5 weeks in san juan del sur

ahhhh.... life is really relaxing. It has been hard to update the blog when every day has basically been the same. No i am not bored at all. i am really embracing the slow paced monotony. I know i will have plenty of time in my future to be running around.

Literally, i wake up, read for an hour or so. brush my teath, hop in the pool, make breakfast (it is probably like 9 am at this point) maybe read a little more or do some drawing, decide when we are gonna surf, hang out for a few hours by the pool, make lunch, go surf, come back, maybe drink a few beers, go to bed, then do it again.

that being said, there have been some interesting occurances.

We have been following the local baseball team and going to the games out here. Nicaraguan baseball games are legit. Everyone is smoking, drinking, and loudly talking shit about the pitcher's ex girfriend who is now sleeping with a member of the other team. There are the local drunks who attend every game and there is actually a job description for the guy who has to ussher these drunks back into the stands when they inevitably stumble onto the feild.

The ticket price is 50 cents, there are $1 beers, and a full plate of food is $2.50. Plus most weekends there is a double header so you make a day of it.

We also went to Omatepe island which is (apparently) the largest volcanic lake island in the world. We rode Scott's dirtbike on the ferry and i rented my own bike while i was there. We were like the show Chips as we motored all aorund the island. Really cool place to visit. Natual mineral springs to relax by, very friendly people, amazing views of the volcanos as you are surrounded by a huge lake.

An interesting anecdote of this trip was when we got a little lost on the moto's and tried to get back to the main road. We ended up crashing our way through a jagged rocky dry river bed until we hit an almost impossible section to get through. This riverbed happens to be a highway for locals who walk to and from work so they were laughing at us the whole way as we stumbled through. I tried to make it up this section and wrecked the bike a little. Nothing major, but slightly noticable to the trained eye. But after dusting my self off, The locals helped me push the bike up the rocky slope and we were on our way.

The next day i return the bike (including the cracked plastic light cover which i peiced on there attempting to hide the damage) and the lady said it was all good. We got on the ferry and i incurred no extra charges. phewww!

Until i got to the other side of the lake.

As we near the dock on the other side, i notice a ton of cops and a few military personel. Huh? they can't be waiting for me. it was just a dirt bike. I get off the ferry and they immidiatly start talking to a few people asking them their name. Then asking them if they know a michael. Oh Shit! They finally get to me and i admit my name . I little nervouse, i manage to figure out what the hell is going on. I guess i put $100 of damage on the bike and they wante me to get into a taxi with them to the atm to pay them. All thsi for $100. I suppose Nicaraguan police are pretty bored. So i comply and go to the atm with them, making sure Scott follows me on the dirtbike so they don'e haul me off to no-mans-land. Small price to pay to avoid Nica jail. exciting times.

Oh yeah, I also got pretty creative with facial hair again. this time i sculped the pencil thin mustach with a mole beard. Which means that i shaved everything exept for a pencil thin mustache and a small clump of hair that exentuates a small mole on my face. It was so hidious that Scott got uncomfortable looking at me. which says a lot for him.

Now i am getting ready to leave nicaragua. I depart on the 6th on my own and am meandering back through costa rica to meet friends in panama who are in search of good waves. It will be nice to see more friends from home. Scott is meeting up for this trip too. After that i plan to do a solo trek farther down south into colombia and ecuador. Looking forward to the experiences ahead and to see what it feels like traveling by myself.


here are some pics. two slide shows this time since i did not have time to combine the albums.