So here I am in San Juan del Sur, at least for another hour or so. I'm being indecisive, as usual, and can't make up my mind how much time I want to spend where. My current plan is to head north to Leon for a few days, then go out to the Corn Islands, which are a set of absolutely gorgeous Caribbean islands on the opposite side of Nicaragua. The alternative is to stay on the mainland and go between Leon and Granada, trying to find some Spanish classes and healthcare related volunteer work. I'll keep you posted.
San Juan del Sur is possibly one of the most tourist-visited towns in Nicaragua. It's a small but very busy port town set in a horseshoe-shaped bay right on the Pacific. I think it's almost mandatory to come here if you are a tourist in this country. We got here by taxi on Sunday afternoon, and the first thing I noticed was how very many non-Nicaraguans there were. The vibe here is like Boulder meets LA: it's a cool little surf town, and it knows it. The town consists of about 10 blocks of restaurants, hostels, internet cafes, and surf shops all scrunched up next to the bay. Because of the tourist population there's a fair bit of nightlife, although compared to the rest of the country it's pretty expensive to eat or drink out. The surf in town is mediocre, but you can buy your way out of town on a shuttle for $5 and within about 25 minutes you can be on any number of quieter, cleaner beaches with good surf. My plan was originally to spend a week here in Spanish school, but pretty much as soon as I got here I decided it wasn't where I wanted to spend the bulk of my time in Nicaragua. Hence the hazy plans to go elsewhere.
On Monday, which was my first full day here, I spent the morning in Spanish class and the afternoon at the beach in town. In Spanish class I learned a lot about Nicaraguan culture but not very much about the language. I think if I had stayed a few more days in class I would have gotten a lot more out of it, but it didn't fit into the schedule. My teacher told me a lot about how the education and health systems work here. Everyone has access to public universities for a very small fee (about $50 a year), but having funding for education is contingent on academic performance, so if you want to stay you better work hard. Healthcare is also free, but as with most such systems there's a significant wait for non-emergent services like elective surgeries. On my own I've found out that Nicaragua is the poorest Central American country, with an average per capita income of about USD$3,100. My teacher found it very odd that I live so far away from my family; in this country it's very rare for anyone to move out of the family home, even once married.
On Tuesday I spent the morning volunteering at a school for kids with special needs. I had found out about the school from the director of my Spanish school. Will, an Australian I met through Ruairi and Paddy, decided to tag along with me. The school, which is called Los Pipitos, provides care and education to about 15 or 20 kids with a variety of special needs. I spent the morning working with two 10 year old boys with some pretty severe developmental delays. At 10, they were both able to speak but not clearly and not in complete sentences. I worked with them on identifying numbers, colors and objects. It was really rewarding work, but incredibly draining! I have the utmost respect for people who work with kids on a daily basis, especially kids with special needs. Definitely not one of my strengths, but I'm so glad I got a chance to do it. Will did a great job teaching math to 12 year old boy with Down Syndrome. At the school we met a Dutch guy who has been living in San Juan del Sur for a year. He has been working at Los Pipitos for a while now, and seems to be one of the driving forces behind providing a solid education for these kids. I'm always so inspired by people like that who create a life for themselves so far outside the cultural norm, and who do it in a way that contributes a lot to the greater good.
Tuesday afternoon I impulsively hopped on a shuttle to a nearby surf beach and spent the day in the waves and sand. It was my first real beach day since I got here, and I have to admit it was pretty nice. I had met a Dutch girl at my hostel who happened to be at the same beach yesterday, so we hung out most of the afternoon. It was fun to have some girl time for a change. I've learned so much about the rest of the world during this trip, I actually feel like I'm closer to European culture here than I am in the US. Did you know they eat jello with ice cream??
I had to say goodbye to Paddy on Monday night, because he left to go north on Tuesday morning. Ruairi left this morning to go to Costa Rica to meet up with a friend from home, so we said goodbye last night. Even though I was only with them for a few days, and I was only a tiny part of their trip, they were a big part of mine and I really enjoyed spending time with them. I was sad to see them go. But I guess there's always more friends in the next town!
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