Reflections...

As we come to our final days and hours in Central America, I've taken a few moments to reflect on what I've learned throughout this process.  One of the reasons I believe traveling is so important is because it forces you to take a step back from the culture you were raised in and experience a new one.  It allows you to expand your horizons, learn news concepts and ways of looking at the world, and makes you analyze your own beliefs.  

Most people when they heard we were traveling for five months thought "wow, why?!  Thats a really long time!"  But once you have traveled for a longer time slot, you start to realize how much more insight you can gain into a culture when you are living there day to day.  We have experienced five countries on this trip:  Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.  Some observations I've made are serious, and some are silly.  I hope you enjoy reading them...

Things I’ve learned while traveling through Central America…

-People really do eat chicharrones.

-Guatemala (especially Antigua) has the best salsa dancing in Central America.  Second being San Jose, Costa Rica.

-Costa Rica really is the only country with my favorite fruit Cas (they make juice and ice cream out of it and it is so incredibly delicious).

-Don’t go to a restaurant if you are in a hurry.

-Unfortunately a lot of (not all) Central Americans view the bus window as a trashcan.

-People from every part of the world that we’ve met on this trip are thankful for and appreciative of the U.S. electing Obama.

-Public transport can get you just about anywhere (except the Darien) even if that means an ENTIRE day being spent on bumpy buses, water taxis, and in hot bus stations.

-People can be very creative when begging for money: singing reggae at your table,  dancing about in crazy looking costumes, making you a grasshopper from a palm leaf, and more! 

-You should definitely do some training and have proper hiking gear before trying to tackle hiking 8.26 miles up and 8.26 miles down a rocky volcano on no sleep.                                             

-When using a public bathroom you should bring your own toilet paper just to be safe.

-Costa Rican money is by far the most annoying currency to deal with in Central America.

-Josiah can pass as being a resident in every single Central American country. 

-Don’t eat slow or your food may be removed from the table before you are done eating.

-Central Americans really do love their telenovelas (soap operas).

-Monkeys are just as likely to steal your things as people.

-Hot showers are hard to come by, but cold showers can be the most refreshing experience on super hot days.

-Wasps are evil and very very sneaky.

-I want to learn how to fire dance.

-Honduran spanish is the hardest in Central America for me to understand.

-Most Central Americans don’t get to taste the best coffee grown in their countries because it is immediately exported to Europe and the U.S.

-Waiters will not bring you the check until you ask even if you have been sitting there for an hour and a half. 

-Tourism is so prevalent and important for the economy of these countries that most universities offer a tourism major.

-I’m good at losing razors.

-I love the German accent when speaking Spanish.

-I think I have chosen Nicaragua as the country for my future non-profit.

-I've got time.  I used to feel like I had to rush through things to get everything done I wanted to accomplish in life.  I've met a lot of inspiring people on this trip, and learned a lot about the possibility of helping the citizens of Central America.  I've learned that I can take a step back for awhile, enjoy life at a slower pace, organize my thoughts and plans, and start a non-profit later on in life.  (not sure when, 30's, 40's, who knows).  I have a LOT of ideas, and would love to share them with all of you and get more ideas.  Any help I can get from all of you creative people I love will be so helpful. 

Thanks again everyone for supporting us on this trip and reading our blogs.  We love hearing from you all.  It means so much to know people love and care about your passions in life.  When we get home, I'd love to meet with anyone who wants to know more about our experience.

Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to our last week in Central America...

We had to stop for some teeter-totter fun in the park!

He may look innocent, but that is not the case!  He is keeping me stuck up in the air!

Josiah had been carrying around a bag of bread so he could feed these pigeons in the plaza de cultura.  They just swarm to you!  It was so much fun.

I was so excited for my mom and Kelley to see this!  They HATE birds.  We arranged this just for them.

We got to meet up with my friend Pablo and his wife Kattia!  Such sweet people.

We took Nicol to the movies to see X-men!  Josiah was so excited to have a reason to see it with me.  haha.

My little sisters are growing up!  This is Pamela, isn't she beautiful?

We went to watch my little sister Nicol in her Tae kwon do class!  She is great!

A free outdoor concert we went to here in San Jose.  The band from Costa Rica and is called Malpais.  They have a real original sound and we had a great time.

