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Trip Start Jun 16, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Sep 01, 2008

  Leicester, England, United Kingdom
Monday, September 8, 2008

So we've been back a week now the bags are unpacked, bed-bug prevention measures have been taken and any tan that I did have is fading! So now is the time to wrap this blog up unfortunately, I know you're all going to miss it!
The first thing I've learnt is that eleven weeks is a long time and, although every week was fun-filled and action-packed, when you've stayed in two places with bed-bugs and creaky old bunk beds in your final two weeks you do start to miss your home comforts; baths, football and my own bed for me in particular! However it was fully worth sacrificing these things to have the experiences and times that I have had.
I'm not sure if I'll travel again, they talk about people being bitten by the 'travelling bug' but I think the bed bug got to me first so it might have missed me. I think that one trip may be enough for me having seen a major part of a continent and when the total cost of the adventure was about £2,000 (including flights) it's not something I'm sure I'd be prepared to be saving to do again! At least I can say I've done something.
Going away I knew I would learn things and maybe change as a person but I didn't expect my outlook to change as much as it has. I don't want to sound all "travelling changed my life man!" but I think that you can't help changing and reflecting when you're out of your home environment for such a long time, and I think others in the group found this too and have made changes themselves.
I've learnt many small and insignificant things: the girls pointed out that I always wear blue and if not black, working out bills has told me my maths is actually alright, turtles don't like bright lights and I've learnt a few new drinking games! But I've also learnt a lot of important things about myself and other people.
As a group, the five of us were somewhat thrown together and, me and Oli aside, none of us knew each other before we went away. We had met a few times in a bar at university but until we got to Costa Rica we didn't really know each other. The way things happened we were only really a five for our time in Costa Rica and maybe the first week in Esteli, which in many ways is a shame because we had some good times together and a lot of laughs. By the end of our time in Esteli Oli and Natasha had decided that they weren't going to be joining us in Mexico and would go elsewhere instead, but if people decide to separate off from the group then that's a decision that they make and you just have to get on with enjoying the rest of your time and we did.
With eleven weeks being such a long time to spend with the same people day in, day out I knew there would be ups and downs and maybe some arguments, it's pretty inevitable in such a situation. Thankfully, there were no major arguments. Oli and Natasha didn't like being mentioned in this blog a few weeks into the trip, as things progressed, but it was only meant to be a light-hearted, simple description of my experiences during my travelling for my friends and family to keep up to date with and I didn't mean for anyone to be offended by anything - I tried to be sensitive to the fact that some of the group had told their friends/family to read it, so certain details/events were omitted!
After Oli decided to move in with Natasha, being in a Spanish-speaking house alone, unable to speak the language, gave me a lot of headspace and thinking time in particular. Although I'd always meet up with Ellie and Rachael to do stuff in the evenings or afternoons that we weren't at university, there was a lot of time where it was just me, my thoughts, my iPod and a reading book, until one of my family spoke to me, then the phrasebook got involved too! In the end this little surprise didn't turn out to be a bad thing but you can't expect other people to treat you as you would treat them.
So as the group turned from five to a trio and a couple, I spent more and more time with Ellie and Rachael, two great girls that I wouldn't want to lose touch with having shared the times and experiences we have. Although we'd probably both accept we didn't really bond fully until Nicaragua, Ellie was easy to talk to, spend time with and have fun with, which made the week it was just the two of us enjoyable. I don't think the trip would have passed half as smoothly if it wasn't for her meticulous planning and preparation - even if she does worry about the smallest of things!
As for Rachael, I've learnt that she can't take photos, can sleep on a bus no matter how rough the ride is, reads books at geek speed, is sick because of anything, is a lightweight, couldn't write a decent blog even if I gave her lessons, is rubbish at table tennis, and pool, and swimming, and 'Who am I?', and monopoly, and Frisbee, eats slower than a snail, can't open a bottle to save her life, takes an eternity in the shower, is scared of the Tica bus and thinks she's a therapist in the making! However the easy victories in the many competitions and contests we had always made me happy.
I think every one of us would say that the best part of the trip was Esteli. In Esteli we met some brilliant people and a lot of characters that we had some good times with. At the leaving ceremony in particular, with their generosity and abundance of gifts, despite their limited resources and money, it really hit home what nice people they were to treat us so kindly. The laughs, jokes and good times we had with them taught me that you don't need money to be happy and in one of the world's poorest countries we found some of the best people we're likely to know.
Although I couldn't speak Spanish and a lot of the people in Nicaragua couldn't speak English, I found that the language barrier with some of the students and people in everyday life was manageable and I did learn a little bit of Spanish to get by in situations such as in taxis, shops and restaurants. I think it's something that I may look to continue and learn more of but I'll have to see in time.
In order to make sure this isn't a book I'll finish it here. I hope I've kept everyone relatively informed and entertained with this blog, I did enjoy writing it, even if the novelty wore off towards the end of the trip!
 
Take care, Jamie xxx

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