Time Well Spent

My parents were here for a week and it went by so fast!  I knew it would, but was hoping it would stretch out as long as possible :)  

The trip started when I took a taxi to the airport to pick up my parents.  We waited in the lobby and then I saw them!  They were behind a large glass wall and I had to wait patiently for them to collect their luggage before exiting the area.  It was so exciting to see them and then hug them!  7 ½ months is a long time to not see anyone!

I took my parents to my town (Boaco) and then got to meet my family here.  It was funny because my parents don’t speak any Spanish and my family here doesn’t speak any English so I had to jump in and begin translating.  I felt kind of weird repeating everything I heard (even though it was in a different language)—sort of like a parrot.  I got used to it after awhile and then it was natural; although I did say a few things in Spanish to my parents and then realized they didn’t understand me haha oops!  

I gave them a tour of my town and we had a big dinner with my family here and the teachers that I work with.  It was so great to have everyone together. 

After my parents got to see where I live now, I took them to Masaya to travel to my old town of San Juan de Oriente.  This town is much smaller and the house I lived in before is much poorer.  This was eye-opening to them, although it’s become normal to me.  My host mom was delighted to meet my parents and show them her home and offer them fresh fruit from the backyard.  It was also exciting to see the little girls again and play a little.  

We then went out to lunch with my old host family and met up with one of my volunteer friends that used to live in San Juan with me.  Her mom and sister were visiting.

We stayed in Masaya that night and then drove out to the beach the next day where we spent 3 nights at a resort.  This was quite a change to what I had been living for the last 7 ½ months!  I felt like I was in the States!  However, I still had to work a little because very few of the people that worked at the resort spoke English.  

After our little piece of luxury, we drove into Managua and I showed my parents the Peace Corps office there.  We organized all of their things and got to bed early as they had a 7am flight to catch, which meant leaving the hotel at 5am!  It was hard for us to fall asleep knowing what would come the next morning, but it eventually came time to say goodbye.  This time it wasn’t as hard as when I left Oregon, because I’m already here in Nicaragua and I know what I’m doing—there’s not that feeling of the unknown and what will I do??  Also, my parents are planning on coming back in December with my brother so I have that to look forward to :)

All in all, it was a great trip and I was excited that my parents got to see a glimpse of my life here in Nicaragua.

P.S.  Thanks for the AWESOME new shirt!!