Paul Alton MBA

The message Ben preached in church was on David’s mighty men. It was based o n 2 Samuel 23:8 and 1 Samuel 22:2. These were mighty men of David, but they were nothing without the Lord. They received their strength from God.

David was a very deeply spiritual man. Needed forgiveness at times. A powerful warrior.  David was praised after killing Goliath. Praised throughout the land. Saul became jealous and tried to kill David. David wouldn’t retaliate and kill God’s anointed. He hid in a cave overlooking the valley where he killed Goliath. David probably depressed while hiding in the cave.

Notice what kind of men God sent him: discontented; in debt; in trouble. Compare to WOTC and people who show up saying they were being called to WOTC. God raised up mighty warriors from unlikely candidates. God made the decisions of who showed up with David. God made the decisions who showed up at WOTC.

After church we went for a quick taco at the nearby Laredo Taco company, then went to a CVS and bought some EarPlanes ear buds to help with pressure on out trip.

It wasn’t the best day for beach walking. We went to South Padre Island and parked to enjoy the view across the channel to Space-X. I fed a few gulls and handed out a few tracts. Then we drove home, picking up some microwave breakfast sandwiches for tomorrow morning and some snacks for out flights to Managua. Early to bed.  

We flew from Harlingen. Jeannie dropped us off at the airport. We preceded through the usual TSA indignities to the gate to wait for our first flight. I handed out several curved illusion tracts while we waited.

For the last day there have been regular notifications to my phone about the gate changing for the flight to Managua. By the time we had landed in Houston that had stabilized and we carried on to the final gate with no more changes.

The airplane boarding went well. The flight was uneventful. When we had our earplugs in we ended up writing notes to each other on my phone. That worked.

The EarPlane+ ear plugs worked well. The app tells you when the cabin pressure is changing and advises you to put them in your ears. When pressure stabilizes the app advises you to remove them. We had no ear pain on this trip despite having somewhat stuffed sinuses.

Clearing customs and immigration in Managua is a glacial process. The line moves but you must watch carefully to be sure. Eventually we were out of the terminal. Our ride was waiting. It was somebody we had not seen for several years so we had a bit of catching up to do on the way to the Hotel Jerico in Granada. We were staying there in March 2020 when we had to return to Canada in the hysteria over Covid. It shut down shortly after that and just re-opened a month and a half ago. The owner has passed. Management has moved to the next generation of the family. When we went to book rooms for this trip Grok insisted it was closed. WhatsApp messaging with the family overcame that error. It’s back. Only about half the rooms so far but getting there. It’s like being home for us. Everybody seemed glad to see us. We were certainly glad to see them.

After dumping our bags, we headed to the Hot Dog Connection of Granada to have some hot dogs. It was after three and we generally try to eat closer to noon. We have had some problems when we delayed lunch too late in warm places. Warm leftover food in this climate can be a problem. We figured that since wieners aren’t real food we’d be okay. We changed some dollars to cordobas and went in the building. The Hot Dog Connection of Granada is no more. Sad. The tout for the “Lady Bar” above the former hot dog place proffered the menu. We declined and walked to Tele Pizza for some slices of pizza and pop.  Pizza doesn’t spoil either.

Then back up to the market street and to the Pali where we bought some supplies and OTC meds. We walked back to the room to drop off our jugs of water etc. before walking down to the Hotel Granada and back. It is still closed. Sad. Even sadder was walking by my friend’s place. He tutored me for years. I would go there at six in the morning, and we would sit at a table on the sidewalk and drink coffee and discuss the world and the passersby in Spanish for an hour. Occasionally we would do Spanish verb drills. He took a fall last year, hit his head and never recovered.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped for ice cream at the corner Eskimo (s-Key-mo) before an early bedtime.

We used to have a special keto breakfast at the Hotel Jerico. Today’s standard breakfast was much better. One of these days we need to cut back on carbs again. I don’t think it will happen this month.

After doing the unpacking and laundry chores we neglected last night due to fatigue we spent some time chatting about tour options with a staff member. Our daughter Deborah and her husband are scheduled to arrive here at the end of next week. They will be trying to cram in a lot in their brief time here so we are doing research for them.

We grabbed an UCA bus and got off in Managua and took a Torrito (a three wheel motorcycle taxi) to Camp Shiloh where we visited a bit and walked around the grounds until we heard a bus coming. We hopped that to the rotunda in Masaya. While we waiting to cross the street there a cab stopped and offered a ride. After negotiating a cheaper fare than she started with we got in. She drove across the street to buy enough gas for the trip to Granada. I think she lost money on the trip. The speed limits have lowered in the last year and they are being aggressively enforced. A cop with a radar gun gave her a speeding ticket between Masaya and Granada. The fine was about $22. Not a lot to us but a blow to a Masaya cabbie.

She dropped us at the Choco museum where we confirmed they would be open on Sundays and offering workshops. We then walked to Cafetin Claudia for lunch. Nope. Cafetin Claudia is no more. No big smiles and hugs all around when we show up. No economical “typico” lunch with natural fruit juices. It is permanently closed.

At the Centro Museo we checked on prices and opening hours. I asked the attendant if there was a good place for food with Cafetin Claudia closed. He directed us to a café in the corner of the terminal for buses going to UCA. We went there and ate too much at a fair price. Nominally higher than two years ago Cafetin Claudia prices, but the Cordoba has slid in exchange rate with US dollars and food prices have climbed. Four bucks each for a full blown lunch with natural drink is still a steal of a deal.

On the way to the terminal café we walked past Kathy’s Waffle House. From a distance it looked closed. It is open but not as busy as in the past. We later heard they have new owners. Things change. Sometimes for the better. Sometimes not. Long before the latest ownership my now dead tutor told me the following story about the local restaurant. I changed the name when I posted it on my Buddy Tales page.

Micki was a Nica. She was about fourteen when she got involved with an older man, an American, living in Nicaragua. Together they opened a restaurant which he named after her. That was her only connection. She was in no way an owner of the place although it bore her name and he always told her he would leave it to her in his will. They stole/ purchased/ lured away the servers, cooks and recipes from a popular Granada restaurant and quickly had all that restaurant’s customers as well. Micki worked for years in the restaurant and lived in the older man’s house, and loved him and was loyal to him. Their relationship was more paternal and it has been said she loved him like a father.

