Quick Update and Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am currently in Alajuela, Costa Rica. I ended up really enjoying my time in Nicaragua. I really enjoyed Leon, Nicaragua and doing the hike as well as visiting the beach that is close by on the Pacific side. After Leon, I headed to Granada, Nicaragua where I stayed for about 3 nights doing one day trip to Masaya before meeting Greg at the airport in Managua. We hiked to Lago de Apoyo which most people get to by bus, but we were lucky enough to meet up with some fellow HHK volunteers that drew us a map and directions to get to the lagoon and we were able to hike about 2 hours to it. It was lovely and we were on a side of the lagoon that was completely isolated. The next day we got up and made our way to Isla de Ometepe. Isla de Ometepe is a large island created by 2 joined volcanoes in the middle of a lake off of the shore of Granada. It was a trek to get there we took 3 buses and a ferry but it was well worth it. We stayed on the southwestern side of the island which is only accessible by a bumpy dirt and gravel road. The sunsets from where we were staying were amazing as well as the food and the people. We rented bikes one day and road all the way around the volcano Maderas. It was a 6 hour bike ride on old school bikes with no shocks using a dirt and gravel road that was insanely hilly. Initially I wanted to bike around the entire island, but the man renting us the bikes said that we should just try doing the nearest volcano. I am so glad he did because it was exhausting! It was extremely hot and really rough terrain. It was beautiful though and the people on the southeastern side of the island are pretty isolated because buses cannot make it to that side of the island because there is not a decent enough road. There is only one paved road which runs half way around the northern volcano. The people on the southeastern side of the island do not get to see many tourists and they were all very eager to chat with us and meet us. Each time we would stop to take a drink or shade break kids would run up to us wanting to chat. It was good times. To really enjoy the island though you cannot be pressured for time and have to be more or less up for anything and wanting to relax. The bus schedules are pretty inconsistent and sometimes only running twice a day and the ferries run weather depending. We met quite a few people that thought that the island would be much more tourist friendly and easier to travel around than it was. We had a blast though. On our third day there we did a waterfall hike which was also really nice. We were going to go to the summit of the smaller volcano, but after the bike ride I just could not do it.

From Isla de Ometepe we headed to San Juan Del Sur for 2 days and a night. It was nice but really touristy and got bad marks on my list because there were hardly any places where you could find sweet bread (pan dulce) which I am hooked on! But luckily we were only there for 2 days and then we made our way across the boarder and into Costa Rica. We first went to Liberia a small cowboy ranch town. We got a really decent and cheap place to stay with a T.V.. It was my first T.V. in a LONG time! We also were able to find plenty of bakeries and little diners or "sodas" with delicious food! Upon arriving in Liberia we hadn't eaten a decent meal in over a day and had been traveling for about 7 hours. We had been walking around looking for a cheap place to stay for about an hour and finally found a good room where we dropped off our stuff. We then walked around looking for a good place to eat. We found a place named Soda Ines' which looked welcoming, and it was. It was an awesome little diner with the most amazing food. It could have been because I was so hungry but it was delicious! I got the casado con pollo which was a huge plate with white rice, black beans, roasted chicken, a salad made of eggs, potatoes and beets as well as a zucchini salad which was amazing. Oh and a place of fresh corn tortillas. It was amazing. We visited a volcano our first full day in town and did more hiking. The National Park that we went to is described as the Yellow Stone of Central America. It was really pretty and we saw some really interesting and smelly sights. After Liberia we made our way south to Alajuela which is right near the airport. It is a really nice town with bakeries everywhere! For Valentines Day Greg and I are going to go to 3 bakeries and get 1 thing from each. There are so many delicious choices! We went to one bakery twice yesterday and it takes us forever to make our way through town because I have to stop in every bakery just to see what they have. My mouth is watering thinking about it... Today we went to another volcano, Volcan Poas. It was a bit of a let down because both the lagoon and crater were covered in mist and fog and it was raining. Although the rain was actually nice. I was cold for the first time in a while.

Greg heads back home tomorrow while I make my way first east to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica for a couple of nights and then I will cross my final border into Panama. In Panama I plan on spending about 5 days in Bocas Del Toro, 2 or 3 in Boquete and then my final days in Panama City checking out the canal before catching my flight home. I will update probably one more time with my adventures in Panama. If any of you are curious if I miss the kids, the answer is yes, terribly! Greg came at a good time because after Bethany left to go back to the orphanage I found myself looking through all of my old pictures and reading all of the cards wrote me and just crying. I found myself sitting on buses alone not wanting to talk to anyone but just thinking about the kids and my eyes would well up. But once Greg got her and I had a traveling buddy again it helped take my mind off of the kids. Which after tomorrow, once Greg leaves, I am sure the feelings will come back up again. I am really hoping to go back for New Years with my 2 Hogar roommates and actually maybe all 3 could make it.

I hope everyone is staying warm. I hear that you guys in Portland got some more snow! I will see you all soon.