My Tica mother and grandmother.  We went over to grandma's for lunch after church on Sunday.  Great food and great company!

Us holding my Tico cousins baby, Francela!  So cute!!

Back in Chepe...

We've made it back to San Jose, our final destination!  A common nickname for Jose is "chepe" so a lot of locals refer to San Jose as "chepe" for short.  A lot of times Josiah will introduce himself as Jose to Latin Americans so last year my Costa Rican family just started calling him Chepe also.  haha.  I think it's a cute name for him. We had been planning on spending our last two weeks with my Costa Rican family, but my host mom suddenly got notice that she is receiving more study abroad students.  SAD!  So, we are just staying in a hostel downtown.  I'm doing a lot of reading and studying Spanish, while Josiah is painting and drawing.  It's nice to unpack a bit and be in one spot.  On Wednesday I get to meet up with my little sisters and take them to the movies.  Then on Thursday we are heading over to watch my youngest sister, Nicol do some Tae kwon do (sp?).  I'm really excited about still getting to see them and get some quality time in.  Josiah has really bonded with Nicol.  She is quite the tomboy and loves it when Josiah comes around.  They are always playing basketball, soccer, hacky sack, or watching movies together.  He's so excited because he's been wanting to see the movie X-Men but I wasn't too excited about it.  I told Nicol she could pick the movie we see on Wednesday, and of course she picks X-Men!  haha.  I love to watch them have so much fun together.

Before coming back to San Jose, we did a bit more traveling around Costa Rica.  After Monteverde we went to La Fortuna next to Volcan Arenal.  Volcan Arenal is an active volcano that you can see the hot red lava running down during the night hours.  We were staying on the opposite side of the lava, so we didn't get to see any.  We had a good time.  We visited an amazing waterfall and did some swimming (despite the freeeeeeezing water).  We later went to Baldi Hot Springs.  This place is very resort like and fancy, but also very cool.  It was expensive to get in, but somehow we managed getting a discount with our hostel so we each payed 4 dollars.  Pretty lucky!  It's always so refreshing sitting in a hot tub with steaming hot water you know is heated naturally by the volcano at your side. 

We then headed to the Pacific side of Costa Rica for some more beach action.  We were on the very tip of the Nicoya Peninsula in two different small towns, Montezuma and Santa Teresa.  It was a sad reality when we realized that these were our last few days at the beach.  Josiah has really turned into a "beach bum"!  He can never feed his appetite for playing in the waves.  We rented a surfboard and a boogie board for 5 dollars a day.  I just stuck to the boogie board, but I was catching the waves fairly well and having a blast.  It was a really relaxing few days, and I treasured every moment.  

That about wraps up what our lives look like these days.  I'm experiencing my first rainy season in Central America.  It's just beginning, but I find it really interesting.  In San Jose its beautiful and sunny every morning and then around noon or a little after it starts to downpour for a couple of hours and then its done!  It's so intriguing to me the predictability and timing of the rain.  So far, it's not so bad.  It definitely gets worse throughout the following months.  I'll sign off for now, but next week be expecting my blog about "Things i've learned traveling in Central America".  Love you guys, and see you in a week and a half!

Me surrounded by fish in the fresh water stream by the waterfall in La Fortuna!

Josiah disguised by the steaming hot waterfall

Me playing in a waterfall at Baldi Hot Springs!

A pack of beautiful wild horses strolling down the beach.

Josiah finishing a surfing session and heading back in for a break!

Dorky me with my flippers and my boogie board!

Josiah ready to fight the spirits of the ocean!

Me being me on a tree trunk beside the sea!

Josiah and his new friend playing frisbee on the beach in Santa Teresa!

El Principio Del Fin

  Hey everybody!  I want to start by thanking all the readers for reading and for the nice comments.  I have never been much of a journal keeper, I have tried, but after writing on a consistent basis for a while it always begins to seem like a chore.  However, knowing that other people might want to know how we're doing doesn't make writing so bad.    We decided to start a blog mainly to keep our family and friends informed and so they would know we’re still alive.  Angie suggested also inviting our friends on facebook and we were really surprised by the number of acceptance responses we received.   So if you are taking time out of your day to read this I just wanted to say thanks for caring.

