la isla bonita.

leaving the homestay and transitioning to backpacker mode left me with a taste of culture shock. i went from living in an old wooden house with a latrine and bucket shower, a huge garden, lots of chickens, pigs and piglets, a cow, three scrawny dogs, a very demanding cat, Jacqueline (host mother) and Brian (her eight year old son) to staying at a hostel on the other side of the island with lots of tourists, loud american music, billiards and rum. it was a bit of an adjustment.

i had grown really accustomed to living with Jacqueline and being generously taken care of by her. she graciously opened her house to me and another student from the trip, giving up the nicest room in the house for us to stay in her home. the best description of the house it that it was like a large wooden barn. it is one of the oldest and nicer structures in los angeles and has been in her family for generations. she would wake us in the morning with huge trays of food: gallopinto (rice and beans), eggs, tortillas, plantain, watermelon, juice and coffee. then we would head to clinic or class, returning hours later with our bellies still full from breakfast to be served an enormous tray of nicaraguan delights. most of the food is a variation of starchy vegetables, rice, beans, plantain, tomatoes, and eggs or meat (fish from the lake, freshly slaughtered chicken, etc). one day i ate four whole fish - two for lunch in fish soup, and two for dinner fried and served with rice beans and salad. my plate was clean and my stomach sufficiently stretched after every meal. as we ate, jacqueline would share stories of her life. of living in guatemala where her husband was killed a few years ago, of moving back to nicaragua, of educating her son at home the year that she could not afford to buy him a uniform. its a good thing that more than 80% of communication is nonverbal. she was patient with us as we tried to understand, and she cried when we left.

i left the western part of the island to head to the southeastern portion with two other girls from the brigade. we happened to get a ride from an australian guy who ran a hostel near the base of the volcano we hoped to climb. we slept in hammocks overlooking lago cocibolca and listened to the waves lap upon the shore.

we explored the ecofarms near our hostel one day, and yesterday we climbed volcan maderas. it is 1394m high, and muddy most of the way up. the last time it erupted was about 1000 years ago, and now there is a lake in the crater. hiking through cloud forest is pretty spectacular.

now i am in san juan del sur, a touristy little surf town. we arrived this morning after taking a ferry off the island and getting our bearings. it will be fun to relax for a few days (not that i havent already been doing that...)