Categories
- BLAT (2)
- Book Reviews (9)
- brothels (1)
- Creativity (4)
- decluttering (5)
- goals (4)
- home birth (3)
- Life (136)
- Maker's Diet (5)
- Missions (7)
- Money (1)
- Natural Living (2)
- Neighbours (2)
- NFP (1)
- Nicaragua 2014 (14)
- Parenthood (8)
- poetry (3)
- Prayer (10)
- pregnancy (18)
- Project 333 (1)
- psalm 40 (3)
- Reviews (2)
- Scripture (22)
- suffering (6)
- Thoughts (97)
- Three Things Thursday (16)
- Torre (1)
- Uncategorized (44)
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Today we traveled to Moyogalpa on Ometepe Island - all in all a great day, and even the little bumps were good for learning experiences.
We ate breakfast at the hostel - instant oatmeal and a can of fruit. My guts were unsettled, and I think Torre's were too, possibly from out street meat the night before, although Matt was completely fine. Torre didn't eat much, but I did have a full serving, chased with Imodium and a prayer for our long trip on a bus!
We walked to the town square and bought a wallet I'd seen before as well as a bracelet for our sponsor child, Fabiola, who we'll be meeting in a week and a half, then we caught a cab to the bus station and were the last two seats on an express bus to Managua. This bus went so fast compared to the bus we rode to Leon. We were squished in the very back corner with Torre asleep across both our laps. Momotombo belched some steam/smoke as we passed along the highway, and between Latin music as our playlist (invaded as always in this country by Nicki Minaj's song Anaconda - don't google it) and our driver's heavy foot we arrived in Managua in fantastic time.
The drive itself had beautiful scenery - lush green mountains in the distance that look like a cozy green blanket tossed in a heap with folds down all the hills. The sky was cloudless, and every so often we'd pass a horse or (herd of) cow(s) by the side of the road. I couldn't see out the windshield, so I didn't get too stressed passing trucks or cars, although there were some ridiculous scenarios with oncoming traffic and passing a long line of transport trucks/other buses when I simply had to put ourselves in God's hands.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Our last day in Leon. I think today was the hottest yet, or at least the day the heat got to me the most. Matt went volcano boarding, so it was just Torre and I in the morning. We hung around at the hostel then made our way to Libelula, although I got lost on the way so it was a longer walk than it needed to be!
Some little boys were at the cafe with their family and had their faces painted like lions (or just cats), and they played peek-a-roar with Torre over the booth dividing their table from our table. It was pretty cute. After brunch we came home and napped together until Matt returned from his trek looking for a shower and a nap.
Volcano boarding, for those who may not know, is an adventure tourism activity wherein you hike up an active volcano, put on a protective suit and goggles, then toboggan down the side of said active volcano. It's like tobagganing down a regular mountain except that snow is replaced by volcanic ash which is a little less cushioning.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Another stunning day in Leon! Matt wasn't able to join the volcano boarding group last minute, so we wandered into a local breakfast buffet near the tour place. It was very intimidating to see a huge selection of food I didn't recognize except perhaps at its most basic: "something with beans" "something else with beans" "might be boiled plantain" "meat in a gravy." We abandoned ship and went back to Libelula, whose menu we now knew was filled with appetizing and relatively cheap options. I had a papaya crepe, and Matt got the Nica breakfast special.
A typical breakfast in Nicaragua features gallo pinto (guy-oh peen-toe), which is red beans and rice fried together with some onion and a bit of garlic. It is usually accompanied by an egg or two, some tortilla, maybe some fruit, and if you're extra lucky, some cheese. Matt and I both really enjoyed this type of breakfast, and the first morning after we came home we actually cooked up a big batch of gallo pinto, scrambled some eggs and sliced some cheese for desayuno typico.
Torre was very busy while we ate our breakfast, climbing in the booth, crawling under the table, and using cutlery as drum sticks, but it was nice to share a meal with Matt because I'd been preparing myself for a morning alone if he did the volcano tour. We had the same waitress as we'd had the day before, and she was so patient and kind as we laboriously ordered our food, asked for coffee refills, and got the bill.
We spent the rest of the morning at the hostel. Matt went to the town square to exchange the rest of our American money - many cities have unofficial money changers who hang around high-traffic areas fanning huge stacks of of bills to advertise their services. While unofficial, they are legitimate, and they often offer as good a rate as the banks or currency exchange without charging any fees. It pays to know what a good rate is, because as with everything in Nicaragua, the first offer they make you may just be to test the waters and they'll expect a counter-offer. The man Matt dealt with gave him a great rate, and since there were no fees it ended up being a better deal than the money we exchanged at the airport when we first arrived. Matt was happy, and the money changer was extremely happy to get a big piece of business.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Leon is hot but not unbearable. The staff at our hostel are friendly, and we've chatted with some fellow travelers. I really enjoy the hostel vibe compared to staying in hotels - even when we speak different first languages people are open and interested to hear where you're from and why you're there, and it makes for such a nice atmosphere.