  It’s the final leg of our journey and we’re enjoying every minute.  We are in Monteverde, Costa Rica at the moment; it’s weird to think we’ve been to Panama and back.  Monteverde is a small town high up in the cloud rain forest.  In Monteverde, when you wake up in the morning to a room full of smoke your first thought is that your building is on fire.  After the initial shock wears off you start to wonder why you don’t smell anything burning.  It isn’t until a few moments later that you realize the windows are left open, there is no smoke, and that those are clouds passing through your room.  Most of the business done here has something to do with coffee, cheese, or tourism.  Businesses here compete in things like having the best zippline canopy tour, longest bungee jump, or creepiest collection on insects on display.  We went zipplining today and it was a mind-blowing experience; one of the best forty bucks I’ve ever spent!  Flying down those lines at crazy speeds I kept thinking how “this is what birds must feel like gliding around, through, and above the forest”.  Some of the lines were over a kilometer long!  This was one of our first destinations being back in Costa Rica and we have a bit more to do before coming home, but we already miss Panama.

   Getting back to Panama, our main goal there was getting to Panama City, however we took our time getting there.  After recovering from our climb at Volcan Baru, we headed to the tropical Islands of Bocas Del Toro on the Caribbean coast.  You need to travel by motorboat to get around in Bocas, and being on the water is still pretty new for me, so I really enjoyed it.  The ocean water there is the clearest I’ve seen it, and every island has differently unique stunning beaches.  I snorkeled for the first time in Bocas and I can’t image how coral reef can be much more incredible than it is there.  From Bocas Del Toro we headed over to the Pacific Coast to see the tranquil beaches of Las Lajas.  That beach went on for miles, and most of the time we seemed to have it all to ourselves.  It was very pretty and peaceful there.  In the nighttime we would watch the sky get splashed with color by the lightning of distant storms over the ocean.  Next, we journeyed back inland to El Valle, a town in the crater of an extinct volcano that blew it’s top.  El Valle was more of a pit stop on the way to Panama City, but there was one memorable moment there; Angie’s dream of holding a monkey finally came true.  We met a guy that had a trained monkey in front of a souvenir shop.  He could see the longing in Angie’s eyes as she looked at the monkey and eventually asked her if she wanted to hold him.  Angie was so excited; the smile on her face with that monkey on her shoulders was priceless.  Two more hours in a bus and we were in Panama City!

  Panama City is a pretty happening place, bustling and full of life.  The Public transportation system is great, and the busses are even more decorative than the chicken busses of Guatemala.  It seems as if the busses are competing for your business through their artwork and adornments; they really are fantastic.  Albrook Mall behind their bus terminal is the biggest mall I have ever seen in my life.  Conflicts, conquest, invasions, and looting from pirates to conquistadors of the past have destroyed much of the city. So it has been and is being rebuilt; there is construction being done all over the place.  Which also means no need for an alarm clock, the drilling, hammering, sawing, banging, clanging, and yelling start at about six in the morning; I guess we were able to enjoy more of the day.  Because of the newness that comes with rebuilding, the architectures in one part is completely different in the next; it is also strange to see so many towering buildings so barren and incomplete.  There is one ruined building right on the shore of Panama bay that has been claimed by the skateboarders.  They get in through holes in the foundation, grind down it’s old hand rails, ollie across crumbled stairway, and kickflip through the vacant hallways; the policemen don’t mind the old place getting some use.

  We also received our first real taste of what the rainy season is like on our last day in Panama City.  There is monsoon rain there; I attempted to go out for lunch in the rain and was forced to retreat.  There was two/three inches and rising of water on the ground and all of the streets and alleyways were transformed into rushing rapid rivers.  The entire city was forced to stand still.  It rained for a few hours and then it was dry and sunny again; madness. 

  After just concluding our Presidential Election, we have walked right into to the final days of the Panama’s Presidential Election.  We were thrown right back into a world of negative television advertisements, political party flags, people being divided, rallies, debates, and posters of the candidates faces being posted everywhere from the flanks of horses to the tops of canopies.  It was Balbina versus Martinelli, and the battle was heated.  Balbina is a woman, and only the second woman to get that far in the Presidential race.  Their election took place on the third and still no female President of Panama.

