Mam & Dad's Visit - The Finale!

Well, here we are! Time for the final installment of mam and dad's visit.

I'll start off with some of the pictures my mam took of the public transportation here. Some of you who have followed the blog since the early days will have seen what the buses down here look like, but many have not, so here they are. It's not unusual either to see the name Jehovah on the buses down here. None of the pictures show that though.

They're almost all school buses, but a lot of them paint them so that you'd never know!

Not all of them are painted though!

I see this one ALL the time. I guess because it stands out. 

Thank goodness for the back door. I think this bus was already moving again when this picture was taken!

And then there are the moto-taxis. Masaya doesn't have them for some reason, but they have them here around the house and in a lot of other places. Sometimes if we get the bus and we're feeling lazy we can hop in one from the bus stop up to the house for 5 cordobas (20 cents). They sometimes drive on the highway too - they're a total hazard when they do that!

Here they are bombing down the street in front of the assembly hall.

And here are a couple that came to the Kingdom Hall at Piedra Quemada - that's how some of the friends get home.

And then there are your regular motorbikes. I wish I could catch pictures of the things I see transported around on a motorbike. Like in the States you'd say, I have 4 car tires to deliver, but I only have a motorbike, what can I do? Here - that's no problem. 4 tires on a motorbike - easy! I wish I had a picture of that one! Or a mattress, or a family of four - see picture!

This was as they went down the hill. When we got the roundabout the little boy in front was crying his eyes out! Their dad slowed down a lot after that!

Ok, so those were the transportation pictures.

So, on the last Saturday of their visit we went to the beach. First we checked out Casares, but there's not really anywhere to hang out at that beach, so then we moved on to La Boquita, which is where our beach adventures began back in October - click here if you didn't read that story!

As we drove back from Casares to La Boquita we spotted the cutest little Kingdom Hall. We stopped and talked to a family who live next to it. They said they have about 45 publishers I think. They're building a new hall in March, but check out the one they've been using.

Just a roof really. And a sign and yeartext.

That door back there is to the little storage hut where they keep the chairs and literature.

The witness family who live behind the Kingdom Hall.

When we got to La Boquita we were pursued like celebrities by the paparazzi.  Everyone wants you to eat at their beach restaurant, and since they're all in a row, they run after you as you drive down, telling you why their place is better. It was comical and a little annoying after the first few seconds! Anyway, one guy offered us two free "shrimp" cocktails so we went there. The food was pricey at all the places there, but we spent a nice afternoon.

The restaurant we spent our time at.

Our free cocktails. Not shrimp, but fish, and YUMMY! I had to remind the guy about his promise! 

My lunch. Charley had the same. You can't see it but it was staring at me! It was a pricey $7.50 but it was very good and a lot of food indeed!

This is a fishing area so we watched the fisherman in the late afternoon pushing their boats out. That's quite a task. Rolling it on logs, then moving the logs forward to roll it some more. But check out what happened when they started to get out to sea!

Quite a splash!

Taking the nets to the boat. Guys in the background are rolling the boat down the beach on logs.

So, that was our lovely Saturday. Oh, and here's another transportation picture taken on the way home from the beach that day.

On Sunday, we went to the English meeting in Managua. This is the congregation where Charley gave a talk a little while back. It was nice to be back there again. The visiting speaker was from Chinandega, but originally from the States, I can't remember where exactly now, but they were a really nice couple down here for 3 months I think.

The speaker and his wife ready to head home again

The bathrooms are outside. They're VERY nice.

Managua English congregation.

Then after a visit to the Las Flores coffee shop, which by the way was AWESOME! It was like being back in the developed world for half an hour. It has AC, and awesome fancy coffee drinks, and yummy desserts, and super fancy bathrooms, and WiFi and people everywhere on laptops and tablets! Then later in the afternoon we took mam and dad to Mi Viejo Ranchito to finally try all of the typical Nicaraguan food. 

Gallo pinto, nacatamal, vigoron, baho and indio viejo.
To drink we had granadilla, semilla de jicaro, and two other things, I forget what now!

They seemed to like all the food. We just ordered one of everything and shared it all. Yum!!

Then in the evening we stopped by Piedra Quemada where we served last time we were down here. Everyone was excited to meet my mam and dad.

Piedra Quemada Kingdom Hall

Ada with her twin girls, Lauren Andrea & Lauren Raquel. They are hilarious!

