We got up to go get breakfast at 8:30am at our usual spot again….I'm telling you it is cheap and is so good. Eggs with ham and gallo pinto(rice and beans) with a corn tortilla….it just starts my day off right! We then headed to the bus station to go to Tipitapa which is a city about 45 minutes away from Managua. I got to read some of my book that I had bought a couple days ago, you know the one that is in spanish. It is so interesting and quite sad too but I love reading it in spanish because it is definitely helping me to think in spanish and my vocabulary is beginning to expand as well.
So we arrived at Tipitapa and saw Génesis Elizabeth, Jostyn, and Belén along with their mothers and grandmother. It was so great to see them! Génesis Elizabeth and Jostyn are young, I believe 6 or 7. I was so excited to see Belén again! If you can recall, Belén was the 14 year old girl who gave me the cute little purple bear hair clip the first week I was here because she wanted to give me something to remember her by. Anyways, her and I have this special relationship that is forming and I was so ecstatic to see her and give her the biggest hug! She was the same! I can't wait to see how our relationship develops even more in these next 3 weeks!
The reason for us going to Tipitapa was one because the first week we were down here the last the volunteers are in Nicaragua each kid gets a big gift bag full of clothes, shoes, toiletries, and toys. Well Jostyn's bag got put on the wrong bus so we were bringing him his gift bag that he never got. So he was so excited when he got it. It was fun to see him open the bag and then we got to play with him with some of the stuff in the bag. There were some english kids books and Génesis Elizabeth and Jostyn kept a sing me to translate what it said into spanish, which was somewhat difficult at times but definitely helpful with using my spanish. Secondly we were there because Belén and Jostyn's birthday was coming up and we wanted to take them out to lunch and to go shopping to celebrate their birthday. We have had a lot of celebrations for birthdays this week! But VISEDAL always every year does something with the kids on their birthday to celebrate with them and it's been really neat to be a part of their birthday celebration.
Jostyn and Génesis Elizabeth playing with a puzzle from Justin's gift bag
So we took Jostyn and Belén to Tip Top, which is this really good fried chicken place here in Nicaragua almost like a KFC for comparison, for lunch. It was a lot of fun an Belén and I got to talk and just reconnect after a few days of not seeing each other although it felt like months! We also were able to talk about college and what she wants to do and also we got to act like little girls together! I felt like I was her age again and we laughed and joked like we were little, although I am young still but you know what I mean. :) She would make fun of how I say certain Spanish words but then teach me how it is said in Nicaragua and I learned a new phrase from her, "el gusto es mio" which means "the pleasure is mine". We just had fun and she would say some things in english and we just went back and forth.
Belén and Jostyn at Tip Top
After lunch we went to a market in Tipitapa and this market was definitely a lot calmer than yesterday's market and really the calmest market I've been to so far in Nicaragua. But anyways both kids had $15 to spend and went to buy clothes. They got to pick out a couple things they liked and were very happy.
We said our goodbyes and it was back to Managua for Brad, Jessie, and I. When we got back to the hostel it was sometime after 4pm so I decided to take a shower because I hand't showered in like 2 days…gross I know but sometimes you get to this point where you're so dirty already why change it. Thankfully I don't have that mindset all the time, gross! But that's only here, back in the States I shower almost every day. I like to smell nice. Anyways, the water was actually warm today because in the late afternoons the water is somewhat heated by the sun from sitting in the pipes all day. For the first time ever, I wished the water was cold! It was so hot outside and I just wanted a nice and cold shower. Crazy right! Well maybe back at home yes, but here it's normal. It might be difficult for me to go back to hot showers when I get home after over 5 weeks of cold showers. Well I definitely am blessed back at home, to have air conditioning and hot showers is such a blessing. Do not take that for granted, even tough it may seem like nothing and seem normal, it isn't normal for everyone around the world.
We got to relax after and I got to take care of some things for school documents online and read some more, etc. We then headed to metro centro's food court to eat dinner. I have McDonald's many nights for dinner because it is an inexpensive way of eating and it's not too bad. I also got a milky way mcflurry which was great because I have been craving sweets for the longest time! Anyways, enough about food, it was a fun day and it's really neat because Brad and I made an agreement to talk to each other only in spanish because he is fluent. But Jessie doesn't speak spanish so when he talks with both of us it's in english and sometimes he forgets to transition to spanish with me and I tell him in spanish that I don't understand and he just laughs and then talks to me in spanish. It definitely is going to help me to use spanish almost 90% of the time I'm here. I pray that my spanish will improve while I'm down here, which I think it will.
These days are just full of fun, work, and memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Well I am very tired and need to get to bed for an early day tomorrow to go to the government building to get VISEDAL recognized in Nicaragua.
Until next time, buenas noches
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