Oh No! La Revolucion!

So day two:
We woke up to the sounds of what sounded like thousands of people in the street and to a truck vendor with a loudspeaker trying to sell cheese. My first thoughts were, "oh no, la revolucion, we gotta get out of here!", but then I realized that everyone in this country wakes up early in the morning and they walk everywhere (right outside our window). We got up and then spent some time in the backyard, enjoying the cool weather and the various trees/animals while talking with Tania's grandma.

We went to the town of Masaya to tour the volcano and see it up close and personal. We climbed to the top despite the pouring rain. The volcano is very active indeed and thus the smoke coming out of it in almost every picture we took. Tania almost got attacked by a snake while we were looking for a volcanic rock to take home...yes, that would've been a drastic end of a month-long trip.... but, we survived and then drove further into the markets of Masaya (we saw the Gringo-fied markets, which means they were usually cleaner and nicer for the tourists). The market was full of interesting things, such as stuffed frogs in precariously perverse positions...and a chess board with medieval Spaniards versus native Indians.

After touring Masaya a bit, we got back to Managua and ate some "gallo pinto" which is basically rice and beans combined. We also ate some "mil hojas" (a pineapple pastry) and some "espumillas" (marshmallow and honey) which we had bought in Masaya in a "panaderia" (bread shop) earlier that day. Later on that night Lia (Tania's adopted aunt...complicated story behind that) danced for us in the traditional Nicaraguan dress, and I got to play soccer with Vincent (Tania's little cousin) and his friend Laura. The Gringo melted after a few rounds of soccer and then we ended the evening with some Monopolio...yes, Monopoly in Spanish...which was great for practicing my Spanish. I ended up winning, only because Vincent had to go to bed, and kindly donated his properties and money to me. Lia and Tania gave up, and I won. GANE!