2004 - Greetings from Nicaragua!

It seems as ages since I left Sacramento, but it has only been two days. After spending about four hours at work Friday morning, I rushed home to finish packing. My mom and I left around 2:30 p.m. to drive to San Francisco.

Once we entered the City, we took a ride through our old neighborhood. My parents had moved to San Francisco in the early 1950's and bought their house on Nordhoff Street in 1953. My mother finally sold the house in 2000. It was quite a walk down memory lane as I wandered around the streets remembering my childhood. I even got to catch up with a couple of old neighbors.



This is the house I grew up in.


This is the view from looking down the street.


My mother and I then continue to our friend's Bill and Karen home where they welcomed us with open arms. I hadn't seen them in years and it was so good to get reaquainted.

Early the next morning Bill drove us to San Francisco International Airport and we were on our way!

The flight from SF to Houston, Texas was uneventful. I was able to get a few snoozes in, having been living on only about 4 to 5 hours sleep the last four days or so. Once landing in Houston, we had to go from the E terminal to the C terminal to board the Managua-bound plane. It would have been quite a walk, but due to my mother's advanced years (hehe), we were able to take advantage of the electric cart service.

As we joined the crowd milling around the gate, we were informed that our Managua-bound plane's gate number had been changed to the E terminal! Fortunately, we were able to flag down another electric cart and make the journey back the way we had come.

I haven't traveled with Mom in years and I found it quite amusing that every time I turned around she was striking up conversations with all sorts of fellow travelers. I really admire that trait in her. I tend to be quiet and reserved in similar situations, but Mom just walks right up to strangers and starts yacking. By then end of our journey, we had made several acquaintances and would smile and wave as we waited in customs lines and baggage claim. We even ran into one family in the hotel restaurant this morning.

This is Rosa, a fellow traveler my mother befriended.


The Houston-Managua leg of the trip was a bit turbulent and the Captain of the plane had everyone, even the air hosts, locked down. We arrived in Nicaragua around 8:15 p.m.

We stayed the night at the Las Mercedes Hotel across the street from the airport. My mom has stayed at this hotel many times over the last five years and has developed many friendships with the hotel staff. I was introduced around as "mi hija" (my daughter).

My mother sitting in one of the courtyards at Las Mercedes.


I found the Las Mercedes a very charming hotel with excellent service. We had a good night's sleep and had an excellent breakfast in their restauranté. Soon after checking out, Jane and Andrew, the interim director's at Mercy Ships arrived to drive us to Leon.

The journey from Managua from Leon took about two hours and we passed through villages, farmland and wilderness areas. I saw many shacks that would be considered condemned and abandoned in the US but were very much lived in here in Nicaragua.

At long last we arrived in Leon.