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!!!!!