Valentine’s Dinner in Harvard Square February 24, 2008

So, as to avoid the Valentine’s Day rush on the 14th, my boyfriend and I went on the 13th (aren’t we sneaky!) For dinner, we went to Grendel’s Den. It’s a small, slightly crowded restaurant with a good variety of foods. We got the Cheese Fondue for Two, which is usually $25. However, we got the meal for half price, since they have a deal that if you buy drinks over $3, your meal is half off. I think we might have spent a little bit more than we had if we hadn’t ordered drinks…but at least we got drinks! I ordered a peach Lambic beer from Lindemans that was served with a matching glass. Lambic is pretty darn tasty. I love peach flavors, and really, this beer doesn’t really taste like beer at all!

We then wandered over to Finale, a dessert place I’ve mentioned before. We shared a fabulous Valentine’s Day special, and two different hot chocolates (one regular, one hazelnut).

It was a pretty great night!

My Trip to Nicaragua: Final Thoughts February 24, 2008

Overall, I would have to say that my trip to Nicaragua was pretty darn amazing. I met cool people, looked into volcanoes, ate tasty meals, and spent time with my really good friends.

Here are a few things to keep in mind if you ever go to Nicaragua (or go on any other trip, for that matter!):

You might find yourself spending lots of money because it’s so little money by comparison. I know that was a bit of a problem for me. The exchange rate was so much in our favor that we definitely splurged a bit. Besides, we figured we might as well spend a lot, since we don’t know if/when we might go back. Also the country is rather poor, so I think we looked at spending as something beneficial to the society. Maybe that’s a little pompous sounding, or something, but I don’t mean it to sound that way at all!

Get a guidebook. My friends and I had two books. One from Lonely Planet and one from Moon. I think it worked out pretty well to have multiple guidebooks so we could find out more information (some information was only in one of the books, and we could get multiple angles about a certain place). I recommend reading through your guidebook to some extent, just to know what you’re in for. I especially recommend reading the intro to the country section (in the Moon book, it’s called “Know Nicaragua”). That way you know details like exchange rates, entry fees, medicines/shots you’ll need (and should plan on getting a certain amount of time ahead of time), customs, languages, safety, etc.

Know some Spanish. While you do run into a few English speakers, you’re going to want to know enough to know at least some middle school/high school Spanish that will help you find what you need (food, lodging, restrooms, etc.) and you’ll want to know numbers so you know what prices you’re agreeing to! Or if you don’t know Spanish, at least travel with someone who does.

Don’t be afraid to haggle. At markets, in cabs, etc. you can haggle for a price that seems more reasonable to you.

Taxis are different from what you experience in the states…you agree on a price before you head out. The good part is that you know they wont drive your around randomly just to run up a tab. I can’t think of what’s bad about it, except if you are unable to haggle for a good price.

Just as a recap, here are the links to each day of my trip:

Day 1: Fort Lauderdale (to Managua)

Day 2: Masaya (from Managua)

Day 3: Ometepe (From Masaya to San Juan Del Sur)

Day 4: San Juan Del Sur (to Managua)

I’d love to hear of your travels, as well!

[Edit:  If you're wondering what shots, immunization, or medicine you'll need on your trip, check out the CDC's Traveler's Health site.]

My Trip to Nicaragua: Day 4: San Juan Del Sur February 20, 2008

We woke up the next morning, to see the aftermath of the storm: everyone was sweeping up, cleaning up, washing the mud off of their steps.

We headed downstairs for breakfast…got the “traditional Nicaraguan breakfast” (again! I just love it!)

It kept raining on and off, shifting into downpours every once in a while. I guess you could say the weather was pretty bad. L and M stopped at an internet cafe to check some email and a few other things (L even sent me an email, telling me to remember how awesome Nicaragua was!)

Then we went to El Gato Negro. It’s an awesome, English-speaking cafe and bookstore. We figured with all the rain, we wouldn’t be able to go to the cloud forests or the volcanoes, so we decided to take our last day in Nicaragua as a day for relaxation. We spent a good part of our day there, reading the magazines, ordering tasty drinks (smoothies, fancy coffees, teas) and food (hummus plate, fruit plate, sandwiches, brownies). We met and chatted with the owner and some of the other visitors there. There was a black cat that roamed around the bookstore (the shop’s namesake) that we played with. The funny part (maybe only to me) was that I kept wanting to call the cat, and the cafe, “Le Chat Noir”, since I learned French in high school I suppose that confusion happened a lot to me…I would want to say “Merci” instead of “Gracias”.

