July

It is now July, and Pearl Lagoon is in the beginning of the rainy season once again. The congregation is still making regular boat trips up the lagoon, in fact there is another trip to Karawala coming up very soon. This time I plan to bring more camping gear. 

We are also getting a new boat! It was determined that the Mensajero III is not the most suitable class of boat for our territory, as it cannot carry enough people to effectively work our distant territories. So it was approved by the branch to have a new one built! This type of boat is known as a Cayucon (not sure of the spelling) as opposed to a Panga. It is much larger and is often used on the river communities to deliver cargo. The Mensajero III carries 5-7 people at a speed of 12 knots. Our new boat will be able to travel at 13 knots, and carry 20 or possibly more passengers. It will be covered to protect from the rain and also have a closed compartment for literature and supplies to keep them dry.

Mensajero IV, under construction

We have also been informed that new special pioneers have been assigned to Pearl Lagoon. That means that we will have 4 in total. The first couple is working on Miskito and Mayagna translation and also taking the lead in the Miskito language field as they are both fluent in that language. The next couple however have much experience in the Creole language, and will be focusing on that. This is something we really need, as learning Creole is quite difficult for many. Rather than learning a new set of words and grammar, you have to learn how to speak your own mother tongue in a way that you have been taught all your life is wrong. It takes courage to comment in Creole, we have a tendency in the congregation to simply comment in English because we are timid about using Creole. For us foreigners, we are afraid that we will say something wrong and sound silly, whereas the locals are timid to use it because when they were growing up they were taught it was just "bad english" and that they had to speak properly in the kingdom hall.

The best thing, from what I have seen, in combating both of these mentalities is for someone who knows how to do it, to work up the courage and set the example by just commenting in pure creole. Hopefully these new special pioneers who have dealt with all these challenges before will be able to motivate us to progress with our creole.

Oh and one more new detail, I got engaged. My Fiance Jean grew up in Guatemala but is originally from the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. We met and have come to know each other while serving here in Pearl Lagoon. As far as I know, ours will be the first wedding in the Pearl Lagoon Kingdom Hall. We actually first met 3 years ago on my first visit to Pearl Lagoon, but didn't start dating until this last year. In fact, i made a post about that visit to pearl lagoon here. she's even there in one of the pictures.

Cooking with wood

Many homes in Nicaragua do not have a gas nor electric stove on which to cook. Some do, but prefer to use a wood stove to cook certain things on, so they have both. Its a common sight, particularly in Miskito communities to see two buildings at each home, one is the main house and the second is the kitchen, where they have a wood fire on which to cook so they don't fill the entire house with smoke.

One reason to have a a wood stove to cook with in addition to a gas one is for cooking beans. Cooking dry beans takes many hours, and would be too expensive and impractical to cook using gas, so many families cook large batches of beans over a fire in order to save on gas. Below are some pictures and step by step instructions for starting and using a cooking fire.

Your stove may look something like this. A wooden stand with a box on top filled with sand (to prevent the fire from spreading to the stand/box) and some concrete bricks to contain the fire and also to set a grill or a large pot on above the fire. Its also important to have airflow and easy access to the fire for adding/removing sticks.

Just like starting any fire, start with a pile of small thin dry sticks or kindling, maybe some bark or paper scraps if you have them. Its a common practice also to burn pieces of plastic to get it going, although you may prefer to stick with tree bark.

Gradually add more until you have a decent flame going, then when ready put in some larger pieces of wood. Its good to use long sticks, so that one end can be burning and you can handle them by the other end to move them around without being burned.

Fan the flames with a lid to get it nice and hot.

And now you're cooking with wood!

