how many people can you fit in a micro-van?

Answer: a whole heck of a lot.

This past weekend was a wonderful time of travel and adventure in Leon! After dinner at a fun Thai restaurant in downtown Managua on Friday night, we went to bed early so we could wake up REAL early to catch the bus on saturday morning. After arriving at the center we were supposed to leave from, we discovered that there was a huge line of people waiting for micro-vans to get to Leon. We got at the end of the line and started stressing, worried that we wouldn't make it in time to go volcano boarding. As we were waiting, a rando white micro drove by with a guy shouting out the window "LEON! LEON! LEON!" (totally not sketchy, mom :) ) The rest of my group (5 other vol's) and I looked at each other and started sprinting. We jumped in the van and eventually, every seat was taken. But apparently, there is a different definition for "full" in Nicaragua. As we drove, the guy kept yelling out the window "LEON! LEON! LEON!" to every person we passed at a bus stop. People kept getting on and would stand or sit in the smallest corners of the van...we kept looking at each other like "this is crazy!" At one point, I counted upwards of 20 people in this small little vehicle. It was so hilarious.

Luckily, we made it with time to spare to our hostel, where we were leaving from to go board down a volcano called Cerro Negro. The hike up the volcano was gorgeous in the strangest way. Everything was dead, black ash. On top of that, it was raining and misty, and the higher we got up, the more clouds would enclose around us. I felt like I was on Mars, or on my way to Mordor or something. Often, the clouds would break, and instantly our breath would be taken away by the gorgeous view (and the fact that we suddenly discovered that we were VERY high up and on a very narrow path). Once getting to the top, we put on these stylish (sarcasm) orange jumpsuits and goggles and got on our wooden boards to head down the volcano. I won't lie...when I looked over that cliff, my heart started pounding kind of hard. But it ended up being relatively slow because of the moisture in the ash. It was really fun though...I even beat Trey when we raced! (how do you like that for a shout out, Tres?) Quite an extraordinary experience :)

Other than volcano boarding, we also got to enjoy Leon for the night. Well, we tried to. We went out to a bar, but were all so exhausted after the hike and waking up at the crack of dawn that we almost fell asleep at our table. It was also pretty dead (and strangely sketchy) in Leon at night, which was surprising. So it was an early evening, but we still managed to snag some Eskimo (ice cream!), making it a total success.

After sleeping incredibly well, we woke up and ate our free breakfast (incredible coffee and a delicious bagel egg thing) and headed out to wander around. We went to a really wonderful art museum that I recommend if you are ever in the city. It's at an old presidential residence and has some incredible pieces. After the museum, we hit up the market and went to see some old cathedrals. It was nice to get to enjoy the city without rain!

There is something so fun about traveling around and just figuring it out as you go. Without any PD's with us or anyone who had been to the city before, it was all very fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants, in a good way. We met this really cool couple in our volcano group. The guy was a stockbroker and the women worked for the Olympics. They both sold everything they owned, left their jobs, and decided to travel for as long as they could afford. Nicaragua is their third stop, and they are flying out to Hong Kong in a week or so. It all sounds like a dream! We also met several awesome people at our hostel, (many of whom are from Australia, where it's typical for young people to travel after high school or university) who just got us thinking about how planned out and standard our lives usually are. We spend so much time worrying about fitting into this certain time-line of success that I think we often forget about what really matters: soaking up all the crazy wonderful things in life and going out to see and experience this beautiful earth.

PHOTOS: 1) on the truck which gave a rollercoaster-esque, hour long ride to the volcano, 2) starting the hike, 3) up the rocks and into the clouds, 4) our group at the top...soaked and about to be swallowed by a cloud in the background, 5) checking out the run, 6) peering over the edge and lookin' good, 7) me at the bottom, after I washed off all sorts of ash debris (which I am still finding in my hair)...see that little speck above my head? that's a person, 8) driving away from what we climbed, 9) streets of Leon = lots of color, 10) a crooked picture of the old cathedral, 11) more street, 12) another cathedral