Nicaragua and Learning

Well I'll start with saying that the last few days have been pretty incredible, not necessarily because we have done a lot but we have been able to relax a lot, which is quite nice and a welcomed change from the studying of Spanish and the hustle of Antigua. Getting here was a pretty good story though.
Everything was fine getting to our bus and getting on and all that, everything was smooth, and nothing all that exciting as you would expect from a bus ride till we hit the El Salvadorian boarder. We got off the buss to a huge group of men asking to change money and for us to come with them while they help us across our boarder. Me being an idiot (though I have now learned) took out my passport at which point some dude snatched it from me, and all his buddies tried to hold me back but I kept on pressing though cause some random guy had my passport, the only thing that really matters when it comes down to it. I stayed surprisingly calm cause that could have gotten bad real quick. Anyways once I found the guy in the immigration office and got my passport back the rest of the boarder crossing was painless. From there we got back on the bus and continued on to San Salvador, where we arrived at 7 or so and stayed for the night in the Tica Bus station there, which wasn't all that bad, and really convenient. We met an American on the bus, named Dustin. He needed to get some money and some food so we decided to go with him. Walking around San Salvador at night was pretty sketchy for a group of white guys especially when one was going to an ATM on the street. Seeing how the city is as night was a real eye opening experience and again showed us more if what real Central America is all about. We continued on to get some food at a restaurant and then returned to our hostel. It was sweet to see the night life of the market in a big Central American city, but that was a good way to end off a pretty crazy day.
The next morning we got back on the bus at 5 to continue our journey to Managua. It was pretty nice cause the boarder crossing we all quite easy for us to get through and our ´searches´ of our baggage often consisted of either a pat down of the bags or even just a wave through with no hassle at all. The only thing that sucked about the Nicaraguan boarder was that kale tried to change some Guatemalan Quetzals into Nicaraguan Cordoba, and he got ripped huge, losing 25$ which was a pretty crappy way to start the time in Nicaragua, but definitely learned from that one.
THEN...we arrived in Managua, the capital city, and here is where some real fun started. We parted ways with the American and got ourselves a taxi. After negotiating 1$ ride to the `bus stop` we got in and started driving at which point he started to explain how the buses wern't running from this one stop cause it was Sunday, and at that point i knew that we were going to be taken for a good ride here. So then we asked to go to the main bus stop but for 10$ which is ridiculous for a taxi ride in Nicaragua, so we declined and he told us he would drive us to Granada for 10$ each, which again is retarded cause it costs 1$ in the bus, but at this point there want much to do, cause he could have dropped us off and drove off with the bags or ditched us in a sketchy part of town, so we just decided to haggle with him and only were able to get him down to 25$, but it was so frustrating cause I knew he was lying to us and just taking advantage of us cause we were white, but it was late in the afternoon and we couldn't do much about it, but it drove me wild and I wasn't going to let something like that ruin my trip. So we got to the hostel which was a sweet chill place and relaxed for the night playing cards with some people for the evening.
Nicaragua has been so nice cause we have just been able to relax, partially cause the heat is so crazy but also cause we want to. We did go up a bell tower, on recommendation from Cassie, which it definitely didn't disappoint, with a great view of the city and the lake, well worth it.
The food here is so cheap and so good. We have been able to eat for about 2$ a meal with great fresh food, like gallo pinto, chicken and plantain chips which totally rule the food world.
I have found the national people here to be way more relaxed too. They aren't pushing like Guatemala, and (for the most part) don't try to rip you off. They have a chill approach to life, which is quite refreshing. It is nice to walk through the market and look innocently at the crafts they sell and not get hassled ridiculously by the vendor.
One final point, Nicaragua is the official home of the hotdog and if you want to have the worlds best of anything come here, cause that's what everyone is advertising...like the smoothie and hotdogs hat we had the other day...and it was for the most part true.
We are going to be leaving for Isla Omepete which has been formed by two volcanoes that joined together with cities all around the island. Supposed to be beautiful and relaxing which is what I'm looking for. And hopefully not too much more "learning"
If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear from you

Talk to you later

Bye for now

Mike