The first photo on the top or left, I dont know how it will format is the family that we have been staying with in Matagalpa, they are great. The one below it or to the right is the youth group that we tought one day in church. Which they never told us they were going to do until the middle of church they said Eric and David go teach these kids something and they will present it in front of the church after words. We were like what! haha they just popped that on us, haha luckily the kids were good and did what ever we told them and by what ever we told them I mean what ever David told them because I of course cannot speak spanish. Notice the kid just laying on me haha dont know why he decided to do that but i thought it was hilarious. Also I dont know if David put the other one up but the little kid that is laying on me is givin a peace sign in the other one which is hilarious because he seemed completely clueless the entire time about everything that was going on but goes and throws a peace sign for the picture. And by clueless i mean during musical chairs he just sat in his chair and never moved... either clueless or he just out smarted us all. He saw the object of the game was to get a chair so he didnt move hahahaha.

This is Poncho and his dog

Sorry Accidentally Pressed Enter

Hello once again from Nicaragua. Updates on my body and overall well being: my eye-no longer swollen, my feet- no longer swollen, my hair-still not washed and long, my smell- like a foot but I took a shower yesterday, my teeth- lost toothpaste for a week and have some again so... clean, my shoes- barely any toe on either and I wear my women sandals most of the time, my clothes- one pair of shorts that are real stained, one pair of board shorts stain and disgusting kind of milduey, pants that are too big for me and too blue for everybody, a rotation of four dirty shirts, and lastly one pari of underwear rotating with noting but certain swimming days in the ocean and hiking days in the sweat, also we did laudry like a week ago so they are pretty clean, lastly my face still ugly just with alittle extra hair on my neck chin and upper lip, we lost the scissors to shave with so just lettings nature work. Also dont have a toenail cutter, so you can imagine. As for our well being we are doing better then ever in a hotel in the middle of Matagalpa, which happens to be the coffee country of Nicaragua and the hotel happens to be these peoples house and they have taken us into their family. So that has been great but let me fill you in on the stuff we have done for the past week.
From San Juan Del Sur we had to part from our friends and miss them greatly so if yall are reading home fully we will get to see you before we leave and we love yall and miss yall alot and need our friends who cant speak proper english very well like us Americans. So we have parted and then we left for Granada and there we stayed in the same place that we stayed before for a night then we went off to Masaya the next day with another american who was flying out in two days. This guy was from Flordia and goes to University of Florida and was an intense character. He reminded us of Adam Owens, shorter, and when he gets fixed on something he will not give it up. So Adam if you read this your counterpart is in Florida. So this guy went with us all day as we went to go see the family that we took out to dinner that one night at the beginning of the trip and we then saw some of the other kids that we met the first time and hung out with them for a bit and made plans with them to play soccer later in the evening. So our American friend was on a mission to spend the rest of his money and wanted to buy some stuff so, since Masaya is a hammock making town we went on a search for hammocks and left the first market which is the touristy market, and went to the local market which was crazy and amazing at the same time. There he bought a hammock and a couple of shirts and then we went on our way back. On the way back to our hotel to change clothes to play soccer in, we saw a woman who we had seen before and got smoozed into helping her out. Now the reason I said smoozed because about 20 to 30 times a day we get asked for money from somebody simply because we are white. Although we would love to help them out we arent able. So normal we say im sorry then walk on, but this time the woman convinced david to help her out, because it is impossible to convince me because I dont understand this jibberish language they speak down here. We then went with her on a long wwalk and as we were going with her the other American gave us some money because we dont really have much any more and then he went to get the last things that he wanted to buy while he had time because it was his last day. After we bought the woman some milk and walked her to the bus with her children and prayed for her, we left to go back to change our shoes to play soccer with these kids from the market. On the way back the American whose name I just relearned from David was Justin, and he was I guess influenced by what we have been doing and he bought one of the kids a soccer ball. Friggin awesome. Then we went back got some shoes and the three of us started a soccer game in the middle of the market with these kids and more of course joined in and we had a nice size game of soccer with a bunch of little kids as many people watched. It was real fun and the kids I think had a great time. Then we went back to the hotel and chilled for a bit then went off to get food for dinner. Justin came with us again and we went to the same place that we went to eat last time we were in Masaya which was that place where all the families come out and set up tables and just make food for anybody that wants it for real cheap. So we went there, Justin loved it, he said it was the best food he had been since he had been down in Nica and thought it was awesome that we found the place. So he loved it and ate a ridiculous amount of food, and a pig tongue haha. Then we chilled in the park right therer next to the food and watched some kids play soccer. They were real dramatic when ever they got hurt like many of the kids in nicaragua and laid on the ground wining for a while before they started playing again. So as we were watching a guy came up to us, fairly drunk I may add, and wanted to arm wrestle. Justin jumped on the opportunity, hahahahaha. so they did once Justin crushed him and then he wanted another go and this time they went to a structure in the middle of the park where everyone could see and started laughing at the situation. This one guy was egging them on the whole time and me and him were laughing at the situation. and so after Justin arm wrestled the first guy another guy wanted a go so he arm wrestled him, who also was quite drunk. The second guy got pissed and stormed off after he lost. haha, then Justin arm wrestled the first guy again and this time it was official. After about five minute of the nicaraguan blabering on in spanish about the placement of Justins arm and a crowd of about twenty Nicaraguans formed laughing really hard, they arm wrestled again and Justin beat him again and the guy was alittle embarassed but he asked for it because it started it and Justin who was similar to Adam to remind yall once again, was crazy and I didnt really see any way that he could lose. After that escapade we got a fudgesicle and then walked back to the Hotel.
