Esta Tranquilo!

Dia Cinco

Trip to Masaya

The trip to Masaya began with a meeting at the San Juan del Sur Escuela de Ingles where my new maestras (teachers) had planned a day trip to the lagoon, an active volcano, and the market place for shopping.

My group of friends here has slowly expanded and amongst the five Texans we now have Melissa, the maestra de ingles, from LA (not Boston, as previously posted), Heather and Noah, the estudiantes de medico from UMass, and several other amigos that ebb and flow in and out of our lives. On this particular day it's Mike and Eric, the geologists/surfers from Hawaii, and Anna, a really funny social worker from Chicago.

Note: we are all identified by a first name + occupation + original residence. Sometimes we add our local residence as well, for example, Mike and Eric live left from the church past the greased pole, and Melissa is cerca de the Texaco station on the edge of the main town. My temporary address is Sara Polmerez's casa verde past the church and next to Rosa's laundry.

Very few of us have cell phones so we plan to meet at 9:45am at the school. Masaya is probably only 40 miles away, and the following is run down of our trip.

9:45am Meet at the school

10:25am Still at the school, looking for two of the students.

10:35am Drive to the student's house, but no one is home.

10:45am Drive back and wait.

11:00am Students arrive and we're off to Masaya!

(4 teachers + 1 driver + 13 students = 18 in van)

11:15am Stop at gas station, but do not actually purchase gas. Teachers socialize with locals.

11:30am Stop at roadside stand for sugar water and DVD shopping.

12:00pm Stop at another gas station. Buy gas.

12:30pm Stop again. Pick something up/drop something off?

1:30pm Arrive at Museo de Volcano. 3 hour drive = approx 40 miles. Hungry.

2:00pm Check out Volcano. Smokey. Starving. Want friends to get back in van and look for food.

2:30pm Teachers want to drive to authentic Nica restaurant. We beg for Papa Johns. We win!

3:00pm Lunch. Happiness. Heaven on Earth. Christmas in June. Cheese sticks. Pepperoni Pizza. French Fries. Coca Cola. And most importantly, NO RICE. NO BEANS. NO PICKLED CABBAGE.

4:00pm Masaya Market

4:30pm Find out Michael Jackson just died. Oh yeah... Farah Fawcett too. Forgot the outside world existed.

5:00pm Leave Market and drive to Catarina to view Lagoon.

5:15pm Get stuck in mud.

5:30pm Get unstuck.

5:45pm Stop at another gas station. Again, do not actually purchase any gas.

6:00pm Catarina Market and Lagoon.

6:30pm Confusion. Van leaves without us. Taking two of the students to Managua for the airport. We are to wait here. Getting dark. Starting to rain. Managua should be 40 min roundtrip. We wait inside a restaurant.

8:00pm Van honks and we are saved!

8:15pm Pick up a rose from roadside garden.

8:45pm Drop off one of the teachers at a party.

10:00pm Home again.

Park facing exit. No joke. Faster getaway if the volcano should erupt.