Granada and Hotel Oasis

My bus ride was great. Not only was my seat magical, but they played three movies during the trip that were all good. Apocalypto, An Inconvenient Truth, and a Dane Cook/Jessica Simpson comedy called Employee of the Month. We even got served a steak casado on the bus. I took a nap during the hour of disco music they played on the bus, which was from a PBS special.

I had to run to the bank early this morning by AutoMercado, the grocery store by my house, to grab $100 out of the ATM in dollars. I then had to pay 5000 colones to catch a cab to the TransNica bus station. I checked in at 1130 and the bus left at 1200. We hit the Costa Rica side of the border around 500, where I changed 80 of my dollars for cordobas, the currency of Nicaragua (17.5 cordobas = $1). 1400 of 'em. Tons of guys heckled you as soon as you got off the bus to exchange your money but only a few of them were official with the badge. I did the math in my head several times to make sure I didn't get ripped off.

Back on the bus and another half hour to the Nicaraguan side of the border, where I had to wait in line briefly with my bag and get my passport his fancy stamp that shows I went somewhere. I even left my backpack on the bus because I had a couple of knives in it and didn't want to risk the random bag search, even if they were ok to have. Anyways I didn't get selected for a random search and they didn't go through my backpack when they swept the bus. We all had to stand outside of the bus for another twenty minutes or so before we were cleared to go. I bought a Powerade and was accompanied the rest of the way by a smelly Nicaraguan police officer who inconveniently chose to plop down next to me (even though my other seat was covered by my stuff and backpack and there were a dozen other spots to sit). One more hour and I was one of the only passengers to get off in Granada (most were heading on to Managua). I hopped in a rundown cab (twenty years old or so) and a block down the street we picked up the same cop who'd been sitting next to me.

The five minute ride to the hotel was interesting. Very, very poor area. Lots of open BBQs in yards, tons of people in the street, all of the cars were old, dirty, rundown, lots of street vendors, kids playing soccer in the dark on a concrete field, hookers, motorcycles flying past, etc.

Hotel Oasis is pretty cool. Internet here is free, there's a small pool inside, and international calls are free each day for the first ten minutes (one call only though). I'm in a bunk bed in the guys hostel room--there are hotels and hostels here. I think there are all ten of us in the room. Glad to see everybody again!

Lastly I should note I haven't shaven for a week, so I'm looking scruffy. If you're (un)lucky you'll get to see some pics soon.