Once we got back to the hotel we chilled for hours playing some cards and talkig and an amazing opportunity arrose. Somehow, I dont remember how, but we started talking about Jesus. For the next hours david and I tagg teamed an effort to tell the full entirety of the gospel and we did. I dont think one topic was really missed, it was amazing and this guy loved it. He said he would think about it so Im not sure what happened because he left early the next morning to catch his plane but we dared him that night to pray and ask God to show himself to him and we told told him He will. Bold haha, not really sure if it was a good idea to say that but I wanted to and fealt an urge, then prayed when I laid in my bed for Justin, so if yall want to pray for him please do so.
After that amazing night we went on to Leon. In Leon we stayed at a great hostel where we chilled alot and read some books and one day we went to the beach. We get to the beach on a semi glummy day so werent that excited to swim and we were with three other people from the hostel and so we put our stuff down david and I looked at the surf and it was huge. The absolute biggest waves I have ever swam in and they were crazy. Not clean at all kind of hurricane like without much wind, it was awesome. So of course, since david and I are children, we sprinted towards the water until it destroyed us and swam out and proceeded to body surf. Now with waves that big and rough body surfing doesnt work that well so basically what we did was catch a wave take it for a bit and once we were about five to ten feet above the water we got into a ball and got destroyed. The best part about this was that even though it was a surf break right on the beach we never touched the bottom. When we got wrecked we just spun about in the water then scrambled for the surface. HAHAHA it was awesome. I fealt like a little boy and just found out I could run. It was amazing. The others were too scared to get in I would like to add. haha. great fun.
Then we left Leon and arrived at Esteli. Now Esteli is the cigar capital of Nicaragua, we didnt actually smoke any but we shall together friends. So we got to Esteli and tried to find a cheap place to stay... We did, for 2.50 a person, hahahaha. Needless to say it was the worste night of sleep I have ever had. I dont really know how to describe the place other then the fact that the rooms were not really completely seperated. the tops of all the walls were non existent and so we could hear everything that was going on in the other rooms and when they turned their lights on in the middle of the night it was like our light being turned on. So just imagine why there would be a hotel for 2.50 a night and just simply imagine what happened through the night. Im not going to really talk about it on this blog all I can tell you is that david and I probably slept two hours and that was between 6 and 8 in the morning after everybody had checked out. Ask about it when I get home. So we naturally moved hotels and stayed at one for 5 dollars a night which was a great place with an old man running it who looked awesome and wore a bowler hat and it was a great place. That night our sleep was much better. In Esteli we went to a waterfall that was about it because there were not any other backpackers there and we didnt really meet many people so we moved on to Matagalpa.
Matagalpa is known for amazing coffee which was the reason why we came naturally. We got to the town wondered like normal then eventually after looking at some not so nice hostels and ended up staying at this hotel called hotel Alvarado and it has been one of the best decisions that we have made. We arrive, leave because it was alittle expensive then come back because we really liked it. By too expensive I mean 7.50 a night haha. SO we ended up going back found out they were Christians and so we went to church with them that night. Then after church they fed us. Then the next day we went to church in the morning they fed us breakfast then we went to their farm they fed us lunch, then we went to church with them again and we were already heading out when they asked us to dinner. But they fed us breafast this morning too. Amazing, these people have essentially taken us into their family. They are amazing and it has been great staying that their hotel with them, and they really hooked us up. It has been a great time. Lastly today we went to the Nicaraguan version of the Willie Wonka Chocolate factory. It was a castle... a mini castle the same size as a small house and there we walked around for like ten minutes tasted some chocolate and then bought acouple bars. I was much more excited when I was going then when we left. I thought it was going to be a nice big chocolate factory with oompaloompas but it wasnt they only had three Nicaraguan women working there and they didnt even sing us a riddle or catchy song. What the heck. and they werent orange with green hair they were brown with brown hair. Not a chocolate factory and barely deserves the name of castle. haha. But seriously the chocolate was amazing. Overall it wins but dissapointing and alittle boring. Then later that day, I guess we were in a learning mood because we decided to go to the coffee museum. Boring. And the book lied to us because it said we were going to get free coffee, which we didnt, so we learned some today not much though. Oh yeah haha and by the way this family who has been awesome to us doesnt speak any english, so Im here once again and trying to communicate so they mainly talk to david. I can smile really well though and I think my accent is getting really good on the word si so we will see. When I see yall in a couple weeks Ill be fluent watch out world you have seen eric with one language just imagine what I can do with one and a couple words.

