Eric Blackburn

San Juan del Sur

Lisa

We last left you from the Houston airport. When we boarded the plane and George took the seat in the middle across the aisle from the rest of us. he offered it to Kris who declined,much to his dismay when we saw who G's seat mates were; two very nice looking young ladies who were quite interested in conversation. Halfway through the flight Dennis also had an encounter with the ladies. Out of the blue a lady(although Kris and I still aren't quite sure if she was a he or a she)came and plopped herself on his lap.She said that she thought that he was someone else but seemed in no hurry to get off of him. I have been having some fun teasing them all. We had an otherwise uneventful flight. As planned Eric was waiting for us at the airport. It's great to see him again.

Kris

We made it. So as I type(George made me go first, again) I am sitting outside on the patio of our hotel at about 9 o'clock at night enjoying a cool ocean breeze. We arrived in Managua late Friday night and stayed across from the airport at the very Nicaraguan Best Western. Wonderfully loud disco tunes from the bar band lullabied us to sleep. After breakfast we piled Eric, his family and the four of us in to a small van for the 3 hours ride to San Juan del Sur. SJDS is a great little beach town. Lot's of gringo beach bums hanging out and interesting ex-pats to learn tricks from. Tomorrow we plan on moving into a little B&B and make a plan for the rest of our time.

What a great trip so far!! The trip down from Managua to SJDS was good. Big city, country side and extreme poverty. I can't believe how fortunate we are to live were we do. Enjoy winter as the cost is minimal compared to what you see here. Couple of great fish meals here, friendly people, planning day tomorrow, Rivas Monday and Cangrejo sewing centre Tuesday.

Dennis

The trip from Managua to SJDS was interesting, the road was paved 2 lane the whole way, very good condition. We went by a number of Police road checks but were only stopped once. The cop looked at our passports and asked a couple questions, nothing too unnerving. The countryside was different then I expected, lots of big fields with cattle grazing (the cows still real skinny), Eric tells me beef is a big export product here. Also sugarcane and rice fields. We also could see two volcano’s in the distance, and yes they are quite active. Not far from SJDS is a ridge running north/south, the continental divide. On the west all the water runs to the Pacific on the east to the east to the Caribbean.. Just before we left Managua, Eric got a call that one of the elders from Congrego (58 years old) had died that morning and the funeral was that afternoon at 3 o’clock. Naturally being Eric’s Canadian friends we were invited, naturally we excepted the invitation, we were a little late for the parade, 4 young men carrying the casket through the streets from where he died to the cemetery followed by most of the community members. I was surprised by the lack of formality, no one spoke about the deceased , a couple of guys mixed a batch of cement, they placed the coffin into a crypt, covered it with the cement and the gathering dispersed. Eric tells us there would be a Wake like ceremony once they returned to the village. After that we waked back to the hotel and then to the water front for a cold beverage and to watch the sun plummet into the ocean. Dinner was fresh Red Snapper and a nice white wine. Dinner for 4, 2 bottles of wine $75.00 US.

George