Mariposa Adventure : Birthed by the Volcano

Colin and I have crossed the half-way mark of our visit to Nicaragua. Time has flown by and slowly, but surely our Spanish is improving. At least I think so. I often think of learning Spanish as bailing water on a sinking ship. As soon as I discover a "leak" or gap in my knowledge of grammar, I rush to remedy the situation, only to discover another "hole" in my vocabulary or pronunciation, etc. Mostly learning Spanish is a gradual wearing down of my resistance to speaking, aka my resistance to making a mistake. These strange, new words en espanol roll around my mouth like beach pebbles, cold and awkward. Gradually, I wear them smooth and they become easier to articulate.

Our adventure will take us in a new direction this week as we begin our volunteer assignment and homestay experience. More on both of those soon. For now, here is a quick recap of some of the things we've been up to since last I wrote.

Wreathed in clouds, Volcan Mombacho fades in and out of our awareness, suddenly appearing from the haze for a time, only to fade back into a shadow. Our adventure to this sky island begins in the back of a pick-up truck gunning up an almost vertical slope of pavers. The important part of that story is that the truck did indeed make it to the summit. From the top, nature trails wind through the forested slopes above the craters, eventually meandering to look outs of the isletas of Grandada.

Birthed by Mombacho, these hundreds of isletas share Lake Nicaragua with a prehistoric looking "alligator fish" and the world's only freshwater sharks. Like those first adventurous sharks that wandered inland by river, conquering Europeans also used this route to wrestle with each other over control of Granada and its islands. Today, these islands house primarily the very rich and internationals. During our boat tour, we visited some of the islands other inhabitants including dosing vampire bats and a colony of monkeys tame enough to eat from your hand. Apparently, they have been relocated to an island to reproduce, but all of their tails have been cut to prevent them from swinging on the nearby electrical wires. Strange, right? On a happier note, swallows darted through the air, coots hopped across the lily pads, and egrets watched us pensively. A kingfisher even whizzed by before we took a dip.

As befitting the land of volcanos, where natural disasters give rise to islands and lakes, Granada is a city of rebirth. After colonization by the Spanish, European pirates repeatedly attacked the city and when the American, William Walker tried, and failed, to take control of Central America in the mid-19th century, his general burnt Granada to the ground, leaving behind a sign - "here was Granada." Streaked with burns, the white stone of the old cathedral still stands as a reminder of old Granada. All around this monotone palette bursts the colorful buildings of modern Granada.

We found a few pleasant surprises tucked away in the city. After the cathedral we were refreshed by a pineapple smoothie at a cafe staffed entirely by the deaf and mute. It also doubled as a hammock shop, home to possibly one of the biggest hammocks in Central America. We also stumbled across "Penny Lane." Most importantly, I found an iced Americano - a real find down here!