Mes de los Padres has begun!

Mes de los Padres, or Parent Month, is what we've called the time our parents will visit us in Nica! And it's started :) My mom, Teresa, is here for 10 days! It's been three months since I've been home, since I've driven a car, and since I've seen my mom. The latter has been tough. Me and my mom are very close (and very similar). She arrived in Managua last Thursday, Aug. 27, in the evening. We rented a car here for the first time to pick her up, and it felt like we were driving a boat through the narrow streets of San Juan. We're so used to the convenience of a moto; easy to park, maneuver around potholes and having to stay extremely alert the whole ride. It was pretty relaxing taking a two-hour ride and singing along to music in a car after 90 days without it.

My mom loved the place; she said my description of our place in the jungle didn't include how beautiful the surroundings are. The first night, the three of us stayed up chatting until nearly 2 a.m.; eating snacks, tasting local rum and catching up.

The last few days, we've shown my mom the town, a couple beaches and went zip-lining, which has definitely been the highlight. We've all done it once before, but the San Juan coastal views high above the jungle canopy were awe-inspiring to say the least. Plus, we "zipped" 16 lines back-to-back; landing on platforms high in the trees in between. It was the most extensive zip-line course I've ever seen.

We made a trip to the fish market the first morning and were given the entire fish to cook, including the head! We'll be making a soup with it tonight as per my Aunt's recipe. We'll see how it comes out.

During my mom's stay, we have plans to see local live music, take salsa lessons, yoga, and visit Granada, Laguna de Apoyo and Mombacho Volcano. If we have time, we'll take a trip to Matagalpa, the coffee central of Nicaragua.

My mom is in the process of writing a novel, so she likes to sit outside on the porch with her coffee in the morning and write away. Brandon and I still have to work a few hours while she's here, so that works out perfectly.

A week after my mom returns, Brandon's parents, Joann and Gabe, will come to visit! By then, we'll be two weeks into our new, larger place in town and will have plenty of space for all of us to be comfortable and close to shopping, groceries and swimming. We have some fun stuff planned for when they arrive as well. It seems there's a never-ending list of fun things to do in Nicaragua at a reasonable price.

We're grateful to have parents who share our adventurous spirit and want to travel 2000 miles to visit us and see a new, relatively untouched country. Cheers to Mes de los Padres!

Becoming Locals

It has been a while since I've posted about our adventures, I know. We've been caught up in work, making our way through the challenges of getting acquainted and balancing it all with fun. Just over two months in, Brandon and I feel like we know the ropes now; the best places to eat, which beaches are the most fun, how to ride on just about any road on the moto (yes, we learned our limit!) and have even made some new friends. 

When we're not working, we've taken to adventures like scaling beach cliffs, snorkeling from beach to beach, night rides under the stars on the moto and discovering completely untouched coves. We've been scouting awesome beach locations and activities in anticipation for our visitors in Sept/Oct. AND, we found our next casa!

Although we are extremely grateful for getting a fantastic deal with our current place at Pelican Eyes Resort, we found that there are some unnecessary unpleasantries that we've been enduring up on our hill. One; the Internet. It has been nearly impossible, save for a few days to have an unlimited, reliable internet connection, which at times affected my work flow. Another is the bugs! We're surrounded by foliage, so we get all the critters that come with it, including the occasional gecko poop falling from the ceiling... But we should be covered in all above areas at our new place! http://www.vrbo.com/626975