There's a Grecian marching band outside my hotel

Seriously, togas and all. And can they drum!

Well, like my friend, classmate, and colleague Matt, I too have made my way to Nicaragua. I am leading a decidedly slower paced life than him though, one that has me up daily at 6:30 and in bed pretty regularly by 9:00.

I'm staying with a local family in León where they are incredibly considerate and have made me feel quite welcome. The house itself is typical, as much outdoors as indoors. I stay in small detached section near the back of the property, in a small bedroom that abuts my personal bathroom. The room is basic, with a single bed, mosquito netting, a wardrobe, and a few small tables. The most unusual aspect of the bathroom is that the cold water shower is just a pipe sticking out of the wall. Hot water is not missed, however, for the lowest temperature I have recorded in my room was 79 degrees.

I check at all hours because a surpising number of elements are in place to wake me up. If you've heard of a cat on a hot tin roof, imagine two cats on a hot tin roof above your heard, fighting and scrambling and attracting the attention of every dog within a two block radius. This morning at 5am (5am!) my treat was the neighbors setting off the largest firecrackers I have heard since I stayed in a hotel across from a wedding in Chiquimula (I love that name!). These were ground shaking firecrackers.

The indoor-outdoor elements of the housing also leads to some interesting moments, such as my toweling off last night, only to feel something moving around in my towel. I quickly shake it open, and what drops out? A bat! I went from startled to amused to feeling a little bad, because I think it was a little stunned to have been used for drying me off. I shooed out of the bathroom.

Anyway, I am definitely improving my Spanish, which was one of the goals for being here, so that's quite exciting. And I'm feeling more and more comfortable in León, especially now that I can enjoy a great cup of coffee at Café Latino (you can pay me for the plug later, Matt). As part of my schooling experience, I've also been taking tours of the city with my instructors, and the following is a photo I took outside of the museum of myths and legends. The museum is interesting for mixing somewhat lighthearted depictions of local legends, with descriptions of methods used to torture inmates when the museum was a prison. Such are the contrasts of life here.