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| From WWOOFING IN C... |
Ah, much better...
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| From San Jose afte... |
Happy now Francis?
Monday, November 27, 2006
Hugh Jackman has nothing on me...
or at least he didn't.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit...
.....actually they are a seed, but then what kind of catchy rhyme would we have?
HAPPY TURKEY DAY!
It's day 136 and we are back in Xela this week to celebrate Thanksgiving by taking Spanish classes and eating Indian food. Huh? Well, it certainly won't compare to the traditional bocce and raviolis, but this trip had to have some sacrifices. Verdad?
We have been on a whirlwind tour since we last recorded our travels on the blog, and yes we have pictures to prove it (shocking, i know)! Our time after the farm started off slowly as Robert hunkered down to finish his graduate school applications (they are coming along very well and I am constantly impressed by his commitment and focus after his initial procrastination). So, we spent the week in San Jose long enough to catch a soccer game and the opera Don Pasquale.
After San Jose, we bused to Puerto Viejo de Limon for a chance to sleep in hammocks next to the Caribbean at Rockin' J's hostel and take surfing lessons. Our instructor's name was Topo and he was a native of Puerto Viejo. He runs a free surfing clinic for local children every Saturday in order to give them an outlet to avoid the temptations of the local drug scene. Although Puerto Viejo is beautiful, it is unfortunately situated in the direct route of drug trafficking from Colombia which can make for some ugly aspects as well.
After three hours of surfing, we were exhausted. Robert, of course, was a complete natural at surfing and impressed our instructors from the beginning, and I was just completely psyched that I got up at all. Mental note- need more upper body exercises! Anyway, it was so much fun.
After leaving Costa Rica, we took a series of long bus rides (as usual) to Panama City. We weren't originally going to visit Panama, but we were so close and thought it would be cool to see the Panama Canal. It turned out to be a great decision for so many reasons. We arrived at our hostel at 12:30 at night, successfully using public phones (a first, and in Spanish no less) to confirm they were in fact still open. The hostel was amazing and it felt very homey, which is always nice while traveling. We spent two days exploring the city, including watching ginormous ships pass through the Miraflores Locks just outside of the city. I don't think it was much different than the VanCleef Locks - just MUCH bigger! The boat we saw pass through was a giant container ship from China, likely on its way to fill the Wal-Marts of Central and North America and put more locals out of business. Yippeee for development.
On our last night in Panama City, we decided to follow the Lonely Planet suggested walking tour of the historic part of the city. Apparently we took a wrong turn at some point, ending up in a less than friendly area. It was one of those times when your sixth sense starts to kick in and give some not-so-subtle warnings. Then again, maybe that was the lady on the balcony yelling at us (based on accompanying hand gestures, she wasn't inviting us to dinner) to turn around and leave. And if that weren't clear enough, a posse of bicycle cops proceeded to stop a cab and gestured for us to get in. Point taken. We were out of there.
No harm, no foul but we just wish we had known what exactly happened. We made the best of the evening by finding a Mediterranean restaurant and partaking in un poco vino rojo. Que bueno.
The next morning, we were up early to catch a flight to the San Blas Islands, home to the indigenous Kuna Indians. They have an incredible history; they are autonomous from the Panamanian government, having been given the islands and a small piece of the mainland to call home after a revolution in the 40s. Without going into too much detail, there are 365 islands and were were lucky enough to visit three during our two day trip. We stayed with a local family who showed us around and welcomed us into their home. We spent our evenings playing cards with the kids and their friends, while learning a few Kuna expressions.
This particular experience certainly pushed the boundaries of our comfort level in terms of amenities, namely in the baño realm. The community bathroom that we used was located at the end of a dock. There were bamboo walls for privacy, but the toilet consisted of a small wooden frame with a toilet seat placed around the hole, which opened directly to the ocean below. It's hard to convey the setup, but needless to say, we thought twice before swimming anywhere nearby!
It was sad to leave the islands and particularly the children, even after such a short time. I'll always fondly recall pulling away in the canoe headed to the landing strip of an airport and waving goodbye to our buddy Kevin who had run to the dock to see us off.
