May 22nd Progress pics

A Nicaraguan Alarm Clock....

...5 am fireworks.

The the fireworks sound exactly like M-80's. I'm almost positive they were being set off one building next to my hotel here in San Juan del Sur.

Then I heard music. It was a parade. I got out of bed and went to look at the street, and there were people marching in a parade at 5 o'clock in the morning. I think it was a pre-wedding parade. Must be a Nicaraguan tradition.

It actually worked out perfectly because I really wanted to take a bunch of pictures of San Juan del Sur but didn't have the opportunity to do so yesterday. Since I was up, I went and grabbed my camera, walked around town, and did just that.

Pictures of Town: Mar Sano Seven

The first pictures were taken at the carpenter's shop where our windows and doors are being custom made. They are beautiful...very fine craftsmanship.

Yesterday, I crossed the last thing off the list that I had before coming down here. I finished everything that we set out to do on this trip. The last thing that needed to be done was to find a property manager. There were two companies in town were our best options. I think we would of been fine with either. I choose Cornerstone because I had a better connection with the owner...Jason. He was in Managua all day yesterday buying a new truck, so we didn't end up getting together until close to 10 pm. We met, went over the contract, and I'm really excited to be working with him.

So that's it. I just uploaded all the pics I took this morning...I'm finishing up this entry...I'm off to get one more fantastic cup of coffee at El Gato Nego...and then Will & I are headed to Managua.

I got a room at the same hotel I stayed at last time, Camino Real. I'm sure I will have time tonight or tomorrow morning for one last post, but that's all from SJDS.

Adios,

All good things....

...must come to an end. As must this trip.

Today is my last full day here in San Juan del Sur. Tomorrow I'm off to Managua for a little shopping, and then on Friday I'm headed home.

Yesterday, Will and I went out to the property for the last time to really finalize everything, and we have done so. We changed up the inn-keepers quarters for one last time, designed a wall that will go between the house and garage, finished the design for the captain's perch, finished the design of the built in couches in the kitchen, and I took a bunch of videos that I will publish when I get back to the states.

Today, I am going to spend the morning at Negro Gato coffee shop and spend some time creating a working document that we will use for the remainder of the project. A check list of sorts so that we know what still needs to be done.

I am also going to finalize our future project manager, and complete the cacti perimeter transaction. Then I'm done.

I am looking forward to going Pelican Eyes (pictures on Mar Sano 6) for one last sunset tonight. I went there last night and it was one of the prettiest sunsets I've seen since I've been here. I had a great night last night after sunset. I went to one of the restaurants in town called El Pozo. This place has easily become my favorite place to go for some food and a drink. A couple from California...Christian & Clair...are the owners, and the chef and bartender respectively. The food is absolutely amazing, but it was really great because it seemed like almost every gringo in town was there last night. I met so many people, and it's just awesome what a tight knit community it is here. I'm going to miss this place.

I posted a few more photos of Negro Gato, Pelican Eyes, and the house. I also took some pics from another house that Will built, to show some examples of flagstone, which we are considering for our counters and pool area.

Mar Sano 6

I will try to take some more pics in town today. Time to go get some fine Nicaraguan coffee.

Cheers,

Keeley

Property Managers & Crickets...

I posted another batch of photos.

Mar Sano Five

I'm sorry that I haven't described all the pics..I will try to go through them and do that, or at least most of them.

I think I may have found our future property manager. I went and visited with as many as I could today, and found one company that stood out. I am going to take the owner out to the property tomorrow, and we will know more soon. This is a huge part...having someone we can trust here in Nicaragua to take care of our house. One thing that I never considered, but is something that we can't take lightly, are the labor laws in Nicaragua. They are very similar to a socialist system, and greatly favor the workers. Which means that choosing the right property management company to manage our house sitter....is more important than I thought. That's why I like Jason with Cornerstone, he understands this, and will make sure that we are covered.

Here is their website http://www.cornerstonenicaragua.com/

This morning I decided to move out of the country, and into the city for my last three days. I have moved into the South Seas Hostel. It's a nice little place across from the Irish Bar. Need I say more...

Tomorrow I am meeting Will at the Negro Gato coffee shop. We will have some good Nicaraguan coffee, talk about how terrible the Utah Jazz are, and then head out to the house to finalize a few more things. We have really accomplished a lot on this trip, and are close to being done. I have two more days in town, then onto Managua for the last day.

I am also planning on following up with the landscaping guy and finalizing our cacti security system...which is basically just that...and bunch of cacti surrounding our house. Hopefully I can finalize that too before I leave town.

Time to get some sleep....we just chased a bloody cricket out of my room so I should be able to fall asleep now. Nicaraguans are pretty ingenious people. I came back to my room and there was the loudest cricket ever in here. I tried to find him...couldn't...asked the local to find him...he did in ten seconds....and now I can sleep.

Cheers,

Keeley

Hace Calor

It's pretty hot today in Nicaragua, but that's to be expected....it is the tropics. Luckily the Pacific Ocean is a quick walk away, and here at Mango Rosa there's a pool. The winds are cooking too...which is awesome. That is one thing that is great about this place...it's hot, but the winds are really consistent and that keeps it much cooler. They also keep the bugs at bay, which is fantastic.