Not all Nica – Expat relationships are noted for loyalty and fidelity. Both parties are often exploited, but she was exceptionally loyal. He maybe not so much. He went back to the States for some medical treatment and left another ex-pat living in the house with her. When she resisted the sexual advances of the friend he threw her and her clothes out in the street. When the restaurant owner came back to Nicaragua after his treatment he brought her back to live with him. She was living in another room of the same house and still working away in the restaurant.

Then a couple of things happened.

First, he went to a lawyer and had a new will drawn up leaving the restaurant to his son in the States. His lawyer blabbed to other lawyers. One of them told her. The fur hit the fan and things were pretty uneasy and he drafted a new will.

Second, being a young woman she had certain drives for love and affection and found a young man of her own age to fulfill those needs. She became pregnant.

She tells the old guy she is pregnant. Then, according to him, in the heated discussion, she is so upset she shoots herself in the chest with his hand gun.

Her family shows up.

The police show up.

The family is placated by his offer to take in their thirteen-year old daughter to live with him and give them the restaurant. They don’t make a fuss. The police are placated by the family or other considerations.

The fuss dies down.

After a little while the owner quietly sells the restaurant to a third party and quickly leaves the country. And life in Nicaragua goes on. At least that is a story that Buddy told me. I have no idea if there is the slightest particle of truth to it. It might not be true. It is believable enough, but as Mark Twain said fiction has to be more believable than real life.

After lunch we walked thorough the market to buy an extension cord so I could keep my phone charging and reachable from bed. Back at the hotel we relaxed and keyboarded. I finished the January 2026 Update narrative I had started on the plane yesterday. It got posted and I added some pictures.

 Around five we headed out for a walk to the central park to complete the 10k a day steps for today before going to a nearby Chinese restaurant for Chow Ming. One order between us was a lot. We didn’t stop for ice cream on the way home.

Tomorrow we plan on heading to the Laguna de Apoyo for the day. It is a lake in a hopefully extinct volcano. The plan is to go to a resort that is new to us. We have been to three others over the years and could recommend two of them. We’ll see how this one stacks up.

After breakfast we walked down to Lake Nicaragua. Then walked back past the hotel up to the street behind the cathedral. On the way we stopped and kibitzed with the guys trimming the trees with machetes. One had climbed up into the middle of the top of the tree to trim the top.

We bought a couple of baggies of cut up fruit and walked back to the hotel eating them.

At 9:30 a driver picked us up and took us to the Laguna Beach Club on Laguna de Apoyo. Laguna de Apoyo is a lake in the crater of an extinct volcano, There was a young Dutch couple that shared the ride.

We relaxed in the shade enjoying the water and the view. Mostly we read and drank coffee only interrupting our strenuous routine by ordering lunch from a passing waiter. The driver came back at 4:00 and drove us back to the Hotel Jerico. On the way up the hill from the Laguna he stopped the car. We got out and took pictures of a monkey in a tree.

Before settling in for the evening we walked up through the Central Park to market street to buy some Ibuprofen. On the way home we bought a couple of smoothies.

Today we plan to go to Matagalpa in the highlands.

After breakfast walked to Lake Nicaragua and back to the hotel. Then we finished packing and checked out. We were out on the corner waiting to flag down a passing taxi at 9:15.

We took a taxi to the terminal for buses that go from Granada to Roberto Huembes terminal in Managua. These buses are bigger than the buses that go to the UCA terminal in Managua so luggage is easier. I’ve had an UCA bus charge each bag as a passenger which is kind of fair since a bag takes up a seat. Huembes is closer to the Mayorero terminal from which the express buses to Matagalpa depart. This makes for a shorter cab ride. Even so the taxi fare across Managua is the most expensive leg of today’s journey. The cabs in the terminal charge 200 cordobas each passenger and once they leave the terminal don’t take on any more passengers. They also go into the terminal at the other end and drop you right next to your bus. There is one other passenger with us, also for the Matagalpa bus from the Mayorero terminal. In a senior moment I have been saying the terminal for the Matagalpa buses is Mercado Oriental. I said I wanted a cab for Mercado Oriental for a bus to Matagalpa, The cabbie corrected me. Of course. What was I thinking. Good thing I wasn’t giving anyone directions. There are no Matagalpa buses at Mercado Oreiental and it is the sketchiest market in Managua.

The taxis pay to go into the terminals which accounts for the higher fare. You can save a few bucks by going out on the street to a gypsy cab. Thise cabs can and do take on additional passengers on the way. One of those passengers could potentially be a henchman who robs you. We took the chance one day when going from Huembes to the hotel across from the airport. The driver drove a block the wrong way on a one-way street to save time. He also would drive through the left turn lane at lights and pass cars waiting for the red light. Scary stuff. Part way to the hotel he started arguing the fare should be higher than he quoted. I resisted that idea and paid what had been agreed on. At the hotel Juanita got out. I stayed in the cab. The driver stayed in the cab. Finally, he got out to get our bags out of the trunk. I got out. If I had got out when Juanita did and the driver was still in the cab he would have driven off with our luggage.

Today when the cab arrived at the Mayorero terminal the bus was almost ready to leave. Juanita stayed with the bags until they were stowed in the belly of the beast. I bought two tickets for assigned seats together near the back of the bus. We got on and the bus left.

It’s a couple of hour ride but seemed longer than usual today driving through the dry area of Nicaragua and then up into the hills. Vendors get on and sell baked goods. The bus conductor sold water, sandwiches and guerilas (a corn pancake with cheese and sour cream). We passed through several towns including the colourful crossroads market town of Sebaco. East of Sebaco as we climbed higher we passed through the field where they spread out coffee beans and corn to dry in the sun.

At Matagalpa terminal we checked the times for return Express busses for next week and confirmed that we would be able to get off at Tipitapa on own way back to Granada. We got a cab with the same lady who shared the cab between terminals in Managua. We arrived at the hotel about five hours after we left the hotel in Granada. Hiring a car and drive would have saved between an hour and a half to two hours in travel time. For close to a hundred US dollars more. Not worth it. Got to hand out tracts and visit with other passengers and pay only $22 for the trip.

