Una semana en escuela para espanol no es significa!!

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Apologies for the lateness of this blog-Tom decided he wanted to write one which is totally fine but you will be waiting a long long time for it, I've asked ALOT did he think today was a good day to write one but apparently the conditions just aren't ever quite right...or something like that! So anyway since we last wrote we've been back to school which was a weird but good week. We're really glad that we did it but a week is definatly not enough to try and get a grasp of it, plus we didnt actually get to spend the week with a family (mix up with the school, really gutted as I was pretty excited about getting an authentic experience but I guess in hindsight the head wreck of being back at school was maybe enough for one week!)which would have helped alot but it did mean that we got to meet some really lovely people in the student house. It was also run by two really lovely girls from Guatemala so we got to practise our spainsh a little and def tried some of the culinary delights Guatemala had to offer. Tom has definatley picked up a lot more understanding of Spanish which is great and I have managed to add a few more sentences to my repatoir which is good and a big difference from my first lesson when I managed to say Teresa has a penis instead of Teresa is uncomfortable...made for a pretty awkward 5 mins as my super lovley little Christian Guatemalan teacher tried to explain why pronouncing things correctly was really important...oops! Antigua was a really nice place to spend a week as well chilling out in the afternoons studying a bit, having a drink and an icecream in the park and as is fast becoming one of my favourite things to do watching the world go by. We also managed a trip to Lake Atitilan which was so beautiful although the very windy bus journey up there left a few tummies feeling a little delicate...esp those who had their fill of beer the night before. We also totally randomly bumped into a guy called Owen who used to work with us at Nacro, we literally bumped into him at the smallest little village on the side of the lake just as we were about to get on a boat...this world isn't as big as we think. The boat trip did however enrage me as a little man tried to tell me it was 2 pounds for the public boat or 25 for a private boat to which I obviously replied we'll do the cheaper..this wasn't the right answer as he then tried to tell me he had no idea when a public one would go as they only leave when they are full and we may be waiting up to 3 hours for a boat-this would have been a problem as our bus was in 2 hours, so we walked down to the pier(10 seconds away) to discover a full public boat waiting to set off for the town we needed-eejit!!!
From Guatemala we headed on a 2 day bus journey to Nicaragua with an overnight stop off in El Salvador which was a little surreal esp when the night guard came to our door at 4 in the morning to make sure we hadn't missed our bus...all very normal until you realise he is stood there with a big ass shot gun in his hand! So we quickly exited El Salvador and managed 3 countries in one day as we passed through Honduras before arriving in Managua, Nicaragua. Not the nicest city I've ever been in so we did a quick dart from there on our first chicken bus experience to Granada (the idea behind chicken buses seems to be fit as many people as possible into an old American school bus and stop as often as possible to make an already uncomfortable journey even longer). Granada was our only main stop in Nicaragua but was a pretty good one, a really nice little town with some great...yes you've guessed it places to eat and drink plus a really fun trip to an active volcanoe. Although we didnt manage to see any lava the crater was pumping out sulphur and the car park instructs you to park facing the exit incase you need to leave quickly so it was def the real deal. That trip also included a bit of a walk through some caves which were home to some 20,000 bats which made for an interesting wee walk, of course my screaming amused the rest of the group hugely and added to the day I think!! Other mentionables from Granada were Tom getting a very dodgy enginered shave which made him look...well you can decide for yourselves what it looked like, Tom managed to watch the darby in the Irish bar which was great...I of course had some chips which was even better. We had our first travelling experience of a bag of coke (see picture below for clarity!!) Tom of course with his boum chica whoa wa beard decided to act like a dealer for the 10 mins it took to finish it.
From Granada we moved straight through to Costa Rica, a very quick stop as time and money would not allow for the distance and expense of what sounds like a beautiful country but not for those on a budget! Setting off wasn't one of the smoothest parts of our journey as I realised when we were at the bus stop at 5 in the morning that I had left the keys to my bag and all our money, passports and pretty much anything of value back at the hostel, Tom managed to go get them with minimal swearing, plenty of time and not too much 'your an idiot' in my direction although I think this prob had something to do with the fact it was still 5 in the morning and he just wanted to be asleep!We stayed in San Jose the capital city for 2 nights which was def long enough we really aren't big city people and although it was nice to have a mooch around there wasn't alot to see and shock of all shocks there wasn't even many nice places to eat which of course is a big deal for us! 2 nights was actually 1 more than we had planned, but I was pretty sick throughout the night when we first arrived so we decided to stay put rather than attempting a long bus journey with a sickie in tow. So Costa Rica really was a flying visit with not much to report on-our fault not the countries!
Then onto Panama with without a doubt the weirdest border crossing ever, with a mixture of panic as the bus drove off numerous times with our bags but without us, confusion as we walked across what can only be described as a very VERY unstable bridge leaving Costa Rica behind before the adventures of Panama and alot of delight as we realised a wee bit of advice from a fellow traveller saved us about 25 dollars at the border. If you dont have proof you are leaving the country they make you buy a return bus ticket that you will probably never use but a guy we've met along the way who is coming with us on the sailing boat gave us the heads up on printing off a flight iteniary which looks pretty much like an e-ticket...sounds a bit dodge but the pressure to have an outgoing ticket isnt actually an offical one just some really dodgy bus guys cashing in on lots of unused tickets from unsuspecting travellers...so thanks Baz we owe you one! Our first stop in Panama is Bocas del Toro a set of Islands just off the north east coast...its amazing...after a few weeks inland we have LOVED being back at the beach to top up our fading tans/freckles! We arrived in the middle of Bocas day 107 years indepence from the Spanish (I think) which was completly crazy and a fluke that we stumbled into it on the right day, a huge street party, lots of dancing, marching bands, baton twirler teams the works...great to see-Rach you would have loved it lots and lots of Caribbean men everywhere! So the plan is to chill out here on the beach until Saturday before we move down to Panama city to finally catch this sailing boat we were meant to have done already, a few issues with weather meant that the boat was pretty delayed so our new date for what sounds like a great trip is 22nd November, really hoping we dont get delayed much more as we're already gonna be squeezing alot in in South America in a pretty short time. We have however booked a pretty fancy hotel for Christmas as Tom does everything in his power to make Christmas day more than just a day where I cry cos I'm not at home in Greystones..27 and I'm still gutted at the thought of not being with my Mummy and Daddy for Christmas. So heres hoping our 5 star beach view hotel in Lima does the trick!!!!

