Thursday I slept in until 6 AM then went on a 6:30 AM (instead of 5:30 AM) run with Sue and Mare, our Student Affairs Manager (who I am excited to announce got into Johns Hopkins Graduate School). We ran on the sidewalk alongside Lake Nicaragua under the shade of palm trees. The air smelled like urine because we passed open sewers which fed raw sewage from the homes and businesses of Granada into the Lake. Despite the stench, the flat terrain and low elevation made it really easy to run long distances.

Unlike Costa Rica, the roads in Nicaragua are well maintained and very modern. The reason for the difference is two-fold; Costa Rica has no standing army and the government of Nicaragua provides jobs for unskilled workers by hiring them for manual labor.

To stave off catcalling and random guys declaring in English, “I love you!” Mare was proactive and greeted people with a “Buenos Dias.” There is a lot of trash and broken glass alongside the lake front. I was shocked to see a group of children swimming in the water – I hope they don’t get sick. When we passed one home a big white dog started barking at us and I think all three of our hearts skipped a beat. There were lots of advertisements painted for Pepsi and Coca-Cola and some people sleeping on the street. One ubiquitous advertisement that puzzled me was “CORONA – el poder de eliger.” Translation: Corona - the ability to choose. What the hell does that mean for people in a country where 70% are illiterate and 50% live on less than a dollar a day?

After 45 minutes of jogging we were soaked by a mixture of perspiration and humidity. The cold shower in the burgundy tiled bathroom was heaven. Squeaky clean, I chowed down on a bowl of watermelon, pineapple, papaya, and cantaloupe along with a plate full of artery clogging greasy fried eggs and gallo pinto (beans and rice).

Sitting on the dock of the Lake, watching the birds fly away. We took a boat ride here around Lake Nicaragua.

Sadly, former Nicaraguan President Ortega was unable to come speak with us today but his absence did give us a more relaxed day. We took a boat ride in Lake Nicaragua around Las Isletas (literally the little islands). There are a total of 365 privately owned islands within the landlocked lake (some with starting prices as low as $1,500 to $20,000). Originally, to claim ownership, the indigenous people simply needed to build a house and occupy it. As a result of globalization, Americans and other foreigners have been buying some up to use as summer homes. Note: If you want to live on your own private island do some investigating first to make sure that your vendor actually has the right to sell it to you otherwise you may be in for a significant headache. A second note of discouragement is the water is the sink for the raw sewage of Granada and other surrounding communities and you may run into freshwater sharks—if they haven’t all been annihilated for Japanese shark fin soup.

This pink house in one of the many island homes, some grow their own fruits and vegetables but all rely on the mainland for the importation of supplies.

Now that you’ll think twice about flying down to buy one I’ll tell you about how beautiful the area is. Lots of ospreys, olvidacous cormorants, herons (tri-colored, great blue and little blue for example), egrets, and white throated magpie jays fill the air. I even saw a green headed kingfisher (sorry that’s not the scientific name – I haven’t had access to Gerardo’s guide book for a while). The view of Mombacho Volcano is just stunning. Our tour guide, Pablo Diaz Jarquin, is the principal at “La Esperanza” (literally: the hope) School.

Olvidacous cormorants, which dive under the water to hunt for fish, dry out their wings in the sun. Their favorite rocks are white tipped with guano.

Students at “La Esperanza” School on a small island in Lake Nicaragua peer curiously at us, the gringos, using their “school bus” boat.

To our surprise and delight we stopped at a small island school with beautiful clean little boys and girls dressed neatly in white button downs and navy pants. They were very excited to have visitors. One little girl proudly showed my her socks with American flags. Some of the others were more shy and only talked when spoken to. When we stepped onshore to listen to their principal’s presentation about the school, they politely went into their classroom and brought out all the little plastic chairs for us to sit in.

Pablo Diaz presents his school and tells us about their curriculum and problems.

According to the principal, 70% of his pupils will not go onto high school because they cannot afford the gas to got to the mainland and there is no high school for the children in the islands. Limiting factors for these children are access to basic school supplies like construction paper, scissors, books, and crayons. Erin smartly took down the contact information for the principal so that anyone who has the resources can reach them.

Pablo Diaz

Del Puerte Asese

800 mts. al Sur

Contigo a Hotel

Ecologico

Nicaragua, Central America

Phone: (505) 879-7719

When I go home I’m going to see if people at McDonogh School or UMBC have extra school supplies to donate. Although, it is more efficient to send money than pay for shipping I advice to send supplies over money because then you know it will actually go to the kids instead of being used for other means.

For me, it was mind boggling how changes in the price of gasoline could have such a dramatic effect of people’s lives and ability to meet their basic needs. It is true that people here could row to the mainland, but that is both labor intensive and time consuming. When people need to go grocery shopping, visit a doctor, send and receive mail, or even go to high school they need to have transportation to the mainland. With the salaries people here make, even small increases in the price of gasoline can effect whether someone attends high school or if they receive medical attention that could save their life.

After visiting the school, I took a swim with the lifeguards out to the island in the top left corner.

Red Cross lifeguards here are hard core. They train by swimming from island to island. I’m very jealous because it makes my daily laps in the swimming pool back at home seem really lame.

After visiting the lake we visited the Masaya Artisan Market. There were many handicrafts made out of wood, leather, feathers, and embroidery.

This women sketches out patterns to embroider.

Mare watches the sunset over lake Masaya.

Lake Masaya sunset. Another beautiful day in Nicaragua.