After dropping our stuff in the room we went for a walk, stopping at the barber shop for a $3 haircut on our way to buy $3 smoothies and drink them in the park.

On the way home we bought fruit, plantain chips and some gallon jugs of water. They got dropped off then we went to a favorite restaurant, La Vita e Bella, for pizza.

We digress from this month’s travelog to share the latest Buddy Tale. Tales of Buddy are stories that other people have told me. This one and others can be found here on my site.

Buddy was on a bus in Mexico. He and his wife were travelling to a remote village he had never been to. His wife had. The bus was crowded. Buddy was standing. He does not have a good stomach for motion and was starting to feel queasy. His wife was in a seat. She was sleeping. He woke her a few times to ask if they were getting close. She’d wake up long enough to look around at the darkness outside the bus windows and say,   “Nope not there, yet,” and go back to sleep.

Buddy was getting desperate. His queasiness was turning into full blown nausea. Finally, he could no longer contain himself. He is hemmed in on all sides with other standing passengers. He does the only thing that comes to mind. He pulls out the collar of the inner of his three layers of clothing and vomits inside his clothes. He now stunk. As much as possible on a crowded Mexican bus people give him space.

Less than fifteen minutes later his wife wakes up and, ”thinks” they are getting close. She consults the bus driver. Nope. The town you want is an hour back. He charges them for the extra travel and lets them off the bus to wait for a bus going back the way they had already come.

We’re up early to do laundry and shower. We walk to the Comedor Dona Coco for nacatamales. When we walked past the kitchen to take the stairs to upstairs there were banana leaves. I think, maybe nacatamales aren’t not just a Saturday/Sunday thing. Apparently so. Here the weekend comes early. We ordered nacatamales for breakfast. Yumm. Pretty good, Better than the worst we’ve had (Leon). Not as good as the best we’ve had (also Leon).

Back to the hotel for an hour of keyboarding before walking across the river to see a friend’s mother. She wasn’t home. So we went for coffee and a pastry at the Belen (Bethlehem) bakery. Then we walked for smoothies and drank them there.

We walked back to the room for half an hour of keyboarding before taking a taxi to visit another friend’s mom. We had a good visit, taxing my Spanish skills.  She walked a block back to the busy highway while we look for a cab to hail. It’s rush traffic. The few cabs in the flow are full. We walk down the street to a bus stop. The bus arrives. We say our goodbyes and take the bus to Parque Francisco Morazon (I’ll call it North Park). It is next to the main cathedral and has a couple of statues including one of Ruben Dario.

We walk the few blocks to our hotel from the park. I post a Buddy Tale on the blog and arrange a car and driver to take us the coffee plantation, Selva Negra at nine tomorrow and back to the hotel at four.

We walk to money changer corner across from North Park to buy some Cordobas. Then we walk to El Taquero restaurant. The grill outside is fired up and smoking but there is a chain across the entrance with a closed sign. The waiter says they open at 5:30. It’s about ten to five.

We had passed some horses on the way to the restaurant. I handed out curved illusion tracts to the owners and asked if they were in a parade. I was told it starts at five and goes past Parque Ruben Dario to Parque Francisco Morazan. Other years we have been here at this time of year the big parade was on Saturday mornings.

We figure we might as well watch the start of the parade and walk the five minutes back to Parque Ruben Dario. Parque Ruben Dario is seven blocks south of Parque Francisco Morazan. It too has a statue of Ruben Dario. Must have been quite the poet. I’ll call South Park from now on.  

We sit on a park bench until a drunk bothers us for money. We move to another bench. It is 5:20 More horses have gone by in trucks and trailers to staging areas. Still no sign of the parade starting. Doesn’t look like it even will even start by 5:30. Must be Nicaragua. Meanwhile I’m starting to feel early indications of GI doom in my future. It doesn’t stop us enjoying our dinner. I ordered grilled beef with chimichurri sauce. Juanita ordered tacos. We both drink Jamaica juice.

It’s dark. We take cab to the hotel and organize stuff for morning so be ready for pickup at 9.

Sicker than a dog

I was up most of the night with GI issues. At seven Juanita goes downstairs and cancels the car and driver to Selva Negra. At various times during the day she goes out for supplies. Sometimes with a note in Spanish to describe what she wants to buy. I sleep when I’m not in the bathroom.

Sick as a dog,

Obvious improvement from yesterday. Juanita is still the only one leaving the room. I figure we are covered in any eventuality. There is a pharmacy on the corner across from the hotel. There is a coffin store directly across the street. Both are closed on Sundays. Juanita does manage to find an open pharmacy and buy some stuff to replace what we have run low of.

Feeling much better. Able to move around town if I don’t over do it.

We go down the street to breakfast and back and rest a bit. We walk to the corner store and back for water. We walk halfway to south park to a restaurant which has good sopa de res (beef soup). That was enough activity for one day. The rest of the day is a day off with some reading and a bit of writing. Saturday was no reading. No food. No writing. Sunday was some reading, some food and no writing. Today was almost normal eating, usual reading and some writing. I like the trend. Maybe tomorrow we can go to Selva Negra. The hotel owner says she would be able to arrange a taxi in the morning.

We are downstairs at 7 to tell the owner I feel healthy enough to go to Selva Negra for the day and could she please order the cab for nine. The owner is not in. She will be in later the maid/cook/laundress informs us. I explain (poorly) that I wanted to tell the owner. She nods. We order a pancake breakfast. And wait. While we are waiting I share some curved illusion tracts with a couple of backpackers from France. With my poor French and their pretty good Spanish we manage to visit while they eat their pancakes and later as they head out to Granada while we eat our pancakes.

We go back upstairs and do laundry, shower and tidying while we get ready for the day. Back downstairs at 8:50. We finally figure out the maid etc. had thought we had already ordered the taxi. She phones the owner. The taxi arrives a little after nine. We ride the half hour up the hills to Selva Negra visiting with the driver. He turns off the highway at the old army tank. We ride the kilometer gravel road to the coffee plantation. At the gate, Juanita and I pay the two hundred Cordobas each entry fee. A hundred and fifty of that can be applied to any food bill.

The driver is off shift in the afternoon. He gives a WhatsApp number to text half an hour before we are ready to be picked up. It will be the same cab but a different driver.
Maid talked to owner on phone.