P.S. PEACE

Whats up Coffee Country.

Three more weeks and Back in NICA

Hello Friends! Right now David and I are back in Nicaragua in San Juan Del Sur, we have women sandals, I now have a bright green bag full with clothes and a swollen eye let me fill you in on what has happened to us for the past couple weeks...
Last time I wrote we were in Panama city I had no bag and we were staying at an insane hostel that was huge. On the way to that hostel we met some Israely girls who ended up cooking us an amazing meal that night and we hung out with them for a couple of days. In the travel book that we have it told us that we could go roller skating along the panama canal so we said duh why would we do anything else. I misunderstood it and it happened that we could only roller skate along this cause way which looked alot like Miami so it wasnt that interesting, also we ended up not roller skating but biking instead, a dissapointment and we also had a bigger group now, some from Israel a guy from south Carolina two girls from French Canada and a guy from england. It was a fun day we watched the world cup and what not and had a great time. Also the day before this we were walking down the street to look for a world cup game to watch at a restraunt of some sort and then some constuction workers started to talk to us asked us who we were rooting for in the game, we said Brazil, and they invited us up to there place. It was an apartment complex kind of like a housing project in the states, they showed us there tv which was as big as their place and we sat down and watched it with their family. It was awesome and funny becasue the construction workers had to go back to their jobs and left us in their place. The next day we did the biking thing and on our drive back we saw the ghetto of the part of town we were in and David of course wanted to go there so we went. On our walk out to it some cops stopped us and asked us where we were going we said to that area and after a long conversation of him telling us that we should not go there because it is too dangerous we kept walking towards it and went into the first street after like 50 yards of walking I got punched in the face... not really, haha, but we did come across this Jamaican Woman who told us we were allowed to be here and that it was a red zone and we should leave right now. So we of course started talking to her and made friends with her and found that she was a cook and had all the preperations to make an amazing meal so we got one from her. She fried a whole fish for us with shrimp and friend plantains for 3 dollars... awesome. the best food we had so far, we also met this other guy there that was real nice and from Bocas del Torro which is a place we visited later. He walked us home so we wouldnt get jumped and the next day we brought back some of the people that we met in the hostel back to the same place, we got stopped by the cops again and the other guys were freaked out but we eventually, after getting lost in the ghetto haha, found the same place and had the same meal again. Also while in Panama City we restocked my clothing. We bought me a little kids bright green bag with all kinds of designs on it and the people we bought it from were laughing at us for buying it. We also bought some siccors for shaving of course and a white t shirt from a street vendor. After being fully restocked with cloths (one white tshirt, my tank i was wearing, my bandana, light blue shorts, and a pair of shoes) we were once set again to conquer the world.
The English guy that we met at the hostel was one of our favorites so far and we hung out with him and he ended up giving me a shirt a bottle of hot sauce and some cordoba change that he still had from Nica. he gave me a shirt that said in spanish on the front nothing is exaggerated when you love your automobile, hahaha... I just laughed after david translated it for me. There also we got to have some good conversations with some people about what we are doing next year and about Christ in a clear loving way. Awesome. Also after that we went to El Valle which is a town in a volcanic crater.
We get there meet two people right away, the first of which was an old man who lives there and is from Oregon, who was just simply happy to talk and it was great giving him that pleasure. Also we met another guy who was an artist and was doing a project in the town and he told us about the place that he was staying which was very cheap. So we went with him and there we stayed at a hippy gathering spot. All of them were artisans and traveling off the money that they make from selling things they make. While there we were told after walking a while to the hotsprings that we needed bathing suits to go i the hot springs, we werent allowed to go in with normal shorts or with athletic shorts we had to have shorts specifically made for swimming and they didnt know my situation of having three shirts and one pair of shorts so they didnt really understand why we would want to swim in normal cloths. So that night we went on a hike to a lookout spot that was supposed to only be an hour which it was but we got lost even though it was only one road haha. So we got to the end of this path and did not have a great view like we were supposed to so we just trekked it straight up this grassy hill, it was small so not that big of a deal and then took some pictures and went back down. On our trek down it started to rain and then it started to poor. It was the hardest rain we had ever seen hahaha it was amazing. Then the path that we came up on turned into a river hahaha, I fell of course got my only pair of clothes super muddy then after we got down we went into a super market and bought dinner and everybody was looking at us and laughing and after making the whole supermarket dirty we left and went home made food. The next day we bought sandals, for a dollar but these werent any ordinary sandals they could possibly be womens sandals. So now David and I a rollin around Central America in foot wear made for women. We didnt really like el Valle so we moved on after a couple days.
Next we caught a bus to the highway. Once we got to the highway all we really knew is that we wanted to go north. So after sitting at the bus stop for a while we just jumped on a bus and were off. we eventually got to a cross roads between two highways and got off. We then got amazing fruit drinks wfrom this lady and started simply walking down the street and tried hitch hiking. We had no luck and ended up flagging down a bus after some truckers told us not to do that because it was dangerous. So then on we went. We ended up at David which was the town we eventually wanted to get to anyway but our hopes for an adveturous hiking experience were shot. We stayed at this place called the purple house and met the most ridiuculous people. I also bought some pants. Blue jeans, now these werent any normal blue heans these were blue blue Jeans real blue, like if you think of the color blue and mixed it with more blue that is what you would get. They are also alittle big, but either way I needed pants because we were going to an ecolodge and another town in the mountains where is supposedly gets cold.
