come back ten fold.
When I got back to Rivas (the mainland) I had 3 hours until my bus left for San Juan del Sur. While waiting I checked my email to discover
that Ingrid, my future Nicaraguan wife from Leon, had written me an email. She hadn´t realized that I was leaving Leon so soon and had gone looking for me the night I left. That was enough for me. So instead of going to San Juan del Sur I jumped on the next bus to Leon and met her that night.....and I´ve been here ever since. I just finished three more weeks of spanish school and have been living with another host family. (Who continues to feed my like I´m an offensive linemen for da´Bears. No matter how many times I say no they make me eat more. I´m not joking. It´s absurd. I have to lie down after every meal so that I don´t vomit. I´m up 15 lbs since I left 3 months ago. Look at the picture: everything you see in the photo is my lunch.)
I found out that my BOY, Pieter, was also following his heart and had returned to Nicaragua to meet up with Suzy (aka Darkfern). So after a week of spanish school Ingrid and I hopped on a bus to Laguna de Apoyo to meet them. We stayed at the Monkey Hut which has an unbelievable view of the Lake. And true to form Pieter and I cooked up our famous (infamous) vegetarian stir fry while Dark Fern provided the acoustic accompaniment. We followed up dinner with a moonlight swim in the lake. Its a rough life, but I´m doing my best to get through it.
So we´ll begin there. That night Pieter, Carla (Pieter´s Sister), and I had one last celebration before they left for Costa Rica the next morning. The two of them were nice enough to leave me $40 dollars seeing there weren´t any ATMs on the island and I was broke. The next day I rode around the island on one of the bikes we had rented and was caught in a 45 minute flash monsoon. I was feeling pretty manly after biking through such a torrential downpour until I realized that I had lost twenty of the dollars they had given me. Which meant I didn´t have enough money to pay my bill at the hostel. But travelers are always willing to give. The next morning at breakfast I met two Californians who said they would lend me the money until we got back to the mainland. So I paid my bill with the twenty dollars I had left and told the manager that the two Californians would pay the rest. Then the two Californians got their bill and realized they didn´t have enough money to pay their own bill. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the bus was leaving. Without thinking I grabbed my pack, ran for the bus and fled the island. I still owe that hostel $13 and am waiting for my bad Karma to come back ten fold.
When I got back to Rivas (the mainland) I had 3 hours until my bus left for San Juan del Sur. While waiting I checked my email to discover
that Ingrid, my future Nicaraguan wife from Leon, had written me an email. She hadn´t realized that I was leaving Leon so soon and had gone looking for me the night I left. That was enough for me. So instead of going to San Juan del Sur I jumped on the next bus to Leon and met her that night.....and I´ve been here ever since. I just finished three more weeks of spanish school and have been living with another host family. (Who continues to feed my like I´m an offensive linemen for da´Bears. No matter how many times I say no they make me eat more. I´m not joking. It´s absurd. I have to lie down after every meal so that I don´t vomit. I´m up 15 lbs since I left 3 months ago. Look at the picture: everything you see in the photo is my lunch.)I found out that my BOY, Pieter, was also following his heart and had returned to Nicaragua to meet up with Suzy (aka Darkfern). So after a week of spanish school Ingrid and I hopped on a bus to Laguna de Apoyo to meet them. We stayed at the Monkey Hut which has an unbelievable view of the Lake. And true to form Pieter and I cooked up our famous (infamous) vegetarian stir fry while Dark Fern provided the acoustic accompaniment. We followed up dinner with a moonlight swim in the lake. Its a rough life, but I´m doing my best to get through it.
And down here they celebrate some holiday called: Navidad (Na-vi-dad). Its to celebrate the birth of this long haired, bearded guy called: JesuChristo (Je-su-Chris-to). I am pretty sure its a take-off of Christmas. But I don´t want to disrespect their culture so I´m going to keep my mouth closed. I spent my first non-white Christmas (I am referring to snow, not skin color) with my Nicaraguan family. We went to midnight mass, came home and had a huge dinner, then opened presents. The only difference was the Christmas tree and 100 degree weather (well...it also wasn´t really my family). My sister, Leyla, gave me a shirt that says: Soy Nicaraou. So its official. I am now 100% Nicaraguan.
Now the REAL celebration down here is on the 26th. When everyone in Leon gathers to celebrate the birth of an even more important figure: Cristobal Warner (Cris-sto-bal-War-ner). Legend has it, that on the 26th of December 7 different kinds of smoke can be seen being thrown in the sky all around the world. So after three months of Pieter and I using the phrase, ¨Come on....Its My Birthday¨ to get people to go out with us when they didn´t want to: It really was my birthday. Ingrid and her friends organized a party for me. They cooked up some Nicaraguan party favors, Ingrid baked a cake and gave me a bottle of german wine, and my swiss friend Rafael showed up without his long hair and a new Nicaraguan girlfriend (which aparently he had been keeping a secret). The only thing that was missing at my party was enough hombres. I don´t think I´ve ever had this problem before, but Ingrid´s friends were upset I didn´t bring more guys to the party for them. Its a rough life, but I´m doing my best to get through it.
Last night I went to a baseball game with Ingrid. Tonight she is cooking me dinner. Sunday is New Years Eve. Monday I leave for Managua. Wednesday I should be in Panama City. Wednesday to Next Monday I will be in Columbia depending on whether I go by plane or boat.
Feliz Navidad,
Feliz Cumpliaños,
Cristobal
Feliz Navidad,
Feliz Cumpliaños,
Cristobal