Today is windy and a bit chilly for sitting outside. Normally we would sit by a table outside by the lake. Today we opt for an inside table behind the big windows. We order coffee. Fernando, our waiter, presents the menu. We are not particularly hungry. The pancake breakfast was more substantial than expected. We look at the menu anyway. There is an item involving smoked salmon, bagel and more that interests me for lunch. File that thought. Juanita doesn’t see what she had another time and was hoping to order. I ask about that item. Fernando brings a different menu. There it is. Yay! Everybody will be happy.

We tell him we are not hungry now. He suggests some pieces sliced from a baguette. That sounds like something we can handle. He brings them lightly toasted with marmalade and butter on the side. We munch away and work on our carafe of coffee and books. I hand out some curved illusion tracts. We visit with an Austrian couple. They are going on the coffee plantation tour after their breakfast.

When we are ready for a before lunch hike I ask Fernando about the bill. He said he’d run a tab. That’s nice. When we picked up the hiking trail map at reception I asked if ran a tab or paid after every meal. She said to pay every time. Fernando is more accommodating and friendly. We’ve had a good visit with him. He is very interested in us. Receptionists don’t get or earn tips.

We do a shortish easy (green on the map) hike around the lake in the sunshine. We walk to the chapel. Sometimes when we have been here the chapel was decorated for a wedding. Not many weddings on Tuesdays. There are fresh looking rose petals on the floor so maybe last weekend.

I ask for the menus. The menu with what I wanted was the breakfast menu. No longer available. Juanita orders her burrito of choice. I adapt and overcome. I order a Selva Negra BBQ burger with fries. The fries are few but properly cooked. They probably come form some factory in the States. The burger is glorious. Thick. Juicy. With a slab of Selva Negra made gouda cheese, their homegrown bacon and their in-house coffee BBQ sauce. A dozen or so napkins later I have it surrounded and digesting.

We sip our water and Jamaica juice and read. Fernando says he goes off shift at two. We settle up. One thing that differs between high end restaurants like this and more humble places like cafes is the pricing. Sure, the posted price is more, but the difference is more than expected for the uninitiated.

If you go to a place next to the bus terminal and the white board says C$150 (one hundred and fifty Cordobas) for a meal you pay C$150 when you get your food. At a fancier place the menu might say C$350. You order. You eat. You get the bill. It will be noticeably more. To the C$350 they have added IVA (value added tax) and “voluntary” service fee (tip). Inertia being what it is most pay the “voluntary”. I watched one tourist get angry over this. It is what it is.

We pay our bill including a bit of a cash bonus tip to Fernando. He worked hard. He may not like us but as far as we can tell we are his favorite people in the world.

The Austrian couple is back from coffee tour. We visit a bit more. They enjoyed the tour.

There is a newish crowd. I hand our more tracts. We visit a bit with a Canadian couple then go on a longer hike, We start with green trails and go across the middle of the mountain on blue trails. The Austrian couple pass us and head up the mountain to the red trails we have been warned against. As we pass when a red trail coming down joins our blue trail I expect to encounter the Austrian couple coming down yodelling. Do Austrians yodel? They have Alps, don’t they? We do meet a young Nicaraguan couple coming the other way. He looks bushed. She looks exhausted. They explain they went to the top of the ridge and the trail across was just solid trees. They have a picture of the trail map on his phone. I show them on our paper map where we all are. If they keep going in the direction they are going it is about five times as far to get back to civilization than if they turn around, go back and take the next blue trail downhill to the chapel. They turn around. We follow as they slog forward. When they discover the junction I described they yell “Thanks” and speed away downhill. When we see them later back at the restaurant they seem to have recovered.

Back at the restaurant we stand by the cake display admiring the cakes. A new waiter appears. I point out the chocolate peanut butter layer cake we want and ask him to bring us a piece and two forks. We go to a table. He brings a piece, two spoons. I guess they eat cake with spoons here. Then he brings us two waters and interrogates us if we had paid our lunch bill. I show him the paperwork. He goes away. He brings us the bill for the cake. No extra tip for him.

When the cake is done, we settle in sipping our water and reading until time to text the cab. He says he’ll be there in half an hour. Ten minutes before he is due, we go outside to wait. Same car, different driver arrives. The highway to Matagalpa seems steeper going down than up. Glad the cab has good brakes.

Back at the hotel we settle in for the night. We don’t need more food or activity.

Relaxing day resting up before planned travel tomorrow. Walked down the street for breakfast then back to hotel for reading and writing. Handed in a small bag of dirty clothes to be washed by the maid. Six dollars. No extra charge for wrinkles.

Out midmorning for a walk to Belen bakery for coffee and cookies before coming back for more reading and writing at the hotel. Then more reading/writing off and on all day with a trip out for lunch at la Colonia supermarket lunch counter. We walked across the river to check if the first friend’s mother was home this time. Nope. Toward the end of the day, we walked close to south park for smoothies scurrying home in the occasional drizzle.

Did a little packing in the evening.

Up at six and down the street to Comedor Dona Coco for breakfast then back to the room to finish packing and grab a cab to Cotran Sur.

I stand corrected, dear reader. On the ride to the bus terminal, I saw a coffin store that advertised 24/7 service. Juanita would have been fine on Sunday if she needed to buy me a coffin. As far as the coffin store across the street I did check out the price of a nice but basic coffin the other day. Eighteen thousand Cordobas, or about five hundred bucks. Cheaper than Canada by far.

There was a non express bus leaving for Managua as we arrived at the bus terminal. We ignored the “opportunity”. They stop everywhere on the trip. One saves about twenty minutes up front and loses an hour on the way. I bought two tickets on the next Express Bus. The express buses have assigned seating and make few stops.

We had time to hand a few tracts before the express bus pulled into the bay and started loading. Just before our bus left I showed the bus driver a pair of curved illusion tracts and asked if I had time to buy a bottle of water. Then I asked about getting off at Tipitapa. I was trying to be memorable. On one trip the driver and conductor both forgot about dropping us at Tipitapa and we ended up going all the way into the terminal in Managua, wasting time, money and frustration on a cab to another terminal and a couple of sweaty hours of sporadic bus travel.

