because we are living in costa rica for four months, we needed to leave the country so that we were not deported (tourists can only stay in the country for 90 days). soooo, we decided to head to nicaragua last weekend! for 40 dollars round trip, we took a bus from san jose, costa rica, to granada, nicaragua. granada is about 45 minutes away from the capitol of nicaragua, and is located on lake nicaragua.
the bus ride was fine on the way there: the bus left at 6 am from san jose, so we slept for four hours, until we were fairly close to the border. the border crossing is what takes up the most time on this trip-- we spent a total of 3 hours moving a total of 200 feet. unlike every other country i have ever been to, to cross into nicaragua you do not show your passport to a customs/ immigration official and get it stamped. instead, the bus driver collects all of the passports on the bus, along with your immigration forms, and then stands in line for you. but do you get to sit on the bus? why no, no you do not. instead, we waited in the blazing hot sun. forever. and ever. and then, once everything is stamped, everyone lines up in order to press a button that determines whether or not your bags will be searched. red light= search, green light= free to go. mind you, there are no drug dogs at the border, or xrays, or anything else, so pat and i easily could have smuggled several kilos of cocaine and a midget over the border and no one would have known the damn difference. we got the green light; the nun in line behind us got the red light. customs roulette appears to be legit.
anyway, we got to granada in the afternoon and i immediately moved the fan in our room ($7 a night for a private room) off the floor and onto a chair next to the bed. years of surviving summer in sacramento without air conditioning has taught me a thing or two about keeping cool by any means possible, and my solution to granada being hotter than hell was to shower approximately every four hours and sit in front of the fan.
granada is an absolutely charming city. there is minimal litter, all of the buildings and houses are painted bright colors, and other than the occasional car blasting reggaeton, the city was pretty peaceful. we spent a lot of time on the main street, which has a bunch of restaurants on it, all painted yellow or pink or green or blue. in the evening, once the sun has gone down, everyone sits out in chairs along the sidwalk and strolls around-- again, so charming.
on friday, we took a bus (in all seriousness, a school bus with jesus painted on it) to masaya, which boasts the biggest market in nicaragua. this place sold EVERYTHING. souvenirs, shoes, toasters, meat, the worst smelling cheese i have ever encountered, pinatas, school uniforms... you name it, they had it. pat bought a lot of presents for people, and i bought stuff for myself. my spanish is improving little by little, so i was able to effectively purchase for myself two belts, a t-shirt and a fan. the fan has turned out to be the best buy thus far.
on saturday, we cruised down the main road to the lake, which is humongous-- definitely bigger than tahoe (but not as pretty). there were lots of playgrounds along the shore, and people swimming, and restaurants and bars and people taking buggy rides. we found a guy to take us out in his boat for $10 each (this is the priciest thing we paid for in the country... mojitos were 2 for $1. so so so cheap). we went to las isletas, a group of 365 islands in the lake near granada. lots of the islands are owned privately, with houses built on them. we got to get off on one of the islands, which was gorgeous. we also went past an island that is home to several monkeys, that survive completely off of food that tourists feed them. we didn't feed them, but did take tons of pictures.
i was sad to leave granada, but as our bus rolled into san jose last night around 10, after 9 hours of bus-induced misery, pat and i both were surprised to find that this city, and this house, actually do feel like home.
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