1 December, 2009 | Apparently… I Look Like Jesus

For those of you that don´t know, I´m currently in Leon, Nicaragua. And I love it. I think it is one of my favorite places so far. It is the second largest city in Nicaragua, founded sometime like most Latin American cities by the Spaniards and is home to numerous historic Spanish colonial homes and churches (I think there are about 20). Anyways, enough history, let´s get on to the good stuff.

I arrived yesterday by bus…And I can´t stress how awesome it is to catch an hour and a half bus ride for 2 bucks…WIN. I´m staying at a cool backpackers hostel called the Bigfoot Hostel, I tend to chose hotels solely on name…so it was a clear winner (I think I´m headed to Surfing Turtle next, I mean how can you not want to stay at a beach hostel called Surfing Turtle???) Before I had arrived in Leon, I had heard from other travels of an unique experience called Volcanoe Boarding…again how can one not participate, so upon arrival I quickly signed up for the next outing...the next morning at 9. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening walking the city with a new friend, Genna, from the Netherlands. We walked, and walked, and walked; saw churches, and murals, and more churches. We shared a drink atop El Alamo, one of the tallest buildings in town. There we saw a beautiful sunset, and could gaze at the wonderful scenic view, ocean to the west and volcanoes to the east.

A SHOUT OUT to a special someone! Miss you!

I packed very light this trip, leaving the majority of my stuff at Crater´s Edge to be picked up later, so I needed to find a cheap little backpack to use for a few days. To search for one, I visited the newest shopping center where I began my hunt. I knew more or less what I wanted, a simple Jansport would suffice. As I browsed the shops however I spotted a hot pink Fila pack. I was awesome, but about 15 bucks…so I continued my search. As I began to ask the venders what they had available I was astonished to find they were very honest. “Do you have any Jansport Backpacks,” I would ask. I expected to hear something like yes, yes what color do you want…but what I got instead to “Yes, but they are not real, imitation only.” Cool I thought, since everything with a brand name here is imitation, I guess that will do. So I am now the proud owner of a new red imitation Jansport pack.

Okay, skip to this morning´s more obscure and badass event…Volcano Boarding, or more appropriately named, Extreme Volcano Sledding. This sport, if you can call it one, is best described by the following…

1) Jamming 10 stupid, sweaty backpackers in the back of a beat-up pickup to endure the one hour ride to the site (mind you, roads to distant volcanoes in Nicaragua are all but paved)
2) Hiking an hour up an awesome (barren death like landscape) Volcano under the sweltering sun and heat.
3) Suiting up, in what most closely resembles a jailhouse jumpsuit (probably because they figure if you are stupid enough to do this, you have been or will end up in jail at some point in your life) and chem googles (because everything is better when done wearing chem googles).
4) Sitting atop a makeshift sled pieced together from scrap plywood, an old waterski handle, some rusty screws, and what appeared to be linoleum flooring.
5) Hurling yourself back down the 41 degree face of the Volcano just spent an hour climbing to get to the top. NOTE: while safe/controlled techniques are demonstrated, you don´t get your name on the record board for “Most Controlled Descent.” Speed however is forever recorded, and there is always bragging rights. In my opinion “best crash” should also be a category, and I hereby nominate myself for the award.
6) Revel in the awesomeness.
7) Drink a Mojito

After I returned from the awesome volcano boarding stupidity, I quickly showered and caught a taxi to the local baseball stadium to catch the Leon Lions play the Bóer Indians in a LNBP showdown (la Liga Nicaragüense de Béisbol Profesional, or Nicaraguan Professional Baseball Leauge). It was a fun game; the home team lions won 8-2.

On the way back to the hostel from the game, I passed the yellow church, you know the one…where you turn left to get back to the hostel, yeah that one. As I passed there was this very happy man, he kept smiling and shouting, “I love you, I love you, I am a son a god. I love Christmas, I love you, I am saved.” It took a moment to realize he was yelling at me, and then another few minutes of conversation to realize that apparently… I look like Jesus.

So I´m off for now, that Internet café closes in 8 minutes and I still have to post this. But before I go, you should know that tonight, under the full moon I will be hiking Volcan Telica. So… if you see the moon tonight, think of me, and know that I will be thinking of you!

Take care, have faith, be happy

xoxo