  We visited the Panama Canal and were amazed at what an engineering marvel it is.  We went to the Miraflores locks and watched the ships go through for a few hours.  Each chamber of the locks is over a hundred feet wide and about a thousand feet long, and yet the massive ships just barely fit inside.  It was obvious that every ship passing through the canal was designed with that purpose.  Panama is in the process of expanding the canal to a third lane with better technology, also the new lane would be able to accommodate much bigger ships.  There is a wonderful museum about the canal there that really showed just how important and beneficial the canal is to world transport.  Leaving the museum you understand why ship pass through the canal around the clock with toll charges averaging over one hundred thousand (US) dollars one-way.  I really didn’t know much about Panama when we started this trip beyond the fact that the Panama Canal is in Panama City.  We really enjoyed discovering what a beautiful country it is.

  The simple task of taking a bus back to Costa Rica some how went wrong; it turned into a crisis that we now refer to as the nickel incident.  The bus trip from Panama City to San Jose Costa Rica is eighteen hours long.  We decided to take the night bus and sleep through most of it.  We arrived at the bus station around ten p.m. and found it to be completely packed.  There were long lines of people stretched all across the giant bus terminal.  Having arrived fairly close to our departure time we had to work our way to the front of the lines.  We finally got to the coin toll machine after bumping into everybody as we stumble through the crowd carrying our bags and wearing our giant backpacks.  We had to squeeze through the narrow passage of the toll machine only to find out that it only accepted nickels!  We had dollars, fives, tens, twenties, quarters, dimes, and pennies, but neither of us had a nickel.  Angie is in front of me stuck in the toll machine, one of the female workers is yelling at her, the masses behind us are pushing us forward, the officials are trying to push her back, nobody has change for a dime, I am rummaging through all my pockets, Angie is laughing in bewilderment, I find one nickel!  I gave her the nickel, she went through and then I was stuck. I tossed Angie a dime and yelled “FIND ME A NICKEL!!” It was hysterical!  Angie eventually found change for me and we laughed about it for a long while afterwards.  I apologize for the length; I think I got a little carried away.  Under a month left! We’ll see you soon!             

Volcan Baru a.k.a Volcano "I'll Kill You"

After leaving the Waterfall Hostel, we headed toward a town called Boquete.  Boquete is a little higher in elevation up in the mountains.  Therefore, we were finally in a bit

 cooler in fresher air.  It did not take long to notice the beauty of this area.  Luscious green mountains and rolling hills all over.  It’s full of beautiful gard

ens abundant in flowers of ever color and shade.  Along with Gardens we visited an animal rescue center.  We got to see various monkeys, tropical birds, wildcats, anteaters, and more!  We had so much fun.  I think Boquete has been one of my favorite towns as a whole on this trip.  Xela (minus the cold) Guatemala, Antigua Guatemala, Granada Nicaragua, and Boquete Panama. 

Boquete is number 4 on the list of top places in the world to retire.  We decided to stay for a week or so in Boquete and enjoy the tranquility and ended up staying eight or nine days.  This past week was Semana Santa (Holy Week) and all Latin Americans have the week off.  Most people go to the beach for the Holiday, but we quickly realized that a lot of people like to escape the city heat and head to the mountains as well.  I really enjoyed seeing the celebrations around town.  On Good Friday there were floats and a big parade with hundreds upon hundreds of people marching along.  It was really interesting to see the Latin American/Catholic side of Easter.  I also got to tour a coffee plantation here which is something I’ve always wanted to do.  Boquete is famous for it’s coffee.  I toured with Café Ruiz who won number one in organic coffee in the international contest last year.  The sad part is that a lot of coffee farmers are selling their land to foreigners that come to retire.  They can sell the land for a lot of money and make more off the land then they did raising and selling coffee.  What does this cause?  There is higher demand for coffee than the supply can meet.  The retirement boom has caused the people who have lived in Boquete their entire lives to move outside to buy land because they can no longer afford land in their hometown.  Sad.

