El próximo 4 y 5 de Julio será la Final del Circuito Nacional de Surf “SoBe Adrenaline Rush” 2009, en playa Santana, Tola.

The 4th and 5th of July at Playa Santana will be the final of the 2009 “Sabe Andrenaline Rush” Nicaraguan National Surf Circuit.

El Sábado por la noche habrá una Fiesta/Concierto en la arena con la banda Malos Hábitos, en parte gracias al patrocinio de Rancho Santana, la entrada será gratis!

Saturday night there will be a concert with the band Malos Habitos and thanks the the sponsorship by Rancho Santana it will be free for everyone.

La Selección Nacional se definirá según los resultados globales del Circuito, esta representará a Nicaragua en los Juegos Mundiales de Surf a realizarse en playa Hermosa, Jacó, Costa Rica, del 1 al 9 de Agosto 2009.

The National Selection will be determined by the results of the circuit and these competitors will represent Nicaragua in the World Surf Games in Playa Hermosa, Jaco Costa Rica from August 1 through 9, 2009.

La competencia por el primer lugar en Categoría Open está fuerte, se encuentran Rex Calderón, Luis Chamorro y Mario Martínez como principales contendientes al título de Campeón 2009. Mario Martínez tiene grandes oportunidades ya que el es local de playa Santana.

The competition for first place in the open category is strong, Rex Calderon, Luis Chamorro and Mario Martinez are the principal contenders for the title of Champion 2009. Mario Martinez has a great opportunity because he will be surfing his local break, Playa Santana, for the final.

En Juniors, Rex Calderón va de primero en la tabla, lo sigue muy de cerca Joel Chávez. La única posibilidad de que Rex no quede como Campeón es que Rex quede en 4to y Joel en 1ro en el evento Final.

In Juniors, Rex Calderon is in first place with Joel Chavez not far behind. The only possibility that Rex doesn’t remain champion is that Rex finishes in 4th place and Joel first place in the finals.

En Mujeres está casi todo dicho, la mexicana Maite de la Torre, que reside en Popoyo desde hace 4 años, sólo tiene que entrar al agua en la Final para asegurarse el Campeonato.

In the womens competition it is all but finished, the Mexican Maite de la Torre, who has resided in Popoyo for four years only has to enter the water in the finals to ensure her Championship.

El Sanjuaneño José Hernández ya está definido como Campeón en la categoría Longboard, ganando los dos primeros eventos lo que le aseguró el título.

San Juan’s own Jose Hernandez is already the Champion in the longboard category, and has won the first two events which guaranteed him the title.

En Bodyboard todo se definirá en la Final, la cual será muy emocionante ya que las olas de playa Santana, rápidas y tubulares, son excelentes para esta categoría.

In Bodyboard everything will be decided in the final, which will be exciting because the waves at Playa Santana are fast and tubular which are great for bodyboarding.

Andrew Zimern is the host of a show called Bizarre Foods which airs on the Travel Channel.  The show features Andrew sampling the strangest culinary delights that a country has to offer.  He decided to visit Nicaragua and sample some of our tastiest morsels.

Nicaraguan cuisine is varied in the different regions of the country.  Andrew samples a good mix of food from Matagalpa, Bluefields, Masaya, and Granada.   Unfortunately, he didn’t make it to San Juan del Sur. In the show he talks about how friendly and outgoing the people of Nicaragua are paints a beautiful picture of the country and it’s rich menu.  He certainly eats some of the strange dinner options we have in Nicaragua including: iguana, boa, armadillo, bull’s testicles and cheese with worms.

More than anything the show brings exposure to Nicaragua and brings Nicaraguan culture into the living room of millions of viewers around the world.

Take a peek at his blog on Nicaragua

Take a look at a video on food in Nicaragua

Nicaragua unveiled it’s new currency to mixed reviews.  Nicaragua has become the 27th nation to adopt a space age polymer bill and the fourth in Latin America behind Mexico, Guatemala, Brasil and Chile.  The government is promoting the new money as “resistant, secure, durable and hygienic”.

The new plastic-like material has a very different feel from the ratty ten and twenty cordoba bills that were in circulation.   The crisp bills are all different sizes, the bigger the more valuable.

The smallest  bill, the 10 cordoba note, depicts El Castillo on Rio San Juan on the front side side and shows Hacienda San Jacinto on the reverse side.

The slightly larger 20 cordoba bills celebrates the Caribbean culture showing a Palo de Mayo dance.

The 100 cordoba bill rejoices in Nicaragua’s most renown poet Ruben Dario and his hometown of Leon is honored with the cathedral on the reverse side.

The largest bill released to date is the 200 cordoba note, which shows the island of Ometepe with the national bird, the Guardabarranco, on the reverse side.

I have tried my best to tear, crush or crumple the new bills and they are virtually indestructible.    Aurora gives the space age plastic the thumbs up!

Nicaragua has made nationwide changes to all Nicaraguan phone numbers.    As more and more people use cell phones it became necessary to add one more digit to the existing numbers.  Remember the old days in the states when you only had to dial 7 digits?

It is now necessary to add an 8 in front of all cell phone numbers in Nicaragua and add a 2 in front of all conventional phone lines.

Aurora Beachfront Realty New Numbers

8884-7141
2568-2498

In other cell phone news, there has recently been a Movistar tower completed in Playa El Coco. This is a big step towards improving coverage south of San Juan del Sur to the Costa Rican border.