Friday

Today was our last day in Nicaragua!! We are sad to leave, but had a great time. We woke up this morning and had breakfast and said our farewells to the El Ayudante staff. Then, we loaded up the bus and headed towards Managua. We had lunch at the mall in the food court. Everyone enjoyed having familiar foods, like McDonald's and Burger King.

After lunch we had planned on heading to Catarina, but decided to forgo that trip and head straight to Masaya for shopping. We spent about 2.5 hours shopping there. We walked around and visited and shopped together. Lots of people bought many things and we all had a good time there. We actually ran into Omar at the market, which was really neat for all who know him.

We came back to Managua mid-afternoon and checked into the hotel. We had a couple of hours of free-time and some of us swam, while others relaxed and took hot showers. We had a private dinner that was wonderful and shared some laughs and stories together. We also sang a few songs.

There is a big fiesta out by the pool tonight, and some of us went to the opposite side of the pool (behind the stage) and had our own fiesta. We danced and sang with one another. The band is playing everything from the Beatles, to Elvis, to Nicaraguan music.

The plan is to get up early tomorrow morning and head over to the airport. Our flight out is a little before 9:00. Keep us in your prayers!! Thanks again for your support! We will see all of you soon!