When the Almond Tree Blooms

Hi Folks, I'm back in Oakland, I arrived late last night. I'm tired. I posted photos on my Picasa photo page. Come take a look: http://picasaweb.google.com/rfadam/QueLindaEsNicaragua# Last time I posted, I was about to leave for the Las Penitas beach not far from Leon. The short trip turned into more of an adventure than I had imagined. I took a bus from the centro near my hostel to a small mercado in the Subtiava barrio , where I boarded the bus to Las Penitas. There was a really annoying drunk on the bus--at 10 AM in the morning, he and his two buddies were already out of the minds from cheap aguardiente . He kept asking me over and over whether I was going to surf at the beach, so eventually I started ignoring him. The road to Las Penitas, like most roads in Nicaragua, is undergoing repairs and improvements, and on one of the spots under construction, our bus broke an axel. We all got off and waited for the next bus, which came, already full, in about ten m...

Hi Folks. I´m back in Leon, where I am hoping to spend my last full day in Nicaragua at the beach, enjoying the warm weather before I head back to that ice box of a house where I live in Oakland tomorrow night. It´s plenty hot here so I need to enjoy the sun and sweat while I can. I left Lagartillo yesterday afternoon. It was not easy to leave. I had a wonderful week relaxing, working and exploring. On Monday, I returned to Lagartillo from Leon, the bus was empty compared with the day before, and I made sure to appreciate the spectacular mountain scenery along the way. On Monday afternoon, I went with Willa (the long term student who has been in Lagartillo for three months, I think), her professora Lizbeth, Lizbeth´s husband and their little boy Gaby to watch the sunset. We went to a large rock with a breathtaking view of the surrounding countryside and the volcanoes in the distance to the west. After having spent a few weeks in Lagartillo, I´ve become more familiar with th...

Finally, some photos for those of you who´ve been following my blog... (they´re backwards, but who really cares...) Las Brisas Waterfall The Mural at the Lagartillo school finished The Mural in progress Monchito and Roniel at the Las Lajas Waterfall This Sunday finds me again in Esteli, I came to buy coffee to take back to the states, to use the net and eat a quesillo (like a quesadilla but not only with cheese, but also cream and spicy onions...mmm). I had originally planned to leave Lagartillo for good this weekend, but I am returning to the community tomorrow for the rest of the week. My plan was to travel and see other places in Nicaragua, but there´s so much to do in Lagartillo (not to mention so many wonderful people to hang out with), that I don´t really feel like leaving. So I changed my plans and will probably stay there until next Saturday. What are plans for besides to change them anyways. If I had known how bad the bus ride today was going to be, I might not ha...