I quickly fell asleep until the sun came streaming through the windows while we were still in Costa Rica and one has to continually marvel at the natural beauty of this country and how it goes from the Caribbean to the Pacific ever climbing through mountains that provide a spectacular view. And green--it may "not be easy being green" except perhaps in Costa Rica. Of all the countries I traveled through on this bus trip it is by far the most memorable.
At 8 AM coffee and pastries were served and the televisions--eight of them came on and in the course of the next twenty four hours 6 movies were shown. The first was my favorite Spike Lee film "The Inside Man" Don't miss it. I love great story lines and absorbing plots and this is one of the best with a great cast: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe Christopher Plummer and a wonderful little army of fine New York actors all of whom we have had the pleasure of watching on "Law and Order" these past 19 years--still my all time favorite television series.
The other five movies were far less memorable and I looked at the scenery, dosed, and read my book.
As we crossed into Nicaragua I loved seeing the villages and when we stopped the locals who would board to sell us food or souvenirs. What was thrilling to me was seeing the Pacific, the beaches and the fishing boats. Something romantic and somehow adventurous about travelling along an ocean that you've only seen from California. These bus trips are not meant for sightseeing and so you view what you can.. Nicaragua is currently being promoted by International Living and other such publications as a wonderful place to retire. The beaches, weather, cost of living and lifestyle are attracting lots of people. I did not get to see the beach towns or resort areas that are creating this interest but I would love to. The questionable political situation there is apparently not an issue for those who love this country. My view of Managua, its seedy little bus station and unattractive neighborhoods certainly make it a city I am not anxious to retun to. Sleeping for three hours on a bench in the bus station with my bag as a foot rest was kinda cool though.
As night fell we crossed into Honduras and with nothing to see I slept or read. I can't remember how many times on this trip we were stopped by heavily armed police or solders . The buses were searched and our passports checked carefully several times in each country. It is somewhat disarming to be awakened from a sound sleep as police inspect the bus--disarming and comforting at the same time. I of course found out several days later that as we motored through Honduras a coup was underway. As far as I know that conflict is still unresolved and I am just as glad I slept through it.
El Salvador is beautiful but on this trip I saw very little of it. My thoughts kept drifting to the Salvadorans who worked for me in the states. I wondered how life was treating them in the economic crisis that had hit so hard. Most of my employees in the cleaning business came from Salvador or were born in the US to Salvadoran parents. All of them considered themselves to be Salvadorans first and expressed an undying love of the country. Economics had forced them or their parents to come to the United States to survive. And doing any kind of work however hard or menial is better than no work at all. The United States has always offered that promise. Just yesterday I was talking to my neighbor, a psychologist from Austria. She said that most people in the world including Europe still believe that everyone in America does well. As I write this the real unemployment rate is %17.5 which includes those who have stopped looking for work and those who are"underemployed". I know a bit about that. My last job as an independent courier certainly did not maximize my skills and by the time I paid my automobile expenses I was making less than $5.00 an hour. Yet there are still many jobs that most Americans will not do and are left to illegal immigrants. For all the abuses of this situation particularly in the Southwest where social services are overwhelmed there are still many parts of the country where only "illegals" will do the work: cleaning, gardening, dairy, furniture, carpet factories and slaughter houses. My experience with Salvadorans is that they have an incredible work ethic. The condos I built in Del Ray were constructed by an entire crew from Salvador. Ronald and his workers did a superb job. There are a number of excellent auto repair shops in Alexandria owned and operated by Salvadorans and their work and their prices are unbeatable. But today I read that many families in Salvador and Mexico and other Latin American countries are sending money to the states to help out their struggling family members in this economy. Of course the irony for me and many Americans is we come to these countries to live and retire because we can no longer find a decent job in the states or we can't afford to live comfortably on what is left for our retirement.
If you love cities as I obviously do there is something special about viewing their skylines. I always loved the view into Washington particularly at night as I drove along the George Washington Parkway especially between the Memorial and 14th Street bridges(sorry Mr. Rochambeau). The view of the New York skyline from just about any angle day or night can take your breath away. Los Angeles from Mulholland Drive, San Francisco from the "top of the Mark", Paris from the left bank, Vancouver from the wonderful Salmon on the Hill restaurant. Florence, Rome and so a many cities I have yet to see.
I was not prepared for the magnificent view of Guatemala City as we came down the mountain.
It was such a surprise. I wanted the bus to stop so I could dig out my camera . As we descended into the city I was delighted with the tree lined streets, the sculpture, the sidewalk cafes. I had no idea such a place like this could exist in Guatemala. When I arrived at the bus station I decided to spend the night. I was approached by a cabbie who in excellent English promised to take me to" a beautiful and inexpensive bed and breakfast." A young woman on the bus from the Netherlands had been made a similar promise by a woman cab driver in Nicaragua only to be robbed of all her cash. Her mother had flown over to not just rescue her but accompany her on the rest of the trip. I liked the fact that she was not making her go home.
It was broad daylight in a big city. I had no idea of where to stay so I hopped in the cab. He said this place was near the airport and the airport turned out to be on the other side of the city. As we motored through this beautiful city I was more and more impressed with it's parks , flowers and the perfect blend of traditional and contemporary architecture. We finally reached the road by the airport and it was lined with large modern sculptures. The neighborhood by the airport was simple but lovely and the b&b the biggest surprise of all- enchanting and inexpensive.
After checking in a taking a long shower I found an excellent comida economica around the corner. My chicken and rice was memorable not just because I was so hungry but because it was so good. I returned for dinner was not disappointed. I wandered around for a couple of hours and began to think that maybe Guatemala City was a place to stay for awhile. Some of my fellow travelers had gone on to Antigua which because of its beautiful lake and countryside has become not only a tourist attraction but a home for ex-pat retirees. Back at the b&b I went online and looked for a place to live and found nothing on Craigslist or any of the rental sites. The innkeeper told me to be very careful at night in the city. It was not safe. As I understand it in addition to "traditional" crime the city has thousands of orphans from the war who literally live in the street and survive on what they can steal.
I decided to continue on to Tapachula
My next post:"...the kindness of strangers."
