Last Stop in Costa Rica and into Nicaragua

We made one last stop in Costa Rica. When we went there for our honeymoon, we made a day trip to Volcan Arenal, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. We did not realize you could not see the lava until it was dark and we werent able to stick around. So we decided to stay a night or two in the area this go round. Both days we had great views of the volcano , and then as the sun just started to set, thick clouds descended upon the volcano, making it impossible to see any of the lava. Apparently there was no flow at the bottom to see, so it may not have been very active at the time anyways. This area is very touristy and extremely expensive, so we spent our days trying to find free things to do. Mostly, playing with the locals by swinging from trees into rivers and hiking trails up until the point where they ask you for 10 bucks and turning around.

We crossed into Nicaragua through a small boat on the Rio Frio. About a 2 hour boat ride led us into San Carlos, Nicaragua. A smoltering hot town full of warm Nicraguan people.

Our next stop needs a bit of history to realize its significance. One of the reasons I (Adam) became interested in Latin America and was easily talked into going to study in Guatemala (thanks Aaron) is because I had begun to read some things about Liberation Theology. This is a movement out of Latin America that began from the poor in the churches reading the Bible and challenging the conventional wisdom that their poverty was deserved and should be tolerated and instead understand the Bible to tell them that they are created in ´the image of God and God suffers when the poor suffer (it goes a great deal deeper than this, so go read more about it). The movement became a powerful force and was considered to be a threat by the powerful in Latin American countries and in the high ranks of its neighbors, especially the big powerful neighbor to the North. One of the leaders of this movement was a man named Ernesto Cardenal. Cardenal studied under Thomas Merton for a time in the United States before returning to Nicaragua and starting a community in a small archipelago called Solentiname.

Our next stop, thus, was Solentiname. A beautiful little archipelago in the southern end of Lago Nicaragua (a freshwater lake that contains freshwater shrimp, and even more impressive, freshwater sharks!). The islands are well known around the world for their artisans. Wood carvers and painters on these islands have become well known for their unique style that is referred to as being "primitivist." There is little to do on the islands aside from reading and admiring the beauty and talking to the local people. The island contains a library and we were able to pick up copies of "The Gospel in Solentiname" and read the conversations had by poor campesinos on this land about the implications of the life of Jesus for poor people like themselves. We were also able to speak with people around the island who knew the people in these books and were able to learn about there current whereabouts. Many of the people who we read in these books making profound observations about the Gospels, we would learn after reading, were tragically and violently killed during the 80´s in the war. We highly recomend that all try to pick up a copy of this book as we found it to be a wonderful read, especially being in its setting. On that note, we also recomend that folks read up on Nicaraguan history, as it is a history that is full of lessons that must be learned, but that, it would seem, have certainly not yet been learned.

Tomorrow we leave on a slow boat for another island in Lake Nicaragua and then to Granada where we will celebrate Semana Santa (Holy Week). These festivities are supposed to be a big deal, so we look forward to witnessing them, participating in them, and sharing them.