The Little Green Man (Granada, Nicaragua)

Another interesting day here in Granada. I spent the day at Lago De Apoyo, a gorgeous secluded lake surrounded by luscious greenery and small private resorts and local properties. The hostel that I stayed at for just the day provided kayaks, cabana chairs,hammocks, and a cute little floating wooden paradise in about 20 meters out from the shore. So I sun bathed for the first time since I've arrived, swam, kayaked (flipped over twice!) and just relaxed on the lake side with my book and iPod. It was nice to go on my own so I could chat it up with some others if I wanted or just get the solitude I needed as well.

This evening, Lina and Manuela cooked a few of us homemade spaghetti with homemade sangria. Yummy. We then played cards and drank some rum. I introduced Bonjour Madame, which evetually turned into Hola Chica, and the "Little Green Man" was introduced as a stipulation to drinking when losing a round. It then rained, and then it poured. As I type, it still pours!! So this is what rainy season is like. Silly me, thought I'd throw out the idea of frolicking in the hostel's open roofed courtyard, right beside our card playing area. Two goofs decided to just throw me in unwillingly, and here I am now with an scraped foot. Ouch. All is well in the land of fun.

The Beginning (Granada, Nicaragua)

Grenada

Well, it´s now been three days since I left Calgary and it already feels like an eternity since I´ve been gone. It amazes me how time goes so much slower when you´re not doing your daily routine of work and living.

So, here I am in Nicaragua... pollution, the smell of burning garbage, over populated streets, blazing hot sun, humid air, sweaty clothes with beads of perspiration dripping down my face... I love it!! Ahhhh, it´s so nice to be traveling once again in developing and tropical countries. I´ve missed it.

It hasn´t taken me very long to adjust to the backpacker lifestyle. Gone are my days of naivety when I was all bright eyed and cluesless of how to survive. My very first night I was a little nervous about getting to my first hostel, but a simple taxi ride, shared with some guy from the states made it easy. I´m no longer afraid to ask just anyone if I can join them, or share a cab with them, or ask for directions.

My first day in the big capital city was quite boring actually, it consisted of me walking around aimlessly by myself for a few hours and then the first sight of two white guys sitting down at a restaurant, I asked if I could join them. We ended up doing more walking around aimlessly in what they said was the more boring place they had seen in their, so far, 8 months of traveling through Latin America. Great. The highlight of the day was to watch a bunch of teen-aged school kids watch a soccer game in a food court, man can they cheer and holler over the excitement! That night as I returned to my hostel, I basically got kicked out because I supposedly had only booked one night and there was no room for me. Oh well, I once again hopped into a taxi at 6:15pm and went to the bus station and headed for Granada. This is where I am now. A very quaint, touristic, colonial town. It reminds me a lot of Antigua, Guatemala where Jeremy and I had visited a couple years earlier. The second I passed through the town in the bus, flashbacks of Jeremy and I traveling together touched my nostalgic heart and mind. But only for a second.

Anyhow, here in Granada, I´ve connected with some great travelers from a huge array of countries from around the world, all with the same goal to explore and have fun. This is waht I love about backpacking, you learn not only about the local culture, but also about so many other foreign lands.

My new friends (name?, Manuela, Lina)

I´m gone for 7 months, and others have already been gone for 8 or months and still have 4 or more to go! Gee, I´ve been trumped and have a feeling I´m going to want to stay longer if possible. It´s amazing how flexible I am, someone has suggested I no longer go north and then backtrack south. It makes sense, I´m going to skip a couple countries I had originally thought of visiting.

As well, I´ve noticed that times have changed since my last big trip. There´s wifi everywhere, and everyone has their own laptop or iphone with them. Sure makes communicating a lot easier! I´m feeling a little old, but lo and behold, I´m not alone. There´s definitley some others in their 30s or older. Nice.