I woke up this morning, and walked over to the house to meet with Will. We're trying to figure out everything that needs to be done before I leave, and I think that we have covered almost everything. While we were at the house, some of the painters arrived for the first time. The walls in the house are being primed as I write this. The house sure is changing...and it's changing quickly.

The next three days should be fairly eventful, as they are planning on bringing a bunch of workers to start filling in the patio area with dirt. They are also getting ready to start installing the windows and doors, although I don't think that they will start before I leave.

I'm only going to be here until Wednesday, and on Thursday I'm headed to Managua.

In Managua we are going to shop for tile in the bathrooms, and for a garage door. We also plan on going to the Costco of Nicaragua....they call it "Price Mart." It's really hard to come down here without making at least one trip to Managua because that's where everything is. I used to be pretty timid about going there, but I've spent so much time there over these last few trips, that I'm kind of looking forward to it this time. I feel like I actually know my way around the city now.

I have been staying out near our property, but am moving into town tomorrow for my last 3 days. It's been great being out here in the country, but I want to get some more pictures of town, and this is going to be my last opportunity to stay there. From here on out we will have a house here. How exciting is that!!

Last night was pretty interesting at the hostel. This kid from Los Angeles rolled into the hostel on his motorcycle. He left LA in November, and is headed to Panama. He had some great stories of his trip, although none of them really involved anything dangerous. Just entertaining stories. Central America is a lot safer that I ever thought it was. That made me pretty excited about the possibility of driving a vehicle down her some day, or maybe some moto-bikes.

Just have to learn the language a little better.

Well I'm off for an evening surf session...

I posted a few more pics

Mar Sano Four

It's not very many but I promise I will get more up when I'm staying in San Juan del Sur.

Adios,

Keeley

click to make bigger

...probably the best picture I've ever taken....last night's sunset.

Tranquilo

Posted some more pics

Mar Sano Three

Hello from the Mango Rosa.

Things seem to have settled down for the first time since I got here, so I drove here from my hotel to have some lunch and review my construction punch list.

I feel like I've been racing around since I got here, but I have gotten a lot done.

Wednesday, I met with Will & Maria at the property, and we went through a huge list of things. There were around 30 things that we had to cover. After our meeting, I caught a ride into town with Will so that I could download some of the pictures, but when we got to town the power wasn't working. Neither Will or I could really get any work done, so we decided to go into the country to see a philanthropy project that his company is doing. The project is to help out a village that is far off the beaten path. They are getting them a water system, an eco-stove, and building a school. When we went there, their were about 15 kids from the University of Calgary who were building a wall on the school. It was really cool to go that far into the jungle, and it was absolutely beautiful. The road in followed a semi-dry river bed. When we emerged from the river...and into the valley...I felt like I was in Jurassic Park. It was semi-magical.

When we got back from the village, I went and got my surf board. Will let me borrow his Land Cruiser, so I drove back to my hotel. I went surfing for a minute, but it was way to big. So I just sat on the beach, drank some Tona's, and enjoyed the views. After sunset I walked back up the hill to my hotel, hoping that I could finally upload all these pics....I was seriously stressing at this point. The internet didn't turn on all night.

I woke up Thursday, and headed to Mango Rosa to see if their internet was back (because they only have it at night where I am staying), but it wasn't. So I decided to head into town to see if anyone had a satellite or something.

The drive into town was eventful because the main road into town was completely blocked by a power company utility truck. It was taking up both lanes, and obviously wasn't moving. That's were it got interesting. I had to take a Nicaraguan detour. I drove threw a neighborhood that I had never been in. Half way threw the detour ( a detour with no detour signs), and at the end of a dead end, there was this little girl just standing the road. She looked up at me and yelled at the top of her voice "NO PASO, NO PASO" which obviously meant I couldn't go that way. That made me chuckle. I was on dirt roads on the north side of town, and they were terrible. I was four-wheelin threw the middle of town. After weaving my way around...I finally found my way back to main road, and into town. Then I was on the search.

I ended up finding the only place in town that had it...I know because I looked everywhere. They were using a USB card that is associated with the local cell phone company. I felt pretty fortunate to of found something. Unfortunately, they didn't have wireless so I wasn't able to upload any pics, but at least I could check my email.

After stressing about this whole thing, I just gave up and decided to go back to my hostel and go surfing....

The whole time that I was driving, I had my seatbelt tied to my backpack. The reason for this is because there are police officers that stand in the middle of the road making sure that people are wearing them. The seatbelt in the Jeep doesn't have a buckle, so I just tied the one end to my backpack, and it looked like I was wearing it. It worked...I passed right by them with out incident. Thank goodness...after my day, I really didn't feel like dealing with that

I got back to my hostel, grabbed my board, and walked to the beach. With the lack of people here this time of year the waves were empty. It's perfect for me because I'm not in everyone's way, and I'm not stealing anyone's waves. I'm also getting much better surfing, and can get up almost everytime that the wave doesn't close out on me. It's almost as fun as a 2 ft powder day.