Karawala

This past weekend we went on a 4 day trip to work our most distant territories. The Pearl Lagoon congregation technically has territory all the way until it meets up with the boundaries of the puerto cabezas congregations, so they asked us how far north we could realistically work. The answer was that we could reach as far as Karawala in the Rio Grande area, so that is where we went. We left at 5:00 AM and the trip took us about 4 hours to reach the first community. There are many towns here, mostly along the Rio Grande de Matagalpa river. We reached it by going to the top of the Pearl Lagoon, and then through the Top Lock lagoon and into the river. The weather was somewhat favorable but there were enough waves to make sure we were properly rinsed before arrival.

The first community was Kara, of which the primary language is Miskito, however the people also speak Creole and Spanish. We spent the day there, taking turns guarding the boat which we had parked under a tree on the shore. One of the rules that goes with a boat belonging to the branch is that we can never leave it unattended. I took the afternoon shift. Of course the one staying with the boat also gets to preach because people take notice of a new boat in town and come over to make conversation. After we finished for the day, we headed off to Walpa where we planned to spend the night.

Arriving in Walpa

Home

Walpa is another Miskito community, and on a previous visit a family living on the shore showed us great hospitality, and so we parked the boat in their front yard. They gave us the use of their kitchen, and also allowed us to sleep inside an abandoned house that they had been planning to tear down. Actually they offered us a bedroom in their house, but since we had tents the house was just fine. It had no walls but it still had a roof to protect from the rain. For the first day we had all brought our own meals, so I had my second serving of tuna sandwiches on coconut bread for supper. The next morning the brothers assigned to cooking for Satuday had prepared scrambled eggs and rice for breakfast, and rice with sardines for lunch. Luckily I had brough extra ramen noodles and bread, because it was at this point I learned that Nicaraguans generally do not eat supper, so no arrangement for a third meal had been made.

Walpa

Our territory for the second day, in the morning, was Walpa where we had spent the night. Walpa is a very quiet, peaceful town (one reason why we chose to spend the night here). Normally people have electricity, but at the point of our arrival the power had been out for 15 days and it was unknown when it would be back. People in Walpa get their water from wells, which was surprisingly clean. I used a portable filter and iodine drops before drinking it just to be safe though.

Sunset in Walpa

Making the morning coffee

After Walpa we went down the river to Sandy Bay Sirpi, which is a large town that faces the sea. Miskito people seem to have the custom of building their houses far apart from eachother, so all of these communities were well spaced out with fields of flat grass in between. A brother who had been in the Miskito field for a long time commented that they also tend to plant coconut trees everywhere they go, so the coconut palm is almost like a "Miskito Flag". When we reached the side of Sandy Bay facing the ocean it was amazingly beautiful. The area looked not unlike the east side of Corn Island, but a little (a lot) less developed. We finished just before sunset, which gave us time to make it back to Walpa before dark where we spent another night.

Sandy Bay Sirpi

The beach in Sandy Bay

Our next stop the following day was Karawala, the biggest and central community in the area. Karawala is notably clean and the houses although being basic (Board houses on posts, with some concrete) are well maintained. From what we could tell Karawala did not have municipal water, but it did have electricity (but not today, because they had the same problem as Walpa). I was forced to use all the Miskito I knew during this trip, and it was exciting to see the results. One older man told the brother I was working with that he could understand some creole, but could not understand foreigner English (referring to me). I started my presentation in Miskito and his jaw hit the floor. He excitedly accepted literature after I mumbled through my sentences explaining the good news brochure (Gad Sturka Yamni nani ba).

Karawala

Miskito people have a custom similar to what we read about in bible times, that when someone waits in the town square in the evening, people will invite them to stay in their homes. This way, most of our group arranged to stay with a family near the wharf. Me and another brother volunteered to stay with the boat however. Because we were leaving all our supplies and fuel in the boat so that we could leave early in the morning, we wanted to have two people guarding it in the night instead of just one. The sand flies and mosquitos were a bit harsh, however the stars were magnificent. Consider how far out in the jungle we were, no cities within a days travel, and what communities were here had no electricity, and you can get an idea how bright the stars were. One could see without a flashlight even though it was a new moon.

