October 31- November 5

Well this year certainly wasn't like my typical halloween: no costumes and no candy. Instead, starting out at 3am, Vicki and I sat on a bus for 9 and half hours traveling to Nicaragua. The whole bus ride thing may not have been ideal, but it was wellll worth it for the amazing little vacation we had last week! I didn't know much about Nicaragua besides the fact that it is the poorest country in Central America, and we were going to stay with friend of one of Vicki's co-workers (neither of whom I mad met)...so really, I had no idea what to expect. Let's just say, I don't think I had the typical Nicaraguan experience- Justin (the co-workers friend originally from Mississippi who opened his own thriving textile factory in Nicaragua) picked us up at the bus station and brought us to his gorrrggeeeooous house equipped with a pool, hot shower, amazinggly comfortable bed with mattress pad and a breathtaking view over the lake. As if the accomodation wasn't enough, Justin showed us some real southern hospitality making sure we had every comfort we needed and providing insanely delicious food that had only been available in my dreams for the last two months (this all included snacks of cheese, bakery fresh REAL bread, a dinner out at a tapas place with...gasp...baked brie and salmon, and of course, copious amounts of wine) Can you say heaven? And who could leave out the two and a half hour champagne brunch on Sunday at one of the nicest hotels in Managua. Multiple rooms filled with salads, antipasto platters, any kind of meat or seadfood you could imagine (I still refused to try rabbit even though Justin raved about it) and of course, a massive dessert table. The best part- every time you went back for another round you returned to find your champagne glass refilled :) I could probably go on and on just about food (I've been feeling a little deprived lately in El Salvador)- but we weren't completely gluttonous and did actually do lots of awesome activities to work this all off!

Sunday we took a nice 4 mile hike on a path pretty much in Justin's backyard that had beautiful views of the lakes and volcanoes in the distance. Monday Vicki and I did the same hike and took some time to explore the little town of nearby Catarina- very quaint. Later that day Justin had a driver pick us up to go check out his factory. It was really cool to see it all in action- I've never seen so much fabric in my life! From there we went to Masaya, a still active volcano. I have never been up close and personal with a volcano, let alone on that is continually smoking with the very real threat that it could at any point start spewing rocks. (There are literally warnings to park your car backwards so you can make a quick getaway.) Definitely one of the most amazing sights yet! Tuesday we got up early and drove out to lake Nicaragua (I believe, the biggest lake in Central America) for a 6 mile kayak adventure. Majority was actually just really peaceful and relaxing taking in all the secenery, but we also made it out where the lake opens up to some more wild waves. I have never kayaked through waves before and I hope that wasn't my last time because it was so much fun! For the rest of the day Vicki and I took it slow and enjoyed walking around the town of Granada. I think the best word to describe this place would be charming...bright colors everywhere amongst amazing old world arhcitecture. Pretty much a photographer's dream! We were inspired and decided to even take a little carriage ride to get the full effect. On Wednesday, we had originaly planned to hike some of the trails on Mombacho, another volcano. We were only able to drive up halfway because the rode was out due to the rain. Instead, we ended up doing the hardest hike I have ever done in my life from Justin's house down to the lake. The orignal idea was to take a shorter way down so we wouldn't be tired and could climb up later. HOWEVER, Justin had never taken this route and it was "shorter" because instead of a trail winding down gradually it was pretty much just insanely steep all the way down Sure, there were times when it would wind so you were parallel rather than vertical, but it was still sloping and to your right it would just be 900 feet straight down with the only thing to grab onto for dear life (literally) were a few sporadic trees and weeds. Towards the end it was more like boulering, so it was easier to get your footing on the rocks, but still pretty steep. Even though I was a weee bit nervous at the time, it was one of the coolest things I've ever done! At the end we were rewarded with a a swim in the gorgeous clear waters of lake Apoyo. For our last night we sat out on the veranda and enjoyed a nice grilled steak with veggies and wine...bliss.

Now- back to reality and volunteer life...summer school starts tomorrow!