Back in San Juan

It was quite a week in Boaco, a little long if you ask me, but it was a good experience nonetheless. I had a good time exploring and meeting new people, but I was definitely happy to see my friends when I arrived in Managua :) I met up with Jessica, Julia Elena, and Melissa at the bus terminal and then we headed over to the other bus terminal so Melissa and Julia Elena could go back to Catarina, but Jess and I went to the PC office for doctor check-ups. We hung out at the office while we waited for our appointments—checked emails, chatted, etc. We finally got in to our appointments and had to run some errands and then decided that we should get some food before heading back because we hadn’t eaten lunch yet. So, we walked over to the McDonald’s and we were trying to be a little more aware of our surroundings this time because apparently some PCVs got robbed in that area a couple nights ago. It’s not the safest place for gringos (Managua in general). Anyway, we got some lunch and of course McFlurry’s. We headed back to the PC office and talked to some of our trainers and found out I had gotten mail! I finally got the package my parents sent me about 4 weeks ago…not sure why it took so long. This was so exciting, and even though I had my big backpack and I was going to be riding a bus back to Managua, I decided to take the package with me.


Jess and I had the guards call us a taxi and then we had to wait for about 20 minutes for the guy to arrive. He helped us with our bags at the bus terminal and told us to be careful as it was already getting dark (5:45pm). We found a bus and it wasn’t leaving until 6pm, so again we waited. It took forever to drive through Managua because this apparently is the prime time for bus travel out of Managua. Our bus filled up and kept filling as we traveled. It was ridiculous how many people were squished on there and then if someone was getting off, it was almost impossible for them to squeeze through people to get to the front. The bus ride took about an hour and a half and when we tried to get off the bus in San Juan, we had our bags and couldn’t get through the people, and we were in the front seat! It was absolutely ridiculous because the bus was stopped, everybody was watching us, but nobody would move out of the way, or step off the bus to make room. So, we pushed our way through with our bags and finally got off with the bus assistant pulling us off the bus to help.

It felt so good being back in San Juan, our quaint little town. Jess took a moto and I walked over to Kellie’s to tell her we were home. We saw one of our little neighbor friends with a popsicle (like a freeze pop) and asked her where she bought it. We went to buy them and found out that they were actually double the size because she had split hers with her friend. Kellie and I each got one and they were only 1 cord (5 cents). I should have taken a picture because they were like giant freeze pops.

I then headed home and greeted my family—it was nice to see them after being gone for so long. I opened the package while I was eating dinner and was pleasantly surprised by all of the goodies that came spilling out. I shared some with my family and I can’t wait to eat my peanut butter M&Ms!

Yesterday, we had class and there was no electricity all day. This didn’t affect our class though because there is sufficient sunlight, but I really wanted to go to the cyber…then I ran out of saldo for my phone and I couldn’t call/text. I was falling apart haha I took a moto over to Catarina and was able to find a cyber, although the internet was rather slow. I couldn’t do much, but I was able to talk to my parents and my friend Erin from Gonzaga. We had to cancel our youth group meeting because it was too dark and just told them we would have it the next day.

I came home and it was pretty dark already. I ate dinner by candlelight and then put on my headlamp to organize things in my room. I didn’t want to go to bed because it was too early, so I decided to pack some things and put things together because I’ll be leaving soon. Our language professor gave us our schedule for the next few weeks and it’s gonna be crazy! We have a lot of meetings, next week we’re visiting the US Embassy, we leave San Juan on Sunday, 21st, we swear-in on Monday, 22nd, and then we leave for our sites Tuesday, 23rd. It’s coming up so fast and I’m really excited, but also sad to leave my friends.