Nicaragua!!! Day 6

So, 3:30 AM rolls around and the alarm goes off.  We nudge each other a bit trying to wake each other up before we finally both crawled out of bed sleepily.  Yup.  We had a 4:30 AM bus to catch to take us on a 3 hour drive to Matagalpa!  So we got up and finished packing and headed out, when we ran into a very odd problem.  We were locked inside the hotel.  The only exit was through the lobby (yes, we wandered around to see if that was true), and that door was locked.  We had told the guys that we were going to be leaving at this time, so what was up?!  So I started knocking....  and voila!  A sleepy eyed man came to the door.  Pretty sure he was sleeping in there hahaha :)  But he let us into the lobby and checked us out of our room.  Then the security guard helped us find a taxi to the bus terminal; that hotel was pretty nice and they had really good service.  I was grateful!

So anyway, we got to the bus terminal and there was one big old fashioned school bus waiting for us!  We had to go so early for a couple of reasons.  One, this was the only route that went straight from Leon to Matagalpa.  The other ones all stopped in Managua which would have added another 2 hours to our trip.  Two, we wanted to make it to church in Matagalpa and that started at 9 AM.  So it was early, but it was worth it!  And the bus ride was actually really beautiful!  Brock let me sit by the window and it was so cool to look up at all the stars!  There's no inversion there like we have in Logan so the sky was beautifully clear and the stars were so bright!  And then we got to see the sun rise!  Matagalpa is in the mountains so it made that even prettier.  So I actually didn't mind the drive at all!  And when we got there a little before 8 the sun was already high in the sky.

We took a taxi to our hotel, which was way up high in the mountains, and kind of secluded from the rest of the city.  It was so pretty!  There were flowers and plants EVERYWHERE and you could just look out over the beautiful city of Matagalpa and see the mountains and trees and cathedrals and buildings and, I just loved it!  So we checked in (awesome that they'd let us check in at 8 AM, haha, that doesn't happen in the US!) and had just enough time to get ready and head to church.

We walked down the long rocky hill to the city and headed over to the church (it actually only ended up being like a 15 minute walk).  It was a really nice church building too!  So we sat down in the chapel and Brock was greeted by a bunch of different people who were thrilled to see him.  He just made a big difference everywhere in that country!  Seriously there were people everywhere who just loved him!  It was really fun to meet them all!

Anyway, so it was fast and testimony meeting and even though I couldn't understand what people were saying I definitely still felt the spirit.  My favorite part was the hymns, though.  They didn't have a pianist so they just had the leader get up there and sing really loud (REALLY loud) and everyone else just followed and sang with her.  It was really cool!  Haha you could tell when there were some less-known hymns....  because they all sang it all wrong and it was so funny!  Haha but they sang with heart and I loved it.

Then it was time for Sunday School, and there I met a really sweet girl that speaks English!  Hallelujah!  So after the lesson I asked if I could sit by her in Relief Society.  She of course said yes and throughout the whole thing she was translating what was going on.  It was so sweet of her!  And there was another couple there that day that were also visiting from the states.  I guess they had met in Guatemala and he's from Seattle and she's from Nicaragua.  So they were visiting her family for the holidays.  We talked with them for a while and they invited us to eat lunch with their family!  So we all took a taxi over to the house and sat and visited while the mom prepared the food.  The kid from Seattle broke out his guitar and he and Brock took turns playing songs- it was way fun!  And the food was delicious!  We had chicken and vegetables and bread and an incredible fruit drink!  (Have I mentioned the Nicaraguan fruit drinks yet?  They are to DIE for!  So amazing!)

So we thanked them and then went out to visit other families.  I remembered Brock had told me that his legs had gotten rock solid when he was in Matagalpa.... and I quickly understood why.  There were SO many hills!  Everywhere!  And they were super steep!  I was dying!  Haha with the sun beating down and climbing all these crazy hills I was just exhausted!  But we visited with a family that Brock had baptized that had now also been through the temple.  They are super solid in the church and it was so neat to hear them talk about their experiences and see how much the church has blessed their lives.  It was worth the death climb up to their house :)

Then we went back to the hotel to rest for a bit before we set out to visit some more people.  Only then did I realize what I had forgotten that morning.  Bug spray.  Oi.  And so had Brock.  And I had three ginormous bites on my arm, and two on my leg, and another little one on my other arm.  But I was luckier than Brock...  He not only got mosquito bites, but he got a flea!  Yup.  Miserable.  That's what Nicaragua will do to you if you go 3 hours without insect repellent.  Be warned.

Anyway, so we sprayed ourselves with spray, and some anti-itch stuff that totally didn't work, and relaxed a bit.  Then we got a phone call from Fanny's mom!  (Brock baptized Fanny and her brother; the rest of their family aren't members but they still became really good friends with Brock and his companion).  Fanny was in Managua going to school, but her mom still wanted us to come see her so we set out back down the hill.  We caught a taxi up to the top of another giant hill and then went on a little hike to get to the house.  When we got there she had clothes hung up to dry on clothes lines - it once again reminded me how blessed we are here!  I complain ruthlessly about doing laundry here, but these people wash their clothes in rivers and hang them to dry.  Humbling, definitely.

Anyway, so Fanny's mom walked out and shook our hands, very excited to see us.  She welcomed us into her home where she showed us pictures of her family and the things they'd been up to the past couple of years.  Then she made us delicious fresh squeezed orange juice (once again, the most amazing fruit drink I have ever had!).  It was really fun to visit with her.  She was another one who understood that I can't speak and so she took time to speak slower to me, which was much appreciated!

So then we went back down the hill and had to stop by a store and get some bread for dinner.  Then it got dark so we took a taxi back to the hotel and relaxed, flipping through channels on the TV.  We found Harry Potter again!  Still in Spanish, of course, but I'm pretty sure I know those movies well enough that I knew exactly what was being said anyway :)  (embarrassing confession of my love for Harry Potter!)

Then Brock took me over to one of the balconies of the hotel and we looked over the city.  He put his arm around me and asked if I remembered when he called me from Nicaragua when his parents were there to pick him up.  Hello- of course I remembered!  It was like THE most exciting moment ever.  Anyway, in that phone call he said that he was looking over the beautiful city of Matagalpa and that he wanted to take me there some day.  And there we were, finally together in Nicaragua and looking at the beautiful night sky in the mountainous Matagalpa.  It was a wonderful moment that I won't forget :)