The next morning we left early on to go back to Pearl Lagoon. We were eager to get back to our own beds, but it was a fantastic service experience to witness in these communities.

The Crew

Set Net Point

I finally had the opportunity to go to Set Net point, which is one of our more distant boat territories. It is just south of Tasbapauni. However the town of Set Net is not specifically on the Pearl Lagoon, instead it faces the ocean and has no access to the lagoon. This meant that we got to travel across the beautiful blue water of the Caribbean to reach the territory. The sea was fairly calm so it was a pleasant trip. When we arrived we made a "surf landing" which means that we tied the boat to a buoy when we reached shallow water and waded onto the beach.

Set net is also known for its wildlife, being surrounded by jungle and far from other communities. The area is said to have "tigers", but considering that people here often have different names for animals than we are familiar with it seems that what they call a "tiger" is either a jaguar or panther, which are both known to be in the area. We did see some tracks in the mud but I couldn't say for sure that they were from a big cat and not something else, like a large dog.

The people we spoke to were very friendly and welcoming, nearly all of them spoke Creole English. The insects however were not so friendly. Near the beach especially we encountered a larger version of the sand fly. the swarms were so thick you could clap your hands and kill 100 of them at a time. And yes they bite... Strong repellent is definitely a must.

On the shore of Set Net

Many people were not home because of an event in Tasbapauni that they had gone to. (Tasbapauni can be reached by land from Set Net via the beach) We finished fairly quickly with the memorial invitations, and went for lunch. Since the sand flies were so horrendous we couldn't eat our lunch in set net, so how convenient that the pearl cays are directly in front of set net's shore. It took us about 5 minutes to reach Clark Cay which is completely free of the sand flies.

This was the best time of year to visit the cays as well, the water is crystal clear and warm like a bath tub. So we just had to go for a little swim as well.

Clark Cay

Interior of the Island

Rocky Point

Since coming to Pearl Lagoon more than a year ago I have always heard of the group going in service out in the jungle at Rocky Point, and until now I have always missed the trip, usually by just a few days. Either I was away for a visa run or back in Canada or for some other reason the trip was planned when I was not around, but finally I have had the opportunity to work Rocky Point. It was Thursday night and I was walking home from the meeting when I heard talk that a group was planning to go by bicycle the next morning at 5:00 AM. I will admit that the idea of going so far on a bicycle was intimidating, but i was determined to be included this time.

We refilled our water bottles
with coconut water

4 of us took off the next morning down the rocky road through Haulover and followed the road straight south. We were already feeling the heat even this early as we rode across the open area called the Savannah. After some time we reached the edge of the rain forest, there was a river and a pumping station which was where the municipal water in Pearl Lagoon comes from. The moment we crossed the bridge we hit a wall of cool air. I had never realized this phenomenon existed but apparently the thick vegetation actually cools the air significantly when you are in the jungle. This helped us have the strength to carry on further, a long with how fresh and clean the air smelled.

The ride took us about 45 minutes before we reached the first gate, where we then hiked inside to the house. Most of the people we were visiting this morning spoke Spanish but there also a large number of Creole people in the area. Edward "Daha" Fox who is one of our most recently baptized brothers lead the way as this area was his home. He lead us to each of the farms where we had long conversations with entire families, many offering us food and coconut water.

On call of note was a young man named Choko. He has had a condition since birth, I'm not exactly sure what it is but it seems like some kind of brain damage, he is unable to communicate except for a few words such as "mama" and "papa" however he is able to move around fine and is in good physical health. Choko is intensely cheerful and gets quite excited when visitors come. He cannot read, but for some reason has always loved books. He had little interest in videos on a tablet but with any magazine or book he will sit with it for hours looking at the pictures and pointing out people that look like his family. When I gave him a copy of the brochure "Listen to God and live forever" (the one with all pictures and few words) he got so excited I thought he was going to explode. He started running around the house showing everyone what he had, and was shaking so much from excitement he could hardly hold on to it. He finally sat down and flipped through it shrieking with glee at each page. I have never seen anyone enjoy our literature as much as Choko and I don't think I ever will.

