A quick post to let you know that....

We just arrived in Nicaragua! We left Arenal Volcano this morning and drove back to San José before flying to Managua.

(And I (Kristen) should apologize in advance for the grammar in this email. As you will read in this blog, I've been thinking and talking in Spanish for the better part of the day. Now we're in Nicaragua, and it seems that almost no one speaks English...so again, I am thinking and talking in Spanish. It's completely fine and I'm really enjoying it, but it is most definitely affecting my ability to communicate in English! haha It's crazy when I think of a Spanish word for something BEFORE thinking of the English word. Anyway, sorry for the run-on sentences and lack of fluency and spelling mistakes that are sure to occur.)

Okay, so about the volcano: we were there for 3 full days and it rumbled occasionally, maybe 1-2 times a day. We saw a lot of smoke come out of it, which was really exciting especially the first time we saw it. It is just really crazy to see brown smoke shoot out of the top of a mountain. Anyway, we didn't see any red lava until last night. About 11 pm, we heard a rumble which sounded a lot like thunder or a jet flying overhead. But DUH!! We are at a VOLCANO!! All rumbles are most likely THE VOLCANO. (I know this sounds quite obvious, but really, it is kind of hard to keep remembering that!) Anyway, at the 11 pm rumble, I rushed to the window and finally saw a tiny bit of lava!! I shrieked, which immediately caused Mom and Dad to rush to the window too. The red color was visible for only a few seconds and there wasn't much of it, but it was definitely molten rock. Pretty cool!! (actually I guess it pretty HOT, but whatever. haha)

Anyway, the volcano continued to be quite active all night (rumbling every 30 minutes or so) but there was a cloud covering it for most of the night, so we didn't see lava again. But we had seen a little bit, and I was happy. :)

So this morning, we left Arenal and drove to San José by way of a quite curvy (think West Virginia times 10!) road. We are not much for curvy roads so we took it slow, but still got to San José by noon. We were supposed to be meeting a friend at the airport to have lunch, and miraculously found him within 5 minutes of getting there! So we dropped off our luggage and the rental car and headed to Alajuela (a town near San José) with Carlos. We met Carlos 2 weeks ago when we first arrived in Costa Rica and were staying at Portantorchas and painting the children's home. He is from San José and therefore speaks Spanish (and is learning English!) . Anyway, at first I was nervious/scared to talk to him (since he's a native speaker) in Espanol, but over the time we were at Portantorchas, he was patient and listened to my (often incorrect) Spanish and gently corrected and helped when need be. So, I am much more comfortable speaking Spanish now! Still a looong way from perfect, but a bit better I think. Hopefully, he can come to Indy sometime and meet you all, cause he is pretty awesome! So, it was great to hang out with him again and to get back in the hang of speaking Spanish (which, come to find out, I would really need in Nicaragua!).



We had lunch at Pizza Hut and during lunch, Carlos found out that Dad's birthday is this coming Saturday. He told the waiters (in Spanish, of course, which Dad can't understand at all) about his birthday and at the end of the meal, they brought him an ice cream sundae complete with a candle and singing! Anyway, lunch today was a great way to end our time in CR. I totally loved it there, and was so sad to leave.





So after lunch, we took the bus back to the aeropuerto and had to say goodbye to Carlos (but in Costa Rica, they commonly say "Hasta luego" which means "See you again later" instead of "Adios" (which means "goodbye, I may not see you again") because it implies that you will see each other again soon. So actually, we said "Hasta luego" - definitely a little better than goodbye :) ).



Then, we flew to Nicaragua! Somehow (and we still don't know how) we got put in first class which was quite surprising and kinda fun! As soon as we got on, they gave us drinks and AGAIN when we were in the air! Woah!







So now we are in Managua. Tomorrow, we are going to meet Keylin, the girl that I sponsor through Compassion International. I am so excited! We all are, really. Before we left Indy in early July, Sophie and Mandy C. helped me pick out some gifts for Keylin and I am so looking forward to giving them to her. It has always been a dream of mine to meet her, and so after she asked me in a letter last winter, "When do I get to see you?" I knew we had to come visit. :) So tomorrow is the day! I'm not sure when you are reading this, but our visit is at 1 pm (3 pm, Indy time) tomorrow (Tuesday) and we are going to her home and Compassion project school. Please pray for all of us - Keylin's family included! - that we are not nervous to meet each other, that we can communicate well, and for safety. Muchas gracias! :)

And then, after visiting Keylin, we are hanging out in Managua for one more day, and then coming home!! I can't believe it! Back in Indy for good (wellll, at least for now)...AND you know what that means??!? Chick-fil-A for me in less than 100 hours!!! hahaha (Of course there are other reasons that I will be happy to be home, but I have sure missed chicken sandwiches.)

Love and miss you all. Can't wait to see you again soon :)