Moving on

I got back to Granada Saturday afternoon just in time to catch the second half of Alabama's 32-13 victory over Florida, a good way to start my last few days here.

The cheapest flight home I could find leaves out of San Jose, Costa Rica (one country south of here) on Dec. 17 early in the morning. So that means I'll be traveling a little farther than expected, but I refuse to rename this blog cause Bama Rica isn't as clever a title.

I had a talk with my boss about ending the internship early given the circumstances of my flight being in less than two weeks and he was fine with it. I also just want to take the rest of my time to enjoy this whole experience and reflect on what a ride it's been. It feels like it's all ending very suddenly, though I've got a few more amazing things to see before I head out.

My next stop is Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua. It's two volcanoes connected by a little isthmus of igneous rock in the middle of the lake, and supposedly "the biggest island in the world found in a freshwater lake." I've been hearing about this place for years. Not only is it supposed to be other-worldly in its beauty but it's actually home to a number of environmentalist projects in farming and conservation. I've met some of the North Americans and Europeans who live out there working in these environmentally friendly projects and I was surprised to learn the scope of these projects' influence and outreach. Ometepe just sounds like one of those natural havens for people trying to think of ways to save the world.

I will leave for Ometepe tomorrow on a four-hour ferry ride down the lake from Granada (Lake Nicaragua is one of the biggest lakes in the world), spend a few days there and then I believe go to San Juan del Sur on the southern Pacific coast for Dec. 11, which happens to be my birthday. Celebrating it abroad with no one I am remotely familiar with should be interesting.

Also, I hear it's quite cold right now in my sweet home of Alabama. Last night around midnight I sat with my now former boss and roommate around a courtyard in rocking chairs, sipping tequila on the rocks and admiring the needle in the thermostat on the wall, which was trembling just beneath the 90-degree mark. This morning, as usual, I woke up mopped in sweat and kicked the one cover off me and lied there in my shorts for a while before slowly peeling myself from the mattress and took a long shower in cold water. The heat just never gives up in Granada.