Day 38

What a nice and relaxing last full day in Nicaragua!

This morning Jessie and I got up around 9am and got dressed for our day. I got to talk to my folks a little this morning and congratulate my brother on becoming an orange belt today! I am so very proud of my little brother! He is such a great, intelligent, talented, and anointed young man. He is my best friend and at times my worst enemy but I love him all the more because of that. He knows which buttons to push and knows what words to say when I am feeling down. My brother is a true blessing from God! I am so proud of him and can't wait to see where God will take him! :)

So we got ready for our day and then went to meet Esmir at the bus stop at 10am. He was taking us to the market! This time we shopped on the tourist side because I wanted to get a few little things for my folks, which I always try to do whenever I travel. My family means a lot to me and I know gifts and material things don't truly show love but at least it shows them that I think about them. No matter what I do I don't think I will ever like bartering! I am really bad with how much things should cost so I'm either way too low or settling too high. I don't know, I think I will just stick to buying non-negotiably priced items for now and study how to barter. Anyone own a copy of "Bartering for Dummies" that I could borrow? :)

We were at the market until 12pm and decided to have lunch there. We ventured over to the non-tourist side of the market and ate lunch at one of the many food places. The food was very delicious. After we finished eating, we headed back to the bus stop to catch a bus home.

Once Jessie and I arrived back at the hostel, we just relaxed. It was such a beautiful day today! It was almost like Nicaragua was saying goodbye with a sweet gesture of gorgeous weather this afternoon. I packed all of my stuff up and got it ready for the morning. I then watched a movie on netflix and just relaxed, laying in my bed with the door open.

Yesterday, Rocío had asked if she could come over tonight because she had something to give me. She said she would be here around 8pm. Esmir had asked if Jessie and I wanted to have dinner out for my last night. I invited Rocío to come as well and we would leave for dinner at 8pm when she came to the hostel.

At around 6:30 close to 7pm the power on the entire block went out! It was insane! Poor Jessie was showering when it happened. I was working on work for VISEDAL that has to be done before I leave and wasn't able to finish it because the power shut out, so I have to finish it in the morning. It was out for almost an hour. It finally came back on just 5 minutes before Rocío arrived at the hostel.

When Rocío came she brought me a beautiful journal with Nicaragua written on it as well as a beautiful leather wallet. In the journal she wrote a very sweet little message. It was so sweet and thoughtful of her to do that for me. I was so touched and thanked her so much! She is such a nice and funny woman. I have really enjoyed getting to know her! We said that we would continue to be friends and would continue to talk on Facebook.

Shortly after she arrived, we all took a taxi to meet Esmir at the restaurant. We went to a place called "Asados, El Patio", which in english is "The Patio Grill". It was Esmir, Rocío, Jessie, and myself at dinner tonight. Brad and Bethany were going to join us but they then decided to call it an early night. We had fun though, the four of us. I had beef with rice and french fries. The food was absolutely incredible!!! The meat was so tender and the french fries were perfectly crisp. This was almost like Nicaragua's way of making up for the power outage. :)

After dinner it was back to the hostel and now here I am sharing with y'all my day. Today has been a nice day! It has also been exciting and saddening. I am excited to see my family in friends, but I have this feeling like I shouldn't be leaving because my work here isn't finished! I am sad to leave my friends behind but if God willing I will be able to come back. I have a lot of different emotions in my head about leaving tomorrow. Esmir and the taxi are going to pick me up at 9:10ish right in front of the hostel to bring me to the airport. I look forward to seeing all of my friends and family!

Well I am off to bed! I have to be up early to finish some work and then get to the airport! The next time you read my blog it will be from the United States of America!

Untile next time, buenas noches