Hola a todos! I have arrived. On Wednesday around 5pm I finally got to Leon. I was awake for nearly 30 hours and exhausted. I slept like a freakin' rock that night. It rained last night a lot. Feels very nice out today, though I have a few mosquito bites already. But no importa.

I'm sorry to say, but I haven't taken a single picture since I've been here. I was always not so good at remembering to snap pictures, but more so when I feel like a douche bag tourist taking a picture. Soon I will have pictures for you all. The country is just as breathtaking as it was the last time I was here. The people are just as friendly and wonderful. The gallopinto (rice and beans) is just as delicious as I remember. The rain is still ridiculous.

The dorm is very nice. Everyone was really welcoming. Dwyer and I are in a dorm room with 6 beds. Right now there are only 4 people staying in the room, so it's fairly quiet. We have a maid who does our laundry for $US 3 and half of that money goes directly to her, and the other half goes to the Foundation. There are Spanish lessons for $US 6/hour, and again, half of that goes to the instructor, and half goes to the Foundation. I am about to take a refresher course today for 2 hours. I need to improve just a bit.

Yesterday I visited my host family and another family. It is incredible how welcoming everyone is here. I stopped by a hostel that I remembered and the woman who owned the hostel remembered me. Kisses on the cheek and hugs all around. It was wonderful to see everyone again. I feel like I am home again.

So, I'm not really sure what to write about since I haven't done anything new yet. I'll tell you all a little bit about our journey here because that is always a difficult experience for a foreigner. We arrived at the airport and left the building and immediately a taxi driver asked if we needed a ride. I was told to cross the street and catch a cab like the Nicas do so we didn't get ripped off, but the road was wide and I was afraid to cross with so much luggage. So we took a cab to la UCA (the bus station) for $US 20. Meh. Probably a bit of a rip off, but it was a long drive. Then we got to la UCA and there are all these vans and people yelling stuff like, "A Granada!" or "A Leon!" We hopped on one to Leon, paid for 3 seats (one for our luggage) and we were crammed like sardines in a van. There were maybe 14 people in a single van. It was hot and sticky and crowded, but after 2 hours, we arrived in Leon!!!!! I acted like a tough guy and really pissed a cab driver off because I thought a cab drive in Leon was still only $C 15 a person. Whoops, the rate changed to $C 20 a person. My bad. I kept telling him he was lying and I knew he was wrong, and finally I just gave up and believed him, and now I feel like a jerk since he was telling the truth. It really wasn't even a big deal. The exchange rate right now is 23 cordobas per US dollar. Pretty favorable, no?

Public trasnportation here is both great and terrible. Yesterday I took a public bus. $C 3.50. It was fast, but crowded and hot. They also have the camionetas, which are just trucks with a tarp over the back. You grab onto the guy's hand in the back and hop on as it drives past. Also very fast. Looks absolutely miserable, though.

I feel 100% confident here for the first time since I've ever traveled. Maybe it's because I feel like I have to be strong and knowledgable for Dwyer to get around, or maybe it's because I have grown since my last trip. Either way, nothing scares me. Nothing intimidates me. I feel very confident in my language abilities. I have been able to have tons of conversations and if I don't understand something, instead of smiling and nodding, I just ask. I feel like I am ready for something new, but I'm not sure what yet.

We are thinking of taking a trip to Costa Rica, but it sounds like it might be difficult. I think we could stop in at a travel agency and just ask. The bus ride is supposed to be like 12 hours, so we would probably have to take a whole week off work and Spanish lessons to take this trip, but it would be amazing. I was also thinking about maybe going to Honduras, but I'm hesitant because I don't know what there is to do there!

Anyway, that's that for now. This weekend we are off to Granada maybe? I don't really know. We will figure it out in the morning or later tonight. I'll write again after something interesting happens.