i’m raising my tropical punch to you from way down here in nicaragua.
julio, my guide is coming to fetch me in a couple of hours and whisk me off to a volcano, so i went out for breakfast and now i’m home enjoying the balmy air and cool waters of the pool.
by the way, if you’re thinking of coming to granada for a visit, there are dozens of gorgeous colonial homes that can be rented for a song. many come with small pools, and nearly all come with house managers that provide as much or little guidance as you choose. i can reach julio by text whenever i need something, which is almost never, but knowing he’s there if i need him is wonderful.
wandering the streets is pure pleasure. keep in mind there is a lot of poverty here and some areas are a bit more gritty than others. yesterday i took a wrong turn and found myself on a very congested street with lots of foot traffic. i just let myself be carried along and in a short time i was at the mercado municipal. if i would have been with someone i might’ve taken out my camera, but as i was alone i thought it unwise to whip out my iphone or nikon, the cost of which may be 25-50% of the population’s annual income.
when i walked past an open doorway with the magnificent black rocker above, i thought of mama moss and how much she would have enjoyed owning a chair just like it! she had a rocker than she sat in daily for the last 40 years or so of her life.
if i lived here, a couple of these type of rockers would be my very first purchase. and if my sisters visited me we would pull them out into the streets in the early evenings and sit and rock with everyone else.
here are some mural paintings i spotted in a courtyard off plaza de los leones. at first glance they seemed merely quaint and charming, but as i studied them closely i was moved by the pictorial history they told of granada’s history. 
at night my time-traveling continues with reading.
a couple of days ago i stumbled upon a blog about retiring in latin america. oh how my interest was piqued and curiosity roused with those tales!
this is manuel who sold me a cup & saucer which come from one of the pueblo blancos whose specialty is ceramics. i try to do my part to support the local economy.
if i don’t fall into the volcano later today i shall return tomorrow with another dispatch.
blowing kisses from nicaragua where the air is warm, the flowers are bright, the sky is blue, and the volcanoes are rumbling.
xo
I remember one of the ER physicians I worked with in the 80’s told me he went to medical school in Granada , because he was rejected to med schools in the US. Any evidence of authentic medical schools in Granada back in the 80’s?
Snowing today in Wisconsin. Snowshoes strapped on . Glorious ( for me) .
I envy your solitary vacations. They are made for me.
he was probably referring to granada the caribbean island, not granada, nicaragua…?
snowshoes sound wondrous to me as i sit here in the tropics..
xo
I’m loving reading your blog as I look out the window and see 10 inches of snow on the ground…
Thanks for all the warmth!!
i wouldn’t mind some snow later this winter!
You are making me want to read the history of Granada. I think I will do that as soon as I finish the library book I am reading. They sure love beautiful chairs, don’t they? I noticed chairs in many photos, even being hauled in the backs of trucks. Maybe Americans need more porch sittin’ chairs to improve our perspective and moods. I too LOVE rocking chairs, and have in my possession a rocker that has been in my family for 4 generations. All have rocked babies for all of those generations. It will be passed on to my oldest daughter when I die, and then her daughter, and on and on.
The streets look so clean, and the buildings painted in such bright, lovely colors. I love the brilliant yellow color of that church. Have you been sleeping well in your cozy abode? Have you been painting/sketching a lot? It will be so fun to see a flip of your journal upon your return! Make it a nice, slow, leisurely flip, pleasepleaseplease? I hope you come back completely renewed and refreshed. I found a little treasure for you. Can’t wait to send it, but I haven’t gotten it yet. You know how sometimes you just stumble across the perfect treasure for a particular person? Yeah…that. I can’t remember when you return, but have a safe trip!
i have a good one (i think) i’m going to start called TYCOON’S WAR.
treasure is good.
i have been writing a lot, but not sketching a lot.
i try and do some small thing daily, but so far seems not to amount to much.
getting in and out of the pool occupies much of my time.
and reading.
and wandering.
and eating.
ya know?