Nicaragua

Well the group just got back from our visa trip to Nicaragua where we went to Granada and San Juan del Sur. Granada is their original colonial capital and has a large contrast between the original building and how they are kept up compared to the more recent buildings and how they are not very well kept. There is a lot more poverty in Nicaragua as well. From the minute you cross the border you have tons of people either begging for money, food, or trying to get you to buy their products. Even the animals are malnourished and is definately a sight that is difficult to forget. Even with all the poverty that was making us feel helpless because we knew if we helped one all of them would want our money or food or whatever we could give, it was very difficult not to help these people. We did though on our last day before we went to San Juan del Sur gave our leftovers from dinner the night before the homeless kids that are always in the main plaza. People really like and take pride in where they are from and don't mind talking to you about the issues, however politics is completely out of the question they steer away from this topic as quickly as possible, you can tell that there is still resentment from their history that keeps them for being too open so they censor their comments as if to not offend the government. We got to visit the beautiful craft town right outside the main area in Granada and were able to attempt at making pottery on a manual machine, well that was most definately interesting! We also got to see the beautiful viewpoint overseeing the huge volcano and Lake Nicaragua which is stunning. We also got to go to the market, where I as usual went crazy, markets are my weakness when I travel because I love getting unique gifts for family and friends. I got some beautiful things for ridiculously cheap so I was able to get a lot more for my buck in Nicaragua then in Costa Rica. I know this next week in the Guatemalan market it will be the same! When we went to San Juan del Sur we really just relaxed until we headed back to the bus the next day as we were all exhausted from a very long ride and day in Granada.

Nicaragua was difinately interesting and different I hope you enjoy the pictures of their nature and the beautiful colonial side of Granada.