Granada

Having one day to explore Granada what better transportation than a bike.....

First..... 

Accomodation 

          

Mi Pequeno amigo from hostel cleaning his Dad's bike

A Superwoman Wifey Kind of Day:

 

Horse ranch and cows 

Visiting homes in poor communities

Cemetery ride around such beautiful stones with death present inside a palace of stones

 

In and out of the Central Market

 

                 

                                              Tired:(

                 







                                                      Cheese 

Coffee at Cafe Musica 

       

        

                                

Lake Nicaragua 

 

                

 

5 churches 

Chocolate tasting 

How to make a hammock

Hotel Alhambra 

Sitting on the rocking chair near the peaceful fountain and the  pool. I'm going to miss the rocking chair that's for sure  
 

Restaurants and tourist areas out of water 

Spiritual Exploration

When you make a stop at a tourist destination, it may take anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour and a half. There may be a famous statue or landmark, waterfalls, a volcano, a flower garden etc.  When you are just starting to enjoy it, the tour guide will usually say, "Okay guys you got five minutes." Once you take the individual photos and tourist shots, you only have about five minutes to actually take in the beauty of the site and surroundings. You may be in a beautiful Rose garden and there are butterflies in that area you overlooked or did not get time to see.  You are at a waterfall and you just take a shot of the waterfall and some silly photo in front.  You missed the beautiful path that lead to the waterfall. You had no time to truly explore behind it, around, and what's next to it. 

With those tourist stops, I find myself wondering behind and wanting so much more. "Priscilla, come on the bus is leaving." I hear that often if I do take a tour.  It's just not enough to stop at a volcano for 20 minutes at a volcano when I want that time to sit near it and take in my surroundings. It always feels like just when you are starting to enjoy it, you have to leave. This is problematic towards getting to the real part of traveling.  You are missing out on the real beauty of that site or landmark listening to the tour guides words, taking pictures, and then leaving. 

Where is the connection to the site, where is the time spent reading the excerpts, where is the time spent with the nature, and where is the imagination? While this is not true all the time, it is true a majority of the time. There is something that is missing and that missing component is spiritual exploration- truly allowing your body and five senses to take in a site. 

People are getting the talk from the guide, the photos with the site, the time to see what was recommended, but where is the spiritual exploration time? It's there to leave an impact on a human being. That experience can improve their being as it resonates with them.  It's not happening enough with short tourist stops at significant sites. 

Waking up with Jesus

When you arrive in a place with a good experience, it pretty much sets the tone for the rest.  Of course I am not referring to the experience with the ridiculous black girl. 

Rather I am referring to how you are welcomed by the local people in the space where you stay. 
Coming in completely late, the lady kindly answered the door and she couldn't have been nicer. She offered me a smaller room, but said that something bigger and more comfortable would open tomorrow.

It felt like I was being welcomed by a family friend. While the room was pretty small, I paid no attention because I was exhausted.  The only thing I wanted to do was get some rest so I could wake up for church.

              The next Morning....

One of the best things is when you wake up with Jesus and a new city.  He's present in the sky, the clouds, the sun, the people, and the church.  After some nice rest, you open the doors to the bright sun lit streets and you just walk around and observe.(Thankful to have a healthy body to walk and walk endlessly). The mornings are so beautiful with the sun shining and businesses just opening up.  You can stop at a local shop or the market.  The market is full of fresh fruit, bread, pastries, and homemade delicacies like cheese stuffed bread.

First arriving at church, I was surprised with the 10 people that were present at the grand cathedral. This is the touristy cathedral, which I stayed 30 seconds away from and only ten people were present. It's important to keep in mind that there are many other wonderful Spanish colonial churches in Leon. 

The front service area is mesmerizing for me as I just sit and have my quiet moments with God. It's these moments that are the best part of church for me. It's just pure peace, honesty, vulnerability, and love.

When the priest came out, things started quickly. People began to come in one by one and I turned my head around to see the whole church was full. The music was playing as I heard "Holy Cristo" being repeated along with the guitar and the church choir.  People are friendly kindly extending a warm "Dios contigo" with me.

The Eucharist is more traditional than most, but it's a learning experience. It's an experience where I feel connected and intrigued. Must admit that I did not understand all their rituals, but it was interesting to learn. It was so nice and I felt my engine restart. 