First call

Parking lot

On the way to the door

Going up the driveway

Bacon bits

Cocoa

Run Down with lime

We finished there at around noon and headed back to Pearl Lagoon. We stopped in Haulover at Kati's house where we enjoyed a home cooked meal of fish "run down", a perfect way to finish the day.

Kahkabila and the Black Pearl

But not the black pearl you're thinking of. This Black Pearl is a Panga that seats 20. During our CO's visit we had arranged to work the Miskito community of Kahkabila, the closest of our boat territories. In addition to covering the territory we had planned to hold a meeting at the community center and show a video to any that showed up. Of course, for this trip we wanted to bring the entire congregation, but our boat is not big enough. So we decided to hire two of the commercial Pangas that do the Pearl Lagoon to Bluefields route, one of which is named "The Black Pearl".

Meeting for field service at the wharf

Boarding the Black Pearl

Unfortunately when the time came for us to head out to Kahkabila, only one of the boats we had hired was present. No one was particularly surprised, as this kind of thing is a common occurrence in Pearl Lagoon. It worked out well for the owners of the Pearl, because they got to make two trips and receive the payment agreed upon for the second boat in addition to their own.

Showing the Video

We were able to cover all of Kahkabila before noon, and then met for lunch by the wharf. After makings few return visits we gathered at the community center to show the video. The bright sunlight was a bit of a problem, as no one could see the video from the projector, so the brothers went and borrowed an old TV from someone in the community and set it up to show the video "Warning examples for our day" in English. Miskito people in this area tend to understand English quite well, though I suspect there were a few phrases they would have struggled with. In general the audience seemed to enjoy the video. I'm not sure on the actual attendance but it was somewhere around 64, and I believe that is not including the Pearl Lagoon Congregation.

On the Pearl

The advantage to hiring a larger boat is that with their powerful engine the normally 30 minutes to 1 hour trip only took 10 minutes, unfortunately it was a 10 minutes to remember. I would describe the ride as being somewhere between a rodeo and a roller coaster. We were a little beat up by the end of the day, especially those sitting in the front of the boat, I think mostly because of the lagoon being rough, and partly the madness of the driver. But as always, it was worth it.

San Vicente

 A few weeks ago I had the privilege of being on one of our more interesting boat trips. What was supposed to be a short stop in San Vicente turned into quite the adventure. San Vicente is a very small community on the lagoon, not far from Pearl Lagoon itself, there are maybe 10 houses. It is a quiet and beautiful little town, no roads, no electricity. As far as we could tell people here live off the land.

As we worked the community however some of the locals informed us that there was another community further from the shore, that is, in the middle of the jungle. There was a small path visible through the bush, and some of the locals told us it was roughly an hour walk. The weather was excellent so we decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try and reach this community, so we got our things together and started walking.

The brush quickly became thicker and thicker, and soon enough we could no longer see the sky through the canopy of trees. We started putting pieces of toilet paper on branches to mark our path, although the path stayed fairly defined the entire trip so it ended up being an unnecessary precaution. We passed a few people a long the way, mostly on horseback and they kept assuring us that we were going the right way to reach the town called Esperanza.

After about 1 hour we finally reached a group of farm houses. We suspected that we were near Esperanza but the owners informed us that it was still another 2 hours ahead (At this point it dawned on us that no one has clocks or watches here because there is no electricity). Seeing as we still had planned to go to Orinoco the same day, time did not permit us to continue. Also we hadn't brought our lunches and were getting hungry. So we spent the rest of the morning with the people at these farms, who warmly welcomed us and showed great interest, we studied with everyone we met. Interestingly many of them spoke English creole like in pearl lagoon, however with a notably different accent. They used words such as “loan” to mean “many” and other phrases common in Belize Kriol that are not used in Pearl Lagoon or Bluefields. I found this particularly interesting because these people had never been to Pearl Lagoon, they had never gone to Bluefields. The people we were speaking to had lived their entire lives in this tiny collection of houses and farms in the middle of the rainforest. Still, they knew of the bible and were very eager to learn more. We got phone numbers of some of the people, and to this day I have not figured out how they manage to charge their cellphones. Or how they got cellphones in the first place.

