Yes to the Spanish. Not fluent but I do ok. Lots of expats in country in general. Mostly concentrated in San Juan del Sur, Granada and Managua. imo San Juan del Sur is the best spot. It's an active little town with lots of charm. As far as the climate...probably a lot like Panama but in the sjds area we have a microclimate known as arid tropical. 2 seasons, rainy and dry. Winter in the northern hemisphere is the dry season. The rains are just now ending. We get a really strong seasonal wind that comes from the inland lake and blows out over the Pacific. Very tropical...lots of wildlife. The ocean is an attraction too. Fishing, whales and lots of Ridley sea turtles. We have a beach nearby called La Flor that is a great spot to watch the turtles hatch and head out to sea. Lots of folks come in just to see that. People from all over the world are here. It's like a UN delegation in flip-flops :-)