School bus anyone?

I've done so much traveling lately my head is actually spinning! Last friday I went to Las penitas which is a beach on the pacific coast. It was beautiful! My friends and I decided to take a tour of la isla Juan Venado, which literaly translates to "John Deer Island". We saw lots of mangrove trees with their cascading roots, a few iguanas, some croc eyes, lots of neat birds and on the way back a dog eating a gaint sea turtle. After our fabulous escape to the coast we went to Leon, another beautiful but hot colonial city, and then to Managua. We stayed in Managua and ate at a Korean restaurant- it was so exciting to eat a different kind of rice, without beans, and the food was delicious. The next morning we dropped my friend Jenn off at the airport. I was sad to see her go, but glad that she would soon be returning to the land of clean feet! From Managua we went back to Granada to pick up my things and then headed to Managua again to catch a bus to Santo Tomas.
With all this travel I've learned a few things about the buses here. First there is no national transportation system, it's all individual so the drivers are competing for the passengers. Then there is the price of gas, which is expensive, as a result they pack in as many people as they can onto the bus. If someone is trying to rush you onto a bus, it's probably because there's a competing bus for the same destination that will probably get there faster. Always have small change, that way it's harder for them to rip you off. Dawn and I got charged over double the price on our way to Granada. We were robbed and Dawn let them know that, way to go Dawn!!! Always sit next to a window if at all possible. Don't sit on the floor behind the driver's seat, turns out you'll be sitting right over the motor which makes for some hot buns! Although the "express" buses are small, about the size of an airporter but they cram in over 20 people, most of the buses here are old school buses. It makes for a nestolgic ride. On the plus side, there are always vendors selling snacks. I wish we had that in the U.S.! Now I'm in Santo Tomas, Olympia's sister city. I haven't seen too much so far but everyone seems really friendly.