This is it, we just woke up in Nicaragua! We actually live here now. We are very excited.
We got to actually see the house this morning! It was very dark and pouring rain when we got in last night so we got to walk around but we really did not manage to get a good look at the place and we did not have any way to take pictures, so we did that today. Now everyone can see what it looks like where we are living. If only they could feel how hot it is.
We were expecting a lot of rain today but the sun was out and everything was dry. This is supposed to be the rainy season but it is sure not what we have been led to believe from the weather reports that we have been seeing from Texas. Very hot. Staggeringly hot.
First thing this morning our maids arrived and cleaned the house. While they were there the water boy brought us five gallons of water, so now everyone can safely drink although I feel fine from trying the tap water yesterday. The pool guy came today too. There are a lot of people who keep this house running. It is amazing that there are all of these people and that they are just included with the house. There is a propane delivery guy too, because we have a grill pool side.
This morning, on the late side once we knew that we really needed to find some food and had looked at the maps for a while, I ventured out alone to see what I could find around town. I took it easy and was just supposed to find an ATM and scout out the situation.
I found several places that we had been interested in while looking at the map including the Choco Museum and Mi Museum which are on the same block. I located the farmacia and the licoria and got to a nice bank with several ATMs inside which worked out perfectly. I took out 8,000 Cordoba and noticed that the ATMs would dispense American currency as well.
Across the street from the BAC ATMs was a little quick stop so I popped in there. This is one that we drove past last night and had looked pretty decent. Relatively modern and well lit at night, really stood out from everything else in the area that is so old and dark at night.
I grabbed what emergency rations as I could getting butter, soymilk (they had no regular milk), one box of mac and cheese, a bag of Cheetos, etc. Then I walked back to the house carrying the groceries. This was not too bad but getting a lot of groceries will be very hard.
I worked on writing and posting all day, mostly while sitting at the dining room table. The girls went for at least three swims today! They are so excited about having a swimming pool in the middle of the house. It really is convenient in a way we would never have thought to have tried to do before.
The fountain that is part of the pool, we figured out, comes on automatically on a timer. So this morning when we got up the fountain was running which provides a lot of nice white noise in the house. It is pretty cool.
This evening, after it was dark which is pretty early, more like Panama, I walked in the opposite direction and went north to La Union grocery store which our driver last night had recommended to us. That was a very easy walk and I stocked up on groceries and walked home with them. It is going to be hard to get any amount of groceries this way, but it will force me to take a trip to the store at least every other day.
On the walk there I discovered the El Carmen Panaria is right next to the house so getting bread will likely prove to be really easy. I did not stop there tonight, though.
This evening I took a quick walk to the Mary Licoria which is right on our block and grabbed four cans of Tona, the local beer that I am told might be the best option, and a small bottle of seven year aged Flor de Cana, the national rum of Nicaragua. Then I came home and we set up and watched The Nanny for a while on Dominica’s laptop connected to the television in our bedroom.