We moved into our new house last week. I spent Wednesday having the taxi take me the five blocks to Casa Ellis and back, then back again. Astrid and Sophia returned from the states at 9:30 pm with the gatos. Pumpkin and Gigi had not enjoyed their first flight. They whimpered and fretted the entire time, and Pumpkin tried to claw his way out of his bag. It's taken them a week to feel comfortable.
Pumpkin is very excited about the flying rats (aka bats). While the house was unoccupied the past year, some of the bats took up residence. On Friday of last week at dusk, one of them was flying round and round the living room, until Pumpkin launched himself into the air and brought it down. We helped the dazed creature to crawl under the sofa, and it was gone the next day.
The house is very cute. It is on a quiet street, which is relatively hard to find near downtown Granada. It has a typical open courtyard and a small pool. Sophia can swim laps in it, but I can only get about a stroke and a half in before my head hits the wall. Astrid and my bedroom is up a flight, and there's a small patio overlooking the courtyard with a view of the Mombacho volcano. Mombacho is similar to Mt. Rainier in that it makes its own weather, and in addition there's a constant steam suspended above of its rim. At 5:00, when the sun starts thinking about going down, the pink cloud wisps and the steam are quite pretty.
The day after the move, Ramon came by to set up the internet access (thanks, C and L). He was accompanied by my “team,” consisting of Gustavo and Juan Carlos. Gustavo is our right hand man – he is a real estate agent who found us our house, introduced me to Ramon for the internet, makes sure we have transportation when needed, etc. Juan Carlos is el traductor (the translator) who moved to California with his parents during the Contra war. Usually Astrid and I can understand what people are trying to tell us (Astrid better than I) but the internet experience called for special measures (it’s a long story that illustrates the often difficult way of doing business here).
The same day Astrid had me (with the help of Javier the pool maintenance man) carry the heavy armoires from the bedroom to the basement, because they had mold in them (you know how the Germans are). (The “basement” is actually the ground floor. It has a washer and drier under the stairway, and a place to park your car. This is also typical of many Granadan homes, though most, like us, don’t actually own cars.) Susanna, our Nican landlady who lives down the street, wasn’t amused.
We have a cuidador who watches the house from 7 pm to 6 am. I usually chat with him outside in the evening. (Actually, I missed him this past Saturday. Wonder where he was.) Having a guard is an added feature of the house, because though it’s in a relatively safe area, Nicaraguans feel that property should be communal.
Some of Astrid’s food shopping is done outside the front door. We buy pizza and bread from Tignu, a 70-some baker who speaks French. He comes to the house on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Some days a guy walks down the street selling camarones (shrimp) in a cooler. There’s the fruit lady with strong lungs, and the equivalent of a Good Humor ice cream guy who walks his cart down the street.
I guess that’s about it for now. Sophia posted her first day school adventures prior to this blog, so be sure to check that out.
Pumpkin is very excited about the flying rats (aka bats). While the house was unoccupied the past year, some of the bats took up residence. On Friday of last week at dusk, one of them was flying round and round the living room, until Pumpkin launched himself into the air and brought it down. We helped the dazed creature to crawl under the sofa, and it was gone the next day.
The house is very cute. It is on a quiet street, which is relatively hard to find near downtown Granada. It has a typical open courtyard and a small pool. Sophia can swim laps in it, but I can only get about a stroke and a half in before my head hits the wall. Astrid and my bedroom is up a flight, and there's a small patio overlooking the courtyard with a view of the Mombacho volcano. Mombacho is similar to Mt. Rainier in that it makes its own weather, and in addition there's a constant steam suspended above of its rim. At 5:00, when the sun starts thinking about going down, the pink cloud wisps and the steam are quite pretty.
The day after the move, Ramon came by to set up the internet access (thanks, C and L). He was accompanied by my “team,” consisting of Gustavo and Juan Carlos. Gustavo is our right hand man – he is a real estate agent who found us our house, introduced me to Ramon for the internet, makes sure we have transportation when needed, etc. Juan Carlos is el traductor (the translator) who moved to California with his parents during the Contra war. Usually Astrid and I can understand what people are trying to tell us (Astrid better than I) but the internet experience called for special measures (it’s a long story that illustrates the often difficult way of doing business here).
The same day Astrid had me (with the help of Javier the pool maintenance man) carry the heavy armoires from the bedroom to the basement, because they had mold in them (you know how the Germans are). (The “basement” is actually the ground floor. It has a washer and drier under the stairway, and a place to park your car. This is also typical of many Granadan homes, though most, like us, don’t actually own cars.) Susanna, our Nican landlady who lives down the street, wasn’t amused.
We have a cuidador who watches the house from 7 pm to 6 am. I usually chat with him outside in the evening. (Actually, I missed him this past Saturday. Wonder where he was.) Having a guard is an added feature of the house, because though it’s in a relatively safe area, Nicaraguans feel that property should be communal.
Some of Astrid’s food shopping is done outside the front door. We buy pizza and bread from Tignu, a 70-some baker who speaks French. He comes to the house on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Some days a guy walks down the street selling camarones (shrimp) in a cooler. There’s the fruit lady with strong lungs, and the equivalent of a Good Humor ice cream guy who walks his cart down the street.
I guess that’s about it for now. Sophia posted her first day school adventures prior to this blog, so be sure to check that out.
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