I think because it’s an English-speaking cafe, locals know they can find tourists, and tourists tend to buy souvenirs! I have to admit, they were right! Two guys came to us (twice, I think!) and tried to sell us pottery they had made. I decided that this was going to be a good a time as any to buy something. They were all very beautiful pieces, mostly vases, jewelry boxes, and candle hurricanes. I went ahead and spent a good chunk of the cordoba I had left ( I didn’t have that much left at that point, anyway!) on a vase with turtles etched into it. It had the blues, greens, and browns that are found in my bed linens, so I figured it would be a good match. My friends bought a few things as well.

We stayed pretty much until closing (3pm) and headed out to find a cab that would take us back to Managua, to the airport. Before we got the cab, I stopped in to a shop to see if I could buy one more thing: an ornament (or something I could convert into an ornament). I had decided that I wasn’t going to spend a lot on souvenirs, but I also decided that my new souvenir policy would be to get an ornament from every place I visited. That way, every Christmas, I could recall all the great places I’d been! I bought a small magnet that I knew I could attach a hook to. Perfect!

On our journey back, we drove through Masaya, past volcanoes, and along long winding streets. Halfway through the journey, our cab driver actually switched out with another cab driver. I think it was because he usually doesn’t go that far north, so the two men set a deal so that they’d split the money from our fare and drive half way.

It was sad to go back up to Managua: We knew our journey was coming to a close. It was also upsetting to see just how much devastation the storm had caused. We drove by many people who were trying to fix things after their homes were flooded. We saw pools of water most likely 2 feet deep in places!

We finally made it to Managua, and stopped at a restaurant for dinner…our last meal in Nicaragua! I don’t remember the name of the place we at at (sorry!) but it was pretty good. Towards the end of our meal, a musician began to set up and play. It was very nice guitar music.

We then caught a cab to the airport. While we were waiting, M and L napped, and A and I got involved talking to a business man from NYC. He told us how he does business both in the US and Nicaragua, as well as many other places in Central America. He gave us his business card, and told us if we were ever back in Nicaragua, that we should let him know, and he’d have us over for dinner (the best Indian food in Nicaragua!)

Boarded our plane, and headed home!

Book club returns! February 12, 2008

After reading a few posts about books to read (at Well-heeled, with a mission and Let Us Go Then, You and I), I realized I should talk about the book club my friends and I do every month. About a year ago, one of my friends started up a book club. The idea was to get together with friends and discuss a book every month. They were all very cool books to read, though I only started in after the second book. Last year, the book club books were:

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Inside the Magic Kingdom: Seven Keys to Disney’s Success by Tom Connellan

Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman

When we decided that “The World is Flat” was going to be our next book, it was just around the time that a lot of our friends (including the leader of our book club) were moving to different places (for new jobs, grad school, etc.), and that, combined with such a long book that no one was very excited about, basically made our book club fall apart.

I recently started it back up because it really was a fun way to meet new people and catch up with friend and find a way to make ourselves read more often!

This past month, we read On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction by Karl Iagnemma . I think I’ll post a separate post about the book. I used to do that way back when, so why not bring that back as well!

Next month’s book choices are among these three:

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks (Hardcover, 400 pages)

Then We Came to the End: A Novel by Joshua Ferris (Hardcover (Paperback comes out Feb. 26th), 400 pages)

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollen (Paperback, 464 pages)

Do you have any suggestions on what to read?

[Edit:  In a close, 6-5 run, Then We Came to the End won over The Omnivore's Dilemma.  I'll probably still read  the other books, either on my own, or for a future book club meeting.  I'm also thinking about reading Michael Pollen's new book, In Defense of Food.]

My Trip to Nicaragua: Day 3: Ometepe February 12, 2008

We left our hotel and headed over to the nearest supermarket in Masaya. We each picked up some breakfast and snacks. I got some yogurt and cookies (the cookies were a recommendation from L, who had tried that brand before on a trip to Costa Rica). We then headed to the bus stop to catch a bus down through Rivas to San Jorge to catch a ferry to Las Isla de Ometepe.

We had a beautiful view on a nice ferry. There were nice balconies to stand out on to look at the bright blue skies and the volcanoes in the distance as we floated across Lago Cocibolca. Apparently, some people were on the boat filming a tourism video for Nicaragua. They asked us if it would be all right if we were in it (they could tell that we were tourists!) There were people from all over the world on the ferry that day. Some people were from Nicaragua, others were from the United States (like us) and there were even people from as far away as Israel!

