Day 3 (Monday, 01/01/07)

We guessed, correctly, that busses on the island would not be running on New Years Day. This meant we were stuck in the little port town of Matagalpa until we could come up with another plan. Luckily, we found a entrepreneurial fellow letting a couple travelers onto the bed of his truck. We made an offer, pointed at a spot on our map, and hopped aboard. The open-air ride was great fun, and the scenery was enjoyable. Lots of locals walking along the road and the Volcano in the distance, topped with a Gandalf-like smoke ring. We got off at a hotel located near a nature preserve and a lagoon called Charco Verde. Rooms at this hotel were more than we had bargained for, but we were told we could find budget options nearby. So we walked along the shore of the lake for a half mile in search of cheap rest. Past the tourist beach, a boy was taking his horse out for a bath, and past that, we encountered the local laundromat - nine or ten women washing their clothes on little stone tables set up off shore, in the surf, and their children, playing on the beach.

There were birds everywhere! Ometepe is home to over 80 species of birds. I listened to them calling out to each other and gazed up at the sky as they swooped and dove and flashed their colors with no apparent motive. This got me thinking about Tim's reflections the night before. I wondered, "Is the need to live with 'purpose' overblown? Might one simply enjoy?" If we can learn enjoyment, I'd say we're doing pretty good. I found that worrying about my lack of Spanish skills was getting in the way of my serenity by this point in the trip. I was frequently filled with that feeling I get in class, when I might be called on at any moment, and I know darn well I haven't prepared an answer! I hadn't realized how exhausting the language work would be. But my enjoyment of the birds was welcome respite from these anxieties.

We took a walk. On the way, we a man from Nuremberg named Lothar Bode (lothar.bode@web.de). He was wearing a t-shirt with the Luther Seal on it. I had a bit of a tough time deciphering Lothar's German accent, but I made out that he was retired and had been to Nicaragua before. He told us about the Lutheran church in Nicaragua, and its strong-willed bishop in Managua who has been trying to make the church "more Catholic," to the annoyance of others (or Lothar, at least). He was trying to communicate something about a ghost I should meet at Baltimore's Harbor Inn, where he once stayed, apparently referring to a historical reenactor. Having made this Baltimore connection, to my amusement, I learned that he too knows Dave Schott! For those readers who are uninformed, Dave is a Baltimore legend, involved in all sorts of leftist activities, an illustrious contra dancer and bongo player, and a good friend to Lutheran Volunteer Corps folks like myself. His circle of acquaintances is wide, and, as we found out, includes this German man we met walking down the road on Ometepe. Surprise!

We continued on our way to the big hill, to the "Vista del Diablo." The devil in question was the Volcano, La Conception, a few kilometers to the east. We made our way up an impossibly steep trail, and enjoyed the scenery at the top - a spectacular view of the island, its volcanos, and the surrounding lake. A National Geographic documentary on bats was filmed on this hill, but we saw no bats. As we hiked, we engaged in conversation about "perspective," in general terms. There is always a temptation to interpret and systematize the world, to go for the panoramic view, but, as anyone who has taken photos on vacation knows, photographs of landscapes never do the reality justice. Perhaps we should focus more on the close-ups, pull out our macro lens, stick our noses close to the ground, and appreciate life's details and incongruities. I declared this to be an unofficial theme of my journey in Nicaragua; "zooming in" on the work LWR does there. I spend most of my days in an office overlooking Baltimore, communicating with people from all over the world and gaining an appreciation for LWR's structure and philosophy. But I had not yet had a single, face-to-face conversation with someone "on the ground" in a community where LWR works. Now was my chance.

Afterward our hike, I walked down to the lagoon, while Tim went back to meditate. I'm glad I continued on, because I soon ran into 10 or 12 howler monkeys all in a group, making a ruckus. I love monkeys and had never seen them in the wild before. Such mirthful, noisy creatures! After this I went back to the hotel and went for a swim in the lake at sunset. I watched as some horses came and took a drink from the water. One of them took "something else," at which point I waded back to shore and called it a night! We ate at an outdoor dining patio at the next hotel. Ended up running into Lothar again and chatting with him for a while, until a woman came scolding him for locking her out of the bathroom their two rooms shared...for the third time. I closed my evening by laying in a hammock for a while, enjoying the sound of the surf. When I went to bed, I felt like was still swinging in the breeze.