27 March 2004

Hi all in Reading, or wherever you may happen to be. Thanks for the emails - will try and send you something now of some substance, and not too much drivel.

Well, where to begin? Something inspirational. Life has just got crazier. If you thought my first couple of weeks sounded like I was living la vida loca, this might just blow you away. Firstly for anyone else like me thinking about coming out here it's not all work and no play like my first report may have sounded. The tough life, slaving away in the school is not the only thing on offer, for those thinking of spending time in SFL.

The local bars are extremely cheap. Hence a good time is frequently had by all. People out here like to enjoy themselves, let me tell you. And the real truth is I haven't even got to Samana Santa yet - a week of sun, swimming in the river, sleeping out under the stars and probably getting drunk at various stages. A week of pure indulgence and a really good time. I can hardly wait. But anyway, stuff I have done. Nicaragua has a lot to offer outside of SFL. You don't have to spend all your time in the same place. Recently I have been to Granada for a weekend, which is a very chilled out, quite beautiful and very sociable place, full of interesting Nicas and other Cheles or foreigners. It's just the perfect way to get away from work, work, work, and just relax, party, go to the beach, whatever. Also have visited the beach at a place called Poneloya. It's on the pacific. Miles of near deserted, black sandy beaches. Plenty of places to go dancing and drinking in the evening. And watching the sun come up after a night or revelry, before swimming in the Pacific is something I'll never forget.

The truth though is that having even gone to the gig of some really good Venezuelan group, I've hardly touched the tip of the iceberg over what there is to do out here. Trust me there's loads, San Juan del Sur, you can even go to Costa Rica during Samana Santa.

Also daily life in SFL is far from taxing for us anyway. And once you start talking to people, you have a great time. Also the group of Germans out here are sociable, have transport, so you can go places, and organise quite a lot of different things from various English classes, which far from being serious and tedious are great way to improve your Spanish and meet more people, to football matches against neighbouring communities. Hence we went to San Ramon on Thursday to record an impressive 8/0 thrashing, netting a tidy hatrick. Not that I'm completely obsessed with football ...

The school is still going well, jokes and all. All the guys want to know is who I fancy. As you can guess it's these on the spot tactics that make teaching so daunting, or should I say far from it. It's a laugh. They seem to like to learn, but they're going to have a good time doing it. The truth though is that I'm realising I'm just not going to be around long enough. Now if that's not positive, I don't know what is.

On Tuesday I had my birthday out here. Really great. The family put on a special meal which, despite a power cut, was a huge success. And those sociable Germans even threw a small party in one of the bars. So, what a mix - Nicas, a Brit and some Germans. It's something that is a real one-off. That's the best way of describing it. As, basically, out here, this place can be the mot ordinary or extraordinary, it's simply up to you.

Well Ciao, and Hasta Pronto.

Julian Stutley,
San Francisco Libre