viernes (Friday), 2 septiembre 2011....we went on a scavenger hunt of Leon after our Spanish class. We split up into 2 groups and each had a native Nicaraguan on our team, which was very helpful to navigate the buses and taxis and such! We took a bus, taxi and camioneta which is a covered truck basically. The bus and truck just go around the city in the same route every day and have different stops so you just have to know them. It is good that they have public transportation because I would never in a million years want to drive in this city. The drivers are crazy and are not afraid to use their horns. They drive really fast and I'm surprised there are not more accidents! I have learned that the people that drive here know what they are doing though, so its fairly safe. ha. On Friday night I played soccer in the street with my cousin, Alejandra and other cousin, Alan. It was crazy just playing outside at night, but its really common and it was pretty fun. You have to stop when cars and bikes come by too.
The most exciting part of our weekend was GOING TO THE BEACH (a la playa)! We took a bus from Leon to the beach for $0.50 and it took about 20 minutes to get there. The bus was pretty packed cause it was a great day for being by the ocean. We took Zhenia and Alejandra with us, 2 native Nicaraguans with us and so they took us to a hostel by the beach where we hung out and it had a great view. The part of the beach that we were at was so empty, like not many people so it was awesome to just have that section to ourselves! We got to see some people surfing which was cool, one was a little boy about 5 years old! I think we will be going to the beach a lot because its so cheap and a great relaxing day.
Church on Sunday was most interesting. I had heard a little about their church services and been to one the past Sunday but this one was different. First, my family and I got there a little late and people were just singing having a great time. We were about 20 minutes late, and they still sung for about 45 more minutes! It was a lot of time to stand, but no one seemed to get tired. They clap a lot which is different from North America in a way because they all seem to have their own beat; some people clap on the off beat and faster and slower, and its a very interesting combination! ha, they are very into their praise worship which is very neat! When the worship was done, mi mama and Alejandra and I went to help with the 3 and 4 year olds because they take them out during the sermon (which was about an hour long). There were a lot of kids, and we just played games with them, it was hard to keep them entertained for that long of a time, because they had tons of energy! The rest of Sunday was pretty chill, my family just hung out and took naps, a pretty typical Sunday. Their store was still open today so that was different.
Yesterday was a good day because I got cereal for breakfast AND supper. My family found out that I like cereal so I hope I get it more often :) I like trying the typical Nicaraguan dishes though. Today, I tried soapa de rez (beef soup). Their soup here is very different in that they have a bowl with the broth in it and then a seperate plate with all the vegetables and meat on it. That stuff is not cut up so you basically take a smaller piece and dip it in the broth. It was a very interesting way to eat soup. I also got to teach mi mama and cousin the game trash the other day with playing cards. They caught on pretty fast. They don't play many card games here, and at first they wanted to play memory with the cards so we did that, ha! It was fun, and my goal by the end of the semester is to teach them nertz (dutch blitz) so we will see how that goes!!
I had an interesting encounter with a cocroach yesterday, it crawled on my foot and as I felt something I just thought it was an itch, but it turned out to be the gross creature! I flicked it off as fast as I could and my family laughed at me. I haven't seen any since, but there are plenty of geckos around which are so cute, they don't bother me at all. Tonight us students are going out for pizza at a place called Hollywood Pizza, so we are super excited about that! We haven't had too much American food since being here so it will be a good change! Well it just got done pouring so I think we are going to head to the pizza place about 5 blocks away from the cafe we are at right now!
PICTURES>
my host cousin, Alejandra and I at the beach...
Cara.
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