March 17 pm - March 18

This is Jesse writing. After the grueling long ride back from the lagoon, which seemed like 90 hours, we quickly ate dinner and sat down with a meeting with Rafaela. She asked us to reflect on the trip thus far, and it seemed like we all shared the same thoughts and feelings. In short, we´re having an incredible time here, and are finding the Nicaraguans extremely kind, accepting, and most of all, entertaining. Rafaela then went on to lay out the week ahead, and despite her speedy speech, I think we were all able to decipher what was said. After this chat, we settled into a game of Chinese poker as we waited for our host families to pick us up. Since there was no GS group get-together, my host brother, Martin, and I headed off to our house. In the beginning of this trip, I dreaded these pick ups, because I never knew what to talk about, which led to long, awkward silences. But last night was different. For some reason, I was able to talk to him so easily, and everything just flowed. This showed me that not only is my Spanish improving, I´m also getting more comfortable with my family and myself. However, this momentous conversation ended when we arrived at the house, and Martin put on the Simpsons, which appears to be his favorite show since we watch it almost every night.
This morning, we boarded the bus once again to visit the volcano at Masaya, and I think it´s safe to say it greatly exceeded most of our expectations. We arrived at a museaum which elaborated on the volcanoes by showing us a three dimensional map. After this invigorating experience, we were able to actually go to the volcano. I was captivated by the majestry of the landscape, so much so that I couldn´t breathe - actually, that was undoubtedly the sulfur. After Ilya forced me to take 29 pictures of him in front of the volcano, we left and headed back down to the museum. There we bonded over lunch and hung out for a while, as kids talked, did homework, and played "Never have I ever...." Paco (Connor!) won, of course.