Bugs

Hello, everyone! I just got home from an amazing weekend at the beach. We went to the Tortuga Hostel in Poneloya-ish. It was very relaxing and a much-needed break from Leon. It's crazy how much I missed my bed here...even if it's a single bunk bed!


I've been to this hostel before so it wasn't as ridiculous of a trip as I remember, but for anyone who has never been there, it seems kind of nuts. To get there, we take a "chicken bus" (old US school buses used for short distances) to Poneloya. We get off the bus and look for Chepe's Place, a random bar. Then we ask for Juan Carlos. Then Juan Carlos takes us on a boat ride somewhere, we get off, and a man with a horse and carriage takes us the rest of the way. This time it was a little boy, 13 years old, who directed the horse for us.


We spent the day playing in the ocean, getting sunburnt, and drinking. The waves here are so crazy. The tide is incredibly strong, so I honestly fear the ocean a bit. But I went swimming nonetheless and had an awesome time. Some of us attempted to learn to surf (I did not), and it was met with mixed success. A lot of bruises and blood. We played some beach volleyball with the other people staying at the hostel and everyone had one hell of a night. We met some med students from UC Davis that were doing some work in the communities near Esteli. They were so cool, and it was refreshing to speak with educated people doing good things, too, and not just random backpackers.


Something that I have gotten used to here is BUGS. They are everywhere. Last night, I went to lay in the disgustingly moist top bunk bed and there were bugs all over my sheets. I just brushed them off and tried to fall asleep. I was bit like 7 times in the first minute I laid down. Gross. Eating can be kind of annoying because you spend most of the meal shooing away flies. It's at the point where we honestly just don't care that flies are in our food. I can't tell you all how many times I've just pulled flies out of my food and continued eating.


The next day we just relaxed and swam. We decided to hitch hike home instead of taking the bus. We just sort of  walked in the direction of Leon and waited for cars to pass by us and thumbed them down. Eventually three of us ran into a blonde German girl, who was also attempting to secure a ride back to Leon. She is here also doing do-good work for a non-profit organization. Very cool to meet people just like us from all over the world. A truck finally stopped and we all hopped in the bed of the truck and they drove us into the city. We jumped out when we were where we wanted to be. I never knew hitch hiking could be so easy and so safe. There are probably not many countries in the world where you could so safely do so, but really, here in Nicaragua there is not very much to fear (despite popular silly US opinion).


I wish there were not so many tourists here (even though there really are not very many at all). US missionaries are the easiest to spot. They don't even bother to learn the culture or the language and they walk around in huge groups, looking stupid. I don't understand how a group plans on helping a country if they don't even take the time to understand it first.


My dilemma is: I love this country so much and I want everyone to see how awesome it is, but I never want it to change. More tourism means change. And fortunately for them, tourism also means money coming into their economy. But the problem is...I don't want the people here because they're ruining it! Haha.


Well, anyway, I'm tired, so...until next time! Oh, and sorry, but I forgot to snap pictures this time. Oh well.