After my session, a Tona, and another beautiful sunset, I walked back up the hill.

Sometime during the evening last night the internet finally turned on and I was able to upload the pics. My stress was gone, and the night turned into a small party. An Aussie couple that just moved here showed up at the hostel bar, along with a couple other gringos that live in the neighborhood. The couple brought their 3 kids. They just moved here from Darwin, and we're loving it. We all drank our share of rum, ate some steaks, and talked about everything ...including an hour long conversation about why rugby is a better sport than soccer. They never convinced me. At the end of the night they let their 12 year old son drive them home. When they gave him the keys, he looked up at me and said. "Don't worry, I do this all the time."

Today, I woke up, went surfing to work off my hangover...which worked, then back to the house to get more stuff done. One of the things that needs to be done is our landscaping. I measured the whole outside of the house, in preparation of meeting with our prospective landscaper.

I also spent some time talking with one of the workers who speaks really good english. He was doing the roof, and was great to talk to. The first time that I actually communicated with one of our workers directly.

Now I'm sitting here, going over all my notes, drinking a Tona, and watching Rocky V in Spanish. Pretty funny. This whole time I've been listening to a conversation that is going on at the bar about Survivor. They are in town, and everybody knows it.

Well, I think that about covers my trip so far. I have another week, and will continue to keep posting pictures, and updating this blog.

Adios,

Keeley

160 Pictures

Internet is back....

Mar Sano Two

I'm in Nicaragua...

I am currently at the only internet cafe in San Juan del Sur that has internet. The power went out yesterday, and we haven't had it since. I found my way to this place...but unfortunately all of the pictures that I want to upload are on my laptop, and I need a wireless connection to upload them. I have 140 pics to upload, and I am crossing my fingers that we get power back soon.

I promise...as soon as I can, I will upload the pictures I took.

Yesterday we spent at least two hours going threw every room in the house and looking at what needs to be done. Will, Maria, and myself got a lot done.

After spending the morning at the house, Will and I went to a village about 40 minutes outside of town where his foundation is building a school for local village children. These kids have to walk 6km to their school now, so what they are doing is really important. I have some good pics of this too...

I am still the only person staying at my hotel, so I am thinking about moving into town for the remainder of my stay.

I will post another blog as soon as we get the internet back at my place.

Cheers,
Keeley

Recent Progress- Jared's picks

Muchos Perros en la Noche

Hola from San Juan del Sur,

I'm currently sitting at Henry Iguana's bar in San Juan del Sur, enjoying a cold Tona and looking out over the pacific ocean. It's a little windy today, but no rain. This place is really green right now. I guess it's been raining like cats and dogs over the last week, and it went from brown to green in just a couple days.

I arrived here late last night after a pretty easy trip from Salt Lake City. Usually I will get a hotel room in Managua, but this time I took a private shuttle from the airport to my hotel near the house. Parque Maderas.

The drive down was definitely interesting. Hauling ass through the middle of the night with hardly anyone on the road. The only thing we saw were about 50 dogs that all love to hang out in the middle of the road. "Muchos perros en la noche"... that's the extent of my spanish, and was the basis of my conversation that I had with my driver.

I got to my hotel hoping that there would be a bunch of people hanging out...nope. I'm the only one staying there. I guess it's been really dead over the last couple weeks. The rain started and everyone left. That can be said for this place in general right now. There's no one here. The town is really slow. I went to Maderas this morning, and it was empty. I took the shuttle into town...nobody. I guess this is just a slow time of year, because there really isn't a whole lot going on right now. That's great news for surfing though, and it sounds like tomorrow and Thursday are going to be really good.

This morning I walked over to the house and took a bunch of pictures.

Picasa Album: Mar Sano One

I was able to upload this batch of photos pretty easily, so I'm hoping that I can continue to take a bunch of pics, and keep on sharing them. I will hopefully be able to take pictures of the country as well.

The house is looking really good. They are probably a day away from having all of the tile installed, and it looks awesome. It's in every room of the house. The pool is also installed.

After checking out the house I took the shuttle into town, bought a phone, and then walked over to our contractors office. I spent a little over an hour talking with Will, Maria, and Xavier, who are the big three as far as our contractors. Will is our main contact, but Maria & Xavier are heavily involved in every part of the construction process. Xavier is the engineer, and is the one can tell us if certain ideas will work. I have a huge list of things that needs to be accomplished while I'm down here, and I went through all of that with them. To be honest it felt a bit overwhelming, but this is why I'm down here. They are all really great to work with, and I know that we will get everything done that needs to be.

Tomorrow I am going to meet with Maria and Xavier at the house, and we are going to try to cross a few things off the list.

There are a couple things that I have noticed since my last visit here two months ago. The road to our house and Maderas beach has been greatly improved. They finished the bridge that goes out to our house, and have also re-graded the road. There were a couple spots that were terrible, but now the road is good.

They are also completing these small construction projects all over town. This place is just getting nicer all the time.

Survivor Nicaragua is also here. They are getting ready to film, and have booked out the entire Pelican Eyes hotel. Nicaragua is being put on the map.

Well that's all for now...any comments, please let me know, and cheers.

Keeley