On to Volcan Baru.  Josiah and Gordon had been talking about how they wanted to climb the Volcano just outside of Boquete.  This is the highest point in all of Panama at 11,398 feet.  Yikes!  Dropping to freezing temperatures at times, this did not seem to appeal to me too much.  They were set to go and I kept thinking in the back of my mind I didn’t want to miss seeing something amazing.  But still, I didn’t have proper shoes and I’ve never hiked up any mountain!  But 

with the encouragement of others I gave in and we set out.  I quickly realized I had met my match, as the climb was very rocky and steep.  We started hiking at 10:00 p.m. in order to reach the summit for sunrise.  Ahhh!  I never thought we were going to make it.  We kept hiking and hiking for hours (which seemed like days) through the somewhat moonlit path.  8.26 miles we climbed up and 8.26 down.  It was tricky because we were hot and sweating but the temperature kept dropping.  I was confused.  Do I put on more layers or take

them off?  This was a lot to think about when exhaustion set in.  FINALLY we reached the summit and it was still pitch black.  I quickly piled on the layers.  I was wearing a tanktop, a t-shirt, a long sleeve t-shirt, a sweater, two hoodies, and a blanket.  I do not mess around when it comes to cold.  I passed out for a short nap until Josiah woke me up because colors were appearing on the horizon.  Oh my gosh, it didn’t take long for gorgeous shades of blue, orange, yellow, and pink to consume the sky and start to illuminate the cloads BELOW us.  Yes, we were above cloud level.  The clouds almost looked like waves of oceanwater below us.  If you are lucky you can see both coasts of the oceanI’m so happy that I survived to see this.  We welcomed the suns heat and quickly our frozen limbs began to regain feeling.  We soaked in the beauty for a couple of hours, and then looked at each other and realized what was to come.  BACK DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!!!  Noooooooo, I had never been so overwhelmed with exhaustion in all my life.  My knee was killing me from the hike up, and I had blisters on my heels that screamed with pain with every step I took.  Our bodies were angry with us from lack of sleep, but also for pushing them to their physical limits.  Slowly we inched down the mountain.  We tried to go as quickly as possible because our beds were quietly waiting for us and I can swear I heard mine calling my name echoing through the forest.  (Okay, so I was a bit delirious).  Just as we thought to ours

elves we had to be reaching the end of what felt like torture, we see a sign that said 6 kilometers to go.  We fell down at the side of the road in agony.  I had pretty much lost hope.  With Josiah’s encouragement we kept going.  I saw a whole new side of myself.  I was enraged by the end of the hike asking myself “why!?” over and over.  I literally couldn’t force myself to take one mor

e step.  Josiah was more physically exhausted than I had ever seen him as well.  We were not looking good.  We came back, passed out for hours, and Josiah had to walk across the street to order a pizza because I could not walk down the stairs.  Haha, oh sigh.  I can giggle a bit now looking back on it.  It really was a learning experience and I can honestly say I will never do it again.  So, if any of you want to come to Panama I will gladly travel with you but if you want to hike the volcano you are on your own!!

Our time is winding down here.  We just have a little over 5 weeks left!  Josiah is focusing on getting into a school for the fall so he can start his art degree, and I’m just contemplating what life with look like for the next year.  I have always tended to plan my life one year at a time, and this is the first year in a long time I have no vision. There are things I want to do, but they require a decent and satisfying job first.   I know I want to be in Indianapolis near my family and friends; I want to get as much of my car paid off as possible so I won’t be tied down to it anymore; I want to get all checked up on my health; and I am thinking about taking a fund raising course to get ideas for a non-profit.  If anyone has any good job ideas send them my way because for the first time in my life I feel like I need to make a decent amount of money to get ahead on things.  I guess I will take things day by day and see where I end up!  We love you all and we’ll be back in indy at the end of May.  I can’t wait to get some great hugs!

Livin La Vida Pura

  It’s been a while since our last post.  We’ve been moving pretty fast these days. As our flight home is out of Costa Rica, we have decided to pass through quite quickly to Panama and later spend the last bulk of our time in Costa Rica.  We arrived in Panama the other day, but our run through Costa Rica has been a great time.  We traveled down the pacific coast visiting beaches, reuniting with friends, exploring small towns/villages, watching tropical birds and animals, and trying to escape random attacks from swarms/infestations of various insects. 

