The week

On Monday, some of us went for an evening walk through the grounds and on to the neighbouring property. From here you can see the smoke and glow from the Masaya volcano. A group are going later to visit the crater by night.

 I am not going, as visited last year and although I imagine it will be very good at night I can't do everything. The programme of activities is full and I have homework. Also I quite like some peaceful time without everyone around, especially the children!

I am sitting in the garden at 6.30, I tend to go to sleep at 8.30 and am awake by 5am, so make the most of daylight! One of the cleaning ladies did my washing, but the bits I did myself took two days to dry. I have now spotted the mangle so that will be useful next time!

Here she is beavering away in the outside sinks. There are no machines here and our hot water is solar powered, so on cloudy days you get a cool shower!

Yesterday was sunny and breezy so it was better, but humidity is high. I put my line across the window, but if I don't shut them before dark, I am joined by the local wildlife or cats and dogs who live here! I have now spotted and used the mangle, not quite up to washing machine standards but home will seem like magic!

We had an interesting visit to the local pineapple farm and learnt all about the production. It produces white pineapple which are both cheaper to produce and to buy on the market. Interestingly the crop takes 18 months to mature and then they crop regularly for several years. There is no irrigation as the pineapple plants cover the soil and retain moisture from the rainy season. We saw piles of pineapples that had been harvested for the next day's market, the smell was delicious. We ended the visit with a bowl of fresh pineapple!

Wilmer the farmer. I understood most of what he told us.

The lovely countryside.

I learnt a lot about Nicaragua this morning, as I had borrowed and read a book about the revolution. I asked my conversation teacher, who told me more. Although life has improved over recent years, as in Costa Rica, the teachers cannot afford cars or holidays. My grammar teacher was also telling me I could get my hair cut for 1$ here!

I have been reading some interesting information in the newspaper about illness statistics. In Nicaragua Dengue fever is the highest, and 3x higher than Zika which has had all the publicity. Chikungunya is another mosquito born disease which has less than 1000 cases. Interestingly there are more deaths from pneumonia here than anything but only 174 deaths overall. It is always useful to get things in perspective. Having said that I am being generous with the repellant.

On Wednesday we visited the cañada del ondo, an area of forest the school has purchased to preserve the potable water supply. Apparently because of demand for dragon fruits at high prices in the USA, a lot of forest is being cleared for these trees. It's frightening how the demands of the developed world affects less developed countries. The owner said, that she faces quizzical looks sometimes for trying to persuade the locals to retain their ways of life which they have come to see as old fashioned. In her words, everyone has told them for years to change and now she is telling them to retain some of their past practices for the benefit of their country's future! We had a great walk with good views.

Yesterday was a superb day and I once more added to my skills. We had an afternoon visiting various artesan villages. We first visited a stone sculptor, who must have been absent on the day off the health and safety training!

Then we went to a potters, where I took my turn!

It didn't turn out too badly. It was really interesting as all the decoration was done before firing including polishing, with no glaze. It was baked n a brick oven outside. I succumbed to some purchases. It is very light and apparently western world machine proof!

This was followed by a visit to Niquinohomo, the home of the revolutionary, Sandino, which I found very interesting. I followed up today with a 1-1 history lesson, which has filled in many gaps.

I also visited the church...

And finished off with a meal in a restaurant overlooking the lake, which we are visiting for the day tomorrow. So will take books, costume and paints with me !

Lessons are going very well. I think I have cracked the subjunctive, and am also revising and clarifying other aspects of grammar and verb construction. It's a rewarding and profitable was to spend time.

The gap in communications is attributable to weak wifi.