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Photos

Real deal car park
The volcano is 1 of 7 currently active in Nicaragua and erupted about 6 weeks ago

Too many bats for my liking
Pretty hard to tell from the picture but there was 1,000's of the things, not nice at all

Tom and Boofle catch the game
Tom of course was not in the least embarrassed that I insisted on taking this picture!!

Comments

[anonymous]

Thanks for the update on your burn through Central America. What's with the map, it keeps leaving out the earlier sections. I want a map that shows all the stops from Mexico City on. Please sort out or I will have to cancel my subscription! Got a free ticket to Ireland v Samoa last Saturday - match wasn't great, but the new stadium has great sight lines. Bit of a pain getting out, but this I could beat the system next time around. Hope you will find time to watch Ireland v New Zealand on Saturday - 17.30 Irish time. love Dad

[moorey]

rugby
Have you guys been catching any of the rugby? Not the same without you guys ive got nobody to speak or in your case anna wind up about. Weekend just gone England spanked the ozzies. Beat them at there own game running it in our backs, we were fantastic, with ashton scoring a try from his own try line. Ireland have looked about as dodgy as your economy looking terrible against the boks in first game and getting beat, although score line faltered you in the end with a late fight back and then you scraped past Samoa last week. Biggest shame was the grand new opening of the new Lansdowne road was a complete cock up. Some idiot decided that the best policy was to do the tickets in package deals, so if you wanted a ticket you had to buy tickets for all of the autumn internationals, doh!!! So on the grand opening against South Africa the stadium was half empty! Any wonder your country on the verge of going bust with finical masterminds like that!! The lest said on the derby the better, shocking game. Brighter note city fans have all turned on mancini for being too negative. Last week they drew with Birmingham at home another boring 0-0 with mancini took tevez off for barry with 10 mins to go!!! England got spanked by france midweek in football, not really arsed about them though. We basically played long ball to Carroll all game! Christmas markets open today!!! So will probably be living them from now till they close. Keeps the updates coming Moorey x

[Rae]

Well my comment defently aint bout rugby..........just wondering if you got any good photo evidence of them nice men you speak of?!!! xxx

[mum]

Good to hear
Good to heat from you as I feel it has been a while. You are spoiling us with regular updates!! Glad you still having fun. All ok, new baby eh! Good news. Loads of love to you both, thinking of you when I go through German markets each night! Woman I am sat next to, tells me her nephew doing same as you. Listen out for Lee Taylor Take great care of yourselves. Love mum and David

[Andrew]

Toms Beard
Ooooooh Tom! are you pouting

[Rob Brookfield]

Beard
Your beard actually makes me physically sick. However, sounds like you are both having a riot galavanting through central/south America. Not too much to report this end. Rugby is going really well though, we are upto 2nd in the league having played 11, won 8 lost 3. Only 2 points behind the leaders. So you never know the mighty Fleetwood could be playing Rochdale next year, just need to keep the good results going. Keep me posted, much love. Brooksy. xx

[tomandanna]

Alright matey cheers for the kind word. Been keepin up with ur results actually, would be good fun if we were playin each other next year. We are still havin a top time mate. Some of the places we have seen have been pretty amazing. Will keep an eye out for the results. Take care matey.

[tomandanna]

Hello. Sorry its taken a while to respond. Not managed to catch any of the rugby unfortunately. Did see ashtons try though on youtube. Was quality. Managed to watch the derby, was rubbish wasnt it. Just seen that tevez spat his dummy out yesterday. He does seem to be prety negative mancini doesnt he. Missin the German markets, but will have to make do with all thats going on over here. Tell everybody I say hello. Take care and keep in touch

[smeagol]

Quality beard!
I wish I could grow a beard like that Tom. one day. one day.