We then got to Boquete there we stayed at a hostel with the most hilarious man alive. His name was Poncho, which speaks for itself. Poncho was the owner of the hostel and was a skinny dude alittle over six foot and wired out of his mind all of the time. We arrive hes excited, he says hello hola bueno dias, nuenos noches, good day, how are you doing, como estas, and others in five seconds. He shows us our room it was nice and we actually got real nice sleeps there. Then the best part after he had been talking to us in mixed english and spanish for a while with his eyes wide open and extremely fast he drew us a map. Now imagine a man that is more excited then any person I have ever met explaining the terrain, milage, and where everything is in the town with simply a pen and a peice of paper... He knew I didnt speak spanish so he was mainly directed towards david... First he draws central park and draws a line to his hostel which was on the border of central part he says here central part here poncho, good location haha... then he proceeds to draw a scale in kilometers he says 5 kilometers draws a line and marks off one two three for five, then he draws a map to the water falls and says north, he points north, west, he points west then immediately he points northwest and says that about three times north, west, northwest haha! During this whole time remember he is talking to david I am sitting next to him and holding my mouth as tears are running down my cheeks while im trying not to laugh. It was amazing. There is so much more that he did that was amazing but this blog is already too long to onward.
In that hostel we met some cool people two of which from New Zealand started traveling with us. They are a couple about thirty named Emma and Jacob, First off they are great and we are still with them now, we didnt know at the beginning but Jacob is hilarious and Emma is one of the sweetests people I have ever met. They decide to come with us to this eco lodge. This is a hostel in the middle of a cloud forest in the mountains of Panama it was the coolest place that we have stayed so far. It had many different tours and stuff that we ended up going on a coffee and wine tour and did a treasure hunt the day before with the New Zealand couple and a couple from holland. This was a great day we walked around the cloud forest trying to figure out clues at different land marks and eventually won a bottle of rum. The six of us split it and had a drink each then it was gone. Also there were foosball tournaments everynight one of which both david and I with our partners that were randomly selected got to the finals and davids team won. In This hostel there were an enormous amount of bugs and my ankles got destroyed. And I found out that I was allergic to these bugs that were biting me and I woke up the next morning with real fat feet. I had enormous kankles which is a calf ankle meaning you cant distinguish between your calf and your ankle. But to the extreme if you just looked at my feet and ankles you would have thought that I was 300 pounds. So my ankles were fat and off to the beach where I just had to embrace them and couldnt wear pants. We went to Bastementos Island in Bocas Del Toro with the New Zealand couple and the second day a couple one from South Africa and one from Australia met us there. The second day we went on a fishing trip for ten bones, and this wasnt any ordinary fishing trip where you would get to fish this was a fishing trip where we went on a boat they took us to the other side of the island and they fished and gave us hand lines and basically said have at it. So I snorkeled for a bit and tried to troll my bait behind me while I was swimming... didnt work, then we after getting alittle frustrated told the main guy who was crazy and always hung out at our hostel to show us how we are supposed to catch fish. So he brought us over to these rocks and we all tried for a couple hours Aisha the Australian girl caught a little snapper and I ended up catching a pretty big fish it was called a trigger fish and may have been a pompano but what ever I caught a fish and they filleted it and later that night the crazy guy cooked us all the fish that the other guys caught so we actually won out a bit. This meal was phenomanal tuna albacore, my fish, a red snapper and some octopus that the guys caught. And it was over coconut rice and with a side of some stirfry of lobster and octopus, so good. Then we all moved on and went to Costa Rica
In Costa Rica we stayed at this hostel with the two couples and that was it. It was basically a house, and from there the guy who owned it made us Civiche the next day for five bones and he was a shef so that was good. Then the next day we were all hang out on the beach david and I decided to go and try to get some coconuts out of the tree which was a common occurance any time we were on teh beach. And then after I lunged a stick at a coconut and it didnt come down out of no where a massive wasp came down and nailed me right in the forehead and naturally I sprinted yelled like a drunk and dove into the water. It felt like a kid just chucked a rock and nialed me in the head, needless to say it hurt bad. But it didnt really swell and I was fine that night and we had cubans and watched a sunset, not a bad night. Then the next morning the poison from the killer wasp ran down through my face focusing on my eye and left me a present for the next morning. I woke up and it looked like I got in a fight with a howler money and lost. my eye was almost swollen shut. hahaha, bummer. Then the next day I went spear fishing for free with Greg the guy from Australia and the guy who owned the hostel. The next day we rode all day on buses and eventually found ourselves all in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. WE are still with the two couple and this is probably our last day, but they have been amazing to hangout with and travel together with. They are great and we are probably parting ways tomorrow so Peace friends and have great travels when ever you read this.
So Now we are chillin I have no shirt on naturally and my girl sandals and david and I just ate a fudgcicle on a Nicaraguan roof deck. Also the Lord has been moving with us we have grown in our relationship together and have had many great conversations with the couple about what we do and believe. Also Friends and family... PEACE OUT SUCKAS and see you in three weeks.

