life @ 13

sucked in

to nobody's surprise, i was unable to leave leon today. i woke up around 8:30 this morning, stared out at the street from the little indoor balcony in my hacienda, and gave myself two choices which were either 1) pack up my bike and start biking toward managua or 2) don't pack anything and bike 20k to the beach. if you saw the color of my stomach now (i'm trying to even things out) the answer is clear.
honestly i had a really great time today. even though i said that i swam in the pacific in honduras, it was off a little concrete pier on a bay -- not exactly a beach. today was a beach, and it rocked. the beach was huge, clean, and there were no more than 10 people in total. felt like a little kid today, crashing into waves, ducking under them, and trying to drown myself in the process. i'm glad i made it to the beach, even though the ride back was a little rough (nasty road, nasty headwind) because i don't think i'll see another one like this for quite a while.
part of the reason i stuck around was i met some cool welsh couple and an american guy staying at my hotel. we're supposed to go see a baseball game tonight, should be cool. and i really enjoy this city, and there may well be none to match it from here on.
i'm already thinking about what i'm going to do when i get to panama. south america is starting to sound a little shaky, since my funds are in doubt and my bicycle/gear in even greater doubt. flying to detroit or chicago from panama city is ridiculous, like almost $600. i learned that i can get a bus from panama city to mexico city for about $100, so i might do that and do a couple more weeks (months?) cycling north from there. but it all remains to be seen.
as a little bonus i'm posting (without consent) gunnar's recent journal, which is similar to mine except his and oskar's trip has been far more exciting than mine.