Matagalpa & San Ramon

A view of the mountains from the Chocolate Castle

Early Tuesday morning (I'm talking like 5:30 am), Phoebe and I set out for Matagalpa.  We took a bus to Masaya (a half hour north from here) in order to catch the 6:45 am express bus to Matagalpa in order to avoid a stop in Managua.  I was a bit sick that morning so I slept the entire bus ride.  Once in Matagalpa, we spent the day walking around- we went to the Cathedral, a museum on the life of Carlos Fonseca (the founder of the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN)), the 'Chocolate Castle' a little outside of town where we bought lots of Nicaraguan Chocolate, and a coffee museum.  Matagalpa is a beautiful city in the mountains.

In the afternoon, we met up with Beth, a family friend that runs an NGO in the Matagalpa/San Ramon area called Planting Hope.  She took us to San Ramon where she set us up with a host family- the same host family my family stays with when they go to San Ramon.  Margarita (our host mom) and Alvaro (our host dad) and their kids, Enrique, Elvin, Mili, and Anabelin, were all very welcoming.  Mili (an adorable 6-year old) and her friend showed us around San Ramon that evening and then again the next day.  When we went to the playground, there was a Mariachi band just hanging out- a few of them on the swings.  I wish I had my camera them to snap a photo.

Phoebe, Mili, and I during our tour of San Ramon

San Ramon is a beautiful and peaceful town and I'm sure I'll be returning when my sister gets to Matagalpa in July.

Wednesday was Mother's Day, so we didn't want to impose too much on our family so we left in the afternoon.  We chatted with Beth a little about Planting Hope and their projects.  Planting Hope built a library in La Chispa, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Matagalpa, 10 years ago after she surveyed the children in the area asking what they would like to see in their community.  Sarah was there for the first few weeks it opened and she is returning for the month of July to teach photography classes at the library.  We also heard about the their mobile library program from Alvaro.  Planting Hope has a bus that Alvaro drives to rural communities to lend books for the day to school children.

Our return home consisted of three bus and two taxi rides, but we made it safely back to Granada!