  Our fist order of business coming into Costa Rica was to meet with our wonderful friend Kelley; she came to visit us on her vacation from work.  Angie and I both have been getting a little home sick; we are missing our friends and families.  Her arrival was anticipated with great excitement.  Her first night in San Jose, we all went out salsa dancing; we actually had quite a big group.  Kelley had met two friends from California on her flight (Andre and Stephanie), and they just happened to be staying at our same hostel; so we invited them out.  Angie let her Tico (Costa Rican) family know that we were in town for that night.  Her Mama-tica, aunts, cousins, and even the two girls that the family was currently hosting came out to joins us.  Dancing in Costa Rica was the best dancing I’ve had in a long time; especially with having Kelley along.  Their cumbia music and dancing is really intriguing and unique, the club literally starts jumping.

  The next day we took her to our favorite beach, Manuel Antonio.  The beaches there just have all the necessary ingredients required for a day of fun and complete relaxation.  We stayed in a town called “Quepos”.  Quepos has more reasonable accommodations and is a ten-minute bus ride from Manuel Antonio.  We ran into Andre and Stephanie in Quepos and Manuel Antonio as well.  We all shared some great meals, sunsets, hikes, and waves together; the time passed far too quickly.  Before we knew it we were saying goodbye to Kelley.  We really enjoyed her visit and look forward to seeing her back in Indy.

  After Kelley’s departure we were left wondering, “what now?”  It was then that we decided to see Panama first.  Our friend Gordon messaged us saying he was going down the Pacific coast headed toward Panama.  He had just made it to “where of all places?” Quepos.  After seeing Kelley off we headed back there and are now grouped up.  We spent a few more days at Quepos/Manuel Antonio with Gordon.  The added bonus is that Gordon is a great cook.  He has done a lot of traveling through Europe and Southeast Asia and has pick up some pretty great recipes; we will have to some exchanging.

  On our last day in Manuel Antonio I learned how to surf!!  I’ve always wondered how it would feel to glide along the waves with the wrath of the ocean as my fuel.  It is a special kind of thrill standing up on that board while trying to keep balance being moved great distances.  Surfing was even more fun than I had imagined it would be!  I now understand why some people devote so much of their lives to its mastery.

  Costa Rica is rich with biodiversity.  There are thousands of different animal species found here.  Personally we have come across a few different kinds of monkeys, ton of exotic birds, sloths, many different types of lizards, and way too many insects.  There have been three occasions where we have been under direct attack. * (Attack #one) One of our last days in M.A. we packed some salt, bread, tomatoes, and avocados to make sandwiches for lunch at the beach.  After eating lunch, we left the bag containing the extra food in sand while we played in the waves.  When it came time to leave I picked up the bag, laid it over my shoulder, and began walking away.  Seconds later, I felt hot shots of pain spreading all over my back and shoulders as if I was set aflame.  Ants had overtaken the bag of food while we were away and were biting me all over in defense of it.  I dropped the bad in surrender, ran yelling, and leaped into the ocean.

  Heading south our next stop was the small peaceful town of Uvita.  Southern C.R. is mostly farm country, but the beaches are still breath taking.  Uvita beach was one of the prettiest I’ve seen so far; it is very wide and stretches for miles.  There is a section of beach that is a sand bar forming the shape of the tail of a whale.  It’s like being between two oceans and their waves are sizing each other up.  In Uvita you can also hike to an awesome waterfall.  The waterfall drains into a pool that is really deep and we were able to dive into the water from the top of the fall.  

  After Uvita, we headed down to the even more secluded painfully mellow town of Zancudo.  Zancudo translates to mosquito, or long legged lanky woman in English; this became Angie’s new nickname while we were there.  This town has just one road, two tiny grocery stores, and a few places to stay.  To the left of the road there are miles of beach, and to the right a vast flooded mangrove forest.  It is a fishing town and they boast holding over fifty sport fishing world records.  At the beach the waves are very calm, perfect for swimming.  You can walk a hundred feet out into the water before it even gets shoulder level.  There are lot of big bright red crabs, seagulls, and fish in Zancudo, but not much more to do than catching rays and star gaze.

  *(Attacks #two and three.)  We discovered (the hard way) that there is a block of the one road going to Zancudo that is completely controlled by a swarm of wasps!  Gordon, Angie, and I were just walking down the road trying to find somewhere to buy produce for cooking later.  At first there was just a wasp or two buzzing around our heads, however, moments later we are being chased down the road by a swarm of them!  We each escaped with just a few bites and stings by running though some restaurant, sprinting out of their back door, heading towards the beach, and jumping into the Ocean.  The locals got quite a laugh from seeing the gringos swatting, yelling, swearing, screaming, and running for their lives.  It also rained pretty hard the two days we were there, and during the rain we had the pleasure of sharing our shelter with all the surrounding mosquitoes in their search for an escape.  Our hut flooded a bit during that time which attracted even more of them.  I am still scratching the bites. Over all it was a good time.