This time they remembered. We and a few other people got off at Tipitapa, crossed the highway to the bus stop and waited. In minutes a Masaya bus arrived. We rode it to the stinking Masaya market and boarded a Granada bus. When the bus got to Granada we got off as soon as we could to grab a passing cab. He drove us to the Hotel Jerico. As we passed the location of Cafetin Claudia I lamented that it had closed. He said it hadn’t closed it had just moved several blocks. He agreed to wait for us as we dropped off out bags in our room. He took us to the new location. We had lunch at Cafetin Claudia. The owner’s wife was not there so there were handshakes all around instead of the usual hugs, but the food was just as good and just as reasonably priced.

We walked to the nearby Pali for jugs of water and grabbed another cab home. The new location of Cafetin Claudia is too far to walk to every day like we did in the past. I hope they do well in their new location. It seemed less busy.     

At the end of the afternoon, we walked to Tele Pizza for salad then to the Eskimo for ice cream on the way home. 

We were up at 6, Puttered around and did laundry in the hand basin.

After breakfast we walked down to the lake. For about a block of the walk there are giant mango trees covered with ripe, yellow mangoes. They land on the sidewalk or in the yards and roofs of the properties next to the sidewalk. On our way back from the lake there was a youth sweeping some off a garage roof onto the sidewalk. Juanita peeled and ate one. I had a bite. Sweet.

We stopped at a café for bagels and coffee but walked into the courtyard of the place through a swarm of bugs which accompanied us to our table. We left without ordering.

Our walk carried on up past our hotel to the street behind the cathedral where we bought a couple of baggies of cut up fruit. We then went to the Café de Arte for iced coffee and toast. The idea of iced coffee seemed a good one. We have had coffee three many times over the years. It is good, perked coffee. Unfortunately, they use instant coffee to make their iced coffee. Okay. I guess. If I have to.

Back to the room for a while to read and write before going to a part of the local market we have never been. The online guides mention “Mercado Granada” much of which is in a large building. We find it. It is an extension of the market we have been going through for years. Then we walk to Tip Top chicken for some greasy fast food. I don’t know if it is still greasy. It wasn’t fast. After wasting half an hour waiting to order from the surly clerk, I give up.

We leave for Tele Pizza and buy a couple of slices of pizza and beverages. Juanita chooses pear juice from the cooler. I ordered a quarter of a pie sized slice of pepperoni pizza. Apparently, that is the special. It comes with a glass of tea flavoured pancake syrup. We eat and drink.  Somehow, I avoid going into a diabetic coma.

Debbie and Ernie were scheduled to land in Managua at 1:15. Their flight was delayed an hour in Houston by turning around from their slot on the runway to come back to the gate and disgorge two suitcases for somebody who didn’t get on the airplane. Usually, two flights arrive in Managua at the same time in the afternoon and it tales a long time for both to process through customs and immigration, By arriving late they were the only flight to be processed so it was quicker than usual. There were outside for a couple of minutes before their shuttle arrived.

Once they got to the hotel and checked in we walked up to the moneychangers before heading to Tele Pizza for dinner. Juanita and I shared a salad. They had something more substantial. Then we walked back to the hotel in time for Deborah to begin an exam scheduled to start at six.

They had brought me a replacement credit card that arrived in Meadow Lake this week. I spent a bit of time activating it and changing the data in the places I use it in apps and online. It was issued due to a data breach, so the card number had to be changed, not just the expiry date, like a normal new card.

After breakfast we four walked to the lake and along the malecon to the entrance to Zona Turistica. Then we walked back uphill to the cathedral across from the central park. We spent a few minutes inside looking around. Then we walked to another church further uphill and paid a buck each to climb the bell tower for a view of the town rooftops. From there we walked to the fort. Fortaleza de la Polvora was an armory in Spanish colonial days. The gate was locked. The employees sitting inside said it is open from Monday through Friday. Today is Saturday. We carried on to the next thing on the list, the local cemetery.

Juanita and I sat on a bench in the shade near the entrance. We’ve been through that cemetery before. There are many interesting family mausoleums, but not interesting enough for us to walk around in the midday sun looking at them another time. Deborah and Ernie went off to explore. When they were done, they found us at Comedor Martha across the street drinking cold drinks. They ordered drinks and joined us.

When the drinks were done, we walked to the café in the corner of the UCA bus terminal for lunch. After lunch we walked through Mercado Granada to the Pali supermarket. We caught a cab back to the hotel. We all relaxed in the air-conditioned rooms until it was time for a Volcano tour Deborah and Ernie had booked for them to view Volcan Masaya at sunset and night.

At five, Juanita and I went for a slice of pizza and a smoothie. Then we relaxed and read until the kids (lol) got back from their volcano tour. We walked with them up to the square. During the day crews had taken down the stage for the Valentine’s Day themed event from last night and put up a boxing ring. We watched a couple of fly weights swatting at each other for a while then we went in search of a restaurant. It being Valentine’s Day the restaurants were packed. We found a table in the Café de Arte. We ordered drinks and sat and watched Deborah and Ernie wait for their food for a long time.

We walked back to the hotel together. Over 20k steps today. No problem going to sleep tonight.

After breakfast we all walked to the lake and along the malecon to the Zona Turistica. Today we went through the gates and carried on walking about a third of the way through the Zona before retracing out steps out of the zona and taking a road through a different neighbourhood before cutting across to the street our hotel is on. We stopped for iced coffee and a bagel. The cinnamon buns were two hours away from being ready.  

Back at the hotel, we all relaxed. Deborah and Ernie were scheduled for a chocolate workshop at the Choco Museo at eleven. They left for that. A little after noon Juanita and I walked to Kathy’s Waffle House and drank coffee until Deborah and Ernie showed up and we all had lunch.

We toured the Museos Convento San Francisco with displays of local history and a collection of Statues from Isla Zapatera. We plan to take a boat to the island and back tomorrow with lunch at an isla on the way back.

After the museum we walked back to the Choco Museo to pick up the chocolate bars that Deborah and Ernie made during the workshop. We carried them quickly back to the cool rooms of the hotel. Juanita and I relaxed while Ernie and Deborah went off to explore.

At six we went down the street to the Chinese restaurant. We all ordered roast chicken from the cart outside.

