We arrive, and some stuff happens.

First off, I want to apologise for doing exactly what I didnt want to do, which is start out with a big entry and then never update it. We have been doing all sorts of activities. Also, the power is kinda spotty here in Nica, so everytime I make time to come to the internet cafe, the power goes out.

Ok, so back to the story. We got into Nica on Saturday, the 5th, but one of our bags didnt make it. We sat and watched the one little carousel at the Managua airport for a while, but it never came. We took a cab from Managua to Granada to meet the host family that we are staying with. There are 4 kids, all in ther 20s or 30s, with two sisters and two brothers, along with two parents and a couple of Grandkids. To tell you the truth, I am still unsure who exactly lives in the house, at least one of the brothers and both of the sisters do, but the grandkids and the other brother seem to come and go. The family is pretty rich, especially by Nica standards. The house is like a mini-hacienda. You walk into the house through a huge old door, and enter into the sitting room. There is only one story, but it must be at least 25 feet to the ceiling. After the sitting room there is a living/dining room, and the kitchen. However, only parts of this are covered by the roof, most of this (huge) room is an open air garden with plants, giant mango and coconut trees, and dozens of tropical birds in cages. After you pass through that, then you come to the actual garden, which is an even bigger version of the garden before. It has a covered porch area and then a natural area with two dogs, geese, ducks, parrots, and some strange little flightless jungle-chicken things. Our room is in a seperate little structure out here in the garden. We have our own shower and a little toilet just for us back in the main part of the house. Compared to what we have seen at other peoples homestays, the house we are living in is a palace.

We got in on Sat. and just relaxed and went to bed early since I had blown a few fuses the night before in Miami for the 4th of July. The next day, we got up and walked down to Lago Nicaragua. This lake is something like the 10th biggest freshwater lake in the word. It is incredibly large. When we flew over it in the airplane it looked like a sea. You couldnt see the other side, even from 20,000 feet. it is so large it has its own species of freshwater shark. In the middle of the lake are two giant volcanos. http://viajesnorteamerica.com/wp-content/ometepe_island_on_lake_managua-nicaragua.jpg.
So we cruised down there for a little while and then we jumped on this party bus thing that takes you all around the sights of Granada, while a DJ blasts Reggeaton.
Crap, there goes the power again. I will try a little later...