Long time no blog

The Island of Omotepe!

Hello to all you faithful readers out there. First of all, our apologies for not posting in quite a while. Since we last wrote, Jess has spent a week in Carazo (our old training site) and I have begun working with a group of Irish volunteers who are building a health center near Somoto in just under 6 weeks.

El Volcán Concepción

We also spent the 4th of July on the Island of Omotepe. It´s located in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. It´s actually the largest fresh-water island in the world with two huge volcanoes, one which is active. The volcano Concepción last erupted in 2007, so let´s just say it´s really active. The island offers all sorts of nature outings, but Jess and I chose to have a relaxing weekend and spent most of our time napping in hammocks or eating. We did go on a hike to see some pre-Columbian petroglyphs. They were carved in volcanic rocks a few miles from the hostel we were staying at. There was a bunch of pretty flowers and wildlife as well. Fairly interesting stuff!

The trip was really more of a reunion for our Peace Corps training group. We celebrated 3 birthdays (mine included) and just caught up on our experiences over the past the months. The birthday boys got cookies and a piñata full of chocolate. Nicaraguans have giant piñatas like in Mexico, but the way they are destroyed varies. In Nicaragua the person hitting the piñata isn´t blindfolded, but the challenge is much greater. The person hitting has to dance while they swing the bat, and another person is pulling the piñata up and down on a string. Very difficult.

The hotel that we stayed at was like a beefed up tree house with hammocks and lawnchairs and rooms hidden all over the place. Unfortunately, the don´t accept credit cards, so Jess and I were stuck camping at the lake´s edge. We had brought our tent, however, so it really wasn´t that bad. We also saved a bunch of money!

On the way back across the lake we found ourselves on a much smaller ferry than on our trip across. What we rode couldn´t really be called anything more than a tugboat. There was only the main deck, which was already loaded with produce before the ¨human¨ cargo even made it on board. While the ride was very beautiful, we all were a little nervous we´d hit a giant wake and find ourselves swimming amongst pineapples and potatoes.

The week has been fairly regular, with Jess once again in Somoto. I´ve been working on the construction site of the Health Center every day, which has been great. Astro has been joining us occasionally, but has had to stay home lately because we´re pouring concrete. He did get to take a run with his dad the other day, though. I don´t know if we´ve explained this in the past, but Astro lived with his biological father and his family for the 4 months of his life before we got him. Every time we go by their house, it´s always a battle to keep Astro from running in the door. We bring him by for visits, but only when he´s just had a bath. We don´t want them to judge. Sometimes when we´re out and about we find Astro´s dad just sitting outside his house. His dad still remembers his son, like any good father, and always likes to run with around with us as we walk. The two look almost identical, so a lot of our acquaintences around town are constantly laughing and pointing at our white dog parade. It´s ok, though. We like the attention.Can you guess which one is our dog?

So, that´s all for now. Jess heads back to the States next week and Aeron Hurley is coming to visit for a couple weeks. We´ll have plenty of adventures to share as well as pictures of the construction site. Thanks for reading and we´ll be sure to post more soon!