Corn Island

Spring Break is a great thing for teachers. We get a lovely week off of school to refresh and re-energize before the last two months of school. 

When you live in a foreign country, this means you have time to explore different parts of the country that you normally wouldn't have time to visit. 

When you live in Nicaragua, it means that vacation is probably not the correct terminology to use for traveling on Spring Break. Adventure might be a more appropriate term. 

So we set out on an adventure. 

I have no clue what happened at the airport. We got there early, everyone cut us in line, and two planes headed for Big Corn Island left without us. After being stuck in a small room with really awful Ke$ha videos playing on the t.v., and nothing to do but take ridiculous photos with our overly large boarding passes, they let us load a small plane that brought to our minds many Hatchet references. 

The small plane made me a little nervous, but I obviously survived or I wouldn't be typing this out. We had a good view of the Nica countryside and a great incoming view of Big Corn Island. 

I suspect that you have no idea what the Corn Islands are, so I will stop to explain. There are two islands, Little Corn and Big Corn. The islands are part of Nicaragua and are about 40 miles off the east coast of the country. Big Corn is four square miles and Little Corn is only one square mile. The people are descendants of the original Moskito people, British landowners, and slaves. The British had control of the island for many years and European pirates used it as a stopping place. You can hear an interesting mix of Creole English, Spanish, and Moskito languages. It has what I imagine to be the typical island feel: very relaxed people, dress, and rules. Surprisingly, many of the houses were run down and abandoned. Restaurants advertised food they didn't have. Grocery stores were nonexistent.  In terms of beauty, the beaches were the islands' gems. White sand, blowing palm trees, clear water, and coral reef were everywhere. 

Back to the adventures. 

Adventure #1: Snorkeling

You know those cool Discovery Channel shows were you get to see shipwrecks and sunken treasures underwater? That's what happened. It was my first time snorkeling, so I would have thought anything was cool, but really, this was great. Stop #1 had sunken cannons and a huge anchor from a pirate ship. Stop #2 had a whole sunken ship. I could see the captain's steering wheel and the stern poking up almost to the surface of the water. It was a big ship, and a lot to explore. 

Adventure #2 Scuba Diving

Most of the time to scuba dive you need to take about three days worth of classes and have to get certified before you even strap on the gear. However, this is Nica where the rules are made up, so we were able to bypass some of the technicalities. Instead of a three day ordeal, we took a brief discovery scuba course which was some advice on breathing techniques and how to deal with air pressure changes. As we suited up, I got a nice little kids sized suit that made me feel like I should be in the next Incredibles movie. 

We strapped weights around our waists, hitched up tanks of air to our backs, and fastened the goggles and flippers. We looked like professionals and felt like amateurs as we waded out into the shallow water for a test run. Practicing breathing underwater was next. I was trying to pretend I was the Little Mermaid or Poseidon or someone equally awesome, but mostly I felt like I was not good at breathing underwater. Let's be honest. I was very nervous. I had spent a lot of time that week debating if I wanted to scuba or not. In the end, I decided it might be a once in a life time experience and I should take it while I could. That did not make me any less nervous as I was in the water. However, as we practiced some safety moves and sat underwater, I felt better. The instructor said I was doing a good job not freaking out. Yes! I wasn't freaking out! 

The instructor deemed us ready to dive. We loaded up the gear and headed out to sea. The water was CHOPPY. The instructor said if it was any worse she wouldn't let us dive. I asked her how long we would be underwater for. Thirty minutes she told me. I thought that sounded like a long time to not take a normal breath, but it was too late to back out. We went in. We went down.We started swimming.... and I started freaking out. Breathe in, breathe out. It was supposed to be simple. I tried calming down, but I was over thinking things. My first instinct was to get the instructor's attention and tell her I was done. Finished. Want to get out of the water PRONTO! I tried to distract myself with the beautiful surroundings. That wasn't too hard to do. Coral reef! Fish! Sea creatures! Once I stopped thinking about breathing, I enjoyed myself. It was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. 

Adventure #3 Traveling around the Island

Taxis were our number one mode of transportation on the island. It was cheap and there were plenty of taxis around. There were five of us, and taxis only have four spots, so we quickly worked out a system. Two girls squished in front, the other three squished in back. Now, squishing in a taxi is normal behavior in Nica and many other cities around the world, so this was no big deal. The big deal was this: 

It is not everyday a four year old gets to drive around five people squished in a taxi. He was very good at honking at people in the road. 

