And then it was week 3 of my Spanish course already. Time is flying by so quickly and there is so much fun stuff to do, that I barely get a chance to write all my experiences down, but I will try to put them into words now.
On monday, it was time for a new teacher, which turned out to be Ligia, with whom I had talked during the dynamics round in the first week. She was just as good as the other two. We had a lot of laughs as well and on tuesday, during the class, she took me (together with Catalina and Aura) to the hospital of Granada to see what it would look like in Masaya. This was really cool to see and we were allowed to ask questions to the patients (which I shyed away from, damn my insecurity). It was weird to see that the patients just show up early in the morning, hoping they get their turn that day and then have their short consult. It is not at all like in Holland, where you have an exact time of coming and you HAVE TO leave after 30 minutes again.
As far as the Spanish classes go, the other days went by rather quickly and quietly (with a lot of laughs however) and on thursday it was time for my exam, which I passed with flying colors with my special thanks to Aura, Bismarck and Ligia. Friday we had to say goodbye to everyone, but I am definitely going back there sometime.
On monday, it was time for a new teacher, which turned out to be Ligia, with whom I had talked during the dynamics round in the first week. She was just as good as the other two. We had a lot of laughs as well and on tuesday, during the class, she took me (together with Catalina and Aura) to the hospital of Granada to see what it would look like in Masaya. This was really cool to see and we were allowed to ask questions to the patients (which I shyed away from, damn my insecurity). It was weird to see that the patients just show up early in the morning, hoping they get their turn that day and then have their short consult. It is not at all like in Holland, where you have an exact time of coming and you HAVE TO leave after 30 minutes again.
As far as the Spanish classes go, the other days went by rather quickly and quietly (with a lot of laughs however) and on thursday it was time for my exam, which I passed with flying colors with my special thanks to Aura, Bismarck and Ligia. Friday we had to say goodbye to everyone, but I am definitely going back there sometime.
Monday afternoon our activity was visiting a primary school in Granada. We got a standing ovation when we entered the class and they all said 'buenos dias, como estan' in unison. The kids asked us some questions and then we were allowed to play football with them during their break, or do some more girly stuff with the little girls. The girls were all really sweet and they were really excited for us to be there. On monday evening it was time for the weekly pubquiz at Reilley's and this time we actually managed to win one of the rounds, so maybe in like 6 weeks, we will be able to win the whole game, which would be nice for once.
Tuesday we went to climb the volcano in Masaya, which is still very active today. It was an awesome experience to see the smoke coming out of the crater and smelling the sulphur. We were able to admire the cross (from a distance) where they used to sacrifice women and children to the volcano, which is also called: 'boca del infierno'. After going to one of the miradores, we went for a little hike and the view was amazing. Only when the guide said we were gonna climb further and he pointed to the trail we were taking, I lost my nerves. It was steep, narrow and without any support. I pulled myself together and when I reached the top, I was proud of myself! Then there was the problem of going down, thank god I had my friend Pui there to guide me down.
Wednesday, which is normally our day off, we went to see the carnaval parade in the parque central. There were all different kinds of music and people dressed up, dancing around, even an old little lady, dancing with a beer bottle on her head. It was really fun to watch and after that, we went for mojito's, before heading home. This evening I went to the other pubquiz with Dave, my roommate, and Ingrid, the mother of my host family. We did not achieve much, but at least we didn't get in last and we had fun. It was nice to have a quiet night out with the mother of my host family, to thank her for everything and kind of say goodbye already.
Wednesday, which is normally our day off, we went to see the carnaval parade in the parque central. There were all different kinds of music and people dressed up, dancing around, even an old little lady, dancing with a beer bottle on her head. It was really fun to watch and after that, we went for mojito's, before heading home. This evening I went to the other pubquiz with Dave, my roommate, and Ingrid, the mother of my host family. We did not achieve much, but at least we didn't get in last and we had fun. It was nice to have a quiet night out with the mother of my host family, to thank her for everything and kind of say goodbye already.
Thursday, the day of the exam. We went to a fortress, where we first had to climb up a steep road for 900 meters. We girls were so fast, that we had to wait a minute (or 5) for the others to reach the summit, but then they caught up and we set about exploring. When we entered the chambers, however, we were called back, because we were not allowed to enter without a guide, OOPS. The view was amazing, but the history behind the fortress was terrible. It was first used to protect the city of Granada from attacks from Leon, which were fighting to be the capital of Nicaragua. After that, it was used to lock up and torture the people who were against the president. They did all kinds of different tortures, physical, psycological, electrical, you name it. It made me kind of queasy to be in those rooms, and I was really happy to leave again.
Back in Granada, we went out to celebrate the last night of some people of our group and we went to the guy's night after, but that was kind of a bust, since there weren't that many people around. We talked for a bit and then decided to go home and have some more sleep than usual.
Friday we had our last day and we finished early, because we had already done 4 activities that week. This meant that we could leave for Leon in the afternoon already and at 1.30 pm we were on our way. The bus ride was longer than expected, so we arrived around 5 in Leon and then we had to look for our hostel. According to the guys, it was at least a 45 minute walk so we should definitely take a cab, but in the end, we walked for 30 minutes, but only because we did not know the way and we did not have a map. We checked in, put our stuff away and went to buy tickets for the movie we wanted to watch (50 shades of Grey, of course) and we went to this cute little restaurant with live music, where they had delicious food, with a lot of vegetables. After waiting half an hour for our check and to pay our bill, we went to see the movie. What a bust. The acting was not that good and it was just awkward to watch, especially Dave felt awkward throughout the movie. In the end we were happy that we did not pay 10 euro's in Holland to go see that movie.
