Day 67 7/28/13 (The Final Trip home, getting busted for bad bottles at security, final flights home, the welcome party and some final thoughts and stats)

This is it guys, the last blog entry for this trip. The capstone of my experience. The final chapter in my epic quest through Nicaragua. Without any delay, let’s finish this jawn off right! Anyways the day started off early with a hot shower and the breakfast at the hotel. This was the standard fare of eggs and ham with B&R with a toast course and fruit course (rather skimpy eggs (maybe it was one egg), but hey they (it) were (was) good). I also had milk flavored with a tiny bit of coffee (something I crafted because the coffee was quite strong). After that I chilled and talked to Kendall and Mark for some time before I finished packing. This time was around 8 in the morning and I even got some movies from Mark for the trip back. Not too much later Alex said the 9:30 AM shuttle was getting there soon, so I had to make final packing prep and start saying bye’s (not goodbyes as I hope to see some of the folks in the future). When the shuttle was actually there it was time for the byes and for loading up one of those microbuses for the airport with some of the other kids and some of the board for Managua airport (about 30 minutes away). The bye-ing process went fairly smoothly with good wishes for safe travels and future endeavors being tossed about and thanks and congratulations to be celebrated by all. The ride to the airport was rather lackluster except it rained a tiny bit on the bags (on the roof of the van), but it was hard to dampen spirits on the way to the airport. At the airport we more or less broke apart in our group to get boarding passes, but I found Hannah, Karthik and Soorya again waiting in the line to go through immigration out Nicaragua (probably emigration then) and passed through the line with them into this large clump funneling somewhat down to line to pass through this woman to the security. She basically just took another look at our forms and passed us through. The 4 of us ended up along one of the edges of the clump and Hannah and Soorya got through at the line, but she kicked Karthik and I to the back of the line (-.- Come on lady, what is the deal on that one? We were standing there before the line formed and should have grandfather clause abilities to enter that line). Whatever. Security there wasn’t bad at all two metal detectors and the x-ray scanners. The security let me pass without issue even after having huge bottles of shampoo and soap. After that I had a bit before my flight and grabbed a $4.5 6” Subway sandwich (what kind of pricing is that? (it was also necessary to order in Spanish which was fun)). I talked to the others form the group a bit more and then headed off to board my flight. The flight wasn’t bad and I talked to this woman whose flight to the states yesterday had just been straight up cancelled without reason by United (NAILED it on that one guys). The guy sitting next to me also had the same issue with yesterday’s flight. He was also talking about Nicaragua as he’s building a house on the Pacific coast and I was talking about the lack of people selling food on the flight (with tubs of pastries for like 5 cords). Anyways the flight wasn’t bad at all (I watched Gangster Squad and it was just as good as the first time at WPI with Eliz (ah good times)). After that I had to walk through this Aperture style hallways to the immigration and border entry windows for Americans returning to the States through Houston. It was a huge-A room with a giant ceiling and America everywhere. The line too forever to wait through but I eventually made it through and passed onward to security (which this time busted me hard core). First off the lady busted me for having large things of shampoo and body wash (Old Spice and Head and Shoulders). She said I could check a bag or toss them out (so I tried to do a Shaq on the trash can with the Old Spice, missed badly and somewhat freaked out some people behind the trashcan as it slid to their feet. Whatever. She also raised some questions about my 4 oz bottle of insect repellent but allowed it to pass through the scanner. I was getting my stuff on the other side of the scanner when I heard another woman state, “Who’s insect repellent is this?” I said it was mine and was given the choice of checking or getting rid of it. I chose to just toss it out and was slightly annoyed at this point and discouraged with airport security (should invent a teleporter and make all of that defunct). Anyways I was somewhat through packing up my pockets etc with all the junk I had in them when the same woman from the beginning of the line was asking who the owner of a green LL Bean bag was (I put my hand up like that classic rock on gif that looks like the dude from MCR for nailed it) and she searched through my bag for a rock of mine that I had wrapped in a black plastic bag. She asked me if it was a rock and I said yes as it was a rock from Telica. She then took it to the scan-Tron dude and I was finally able to pass through security. Argh so much annoyance there. In San Fran I had to take a shuttle rom one terminal to another because it was being remodeled. Anyways there were United employees counting folks using the shuttle between terminals and there was a dude that looked like a slightly more Asian Pete Wence from Fall Out Boy counting people after the shuttle. Flying back from there was pretty uneventful. On the plane back from San Fran to Redmond I talked to this chick about Oregon and told her all about my recommendations for eating/enjoying Bend (she was from Seattle). I also told everyone that I talked to about Oregon and Nicaragua (probably more than they wanted to know about both regions). I got back to Redmond and it was actually slightly cold (probably around like 65 (but from Nicaragua that is cold)) and I grabbed my luggage from the cart (the small flight usually puts all the carry on bags in the cargo hold for the flight to save space). I threw my bag above my shoulder and speed walked to the receiving area where my parents were waiting. I was so stoked to get there that I was trying not to run. We got a few photos and I even fake kissed the ground in Redmond Airport (and slightly freaked out some other people). Whatever, being home in the States in Oregon makes everything worth it. The last time I pulled into Redmond airport there was snow blowing about on the runway and snow piled up everywhere (back in December for winter break, ah good times). Anyways, my parents had brought “the Beast” (our Sprinter) to pick me up and the two dogs were waiting in there and happy to see me as I was to see them. After I got home I saw the cool welcome sign they had made and got to chat about Nicaragua and unpack a bit (it was like 12:30 AM).

 Not too much later I conked out. Here are some final stats about this whole thing (for those interested). There is MORE TO READ after the stats.

 It has been a crazy 67 days people. So many adventures, fresh tricks, new knowledge, new friends, new beginnings and a new perspective. I cannot thank those who helped me along the way: all the EWH folks, the other students in the program, the OTGCs (Kevin and Alex, especially Kevin who was so helpful when Dan was sick), my working partner Dan who killed it in Nicaragua with fixes and surviving Dengue and my parents and grandmother who financed the trip. Without all of you guys, I never could have done this. I cannot thank everyone enough for this and the fantastic experience I had. Thanks for reading and keeping up with my journey through Nicaragua. Who knows? Maybe this sort of blog may happen again. We’ll see. Anyways take care and best of luck to everyone reading this with life! PEACE! Chas Frick out!