The island was small enough that we thought renting bikes would be fun. It was fun until my bike got a flat tire. Why do I always get flat tires? 

Walking was obviously the cheapest way to get around. However, we soon realized that crabs have a lot of rights on the island. So we crab walked whenever possible. 

Adventure #4 Little Corn Island

We ditched the boys one day and took a ferry to Little Corn Island. The ferry turned out to be a motor boat. The ride was speedy, but very wet. We arrived on the island more or less in one piece and were handed a map. In the center of the map was a big lighthouse. 

We had read about the lighthouse previously, and knew that was where we wanted to go. Supposedly you could see a beautiful view of the whole island. We set off and soon discovered there are no roads on the island, just sidewalks, paths, and trails. It was weird not seeing or hearing any cars or motorcycles. We stuck to the side walk at first and soon got side tracked by iced coffee and brownies. 

Back on the trail again, we found cabanas and what appeared to be paradise. Our path soon turned to beach. From the beach we found a trail and a women who pointed us towards the lighthouse. From there, things got weird. The sidewalk turned to trail, which lead us to a forest, then a field, then more forest, then a baseball field, then palm tree land. We ended up in a village of little houses. 

Our ever-changing path

As fellow traveler Sarah Randall put it, we didn't lose the trail, the trail lost us. Some locals got us back on track. Finally, we found this sign:

We knew we were going the right way! Up and up we went, we felt like we were getting close, and then --- barbed wire. Under the wire we went. 

Up the hill some more and we found .... the lighthouse? 

Smiling on the outside, but not on the inside

It was no lighthouse. It was a rusted skeleton of what maybe could have been a lighthouse if someone had bought more materials about fifty years ago. We attempted to climb it, but it was not safe and the ladder wasn't straight. There was no good view of the island. We were sure it was a mistake. No way would a map, website, a sign on a tree, and many locals point us in the direction of a rusted ladder. We wandered some more, consulted the map, found help, and had them personally show us where the lighthouse was.

consulting the map of lies

They led us to - you guessed it - the non-lighthouse. We were tricked! We tried to come up with plausible explanations. Maybe it was a tourist trap. Maybe only those worthy enough could find the lighthouse. Maybe it was a ghost lighthouse that only appears at midnight. I suppose we will never know. 

From there we finished the trail and ended up on the beach. We decided to walk on the beach back to the docks and main part of the island to get a quick lunch before the afternoon ferry back to Big Corn Island. We set off. The sandy beach turned into rocks and we had to head up instead of around. We chose a nice looking cliff and scaled it gracefully in our flipflops. 

At the top there was no trail to greet us. We went in search of one. What we found instead were fields, palm trees, an empty house, and a pig pen. 

I was starting to get worried. If we didn't catch the ferry, we would be stuck on Little Corn without money and supplies. As we wandered around, we literally stumbled on the trail. Boom! It just appeared there in front of us. We kicked it into gear, reapplied sunscreen, and made it back in time for lunch. 

Adventure #5 Picnicking 

What is a picnic without your PB&J, cucumbers, and granola bars? We hiked up a hill one evening, enjoyed the sunset, and found an empty house to crash for our picnic party. 

On our way home, we got rained on, a fitting finish for any adventure. 

Here are a couple of more adventures, picture style. 

Late night snack gone wrong

All is well when you have a cucumber for lunch

We found an old abandoned building with a great view

At the top of Big Corn Island

All of the abandoned boats wanted to be explored

I am back in Managua, my home of noise, dust, and extreme dry season heat. The islands treated me well, but there is nothing like home. 

Today is Resurrection Sunday and I am celebrating. Jesus loves me and died for me. Because he rose again, I can live in freedom; sin has no hold. 

Happy Easter to my friends and family, near and far. xoxoxoxoxo

P.S. Most of the pictures on the blog are from Erin's most excellent photography skills. Thanks for documenting our trip, Erin! 

Let's Write!

4th grade had a party last Friday! Why?

1) As a class, we read over 10,000,000 words since October in our Accelerated Reader program.

2) We made a book!

To celebrate our accomplishments, we busted out the M&Ms and had a reading/writing party. 

Here it is - our very own book!

Creating our book was a long process, but the end product was fabulous!

Round 1: Students were in groups of four. Each had a picture of a funny monster and had to begin a story about that monster. After a minute or two, the students passed on their story and monster. The following student continued the story. A couple of minutes later, the students passed the stories again, and so on and so on. 

