Finally a little time to write.

Hello all, from SDJS.

I am sorry for that it has taken me few days to post, but it has been go..go..go this whole time. Between working on the house, surfing, eating great meals, lounging on the beach, and a few happy hours, it´s really a tough life down here.

Adam left this morning, so I finally have a little time to catch everyone up on what is going on down here.

For starters...dirt has been moved at our lot. We were up there on Thursday or Friday, and they have started to level off the top of the ridge. They are digging it out with shovels. It´s hard work, but they are doing a great job. Our ridge is fairly flat where most of it will be built, so there isn´t a ton on fill. They are going to make the whole lot flat, and it will probably be only a meter below where the top of the ridge is right now. It should feel like the deck is floating slightly above the trees, and the ridge.

Like I mentioned earlier, Adam and I were up there earlier in the week, and did a rough staking of the lot. After making a few changes to the plan...making it better... we went up there and staked it where the house is actually going to be.

The west house corner is probably 15 ft from the corner of the lot, on the flattest part of the ridge. This side of the house are the money views. Waking up in the master bedroom, and looking out the window, you will be able to see a good amount of ocean. It´s really awesome.

The deck is going is going to wrap around from the back of the house to the side where the master bedroom is. On the master side of the house, there will be 2 views of the pacific ocean. And the other view is a tremendous view of inland Nicaragua, with a volcano in the far distance.

The absolute best part of this house...even though the whole thing is going to be sick...is the captains perch. The view from up there should be above the canopy of trees, and we will have close to a 180 degree view of the ocean. Right now is the wet season, so the trees are completely filled in. We can see the ocean pretty good right now threw the trees, but when the leaves fall off (in the dry season), it should be pretty spectacular.

I do have some most unfortunate news however...I lost my camera. There was a bit of stupidity involved on my part, but needless to say that it´s gone. Luckily I have my iphone with me, so I will still be able to take pictures with that, and will go to the lot tomorrow and take some more pictures of the work that has been done. I will also post some other photos of SDJS, and the surrounding area.

I have to apologize for the quickness and probable mis-spellings in the earlier posts. This is the first time that I can actually sit down in an internet cafe, and take some time to collect my thoughts.

To let you know a little bit about this place, it´s really quite special. Adam & I have spent a lot of time meeting the locals that live here, mostly gringos, and they all love it. In SDJS, there are alot of businesses that are owned by gringos (non-nicaraguan). A Canadian couple owns one of the better bars in town, that is right on the beach. They had an open-mic night last Thursday, and it was more like a real band. The husband plays a mean harmonica.

Another couple just opened an Irish Bar. It opened on Thursday night. The woman is from Ireland, and has a thick Irish accent, and her husband is a local from SDJS. I can´t remember her name, but his is Roberto. We sat and talked to him for probably an hour. He brought every piece of memorabilia back straight from Ireland. 14 suitcases.

There is also a nice coffee shop called ´´El gato negro´´ (The black cat) It´s a coffee shop slash book store, and they have a great selection of English Books....very rare in Nicaragua.

Another couple just opened a bakery. We stopped by there after surfing on Saturday morning, and had one of the first loaves that they baked.

Needless to say, there are alot of entrepreneurs here, and a nice balance of locals and gringos.

There are also alot of backpackers here. Lots of college kids, staying in the hostels. They´ve filled this Internet cafe that I´m in right now. I´m pretty sure there all on facebook.

Another good piece of news is that we met another one of our neighbors..Felix. Felix is from Spain, but has moved here to retire. He build his entire house with only 5 other guys. It took him 3 years. That´s not to discourage anyone, His house is huge and he definitely took his time to make sure everything was perfect. It is a most impressive house.

The sun is going down, so I am going to walk over to the beach...have a Toña, and watch the sunset. I´ve probably typed too much anyway, but not close to everything we have done or seen. I will have a lot more down time this week, so I will continue to post.

I hope everyone is good in the states, and if anyone has a question about anything, please make a comment, or email me, and I will try to answer.

I also really hope that I can get some more photos for everyone tomorrow. I´m waking up and going surfing first thing, so I will stop by the lot and take some more.

Adios,

Keeley