Back to da beach baby! boom. ping. pow!

WOW...I havn´t written since we were in Jinotega. So prepare to feast your eyes on a piece I should have spilt into three Acts. Travels have only gotten better since Jinotega. As we did enjoy that town, it seemed sort of like the Zombieocolypse had just infected that region in the hills. We grabbed some local grown coffee and headed torwards the Pacific Coast. ¨I´m talkin about a little place called Asssssspen.¨ Anybody catch that quote? What movie? Come on! Anyway...just tryin to keep you on your toes and write through a weak cup of community coffee at 6am(to beat the line for the 1 free computer) in an crowded hostal.

Didn´t go to Aspen. We went to Leon! I wish it had an ¨s¨ in the name so I could announce it dramatically!

Whoop whoop! We loooove Leon. This is Tylers spazmatic ¨are you friggin kiddin me??!¨ face. I couldn´t even try to tell you what he got riled up about. We just get like this at the Central Park because Leon emotes us so!

Leon is one of the oldest cities in the country and lent us the cheapest bed we´ve stayed on, a bustling plaza in front of the Cathedral, lots of 24 cent promotion icecream, a cheap movie theater for the night time, a sweet bar with live music for Tyler to whip out his Spanish, several museums, miles of city murals, new street food, new books(i swear we started a backpack library), and good ¨atmosssssphere¨ to wander around in.

We visited the Museum of Legends and Traditions which was more than comical. They had someone translate alot of the stories into English but I think they just put the whole shpeel into a freetranslator and printed it. Some of it didn´t make since but luckily they had huge dressed up mannequins behind the information in an attempt to paint visitors a mental picture. Like this picture öva theya¨!---->

Dont they just speak for themselves?! yeah...Nicaraguan Folklore..we give you an 8.5! Oh yeah and the building used to be a prison...so they painted old torture techniques all over the walls. Nauseating but innovative, the images. I´m happy I didn´t live in prison here back then...but now..seriously look at this fun house!! Not too bad if you can tummy up the plastic prop food.

We went to another Heroes and Martyrs Museum. There wasn´t as much memorabilia here but a good reminder of where we are and where these people are since then. We went to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art which I´m surprised we weren´t removed from. They are just always watching you and I feel like we look sneaky as we try to muffle our laughter. Before that was the Ruben Dario Museum. He´s a pretty important and influencial Latin American Poet and is actually entombed next to the alter in the Cathedral at Central Parque. We saw El Tamarindón. Its a huge tree where Adiáct, cacique (chief) of the Subtiava tribe during the Spanish conquest, was unceremoniously hung so his people would see him as weak. Today 'The Big Tamarindo' is a rallying point for indigenous locals. It was a nice walk 30 minutes out of the city and in lou of checking it out we stopped to see the oldest church in the city and ate these icey caramely street vendery roadsidey yummy treats-ies. :) It had some red fruit gummy stuff on top which we dropped on the ground...twice..and ate. mmmm.. we have little shame. sick.

      

The family that runs the hospedaje we were staying in invited us to a family gals 15th birthdays party! It was by faaaar the most memorable night in town. The whole room was pink with balloons and ribbons and salsa music filled the air. Tyler showed those old ladies what stateside guys are really made of on the dancefloor. I am certain that family will NEVER forget him. ever. As do all great things, our stay in our favorite colonial stack of cement had to end. We left the Lion and all of its splender to go a wonderful northern pacific coast retreat in Jiquilillo.

                              

We stayed a few nights on a Nature Reserve and celebrated our 6 month anniversary with a DEElicious fish dinner. Whoop whoop! 6 big ones! Imagine me holding my hands clasped together and shaking them from left to right like my team just won the World Cup. Also imagine that I follow sports. This together should sketch excited victory celebratory gestures into you brainvision.We got this amazing beach all to ourselves for a few days and took it eeeeasy. I also turn about 4927 sea shells looking for hermit crabs  and convinced tyler throught my open water phobia that that sea was dense with jellyfish planning lower leg ambush....sorry Tyler.

We made a day trip to Chinandega to return a fire job call I got and check our mail a such and ···start a drum roll on your lap right now please to build this up. thankyou··· Tyler and I were both offered jobs at Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado for the summer. Same division, same scheduele, 3 day weekends...we are going to be doing some serious playing in the Rockies this season! In excitement..we decided to have just one more day in our paradise and head to Granada to scoot our winter along. 2 more countries to go ya know!

This week has been amazing. Our summer season job hunt frenzy is on the up and up. Last summer was the best of my life and we are plowing our way to Panama to return to the states and do it all over again somewhere new. Nicaragua by far is our favorite country in CA and the best place I could be today with my best friend. 6 months baby! Dame cinco! Boom. Ping. Pow. Bam! Bam!

Silly me..I almost forgot. Mid icecream snack, the other day, Tyler got pooped on by a bird...bahaha..you better believe he finished that cocoa cream stick before he wiped it off....nasty. Love him.

                                the end. -rachel.