Gringo at the Window

The house in Masaya was without address, street name, or description. We knew it was a certain number of blocks from a nearby famous statue and we suspected, based on google maps, that it was 3 blocks beyond a pharmacy and 8 blocks from a cemetary. Our inital approach proved sucessful and we located a house that met all of these criteria. I dailed my cousin Tim (who is very familar with the house) on the sat phone for some further description of the property and some típs for approach. Tim was super helpful. Without a doubt, he confirmed I had found the correct yellow house with two trees, two front doors, and a red tiled front porch.

During my gawking, I had attracted an elderly woman to the front window. The language barrier prevented conversation, but I managed to convince her to take the satelliete phone. It is possible that Tim convinced some random elderly woman I met on the street to let us stay for the evening, but I think it is more likely that Tim knew the woman and kindly alerted her that the stranger who had been lurking outside her house for the last 20 minutes was in fact his illerate cousin. We were invited inside with cries of "Mi Casa, Su Casa."

Randal pays a visit to Masaya

Our generous hosts

We used the house as a home base for the remainder of the day. We explored a volcano and met a Spaniard on year 6 of a bike ride from Japan to Brazil. He exchanged his translation services for a car ride up to the top of the volcano.

We also stopped in the colonial town of Granada. We explored the street markets and local food. We learned about other local attractions including a famous turtle nesting site. We are headed to that very site today!