Charley with our buddy Wilder, and Brother Perez whose son got married in January (the one I took pictures for)

On Monday, their last day, well, Charley and I are both sitting here trying to remember and neither of us can. The only thing I remember is that we took them to our favorite lunch stop in Masaya and had a big plate of food for less than $2 each, and then we went to the market and mam got souvenirs and gifts. I didn't copy her pictures from Monday on to my computer, so my mind is blank!

Tuesday morning they left super early. They had a good trip home. Mam got caught at Managua security trying to sneak a pair of scissors through! She has NO idea how they got in there - so she says!! Charley and I spent the day doing housework and study, and then Wednesday back to normal life again!

We had an absolute blast with them, it was so much fun, and we're so glad they came. Next time I'll catch you up on all the latest happenings here. Good times on studies, and more visitors coming! YAY!!!!!

Mam & Dad's Visit - Part 3 and a Flashback to Part 2

Before I start the next phase of the visit, Dad reminded me that I'd forgotten a story from our weekend in Leon.

As I said, we had pizza that first night we were there. So, there was pizza left over and we took it to our hotel. Charley ate some the next morning but there were still a couple of pieces left. So, Monday morning I woke up REALLY hungry and the lady hadn't start making breakfast yet. Charley was already in the shower, so I turned on the BBC news that I'd found the night before, and got myself some pizza. I sat in bed eating it, with just the light of the TV in the room. After a few minutes I felt an itch, like a little ant on me. So I scratched. Then I felt another one, and another one, and another one, on my arm, on my shoulder, on my neck. Was I being paranoid now?! I finished my slice of pizza - first things first - and then got up and turned the light on. I had a ant or two on me, so I looked in the bag that the plate of pizza was in and it was FULL of little tiny ants!!! So I got a good protein start to the day! Oh and yes, Charley did still eat the other piece that was left!

So, I think I was up to Wednesday in the last blog. We went to Granada that day and did a tour of some of the small islands in Lake Nicaragua. I've done the boat tour before, but this time I actually got to feed a monkey at Isla de los Monos - Monkey Island. We also had lunch at an Irish pub that day - they had pretty decent fish 'n' chips although it's hard to beat the real thing. 

No, that's not quite how I did my hair that day. It was a little breezy on the lake.

That's my arm with a cracker in it

You can hardly see the monkey now, but he's behind those leaves. He dunked the cracker in the lake, then ate it!

Where else would you eat lunch in Nicaragua?!

But we had some Nica entertainment to go with our Irish lunch

Then we went to the Chocolate Museum and had some fresh Cacao drink. YUM!!!!

These cups are made out of jicara. It's a fruit that grows on a tree down here. I don't think they eat it, just use it for cups.

Mam & Dad on the boat - my pictures are a bit out of order, sorry

Monkey hanging off neighboring boat - they brought him papaya.

Mam and dad will have to remind me if there are any more stories to tell from that day. It's all become a bit hard for me to remember!

Next day was our Masaya day, which is the city we serve in. We started by going to the Masaya Volcano. The last eruption was April last year, so they have optional hard hats when you go. Half of our group got them. You'll soon see which half. 

That's the crater smoking behind us. It stinks!

Then we went to a restaurant that we drive past every day but never stop at. It looks out over the Masaya Laguna which is too contaminated to swim in. We had some musical entertainment there too and 2 for 1 drinks - woohoo!!

The view of the Laguna from the restaurant

Mango Margarita - yum!

They played a couple of songs for us

Ready to eat. It was delish!

But Charley's dinner kept staring at me. It was a bit distracting.

Then we went to an old fortress where prisoners were kept back in the 1890's. It was creepy to go down into that dungeon and imagine it being full of 800 prisoners. The view from outside was really good though.

Then we went to Central Park to the best smoothies place on the planet! We had my favorite - Pineapple, Orange, Mint & Ginger! And he has these cool tall chairs and tables too!

We also checked out a local coffee shop we'd never been to before. Mam loved her cappuccino!

And then in the evening we went to a show at the tourist market. Got to see some folkloric dancing. It was good. Check out the friend who came by to visit too!

Marimba Dancing

Yeah, that's giant flying cockroach - yuck! Hard to tell, but they're huge!

And on Friday I took my mam and dad to see the Assembly Hall and the Mall! Then in the evening we had friends over for homemade pizza. Which was delicious if I do say so myself!

Justin & Adina (he hates being in pictures). He's from England, she's from Romania. They've been serving down here about 3 1/2 years now. And Caleb's mam Cindy who had just arrived the day before.

And Caleb & Brenda with his dad, Kevin. And my dad in the background!

Well, that's enough for Part 3. Stay tuned for some colorful transportation pictures, and the cutest little Kingdom Hall ever!