Whats up Panama

Hello World sorry it has been so long since my last post but we didnt have internet then didnt have time because we were running around a bit with people we met and scheduling our days around world cup which is always in the early morning here so we had to get up early blah blah blah. I just got bored. Right now we are in Panama! hurray but I dont have a back pack anymore, boooo. Let me tell you the extent of what we have been through.
After El Castillo which is still my favorite place that we have ever been we went all the way down the Rio San Juan, this was a six hour boat ride, beautiful but six hours on an over crowded boat. We saw Crocodiles wassup they were huge and make me not want to swim here, but still really really want to so we shall see. So after the six hour bus ride down the river we finally get to a place where there are no tourists, but it was probably one of the most depressing towns we have been to. It literally had the nic name "Grey Town" because it gets the most rain in central America and is always cloudy. So that night we tried to get a boat to Bluefields which was north of us along the Carribean Coast and we found out that the only boat that gets you there is 30 bones so we decided against it. It was a huge bummer but we had to back track back up the river. 24 dollars later and an early morning wake up we were on our way after staying in the town for probably 12 hours.
Side note... We came down to Nicaragua to originally get to know the locals and love them and be missionaries to the communities without an organization but we realized that we loved the guys that we hung out with in the last blog and decided that since we didnt meet any Christians in the back packing community we would go into it and simply love people and hopefully have great coversations and break peoples perceptions of what a Christian is. As we said before the trip as we see a need we will try to fill it. The need is in the back packing community and we are trying to fill it.
So we back tracked up the river and had the plan to go back up to Managua go to Church meet up with Mandy Rocamontes, suprise her, then start our new found mission. So we were there a few nights, stayed with Anne again and went to church to find Mandy the next day. We found her she was pumped and hopefully we lightened her mood. We also met a guy named Cobren. This guy is nuts. He is on fire for the lord and is the most exciting most annimated person I have ever met. We went to Mandy's orphanage with him and when we got there we were talking with him after Mandy showed us around, he encouaged us then we went to this school that he set up the next morning with him. We hung out at the school played some sports with some kids then the next day we planned on a trip for San Juan Del Sur. After much encouragment for Cobren and from the sharpes (Who are so nice that they let us stay at their house for free haha, so we had a nice house to ourselves for the night, Woot woot) we were on our way.
San Juan Del Sur is the most touristy spot in Nicaragua and where alot of backpackers go along with Surfers looking to truely shred the Gnar. So we stay at a really nice hostel which has free pancakes for breakfast and meet some people and this guy named Bubba who tells us about this place that is right off of the surfing beach where he is going to stay the next couple nights. The next day we decide to go there and stay for two nights. There were five people staying at this hostel, and we stayed in these little hobit sized rooms. Literally maybe four feet high concrete box with a fan, night light, and a matress. You literally had to crawl into the room. it was awesome. Also, we went delux because the other lower class hobit homes didnt have a fan, so hm the snobs of the hobits. Any way that day we were just hanging out on the beach and we met some locals who had just gone out to get oysters, clams and mussels and had loads of them. After eating the best oysters I had ever had for free and literally the size of your face, the biggest oysters I had ever seen. We cut one in half for both of us to try it and each half was the size of a normal oyster. HUGE. So we bought six but they gave us seven and we also tried clams and mussels and bought four mussels but they gave us five. So five dollars later we had a feast of shell fish awaiting us. After alittle swim and showing everybody what we were going to eat for dinner we decided to start shucking these oysters and feasting before it got dark. So we go get two big rocks eat and two knives from the hostel and had at it. We were Neanderthawls (cant spell sorry) we were sitting there trying to beat up these oysters with rocks and trying to open them with knives and after about an hour and thousands of suggestions later we had two oysters our slopped on a plate sitting in the sand and we wanted to try something new. Bubba suggested putting them over a fire and maybe they will open. After 20 minutes it got a fire going, Im a woman, and then we started to roast them and see what we could do. After aout an hour and a half to two hours nothing happened. These friggin rock looking animals would not friggin open. One of the most glorious tastes I have ever tasted was locked inside this impenatrible force of shell and rock-like demenour of these friggin oysters. So pissed, we did eat the mussels though, they were amazing. Either way after defeate we hungout with the others in our hostel and left after two nights.
Back in San Juan Del Sur for what we thought would be only one night, but after the US failed we were too late to get to Costa Rica in Time to not be stranded at the border with a bunch of crazy people and border control. So we stayed another night but couldnt get back into this pretty cool hostel that we stayed in but we saw one of the girls that we met earlier in the trip and she was working in the town and told us to come and stay at the same hostel that she did. So we did and that night turned out awesome. We hung out with this guy named Josh who happened to be from Virginia, lived in Chesterfield but now goes to school at VCU. So that was fun to be with another Virginian, So we made dinner together then hung out with our Irish friend who invited us to stay at the hostel. She had some friends for work coming over and so we all hung out with theme. As the night progressed I realized the lady who I was talking to was adimate (cant spell) about the fact that men are the problem with the world. After agreeing with her yet talking about the depravity of mankind and explaining what a man should be in the the Christian faith many interesting conversations arrose. After her liking me for my take on what a man and womens role in the world was she proceed to tell me that because I was a Christian I am telling her that she is going to Hell. Intense didnt do that wouldnt do that and after a long while of her telling me that I was wrong and that she is a good person and does good things, the conversation ended. Tried to talk about Jesus, but she wasnt havin it, bummer but we move on. But it did start a great conversation with Josh who we hung out with for the rest of the night and talked to him about Christ and our new mission started to see reality. We had a great conversation and he considering himself a Nihilist listened to us respectibly and through in his own thoughts on the matter but really thought about the stuff we were talking about. We were pumped and the next day we went down and visited Josh and Brandon.
After an entire day of riding five different busses and getting saved by many people that we met who showed us where exactly to stand to catch the right bus to get to the right place to eventually get to Jaco. So we get to Jaco and I want to make this clear that locals in most towns dont know where anything is and give the worst directions ever. So after walking about ten blocks in the wrong direction we turn around get better directions from two different sources telling us the same thing, and after meeting about four drug dealers we start our treck down a dark street with our back packs on and drug dealers rolling around on their bikes right by us. We get to the Christian Surfers Hostel where brandon Duke and Josh Poe are staying and the gate is locked. After writing and angry note the two gentlemen roll up out of the darkness from dinner. Pumped, hugs, Rad broski talk, and much use of the gnar later they tell us that we can sleep in hammocks for five bones, so we do... The next couple days we chill with these guys and have a great time meet some locals, mandy's cousin, and other missionaries in the area then we catch a buss to San Jose. On the three hour bus ride to San Jose without falling asleep and my bag was stolen... It was right over my head I have no clue how one he did that and secondly how nobody behind me said anything. After getting to San Jose I wasnt really bummed other then the fact that my favorite board shorts and my favorite soccer shorts were stolen all he got was two shirts two other pairs of shorts and my favorite flanel and my bible and my ATM card. I cancled it and so he really got nothing. So right now I have my Gnar shreddin tank light blue shorts, bandana, and my trusty Toms Chillin in a ridiculous hostel in Panama City. Less stuff to carry and it will take only about 20 bones to replace my stuff so onward we go and hope that guy is happy with some of my favorite clothing. I dont really know what he can do with a flanel though. So no back pack super dirty but Ive got my tank and that is all that matters. Oh yeah and by the way woot woot and PEACE!