As is the case at many transportation terminals, there were many taxi drivers awaiting the ferry passengers. Some were offering complicated tourism packages. We were just looking to do something in the time we were there. We had read on the schedule that a ferry would be leaving the island at 2:00pm, so we didn’t have too much time to explore. We wanted to see the petroglyphs, but we wouldn’t have enough time. The taxi driver we hired luckily spoke English, so we were able to chat with him more. He drove us to Charco Verde (Green Lagoon) Nature Preserve. The lake there is said to be enchanted. They say if you swim in the lake, you will never want to leave. The interesting part about the lake was that it was very silty, most likely from the volcanic rock.

We ate a hearty lunch, and then got back on our way to the Ferry. Unfortunately, the departure time for the ferry was an hour later than what we and the taxi driver thought it was. So we waited on the island for another hour. We interacted somewhat with the local people there, including a little boy that liked to throw leaves at us, but we were all pretty warm and tired, so we mostly sat in the shade drinking copious amounts of water.

The ferry back was not nearly as nice as the one we took to get to the island, but it ran, and that’s all that mattered to us. We got a cab right off the boat (there were plenty of cabbies there waiting for us), and headed off to San Juan Del Sur. We stayed at hotel Estrella (i believe), which according to a guidebook had a bunch of bats. This hotel made me the least happy of the hotels we stayed at. I think there actually were bats…and the beds maybe had some guano on them from them. Also, the cost of the place seemed to change from one statement to the other. And they said that they would hold on to our key while we went out to the beach. They warned us that if you left stuff out, it would get stolen (at the beach). Leaving our key with them, combined with one other thing, is where I think there was a big problem…I announced to my friends that I would pay for dinner that night because I had 500 cordoba on me that I needed to spend. I’m almost certain I had that money….and when I went to pay for dinner that night, it and perhaps a US $20 was missing from my wallet. So, note to everyone…don’t talk about how much money you have on you. It’s a dumb thing, I know, and I guess I really wasn’t thinking. You live and you learn!

I think in total I perhaps lost$50US from that theft. In the long run, that’s not too much, but it would have been nicer to not have lost it, and deal with the upsetting idea of someone stealing things from me.

At any rate, we did go out to the pacific ocean, and played in the big waves. The coast there is known for its beautiful sunsets; we managed to show up during a cloudy sunset, but it was still beautiful!

We had dinner at a nearby restaurant, again taking advantage of the relatively cheap cost of everything. One of the fun facts (for my friends and me, at least) was that the guys working at the restaurant were watching a Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees game!  We were disappointed to find out that they were most likely Yankees fans!

Towards the end of our dinner, a huge lightning storm moved in. We saw amazing lightning over the waves, which seemed to light up the entire sky! Along with the lightning, of course, was a bit of a downpour! The roof of the restaurant started to leak, so we paid our bill and got ready to leave. Our hotel was literally right across the street. We booked it across the street, and managed to get completely soaked running through the already flooding 10 feet of street!

We all changed into dry clothes and just headed to bed. We went to bed a little bit sad…it was our last night in Nicaragua!

Warning: Distractions ahead February 6, 2008

So, Trent over at the Simple Dollar posted about chainfactor and how addictive it is. I have to admit, some evenings, I’ll be playing it while watching TV with my roommates.

I also found another site from a friend, then was reminded of it (as seems to happen often) through Frogpond (part of BzzAgent). I’ve also found it pretty darn addictive…Free Rice. I’m pretty sure that Free Rice started getting a pretty big following a while ago, but it’s good to see another promotion of it. Basically, you take a vocabulary quiz, and every answer you get right is another 10 grains of rice donated to the hungry (paid for by the advertisements on the page. (To find out more about my involvement in Frogpond and Bzzagent, check out a post I wrote awhile back). Other current “Frogs” include the Ripoff Report (which reminds me of The Consumerist, which is definitely in my blog reader).

A while back, they had a “Frog” for The Child Health Site. Basically, this site is part of a network that also is a “pay-per-click” donation setup. Clicking once a day helps donate money to many other causes (besides Child Health): you can help fight hunger, fight breast cancer, fund books for children, preserve endangered rainforest land, and help animals.

Well, hopefully this will keep you busy clicking things for a while!