After we made it back to the boat (with mud up to our knees) we had our lunch on the shore and head to Orinoco. There was just enough time for us to make a few return visits from previous boat trips. I was able to leave some literature with a local pastor who enjoyed using our literature. Hopefully he will now have an “updated understanding”

In the end it was a short trip, only one day and we made it back before sunset, but it felt like we accomplished more than we normally would in a week. To my knowledge Esperanza has not yet been reached, but on the way back we spoke to some of the people in San Vicente and they offered to lead us there on horseback on a future visit.

December 2014

This is my second time passing through the new year in Pearl Lagoon. It doesn't seem like its been a year already. A lot has changed in Pearl Lagoon, but on the other hand some things never change. As usual the christmas and new years celebrations rivaled the time of the revolution. Explosions and smoke everywhere, running through the streets with rockets and firecrackers flying past your head every few seconds. No injuries though.

Something very exciting though, is that Pearl lagoon has just opened its first ever grocery store. Until recently one had to buy their fruit and vegetables, meat, bread or anything like that either from people on the street pushing carts full of items for sale, or to buy from people's homes that brought things in from the farm or neighboring towns. This system worked for years, however you had to take whatever you could find. What you would eat was dictated by what was available in the store. There were times that I would go out to buy food, and come home to eat nothing but plain white rice for that meal simply because there was nothing in any of the stores that happened to be open that day.

But now with this new store, they seem to be stocked with all sorts of vegetables and tropical fruit, at prices that are half, or less than half of what people were charging on the street before. Hopefully this will contribute to lowering the cost of living, which has been disproportionately high in Pearl Lagoon in comparison to the rest of Nicaragua due to the isolation.

Also, during this time of year there is a celebration that is exclusive to Pearl Lagoon. You see many strange customs when living in a foreign country, but to date this is the strangest and funniest one that I have seen. It is called "Mosco". None of the locals seem to know or have any theories about how this event started or what it is supposed to mean.

Mosco

During mosco men from the community dress up as pregnant women, with monster masks and they go out chasing and beating children all over the town with cardboard sticks. As the day goes on and the "mosco" get bolder, adults may no longer be spared the beating.

During the chase however, if one of the local shops plays a certain music, all of the Mosco are required to stop and dance. If the shop owner is satisfied with their dancing they will be rewarded with money and/or rum. During these musical stops they also bring out an artificial "bull" made of sticks and plastic tarps, usually with a rainbow-painted cow skull on the front. The Mosco have a mock-fight with this bull in time with the music. Its all very lively and energetic. When the music stops the chase continues and the would-be victims run off screaming in every direction.

So far I have not been a victim of the Mosco. I think they are afraid to hit white people. The key seems to be to look busy and not show any fear when they walk by. If you try to run they will definitely chase you, and they aren't afraid to go into people's houses, as the kids often try to hide under people's beds. You know that Mosco is coming when you see a large group of children wearing their sandals on their hands. They do this because they feel they can run faster when barefoot.

Tasbapauni ... Again!

Since the beginning of the Miskito classes and meetings there has been very little time to write for this blog. We are making trips up the lagoon with the Mensajero (Congregation's boat) on a weekly basis now, and we are also starting to go further and further for longer trips.

This last weekend we went to Tasbapauni. My last visit to Tasbapauni was roughly two years ago, in fact I wrote about it on this blog. It was different this time though, first of all the weather was excellent. I distinctly remember mountainous waves pummeling the boat for the entire three hour trip two years ago. This time the sun was shining and the water was calm.

