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!!