Hola Amigos

Hola Amigos, one more week has passed and my spanish still sucks. One area where I think I have improved is that I know now that puedo mean can I and I have graduated from saying que, which means what, when I don´t understand people, to saying pardón, friggin polite right. right now we are in a town called El Castillo which is a little fishing village on Rio San Juan, staying in a hostel for 3.50 dollars, a couple down sides are that I´m sleeping on a wood board and the river shrimp that I want to eat is the same price as our days budget. Bummer, but the upsides out way the bad. We are saying in a hostel that is overhanging the river, it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, the people are really nice, I have semi clean close, we are with a guy from Holland, a guy from denmark, and a guy from england, and they are awesome. The guy from england is one of the funniest people I have ever met and prepares stories for us all day in his head and tells us them once its the right setting. The Denmark guy is hilarious as well and just get real excited about everything and I continually laugh at him. The Guy from Holland is alittle more mellow but is hilarious as well and is one of the most beastly men I have ever met.
Alright so for the past week we havent been doing what we originally planned on doing but God put some people into our path that have been amazing to get to know and love. We got to Granada a week ago and stayed in a hostel there for 7 bones which was a bit pricey for our budget but we really liked it so we stayed anyways. There we met some people who we talked to alot when we were there and we liked alot but after a couple of days in granada we didnt see them again. The second day we were in Granada we decided to go to Lagona Del Poyo which is a crater lake in a volcanoe and is supposed to be the best swimming in all of Granada. So we get on a Chicken bus which is a old school bus from the states which is decked out in any way the driver sees fit. They all look pretty awesome and I wish they did something like that to all the school buses in the states. So we are riding on this bus and meet The guy from holland, england, and denmark, as well as a girl from ireland and Australia and another guy from Oregon. We hang out with them all day and get to know them pretty well and learn that they are awesome. We end up having to borrow money from them to get into the resort which we have to go to inorder to have fun at this lake and so we chill with them all day then have to meet back up with them that night so we can pay the irish girl back who lent us money. We meet at a bar and it was a hilarious night we sat with the English guy who is hilarious and tought us a game that was amazingly fun and hilarious and we will play in the states. The next day we all decided to go to Ometepe which is an island with two volcanoes on it one of whic his active haha. The Island is amazing we get hasseled at the port buy hotel owners then get a place to stay watch some soccer in the town and then the next day we have planned to hike up the bigger of the two volcanoes with all these people that we met plus three americans. We wake up at like 530 which here really isnt that early and hike this volcanoe, with our guides Willie and Juan. Willie speaks english and is pretty nice guy and Juan cannot speak english but litteraly giggles countinuosly for the entire time we were with him. Instance love for this 5´3 giggling Nica. After a long endeavour of trying to get food and water for our trip and Holland litterally packing his pack with chips and cookies we were off. At the time we couldnt see the size of this volcanoe because of the mist and clouds and little did we know what we were in for. To start the hike Willie climbs a mango tree and gets everybody a couple mangos which were the best mangos I have ever had. Then we were off we take a fair amount of breaks but the hike starts off pretty mild not too steap just like hiking a normal mountain, but the higher we got the steeper the trail got. Also to help you understand in Nicaragua they dont seem to like to really wind trails up the side of the mountain but instead essentially have them going straight up the mountain. So ast we are tackling this beast and we get up about half way which I thought they were saying was the top, I mentally broke down and wanted to go back but everybody else decided to go so I figured I couldnt go back so I had to go. There I dubbed us the Volcanoe goats because like mountain goats we were litterally climbing the face of a mountain but it wasnt a mountain it was a volcanoe, so we were alittle more BA. After this halfway point me Denmark Australia, and England continued up the mountain at a very slow pace and this was where I learned that England liked to make up stories. He made up a story with a couple suggestions from myself for super powers and talking animals, and Denmark with the suggestions of a dragon and magic. With that formula his mind worked. I literally crawled up the last 600 meters of the volcanoe dying alittle bit with every step then we get up to where there are only small plants and Juan gets alittle scared. He smells sulfur, oh and by the way willie stayed behind at the half way point with one of the guys who couldnt make it up and Juan came with us and informed us that he actually had never been up the volcanoe before. So we were 1300 meters up an active volcanoe with a guide who usually giggles at everything got really serious and scared and had never been there before... hahahahahaha. After him telling us it was twent five more minutes about three times and telling us 4 more minutes about 4 times and stopping alot to get alittle more scared about the sulfur fumes, and the burnt plants from lava and the fact that the volcanoe literally erupted a week before and the fact that he had never been there before, and that we werent legally allowed to be there my heart was pumping hard with excitement and we reached the top. No plants just rocks, really hot rocks, and mist every where we compared it to frodo´s journey to mount doom for all of you Lord of the Rings lovers. It was intense. WE then took pictures and left quickly because Juan was pretty scared and so we climbed all the way down made fun of willie for not going to the top and by the time we got back to the Hotel we realized that that was the hardest this most of us have ever done. I litterally couldnt walk and was dying slowly with every breath. I thought to myself why did I do that but was glad I did.
The next couple days we didnt move we watched the USA England game and realized USA is horendous, alittle pissed but at least we tied WOOT WOOT. The the next day we went biking around the small island which seemed to be an easy task. But once again we got into an incredibly strenuous bike ride which took litterally all day and it got dark when we were a couple hours from our town going through this rocky terrain. This was only because at the begining of the trip we were having a great time in which we stopped for smoothies for an hour and then lunch for about an hour an a half where we are 90% postive the woman killed a chicken for us. AWESOME. But after being on a bike for 10 hours my butt was bruised my palms were in tremendous pain and I was covered in mudd from head to toe. HAHAHA it sucked so bad. It was worse the the volcanoe. HAHAHA. Oh and by the way the people that went were me david Holland and Denmark. Denmark and I were just as weak as each other so we walked up alot of hills while david made up them for 75% of the time and Holand made up every one only really grunting once. He is a beast. That night after the worste thing I have ever done and being really pissed off that we did that I was laughing because how much it sucked and at the fact that England instead of going on the bike ride decide to go to a nice resort with a bath in the room haha, he doesnt speak spanish and just simply speaks english to everybody and we have only met like five people who speak english in this country, but people some how understand him and he gets all kinds of things some how. He got a 50% discount on his room and watched pride and prejudice with a Nicaraguan family that night just for a taste of how hilariously lucky this guy is. Well the next day we came here to El Castillo after an all night boat ride to San Carlos and an hour boat ride down the river. Its amazing and I wont have internet for a while because there is not much going on in the east coast where we are headed, just indigenous villages. AMAZING. Oh yeah and by the way PEACE.

