“Wandering Weiss”: Volcano Boarding Epic Fail

For those who do not know, I am taking a 4 week intensive training TEFL course (with emphasis on the intensive) here in Leon Nicaragua. It is a great tool to add to my tool chest and opens up some new doors for extended stay travel and work. How hard is the course load you ask. The short answer is that it is a full university coarse jammed, crammed, rammed and slammed into 4 weeks. Here is the link, click it at your own peril.

How nasty can the workload get? Well I think the best quote came from one of the younger guys here. Keiran is a recent university graduate so this will put it into perspective. We went for dinner the other night, which was just a walk to a locals house and they cook amazing meals that they sell to hungry wandering guys just like us. Tonight it was Papusas.
From Wikipedia "A pupusa is a traditional Salvadoran dish made of a thick, handmade corn tortilla that is usually filled with a blend of the following: cheese cooked and seasoned pork meat ground to a paste consistency refried beans". Each one costs about .45. Three and you are good...beware the sneaky chili sauce.
Anyways Keiran and I are chatting about the course as we wait for your food, both agreeing that the workload is fairly brutal. Manageable but brutal. We all have our ways of coping. Mine has been Thursday night Salsa night and Tona. I get my Salsa on with my buddy Paige who I have been partnered on with many projects. She is a true Jersey Girl! We both are learning but find ourselves practicing whenever we can, usually at school during break. We hit the dance floor after a few to many adult cocktails and find a corner of the dance floor away from the Real Salsa Dancers and do our thing. The amazing thing is the smile and looks we get for trying to learn...plus offers of help throughout the night to learn a new step or how not to look so robotic.
So Keiran asks me how I have been coping, I tell him but I know he wants to share something. "You know" he said. " The other day for lunch I went home, bought a huge bag of cheetohs on the way..the big bag because I wanted them to be endless. I went into the bathroom, shut the door, sat on the toilet and just ate the cheetohs in silence. I was alone for a full hour with nothing to do. I just stared at the wall and enjoyed every fake cheezy crunch." And this from a guy who just crushed 4 years of university.
THAT MY FRIENDS IS WHAT THE 4 WEEK TEFL NICARAGUA COURSE WILL DO TO A GUY.

Well yesterday to clear our heads we decided it was time to concur Cerro Negro..the Black Hill. This is a very active volcano that erupts on average every 10 years. Last eruption was in 1999...so well that clock is ticking on those tectonic plates. We go to Cerro Negro. Well to climb up, learn about the volcano, be amazing at the views of distance volcanoes, have a look at the crater...then walk over to the edge, put a sled under your but and slide down like a lunatic. That is why you climb Cerro Negro.

I went with 4 other TEFL classmates. Paige, (Jersey) Briana (J ersey), Jessica(California) and Otto(Washington) and I think 12 others. I will not link to them unless they give me permission. I chatted most of the trip with an Israeli couple who just finished their mandatory 3 years military service and were her to blow off some steam before they start university. Yes all you young'uns out there bitching about how hard University is. This couple just put in 3 years of Real World Combat Training in one of the worlds most active hot spots before they started University. We all needed a break and this was going to be it. As you can see the day was beautiful..well the morning anyways. We had our standard hard rain in the afternoon. That round bulge under my T shirt. Yes sir that is a first time belly grown slowly but consistently from driving in Alberta and BC for 2 years. A few months climbing these volcanoes should cure that beast.

The climb took about 45 minutes. It was a bit hard as it was my first climb in about 3 years and the scree made the footing a bit tricky but there was a trail and we all made it safely to the top. We walked around, took some great pictures, learned about the volcano from our guide and enjoyed the morning. Our tour was with Quetzal Trekkers and if you think that someone is only out to make a buck, well look no further for one of the good guys. ALL the money made by Quetzal goes back into community projects. All the workers are volunteers (3 month commit but you get free housing). The projects they support here in Nicaragua and in Guatemala give solace to the fact that some people are making their little corner of the world just a little bit better.

After about 90 minutes at the top it was GO time. We geared up with a full canvas suit that added to the oppressive heat was..well nasty to say the least. Googles and bandanna to shield you from the dust, glove to protect your hands from being shredded like paper, a wooden plank with a rope as a breaking system and a slow walk to the edge of the abyss.
A black morass of crushed lava sloping down at 45 degrees for more than a vertical kilometer. What could possibly go wrong? Well to say the least, LOTS.

Our hero pictured above is all geared up and full of confidence as we walks over to what should be a fun fast ride down a live lava spewing active volcano. With sulfur filling his nasal passages he volunteers to help with the organizing of the riders. This need to volunteer for anything has become a nuisance to himself but he can not help himself when someone says.."I need a volunteer" or "who wants to be first". It was never that way. I think I will just let the pictures below tell the story. There is not much to say after that.