Round 2: Students proofread their collaborated stories, adding transitions, conclusions, and making sure the stories flowed and made sense. 

Round 3: Students made a final draft and turned in stories.

Round 4: I graded the stories using a rubric and realized they needed a lot more work. 

Round 5: Using their rubrics, students analyzed their stories, pinpointed areas they needed to improve, and proofread it again. We discussed what good stories need and used some of our favorite books as examples. We worked on a class example and added and took away things until we had it perfect. The students realized writing can be a very long process. 

Round 6: Students traded stories and proofread each other's papers. 

Round 7: We spent five days in the computer lab typing the new and improved stories. I ran around offering suggestions and dealing with computer drama - students can't log on, their paper didn't save, their computer doesn't work, etc. 

Round 8: Stories were printed and made into a book.

Round 9: Students proudly read their stories aloud to the class during our party. 

Some of the stories were quite hilarious and had the whole class - including me - dying of laughter. Some students wrote stories that were clearly about themselves, while other stories were clearly inspired by Godzilla and Monsters Inc. As they swung their legs back and forth, others nervously read their stories and then blushed with pride as their classmates clapped and cheered for them when they finished. I snapped pictures and clapped the loudest of all.

A very proud teacher, three excellent students, and our Monster Book 

The Tale of the Sneaky Snake

The following tale is a dramatized version of a true event. Names have been changed to protect identities.

Once upon a time there was a girl named Flaura who lived in a quaint apartment with her two friends. Many of her other friends lived near by, and they made it a habit to spend time with one another after a hard day at work. On an ordinary day just like many others, Flaura, Bemily, Abryan, and Mabe sat around the kitchen table playing a card game after dinner. It was a riveting game, and laughter and jests were passed around like a soccer ball at recess.

During the game, Flaura had a sudden thought that needed immediate attention. She needed to tell her friend next door something before it slipped her mind again. In the apartment complex where the friends dwelled, there were doors that opened to "courtyards". There were no courts involved and it certainly did not contain a yard, but such it was called nonetheless. If you were to open the courtyard door, you could shout and have all the neighbors in the near vicinity hear you. The negative aspects ranged from never having a private conversation to hearing screaming babies and barking puppies at all hours of the day. However, the benefits made this a widely used form of communication, and such a form was going to be used by Flaura. As she reached for the door handle, a long black shape caught her eye. Because one of her deepest fears was snakes, she immediately assumed it was such a beast. Without a second glance, she screamed, "Snake! Snake! I think it's a snake!" and soon found herself on the kitchen counter. Such a statement does not go unchecked, and soon Bemily, Abryan, and Mabe were on their feet. As soon as shrieks exited Mabe and Bemily's mouths, Flaura knew the worst was happening: there was a snake in the house. Within seconds, Flaura was joined on the counter by Bemily, and Mabe was standing on a chair. Because there was a snake, and because it was in a house, the screaming and shrieking did not immediately stop. It can be assumed that all persons within a two house radius heard the commotion and were under the impression a murderer was on the loose. The screams did bring a person, although not a murderer, to the house, a friend named Ralieda. Ralieda waltzed in, looked around, and was soon standing atop a chair.

While the chaos ensued, somehow Abryan was able to keep his composure and both feet on the floor. "Who has a machete?" he yelled over the clamor. Nobody had a machete. "Who has a broom handle?" he tried next. No one had a broom handle. (Or maybe they did have a broom handle, but the friends were physically unable to process the question.) "Are you guys going to do anything?" Nobody was going to do anything, unless screaming and sitting on the counter counted as doing something.

As nothing continued to happen, Mabe made the long leap from his chair to the floor and bolted out the door to get the guard that kept a vigilant watch over all the inhabitants. Soon the guard, calm and collected, walked in with a machete. The friends pointed to where the snake was, and - gasp! - the snake was no longer there. More screaming and scrambling followed. The logical explanation was that the snake was behind the food shelves next to the door. The shelves were searched. The machete poked and prodded. No snake.

Five minutes passed.

Ten minutes. Hearts were beating quickly. Where was the snake?

Eleven minutes. The snake slithered out from behind the shelves and quickly met its death!

The noble guard left with the beheaded snake in his hands. The friends looked around to asses the damage: one grown women sitting on a counter, the second standing on the counter, and the third standing on a chair. Another pass through the room would reveal a grown man standing on a chair, and another shaking his head at everyone else.

The friends were never quite the same after that adventure, but for the most part, we can say they lived happily ever after.

Where's the snake? Behind the Raisin Bran?