Estelí: Land of cool nights

Several weekends ago we traveled 2 hours north to the city of Estelí. There we visited with the Castillo family, the future inlaws of our colleague Lydell. Estelí is in an agriculturally rich region; the surrounding area produces much of Nicaragua's rice, coffee, tobacco, and onions. They receive quite a bit of rain, and the temperatures are cooler because of higher altitude. After nearly a month and a half of sweltering temps here in Managua (see our friend Pamela's blog post for another perspective on Managua heat), we were grateful to get away. And wow, we slept well. We actually used a sheet at night and did not wake up already sweating. "Why do we live in Managua?"we wondered.

The Castillo family showed us fantastic Estelian hospitality. We ate well (rice & beans, good cheese, chicken-cheeseball soup) and had a great time laughing together. We also went to church with them and got our tails wooped in an all-church "sword-drill" match. We thought we knew our Bibles, but oh no...these folks were fast, and we didn't stand a chance!

Here are a few favorite photos...