Hi All,

granada really is just the same. when we were with bertha and family they had us try chinchuron (pig skin) and†i said i had tried it once before and couldnít deal with what it was. and while driving through granada we passed the EXACT place i had tried it! with Los Chicos! i tried to tell them that but i donít know if i got my point across (her parents didnít speak english fluently, so we spoke in spanish to them).

itís really quite beautiful here. matt and i went to masaya this afternoon and bought some more presents (we’re all done!) he got a hammock for himself, and i bought a hammock chair for renee. they’ll be fairly easy to bring home, i hope. together, the three of them cost $37. but matt and i are getting cheap.

me and matt went out to eat at one of the best places ever! La Gran Francia. we got these plantains filled with red beans and cheese. wow, it was just amazing. there was this salsa and sour cream with them. and then he got chicken dijon blue and i got steak with jalapeno peppers (i was going to get a normal chicken breast and then he told me i was being boring. and then i told him he should get the chicken breast and i’d get something else. and so i got the steak. but it took me about 20 minutes to decide on what to get cuz i wasn’t sure about the jalapeno sauce, etc., etc. but it was amazing!). for dessert he got chocolate mousse that really just made you want to die so that you could die happy, and i got caramel flan that was good but not as amazing as the chocolate mousse.†i asked if we could go back for just the dessert the next night, cuz no where else in nicaragua has desserts (GASP!) and he said it wasnít that kind of place. it was really quite upscale, with great service. and WATER. normally they don’t have a glass of water always filled for you, and you have to order water and a different drink if you want both, and itís just a pain. but here they had a water glass for you at all times! it was wonderful. and the water was delicious! mwa hahaha.

afterwards we were talking about how expensive it had been. and then we realized that we have just gotten extraordinarily cheap — the dinner cost $40. for a GOOD dinner, with GREAT service, for TWO people, with WATER, and AMAZING meat and dessert that was delectable.

i told him that when we get back we’re going to be like those old people who are like “back in MY day, that only cost a nickel. cackle cackle cackle”. he told me i had already made that joke at least 3 times (i had only said it once before, i promise).

i love you all, Hilary

REMEMBER!!!!! PARTY at MY HOUSE, SATURDAY. call my parents if you’re gonna come.)