Jan 3

On Our Way...

We left Sacramento at 12:50am on our exciting Nicaraguan adventure! Everything was really smooth although Cristian tried to ditch us in the Mexico City airport by exiting instead of following the connecting flights sign. He caught up to us pretty quickly, though, and the first potential adventure was adverted. The Nicaraguan airport was practically empty so we had no major issues there and we were quickly on our way to Casa Nica via taxi.

Once at Casa Nica, Josh gave a quick tour to the newbies (four of them this time!). We put our stuff down and then went out on the town. Our favorite money changing location was closed so we walked to the grocery store and changed money while purchasing breakfast items. Derek and Dr. Basha picked up the first pizza of the trip for lunch while the others changed money in the park and then we were all back at Casa Nica. Everyone was tired so we relaxed in the hammock and made a smoothie run. Once it became dark, everyone except Dr. Basha piled into a taxi and went to see the Masaya Volcano.

Our trip to the Masaya Volcano was long but exciting. As we waited, five students and one taxi driver squished into one cab, we enjoyed the beautiful song "Take On Me" by A-ha blasting on repeat from a nearby home. Our bodies were applauding as the sun set and a cool breeze drifted through the car window. Although we sat in a cramped car for about a 2 hour wait, the actual drive up was a little over 3 miles on smooth road with luscious greenery. As soon as we hit the top we were able to see the boiling lava from the opening of the volcano as we stood 500 feet above.

Everyone returned hungry at 8:30pm and went to the park for food. Derek, Trevor, and Zach enjoyed pizza once more while Cristian and Giselle tried a new place in the park. Cristian enjoyed shrimp ceviche while Giselle enjoyed shrimp al ajillo. Once back at the house, everyone crashed and called it a day.