Honeymoon Here We Come! (Day1)

For our honeymoon we decided that we would go tribal, literally. I am talking about going to a real virgin island. An island that has been untouched by big hotel chains, polluting cruises and most of all, little to no mass tourism! I am talking about crystalline waters, deserted beaches, coconut palm trees dancing with the ocean breeze and that feeling that problems stayed behind in some city, some where, forgotten. We went to two islands off the coast on my native Nicaragua, Big Corn and Little Corn. These islands are about 40 miles from the mainland, but infinitely distant from a hurried world. This is paradise, laid deep into the dreams of those who want to experience raw beauty. Observe the picture below and notice how there are no tall building and only small huts or house barely visible through the trees!

We must first thank Bianca for taking us to the Dulles Airport in at 4 in the morning, even though Monica totally confused the airport we were supposed to depart from. We were supposed to go to DCA but she told Bianca to take us Dulles. Once there, and once Bianca had left, we realized the mistake when our ticket agent told us that, well, we were are the wrong airport. Thank God that she was kind enough get us on the next flight hassle free.

We first arrived to Managua, the capital, where we were greeted by Iris, a childhood friend who has now lost his baby face and is sporting a semi-mustache and a band on his ring finger. Nicaragua hasn’t changed much since our last visit in 05. The humidity still made you sweat within a minute of arriving, the streets still crowded with poverty and hope, American influences (for the better or worse), the occasional donkey carriage in real need to be in an episode of “Pimp My Car…. or Donkey!” and of course the streets with no name. When we arrived to my uncle/father’s house, he wasn’t there. He had become somewhat a philanthropist, in a Nica kind of way. His business has sponsored a team of neighborhood kids to play soccer.

Him and his wife,have taken on the role of father and mother of 22 kids. They have gotten them involved in sports so that they would not be roaming the streets. They actually go to their school and follow to see how they are doing in school, which is something that their bioligical parents don’t do. Anyways, we dropped off our stuff at the house and went to the soccer field. There my uncle/father Robert was yelling at the referee and guiding his team to another victory.

It was something special watching these kids who are 10-12 years of age, who might as well be orphaned due to their parents lack of interest in their lives, come together and play with discipline and heart. This team is the kind of team that nobody believed in; a team made up of scrawny rejects, the kind that would always be picked last. The kind of team that Disney would make a movie out of: the underdogs who had no discipline, no hope in life, no dreams, no goals, but with the right coach they came together and believed in themselves, believed in hope and found out that with discipline and hard work anything is possible: including a championship title. (After we came back from the honeymoon, Robert called me and told me that they had won the championship. And that the kids cried of joy for what they had accomplished and for their parents who actually showed up to support them, some of which didn’t even know their son played soccer until that day).

Later that day we went to dinner. We went to a very nice restaurant where the food was excellent. We had steak, rice and beans, fried cheese, plantains and a salad accompanied with a Rojita (red soda pop), all the essentials for a Nica dinner. One the way home, we stopped and bought some Dramamine for the boat ride that will be awaiting us two days. When we got home, Monica passed out while Robert and I caught up a bit. We spoke of U.S. politics and how Obama is favored over there because “he’s not Bush.” We watched the wedding video, which made me want to kill Dan and my brothers! (I’m just kidding Dan, you didn’t do too much of a terrible job). hehe. Then I went to sleep around 1AM which felt like much, much later for two reasons: first, the sun sets around 6 and there’s a two hour difference, so in reality it would have been 3AM DC time).

Popularity: 23% [?]