apagones

so it all started last thursday... well, sort of. we lost power breifly at home. but not for too long. we packed up and headed to school for our evening classes. i had just got going when our director came around and told us that there was no water in the building and that for health and legal reasons we had to cancel class. okay, fine. so the next night i go in, ready to teach the exact same lesson from the night before (this class meets on tuesday, thursday, and friday evenings). we get about 15 minutes into the class - and the lights go out. everyone goes home.

saturday morning classes go fine. it was my day to bring my class to the computer lab. normally we have them do boring grammar exercises... but this is an advanced class and we're talking about conspiracy theories in the lesson, so i have them researching other theories. we're sitting there and there all looking up stuff, and another teacher asks me what they're doing. then she tells me that some people have a conspiracy theory of sorts regarding the blackouts. the last time there were nationwide blackouts was right around the time there was some big political something or other going on. and they've recently announced that they're going to have a referendum on cafta (the central american free trade agreement - which is called tlc here - not sure on the exact translation). hmmm. curious.

so in the paper we read (okay, so colleen read, i listened to her translation) that there have been some problems with energy and water for a while. they haven't had much water, which has slowed down the hydroelectricity production, and we were renting some power from panama, but they recently decided to stop renting to us. and then something happened with the water (thursday) and some sort of transformer or whatever blew up.

so. they were going to ration power, have scheduled blackouts for a while. and then a couple of days later they announced that they weren't going to do that, that some transformer or whatever (electricity vocab is clearly not my specialty) had been repaired and they were planning to bring some other thingy online as well. and then yesterday they changed their minds *again*. the blackouts are back on. so last night the power was out when i got to school. i had one student who was coming in early to make up an exam - which he took sitting next to the window in the dimming daylight. and then at 6 o'clock when the lights were still off class was canceled. again.

so colleen bought the paper this afternoon, which had a schedule in it for the blackouts. and apparently our school is scheduled to be out from 5-8pm tonight. which means our class will be canceled AGAIN. normally having no class due to a blackout would be kind of fun (and it was the first time it happened - we went out for some beers and had a good time). but this is the last week of classes. so really the students are supposed to be taking exams and doing their final interviews. PLUS i start my *new* job on wednesday, so i can't be making up classes at my old job when i'm supposed to be doing my new job.

oof. so in other news, i did go to my new school yesterday for a little orientation. i also met another new teacher, named nick. there's supposed to be a third new teacher - jasmine - and they're throwing a little bbq for us on sunday. so i'm kind of excited. i'm happy that the teachers at my new school seem to be interested in getting to know the new teachers (unlike my current school, where most of the teachers are costa ricans and therefore don't experience the same sort of settling in issues that foreigners do).

oh yeah, so my new word for the week: apagones.

blackouts.

photo 2: mystery device contest

here's another photo that will maybe put the device in a little more context:

nicaragua wrap-up

so our first relaxing day on ometepe island we decided to go to this natural swimming hole called ojo de agua (new picture at right). we took the bus... despite my disdain at the whole island bus system. after paying a dollar and walking through a cow field (very carefully) we arrived at the place. the water was kind of a greenish-blue and a little chilly. clearly the focal point of the whole place was the rope swing. a stream of young local boys were swinging off it. we just watched for a while then decided to try it before sitting in the sun for a little bit.

WELL. it was pretty awesome. and after sitting in our chairs for a little while longer we decided that we should try to take some pictures using the rapid fire picture mode on my camera. i was endlessly amused by the whole ordeal and we went on the rope swing many times - while perfecting the method of the shooting mode. such a blast. i was smiling about it for the rest of the day.

the rest of the day we just kind of chilled for a while. we chatted with a few other travlers - sara, tom, and barbara - who we ended up hiking the volcano the next day with.

ah, the volcano hike... well, they said it would be an 8 hour hike - four up and four back - which i was a little concerned about, as i'm rather out of shape. and it certainly was 8 hours. at first it was fine. a challenging hike, to be sure. but after about two and half hours i stopped having fun. the trail was, well, not very trail like. we were basically hiking up a narrow ravine with water trickling down and ankle deep mud. it was incredibly rocky and quite steep. on top of all that - when we got to the top, where there was a crater lake (this is an extinct volcano - the other on the island is still active), it was so foggy/cloudy that you couldn't even really see across the lake.

so i was not really thrilled with the hike. and i could barely walk when i got down (for like 2 days afterwards as well) and i was coated in mud. *sigh*

the next day we left the island and headed up to managua where we were going to catch our bus back to costa rica in the morning. managua was, meh, a city, not all that different from san jose. we sprung for a room with AC, TV, and our own private bathroom. ah, luxury. saturday morning we got up bright and early and walked (yes, the other feature of our "luxury" hotel was that it was less than two blocks to the bus station) to the bus station. another long day on the bus (but again - rather luxurious compared to our other bus adventures in nicaragua) and this time only 2 and a half hours at the border - and no standing in the sun.