  We bussed out of there, crossed the boarder, and Panama is looking pretty cool.  We are taking a break from the beach and starting inland at David, Panama.  We are staying at a hostel built around a Waterfall.  It is one of the coolest places we’ve stayed by far.  You can make pottery, paint, listen to the live music, play Frisbee golf, play soccer, play basketball, play the drums or guitar, cook, swim in the river, swing or jump off the waterfall, swim in the pools, and the list goes on.  It’s run by a couple of young guys and their girlfriends who live on the property and have created the playground of their dreams.  The bartender loves salsa music and we had a salsa night in the bar; she was fun to dance with.  There are lots of mangos trees, and they collect a barrel full every day; free for all.  If you are ever passing through Panama I recommend looking up “ The Waterfall Hostel”.  On a side note, Angie finally got to see her Jesus lizards; they run across the river here.  Time is winding down, and we look forward to seeing everyone soon. 

 

Remembering My Cousin- Eli Fouts...

I haven't had a chance to write much as we have been pretty constantly on the go since Nicaragua, but I wanted to take a moment and write a quick blog. I studied abroad in Costa Rica four years ago, in the spring of '05. My brother and sister came to visit, and we had a great 10 days traveling around the country. As their visit ended we received news that our cousin Eli had died in a car accident. Of course hearing news like this one's heart stops for a few seconds as reality tries to set in. Fortunately my siblings were back in the states in time for the funeral, but I was unable to attend as my semester abroad was still finishing.

It's not just around this time of year that I remember him, he still pops in my head often. We were supposed to meet up and go out to eat when I got back from my study abroad, and I often daydream of what we would have talked about. I was excited to share with him my adventures and encourage him to explore his world as well. He was such an intelligent kid, and I was just beginning to see him turn into a young man. I feel like we were just getting to a point where we could really relate to each other when he passed away.

I'm not writing this trying to be a downer, I just want the people who cared about and loved my cousin to know they are not alone in missing him. I have dreams where the two of us are just sitting and chatting and passing hours along slowly. My cousin and I had many differences throughout our childhood, but my memories of him are positive. I still remember his smile and the way he laughed. I remember how he looked like the boy from Home Alone and everytime I watched that movie I envisioned it being Eli. I remember how he rode his bike. I remember how he always peeked at his Christmas presents early and wrapped them back up. (yes grandma, this happened). I remember how proud he was of his younger sister, Margie. I remember many things very clearly. As many people know, when you lose a loved one it's hard not to focus on how much you miss them. But, I believe its better to keep on living in their memory and celebrating the life they had. A piece of them can live on inside of you.

I love you, Eli.

It's a small world after all...

Hanging out in Granada and couchsurfing with Jonathan was indeed an experience, and a positive experience for sure.  As Josiah mentioned I did fall in love with his pet Chihuahua Nine.  I couldn't believe I so quickly became attached to the little guy.  He also gave me a welcome distraction of missing my little niece, Kaia.  He cuddled up with me on the couch all through the night!  I miss him terribly and made Jonathan promise if anything ever happened to him he would will me Nine.  Sigh.  We really appreciate everything our couchsurfing hosts have done for us.  They have provided us with great places to stay and great conversations.  I will remember each one uniquely.  (I'm sure we'll have more along the way).

Upon leaving Granada we headed 

to Isla de Ometepe.  This island is really quite incredible. Being in the middle of Lake Nicaragua (which is so big you feel for sure like you are in 

the middle of the ocean).  We found out that this island is nominated to be one of the new 7 wonders of the world.   The island is formed by two volcanoes growing out of the lake.  Walking onto the island is like taking a step back from life.  You can choose to go to a beach, or stay more up in the hills on a Finca...we chose the Finca Magdalena, an organic coffee plantation at the base of Volcan Madera.  This place is so peaceful.  Everyone eats in a common room where you can choose what you want and they just keep a list of everything you have ordered and you pay at the end.  We chose to stay in a dorm with about 10 other people for 2.50 cents a night.  All in all this was not a bad option.  We arrived there and found that the whole place was filled with about

90 percent German travelers.  They were some great people and we bonded well with them right from the start.  Not having used the little German I know in almost three years, I thought my brother would be proud to know I got compliments on not having a strong "American" accent when saying the few phrases I can remember.  Hey, its a start at least!!  

