A more recent set of happenings.

So, Ive realized, that because theres so many things that happen to me, and that after said things Im often only capable of sleeping, that its going to be very difficult to continue narrating my trip with the same level of detail as I have previously included. I will however include little blups of narration, describing different events and happenings that are more noteworthy than others. Not to say that the entire trip hasnt been noteworthy.

Right now, as in.. right... NOW, Im in Nicaragua. Right NOW, Im in an elementary school, using the internet. My bike trip as of late has switched gears, the last couple of days have included some very physically demanding climbing of steep, loose gravel roads. Im up here in the mountains because I decided that I wanted to change from travelling on the large highways, and most of all, I wanted to get out of the DESERT. I want to see other parts of the countries that Im visiting, other than the parts that are easily accesable. Where I slept last night (and the night before), on average theres about 1 foreigner every month or two. And I happened to be one of them. I really doubt there´s very many bicycle tourists that took the same route I did, since the Panamerican parallels this road that Im taking, and is much flatter and paved. On the Panamerican I can easily do 70km in a day, where as after 20km of these mountain roads, Im pooped. Today, I road 18km. And thats all Im riding today. Tomorrow, Im thinking about doing 22km. Thats the distance to the next town. However... from this town on, the road is paved, and flat again.. so, potentially, the 22km will take me only an hour, where the 18km today took me 4. (Thinks back this morning..) wow, that was so brutal. There was points in the climb, where I knew, I KNEW, that I didnt have it in me to keep going. The road was so loose (which is really very difficult to deal with when riding a top heavy loaded-down bicycle), and so steep, and it Just. Didnt. Stop. (The climb was likely around 6 or 7km). But then.. I told myself, if its not in me, its gotta be somewhere, because Im going to keep going. I stopped and smiled when the busses went by.
This, in comparison to the 25km long hill I hit when I was leaving Honduras, was much more difficult, and took me longer.
My trip right now is slower, aswell, because after examining my average speed through contries versus the amount of time I actually have to do so, I have extra time, even with my plans to head to the Panama Canal, and back to Costa Rica before my brother and sister get here. I like it where I am right now, henceforth Im not making motions to leave quickly.

Interesting things that have happened:
Gained slightly more facial hair.
Met some Jehova´s Witnesses, from the states and England, with whom I stayed with that night. That night I ate Kraft Dinner, played Grand Turismo 4 on PS2, and watched some Simpsons episodes on dvd, before falling asleep on a comfy matress. Holy frickin culture shock, that was a change from sleeping in my tent in the desert.
Started to realize just what it means to "Ride a very, very long ways."
Gained a new appreciation for Kraft Singles cheese slices. And shrink-wrapped sandwich meat. And clean laundry. And.. streams without large masses of garbage (thats the norm here in Central America. Man it feels nice to swim.) I also gained appreciation for a nice cold FREE beer after riding a bike for hours in the sun.

And now, a blurb from my story in El Salvador, an experiece which even now has not been matched by other countries:

After leaving Tomas Alfaro Lemos, I again pressed for the border of Honduras. I made it a fair distance, about 70km, and was decending through a valley before I crossed a very large river, that looked just about perfect for camping.
I stopped by a roadside stand, which had several people in it selling pop and various snacks, and asked about the river, if it was safe in the night and so on and so forth. I explained I had a tent, and was thinking of camping there for the night.

This man piped up, and explained that the area I was in was quite safe (go figure, I was 40km from the nearest city), but said that it would probably be safer if I slept at his house, he had room out front for a tent. He said that if I wanted to head down to the river to bathe, he would wait for me and take me to his house. I said that sounded great.
I went down to the river, laid my bike behind some rocks, stripped down, and jumped in. I swam out to the middle, dove down to the bottem, and laid down on my stomach. I was in abouth 5 feet of water, and had the warm river streaming over top of me, while I laid relaxed on the bottem. It was an amazing feeling.
I then headed back, and was led a little ways to his house. It turned out his house was quite small, and quite.. honesty, quite bare and extremly basic. But, it was beautiful, it had a window overlooking the river and some huge trees. He didnt have a yard in any sense, besides the 4 feet of concrete in front of his worn door, but he did have a hammock. He pointed to it and said I could sleep there. Below is a picture of a door to their home, with his wife, my bike, and the hammock I slept in.
Dispite how little money this couple had, they catored after me as if I was a special guest they had been anticipating for a very long time. They fed me delicious meals (which I helped cook on occasion) and really took care of me, all because I was travelling by on my bike. I offered to pay them, they politely turned me down. I oftered to help them in other ways, such as moving wood and cleaning, occasionally they let me. But in all, they said that I was a part of their family.. I was accepted so unquestioningly and graciously. I stayed there for 2 nights. That was also the place I saw the scorpion.

This is a picture of the last breakfast they made me. Those fish made me laugh, they just fried them whole. I ate them whole. Mmm.. food...

So, Im heading off now, to find some food, although Ill likey be given a dinner of some sort at the place where Im staying tonight, it seems to be the trend. I met a wonderful family that owns a bar, I drank a beer there after riding today, and they said I could definately spend the night outside in my tent.

Considering all of this, my trip, the people Im meeting and the experiences Im having, one thing that Im afraid of loosing is my appreiciation for what Im being given. I dont think it will happen, I hope it wont. Its so overwhelming, how generous people the people are that Ive met. ç

Anyways, a blurb from my head.

Tyler