Good morning, yesterday was a bit of a reprieve in that the humidity hovered around 70% instead of 90% the day before. We’re being a little more careful about being inside during the heat of the day this time around. Or in the pool.

Yesterday morning we ventured out on a short walk along the beach. Waves were coming in a bit stronger as the tide came in so we caught a few surfers out on the water. The area they are in is for experts only. The reason being, there’s a bunch of rocks underneath the waves they’re riding. So they usually bail before getting too close to shore.

Saw a young boy with who we assumed was his father out fishing. Reminded my of a cartoon I saw a while back in which someone came across a man doing just that and extolled him to buy some boats and increase production then build a factory and so on. When the fisherman asked why he should do such a thing, he was told so that when he retired he could sit by the ocean and fish!
I keep going back to this, but the locals here may not have much, but they live a pretty stress free lifestyle. They fish when they want to, eat what they catch and enjoy life.

After the walk, we cooled off in the pool for a while. Met a couple of retired Canucks staying here for a month. Kinda envious…
They are friends of Patrick from his time living in B.C. Interesting listening to their life stories. One of them was figuring on perhaps moving here. He said he was getting close to his “best before” date and didn’t need to chase around the globe anymore 😉

Part of our plan when we came down this time was to do a grocery run and do more cooking in the condo. That plan got delayed however, because one of the vehicles used to take clients to and fro had an accident and rolled a few times. That’s the one that was coming to pick us up from the airport. Driver is ok, but they’re short a vehicle and Patrick’s been busy with the police reports and insurance claims.
Anyway, Patrick sent his son Spencer to pick us up and take us to a little town called San Rafael del Sur. I had anticipated we’d head to Managua because of the bigger box stores there. But this made sense. It’s a small town grocery store run by locals. They had pretty much everything we needed and the people took pity on the lily white North Americans and helped with the translation. Saved me from buying waaaay more meat than I wanted LOL.
Felt great making this trip. It brought back so many memories of my father and uncle’s general store in Plum Coulee. It had that same vibe to it. We shopped at the PALi. The other store is across the street.

Driving in Nica is an interesting experience. They have some great highways and the minor roads are mostly paved, but narrowish. It takes a little getting used to with people, dogs and cattle very close to or crossing wherever they feel necessary.

Still very much an old/new feel here. With modern vehicles mixed in with ox carts or horse drawn carts.
On the way back from the grocery run, we stopped by a playgound. The equipment was donated by a group in Edmonton when it was deemed unsafe by Canadian regulations. Several layers of local and national govt helped a group ship and prep a spot and ultimately install the play structure. The kids here LOVE it!

Not sure what was so unsafe about this equipment, it looked like most play structures our kids played on. Just happy it went to a place where it would be enjoyed.

We made it back to the resort just in time to enjoy another sunset. Saw some more storm clouds roaming around too. These had a bit of lightning in them which we could watch pool side over a glass of wine visiting with Patrick. Interesting tidbit from our evening visit. Patrick reminded us that the locals will not initiate a greeting. There’s a bit of a caste system in place with elites and the not so elite. We are considered above the elite. So the tradition is that they don’t initiate to anyone “above” them.
Of course, coming from a small village of Plum Coulee and just being a couple of working stiffs, there’s no way in the world we think of ourselves as anything but equals. So we try our best to make sure to make eye contact and say hello to everyone we meet. The smiles in return are worth it. As Patrick mentioned, once that barrier is broken, you have a friend. We are amazed at how many of the workers here remember us. That’s one of the things that draws us back when we’re able.

 This is a couple of our new Canadian friends enjoying the view from the infinity pool.
 Below we are sitting on some rocks watching the tide come in and the sun go down.