Back to Nicaragua:
After quickly gathering the group, Blair, Jim and Eli brought everyone back to their hotel. Blair and Eli quickly took orders and walked to a nearby grocery store and managed to buy bread and cheese and pop to make supper out of. The small meal was finished off quickly and many went to bed early. Some students stayed out relaxing at the pool before bed. Blair and Jim stayed out with them; watching and making sure no one drowned or needed someone to talk to about that afternoon.
The next morning, Eli and Blair made an executive decision and hired a bus for the day. While not one of the old school buses used for public transportation, it was large enough to hold the students and their luggage. Rounding up the group, everyone climbed aboard after receiving some of the last pieces of bread left from supper the night before. Eli had decided that they should still go to the Huellas de Acahualinca before they left Managua so that the students could get a perspective on how long people had inhabited the Americas.
The drive from the hotel was not long and they quickly arrived. After arranging to meet the bus driver in an hour, the entrance and photo fee was paid for in the small one room building. After walking straight through the room, the students were herded outside by their guide-a student from the university that had a working knowledge of English. He took them across the small courtyard to a covered pavilion. They all went down the stairs and lined up along the chest high wall, staring down at the grey mud that contained several thousand year old footprints of humans and animals. The guide informed them that a volcano had erupted and the mud was the result of the eruption. As the full footprint was visible, it was likely the group was migrating and not escaping the volcano. Other proof of this was the animal prints going the other direction.
One of the students asked, "Were these cracks always there?" as there were major flaws running throughout the slab of mud.
"No, there is so much volcanic activity the tremors cause the mud to break up." The guide reminded them that there were several volcanoes close by and that they were still active.
The next stop on the tour was a small room where explanations in Spanish and odd pictures were on the wall. Nothing else, except a case with a few pieces of pottery, was in the room. The guide proceeded to explain the room, "A few years ago, the police came in and took measurements of the footprints. Using the size of the feet, the distance between the steps and even the depth of the footprint, they came up with profiles of the people that created the prints. There were a man and woman and even a young child. The ruler on the wall shows how tall the people likely were. As you can tell, even the man was a significant amount shorter than the average man today."
The students were all appropriately impressed from the guide's knowledge. "Wow, can you tell us what the police got out of the depth of the prints?" blurted out Blair, who had spent a lot of time with the forensics unit of the Cascade PD.
"Well," responded the guide, "they think that they were carrying food and other essentials on their back. The child's print was not as deep as the adults, so logically, the child was not carrying as much as the older ones."
"Ah," wisely replied Sandburg, "that makes sense." Jim took the opportunity to smack Blair's head. "Hey! What was that for?"
"Because you deserved it." Jim walked away and went outside to look at the complex once more.
"I didn't!" Blair protested. "Hey, isn't anyone going to defend me?"
"Nope," Eli relied and started moving the rest of the students back outside. "We're supposed to meet our bus in five minutes. Let's go back to the front and wait there."
Once standing outside the front of the gate, they didn't have to wait long for the bus. Once everyone was aboard, Eli asked them, "So what does everyone want to do? It's almost lunch time. We have the bus until 2, so we have plenty of time to go get lunch and then go to the bus station. We could go to the place we were going to go to yesterday or someplace else. The driver told us about a TGIFriday's in the area as well as the Mexican place."
The bus rang with comments and suggestions, and in the end, they decided to go to the Mexican place and hold off on TGIFriday's until the end of the trip when they were desperate for American food. The bus took off and they quickly reached the restaurant. Food was consumed and everyone agreed that it was good that they had gone there. After making sure everyone had used the restrooms, the leaders instructed the driver to take them to the bus station where they would grab a bus to the next destination, Leon.
Once again herding the students, Eli guided them to the right bus. Blair grabbed a hold of Jim and made sure his Sentinel was prepared for the noise and commotion. Venders and travelers were everywhere. Shouts trying to get the travelers to buy their wares filled the air. Smells of food, of waste and other uncountable scents filled the air and it made it incredibly easy to offend the sensitive Sentinel's air passages. Jim smiled at Blair, grateful that his guide was there to help him through this minefield.
"Are you good, Jim?" Blair double checked with his partner, knowing that Jim would rather pull his own teeth than admit he was in pain.
"Yeah, I wouldn't be if you weren't here, but I'm good," Jim elaborated. "I would never be able to live a normal life without you."
"Sure you would, Jim, if I wasn't here, you'd find someone else to have helped you."
"No, I wouldn't have, Blair. No one else has your knowledge, not even Eli. And even if he had your knowledge, he doesn't have your genius with coming up with ways of handling my senses. And even if he did, he's not you. Everything about you, even your scent is designed to help the Sentinel out. Without you, Blair, I would be in a hospital or dead. No one else would have been able to help me like you have and will in the future. Do you get that, Chief?"
"Jim, I don't know what to say."
"That's a first, a speechless Sandburg!"
"JIM! Thanks, man."
"Yeah, well, come on, I'm sure Eli is wondering where we are."
The two men walked over to the bus and got on in silence. Eli looked up from his seat and smiled, he knew that these two men would always be close and while they may have their ups and downs, the two would remain friends until their deaths. A more unlikely pair of soul mates he had never met, but they were.