For so long, many of my friends, family and co-workers asked, ¨Dean, are you excited to go?¨ and I never was really able to say yes. But now that I´m here and in full swing, I´m so excited to be here and am trying to enjoy every minute. This time around, I´m going to try and relax a lot more, no rushing, no over planning, no stressing about this nomadic lifestyle. I´ve been wearing the same outfit for a couple days now, meh...

One last comment, I am so grateful to have spent my last weeks in Calgary surrounded by my friends and family that truly love me. Knowing that I wouldn´t see everyone for an extended time, allowed me to fully appreciate everyone and live each day to the fullest in Calgary. If you´re reading this, THANK YOU.

August 14th, 2011 

Reflection

Just on my bus ride home now from Vancouver, it's a 15hour trip. I'm grateful though for the time to sit and reflect on so many things, such as life and relationships, the crazy weekend Leo and I have had, and future adventures. It's a peaceful ride with gorgeous views. Thank you.

Sent from my iPhone

So great to see Kristy! 

Pride

Trial run

I write this from a hostel toilet stall, yep, seriously. Just arrived in Vancouver after a 14 hour bus ride. Walked to our hostel with Leo, which was about 25min from the station. Can't check in for another 5 hours! No sinks to brush my teeth. Yikes. And I'm only in Vancouver.

Sent from my iPhone

The Journey...

Preparations & Procrastinations

Well, it's less than one month away now, my departure date that is. I'm trying to squeeze so much stuff into my last month here, as if I'm never coming back! I'm only going for seven months, and yet if feels like I'm going to miss so much. In a way it's a good thing, because I'm trying to seize every moment here. As well, I'm trying to get in shape for the damn beach. Perhaps not trying enough. Sometimes I wonder if I should get a personal trainer... not enough money.

Tomorrow I'm going for my travel shots. I hate needles! Or should I say, I'm terrified of them. I cringe and pout like a baby when I see them. Just typing this, I'm cringing.

I'm going to be throwing a little "moving out, moving on" party this Saturday, there's about 30 people who said that they're coming. Yikes. I don't know how I'll fit them all in. I have to inform my neighbours as well, I hope they don't mind. Who cares, I'm moving out anyway. But gee, what a bright idea this was of mine. I have a lot of things I need to do still, other than planning my own party. I thought the event planning was over when I left work. Oh right... I'm not fully done work. Foolish me, I agreed to hold one last public workshop three weeks after my last day of work. And, I'm the one doing more of the organizing for it, simple stuff though I suppose.

Hmmm... what else do I have to do. Oh yeah, so I guess I need a tourist visa to get into Brazil and Paraguay. The Brazilian one takes at least 15 business days, and I would have to send my passport to Vancouver first. Not going to happen. I'll get into Brazil somehow. I hope to get one while I'm in Bolivia, which might be a lot quicker. I should get the application ready first though.

What else... packing. Not only my backpack, but my whole bloody apartment. Ugh. Jeremy and I need to separate a lot of our things still. I also need to liquidate a lot of our old furniture that neither of us wants. I'm going to be giving a bunch of it away via kijiji. I hope there's some takers.

I have also foolishly decided to go to Vancouver Pride over the long weekend. What was I thinking when I agreed to that one? Oh well, it will be a blast. I just hope it doesn't eat up a bunch of my money. As well, it eats up five of my days left here in Canada. I gotta start concentrating. Dedicate time to what I need to do! I will get it all done, I hope. What's the worst that can happen? No matter what, I'm getting on that plane on August 16th.

And here's a pic of the party we had. 

How much longer?

They say that time heals all wounds. They never really say how much time exactly. We were together for almost 12 years. For the most part, it was a happy relationship. It ended so abruptly.

So, is it one week for each year? One month for each year? Perhaps one week for each crappy year, and one month for each of the happy years. If that's the case, then I would calculate about 11 months, 1 week.

That's a bloody long time, that can't be right.

It's now been about 6 weeks and it sometimes feels like it happened only hours ago. So, how much longer I ask? If only I knew, I could then start the countdown to my happiness.

Time heals all wounds. But really, how MUCH time?

Someone please help me. The pain sometimes is unbearable.