Goal Check

I realized last week (thanks to my lovely friend Mckenzie) that I only have five months left on my 27 in 27 goals.

Here is quick update to keep me honest:

1. Read a book a week - Still on track with this one and I am loving it!
2. Rescue a baby sea turtle*
3. Give it three months - Ehh - sort of did this
4. During non travel/brigade put in 10 hours of Spanish Time - I have not been doing this at all
5. Each week, point to one thing way outside my comfort zone, that I did
6. Write a letter every week - Always send a thank you note - I have a stack waiting to be mailed!!
7. Some goals are private
8. Write a book
9. Do all 33 new habits
10. Get into Johns Hopkins - DONE!!
11. Complete the USAID course
12. Touch every country in Central America - Only 2 left!
13. Learn to scuba* - DONE!!
14. Private
15. Run a Half Marathon in under 2hours - I'm not sure this is still a priority of mine
16. Climb the highest peak in Honduras
17. Hit Fluent - GW test 110 & 100% - GOT to get moving on this
18. Write a grant proposal - May be shifting this one a bit.
19. Get a meditation routine going
20. Read Patholigies of Power AND a Peace to end all Peace
21. Leave Shoulder to Shoulder with an amazing rec.
22. Work on my penmanship
23. Submit a short story/article
24. Still more privacy
25. Learn my multiplication tables*
26. Stay in contact with the people I care about
27. And some more privacy

Still got some work to do!

Back in the swing of things!

Wow - I have been a terrible blogger! 

T.E.R.R.I.B.L.E

Getting back from two months of travel has made it a bit hard to get back into normal life.

The adjustment has been a bit tough but, this week my goal is to get going again on all the things that make up life in Santa Lucia.

Including this blog!

Only in Central America

Remember my last post about being flexible?

Well today my ability to be flexible was really, really tested.

Here is how the day went

We got up super early and walked to the bus terminal for our eight hour bus ride from Managua, Nicaragua to San Jose, Costa Rica

(Side Note: In our hotel room last night there was a spare door frame holding up one corner of the ceiling - No Joke)

After a couple of hours we finally arrived at the border. According to immigration Jill had overstayed her visa and would need to pay a fine for the extra days, plus a "gift" in order to make sure she wouldn't have problems getting back into the country.

(Side Note 2: Seriously, if anyone can figure out the visa stuff around here, please fill me in!)

After dealing with all the immigration hassles we got back and the bus and went on our way. For an hour.

And then what happened? Our bus broke down. Yup, dead as a door nail on the side of the road

So we did what all flexible travelers would do. Get real comfortable on the side of the road

Jill doing some reading

After about an hour or so a semi pulled up. We figured the driver was just there to see if he could help fix the engine.

But no, this was our tow truck.

We even got a police escort

Fortunately, they only towed us across the street to the next gas station but we did all get to ride in the bus as the semi pulled the bus.

Talk about a once in a lifetime story

After 13 hours of travel we finally arrived and got settled into our hostel.

Tomorrow we have another long bus ride to David, Panama.

Hopefully this one goes a bit smoother!

Just roll with it...

Flexible:
adjective 
1. capable of bending easily without breaking
2. able to be easily modified to respond to altered circumstances
3. ready and able to change so as to adapt to different circumstances

One of the biggest lessons of travel is that you must be flexible.

Like crazy flexible

After three days in Managua, Jill and I have decided to change our plans and head straight to Panama (Long story BUT if you can make sense of the abusurdly complicated C-4 regulations/visa extensions for this area let me know!)

What does this mean?

Tomorrow we are heading to Costa Rica so as not to overstay our visa in Nicaragua. We will spend a night in Costa Rica, and then head on to Panama first thing in the morning. 

Basically, it will be two days of long, long bus rides, and then a boat to Bocas del Toro, to spend the holidays there!.

If being flexible means accepting that you will spend Christmas on the beach than I am just fine with it!   

Off we go! 

All the photos!

One of my goals for my 27th year of life was learn to take good pictures

In order to do this, I am trying to take a lot more photos. I made a photobucket to share the ones I really like:

Erin Glesne-Smith's Photobucket

Enjoy! 

EDIT: Click the little arrow, on the left side, next to the phrase "Show Albums and Stories" to see all the albums and photos!