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Home Sweet Home

Where have I been? Why haven't I updated? What the hell am I doing?

All of those questions will be answered soon. I promise! And yes, you'll get a debriefing of my year in Honduras and travels around Central America.

I'm home with Mom and a mile long list of things to do! Concluding post is on its way!

Day Trip to Masaya and Other Random Things

Last day here and I'm not sure I'm ready to go home quite yet. I have enjoyed this country so much and would go back to San Juan del Sur and lay on the beach in a heartbeat. But instead, I have a 10 hours bus ride ahead to me to San Jose, another 10 hours of waiting in the airport until my 8 hours of flying. What would you rather do?

Last night was crazy. Thanks to Luke Leiden, I learned that his younger brother, Chris, was in Nicaragua as well. It turned out that we were both in Granada so we planned to meet up. Chris and his friend Amanda, also from Altoona, met me at my hostel and we all went to grab a drink. They had been traveling for a couple weeks around Nicaragua and had created quite a network of fellow backpackers, all of whom happened to pass us on the street while we were sitting at an outdoor cafe. We started with 3 people from Altoona and wound up with an international crowd of 12. Great company and great catching up!

Speaking of catching us, these below pictures from Austin's visit were hiding in my camera. Sneaky sneaky. The two of us explored a second-hand clothing store and we were shocked! Appalled! Horrified! Utterly disgusted! Yet... it was plenty amusing.

Super-soaker or light-saver?

Need a backpack?

I think people have died trying to dig through these piles.

We needed to get out of there. Quickly. It was so dirty. So massive. And so loud. We walked to a cafe and ate soy burgers. Soy burgers in Nicaragua. I'm not kidding. See:

Soy burger patty, avocado, and pepper jack cheese on a sesame seed bun.

Anyway, that was the backlog. Here's the newest:

Yesterday I decided to get out of town and head to Masaya. Masaya is 30 minutes from Granada and is often visited by tourists because of its volcano and artisan market. I took a local bus that dropped us off in the middle of a dusty, trash-covered filled. I had planned on walking to the Old Market because it looked close on the map but was warned by the friends I made on the bus that I should take a taxi there. Good advice!

The Old Market, restored to its former glory after the Revolution,  is enclosed by a basalt wall with portals leading you to the street and other areas of the market. 

Inside, there were dozens of artisans selling hammocks, jewelry, t-shirts, wooden crafts, ceramics, painting, and pottery.

After I got what I needed, I sat down at this little cafe and ate a typical Nica meal: gallo pinto, tajadas, and cheese.

 It was such a hot day and I was so excited to get back to Casa del Agua. Pictures below!

I'm all packed up and taking it easy tonight. It's going to be a long day tomorrow! I'm almost home!