Hola de Playa Gigante!
The group is staying as busy as ever here in Nicaragua. We finished up Student Directed Travel with nights in Masaya and San Juan del Sur, and continued on to Playa Gigante which is where we happily write to you from!
Masaya greeted us with a hostel all to ourselves, complete with our own puppy for the night as well, some disappointing (although SAFE, as the owner assured us) Italian food, much needed internet time, and one of the biggest markets in Nicaragua filled with artisan crafts that looked suspiciously the same in each store.
After a crazy day of travel in cramped chicken buses, we finally made it to paradise- San Juan del Sur. We stayed in the most spacious, relaxed, and FUN hostel probably in the whole world. It was filled with other fun young travelers (which could be said for the whole town as well) and was equipped with a pool, slackline, huge TV, and kitchen, which was the creation site of a MAGNIFICENT breakfast, coutesy of Brent. We spent our 2 days there reading, swimming, shopping, eating, having group movie time, and attempting to find the hip, happening places in town at night. As much as we truly love cultural exchange and immersion, it was nice to take a break and not stand out as much.
After two peaceful days in San Juan, we took a painless taxi ride up to Playa Gigante, our home for the next week! Here we have our final homestays, which we all missed a lot, and volunteer/activity time with Project WOO (Waves of Optimism), that works with the surf tourism that comes here.
Our homestays are definitely more on the rustic side of the scale with dirt floors and bucket showers in most of the houses, but we all get lots of time to spend with our families and they have made us feel extremely welcome. Some family activities the group has done include a wedding ceremony, church karoake night, card games and puzzles, and LOTS of conversation. All of the families have kids as well which have brought lots of spice to the homes. Some children are beautifully behaved, while others have been referred to as the Tasmanian devil…. Either way, the homestays here are an incredibly positive experience!
Project WOO has not disappointed us! They’ve organized so many activities and volunteer opportunities for us. The group has made bread with Maria Elena (Lisa and Ellen’s host mom), cooked a local meal with Doña Lucia or Doña Reina (Sophia and Leigha’s mom), fished in the wee hours of the morning with Milton and his fishing crew (and also gotten a little sea-sick in the process), learned about the Community Health Center that Project WOO is currently sponsoring, and more! One of our favorites was painting the local school with other travelers/volunteers. One of them, Kyle, was a very skilled musician so we all sang along with him and his guitar and pretty much forgot we were doing work.
Another special thing about this week is that it brought two birthdays from group members! Ellen celebrated her 19th birthday on the 20th, and Lisa celebrated her 20th birthday on the 21st! Rest assured, parents, both had absolutely perfect days filled with hugs, cards, cookies, birthday swims, and delicious meals from Maria Elena, AND the group will be celebrating tonight with another beloved pizza night!
We continually try to block out of our minds the fact that our time together is quickly winding down. The next 2 and half weeks will bring us to Costa Rica and Honduras and then, sadly (but also somewhat happily because we miss you all) to our homes. We have been reminiscing a lot on the hilarious and magnificent experiences we have shared, but we continue to make memories and enjoy eachother so much every day! This trip is becoming more than we ever thought it could be.
Con Amor,
Lisa and Lizza