Up for an early breakfast at 5:30.

At 6:20 our driver took us to the boat in the marina at the far end of Zona Turistica. Lake Nicaragua is the second largest lake in Latin America. Isla Zapatera is the second largest island in Lake Nicaragua. We travelled an hour and a half to Isla Zapatera. We climbed and hiked with the guide to view petroglyphs and statues. Many of the statues on the island are replicas of those discovered by archeologists. The originals are in the museum we vivisted yesterday in Granada.

From Isla Zapatera we went to Isla de los Muertos to view numerous more petroglyphs. On the boat ride home we stopped at an island for lunch and at Monkey Island to feed the monkeys. Both out and back we passed between many isletas.

The driver took us back to the hotel as arranged. He then waited for us while we changed or freshened up before driving us to see Camp Shiloh, the Artisans’ Market in Masaya and the Mirador Catarina. At the Catarina viewpoint you look down on Laguna de Apoyo and look across Granada to Lake Nicaragua.

Later we walked uptown for dinner.

We all walked to the shore of Lake Nicaragua after breakfast. Then we walked up to the park, buying baggies of cut-up fruit which we ate on our way to the Pali. At the Pali we bought drinks and snacks and walked back to our hotel.

The car and driver picked us up at nine-thirty and drove us to the Laguna Beach Club on the shore of Laguna de Apoyo, a lake in an extinct volcano. Juanita and I snacked, drank coffee and read. Deborah and Ernie did the same plus they swam and paddle boarded. I handed out a few curved illusion tracts and visited with some of the recipients.

The car and driver returned at three thirty and took us back to the hotel. I walked to the drugstore with Deborah. At six we walked down the street to the Hogshead for a dinner of Hamburgers and fries.

It’s surprising how worn out you can get doing nothing all day. We went to sleep early to sleep mostly through until just before the five a.m. alarm.

We were up early for a 5:30 breakfast. Deborah and Ernie left at six in a cab to catch the first ferry of the day to Ometepe Island. A car is supposed to meet them and their guide at the ferry dock on the island where they have a full day of touring scheduled. The plan is for them to be back at the hotel at six this evening. Juanita and I have been to Ometepe on a past trip to Nicaragua.

Juanita and I had a relaxing day. We walked to malecon on Lake Nicaragua then walked back up the street toward the park. It is Ash Wednesday today. A few places were closed because of that. We stopped in at the Kodiak on hopes of coffee and a bagel or cinnamon bun but it was closed for the day. The lady who sells baggies of cut up fruit from a table on the street behind the cathedral was not there. We walked through the park, along market street to the Pali to buy a bottle of water for the hotel room in Managua, Friday night. On the way home to the hotel we stopped at the Choco Museo for coffee and brownies.

At lunch time we took a cab to Cafetin Claudia. The owner’s wife was there today. Hugs all around and the usual generous meal for reasonable prices. After lunch we walked to the railway station. The museum is closed but the old rolling stock still sits on the tracks.

We walked through a new dollar store and admired the new Little Caesar’s Pizza store complete with drive through. We crossed the street there and flagged down a cab back to the hotel to relax, read and keyboard until the “kids” return. They did. We all went out for dinner, shared our day’s adventures and made plans for Friday and travel to Managua.

After breakfast at Hotel Jerico we walked to Lake Nicaragua. WE stopped on the way back up the hil at the Kodiak to drink iced coffee. Third time is not the charm for cinnamon buns. They had none. J.C. Penney is said to have stated “you can’t sell stuff out of an empty wagon”. He was right. Plus, I guess the guy who makes real coffee is off today. The iced coffee was made from instant. Cold, wet but not quite the same as the last time we were. Sign. Good location, generally a good feel about the place but falls short of the execution. Sad.

We walked way up hill to the Fortaleza de Polvora. It was open this time. There were the ruins of one of the original buildings and several new buildings on the lovely landscaped grounds inside the walled compound. One of the new buildings had some history and posters of the people involved in the revolution. They were many representations of General Sandino. The two kids climbed one of the watch towers. The old folks stayed on the ground.

From the fort we walked a few blocks back toward the lake and then across town on the main road that ends at the Managua Highway and the Puma gas station. We went inside the Puma convenience store to buy and drink some cold drinks before going out into the heat to walk to the La Colonia supermarket. At La Colonia we bought snacks for the Saturday plane trip. Then we walked to the old train station to admire the old rolling stock.

We walked around the corner for a flavourful economical lunch at Cafetin Claudia. We took a cab back to the hotel. Juanita and I relaxed in our air-conditioned hotel room until dinner time. Deborah and Ernie ventured forth to hunt down some souvenir gifts for friends and family.

At six we all walked to the Garden Cafe for our farewell to Granada dinner.

We did some packing before breakfast. After breakfast we walked down to the lake. On the way there Deborah discovered an item she had been hunting for, a hanging carving from the Solentiname Islands in the south of Lake Nicaragua. We said we’d be back to pick it up. On our return we sat down for iced REAL coffee and a croissant. The croissant was a bit crunchy on the outside but flaky and delicious on the inside.

Back at the hotel briefly to do some more packing before going up to market street to a pharmacy for a puffer. I went for a haircut, everyone else went back to the hotel. When I got back we all went for lunch at a Chicken fast food place. The room where the order taker has the stereo cranked up to the max. The order taker and the customer have to repeat themselves multiple times to get the order straight. Even then straight is a relative term. Juanita had sat in the eating order. I was in the order room with Deborah and Ernie. I ordered a quesadilla and a Fresca. Then I ordered a chicken burger combo for myself. She told me the total bill. I said that doesn’t sound right. She in sisted it was. I paid I looked at the receipt. No quesadilla and Fresca. I guess she figured I had changed my mind when I ordered the chicken burger combo. I ordered it again and paid for it. Eventually we all had our food and ate. It was okay. It has stayed down so far. Must have been okay.

We got back to the hotel with about an hour to go before the scheduled shuttle to our hotel in Managua. That trip was uneventful. We checked in, dropped our stuff at the room and went to sit by the pool to visit and drink coffee and lemonade. It is 31 degrees C here. It is -40 degrees C in Meadow Lake.

