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Eliminating my cultural ignorance one country at a time! 
Jan 21, 2008 09:00 PM Back to the States
Today was the only day of the entire trip where I encountered any kind of regret. Another flight from Mexico City to Hermosillo, Mexico. Then on to Phoenix which would be my 5th flight in 6 days. 4 of which were international and involved going through customs. Bright side is I am fairly confident with my spanish now as it relates to airport terms and customs for the next trips. Hermosillo's airport had us get off on the tarmac which I haven't done at an airport since I was in the Army. The security doesn't have the technology of most airports so they completely search your gear and luggage by hand. Interesting start and finish to the trip: The very first store, shop, restaurant of any kind I saw when I walked off the plane on my first international trip in Mexico City five days prior- Starbucks coffee. The very first store, shop, restaurant of any kind when I returned to the U.S. and walked out of U.S. Customs- Starbucks coffee. The best part of Nicaragua might just be the lacking of American commericalism and corporations. I didn't see one Starbucks, McDonalds, WalMart the entire time.
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Jan 20, 2008 09:00 PM Mexico City-again
I left San Juan del Sur early today in a taxi. I foolishly underestimated my ability to take in the sun and was VERY sunburn which makes carrying a pack quite the burden. The taxi guy took me about 10 miles outside of San Juan and then in the middle of the road in the jungle just stops and tells me to get out. A second car with two guys in it pull up and they tell me to get in with them as they are going to Rivas. A quick recount of all the kidnappings and stories you hear about in Central America ran through my head. I assumed the worst and hoped for the best and the latter came through. The first driver just didn't want the fare all the way to Rivas and the other driver did. Then I took a chicken bus from Rivas to Managua which was honestly a bit miserable. Jointly because I had a horrible sun burn but also because it was Monday morning and the bus stopped 5,000,000 times and was absolutely packed the entire time. The bus's are not made for anyone over 6 foot tall as the seats are so tiny my legs were asleep the entire 3 hour ride. Of course it cost me $2.10 so it was totally worth the hassle and discomfort. Then Managua to Mexico City and back to Hotel Habita. They of course all remembered me as I was just there a few days before and I had a great meal at a restaurant called El Bajia and then got ready to fly back to the U.S.
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Jan 19, 2008 09:00 PM The Beach at Last
Finally reaching the Pacific after a couple hours in a taxi. I was going too late at night to take the bus and ended up spending way too much on the ride there. The driver was very annoyed to even be going to San Juan that late at night (8pm Sat. night) but certainly was worth his time. The road from Rivas to San Juan del Sur was horrendeous with the average speed about 2 mph because the entire road was one big pothole. The beach was amazing but if I were to go back I would have gone farther south to some other beaches like La Playa de Coco closer to Costa Rica. I met some great friends from San Jose Costa Rica that were at my hotel drinking beer all day. Very proud Ricas who were seemingly only trying to convince me to come stay with them in San Jose so they can show off their country to an American. It wasn't very hard to convince me.
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Jan 18, 2008 09:00 PM Longest Day Ever
I Woke up at 6am to meet my guide Miguel to hike Mombacho volcano. 7 hours later I jumped on a chicken bus 30 minutes to Masaya for the Nicaraguan World Series. Caught that game then taxi'd 40 minutes to the town of Diriamba for the big festival of the Saint San Sabastian. Then took a 2 and a half hour taxi in the dark with a driver that couldn't stay awake in a car with half a head light with pot holes 5 feet wide and 2 feet deep to a town on the Pacific coast I didn't have room in. All with my 40lb pack on. Probably the best day ever at the same time.
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Jan 17, 2008 09:00 PM Latin America-New Friends
I ran into a young couple in the Managua airport. Carlo from Peru and Helin from Korea. We shared a cab to the bus station and made our way across to Granada. We explored the town a good bit and had dinner while I met a random local guy, Miguel, who would be my guide up Mombacho Volcano the next morning.
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Jan 16, 2008 09:00 PM Mexico City
The sheer size of the city (22,000,000 people) can be intimidating. Being in the hotel business myself I was able to get a great rate at the very nice Hotel Habita in the El Polonco area. I quickly realized this was the posh area of the city. Beautiful streets lined with business suits and beautiful women, shops, jewelry stores and restaurant after restaurant after restaurant. Probably not a fair assesment of the city as a whole but I certainly left with a much better opinion then when I went in.
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Jan 15, 2008 09:00 PM One More Day!
I leave tomorrow for Mexico City and then on to Nicaragua. I'm hoping the last month of studying my spanish book will pay off and I'll actually remember all the spanish classes I've taken over the years. The Nicaraguan baseball championship series conveintently falls on this weekend and one of the games will be played in Masaya, Nicaragua when I was already planning on being there so I am very excited to see a game there. Baseball, not soccer/futbol, is the national pastime so they are fanatics there for the game. Really excited to have some new pictures and reports to upload for everyone and fill in some countries on the map!!
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Dec 19, 2007 09:00 PM Nicaragua!
I purchased my first international plane ticket this week for Managua, Nicaragua for January 17th! I've never been outside of the States besides a few trips inside Mexico and Canada. I'm going during a festival in Dirambia while they celebrate the towns Saint San Sabastian and then a trip to San Juan del Sur farther south down the coast. Also a couple nights in Mexico City because I've always wanted to go there. 28 days and counting!!!
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