y las cosas malas tambien

While I have been writing about a lot of great experiences lately not everything is so wonderful. Here are a few of the bad things that have been happening.

1. My Gortex raincoat was stolen.
2. I watched a woman and her kids get hit by a car and could not do anything about it. I think they were OK but it was scary!
3. Last night a group of five men insisted on walking across the street with me from my hotel to a restraunt. They said I would be robbed or killed if I did not walk with them.
4. A Nicaraguan guy who ate dinner with me last night told me that he did not have money (after we had finished eating) and that I had to pay for him. I knew he had money, but did not really know what to say so three of us (myself and two other Americans I went to the border with) ended up paying for his meal.
5. I was harrassed to no end at the border today. I felt lucky to make it out of there. I had to pay extra money to the immigration officer and was accosted by no less than twenty kids and ten adults for various reasons. It was the scariest experience so far.
6. I woke up yesterday morning to the sound of gunfire in Tegucigalpa. No idea what was going on.
7. I was on such an unfriendly bus this morning that I was not even offered a seat when one came available. Instead the people filled the empty seats with their belongings and themselves, preventing myself or the two other Americans from sitting. That has never happened to me before.

Well that's really the only bad stuff. The good far outweighs the bad, but I didn't want anyone to get the idea that it is all fun and games! Traveling can be stressful!!! I am in Leon, Nicaragua. There is not a lot going on here but it is a pretty town (minus all the trash) and the Cathedral is truly breathtaking.