•Wednesday Night was Writer’s Group: 6 Writers •Thursday Afternoon was Speed English’s first event: 10 English-Language Students & 10 Fluent-English Speakers •Friday Morning was Water Aerobics at Pelican Eyes: 6 of us old farts keeping in shape •Saturday was Farmer’s Market at Big Wave Dave’s: Many people •Sunday was Oscar Danilo Collado Dinarte’s church youth group at our house for a swim: 13 darling kids learning how to swim and 7 lifeguards I sweep the house. Do a load of laundry. And take a long nap.

On September 15, 1821, The Central American provinces declared their independence from Spain, and for the past several months here the local students have been preparing for the annual celebration. You could hear drumming at all hours of the day, and some nights. It became background music, joining the steady beat of the waves. But what a grand celebration it was! This was our first year here for it. Last year our home was rented out for this long weekend, so we remained in the States until our house was free. And the year before, we’d just left Nicaragua to …

Water tanks. We see them everywhere in Nicaragua. And in Mexico too, when we lived there recently. On top of houses. On metal structures in fields by houses. And rows of huge tanks in housing developments, alongside roads. In Mexico they call them tinaques. Here in Nicaragua they’re called tanques. Their function is to hold water, which has either been pumped up to them from a well or fed directly from the town water supply. In our case, it’s a 1,100 liter (290 gallon) plastic blue tank which sits on the ground behind our house. Two water lines come on …

I love having lunch at the Mercado in the center of town. Ok, I ordered breakfast and John ordered lunch. They serve both throughout the day, regardless of time. I had scrambled eggs with veggies, local cheese, avocado, gallo pinto which is rice and beans, and fried plantain. John had beef tacos which came with shredded cabbage topped with cream and ketchup. We drank fresh juices, pitaya (dragon fruit) and calala (passion fruit), which came topped with plastic bags to keep the flies off. To the right of the juices you can see a large jar with a red lid. …

Yesterday, when Kathleen Brugger and I took advantage of low tide to hike out around the headlands on the north side of San Juan del Sur’s gorgeous bay, we ran into a lot of fishermen. And I, in my broken, semi-fluent spanish, asked them “What are you fishing for?” (Para que estan pescando?) I was expecting to hear the names of fish I’d never heard of in spanish, and, to be honest, possibly had never even heard of in english, since I don’t fish. But it’s a common enough question to ask a fisherman, right? I am Puerto Rican and …

Nella is our neighbor’s dog, from down the hill and around the corner. But you almost wouldn’t know it by the amount of time she spends with us. She’s here at first light, keeping John company on the porch with his first cup of coffee. Then she joins us on our morning hike, at least through the neighborhood and up to the first guard gate before she turns away and John and I begin the climb up to Cristo. She visits us in the afternoon and again right at dinner. Guests who have stayed in our home when we’re back …