Back in Granada, we went out to celebrate the last night of some people of our group and we went to the guy's night after, but that was kind of a bust, since there weren't that many people around. We talked for a bit and then decided to go home and have some more sleep than usual.
Friday we had our last day and we finished early, because we had already done 4 activities that week. This meant that we could leave for Leon in the afternoon already and at 1.30 pm we were on our way. The bus ride was longer than expected, so we arrived around 5 in Leon and then we had to look for our hostel. According to the guys, it was at least a 45 minute walk so we should definitely take a cab, but in the end, we walked for 30 minutes, but only because we did not know the way and we did not have a map. We checked in, put our stuff away and went to buy tickets for the movie we wanted to watch (50 shades of Grey, of course) and we went to this cute little restaurant with live music, where they had delicious food, with a lot of vegetables. After waiting half an hour for our check and to pay our bill, we went to see the movie. What a bust. The acting was not that good and it was just awkward to watch, especially Dave felt awkward throughout the movie. In the end we were happy that we did not pay 10 euro's in Holland to go see that movie.
Saturday morning we first climbed on top the cathedral of Leon, where you can walk on the roof, admire the view and see the architecture. You have to do this barefoot, because the whole roof is incredibly white, which makes it difficult to see sometimes.
Then it was time for breakfast and I ate amazing waffles, with a lot of different fruits and syrup. We hung out in the hostal's hammock for a bit and then we walked through the city and its shops until it was time to go back and take a quick swim in our pool before going volcano boarding.
This was the most amazing thing I have done so far. The hike up was rather difficult, without a real path to walk on, just some stones that are not always as secure as you think. Also my encounter with Catalina's board was not very good for my head. When we walked up, the wind started to increase in strenght and I had to be really careful not to get blown into the crater. We walked around the crater, admired the view and then it was time to go down. We put on our amazing suits and we got instructions how to control the board. It looked kind of steep, but when I was on that board, adrenaline surged through me and I could not really brake, because I was afraid to take my feet of the board, so I just went downhill really fast. So fast that at one point I actually fell, but it wasn't too bad, I got up and wanted to go further, only to find out that I couldn't go further, because 1. I put my board backwards and 2. because I was already at the end.
After our amazing trip, we admired a stunning sunset and we got some fruit. While driving back, we encountered several wild cows walking in the middle of the road and I got more bumps and bruises from the ride in the car than from the actual volcanoboarding. After a well-deserved shower, we went to a pizzeria to have dinner and we ordered so much that we took one whole pizza home as our lunch for the next day. We went to another hostal, where there was supposed to be a big party, but there wasn't that much happening and neither was there in the rest of the city so we decided to get a decent night's sleep once again and went home.
Then it was time for breakfast and I ate amazing waffles, with a lot of different fruits and syrup. We hung out in the hostal's hammock for a bit and then we walked through the city and its shops until it was time to go back and take a quick swim in our pool before going volcano boarding.
This was the most amazing thing I have done so far. The hike up was rather difficult, without a real path to walk on, just some stones that are not always as secure as you think. Also my encounter with Catalina's board was not very good for my head. When we walked up, the wind started to increase in strenght and I had to be really careful not to get blown into the crater. We walked around the crater, admired the view and then it was time to go down. We put on our amazing suits and we got instructions how to control the board. It looked kind of steep, but when I was on that board, adrenaline surged through me and I could not really brake, because I was afraid to take my feet of the board, so I just went downhill really fast. So fast that at one point I actually fell, but it wasn't too bad, I got up and wanted to go further, only to find out that I couldn't go further, because 1. I put my board backwards and 2. because I was already at the end.
After our amazing trip, we admired a stunning sunset and we got some fruit. While driving back, we encountered several wild cows walking in the middle of the road and I got more bumps and bruises from the ride in the car than from the actual volcanoboarding. After a well-deserved shower, we went to a pizzeria to have dinner and we ordered so much that we took one whole pizza home as our lunch for the next day. We went to another hostal, where there was supposed to be a big party, but there wasn't that much happening and neither was there in the rest of the city so we decided to get a decent night's sleep once again and went home.
On sunday, it was time to go to Leon Viejo. We checked out and walked to the French bakery we found the day before, when we found out we forgot our pizza. We were at peace with it, because we would just take some baguettes with us, until we were standing in front off a closed bakery. The place where we went for breakfast instead, was so close to our hostal, that we did pick up our pizza. Then we started our, what would turn out to be a very long, journeyWhat still amazes me here in Nicaragua is the discongruency of what is said. One person said that there are busses to Leon Viejo, but when we get to that actual station, there are no busses, so we had to take the tuktuk. When we got to Leon Viejo, we walked through the museums and then we walked into the city. I expected it to be a city just like Pompeii, since it was also destroyed by a volcano and normally that ensures a good survival of the things that were once there. But of course, in Nicaragua volcanos are not the only wonders of nature. Because of hurricanes and earthquakes, the city wasn't as well preserved. It was really a shame, because there were only some vague outlines of the city. We went back to the city with the tuktuk, running into the right bus, which took way longer than expected to get to Managua and in the end we arrived back home around 7 pm after leaving the hostal at 10 am.
It was the best weekend I had so far and I couldn't have wished for anything better to do!
Tomorrow I will move to my new room, I will start my internship and the real life will have to kick in again.
Hasta la vista baby!
Tomorrow I will move to my new room, I will start my internship and the real life will have to kick in again.
Hasta la vista baby!