Tide Pools with Juan Carlos

This is the day Juan Carlos and I went to the tide pools at the far end of the bay:

This is Juan CarlosThis is where we went:

Arent' these colors pretty?

This is me in one of th larger pools as the tide came in. The water is so warm!

We found a cute little decorator crab...

And a really prickly star fish.

This is Juan Carlos and I at the end of the day.

More Maya

She is the resident Trouble-Maker.... Here she is trying to eat a paper towel roll..

Then she decided to explore the chair... What a cute monkey-face!

S

She has been in the trees a lot lately, and is using her tail a lot more.

She has recently discovered her reflection. She is trying to play with herself in the reflection in the glass.

Mom is the best playmate...

And then she discovered the camera.

Having baby Maya has been so much fun (but also frustrating!). At this point I think she is in here twos and threes stage as well as her teenage years. She has finally gotten ahold of the word "NO!" and has become a lot more independant. She is biting less, but we have also been learning what really makes her mad and what gets her attention (like when she's up in the tree and won't come back). Her favorite foods are mangos, acacia leaves and Gerber baby food.

I'm officially a Certified Open Water SCUBA Diver!

I have spent the past four days in an intensive Open Water SCUBA certification course. These are pictures from my last day of dive class, on the dive that qualified me to have Open Water certification:

This is me before getting ready to get in the water. The temperature was about 83F and the water was 78F. This is the site, called Las Palomas, where we did our 4th dive:

I broke the mask, which thankfully doesn't disqallify me. :)

Over I go...

And I'm in!

Here are some fish that I saw:
(if the link doesn't work, try copy and pasting it into your address bar)

http://www.reefnews.com/reefnews/photos/kngangel.jpg
http://www.gran-canaria-diving.com/dive-photo/Common/slides/Bluefin%20Damselfish.JPG
http://media.beautifuloceans.com/course1/pic/1.6_High_water_mixing_occurring_on_a_reef_crest_900pix.jpg
http://www.elasmodiver.com/Sharkive%20images/Round-stingray-07.jpg
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=9450&rendTypeId=4
http://www.ukdivers.net/life/rs/trigger%20fish.jpg
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/maskedbfly.html
http://www.scuba-equipment-usa.com/marine/OCT05/images/Abudefduf_vaigensis.jpg
http://www.richard-seaman.com/Wallpaper/Nature/Underwater/Horrors/SpottedSnakeEel.jpg
http://img2.travelblog.org/Photos/1/109368/t/733844-Hourglass-Moray-Eel-0.jpg
http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/PhotoG/tisg/ti0105.jpg
http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/Gallery/Belize1/images/new_seafan.jpg

Welcome to my town!

I finally found an interactive map so you can see where I live. Click the link and it will take you to the map. My house is in the middle of the block to the South (right) of the Church. From Pelican Eyes (#12) go two blocks down and 1 1/2 blocks right.

http://www.san-juan-del-sur.com/map.html

How to find out what's going on in SJDS...

Here are some ways for you to find out what's going on in my town:

• www.san-juan-del-sur.com This is the local, gringo-opperated newspaper that comes out twice a month. Don't count on it for any crime info, only happy, tourist-friendly articles.
• www.dancesar.com These are the pro photographers in town. If there is an event, they will cover it. I am in photos on their site often. See Superbowl Party, Lbee's Birthday party.
• www-usa.laprensa.com.ni National newspaper of Nicaragua. It is in Spanish, sorry.

Art festival and Childrens event

I, along with Annie, Dr. Jim and the A. Jean Brugger foundation have been organizing the 2nd annual Art and Childrens festival to happen on April 19, 2008. We have been inviting artists from all over Nicaragua to sell their wares (ceramics, paintings, weavings, jewelry, flowers, etc) and we are hoping it will be sort of like a farmers market. In addition to the art festival, there will be art classes for children (jewelry making hosted by Annie, along with a mosaic class, finger painting a mural and others yet to be determined).

We try to do an event every year that supports the San Juan del Sur community and creates a link between the "gringo" community and "nica" community. The vet clinic and the foundation are non profit entities, but usually when we do an event we try to make money to support what we do. In this case, we will not be making any money. Two activities we have planned for the children include two raffles: one for bicycles and one for trees.

We get the trees donated by Delta Airlines and the bikes from Rally USA. Last month, the bike fatory in Managua caught fire and burned to the ground, and the bicycles we were promised went up in flames too. It has been quite a headache for me to try and get bike donations from people. Often times they want to donate, but it is a matter of tracking them down and actually getting the money into my hand.

The reason we do bikes is because they are an excellent way to commute in this small town. You wouldn't believe how many people can actually ride the same bike at the same time. Also, they give kids something else to do besides sling-shot animals out of trees or expriment with drugs/alcohol/eachother.

Thanks to my mom, we have at least three $60 donations from back home in Seattle! :) I'm not asking anyone for donations. I just wanted to let you know what I've bee up to. To those of you have donated, I really appreciate the generosity.

Once the event happens, I'll post pictures. Check back before hand, though. You never know what i'll post!

At the beach with Tiger