One great day

Two days ago we met a little boy in a touristy market when we were sitting at a table relaxing. This little boy named Manuel came up to us, missing his four front teeth gave us one of the best smiles we have ever seen. He asked if we wanted to buy a flower that he made (which I think David will have a picture of on his blog) we said no thankyou because litterally ever person that saw us tried to sell us something because we are white, so he walked off. But David had a great idea and asked Manuel if he would like something to eat and sit and chill with us and of course like any 5 year old boy who makes a living of maybe 1 cordoba a day (which equals to five cents) he ssaid yes. He said he likes chicken so we got him a chicken sandwhich and after the twenty minutes it took him to eat this tiny sandwhich, becasue of his lack of teeth and the fact that he is five, David asked if we could meet his family. He said yes and brought us to his mother. His family consisted of his mother older brother and sister. His older brother was in a wheel chair with down sindrome or some other socially paralyzing desease, his sister was deph, and his mother whose husband left her for another woman in Costa Rica, was selling cds and movies on the street to try to support her three children.
We went up to her and introduced ourselves and talked with her for a bit and she was the most amazingly nice woman. David then had another great idea and asked if we could take her and her family out to dinner the next night. She ontop of her extremely friendly nature humbily accepted eventhough it must be embarassing for her to have two 21 year old kids pay for her families dinner.
The next day we picked them up and told them we would go where ever they wanted and after gaining two more little boys to our group we set off for this place unknown to us that the children always rave about but have never been. After a very long walk and fun convresation with the little boys and girl, we arrived at our destination... Tip Top it was called and it was the equvalent to a KFC here. We though this was really funny to our selves but we realized why she chose to take us there. It was becasue her kids have always wanted to go there and we could tell by their excited yellng ¨tip top pollo¨in Nicaraguan children accents. This woman is amazing and chose a place where her kids wanted to go instead of some place she wanted to go. We order our food and as we are waiting all the kids, Manuel 5, Mercedes 10, Bryan 11, and possibly Tony who was 11, played in the play place equivalent to McDonalds. They had a great time then when the food came they rushed out of the play place and each got a couple peices of fried chicken, a roll, french fries, and a small drink. They savored their incredibly greesy chicken and drink then went and played again as the mom stayed with her son in the wheel chair and fed him slowly without eating herself, and then when her daughter lost her drink she bought her a new one without our knowledge, for a dollar. A dollar here for her was probably two days work and she bought her daughter a small soda to give her simply happiness for a short whil.e She must have been so hungry but thought of her children first. An Amazing woman.
After only twenty dollars later to feed seven people at one of the more expensive places to eat, we were off to meet the woman´s, whose name is Alejandra, (i forgot to write that) mother and other family. After another long walk and loss of about a gallon of water because of sweat we get to her mothers house and sit on their front porch and talk for a bit then she and her three kids walk us home because it it supposedly a dangerous neighborhood for white people at night. She proceeded to push her son in this wheel chair with the other two kids swinging on us all the way back to the hotel where we have been staying so that we would not get hurt or mugged or robbed. Today we were supposed to go to the school for the disabled here with her and her son but during the night both her son who is disabled and her daughter who was deph got sick and had to go to the hostpital. So today after waiting for a little while she shows up sad and says sorry that she was late and tells us all that and David prays for her and she went off to the market to get the medicine. She is an amazing woman and a testimony of the strength Christ gives to the people with the most horrible circumstances. Pray that she stays strong and that she can continually find joy in Christ´s love for her and her family.
In the picture Manuel is to the left his mother is in the middle and the disabled boy is on the right.

This is Narcisso the Area Director for Vida Joven in Managua

By the Way

It is the hottest place I have ever been with no AC and we havent stopped sweating since we´ve been here. Also Nicaraguans take alot of showers so Im pretty sure they think Americans are smell dirty people who dont wash their hair which I havent done yet, and smell like a foot. Sorry USA but we are giving you a smelly rep.

