Nicaragua!!! Day 4

So the next morning we got up early and checked out of the hotel.  Happy New Year's Eve!  We took a taxi to the bus terminal and headed back to Managua.  From there, we had to catch another bus to Leon.  And man were those lines long!  Apparently downtown Leon is like a huge party town and they have a crazy celebration on New Years so everyone was heading out there.  We stood in line FOREVER.  I did buy cute sunglasses from a guy on the street though!  They're white, and I like them :)  Haha and we made some friends with the other people in line.  In fact, at one point one girl was sick of standing in line.  She went over to one of the Jinotepe buses who had no customers (because everyone was going to Leon) and offered him a deal.  She asked him, if she were able to find enough people to fill their bus and pay a little extra money, if they would change their route for the day and take us to Leon.  They got excited and agreed.  They had been sitting there all morning with no one to take to Jinotepe.

So she came back over to us (we were holding her place in line) and told us the deal.  She counted out 15 people out of the middle of the line, and we all dashed over to the Jinotepe bus.  It was all very confusing to me because I couldn't understand anything they were saying!  She put me in the front middle seat right next to the driver (who wasn't in the bus yet)...  And Brock had to sit in the back.  It was pretty funny.  The driver opened the door and starting yelling at me for something...  No idea what he was saying so I started pointing stupidly at different things, trying to figure out what he wanted.  Finally, after frustrating him significantly, I figured out he wanted the little seat cushion he had on his seat.  He was probably thinking, "that stupid annoying gringa"  hahaha.  I was embarrassed :) 

Then, we had been sitting there packed in the little Express Bus for a few minutes and were just about to leave, when all of a sudden everyone got disappointed and started getting off the bus.  They ushered to me to do the same and I was just so confused.  Brock finally explained to me that the police were gonna take away the bus driver's license if he took a Jinotepe Bus to Leon.  Dangit!!!  Hahaha, it was a fun adventure though :)  And a clever idea by that girl standing next to us!

So anyway, we got BACK in line for the bus to Leon, and eventually got on the bus.  I hated getting on and off public transportation...  Everyone was always so rushed and yelling and crazy and I had no idea what was going on!  I got on the bus and was standing there all uncertain when I finally realized one of the guys was talking to me!  And then he said in broken English, "Sit down, Please!"  Hahaha I just smiled hugely and thanked him!  It was really funny.  Brock said, "Well, you're definitely getting the whole Nicaragua experience!"  Hahaha.  Yeah, I told you already that the people are way laid back and chill, but the streets are not.  They are CRAZY!  It was so funny!

Anyway, so then we had another 1 1/2 hour bus ride to Leon, and took a taxi to "Hotel Austria," which is right next to Downtown.  It was a beautiful hotel!  Definitely my favorite one.  And it had air conditioning :)  Hallelujah!  Hahaha.  And the bathroom was pretty clean (which is definitely a bonus)!  So we put our stuff down there, turned the A/C on full blast, and headed out into the city.

Leon is one of the most well-known cities in Nicaragua, and it is definitely touristy.  There were white people there!  It was so weird!  Haha a lot of them were from Germany though, so a lot of them still didn't speak English.  It was still exciting to not be the obvious most tall and white person around (well, next to Brock of course).  So we walked around, took pictures, and had fun.  Downtown is built around this GIANT cathedral, the biggest in Central America in fact.  It is huge!  They have cathedrals all over the country, but this one is especially significant.  And they have Mass there all the time; like multiple times a day.  We walked in and saw one and it was really cool!

So we went shopping a bit then headed back to the hotel to call Brock's friends.  We got a hold of Yasser, who was the ward mission leader when Brock was there.  It turns out he was working at a shoe store right next to where we had been walking around!  So we went back out there and visited with him for a while.  He was super cool!  Then we took a taxi to another neighborhood farther away from downtown Leon.  We walked down a dirt road, and I was a little nervous about the dogs everywhere, but once again survived them ;)  Haha and we got to the home of La Familia Palma.  When we first got there their mom wasn't home; it was just the cute kids and their pets:  A parrot, a rabbit, and two dogs!  We visited with them for a while and gave them Starbursts (Nicaraguans love American candy hahaha).  It was so funny because they fed the Starburst to the Parrot and he loved it!  Haha so we sat and laughed with them.

Then I met their older sister, who greeted me with a kiss on the cheek.  That is another Nicaraguan custom that I think is so cool!  Except half the time I didn't expect it so people would try to do it to me but I'd forget to lean in and then it was just awkward because I would laugh and apologize but not be able to explain that I'm not used to that so I forgot, and, anyway.  That's just a side note that's funny because it created awkward situations for me :)  They're all chill and understanding though so nobody cared.  Anyway, then I found out that that girl was leaving to go be with her fiancee!  They were planning to travel to Guatemala to get sealed in the temple.  How exciting!  And then their mom got home so we sat and chatted for a long time.  She is such a sweet lady!

Let me tell you a story about this family...  And I hope I tell it right because it's amazing.  Brock met them when not all of them were members of the church, and none of them were active.  After he and his companion worked with them a lot, eventually they all joined the church and gained very strong testimonies.  However, their dad was very sick.  He had a brain cancer that was just getting worse all the time.  Brock had a hard time leaving them because they got really close and he didn't know what would happen to their dad.  Well, when Brock and I went back, we found out that their dad had passed away last year.  But we also found out that they saved up every penny they had to go to the temple and get sealed before that happened.  And they did it.  So now they have their Sealing certificate framed on their wall, and because of the Gospel in their lives they get to be together again with their entire family.  It was a wonderful experience to be there and listen to her tell us that story.  Even though I couldn't directly understand very much of it, I could see the twinkle in her eye and her strong testimony just shining through.  I am so grateful I got to meet them and really see how much missionary work changes lives.  It was a wonderful experience.

So after that we headed back to Leon to find some dinner.  On our way back we ran into some more missionaries!  Yes!!  I got to speak English again :)  They were super nice and we chatted for a while with them.  They told us the best places to go eat, so that's where we went.  They have this place in Nicaragua called Pollo Tip-Top!  It's pretty much just like KFC; very Americanized, and it was delicious!  We got it "to go" and went back to our hotel to eat and relax.  Lots of walking = really tired.  It was a really nice evening.

Around 8:00 PM we decided to go out and see the party in Leon.  We walked around, bought some cute jewelry, got some delicious ice cream, and took some pictures.  I have to tell you about this funny New Years tradition that Nicaraguans have.  Everyone builds a dummy of an old man.  A stuffed dummy.  And at midnight, they burn him.  It symbolizes the dying of an old year and welcoming in the new one.  It is so funny!  But everyone everyone everyone had old man dummies sitting out ready to burn!  I was laughing so hard.  It was an awesome night.