arriving back in costa rica kind of felt like coming home. i was half expecting to see someone at the bus station holding a sign for us (man, do i love signs at airports/bus stations!). so home again, home again.

when are there too many people on a bus?

answer: never. seriously. especially in nicaragua.

so after spending a lovely day and night in granada, cruising around granada (which i really liked) we got ready to head for the island of ometepe. we got ourselves together in the morning and made our way to the bus station. well, "station" is too strong a word. the buses for rivas left from the corner across the street from the gas station. no problem. however, due to a little confusion when trying to pay our bill at the hostel we arrived just in time to hop on the bus. all the seats were full and we had to stand and lean against the side of the seats. normally not a huge deal - but this was going to be an hour and half bus ride.

not a terrible ordeal overall. but we kept stopping and picking up more people. and more people. every once in a while someone would get off - but mostly we were just picking up more people. finally at one point the bus is kind of pulled over and the guy is shouting "rivas!" and waving us toward the back of the bus. so we jump out the back grade school bus emergency drill style and there´s a taxi driver waiting to take us to the port.

then we get on the ferry, which will take us to ometepe. again crowded, but not that bad. what did worry me was how interested everyone was with the life jackets. like grabbing one off the rack and holding it with them in their seats... so after an hour of sitting on a metal seat i was ready to get off the boat.

we get on the island and talk to these people at a hotel which the book says can make a reservation at this place near the beach. so after that's squared away we wait for the bus. it finally pulls up to the bus stop and we hop on a take a seat. and then we wait. and wait. for the next ferry to come in. at which point tons more people get on the bus. and finally we take off. the bus is pretty packed, but we keep picking up more people. lots of people.

it takes us nearly two hours to get to where were going. which is a bit surprising because it's not a very big island. but all the stopping takes a while. and then when we are a little farther away from the main town the quality of roads deteriorates rapidly. so not only are we going about 10 miles an hour the whole time and stopping to pick up more and more people, we are also dodging pot holes and swerving all over the road to avoid livestock.

by the time we get to our hotel i am so ready to get off of the bus. our room turns out to be fine, with a shared bath and a view of one of the volcanoes out the window. we take a little walk along the beach to santo domingo for dinner. and then a longish (about 25 minutes - even though the book claims it should be about a kilometer away) walk back home. we decide the next day will be for some relaxing and exploring. more later.

fronterra extravaganza

so we woke up at the crack - no wait - well before the crack - of dawn this morning to get ready to leave for nicaragua. 3:15am. i actually felt surprisingly awake - but seriously, it's more like the middle of the night than the morning. we got ready, made some pb&j's and called our taxi. got to the bus station ¢4,000 poorer - even though normally this would have cost like ¢2,000. but it was the middle of the night. and for some reason our taxi driver came from another town. but whatever.

we got on our bus, which was well air-conditioned, and settled in. well, since it was the middle of the night (okay, well 5am i guess is the early morning) it wasn't actually hot. at all. so we spent the first part of our journey with goosebumps trying to get a little more sleep.

eventually we seemed to arrive somewhere. everyone got off the bus and got in line to get our "leaving costa rica" stamp. well. this line rivaled the line for space mountain on the busiest day at disney. it snaked back and forth through a dirt parking lot with no sun. we stood in this line for over 2 hours. sometimes there seemed to be regular movement. but other times it would just stop. for like 20 minutes. at one point we got excited that we might actually get the the shady portion of the line just before entering the building. but no. we were just out of reach and the line stopped for like a half an hour.

eventually we got through, having ruined all my careful tanning on the patio in the process. we found our bus and got back on. the driver collected all of our passports and $8. this was for the "entering nicaragua" portion of the border crossing.

so while we wait, colleen decides she's going to use the bathroom on the bus. she goes, but then comes back pretty quickly. apparently there was a big crap in the toilet. so we're waiting and the driver goes to the back - seems someone has told him about the poo - and berates the back of the bus - los banos son solamente para liquidas!!! the bathroom is only for liquids! then he gets off the bus and moments later comes back. carrying a big stick.

the nicaragua portion of the border crossing goes much easier. the bus driver gets all the passports stamped. all we have to do is get our bags out from under the bus and stand in a short line to talk to the customs guy. you show him your form and then you press a button connected to a modified stop light with only two options. red - you go inside to have your bags searched - or green - back to the bus. luckily colleen and i both get green.

getting all the luggage back on the bus ends up being a bit of a project as well. but we do discover that the bus can drop us off in granada instead of taking us all the way to managua where we would have to get *another* bus to granada. we arrive in granada at about 5pm. a very long day, for sure. all in all the whole border crossing extravaganza tooks us about four and a half hours. aye dios mio!.

but now we're here. we've had some dinner. some beers. we have a place to stay. free internet. and we don't have to work for a whole week!!