Ben - August 5, Late Morning

Hotel Alhambra
Granada, Nicaragua
August 5, 10:30 AM

Good morning to you from Granada, Nicaragua on a slow, rainy morning. It looks as though today will be a rather lethargic day for several reasons, not the least of which is that Rachel has been violently sick for the last 12 hours or so. Combined with the fact that it has been raining for the better part of the morning and that we had to scrap our original plans for the day (going to a lake and swimming, relaxing, eating, etc.), it looks as though we will be playing it by ear today. So far today, I have eaten breakfast, slept, and watched Manchester United vs. Chelsea in a soccer match from the English Premier League. Definitely a slow morning. Earlier, my dad and I went out to Kathy’s Waffle House for breakfast, which was very satisfying, while my mom stayed at the hotel with Rachel. Now, mom is out to breakfast while dad and I stay here in the room.

Sunday morning in Granada is an interesting scene. The large central park next to the hotel is filled with people playing music, people trying to sell stuff and people just walking around. Everywhere you go there are a massive amount of vendors trying to sell everything from Eskimo ice cream bars to hammocks to (often illegal) CDs and DVDs. As my dad and I ate breakfast, there were a number of people trying to sell their merchandise, which coincided with the amount of tourists eating at that restaurant. Certainly not a coincidence. Among them was a boy of about 10 or 11 trying to sell little wooden flute-type instruments, trilling them as he walked along the sidewalk. I also saw a girl trying to sell belts, as well as a woman who I recognized from a previous day selling hammocks.

We ate across the street from a very large church type building that I learned was an old convent. It is apparently the original building, several hundred years old, having survived the massive fire set by American William Walker in the mid 1800’s. Apparently Walker came down from America looking for a good scrap and found a war in Nicaragua. Possessing weapons and men, he promptly took control of the military and declared himself president. That lasted for about 6 months before the Nicaraguans decided to kick him out. Before he was forced out however, he set a humongous fire that burned down nearly all of Granada, his former base. This Franciscan convent however, which also housed Walker for a while, withstood the blaze and stands today. I think it is still an operational convent, a conclusion drawn from the fact that we heard a mass going on there this morning as we ate our breakfast.

As we walked back, we passed a group of teenagers playing soccer in an open area. It appeared that one team was dressed entirely in the jerseys of the FC Barcelona soccer team, while the other team wasn’t wearing any sort of uniform. Also, as we were walking back, we heard a series of absolutely massive bangs coming from the park area and rounded the corner to see a large cloud of smoke. My first thoughts were of gunshots, but I think it was just a bunch of fireworks. Hopefully Rachel will soon be feeling better and we will be able to engage in some sort of activity. We leave Granada tomorrow and stay in Managua one night before flying out early Tuesday morning. Adios!