Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Saint John of the South

I don't know what you have heard about San Juan Del Sur, or what you think you may have heard, but get ready for the skinny on this Nicaraguan not-so-sleepy weekend vacation paradise.

We've been on the road for a bit. You've been a faithful follower. It's time to cut through the worn out "everything's great!" facade and let you know how it really is.

San Juan doesn't have power from 11am-3pm every day.

The water turns off intermittently. This means the fan doesn't work at night. If you've ever been to latitudes south of Miami, you just gasped.

The town's only coffee shop is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday and is only open until 3pm other days of the week. If you live in the Northwest, you just gasped.

Rainy season started, meaning we very innocently gave our laundry to our host family, and it's been hanging out in the yard for three days. You have to duck under my boxer shorts and Emily's unmentionables to get a seat at breakfast. I can only estimate that our clothes have moved more than 10 times as the rain comes and goes, the side benefit being that sometimes the underwear you confront has a different pattern. Today it was boxers with white with red polka dots (sale at the Gap, post-Christmas sale '04 - neither here nor there).

We've made the most of it - we went surfing in the rain today, we've done a lot of reading, and learned a ton of Spanish. We also researched flights to South America, and we're thinking about pulling the trigger if the rainy season is here to stay. South America is smack in the middle of Spring right now. At least that's what we think, we left the South American guidebook at home. Maybe we've been enjoying the best Central America has to offer on borrowed time, and as they say here, the fiesta may be finito...

Don't look surprised, it's all part of the experience. First we found out paradise has an off-season, now we found out it has a rainy season.

(Don't think we're down-and-out or anything, and please don't feel sorry for us. We're well aware we're stuck in the dramatically cliff-enveloped cove of a Central American beach town with some great surfing, amazing cultural experiences and bueno fish tacos. We just wanted to let you in and let you experience the real thing in all its gritty, sweaty, sand-in-your-bathing-suit splendor. It's good for you.)

Gotta go, time for rice and beans. It's the national food of Central America, even for breakfast.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Emmie and Ryan!

I just caught up on four months of your blogging! It sounds like you're having quite the extended honeymoon.

Have fun newlyweds...love yas...

Nim

Anonymous said...

Hi you two -
Hope you days are cooler, and your electricity is working and are moving into a more progressive society!!! At least coffee 24/7....! Gasp! We love you and miss you. All three of you will be out of the country for Thanksgiving. I will still give thanks, although in a much quieter venue. Love you, mom PS(that doesn't include the hot water pipe bursting beneath the floor leaking into the dining room ceiling an hour before showing the house though, does it? So...while quiet, still a little excitement helps us know we are alive!

Anonymous said...

P.S.S. - all FOUR of you will be out of the country....!! Love, Mom