I walked over to the cafe to write and order a fresh orange juice. 

God introduced me to some lovely locals who owned their own business selling crafts, fruit, clothes, or tourist items.  There was music coming from the streets with the standard paradise on Sundays for Christ.

It's his day and he shined. PRIS

Social Worker By Bike

This bike ride was truly just what the doctor ordered. My spirit and soul was craving a bike ride. I had been in the back of a pick of truck going to church, a shuttle van, and bus.  However, I had been missing the motor bike or motorcycle. It's one of the best ways to explore with the wind threw your hair, the nature in front of your eyes, the sky changing colors, the waves of the beach on one side, and trees on another. It's not about seeing how fast you can ride rather it's about slowing down to take in the beauty.  

As far as Stan, he was so kind and attentive he asked me where I wanted to go. I told him, "You know wherever you think is good." He said, "No where do You want to go?" You know this is a nice guy because sometimes gas is an issue. He owned some property and had a pretty good job. So we went off to go around the island and explore the unseen destinations.

The island has varying neighborhoods: some full of charm, some underprivledged, some Spanish, some Creole, some naturally stunning, and some just heartbreaking. As the bike went through these communities, I enjoyed the beach waves crashing, the pine trees, unexpected steep hills, and mountain areas. It was quite a diverse display of nature and also a clear display of poverty. The bike was suppose to be a joy ride, but unfortunately I take my work with me on the bike. We were laughing and having great conversation, but I couldn't help, but look in the eyes of those I passed by-sadness, in need of guidance, in need of a motivational speech or session.  Clearly, he was not up for making stops on the bike to talk to locals-pictures yes-social work-no.
Hearing much about the Frenchman's cove, I was interested to visit.

He asked me, "Are you sure you want to see there?"  
 "Yes, can we please drive in?"

I knew it was a poor community and I wanted to see it.  It was a Creole community with the crosses on the churches all in different shapes, the kids running through the streets, the houses built on a hill stacked up on top of each other, seeing the women cook through the windows in their big pots with clouds of smoke, the municipal building next to the basketball courts right on the water  Unfortunately, most people looked at me like, " What are YOU doing here?" They were not very welcoming and I kind of got the hint that maybe we should leave.  Instead of feeling sad, I just felt like this was a missed opportunity.  This was clearly a community that needed me and I was not there for them.. it just felt like a let down on my part as I didn't explore the whole island to see the truly bad areas.''

 Somewhere Over the Rainbow these people will fly... Fly far away into a safe place with no financial worries.

Being a nice teddy bear, he wanted to cheer me up so he took me for ice cream... well that is guaranteed to cheer me up.  Mr. Stan took me to an Iguana farm.  This is a farm of 100 plus iguanas just sitting around and staring at you.  They don't bite you or attack you...they just stare at you.  We were going to stop at a nice Hotel Casino/Resort, but the security guard would not let us through because it was after hours.  Unfortunately, my charm does not always work and I did not get us through the gates. Iguanas, parrots, and toucans were just as satisfying.  Nature beats out fancy hotels any day. 

As we continued along, there were some familiar places that came up for Stan. We passed by the area he used to live in, which has now been taken over my hotels and high rise condos.  Before, it was just a simple village where he lived with mother, father, and 4 brothers.  We also stopped at his house that was for sale.  The house had four large bedrooms, two living room areas, a nice kitchen, dining room-not to mention a full upstairs with two bedrooms and a balcony and two bath.  I mention this because he was renting it out for just $700 a month. He was having difficulty selling and just needed someone to rent it for the time being.  The economy is bad in Roatan and it's difficult to get someone to that location. 

For me, I thought that a selling point would be  it's location right across the church. Well, that would work for me, but perhaps not so much for others. I said, "How wonderful to live that close to a church."  You just open your window and hear the music on a Sunday morning-inspired to get up and go with such lovely people attending. Unfortunately,  He didn't seem that excited about it and nicely responded, "Some days you don't want to hear the music Priscilla." It's definitely understandable for a neighbor to want some silence from time to time.  

After this long ride and my talking and talking about how much I wanted a delicious local meal.  Looking for a small place with huge flavors.  Let's eat.....