Hola from sunny and hot Nicaragua,

It´s almost 8 in the morning here, and I can tell already that it´s going to be a scorcher. I wanted to give a quick update to everyone, while I have a minute. I´m back into the routine of keeping myself really busy...which is awesome, except time is flies when your having a blast.

I have another 4 days here before I go home, and am going to continue to try to squeeze as much in as I can. Today I´m going on a surfing-sailboat trip up the coast. There is a private company that charter´s out a sailboat, and Will, his family, and most of his employees are all going. It is...a kind of company party for them. I think I may have had something to do with it, because from the minute I rolled into SJDS and saw the sailboats in the bay, I´ve been bugging him to find a way for us to get on one. So needless to say, I can´t wait to get on that thing.

As far as the house is concerned.....

Will and I took a trip to Managua on Saturday. Managua is a very, very interesting place. It is nothing like SJDS, and almost feels like a different world. Our intent was to go to the faria (the actual name is expecia 09´), and we did...except we drove all around that town before doing so.

The first thing we did was pick up a friend of his, and his business partner Maria. Maria is as much a part of Will´s company.. as Will is, and she is also awesome. She is from Managua, and is a master of negotiating to get the best prices on everything. We also picked up Gaylen, who is one of Will´s part-time employees. Gaylen was an ex-boxer, and in his prime was one of the best in Nicaragua. He is still a guy you wouldn´t want to mess with.

We were first heading to the oriental (meaning eastern..it´s a long story) market, which is the largest open air market in central america. The reason we were going there was that Will needed a part for one of his work trucks. And at this market you could find anything in the world that you ever need. And I mean anything, this place was huge.

The market was a true cultural experience, and I wish had I had pictures, but I was told to leave my camera in the car. It wasn´t the absolute safest place in the world, but I felt a little more comforted having Gaylen & Maria with us. You have to step out of your comfort zone every once in a while. We walked around that place for a bit, and after wheeling and dealing, we got the part and then headed to the faria.

The faria was good, but not as good as we would of hoped. We did get the retaining wall blocks, but that was it. Will and Maria have already set up some very good deals with local contracting companies, so even though we could of saved the 15% on tax, there earlier negotiated prices for re-bar, electrical wiring, and concrete, were much lower than the prices at the faria. For example they get 25% of electrical wiring, 20% off concrete, and the last air-conditioners they bought were at 30% off. We were hoping we could add to these discounts, but we already have the best prices on most stuff.

Will is going to head back there on Friday... after he drops me off at the airport, and see if maybe some of the vendors will be more desperate, and we can get better prices. These guys are all about getting the lowest price on everything, which is really good for us.

Man... I could type all day, of the stuff that I did and saw on Saturday, but I just don´t have time. The one thing I would like to mention is that I am here on a fairly significant holiday for the Nicaraguan people. It is the the 19th of July Dia de la Revolucion... celebration This is the day that the Nicaraguan people got there country back from ¨Somoza¨rule.

The Somoza family was in control of the country from 1936 till 1979. July 19th, 1979, was when Daniel Ortega (the current leader) came into power. If I get more time while I´m down here I will tell you more about the history of Nicaragua, it is really fascinating. Needless to say the Nicaraguans, are very proud people, and the ride home from Managua was a true experience. We passed so many celebrations..and parades. It was awesome.

Well... I need to get some food before sailing, but we are going to the lot tomorrow, and I will take more pictures. I should have some down time tomorrow afternoon, so I will try to get more pictures to everyone, and also talk a bit more about some of the experiences I´ve had down here.

Like the chicken hanging from a rope over the road, while everyone is sitting around drinking and watching this dead chicken. As part of the celebration, they hang a dead chicken from a rope and then ride horses, and try to hit the head with a stick. It´s pretty high in the air so they have to jump off their horses to get to it. I just passed by this event when coming back from surfing, so I didn´t actually get to see it...Damn.

Adios,
Keeley