Lake Time, But We Are Not Just Tourists...

As Trainees, life is largely determined for us. We have requirements to fill and schedules that allow us little free time. I am sure I have already exhausted that topic... 

But it makes our days out of town even better! We went on Saturday night to a neighboring town not too far to watch folkloric dances. It was so fun to see what seemed like the entire small community show up to the event. The dances were beautiful, and having talked about them with various community members it was fun to see them live. Some were funny, others beautiful, but it definitely got me excited to be at a small site. 

On Sunday we went to a lagoon that is a crater from a volcano with warm, clear water. It was so nice to be able to swim after being so hot all the time even though the water was lukewarm. For the first time in a while, we forgot everything and soaked in the fact that we were in beautiful Nicaragua. It is always interesting to go to a touristy place and tell them that no, we will not pay $20 for a ride that should be $5. And on top of that we will not pay in dollars because we make money in cordobas (aka even though you look at us as a pure money making opportunity we don’t have as much as you think we do.) One of my favorite things is when we go out and they try to rip us off and then become surprised when we not only can speak Spanish but we also know the proper price for something.

After our day on the beach, we went to the small town nearby where they make beautiful hand-crafted pots of all different shapes and sizes. I probably wont be taking my chances on sending anything home in the mail, but for anyone who wants to visit and loves pottery (eh em, mom!) I will gladly take you there when you come! To end a peaceful day I came ho me to a happy Jesús who wanted to play with me and greeted me by running down the sidewalk screaming my name as I walked up. He even sat on my lap! And the cherry on top is that I got to rock a cheery three month old to sleep. I felt rejuvenated as I started the week.

So, we find out our sites in two days! I am definitely trying not to think about it a lot so I don’t lose my concentration on our other tasks. They are about to determine the next two years of our lives. No big deal.