Dinner is at the hotel. The hotel is convenient to the airport, but not anywhere else. A younger version of Junita and me walked about four blocks to a gas station convenience store for paninis, but that was a younger, more frugal version.  

We were awake before the alarm went off. Our room was in the hotel across from the Managua airport. We ate the last of the fruit from Granada, had a quick shower and got dressed. I texted Deborah. Ernie and her were up and ready as well. We meet them in the lobby, hand in the key card. Going out the hotel door, we walk around the shuttle van. The driver hops out prepared to load our bags and drive across the street to the airport. We decline. It’s quicker to walk. Ernie hits the crosswalk button. The light turns red. Some of the cars slow down a bit for the red light. None on our side of the divided highway stop. We wait a for a break in the traffic and walk to the median. By the time we get there the light has turned green again but the cars sitting there wait for us to finish crossing before they proceed.

Inside the airport we proceed to line up for passport control. Our passports get examined and stamped. We line up for security and go through that without incident. We are not the first in the waiting area at the gate, but early enough we get seats together. We do what people do in waiting areas. We wait.

Boarding begins. We are in group four. Ernie and Debroah are in Group three. The are at the back of that group. We successfully lurk behind them. Group four is announced before they get to the gate agent. Managua airport used to rescreen passengers at the entry to the jetway. They would take away any water bottles you bought in the concourse after security. I managed to play the old guy card once and hang onto my water bottle with claiming I needed the water to take “my medications” to the female checker. The next time we flew through MGA the male checker was having that. I’ve heard that women tend to score higher on empathy than men. Today they were just pulling random people from the line and pawing through their carry-ons. We were spared.

Deborah and Ernie are in row 32. We are in row 37. All the overhead bins behind them are already closed. We stow our carry-ons above them and go get in our seats. We are nicely settled when a flight attendant arrives and asks Juanita if she would like to move to first class. Juanita heads to row 1. I take her carry-on bag forward and the flight attendant meets me and takes it the rest of the way.

It was a good flight. Juanita was waiting in the jet way for me. We walk forever through the Houston terminal. We say our goodbyes to Deborah and Ernie and I head to the head for a brief visit. We see them ahead of us in the long lineup to immigration and speak as we pass each other when the line switches back and forth. She says an app claims processing time is 59 minutes. I don’t bother to confirm that. It is what it is. We have over a six hour lay over. Then we see them again in the long TSA line. Later, Deborah texts that were people crying in the line because their connecting flight had already boarded and they were still in the TSA line.

Once out of TSA Deborah and Ernie head to the gate for their flight to Denver, the next leg of their journey to Edmonton. We walk across to Einstein’s Bagels for lunch. A bagel with cream cheese, a sandwich and one bottle of iced tea costa about the same as a formal dinner last night at the hotel in Managua. A dinner with so much food we didn’t finish.

We walked as far as we could to Terminal B until there was no path on foot. We took the sky train for the last leg. The route on foot is closed due to construction. We checked at the gate and asked to be put on standby for a flight about three hours earlier to Harlingen. There was one open seat so if we wanted to be split up. We wouldn’t know if we both had seats until the flight was boarding. We settled in to wait and see. I did a few laps of the terminal to get closer to the 10k steps for the day. We drank a six dollar coffee each.

When the boarding was called we walked down with everyone else to the gate where smaller planes leave. The gate agent sat us down to see how things unfolded. Most people boarded. There were six no shows at the 25 minute before departure mark. A woman and child showed up from further down the concourse. They had walked past the gate. A couple showed up. Then a single. The agent asked if we wanted to be split up, one of us taking the already open seat. We said no, both or neither. At the fifteen minute mark there was still one no show. The agent called to get permission and issued us two boarding passes. Juanita was in row 7. I was in row 18. I passed an empty seat in row 8. I thought that was odd. The plane is full and we are the last two passengers to board. I got to row 8 and the row was full. After some boarding pass comparisons one fellow got up and left for row 8. The guy next to him moved into the seat assigned to him that the row 8 guy had been sitting in and I got into the seat assigned to me. An exit row. More leg room. Nice. A window seat. Nice. I wwatch the coast line as we fly south.

I had texted our ride that the flight had changed. Not all my texts had gotten through. A phone call when we landed sorted that out. Soon we were back home (for now). After we turned on the AC we headed out in our dusty car for supper at Taco Belle. Then for groceries at Sam’s and off to an early bed. Travelling is tiring.  

We both slept well. We were tired from travelling and back in a bed we were used to. After breakfast Juanita went for coffee with a friend. I went to wash three weeks of dust off car. While out I picked up jugs of water. Back home to shower, change and go to church.

Ben spoke on Revelation 11:3, 5-12 God sent two of his great men.

Time frame - the rapture has already happened. 144,000 sent out as evangelists. Then God sent two prophets (Moses & Elijah? based on what they were able to do). They preached Gospel message. Honest about what would happen to those who didn’t accept Jesus Christ. Many hated them for this message. Many responded.

They were killed and left to lay there for 3-1/2 days. Jewish tradition to bury same day. Very disrespectful. People giving gifts to each other to celebrate prophets’ death. After 3-1/2 days they revived and rose to heaven.

God loves his people even those left behind. He wanted to give them another chance.

Imagine going to a doctor. The doctor determines you have a curable form of cancer. Doesn’t want to upset you or be confrontational. Doesn’t tell you that you have a cancer that can be treated or even tell you that you are sick. So, you go home unaware and die. So it is with the church if it doesn’t warn people they are sinners and the eternal consequences of not repenting from their sin. It doesn’t want to be confrontational. People end up unwarned and doomed.

After church we ate lunch at home. Juanita took clothes to the laundromat. I had a nap and spent rest of day reading, mindlessly surfing and watching video posts of violence in Mexico. After supper we took it easy

Salomon spoke in chapel on this is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice because the Lord has provided everything for us

Juanita and I Helped sweep several bays of warehouse, then threw stuff into the dumpster the rest of the day. Sorted out medical items. Removed items form boxes. Tossed the items into the dumpster from the loading dock. Broke down the boxes to be fed into the cardboard baling machine. When the dumpster was full Michael rotated it to ninety degrees from the loading dock. We swept the loading dock and the area around the dumpster.

