Somoto

hellloooo everybody. reporting live from somoto. When we left esteli for countryside nicaragua, we didnt realize how incredibly cold it would be. maybe the guy on the bus ride there with a live chicken in his backpack was some sort of sign. in any case for the next two days we absolutely froze our asses off. however, we met 3 travelers from tacoma there who had only left a week ago and therefore hadnt acclimatized yet and were perfectly happy in shorts and t shirts. so that put things in perspective for me a little bit. not that it changed anything. i actually used the gloves i brought, which i almost forgot i even had with me. everyone made fun of me for bringing them and asked why i did, and all credit goes to moms, who made me. so thanks for that. at night i also wore the long underwear you made me bring. though you forgot to make me bring a hat, so i had to tie a shirt around my head. it was cold! however, i got to do four fantastic things while i was there. 1: i finally met someone who knew casino!! he was the nicaraguan guy who owned the place where we (and everyone else, it was the only place) stayed. his rules were a tiny bit different but still. i wonder how in the world it made it out there. 2: we visited a real, live hermit! his name was humberto, he had approximately 4 teeth, and very white hair that stood straight up. he also had mutton chop side burns and was very tan, which contrasted fantastically with his hair. he is mostly, maybe entirely, famous in the area for his carvings though. i dont know how long ago he was an alcoholic, and to help get over it he started carving in the rock walls near his house. well he kept at it for the next 33 years and it was incredible. i dont know how many square feet of carving it was but it was a LOT, like an entire cliff face long, and the carvings were not half bad. he also gave us one of his fresh pineapples (fresh like we watched his chop it off the plant) that was hands down the most delicious piece of fruit ive ever experienced. 3: beaaauuutiful sunsets from the top of a nearby hill that over looked a very long mountainous valley. 4: visiting a town that makes swiss cheese. weird right? they also grew and sold worms and had an italian priest. anyways, its not like the swiss cheese from the store, it was soft and stinky and awesome, especially since all the local cheese blows. and i got to hike in a national park nearby that was pine forest and the smell of the drying pine needles reminded me a lot of home. so that was that. the place was called tisey. as for esteli, seeing noah and marian was perfecto. we made a couple delicious pasta dinners, one night watched ratattoui, and had good fun all around. now im in somoto with my three german friends, and today we took a great 6 hour hike/swim in a nearby canyon. it was hiking until the river got deep enough, then swimming until it was too shallow. and the water was unbelievable. k i have no time left but i will put up more pictures when i have faster internet! talk soon!

love
gus