hola honduras: The Trip Teaser

As many of you know, for Christmas break I embarked upon a two and a half week journey around Central America. In brief, here's what happened:

Visa was extended to the wrong date- good story. good times.
Abby's sister's plane delayed twice because of Chicago snow
My friend Brett came in to San Pedro Sula, I got there late, so did his plane
Mom sent me my stocking, had an early Christmas present opening session before we left
Copan Ruinas
saw and held parrots, toucans, macaws, and other sweet birds at the bird park

Stayed at Cid's uncle's hostel- Blue Iguana. Some of the rules included "No wild sex after 3:00am," "No drugs after 2:00am," "Only 3 people in a shower at one time." None of these occurred while I was there.
Hot showers
Partied at Red Frog- beer ponged it old school style
Ran into Abby's friend, Ari from UC Santa Cruz- her and her friend, Pat are bicycling from Baja California to Panama
Met cool PC Volunteer- Courtney...improved my impression of the PC
Saw the ruins with the crew for the second time- nothing's changed, but still sweet

Ran into almost all of my students who live in Copan-- good kids
Took Gringo shuttle to Ranchero, Guatemala (5 hours)
Got yelled at and threatened by Guatemalan border officers
Tampered with government documents
Took local shuttle to Coban, Guatemala- road in a 16 seater van with at least 30 other locals
Finally made it to Coban, ate at a lovely Italian restaurant with a super sweet Guatamalen lady to take care of us
advertised "hot water," in reality, cold water
Shuttle to Semuc Champey-- another squishy ride (2.5 hours)
Abby sat next to a pig
my hand sanitizer got plenty of use
Came THIS THIS THIS close to leaving my passport in the hotel
Arrive in Semuc Champey- freakin middle of nowhere. BEAUTIFUL
Stay here for 3 days in a wooden cabin
cold showers
good number of misquitos bites
Giant taranchula in our room

Explored caves with only a Mayan mountain man and a candle, coolest thing I've ever done
Bought homemade chocolate bars from mal nourished Mayan children
WAS IN PARADISE. Semuc Champey- incredible
hiked a tough, unexpected 30 minute trail in flip flops to el mirador
was SO worth it
Swam in the emerald hot spring pools with the fishys

Played go fishy
Played euchre
Played Sweedish Idiot
Played spoons
hung out and joked around with the local workers
understood Spanish!
Relaxed in hammocks
Met some cool Canadians, an awkward Canadian, a Dutch man, Norwegians, and crazy hippie American without a passport: Jerrod, call me "Bear"
Road in the back of a pick up truck through the mountains of Guatemala

Shuttled to Antigua, Guatemala
Picked up 15 new passengers on the way, black market style- another squishy, smelly ride
Enjoyed an evening in Colonial Antigua- beautiful

witnessed cute Mayan vendor ladies "running" from la policia
Bargained with shuttle companies
Chilled at the Black Cat hostel/Umbabumba Hostel (or something like that)
Made friends with Luis the head hostel guy
coldish showers
Bus to El Salvador and then Nicaragua
Discovered that El Salvadorians are nice, El Salvadorian border officers are assholes
Tica Bus has air conditioning
hotel in San Salvador hooked us up. Watched Legally Blonde 2 on our TV
HOT SHOWER, SUPERB WATER PRESSURE BEST SHOWER IN CENTRAL AMERICA
Managua bus station es loco
Granada is brightly colored

Bearded Monkey is an awesome hostel
coldish showers, but it felt good
All hostels in Central America are named [insert adjective] [insert animal]
Granada has a lot of old churches
By this time, aquired about 40 misquito bites
scratched a lot
walked all around HOT Granada looking for Tica Bus
It was way too far too walk
But we walked anyway
Mistake
Went crazy souvenier shopping in the Masaja artisan craft market outside of Granada

In one day, ate bbq ribs, Louisianan Jambalaya, fresh salad, fried shrimp cocktail
Partied with the classic combination of Granadan Gliteroti and the Cargo Short Clad Backpackers for New Years at "El Club" and danced the night away
Was offered an iPhone as a gift from my Granadan dance partner who definitely lied about his age to seem older
I did not accept the iPhone.
I should have.
Left Granada a day early due to passport difficulties
Tica Bussed it to Liberia, Costa Rica
Danced with Abby on the border of Nicaragua & Costa Rica in celebration of getting past
Stayed the night in Liberia with a cockroach...and a TV!
Cold shower
New Years Day- nothing was open, had a choice of chinese food, chinese food, and chinese food for dinner
Ate really disgusting chinese food, REALLY disgusting
Found an ice cream shop that was open, remedied the situation
Local bussed it to Playa Tanmarindo...damn my Nicaraguan giant souveniers
Had major issues finding our hostel
Found our hostel
coldish shower but felt good
Slept all afternoon
ATE A CEASAR SALAD!!!!
Gabbed with fellow backpackers - Wales, Australia, England, Ireland, Canadian (French & English), Argentinian, U.S.