Bienvenidos a Nicaragua

Bienvenidos a Nicaragua.

Well, Joel and I (Bruce) have made it safely to Nicaragua.

Jennifer, Charlotte and Mary were kind enough to drive me down to Frostproof and see me off. I met up with Joel who then gave me a ride to Miami International Airport.

When the big group came a week ago, they all wore matching tie-dyed shirts. And they left a couple for Joel and me to wear, as well. When I saw Joel, he told me I was welcome to wear mine, but he wasn't wearing his. He realized that two guys traveling together in matching tie-dyed shirts was a strange idea. And I agreed.

Now, I'm not sure if this is typical male behavior, or if we were particular incompetent, but we were pretty unprepared for travel. We didn't know what time the flight left. Joel remembered something about 1:30. So, we drove to get to the airport by 12:00. Then, once we got to the airport, we realized we didn't even remember what airline we were booked on. Luckily, MIA's parking worked out well. There was a sign pointing right for American and United. And there was a sign pointing left for all other airlines. I knew were weren't flying American or United, so left we went.

Once we were in the airport, I found the departures board and looked for a flight to Panama City. Our flight was scheduled for 3:27. Then Joel realized the 1:30 he remembered was that we needed to be there by 1:30. So, we were a little more than 3 hours early.

It worked out well, though. Joel had some trouble with his crates of VBS materials. The airline—it was Copa, by the way—wanted him to have the crates wrapped in plastic. So that took some more time.

It also turned out that both Joel's crates and my one checked bag were all overweight. But, the ticket agent said it wasn't a problem since we were “going to do good things.”

Along those lines, I will never again forget that airline's name. Part of the reason is that I still can't get “Copa Cabana” out of my head. But the other part is that we were served meals on both legs of our flight. A meal to Panama City and a meal to Managua. My fondness of Copa is typical male behavior. They found the way to my heart...through my stomach.

Our flight to Panama City was smooth and as nice as flying gets these days.

The Panama City airport was a little like the Fashion Square Mall (see picture). Then we were on another Copa flight.

Finally...we were on our flight to Managua.

As I walked toward baggage claim, I heard some people trying to get my attention. I turned to see some airport employees pointing for me to look another direction. When I looked, I saw lots of faces pressed against the glass and waving like maniacs. And they were holding signs that read, in English and Spanish, “bald white guys.”

Joel and I have feelings, you know? :-)

I later found out that the airport employees were having trouble finding the right bald white guys. Apparently, there were more of us on the plane than anyone expected.

Bienvenidos a Nicaragua.

Then it was time for the bus ride to Nagarote. During the ride we were informed that there was a power outage over the entire city of Nagarote.

Bienvenidos a Nicaragua.

We arrived at Hostal Jerusalen and the owner gave us some LED flashlights. They were very helpful.

My room was hot. There was no AC. And the water uses an electric pump. So, there was no water.

Bienvenidos a Nicaragua.

So, I spent some time chatting with the Theriacs, and eventually, the power came back on.

That was my travel day.

By the way, my room came with a nice door hanger.