I'm sorry that I haven't been able to update my blog lately. Their main server seemed to be down for quite some time and, although I could still view the blog, I couldn't access the site for updating.

Anyway, I'm back in Nicaragua, finally. While I would actually recommend Gracias and Copán as sites to visit in Honduras, I found it very difficult to get over my hospital experience, and I was quite glad to get out of the country.

I travelled with the British girls on Saturday to the capital, Tegucigalpa, and then headed from there with an Austrailian girl to the island of Amapala. We only stayed one night, as our accomodations were horrible and the island was kindof a ghost-town. It was one of the few places I've ever been where Civilization was actively in retreat. It was pleasant enough, but quite hot and a little boring. We spent a night in the crossroads town of Choluteca before crossing the border to Nicaragua.

The border was a mess. Imagine dozens of guys on bicycles swarming you, touching you, trying to convince you to pay them for this or that service, ripping you off on your money exchanges when the government officials won't accept Honduran currency, etc.
But now, I'm in León again, just relaxing, drinking, etc., and generally taking it tranquilo. Maybe a little bit too tranquilo, actually. Shortly, I'm expecting to head further South, to Granada, and I'm hoping to be on Ometepe Island within a week, or thereabouts. We'll see what happens, though.

I'm very excited about getting back to Mexico in less than a month. I miss Mexico in general, and I miss Elena and Frank. In the end, I guess I miss having some constants in my life. For the past couple of months, the only constant has been me, and sometimes that doesn't feel like enough.

Oh, one big news item: My monthly meeting (Heartland Friends, Wichita) has approved $500 for me to travel to England this August as a delegate for the World Gathering of Young Friends. These $500 should hopefully be matched by the yearly meeting as well. That would be really great, because I don't really have much money, and the plane ticket to England (in addition to the program fees for the Gathering) would be too much for me to swing.

I'm looking for a way to travel Europe once I'm already in England. I figure this is the best possible time to do it, as I'm going to be in England already. I've been invited by Ron and Christine (the Canadian-Finnish couple) to come and visit them in Finland this September, and could stay with them for a couple of weeks. Additionally, I'm also going to be making a lot of Quaker contacts from all over the world and, surely, from all over Europe.

My idea is to use those contacts, as well as Esperantist contacts (I'm learning Esperanto, and people who speak Esperanto put other travelling Esperantists up for free), to travel much more cheaply than would otherwise be possible in Europe. If all goes well, this Fall may be a European Fall for me!

So, that's where I'm at.