chicken busses, long walks, and automobiles

so my last post was from the market and bus "terminal" in león, while i waited for hours to the express bus to estelí. after i posted, i walked around and around in the afternoon heat while my backpack was on the converted school bus, waiting for the 2:15 departure. during that time, i had to pee really bad and managed to sweet talk a woman who ran a clothing store into letting me use her facilities - once again, toilet paper was provided (on top of a heap of cardboard boxes in the corner) but she ran to the door while i was in there and shouted about how i had to refill the empty toilet tank with a bucket of water from the sink to make it flush.

finally, at 1:30 i decided to sit and wait on the bus. i walked back into the "terminal" and lo, the bus was gone. i asked some guys with microbusses to managua where it went, and they all said "Ya se fue" (it left). ¿se fue? ¡pero mi mochilla estaba adentro! i wandered toward the local bus to san isidro, where they motioned i should go, since via san isidro was the next best way to estelí. as i wandered over, some guys started hsst! hsst! catcalling me, and i ignored it, but they got louder, and shouted ¡muchacha! i looked and there they were, out in the sun with my backpack, all 40 overstuffed pounds of it. they said their friends with the express bus werent going to estelí since i was the only one who bought a ticket, and to take the other bus via san isidro. i told them, "but i bought a ticket" and they said yeah they knew and gave me my C$60 back, and then i ran and caught the san isidro bus, which was packed to the gills, people standing and sitting, and about to leave.

when i got onto the bus i saw 2 kids from colorado who i'd met in granada and ran into in león were there. i told them the whole backpack story and it turned out they were going to estelí also. we shared the loooonng ride to san isidro, which involved lisa accidentally disturbing some otherwise silent chickens in a woman's lap when we disembarked. after the feathers flying and the barking i was pleased to have actually ridden on a literal "chicken bus."

estelí has proven to be chilled out. there's really good, really cheap, really delicious food. it's in the mountains, so the climate is pleasant. yesterday we walked about 5 miles down dirt-and-rock roads through the countryside outside of town to find a 100-foot waterfall with a lagoon underneath, where we went swimming. the walk was shortened one way by a toyota full of dudes who stopped and gave us a lift part of the way. our day ended with pupusas on the side of the road with passionfruit juice and a few liters of toña.