Here I Am

All the punctiation keys above the numbers are broken, otherwise I´d have an exclamation point. Last night I flew into Managua, after a major flurry of frantic preparation on Monday evening--if, by frantic preparation, you mean getting together with Chris and Rene for a couple beers. Seriously, I was really busy before and after that.

Got into Managua around 8pm and about fainted from humidity, even though it was only in the upper 70s. Went through customs, got my bag, and used my charm to ask a travel agent type lady where I could call a hostel, and she offered to do it for me, as I was hoping. Got a taxi...I think they are a little better drivers here than Lima and San Jose. Even though turn signals, red lights and stop signs were all optional, he was calmer about it. My Spanish has really gone downhill, too. I need to start taking classes or something.

I stayed in a pepto pink room last night, wait til you see the pictures. This morning I wandered around a bit, decided I´d seen enough, and took a taxi to the bus station. Man they seemed glad to see me there, a guy took my bag out of the trunk and had it in the bus before I even paid the taxi driver. You´d think they were getting ready to leave, but they weren´t, so I´m not sure what the rush was, I was just glad to catch up to my bag. Lonely Planet said it was worth the extra 75 cents or whatever for a nicer, smaller bus, instead of a big school bus, and they were right.

Getting to Granada was weird because I got off where everyone else got off, and had no idea where I was. Couldn´t find anything that was on my map. So I got a chicken sandwich instead, and found another taxi, and told him I wanted to go to the Bearded Monkey hostel. Here, you share taxis. People just hop in. If you are waiting for an empty one, good luck. While this behavior was considered dangerous in Peru, here it is the norm. Anyway, here I am at the ¨Barba de Mono` hostel. I even went for a dorm room, not just cause it´s cheaper, but to meet people. I went many hours today before I saw any Americans/tourists/blondes. Weird to be a minority, but good to find somewhere that has other travelers in it. The hostel has free internet, but you can´t plug anything like cameras in to the computers so pictures forthcoming at some point.

I am having a good time, just can´t express it without the exclamation points. Haha. I think I´ll stay in Granada today and tomorrow, then take a bus down to Rivas and a ferry across to Isla de Ometepe. I forgot to mention yesterday that the island is made of 2 volcanoes, that´s the best part. Adios