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!

Journeying further South...

We made it to Nicaragua!  Honduras had a much hotter temperature than Guatemala, and it is even hotter than Honduras here.  We’ve been in Nicaragua just over a week now and it’s averaged in the nineties.  Our time in Honduras was fun! We enjoyed staying with Josue and his family in La Ceiba/ Santa Ana; they were very welcoming.  What stood out to me about Honduras was its agriculture. With year round dependable sunlight and an endless supply of rainwater they are able to grow just about anything; even their fences are grown.  Fences are made from the branches of a special tree whose branches grow into trees themselves.  So it’s common there to pick a lot of your fruits and veggies right from your own front yard.  And in relation to that, you see more stray families of chickens, hens, goats, and cows as opposed to dogs and cats.  The trip from Honduras to Nicaragua was a long string of taxis and buss changeovers that spanned for many hours. However, in that period of time our paths were aligned with Janelle (an Alaskan studying in Costa Rica).  She spent her school break learning to scuba dive in Honduras and was headed back down.  It was entertaining how annoyed she was in now being associated with Sarah Palin.  We enjoyed sharing stories and the time flew by.

Looking back on this trip so far here are a few more cultural differences that are noteworthy; please excuse the randomness.  *The salsa scene starts to run dry south of the Guatemalan boarder.  *The number one leading security system in every country has been a guard armed with a big gun; that goes for everything from corporate banks to small ice-cream shops and bakeries.  *Lizards are a common pest problem; they are loud and sound like chirping birds in the nighttime.  I can image how someone would freak out In Indiana if they turned on the light in their room and lizards scattered everywhere.  I’m also very amused when I think about instead of saying, “we have ants or roaches” saying “we’ve got lizards”.  *Tropical rainfall leaves a lot of standing water sitting around, and standing water is where mosquitoes love to nest.  There is quite an infestation of bloodsuckers.  Even having used repellent, I’ve been bitten more in the last three weeks than in the last five years.  *Addresses for locations are very different as well.  Things like numbers, street names, and zip codes just aren’t used; instead they reference points and descriptions.  For example, an official home address would be, “three and a third blocks northwest of the Merced Church, the green house with white trim and purple flowers”…seriously!  *As an alternative to restaurants there are tons of comedors (eateries).  Anyone with a kitchen, some cardboard signs, and plastic lawn furniture can have a comedor.  They throw the chairs and tables on the sidewalk/street in front of their houses and go into business.  *And lastly, the existence of the auto-motels.  Strict religious practices, extreme conservatism, and lifelong griping parental totalitarianism control over children have created this new industry in Latin America.  Sex is forbidden before marriage, and most children live with their parents until they marry.  However, people are still messing around.  The theme of these places is inconspicuousness.  I’ve been told that what happens is… couples pull into a garage of a building with no windows, the door shuts behind them, they swipe a credit card, a door open up ahead, a stair case appears that leading them to a fancy romantic room up above, rooms are rented by the hour, and parents, spouses, and/or neighbors never know.  It is quite sad; yet business seems to be booming.

  I’m really fitting in here; there is a thriving black community in the Garifuna.  Blacks that have been here since the Spanish brought them over as slave ages ago.  I’ve almost gotten discounts as a resident until they hear me speak, and Angie gets mad that I didn’t shut up.  Despite the heat, I like Nicaragua.  The people are nice here.  We spent a week in the capital, Managua.  It doesn’t seem to be as big as the other cities that we’ve passed through; we were able to get around pretty well by foot.  There are comedors on almost about every block.  Our lonely planet book suggested on called “Comidas Sara”. You’d never guess that such amazing food could be found in such a random spot and be so inexpensive.  We tried to volunteer in Managua, but our help was turned down because they need longer time commitments.  I say help is help.  There is a real pollution problem in Nicaragua.  We also found out that large populations of people live in the dump and are surviving off the garbage.  So many people live there that they have their own school right in the middle of the dump to educate the masses of children; relief efforts continue.  We noticed that traffic here is a lot more calm, but later realized that we’re in the poorest country in Central America and less people can afford cars.  The horse and buggies aren’t just for the tourists in this country.  Someone once said that the poverty here is almost tangible.  Not much better off than the beggars are the working poor.  Many people work at places they can’t afford to shop and are getting paid very little to do so; you can see the resentment in their faces when you buy something.  In all, we didn’t develop a strong connection to Managua.

Now we are in Granada, Nicaragua. It really reminds us of Antigua, Guatemala with lots of beautiful colonial architecture; there are volcanoes that overshadow the city here also.  Everything is vibrant with color and the town has a real old-world feel to it.  When we began this journey one of the goals was to narrow down to one location where we’d want to start an organization.  Angie and I are getting some great vibes with the scene here in Granada!  I’m enjoying watching her fall in love with everything here. 

The salsa scene isn’t so great in Honduras or Nicaragua.  Most clubs focus more on Reggaeton , Ranchero, Bolero, and Bachata.  There is a shortage of salsa music, and an even bigger deficit of good dancers. Every where we've been the music you hear most in the streets is Bachata; it kind of become the theme music of our trip. It's come a long way from the shores of the Dominican Republic.

We are couch surfing with Jonathan L. Arland, a very successful gay artist/actor/realtor that has settled here.  He is very smart, funny, generous, and overall pretty entertaining to be around.  His house is beautiful, with a pool at its core.  It is very open, airy, colorful, designer, and carefully decorated with his many works of art.  The lighting here is pretty incredible, at night the house lights up like a (vip) nightclub.   He has some great friends and four little lapdogs, Nine, Ten, Eleven, and Twelve.  Angie has never been a dog lover, however, somehow she has become obsessed with Nine (a Chihuahua).  We went to watch

the sunset from a church bell tower today; it was soooo pretty.  We could see Lake Nicaragua, Volcanoes, and the entire city from there.  Tomorrow we move on, but Granada has been a lot of fun.  We are headed to “Isla de Ometepe”, an island formed from two volcanoes in the center of Lake Nicaragua.  Nos Vemos (we’ll see you)!!