Blog | Granada Day 2 |
|
|
|
| Written by Keith Rhoades | |
| Monday, 29 September 2008 | |
|
Well, after my last email i walked around granada and it is a lovely town. I walked and took pictures which is getting me frustrated. the last 4 years i had a kodak 3 megapixel camera and i upgraded..but i got it days before i left and i have not mastered it yet so i´m all nervous about how my photos are coming out. At any rate, i walked down to the lake and then had a bit to eat and met a gentleman that runs an social work place here in Granada. i told him i worked in the field and he invited me over to meet some of the children...it was heart wrenching....i don´t ever want to hear the families i work with again. most of these kids called chavalos or street kids are between 8 and 16 and were abandoned by their parents and they litterally live on the street, sleep in allies and hustle for a living. most are addicted to sniffing glue and start at age 8!! i met one girl anna maria who had an appendectomy today and 2 1-2 hours later was released from the hospital to the streets and didnt even have aspirin...i gave her some of my ibuprofren. there was juan carlos age 16 and his brother at 14 already has brain damage and kidney damage from alcohol and sniffing glue. The children were so nice and inquisitive about me and friendly. The day center helps them with getting basic stuff...even a used toothbrush is better than nothing. The center collects used clothes, shoes, flip flops, tooth brushes...anything that backpackers want to leave behind...books, pins, candy, it´s all good! i gave one of my t shirts to this one guy because his shirt wasn´t fit to wash a car. i have to be honest...i have never seen such poverty and desperation and hopelessness. it broke my heart. i´m going to go shopping tomorrow and buy some stuff for the kids at the center. All i kept thinking was that the kids i work with back in los angeles are spoiled rotten compared to this. i cant even imagine what it is like to be 8, living on the street, no parents, etc. one boy did not even know when he was born or how old he was. Anyway, i know i´m a bit long winded about this...but it really touched me. i hope to stop by the center every day for the next 5 days to visit with the kids, hear their stories and help in whatever small way i can.. Anyway, it was one of the highlights of my day. it was straight out of les miserables or a Dicken´s novel. i then went back to my room to reflect on all of this and went out to dinner. The rains came again late last night...torrential rains...some of the town got flooded. i got a good nights sleep with some AC. This morning i began to get some fast and good lessons on navigating around. i went to several tour operators to go to Las Isletas..the chain of islands in Lake Managua. They will only operate with more than one person...usually that is not a problem but there were no other people signed up for that trip or any other trip for the rest of the week. business is bad and there are no tourist here so i took it upon myself to grab a taxi to the lake shore and hired a boat. Lake Managua is the largest lake in Central America..it´s huge and it is the only lake in the world that has sharks..yes they are dangerous. I went a few of the docks and found a boat and negotiated a price for two hours for $20 but the guy only spoke spanish...which was ok...I felt like the queen of the lake...i was the only one on the boat with my own personal driver and guide and there was not another boat on the lake...it was eerie. He drove me around the island chained formed from the volcano...there are over 350 islands and you can even buy one. i went to one that had a fort from 1700´s and my favorite was the island with the monkeys...spider monkeys. some of the islands are owned by very rich people and some are filled with poor people..reminiscent of my mekong river tour. there is even one island that is strictly a cemetery. it was absolutely stunning and fabulous and you could see Volcano mambacho!  Life among Las Isletas After 2 hours the boat returned and there were no taxis...so i walked an hour in the noon sun and humidity stopping only once among farm land and locals and horse drawn carts. i never thought id get back to town. i did finally wet as hell and went to have lunch. i then went to visit the Cathedral and the Iglesia de Merced. The rains started to come again so i went over to the social service center and met with some of the kids....i have a new friend...jose who is 12 years old. he is the one that doesnt really know when he was born. he make little bracelets and sells them and makes about $1.50 a day to eat off. He gave me one...i asked him to tie it on my wrist and that i would wear it. he was so proud. Before i left i slipped him $2 i think i will go buy him some stuff tomorrow. It kept raining so i just stayed there and talked to some of the children. the rain subsided so i´m on my way to dinner now and will call it a night. Tomorrow i am signed up to go to the Volcanoe..Since there is difficulty in finding tour operators i am using some of the locals. i found out you can hire people but they usually own speak spanish..but they will take you around and stuff....so i´m going to do the first hike tomorrow at 9 am Wish me luck!! i´m not sure about this hiking on a volcano in this heat and humidity...i am only doing the one hour hike rather than the three. Wednesday i will go to masaya...which is the most active volcano...it´s active right now. WEll, i know this is a long email...thanks for "listening" and letting me take you along. With peace and love, |
|
| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 14 October 2008 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