Tasbapauni

This time we stayed the night in the town of Tasbapauni rather than making the long trip across the lagoon to stay at a sister's farm. While we worked the territory (which was very responsive, but complained that we don't come often enough) we kept on the lookout for a suitable camp site. Several places were offered, such as a school and the home of a local family. We finally decided however on a small shelter across the street from a store on the wharf. This way everyone was together, those camping and those sleeping on the boat. I was among the three brothers who slept on the boat.

Preparing the morning coffee

Some of the sisters were assigned to plan the meals for the trip, and would go back from the territory a little bit early to cook the group's meal, which they did over what the locals call a "furnace". Its a metal dish with coals inside and a place to build a fire underneath.

The real challenge was keeping the drunks from stealing our food, so after one brother cleverly guided them away from the shelter, the sisters put a bench in front of the door and had someone sit on it until everything was packed. Though I was not there at the time, one inebriated man very nearly lost his fingers when he reached for the freshly cut vegetables as the sisters were preparingfor the meal.

Sleeping on the boat was fun as well. The stars were amazing, and we looked up at them in awe while the clouds rolled in and then rained all over us. It was an interesting experience but I could probably say its one of the worst night's sleep I've ever had. We were also woken up occasionally by boats passing by early in the morning (rather suspicious if you ask me). The navy paid us a visit too, we were all half asleep when their boat came up next to ours (about 4:00 AM) and they shone lights in our faces and in the boat. They asked us some questions in a mixture of creole, spanish, and miskito that I hardly understood, and our captain (also half asleep) mumbled a reply in spanish, something along the lines of "we come in peace" and "we're Jehovah's witnesses". The moment they heard "Jehovah's Witnesses" they lost all interest in our boat and took off again on their merry way.

Despite the challenges everything went very well. People in the community were thankful for our visit, and some arrangements were made to continue bible studies by phone. Camping out and sharing meals together with a larger group of adventurous witnesses was an amazing, unforgettable experience, just like it was the last time. I'm looking forward to more trips in the future.

Part of our group at the beach on the ocean-side of Tasbapauni

East side of Tasbapauni. The west faces the lagoon while the East faces the Caribbean sea

New stuff!

Awas

A lot has changed in 6 months, and new exciting things are happening here in Pearl Lagoon. We had two announcements made at the meeting last night that will have a very large effect on the ministry here.

Firstly, there will be weekly Miskito classes starting on Monday, and afterwards every Saturday in the evening. We will be using similar methods to other branch directed courses, i.e. juggling and tossing balloons (yes, it actually has something to do with learning a language).

There is a large Miskito population here so we will have plenty of opportunity to use what we learn. Many people in Pearl Lagoon speak Miskito, but two of the neighboring towns (Awas and Raitipura) are entirely Miskito speaking. Miskito is still a thriving language so there are easily thousands nearby that speak it as their mother tongue and still use it every day.

The second was that we will be holding meetings (the congregation bible study) in Miskito on a separate night in the town of Raitipura! The people in this community have shown great interest in studying and also coming to the meetings, but for them it is a half hour walk, which is partially spent wading through a small body of water. We expect a very large turnout for the meetings. Hopefully the conductor will make it there with dry feet.

To the skies!

Finally i am back in Pearl Lagoon. Its a been a long and exhausting journey but I have made it safe and sound.

The trip down here was incredible, and the convention was the most amazing one I have been to yet. There were people from 15 different countries in attendance, many of the delegates traveled for days to be there.

Los Angeles

My trip started as usual from Calgary, a late night flight into Los Angeles, California. Upon arriving and collecting my bags however I went to check which gate my next flight would be leaving from only to see the flight number followed by the word "Cancelled" in red letters... You'd think they would tell people about that sort of thing rather than letting them figure out why the plane hasn't showed up on their own. At least they put me on the next flight which would be a day later and covered the cost of the hotel. This did mean however that it was unlikely that I would make it to the convention. after some negotiation however I was able to get on a flight that would land me in El Salvador the morning of the first day, so that I would at least be able to get most of it.

