Adios Jinotepe

Elliot at the Jinotepe Bus Station

Tomorrow we have the morning free, and then we will meet up with Gloria, a Spanish teacher who works with Carrie from Viva Nicaragua. Gloria has agreed to take us up to her village and show us around, and we will spend the night at her mothers house. Carrie says they are great people but the house is very modest (ie no plumbing - likely no internet either, tho around here you never know) - and after passing so many "modest" houses I think it will be good for us (and particularly instructive for Elliot) to experience one firsthand for the night.

The next day, we will visit the nearby "pueblos blancos", each of which has its own craft specialty. I'm hoping we will get to visit a pottery shop (where supposedly they let you try your hand at the wheel), and Elliot wants to visit the village that makes doll-sized furniture and houses. Carrie suggested we go by moto-taxi, darling little three wheeled taxis, kind of like a motorized pedicab. And Elliot is dying to ride in a chicken bus (one of the repurposed 1st world school buses painted and used as basic second-class intercity transport), so we'll plan to take one of those back to Granada.

One thing I did notice today is the marked difference in temperature between Granada and Jinotepe: at this latitude, altitude makes a huge difference. When the breeze comes in off the Lago, Granada can be lovely - but on days like today it was great to escape the stifling heat for the cool mountain breezes. I'm hoping our visit to Diriomito tomorrow will be similarly refreshing.