¿Where does the time go?

People frequently ask , “What do you do all day, living in Central America? Don’t you ever get bored?!” These queries are understandable from newcomers; it is common for most people to have a travel experience in Central America that consists of an all-inclusive resort or a trip from the vacation rental to the local pulperia to refill the stock of margarita mix in the fridge. Fortunately, when one decides to make the transition from tourist to ex-pat in Central America, s/he can expect to develop new interests, meet new people and even revisit old hobbies. In essence, create a new life experience in a foreign country.

In an effort to bring insight to a potential future ex-pat’s lifestyle ideal, the following is an example of how his/her day might go:

5:15am-Why am I awake at 5:15am? Is my clock right? Does it always get light this early? Note to self, drink more Chilean Malbec tonight.
5:30am-Cup or organic coffee (or green smoothie), perhaps and select one of the following options:
• Check surf
• Bust out fishing rod
• Yoga on ocean view patio
• Run on beachhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
• Horseback riding on beach (if low-mid tide)
• Collect seashells
• Make business phone call to Japan
• Go back to sleep

8am-By this time unless the waves are epic or the fishing is good, you will probably be making your way back home for breakfast. Say, a fresh tropical fruit plate or scrambled eggs with gallo pinto and toast (fresh baked bread, of course).

9am-Unless the waves are going off, at this time you will be getting into your main activity of the day. This can be any of the following options (including but not limited to):
• Go to work (that would be me)
o Put out fires, make phohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifne calls, check e-mail, run to nearest civilized town for some sort of meeting or errands
• Check on construction, like my friend Holly Beck
• If you have a house, do some gardening or planting
• Hang out in pool at the Marina
• Read a book
• Test out machete technique on unsuspecting tropical plants
• Head to nearest civilized town for grocery shopping, bank, yadda yadda yadda and maybe pizza or Subway

Noon-Even if the waves are still firing, by this time people are starting to drop like flies. The rest of us are still out and about but thinking about lunch, at least by 1pm.



2pm-It’s hot at 2pm. Hopefully you’re somewhere with a/c (doubtful) or an ocean breeze and a beer (probable). Also a good time for a dip in the ocean or nap in the hammock. For me, if it’s a day at the office I usually have an appointment with clients from

3-6pm. If not, I could be anywhere from the border of Honduras to the border of Costa Rica to an island in the Caribbean, you know, scouting out property.



5:30-Sunset. What, sunset already? Yes, sunset. Daylight savings time is an invention of the US. Again, I can’t stress enough how important it is to have beer in hand and be strategically positioned with view of and breeze off the ocean. Only not for the heat this time… mosquitoes…

7pm-After some good conversation with whomever you were watching the sunset with, it’s dinnertime! A possible menu could be the following:
• Fish you caught in the morning (snook, mahi, snapper or corvina, likely)
• Fish that the guy who took you surfing in the boat caught (see above)
• Ceviche or cocktail of shrimp or clams
• The chicken that either a) you almost hit driving this morning or b) woke you up with its squawking
• BBQ Peliguey, a cross between a sheep and a goat (don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it)
• Any of the above accompanied by rice, beans, salad, vegetables, fried plantains and some salsa picante. And beer.
• If you’re a veg, replace the fauna with a soup, salad or stir-fry prepared with any selection of the plethora of fresh veggies available in the area. Buen provecho!

After dinner-When you live in Central America, it takes longer than 30 minutes to eat dinner, because we are not rushed and enjoy our meals here. By now it’s probably close to 9pm. Or if you are my French neighbors, you start eating after 9pm. The following are some standard options:
• Switch from beer to Flor de Caña, chilled, with lime (get ready for karaoke of Red Red Wine later)
• Continue chatting with friends and/or listening to music
• Leisurely read a book or magazine
• Call it a night and sleep (or other)


See!? Time flies when you’re having fun. Of course, other life responsibilities will get in the way of having a perfect day every day, but just by rotating the above activities you will wish the days were longer.

Organic Farms & the Nica Interior

Going 3 years traveling in, about or around Nicaragua, most of my time has been spent surfing, walking coastal farms or searching for beach side property. I’ve scoured out practically every surfable wave between Gran Pacifica + Jiquilillo over the past 6 months. I also love my beachfront rancho-style hideaway. But living in Nica, part of the job and responsibility of being a foreigner here is learning about the different people, culture + attributes of other regions of the country besides San Juan del Sur, Popoyo + the Northern Coastline. So over the weekend, on a whim at 4am, Shan and I decided to visit the more temperate climate of the mountainous agricultural dept of Estelí.

The fresh air, green valleys and mountains were reminiscent of Costa Rica. All types of produce and coffee is grown here. The trip from Chinandega/ Acerradores was a solid 5 hours, with each roadway an education into a different etapa of Nicaragua history. But, the destination well worth it. So what if the tobacco factory where Cuban puros are hard rolled was closed, and we had to switch hotels after checking into a place with not-so-hospitable hospitality. We now know where to go/where not to go, and were at least able to buy 3 lunches for ourselves + trusty driver for $4 including fresh pineapple juice, plus purchase hand carved marble earrings for $1/ each.






The highlight of our night in Estelí were the delectable margaritas at Café Vuela Vuela dowtown. I was also super excited to visit an organic farm and do some Swiss goat cheese tasting (Who knew!) in the farming cooperative and protected land of La Garnacha. Shannon made fun of me because organic celery and bok choy excite me. There was also a beautiful “mirador” where you can see lake Managua, Volcán Mombacho, Cerro Negro + San Cristobal all from one look-out.







We were a little bummed that with all the fertile land sprawling the countryside, the 22 people on 140 manzanas at La Garnacha are the only ones we have heard of besides hear near Ometepe who take advantage of the ability to farm organically. We bought a few plant to add to the ever–growing garden at our new Century 21 Marina office on 5 acres of land, while the coop also gave seeds for veggies and pine trees to my driver. His family has always been agricultural but hopefully now Osmar will bring back some of the education he got at the farm to the locals in his own community of Acerradores “Poco a Poco”, hopefully we foreigners can make a different here and share new, more advanced ways of doing old tasks.