So our flight took us straight back into Panama City and we went directly to the bus terminal to book yet another international bus headed north - this time a 14 hour trip back to San Jose, followed by 12 more hours to Granada, Nicaragua. Not having showered for about four days, our plush hotel in Granada was worth every penny...that we'll be paying off four months from now! Anyway, we booked a canopy tour for the following day, grabbed subway sandwiches (mmm..veggies), and passed out. The next morning, we caught a local bus to the nearby National Park and made our way to the ranger station to meet our next guides - Domingo and Martin. We spent the rest of the morning flying over cafetals (coffee fields) on zip lines. It was quite a rush and definitely will make the highlight reel.
The rest of our only full day in Granada was spent walking around the city. It reminded us of Antigua, Guatemala with its cobblestone streets, colonial architecture, and wonderful central park.
The next day, were were off again. First, a short trip to Managua where we found the King Quality bus terminal (ahh...king quality...the luxury) where we booked our 2:30 am departure for Guatemala City. Too cheap to get a hotel room, no place to store our bags, and 12 hours to kill, we headed across the street to the mall. We set up shop in the food court for about 6 hours, eating and reading the time away. Then we treated ourselves to Saturday night date-night, this time involving a double feature of The Infiltrators and Nacho Libre....oh, and popcorn! The last movie, strategically chosen, ended a little after midnight. With the bus terminal closed until 1:30am, we only had an hour and a half to kill. So of course, we staggered across the street to the 24-hour "On The Run" gas station for caffeine and cards (current rummy score: Lizard=8910, Bob=9005). This night too will certainly make the highlights.
15 hours and three countries later, we arrived in Guatemala City, caught the 6pm bus to Xela and arrived at our hostel at 10pm.
Here we are, back in Xela where the great saga began. It's Thanksgiving afternoon and I spent the morning in Spanish lessons with Antonieta while Bert worked on applications. We're having coffee (don't worry, Amalia, decaf for me!) in about an hour with our former host mother's granddaughters and then we're off for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at Sabor de India!
T-minus 21 days and counting...
HAPPY TURKEY DAY!
It's day 136 and we are back in Xela this week to celebrate Thanksgiving by taking Spanish classes and eating Indian food. Huh? Well, it certainly won't compare to the traditional bocce and raviolis, but this trip had to have some sacrifices. Verdad?
We have been on a whirlwind tour since we last recorded our travels on the blog, and yes we have pictures to prove it (shocking, i know)! Our time after the farm started off slowly as Robert hunkered down to finish his graduate school applications (they are coming along very well and I am constantly impressed by his commitment and focus after his initial procrastination). So, we spent the week in San Jose long enough to catch a soccer game and the opera Don Pasquale.
After San Jose, we bused to Puerto Viejo de Limon for a chance to sleep in hammocks next to the Caribbean at Rockin' J's hostel and take surfing lessons. Our instructor's name was Topo and he was a native of Puerto Viejo. He runs a free surfing clinic for local children every Saturday in order to give them an outlet to avoid the temptations of the local drug scene. Although Puerto Viejo is beautiful, it is unfortunately situated in the direct route of drug trafficking from Colombia which can make for some ugly aspects as well.
After three hours of surfing, we were exhausted. Robert, of course, was a complete natural at surfing and impressed our instructors from the beginning, and I was just completely psyched that I got up at all. Mental note- need more upper body exercises! Anyway, it was so much fun.
After leaving Costa Rica, we took a series of long bus rides (as usual) to Panama City. We weren't originally going to visit Panama, but we were so close and thought it would be cool to see the Panama Canal. It turned out to be a great decision for so many reasons. We arrived at our hostel at 12:30 at night, successfully using public phones (a first, and in Spanish no less) to confirm they were in fact still open. The hostel was amazing and it felt very homey, which is always nice while traveling. We spent two days exploring the city, including watching ginormous ships pass through the Miraflores Locks just outside of the city. I don't think it was much different than the VanCleef Locks - just MUCH bigger! The boat we saw pass through was a giant container ship from China, likely on its way to fill the Wal-Marts of Central and North America and put more locals out of business. Yippeee for development.
