Greetings from Leon, Nicaragua. I arrived in Leon safe and sound....its been a whirlwind 24 hours. Leon is a strange dichotomy....the people are very friendly and yet there are some that I get the feeling that dont particularly want me here. Of course it is not a good sign when you go to the town square and you see painted "muerte al invasor imperial"...death to imperial invasion. I have quickly learned that Leon was devestated by the civil war of the 1980s and was a Sandanista Stronghold and much of the town got destroyed and many people here on both sides died. Some of the fiercest fighting was here and there is still left over sandanistas and bitter feelings. But I digress...

Last night I went to pick up Jose from school at 8 pm and we had Fritos...the deep fried bananas, cheese, and pork skin which was very nice. we had a nice chat and I went to bed about 11. This morning I still didn´t feel that well....so i had my coffee and then went to pack. It seemed like it took forever for me to pack. Jose stopped by and we said our final goodbye and he made me promise that I would write him when I return. My driver picked me up and we were on our way to Leon....it was a 2 hour ride...as we approached the Leon area there were numerous volcanoes. It was quiet time and made me think....we passed bananana plantations, tobacco crops, papayas, coconuts and the people...sitting along the side of the road...one even in a wheelchair. I thought of my time in Managua with Ricardo and my temporary hijo Jose in Granada...and the chances that none of us will ever meet again. Our life paths crossed each other for a few days...we touched each other and now we move on....in a lot of ways it´s a metaphor for life. Nothing is permanent and we are all in transition. The best we can do and hope for is to cross paths touch each other in positive way and move on to the next encounter