Bought more groceries at HEB on the way home. Showered and read. Today was more physical work than we had done for three weeks. Took a Robax. Call me in the morning.

Arnold spoke in chapel beginning in Luke 17:20. The Pharisees came to Jesus asking about the kingdom of God. Their vision was that the Messiah was coming with armies and all the nations of the world would bow down.

What does it mean when Jesus says “the kingdom of God is within you”? It is not a building. It is not a place to travel to. The Kingdom of God begins in our heart not a place. Pharisees thought of it as something political, but Jesus said it was something deeper. It first starts with our thoughts when we accept him in our hearts. Then: Righteousness; Peace; The Joy of the Spirit. That’s not what I say it’s what God says. As we serve God we do it with Joy. God’s Kingdom grows through transformation. When we come to Jesus Christ the Bible says we are a new creation.

It’s like growing plants from seed. Initially weak but as they grow, get stronger. Then we feed them and prune them. Same with our lives in Christ. As we obey God and grow in the Word.

1 Corinthians 5 - If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature…
Galatians 5:23 The fruit of the spirit reveals the Kingdom at work and that Kingdom is within us.
Matt 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Our prayer should be that Jesus rules in the throne of our heart.

During chapel the city took away the full dumpster and returned later with an empty. Michael moved it parallel with the loading dock with a forklift.

Juanita and I put shelves in half a dozen metal office cabinets. Then Juanita helped Martha prepare things under the tent for tomorrow’s drive through food bank. When that was done, she emptied boxes into the dumpster. Three of us squeegeed and broomed water away as Byron pressure washed the floors of four and a half bays of the warehouse.

Once we were home, I took some water jugs and two propane bottles for refilling. Then shower, supper and sit around for the evening. Over 18k steps today on day 1003 of 10k a day.

 Oscar Brooks is back from Asia and Mexico. His chapel message “Barefoot before the King” began in Ephesians 6 and the armour of God with a special focus on the shoes. Moses was ordered to remove his sandals at the burning bush. He was attracted to it not because it was burning but because it was burning without being consumes. In order to get close to God one must shed worldly things. Shoes are directly in contact with the earth. The bottoms of our shoes are the dirtiest part of us. They pick up everything you’ve walked on. Shoes are a connection to the world.

Oscar then went on to discuss Joshua being ordered to take off his sandals. “Be holy because I am holy”. Grace covers sin if you repent of it. Not there for you to go forward in sin.

Shoes were not consumed with the Israelites in the desert for 40 years.

Shoes can be used as deception as with the Gibeonites who pretended they had come on a long journey when they were neighbours with whom no treaties were to be made. So many people pretend to have had a journey they never had. Beware you are not a Gibeonite. Walk the walk. Make sure your walk with Him is real not just a picture opportunity.

After chapel Byron and I helped Mike briefly with his car. Then Byron started pressure washing the bays left to clean. I squeegeed the wash water away. Others came and went from squeegeeing as other duties called. The last hour it was the same three of us as yesterday.

Juanita worked all day emptying boxes into the dumpster. Hot, dirty, heavy work but she kept at it. At the end of the day we stopped at Sam’s Club for butter, salad and a frozen yogurt each. I dropped Juanita off at home and went to Lowes and Harbor Freight to buy some tools I will need for upcoming tasks. By the time I was home the Pedometer app had recorded over 32k steps for today. A personal best for one day. Tonight might be a two Robax bedtime.   

Oscar Brooks spoke in chapel today beginning with Deuteronomy 19:15. He spoke about accusations and how to deal with accusations in the physical or spiritual world. The Lord knows accusations both real and false are going to be there. Not just one witness, need two or three. Doesn’t mean it’s true. It means it takes 2 or 3 to start the process.

Matthew 18:15-19. Meet privately, then 2 or 3. An accusation does not make something true. It’s the start of a process.

Juanita and several other people emptied boxes and Gaylord containers into the dumpster today. I did a bit of that but mostly cut open cartons so they could be flattened and added to the cardboard compactor. By the end of the day the dumpster was full. My gloves reeked of rotten nopales (cactus). They ended up in the laundry bag along with running shoes that had also managed to get cactus goo on them.

It was over 30 degrees today. Showers were the second order of business back home. First was to haul some concrete blocks and place then under the trailer to prevent the wind moving sewer lines off their supports. Might as well get it done while already all sweaty and dirty. There was a huge temptation to invoke “tomorrow” as a labour-saving device but I resisted.

SOWERS take Fridays off. This is not an official SOWER project, but we have been taking Fridays off this year. We get our weekly chores done on Friday and have the weekend off.

We were not at chapel, Oscar spoke. We listened to his message here. Click on the link and you can too.

Juanita headed out to the laundromat first thing. I puttered with some clean up and dumped the tanks. There was some bill paying and banking to do and some time on hold to sort out an investment. We did some measurements to replace a handicap ramp we hope to do next week. I did a material list for that, and a cost based on some prices from Lowes. I didn’t get as much keyboarding done as I had planned, but before you knew it was two o’clock.

We drove to Home Depot to get some steps in while pricing out materials for a ramp. It is minus 30 back home and approaching plus 30 here. Home Depot has their bedding plants out and people are buying them. We went to the main HEB downtown to get some steps and pick up a few items. Then we went to Sam’s for more steps, samples and salad fixings. We tried for some froyo but the machine emptied while I was in line.

Took our time getting going today, heading to Brownsville after ten. First stop was Sam’s Club for steps in an air-conditioned space. That plus some samples and froyo. Then across the street for lunch at the Laredo Taco company.

We drove through Brownsville through Starbase to Boca Chica Beach hoping to get a close look at the largest rocket Elon’s minions had assembled. The original launch pads are next to the road and the beach. They have built a next launch area the other direction from Starbase. The rocket is there. It is far enough from the highway it doesn’t look that big. The access road doesn’t have any signs saying we can’t, so we drive down it. The burly security guard at the gate we get to has different opinions and expresses them while waving us away. We turn around to leave. We stop. I stand on the door sill of the car to get a better picture of the rocket. The guard starts yelling. We go back to the beach to walk and hand out some tracts.

Back in Harlingen we top up the gas tank at Sam’s Club and go home for a quiet evening of reading and relaxing.

Thus ends February.