Granada
We woke up excited for day three’s adventures. We were up and dressed by 7:30. We all went to breakfast and had a choice of: eggs,pancakes,fruit,cereal,omelettes and toast. After breakfast we all filled our water jugs up for today’s heat. We got on the bus and danced and sang for 10 minutes. On the bus we were heading to Granada. We arrived at granada in a very famous area. We all got off the bus onto a very famous street.We began to transfer from the bus onto the horse carriages into groups of 3 and 4. Before we pulled off lots of people began bombarding us trying to sell us fake Ray Ban glasses. Some of us bought a pair for 5 dollars. Also it was kind of a sad awakening for most of us because young boys where coming up to our carriages asking for money. It was not your ordinary beg for food like in Philadelphia. It was a beg that would take your soul away and just make you cry. Some of us gave the young boys a dollar. One of the little boys had ran away from home in Managua and was starving. He had told us that his mom lived in another world. After pulling off in our horse carriages we began to listen to the driver tell us about the history of Granada. After a few minutes of touring we stopped at the first cemetery of Central América, where many of the Nicaraguan presidents had been buried. Soon afterwards, the nice men that helped with our carriage ride helped us out of the carriage. In front of us was a big plaza with colorful fountains, trees with different colored flowers, people selling juice and tajadas (plantain chips), and benches full of tourists and people native to Nicaragua. We made our way to the bathrooms which were a bit weird. They were located underneath a pretty gold gazebo. There were women selling whistles shaped like different types of birds and painted pots. Everyone got whistles. The ladies were very persistent when trying to sell you things. We played around with our whistles until Maestra Kelly called us together for instructions. She explained to us that we would be asking the Nicaraguenses some questions. All of the people’s answers varied. That was when most of us stepped out of our comfort zones because we were talking to new people. Then we left the plaza and headed to the church. The church was previously attempted to be burned down by William Walker. He was an American General who invaded the town and declared himself President of Nicaragua. Once we got inside the church we began to climb up the stairs which were steep and narrow. When we reached the top, we saw the rooftops of Granada and Volcan Mombacho in the distance. We took plenty of pictures. Then we had to walk back downstairs. Alena and I (Juliana) were really afraid of the stairs but Maestra Kelly calmed us down. We reapplied sunblock and started walking through Granada to eat lunch. The restaurant was really big and the waiter were very patient considering at least 10 of us spilled our drinks. The food was great! The waiter taught Jack how to use his toy top that he bought at the plaza.
By Juliana and Cyani
Las Isletas (The Little Islands)
When we finished eating lunch, we walked down the street on the way to the lake. When we walked, some people stopped by the street vendors and got souvenirs and fresh coconuts. We did not know it at the time but we were going to use the coconut to feed some monkeys. When we arrived at the dock, we got on a boat that was pretty long and had a canopy. It was cool because it was so low we could touch the water. When we got on the boat, the teachers started joking around with Elena saying that she had to go swimming with 3 - meter long sharks. It took us on a hour long tour around some of the islands. There are 360 islands that were formed by the Mombacho Volcano a long time ago. We got to see a few of them. We then stopped by an island for around 15-20 minutes, there was a pool, but not everyone went in. There was refreshments like (Coca Cola, Sprite, and Fanta). When we left the island, we visited another one that had monkeys on it, but we didn’t get off the boat. A mom monkey named Lucy and her baby, Pekingese came onto the boat. We gave them coconuts and they crawled around the boat and on some of us. When it was time for the monkeys to get off the boat we threw some coconut onto the island but they would not get off until they felt like it. Then other monkeys showed up and started to eat the coconut we threw back. The architecture of the houses on the islands was pretty cool and it varied from island to island. There are many families who live there so one of the islands has a school. People who live on the islands travel everywhere by boat. After we got off the boat, we walked around the boardwalk and took a group picture in front on Lake Nicaragua. Then we went on the bus to go to a restaurant for dinner. It was a barbecue place and it was an open space. All of us tried out quesillo (fried cheese with sour cream and tortillas) and for our opinións it was okay. The restaurant was really interesting, it had a bridge-looking thing on the ceiling for decoration. While we were waiting for our food, some people played arm wrestle.
By Alena and Josephine