After quickly gathering the group, Blair, Jim and Eli brought everyone back to their hotel. Blair and Eli quickly took orders and walked to a nearby grocery store and managed to buy bread and cheese and pop to make supper out of. The small meal was finished off quickly and many went to bed early. Some students stayed out relaxing at the pool before bed. Blair and Jim stayed out with them; watching and making sure no one drowned or needed someone to talk to about that afternoon.
The next morning, Eli and Blair made an executive decision and hired a bus for the day. While not one of the old school buses used for public transportation, it was large enough to hold the students and their luggage. Rounding up the group, everyone climbed aboard after receiving some of the last pieces of bread left from supper the night before. Eli had decided that they should still go to the Huellas de Acahualinca before they left Managua so that the students could get a perspective on how long people had inhabited the Americas.
The drive from the hotel was not long and they quickly arrived. After arranging to meet the bus driver in an hour, the entrance and photo fee was paid for in the small one room building. After walking straight through the room, the students were herded outside by their guide-a student from the university that had a working knowledge of English. He took them across the small courtyard to a covered pavilion. They all went down the stairs and lined up along the chest high wall, staring down at the grey mud that contained several thousand year old footprints of humans and animals. The guide informed them that a volcano had erupted and the mud was the result of the eruption. As the full footprint was visible, it was likely the group was migrating and not escaping the volcano. Other proof of this was the animal prints going the other direction.
One of the students asked, "Were these cracks always there?" as there were major flaws running throughout the slab of mud.
"No, there is so much volcanic activity the tremors cause the mud to break up." The guide reminded them that there were several volcanoes close by and that they were still active.
The next stop on the tour was a small room where explanations in Spanish and odd pictures were on the wall. Nothing else, except a case with a few pieces of pottery, was in the room. The guide proceeded to explain the room, "A few years ago, the police came in and took measurements of the footprints. Using the size of the feet, the distance between the steps and even the depth of the footprint, they came up with profiles of the people that created the prints. There were a man and woman and even a young child. The ruler on the wall shows how tall the people likely were. As you can tell, even the man was a significant amount shorter than the average man today."
The students were all appropriately impressed from the guide's knowledge. "Wow, can you tell us what the police got out of the depth of the prints?" blurted out Blair, who had spent a lot of time with the forensics unit of the Cascade PD.
"Well," responded the guide, "they think that they were carrying food and other essentials on their back. The child's print was not as deep as the adults, so logically, the child was not carrying as much as the older ones."
"Ah," wisely replied Sandburg, "that makes sense." Jim took the opportunity to smack Blair's head. "Hey! What was that for?"
"Because you deserved it." Jim walked away and went outside to look at the complex once more.
"I didn't!" Blair protested. "Hey, isn't anyone going to defend me?"
"Nope," Eli relied and started moving the rest of the students back outside. "We're supposed to meet our bus in five minutes. Let's go back to the front and wait there."
Once standing outside the front of the gate, they didn't have to wait long for the bus. Once everyone was aboard, Eli asked them, "So what does everyone want to do? It's almost lunch time. We have the bus until 2, so we have plenty of time to go get lunch and then go to the bus station. We could go to the place we were going to go to yesterday or someplace else. The driver told us about a TGIFriday's in the area as well as the Mexican place."
The bus rang with comments and suggestions, and in the end, they decided to go to the Mexican place and hold off on TGIFriday's until the end of the trip when they were desperate for American food. The bus took off and they quickly reached the restaurant. Food was consumed and everyone agreed that it was good that they had gone there. After making sure everyone had used the restrooms, the leaders instructed the driver to take them to the bus station where they would grab a bus to the next destination, Leon.
Once again herding the students, Eli guided them to the right bus. Blair grabbed a hold of Jim and made sure his Sentinel was prepared for the noise and commotion. Venders and travelers were everywhere. Shouts trying to get the travelers to buy their wares filled the air. Smells of food, of waste and other uncountable scents filled the air and it made it incredibly easy to offend the sensitive Sentinel's air passages. Jim smiled at Blair, grateful that his guide was there to help him through this minefield.
"Are you good, Jim?" Blair double checked with his partner, knowing that Jim would rather pull his own teeth than admit he was in pain.
"Yeah, I wouldn't be if you weren't here, but I'm good," Jim elaborated. "I would never be able to live a normal life without you."
"Sure you would, Jim, if I wasn't here, you'd find someone else to have helped you."
"No, I wouldn't have, Blair. No one else has your knowledge, not even Eli. And even if he had your knowledge, he doesn't have your genius with coming up with ways of handling my senses. And even if he did, he's not you. Everything about you, even your scent is designed to help the Sentinel out. Without you, Blair, I would be in a hospital or dead. No one else would have been able to help me like you have and will in the future. Do you get that, Chief?"
"Jim, I don't know what to say."
"That's a first, a speechless Sandburg!"
"JIM! Thanks, man."
"Yeah, well, come on, I'm sure Eli is wondering where we are."
The two men walked over to the bus and got on in silence. Eli looked up from his seat and smiled, he knew that these two men would always be close and while they may have their ups and downs, the two would remain friends until their deaths. A more unlikely pair of soul mates he had never met, but they were.