On our last night in Panama City, we decided to follow the Lonely Planet suggested walking tour of the historic part of the city. Apparently we took a wrong turn at some point, ending up in a less than friendly area. It was one of those times when your sixth sense starts to kick in and give some not-so-subtle warnings. Then again, maybe that was the lady on the balcony yelling at us (based on accompanying hand gestures, she wasn't inviting us to dinner) to turn around and leave. And if that weren't clear enough, a posse of bicycle cops proceeded to stop a cab and gestured for us to get in. Point taken. We were out of there.
No harm, no foul but we just wish we had known what exactly happened. We made the best of the evening by finding a Mediterranean restaurant and partaking in un poco vino rojo. Que bueno.
The next morning, we were up early to catch a flight to the San Blas Islands, home to the indigenous Kuna Indians. They have an incredible history; they are autonomous from the Panamanian government, having been given the islands and a small piece of the mainland to call home after a revolution in the 40s. Without going into too much detail, there are 365 islands and were were lucky enough to visit three during our two day trip. We stayed with a local family who showed us around and welcomed us into their home. We spent our evenings playing cards with the kids and their friends, while learning a few Kuna expressions.
This particular experience certainly pushed the boundaries of our comfort level in terms of amenities, namely in the baño realm. The community bathroom that we used was located at the end of a dock. There were bamboo walls for privacy, but the toilet consisted of a small wooden frame with a toilet seat placed around the hole, which opened directly to the ocean below. It's hard to convey the setup, but needless to say, we thought twice before swimming anywhere nearby!
It was sad to leave the islands and particularly the children, even after such a short time. I'll always fondly recall pulling away in the canoe headed to the landing strip of an airport and waving goodbye to our buddy Kevin who had run to the dock to see us off.
So our flight took us straight back into Panama City and we went directly to the bus terminal to book yet another international bus headed north - this time a 14 hour trip back to San Jose, followed by 12 more hours to Granada, Nicaragua. Not having showered for about four days, our plush hotel in Granada was worth every penny...that we'll be paying off four months from now! Anyway, we booked a canopy tour for the following day, grabbed subway sandwiches (mmm..veggies), and passed out. The next morning, we caught a local bus to the nearby National Park and made our way to the ranger station to meet our next guides - Domingo and Martin. We spent the rest of the morning flying over cafetals (coffee fields) on zip lines. It was quite a rush and definitely will make the highlight reel.
The rest of our only full day in Granada was spent walking around the city. It reminded us of Antigua, Guatemala with its cobblestone streets, colonial architecture, and wonderful central park.
The next day, were were off again. First, a short trip to Managua where we found the King Quality bus terminal (ahh...king quality...the luxury) where we booked our 2:30 am departure for Guatemala City. Too cheap to get a hotel room, no place to store our bags, and 12 hours to kill, we headed across the street to the mall. We set up shop in the food court for about 6 hours, eating and reading the time away. Then we treated ourselves to Saturday night date-night, this time involving a double feature of The Infiltrators and Nacho Libre....oh, and popcorn! The last movie, strategically chosen, ended a little after midnight. With the bus terminal closed until 1:30am, we only had an hour and a half to kill. So of course, we staggered across the street to the 24-hour "On The Run" gas station for caffeine and cards (current rummy score: Lizard=8910, Bob=9005). This night too will certainly make the highlights.
15 hours and three countries later, we arrived in Guatemala City, caught the 6pm bus to Xela and arrived at our hostel at 10pm.
Here we are, back in Xela where the great saga began. It's Thanksgiving afternoon and I spent the morning in Spanish lessons with Antonieta while Bert worked on applications. We're having coffee (don't worry, Amalia, decaf for me!) in about an hour with our former host mother's granddaughters and then we're off for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at Sabor de India!
T-minus 21 days and counting...
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