Day 7: Weekend Activities

Laguna de Apoyo

It being the weekend, we had a lot of ideas about what we wanted to do. Christine wanted to rent bicycles and ride to Laguna de Apoyo, the volcanic crater lake. Last night after dinner, we talked about this with Bill, and he expressed great concerns about whether I might be able to do the ride. He had great confidence in Christine's ability to do it. Well, I didn't want to say it, but he was right! Given the extreme heat and the steep slope of the road, I was also concerned about whether I could do it. Lily was also expressing some hesitation. So, in the end, Christine and Lily were able to arrange for us to catch a ride with Nancy, who was going there with her friend, Karen.

The Beach

It was a lovely spot! Nancy built a hotel there right on the crater lake and we relaxed with Coca Cola's and fried plantain chips. Christine and Lily swam in the lake with Nancy while Karen read her book and I added to my growing knowledge of Nicaragua with the Lonely Planet book on the country. Karen had bought property from Nancy here in Nicaragua a couple of years ago. She has volunteered in a number of places and last spent some time in Ecuador volunteering in a school. Her regular work is in a restaurant in Chicago. 

Lily and Friend

Karen with her Book

In the evening, we hooked up with Darryl and Amy for dinner. Amy runs an art gallery in Granada. I learned that both Nancy and Penny are wonderful artists, and Amy teaches art as well. We met at the Hotel San Francisco, across from the apartment where Christine and Lily are staying, for happy hour. While we were there, it began to rain  - torrential rain! So, we flagged down 2 taxis to go to the restaurant.

Torrential Rain from the Doorway

From the start, it was pretty comical! Nancy arrived soaked to the bone since she walked from her place without an umbrella. Amy, Christine and Lily were in the first taxi and the rest of us were in the second one. Nancy gave directions to the driver, but apparently the restaurant had moved and she didn't know where it was. We tried to contact the others through Lily's phone, but she didn't have it as we found out later. Ultimately, we returned to the Hotel San Francisco, where Nancy was able to find Darryl's number and contact him. He knew where the restaurant was, so we had to flag down another taxi to meet them there. By then, getting in and out of the taxis, we were all soaked despite the umbrellas!

Christine, Nancy and Amy

The restaurant is owned by a young Filipino guy (who does NOT speak Spanish!), and his cook didn't show up, so he had to do all the cooking by himself. There was another huge table of people, but we managed to order our meals first. Even with that advantage, though, it took nearly 2 1/2 hours to get the food! The other table left before their food was served!

Karen, Susan and Lily

After dinner, the owner came over to talk and it seems he's had a great deal of difficulty hiring good cooks. Darryl said that worker reliability is a problem here because the people are so desperate to find jobs that they say they can do anything, but they are unskilled and things don't always work out.

Amy and Darryl

I'm thinking I might take the day off tomorrow and actually start working on my class materials for fall quarter!