Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 2102

So here we are, finally in Guatemala! In Palenque when we tried to find out how to cross the border, everybody (and I mean everybody) told us it wouldnt be possible without taking a "tour". Even the local tourist info only tried to sell us their own tours. It seemed it easnt possible to just cross the border without seeing magnificent waterfalls or ancient mayan-ruins... But after some research, we found the place where to take a colectivo to Frontera Corozal. We had to get up at 5am and packed our stuff and tried to get out. I litterally mean TRIED to get out of the hotel, but we couldnt! We were locked inside...All the windows hade "fences" and all the doors were closed, and no nightwatch...Feeling a slight panic approaching, we tried all the keys ... read more

It irie! (It’s okay, its first class, or that is excellent). Another good week! It’s been busy, but very good. It’s 8:30pm on a Friday night and I’m locked into the convent….sad day (hopefully these Friday nights won’t last much longer). I, myself, have fully recovered from hurricane Wilma. However, many people in Jamaica are still displaced from their homes. Every night on “CVM” news (the only TV news source) there are new pictures of people using boats to move from place to place, and pictures of water up to the rooftops of houses. Many roads are still closed in more rural parts of the island. I believe that all streets are passable in Kingston, and I’ve even seen some men fixing a FEW of the huge potholes (a sight I never imagined to see). Right ... read more

Monday, October 17, 2005 (Antigua, Guatemala) Shannon: Sean and I started our Spanish language classes today and it was…well, we’ll see… The biggest problem is that my teacher doesn’t speak any English - and I don’t speak any Spanish, obviously. You don’t have to look very far to see the problem in this one. It was pretty disappointing, since it appears that the other teachers do speak English and mine is the only one who doesn’t. (When we interviewed with the director of the school we were really clear about my language abilities, so I’m not sure what he was thinking when he made up the teacher-student assignments.) We muddled through the first lesson, but a lot seemed to be lost in the translation. On the bright side, I did manage to pick up some things ... read more

So its Thursday night at midnight, and I'm sitting in a bar in Panama City listening to a band play Hotel California and watching everyone sing and play air guitar. I had just finished watching everyone sing all the words to the Toto song “Hold the line.” You know the song “Its not in the way that you hold me, its not in the way that you say that you care..... Hold the line, love isn't always on time, oh oh oh.” (I remember thinking Funk would love this place). Anyway I'm here at midnight, after planing on just one drink, but then the Balboa beer girls showed up and well how can I tell a scantily clad Panamanian hotty that I don't want another beer. We did get our picture taken with them. I've decided ... read more

This is a multifaceted blog entry, yes by choice, not by necessity. I think it is because I have been thinking about many things as of late and wish to share them. If I get long-winded, someone let me know! San Jose trip I know I mentioned numerous times that I would be spending a few days in San Jose conducting meetings regarding our bed & breakfast. That was last week. It was a good week overall though a few things made it tough to get through. For one, I developed a rotten cold just before leaving on this trip so I was not in a terribly festive mood, considering I also wanted to have some fun in the “big city.” Then, and not unexpectedly, it rained almost the entire time I was in San Jose, ... read more

THings are going great...we are now in Costa Rica after being in my favourite country so far. Nicaragua was so great. The weather wasn't very good but the people and the places we were in were amazing. First we went to Grenada where we stayed in the nicest hotel there. It was quite posh, and we got some funny looks when we all piled in with our back packs and muddy shoes. The town has so much character and history behind it. You could spend a few days just walking around looking at the historical sites. There was one cathedral that my friend Edd and I were visiting that was completely torched in the 1700's but is being restored. The original cement face of it is still scorched but inside is completely finished. We were walking ... read more