Muddy Days

We spent the last several days visiting new communities where we will be starting projects with our partner in the San Jose de los Remates area. The only way to get into two of the communities was to walk in or ride a horse in (however, we were told it was too muddy for a horse for inexperienced riders), so we hiked in. Our journey began with a light misty rain with mountains covered in fog, but we were prepared we had our rain jackets and our boots for the rain/mud. We began hiking up the rocky trail and as time went on the trail continued to have a steady incline, Nicaraguans look for the most direct way to get somewhere, there are no switch backs, just straight up. Luckily the trail was not muddy, just rocky, so it made it easier to walk. Except the boots I had on were the typical black rubber boots that come up almost to your knee that Nicaraguans wear. They work great to keep your feet from getting wet or muddy, but there is no support, it is almost like going barefoot or like wearing jelly shoes to walk on rocks (I am dating myself by using this example, although I guess they are back in style).

After an hour of climbing in the rain up a steep mountainside in rubber boots we arrived to our destination, the village of Corozo, basically located on top of the mountain we were hiking up. As soon as we went into the first house the rain began to poor cats and dogs or the saying in Spanish is frogs and lizards. The rain let up a little and we needed to talk with someone else in community, so we left. We were told to take the "road" outside their property to get there, but the "road" was horrible. We were not quite sure what she meant by horrible until we saw it and then walked on it. The "road" was basically a bunch of big muddy holes. You did not want to step in the mud because you would sink, so we looked for rocks to jump to. Jaime, our partner, knew what he was doing, so I followed him. However, there was one spot that I think he got lucky and I did not.

We were crossing to the other side where it looked a little easier to walk, I saw the way Jaime went, so I began crossing in the same way. First couple steps were no problem, but the third one I took I sunk down into the mud a little ways and I thought I was going to lose my balance and fall face forward into the mud. Luckily I was able to keep my balance and I took a couple more steps when my left foot sunk into the mud up to my knee. I was trying to move my foot as much as I could to become unstuck and I thought I did until I pulled my foot out and the boot was not attached. Fortunately there was a rock within stretching distance that I was able to step on with my barefoot while I tried to get my boot out of the mud. I was unable to get the boot out of the mud, so Seth came to help me. He was struggling because the boot was not right next to us and it was almost covered completely in mud. Jaime saw what was going on, so he came to help. I was amazed because at first he was walking on top of the mud, like it was as hard as the ground and then the final step his right foot sunk into the mud up past his knee (he is quite a bit shorter than me). I am sure as he was coming to help me he was thinking how did she get stuck and then when he sunk into the mud his face was so shocked that it was hard not to crack up. While Jaime was trying to get himself unstuck, Seth was able to get my book out of the mud. The boot was full of muddy water, but I was glad I was not going to have to walk barefoot. Meanwhile, while all of this was happening another Aso Fenix volunteer was laughing hysterical and taking pictures of the adventure, so enjoy the pics.