no more beans, but more bus adventures

For all of you who have posted comments, gracias and no se preocupen (thank you and don´t worry). Nicaragua for the most part (outside of Managua) is super tranquilo, safe, and friendly. And of course, I am finding new friends each day along the way who make the journey more enjoyable. I started the trip off by befriending 2 guys from Chicago. On Saturday and Sunday in Leon I did some sightseeing with a guy who has raices (roots) in Nicaragua, but lived most of his life in Vancouver, Canada. Today on the tour I took of Las Isletas (the little islands) I joined two families. One of the families now lives in Honduras because the husband is from there and got a great government job. The other sister and her family are from around Chicago and she is a teacher in a dual language program. Needless to say, they have all made wonderful and stimulating company along the way.
Now...for the adventures. I left Leon on Sunday morning and on my way out I sat down for a bit to chat with the senora of the guesthouse. She talked about her life and when they moved her family to Guatemala for work and education. In the USA we always assume that immigrants are always coming our way for work, so it has been eyeopening to learn more about the stories, experiences, and patterns of migration within Central America. To get to Granada, I had to take one bus and then switch to another to get there. The first ride (after waiting 30-40) minutes for it to fill up with people was a fairly calm ride in minivan type vehicle. The next ride, however, was not so calm even though I was promised it was directo a Granada. There was only one other tourist on the bus who was an Israeli guy who I had a short broken English conversation with in the beginning as I asked him to keep an eye on my bag as he watched his (both were tucked somewhere between the driver and first seat). After that the bus just continued to fill up with people until at one point I felt the guy sleeping beside me start falling over on to me on one side and the man holding a baby start falling on to me on the other side. And just when you thought it could not get any tighter, the man who works the bus comes squeezing through all of that to collect the bus fare. If you have not seen the bus assistant job, it is quite remarkable. He flies on the edge of the bus yelling "a Granada" and hopping on and off quickly at each stop to collect more people. I can´t imagine a job much more stressful or dangerous and can´t imagine that the pay is that great. So, after all of that I arrive in Granada which fulfills all of my expectations of a charming, colorful, colonial small city. It has wonderful parks and pedestrian streets with nice outdoor restaurants, etc. It is a bit touristy, but I don´t seem too mind since the type of tourist who comes to Nicaragua is not exactly the same kind of tourist who would be going to Cancun, Mexico on Spring Break. After all of those transportation adventures, I had my most favorite transportation at the end of the day. Dubbed the "party bus" by the guide book, this vehicle is basically a few carts attached to a colorful John Deere tractor that carts mostly families around town and by the lake for less than 50 cents while blaring the latest Latin pop hits. I was in my glory breezing past the beautiful lake sunset while Enrique Iglesias was singing in the background. Today I headed out for a tour of Las Isletas first in kayak and then in a small boat. This is when I was with the group of two families. We all quickly meshed well together and I was in awe of their wonderful bilingual children. Going past these small islands with gorgeous homes built on them was when I did see that there is in fact wealth in Nicaragua (along with several of the houses in Granada). We finished up with a most delightful meal of fresh coconut water out of the coconut, fresh fish, and fried plantains...all for under 6 dollars per person.
It has been wonderful to practice my Spanish and I am learning a few local words or sayings. The main word is "chelle" (not sure about the spelling) which means foreigner and is used for anyone who does not come from here. Ironically, it can also be used to call your waiter over for service. I am not really sure why.
Tomorrow I am going to take a canopy tour of the volcano mombacho. This involves ziplining through the canopy of the forest by the volcano and getting spectacular views. I can´t wait!