Dear family and friends,

Today was our last fun day together as brothers and sisters. We woke up around 6AM to wake up the rest of the Glimpsers. At 6:30, we ate an OG breakfast of gallo pinto, eggs, white bread, and juice. Once everyone cleared their plates, we headed outside to get on the bus. We picked up our photographer and 2 Red Cross medics and headed to Masaya to shop for souvenirs then to The Monkey Hut in Laguna de Apoyo to swim in a lagoon. After a two and a half hour journey full of Spanish music (shout-out to Carlos, our driver) and chess playing, we arrived at Masaya to do some souvenir shopping. After checking out all of the shops and buying some things here and there, we all walked over to the breathtaking view of the lagoon we would soon be swimming in. After a mini photoshoot, we got back on the bus for another half hour drive to The Monkey Hut. Once we arrived at The Monkey Hut, we were shocked at the discovery that there were in fact NO monkeys at the so called “Monkey Hut” and were entirely disappointed. We soon got over that once we saw where we would be hanging out for the rest of the day.

We began with some delicious lunches of burgers, pasta, salad, nachos, and carne asada (@romi). Once all of us were finished eating, we were briefed by our Red Cross life guards, Elvis and Jackie about safety in the water. After that, we grabbed life jackets, tubes, and kayaks and headed out to the water. This water was no Lake Michigan. This water was warm, clean, and clear. After raving about the temperature and the view from the lagoon (which seemed like it was out of a movie) we started having fun. In the beginning, everyone flocked to the wooden platform floating in the water and began jumping off repeatedly. After posing for many pictures we started to play silly games like Pirates of the Caribbean and Marco Polo. After spending about 2 hours in the water, it was unfortunately, time to go. We all marched out of the water, changed, and got back on the bus for another 3 hour bus ride back into the bowl of Matagalpa. Since we were all so hungry after a long day of swimming, we stopped at a gas station to buy drinks and snacks. With full bellies, everyone fell asleep listening to Spanish music courtesy of Carlos once again. Near the end of our drive we were able to watch the sun set behind the mountains. As we arrived back in Matagalpa (a.k.a. the bowl) we were able to finally see the lit up cross that sits on one of the mountains surrounding the city. We arrived back at the hostel and headed straight to a lovely dinner of Nicaraguan chili, bananas, rice, and cantaloupe juice.

Today was a beautiful and amazing way to begin the closing of our trip in this country together. We are so incredibly thankful that we were able to spend this day with our group which has become our family. Even though we are having the time of our lives here in Matagalpa, we along with the rest of our group, are looking forward to seeing our families again in a couple days.

Much love,

Maddie and Marilyn