Dia 1

All you need for 2 1/2 months in Nicaragua is 2 shirts 2 shorts 1 bathing suit 1 pair of pants 1 poncho 1 water purifier 1 pair of shoes 1 shammy 1 tooth brush 1 bible 1 journal and 1 pen, everything else you find when you get there... hopefully.
We got to Nica at 8 in the afternoon after flying all day and talking to a few people about the extent of our trip. In the airport in Houston, where our lay over was, we met a woman name Virginia, haha, and she was from Nicaragua, coincidence... I think not. She is a lawyer in Managua and she gave us many suggetions for things to do and offered us a ride to any where we want to go. She was great and hopefully we see her again.
When we got to Managua we had alittle trouble with costums because we didnt know the address where we were staying that night, sound familiar ben and matt, but we got things straightened out and met up with the people that we were staying with for the night. The night before we left we called a woman named Anne Sharpe and she was had a thick North Carolinian accent and was the nicest woman in the world and we told her that we were coming on tuesday and we would like suggestions of places to stay. She was scared for us and worried so she offered for us to stay at her house until thursday if we would like so when we got to the airport she pick us up. She was with her friend Chris who is working with young life down here teaching the leaders english. We got to her car... A 4 runner... HAHAHA, perfect, we are really getting the cross cultural eexperience in a 4 Runner. Hahaha needless to say we were extremely comfortable and it was like we were in America with a southern woman, and two other english speaking men.
We get to their house and it is really nice. You walk in and it large and open with tiled floors and cementish walls and ceilings and she then showed us to our room which was amazing. two beds and a bathroom with a shower. Haha we were truly ¨roughing¨ it now. So the next day we wake up after what seems to be a long sleep, thinking it was about ten or so... try 545 in the morning hahaha. The sun comes up early here and it is hard to sleep past six. We then get bagels and cream cheese and coffee, haha so once again Nica is very different from what we are used to. haha.
That day Ann takes us to a coffe shop where they get their beans roasted for Vida Joven Coffee which is a Coffee that is grown and sold to pay for kids to go to younglife camp. Buy bags it is really good coffee, and I think they said it is 12 bucks a pound. Do it each bag pays for a kid to go to camp. So david and I drink our coffee then begin to walk down the street to Plaza Isreal which is supposed to be this huge market with all kinds of stuff at it. We were looking for a watch. After finding what we thought the market was numerous times, we eventually ended up at the one we were trying to find and it was crazy big and hectic. We walk to it from accross the street, which is always a hard thing to do becasue the drivers dont stop here, then enter this market by the fruit and fish and stuff and we are helped immeditely and told where to go. After being hit on and tried to be sold many things we find a watch. Swiss something or another, we were dooped, not swiss army. Then we ate the staple diet of Nica´s, gallo pinto, rice and beans, I´m in heaven I love rice if yall didnt know and beans and they always add what ever meat you want I usually get chicken. So we eat walk around find a mini zoo, it had three monkeys one chained to a wire above us as we walked through tthe park.
We then met a woman named Amira at the icream shop maybe a mile away to take us around and show us the Mana Project. This organization is a non christian service organization for the youth of managua. We went to this compound community center thing owned by the Augusts and saw an english class and played alittle soccer. For all the people who told me my shoes wouldnt last i would like to let you know that you were right my toms got a whole in them the first time I played soccer. Haha I guess you need more then one pair of shoes. hahaha. We got back for dinner that night at the sharps we ate echiladas and then went to a younglife club in a barrio in the city.
The club was very fun, i had alot of games like six or so and then a short skit and talk. It was fun we got picked on and i had no clue what was going on because to remind everybody I dont know spanish. Then we went home i sewed my shoe and went to bed.
The next day we woke up early again at like six and had breakfast then went to the dump. The dump is called la Treica which is where the poorest of the city live. It is a tow in the middle of the city dump where thousands of people live and they make their houses out of what ever they can find in the dump. It is a sad sight and the poorest people I have ever seen.
We then went to the sharpes who took us to Bella Amenicer, ¨beautiful Sunrise, I dont think I spelled it right. And this was nicer then La Treica by alot but was still considered a shanty town. we went there because we were going to have a homestay. each of us was going to live with a family for a night and see what the neighborhood was really like. I dont know spanish so this was an interesting night and day. We get there meet the area director for younglife in managua, Narcisso and he tells us his testimony and how he used to be a gang leader and how Christ has completely changed the community through younglife and people were become christians five at a time perday. He said it was amazing and is amazing. Then we get to our houses, Im staying with Julio who doesnt know any english which lead for interesting interpretations of each other because i of course did not know spanish. I basically blindly follwed him where ever he took me. We had a great time luckily I had a spanish english dictionary thanks to Aunt Cheryl, sorry I realized i dont know how to spell your name, and we tried to teach each other more words in english adn spanish.
The next day we woke up ate gallo pinto and eggs and had a coffee and then play soccer with a bunch of guys. It was awesome except for the fact that both david and I fell in the mudd hahaha. There goes one pair of cloths we brought and my shoes are still muddy today haha. They may have fealt like socks at first but now they feel like a stitched up pair of mudd made shoes. They are working so well.
We then later that day catch a bus to Masaya and walk around. We get a room for 90 cordobas each which is four dollars and fifty cents haha. Then we start walking around leave our bags in the room becasue it was a nice place and safe and we liked the guys there, maybe not the best idea but it worked out fine. We then went to the market and found a place where a bunch of people bring food they have cooked and alot of the town goes there to eat every night. It was great food but it kind of sucked becasue it seems like alot of the people either dont like us or are afraid of us becasue they just like to stare at us. But we are alittle scared most of the time of them becasue we have no clue what is going on in this city and whether or not it is dangerous, we are simply meandering. We eat gallo pinto an enchilada, a taco, and a plantain. Phenomenal Woot Woot. Thenwe go back to the room alittle bummed out because we didnt meet anybody.
We get back to the hotel and sit down for a bit and meet a bunch of Nicaraguans and go out with them have a couple beers and they told us we have places to stay in a couple different cities in Nica. And ouyr night has turned around.
We sleep in the next morning until 8 and get a coffee and meet a couple more guys who then give us some more contacts and we are now have a great time. God is good.
Also the watch broke the first day we got it. hahaha so we never know the time which is Awesome and oh yeah ps. WOOT WOOT. Peace

Hello Friends

Hello friends this is my blog and will be my blog for the duration of my adventures in Nicaragua. A few things to know before this comences.

1. We are going for two and a half months
2. It is David and I
3.I don't know spanish

I hope yall have fun reading this and can be alongside us while we are having adventures elsewhere in the world. So, good bye friends and hello world.