Simon Says it’s Time for a Smoothie: Nica Nugget #4

Hooray! My favorite smoothie bar is still open. Simon Says. Patricia, the General Manager and waitress, welcomed John and me this morning with her great smile and open arms. They’ve closed their awesome back patio for the time being, but their funky front space is still great and probably ample space for the folks still around. They’ve adjusted their hours too, deciding to close at night, and just open during daylight hours, but they are still open everyday but Tuesday. I’m like a broken record when I go there, always ordering their Brazil smoothie, but an expat friend who recently moved away …

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Back to the Confessional

Dear Reader, I miss you. I miss me. It has been several months since my last confession. (Haha. Can you tell I spent eight years in Catholic school and went to Confession every Friday?) And yet it feels like I have been indeed away from the confessional. Away from sharing my thoughts and feelings…with someone (you) who, ha, I can’t even see (I bet you never thought of yourself as a priest/ess did you?); away from something sacred, from something that leaves me feeling whole. Yes, I’ve been away too long now from this sharing of my soul. I’ll admit …

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Gourmet Ice Cream!: Nica Nugget #3

Two doors down from the Sanchez store there’s a new and awesome ice cream shop called Bolingo Gourmet. I had a scoop of Maracuya (Passion fruit). John had Chocolate. Next time in town I’m having Coco (Coconut) so I can see if it’s as good as the Coco I used to get as a child on the plaza in Ponce, Puerto Rico, which in my book is still the best ice cream I’ve ever had in my life. (And a runner up is the ice cream shop along the malecon in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.) John swears the …

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Jungle Hike in Rain: Nica Nugget #2

Our friend Summer has been telling us about a waterfall near her house so today John and I joined her on a hike to it. The trail was so overgrown in places we feared stepping on venomous snakes and had to backtrack at one point. There were gorgeous spiderwebs with fat, striped spiders. A field of small, darting butterflies. And then a butterfly so large I said no, it’s a bird, as it partly disappeared into a tree. And John said no, it’s a bat, as we crept up to it and stared at the dark form. And Summer said no, …

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Skies Clear, Power Returns & Work Begins

After the devastation of Tropical Storm Nate, the sunsets returned to our home in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, and so did the clean up and repair. The Chocolata Road gets a facelift The rutted dirt road, full of horrid, repetitive potholes and thick mud, which crosses in front of our development, is finally getting a face lift, but how thorough a job is done is yet to be seen. It’s supposed to be, eventually some day, maybe, paved. But I’m not holding my breath for that. Besides, the road is in such bad shape right now that traffic goes …

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Tropical Storm Nate hits San Juan del Sur

All but one boat in the bay either sank or was washed ashore. The wind howled. The rain poured. The power and water were out for three days.   Our house flooded from both the front doors and through the back concrete walls. We feared that our porch awning would break loose and crash through our glass doors. So we stood watch throughout the night. I’ve learned how to properly wring out a mop and a towel or two or three. And John got his daily 10,000 steps just by squeegee-ing the water off of the top terrace, night and day for …

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