Staying on the Finca was priceless (even though it cost 2.50 a night.  hehe).  Around 3 or 4 in the morning everyone was awoken by

 the sound of howler monkeys calling to each other.  Being in a half asleep state, at first I wasn't sure if it was monkeys or wild pigs.  (There are a lot of herds of horses, cows, and pigs running the streets on this mostly dirt road island).  The monkeys continued their ranting for a good half an hour and then things got settled down...until the birds start chirping like crazy!  Although a bit distracting for sleep, I very much welcomed these noises of nature and enjoyed laying to bed taking it all in.

The reason for the Title of this blog, is because traveling around you ironically run into a lot of the same travelers you have previously met on the trip.  We were eating breakfast in Granada and a girl, Kat, came up to us and said, "Hey, I met you in Copan Ruinas (granted this is very far north in Honduras).  Last we knew she was headed up north with her mom.  She met a couple of guys and decided to change her plans and start traveling back down south.  We happened to be in the same small restaurant at the same time.  So random!  Since then we have met more people and keep running into them walking down the streets in different towns, or staying at the same hostal, or being in the same restaurant at the same time.  Even as I'm writing this blog from San Juan a boy just ran in from Argentina that we met on the Finca!  It's really quite funny and and interesting to see how our paths keep crossing.  We decided to do a tour of the Island of Ometepe with a group we kept running into.  Gordon (Canada), Lena, Tona, and Gary (England), Kat (Colorado), and the two of us.  They are a really energetic and fun group that we've been meeting up with the past couple of weeks.  We went to see Petroglyphs on the island, went to a nice beach, went to Ojo de Agua, and a natural swimming hole with crystal clear and refreshingly cool water.  We had a great time but were very tired afterward (at least I was).

The next day Josiah and I decided to do our own thing and headed across the island to a main town where the ferry crosses back to the mainland.  We rented bikes and headed to the Punta which is basically a sandbar out to a point on the lake.  It was fun riding there as we had to literally ride through a herd of cows on the road.  They paid us no attention and continued dominating the entire width of the road.  We made it through unharmed, laughing the entire way.  It was a long bike ride on bumpy roads, but it was worth it to see the beautiful sunset.  We decided to take a few self portraits with the timer on my camera, Josiah climbed some trees over the water, and it was a nice way to spend our last night on the island.  I definitely 

want to head back there again some day in the future.  There are many things we could have done that we just didn't have time to squeeze in!

Heading south on the way to Costa Rica we decided to make a stop in San Juan del Sur on the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua.  We have heard this is a popular spot, and even though it's not always the most fun to visit the touristy areas, we decided to stop in for a few days.  So far we've had a good time here.  The sunsets are gorgeous, and I even found a coffee shop with a plethora of options.  I had a great raspberry mocha, so things are looking up!  On the downside of being here, we were sitting under a palm tree along the beaches edge trying to escape the hot midday sun.  We got up after relaxing a bit and something BIT MY BUTTOX!  I'm talking about a BITE.  It hurt so bad that without thinking I basically showed whoever was around my bum in a panic to get whatever it was out of my shorts!  hahaha!  Oh man, it's funny to look back on, but i'm still suffering from a big welt on my butt cheek that is itchy and sore.  I hope it goes away soon, or bus rides may be a mit dreadful.  sigh.

I'm looking forward to next week.  We are leaving on Tuesday and heading to San Jose, Costa Rica where we will will anxiously away our great friend Kelley who is flying down on Thursday.  I'm always get so giddy when people I love get to come down and see the area of the world that I call my second home.  It will be such a joy having her here, and as I miss all of you it will be a refreshing piece of home!  I can't wait!  I'm sure we'll check in again soon.  Thanks for staying tuned.  We love you all!

And of course you can go to my Facebook page for more pictures with descriptions of what things are!