For breakfast we took a long walk following inaccurate internet directions in search of a cafe named Libelula. The sidewalks here are narrow and tiled/cobblestone to weather frequent earthquakes. They are frequently interrupted by ramps or stairs, or broken tiles that leave gaping holes usually filled with garbage. To cross the street you may need to descend one or two steps from the sidewalk to the street, and many of the roads are only one way. How drivers know whether a road is one way or not, we have no idea. On foot, it is interesting to try and find your way without street names, especially when Torre is in his carrier and I can't actually see where I'm putting my feet!
After our wanderings, we made our way back to a restaurant we'd seen the day before near the cathedral - El Sesteo.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Our first morning in Nicaragua we enjoyed breakfast at our hotel, chatted some more with the Spanish family we'd met the night before, converted some currency and bought a local cell phone at the airport, then took a long cab ride to the bus station.
The first city on our itinerary was the colonial city of Leon. There are two kinds of public transit in Nicaragua, express buses and chicken buses. Express buses cost a little more than a chicken bus, but you get a seat, and they travel directly between cities. They are 12-15 passenger vans that leave when they're full, and as soon as one bus leaves another one is ready to take its place at the bus station and start filling up with passengers.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
I am so glad our family was able to travel together. We flew through Panama and Costa Rica and arrived in Nicaragua after dark. We didn't take any pictures when we got in, but here's a few from the flight.
Getting to the hotel was a bit stressful and chaotic, including a teenage boy "selling flowers," putting folded palm fronds in our hands then demanding money. We gave back the flowers and escaped into the well-marked Best Western shuttle, hoping it was legit and not an elaborate fraud to kidnap us instead of whisk us just across the street. (Good news - it was in fact a 47 second trip to the hotel!)
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
We are back! Back in Canada, unpacked, with the Christmas tree set up. We have great tans, tons of pictures, and a fresh impression of the little luxuries we take for granted, like flushing toilet paper down the toilet, reliable electricity and hot water, familiar brands on the shelves of stores we shop in, and the option to leave our dishes in the sink for the next day (very bad etiquette in the common kitchen of a hostel!).
Our family vacation to Nicaragua was everything we hoped for and more. We definitely faced some challenges, some scary moments and frustrations, but looking back in hindsight it was all part of a rich experience we wouldn’t trade, and we hope it won’t be too long before we have another opportunity to travel as a family and even to return to Nicaragua for another visit.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
For several months, Matt and I have been planning an amazing family vacation, and this week it almost came undone. Our three week trip to Nicaragua is a culmination of years of dreaming, months of saving money, countless hours spent reading hostel/hotel reviews and travel blogs and drafting itineraries, then going back to square one and repeating the whole process. We chose this Central American country because Matt has been there before on mission trips and loved it - he has always said how much he wants me to travel there and experience the culture and see some of the amazing scenery Nicaragua has to offer. We also sponsor a child who lives in Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, and we felt that having the opportunity to meet her in person was one we couldn't pass up.
This may be a once in a lifetime trip, although I hope it isn't! In the short-term, however, we do have a very special window to both take three weeks off work, for Torre to fly nearly free of charge, and to have pulled together enough money to make the trip happen. I joked with Matt that even though Nicaragua doesn't really have any resorts, we can tell people we're taking an "all expenses paid" vacation - it's just that we're paying all the expenses as we go :)
My passport has a few years left on it, but Matt had to renew his passport for this trip, which he did without any hiccups. Then Tuesday afternoon we found out Torre needs a passport to travel. Now, everyone who I told this to more or less responded with, "Well, yeah." But we just didn't realize. Honestly, I had no questions about showing up at the airport with our tickets and our child and his birth certificate and getting on a plane, but that's not how they do it any more. Doh.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Prayer
Torre started daycare last week, and I've been kind of a mess about it. In so many ways it has been a solution we needed because our families are not near enough to help, and our paycheques do not stretch to cover babysitters (although we have been blessed with gracious friends who let us grossly underpay them!), and I have been back and forth between finding myself and losing myself in the daily rhythms of outings to the park and a peanut butter sandwich for lunch before nap and waiting-for-daddy-to-come-home.
Writing this out makes my eyes well up because it touches so close to the very tender place of how deeply I love my son as well as to the brittle-as-glass fear that I am not enough as a parent. Starting daycare has been hard because of the gut-wrenching goodbyes, the ache of missing him through the day that is different from when I'd go to work and Matt took care of him. It has been hard because of the relief that is nestled like a peach pit in a big ball of guilt. I can run errands or see friends or paint my nails without timing it around his naps and without wondering what he's gotten into that is keeping him so quiet in the other room.
When I picked him up from daycare today, they were outside and we ran toward each other like it was a movie and I was returning from war. I scooped him up and spun around, and the joy of reuniting almost convinced me that this is okay - missing each other all day and having only an hour or two before bedtime to snuggle and read books and watch firetrucks on youtube.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Thoughts
"Only they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."
-Galatians 2:10
This is not me. To be perfectly honest, I'd rather not remember the poor, because the less I think about those who have less than me, the easier it is to be self-indulgent and self-pitying about how little I have.
In reality, I have far more than I need. I know it deep down, and I know it when I take the time to be grateful that there is money left over when we pay our bills, which is more than many many people can say. We eat good food, and I have to say that my heart has caught in my throat a time or two with just how happy I am to watch Torre eat a whole peach's worth of slices,