Our base in Leon and our friend Nick

We keep mentioning that we have a friend called Nick and that we are in Leon, so we thought it would be good to put a face and base to the names. It's a fun place to be, there have been a fair few parties and gatherings, the one in the photos below for the arrival of Nick's mum, who came to stay for a few weeks. The parties, amazingly, materialise from thin air. Nothing is ready, and nobody, including Nick, is there an hour before. But then, suddenly, the hardcore friends arrive and get out the brush, mop and bucket for a clean, re-arrange the furniture and bring half the food. All other guests, which include neighbours, Leon socialites, long-standing friends, and anybody else who fancies coming along, turn up with food and drink at generally the same time as Nick arrives home. It's a system that works remarkably well and all due to Nick's charming laid back hospitality and fantastic network of friends. We're here now for odd weekends and occasionally for a few days during the week. We're rarely the only people Nick has staying. He has worked with rural communities for many years, and anyone from these places that comes to Leon for work, pleasure, meetings or whatever, turns up at the house to stay. It's been lovely for us as we've met so many people and been invited to go and stay with them in their communities, such as Melana in La Rinconada. Nick and his girlfriend Rachel

We love having access to the kitchen and the opportunity to cook food, as everywhere else, we're staying in hostels or with families. Our biggest success so far has been a huge shepherd's pie, which had the Nicaraguans asking for thirds. Unfortunately, we have no photographic evidence of this. This photo features a delicious bean soup, cooked by Nick.Sobeyda (an actor and dancer) with her two boys, Bryan and Fabrizio.

Nick in his favourite hammock with Ale and one of his most impressive organising friends, Carmela.