El Salvador is a beautiful place, as we were coming in I could see the mountains poking through the layer of clouds. After landing I was hit by a wave of hot wet air, reminding me that I was once again in the tropics, though San Salvador is significantly cooler than Pearl Lagoon due to the high altitude. As the taxi drove up the mountain into the city of San Salvador we would pass in and out of the clouds. Upon opening my tablet the screen immediately fogged up from the sudden change in humidity. I managed to make it to the hotel and get unpacked just in time for me to make it for the afternoon sessions.

El Salvador

Starbucks, San Salvador

As usual the program was amazing. But it was also encouraging and fascinating to meet brothers and sisters from all over the world who had come to serve in Central America, and to hear their experiences. Everyone there had come so far, and was so excited just to be there. The singing during the program was so intense that even though there were only 900 in attendance they seemed louder than the 8,000 that would be at the regional conventions back in Calgary.

"Keep Seeking First God's Kingdom!" Regional Convention

Pupusas

After the program a group of us went to sample the local cuisine, specifically the legendary pupusas that El Salvador is known for. A brother who had been driving some of us to the convention insisted that we go to one specific "pupuseria". I hadn't been to any so I took his word for it. What I did not realize was that this one was not even in San Salvador, it was more than half an hour's drive outside the city to a small town high in the mountains. I showed the address to the taxi driver and he asked if someone was meeting me there, since it was a long distance. The fare was more than it cost to get from the airport, and about 20 minutes into the drive I started to think "This had better be an amazing place overlooking the entire city on a mountain top or something"...

Pupusodromo #8 with old and new friends

Well as it turned out thats what it was. Although it was dark so I wasn't able to take pictures... sorry. While we waited for the food however some street performers came by and gave us a show.

Ticabus Terminal, San Salvador

The journey back to Nicaragua was also quite long, but at least the bus was comfortable. I managed to get on one of the chartered buses a long with the Bluefields congregation since they were going the same way and knew me from before. It took us about 12 hours and we watched the new video released at the convention a long the way. Upon reaching the border we were taken outside of the bus into a medical office where supposedly we would be checked for Ebola. One of the nurses came in and complained to a man at the front desk that they were understaffed and couldn't get through all the people coming in. Shortly after this conversation our passports were returned and we got back on the bus. Guess we just didn't have the "ebola look".

Our bus from San Salvador to Managua

Watching the new Video on the road

My view of the Honduras Countryside

After a night in Managua I was back on yet another bus, this time on the way to El Rama. When I got to the "bus" for Pearl Lagoon which was waiting in Rama, it was already packed to the door with people standing up. Supposedly it had been like that for hours, still beyond me why they don't just leave if they are full. Even more to my surprise I was let on. I would have stood up for the 5 hour muddy roller-coaster ride that followed, but unfortunately it was too crowded to be allowed said comfort, so instead I leaned over the seat beside me with my feet on the floor since there wasn't enough room in the aisle for me to stand upright. people kept getting on until about the half way point and then they started to get off. Finally I had a seat and sort of dozed off or passed out for the rest of the trip. I think this song pretty well sums up the trip.

We didn't get stuck ourselves but had to stop a few times and help other vehicles get out of the mud. There were also a few times that we had to lighten the bus to get through an area, so all of the passengers got off and walked until we were past the rough spot. Understanding Spanish at this point was not to my advantage as I was able to hear the conversation between the driver and his assistant telling the assistant to keep the door closed and stay inside in case the bus flipped over and crushed him. Glad I didn't try to ride on the roof.

In all I made good time in getting back to pearl lagoon where I belong, it only took about 2 days travel with few stops.

Back in Pearl Lagoon