29thMarch

Some Reflections (and SJDS travel tips)

I’m starting this post with travel tips about San Juan del Sur. Even though we’ll be here for a few more days (until Tuesday morning, to be exact), I feel confident telling you the following should you ever find yourself here. There are a plethora of places to stay including the very high end (Pelican Eyes) and the super cheap hostels (like Casa Ora). I would highly recommend where we’re staying- Secret Cove Inn. It’s a B&B with delicious breakfast, …

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25thMarch

San Juan del Surf, Nicaragua

OK technically this place is called San Juan Del Sur – but it is the surfing capital of Nicaragua and gets its Nica nickname from the most fun thing to do here. Today I am completely exhausted from surfing from 10am – 3pm – my body feels like I’ve been through inside washing machine all day.  I can’t really complain because surfing is fun as shit (good).  It is a delicious mix of all the good “tion’s:” relaxation, exertion, competition, meditation, …

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24thMarch

Soy de los Estados Unidos

Tyler and I arrived in Nicaragua on Sunday night after a long day of traveling. The plan was to stay with a family while taking Spanish classes every morning at the Spanish School of San Juan del Sur. Unknown to us, Semana Santa* celebrations had already begun in SJDS, and Sunday night brought with it a very loud, all-night long street party complete with terrible band/singing, cheering, and fireworks that to the untrained ear sounded exactly like gunshots. We tried …

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20thMarch

San Ignacio – Caracol and ATM Cave Tours

After our 2 awesome weeks in Caye Caulker, we didn’t go home – this is where the trip starts to feel like a leap and not a vacation.  Normally, we would take a 2 week vacation and return home- in this case we are diving deeper. We took a 4 hour “chicken bus” ride from Belize City to San Ignacio, a smaller tourist-based city, to see some ruins.  The bus was 7$ for the 2 of us and drove with a …

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14thMarch

Saying Goodbye to Caye Caulker

We have been in Caye Caulker for 2 weeks and are leaving tomorrow for San Ignacio in the interior of Belize. It is a little strange to say goodbye to our first destination, and I think it’s really finally hitting us that this trip continues – we’re not going home after a 2 week vacation. This was the perfect first stop – we have eased our way into our journey by relaxing on a safe, English-speaking, easy to get around …

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11thMarch

Ridiculous Awesomeness

So it’s been a few days since I posted – mainly because I’ve been having a ridiculously awesome time. During that time I have been lucky enough to have some of the most entertaining and challenging experiences of my life. Limestone ocean sinkhole After getting scuba certified with Frenchie’s, a dive shop 1/2 block from our cabana, I scheduled a dive to the Blue Hole, which is recommended only for divers that have done 10-12 dives after their certification.  I …

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05thMarch

Derelict / Improvised Construction

Most things that I build end up looking like this.  Not everyone can be an carpentology major in college, and those that didn’t dont usually build things.  In small island communities, much like in small businesses, people have to wear many different hats which can add to efficiency but reduce quality.  Some of these things however certainly violate my comfort level for factor of safety.  As an engineer, many things had factor of safety ratings of 2-4 or higher, some …

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03rdMarch

Land>Water

Our scuba diving adventure began yesterday morning. Per my previous post, I really want to challenge myself and do things I normally wouldn’t do. I have never really wanted to scuba- sure it always sounds cool, but i know myself, my likes, my strengths, and my weaknesses, and it never came to mind as something I’d truly enjoy. But I always owe it to myself to try, right? And perhaps even more importantly to me, I owe to it Tyler. …

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02ndMarch

Exploring Caye Caulker

Note: Caye = Key, and is pronounced as such The image above (you can click on it to make it full sized) is of our $22/night shack in the back of Wish Willy’s, an interesting, dog-occupied restaurant and hostel.  Not really any amenities in this dwelling, but we have gotten used to the cold shower by day 2 – the trick is to just man-up.  We have pretty much everything you would need to be happy: a running toilet, a bed …

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27thFebruary

You’re doing what?!

To truly understand why we’re going on this adventure, you have to know a little bit of background. For starters, one of the reasons I fell in love with Tyler is his sense of adventure and seemingly unquenchable desire to experience everything the world has to offer. For those of you know who know me well, adventurous wouldn’t be one of the first adjectives used to describe me. I’m a straight arrow kind of girl – my path, albeit an …

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