Across the Border

It's a beautiful Sunday in Nicaragua. Last week went by so quickly. We had dinner at the Pension a few nights. We finally got our internet connection at home on Thursday... yahoo! We were planning to leave for Nicaragua on Friday morning but we weren't able to get on the bus. Ran had gone in three times to buy tickets and kept being told not to worry about it, that there would be space. Well, we got up early on Friday and rushed to Santa Elena with our suitcase to make it to the ticket counter when they openend at 0545. And what do you know, there was just one seat left on the Tica bus! Needeless to say, Ran was livid. I managed to purchase three tickets for the following morning. Since we already had a housesitter, we opted to spend the night at the Pension so we wouldn't have to rush around again the following day.

The trip to Nicaragua took all day. We took the regular bus down from Monteverde (leaving at 0600) to Lagartos. That took about two hours-- to go 35K! Then we waited for the Tica Bus to pick us up. It's a big, fat bus with air conditioning, movies, a bathroom and a vendor selling food and drinks. It was very comfortable and the ride was pretty smooth. I was pleasantly surprised when we got to the border. But then it took a LONG time to get through immigrations at the border. The line was huge and it took about three hours or so to get our busload through. I got put in a special line so I was able to get all three of our passports stamped and then we sat around waiting. There certainly are benefits to being pregnant! Once we got to Nicaragua, we all had to get off with our bags and go through customs. Then we were back on the bus to Granada. By the time we got a taxi to our hotel (the Oasis--- a great place) it was 5:30 in the afternoon. We were tired and gritty and I, for one, was grouchy. Ran took Ryan swimming while I rested, then we ordered a pizza and went to bed.

This morning we got up early. Ryan and I took a quick swim (her favorite thing about Nicaragua so far), then we all sat down for a nice breakfast here at the hotel. We each had pancakes and a plate of fruit (watermelon, orange, pineapple, papaya, banana, cantelope). After breakfast we relaxed. Ryan and I took a nap (gotta love vacation) and then we headed out for a walk around town. Granada is a pretty city. Our camera is on the blink so we'll have to come back to take pictures. We had lunch at an Italian place and on our way back to the hotel (for more swimming with Ryan, of course) we stopped and bought a super-sweet pineapple for 12 cords-- less than a dollar. And here we are. Ryan and I are at side-by-side computer terminals and Ran is talking with some guys. Tonight we're going to check out a Mediterranean restaurant and tomorrow (after pancakes and fruit) we are heading to the open market which I hear is HUGE. We will leave on Tuesday and hopefully it won't take us all day to get back to Costa Rica.

Life is good!

pura vida