VOLCANO ISLAND!

Most of the congregation went to Ometepe this trip, some like us left on Saturday after the meeting, others left very early Sunday Morning to make the 9:15am service meeting. As many already know from past posts, it takes 30min-1hr to get to Rivas from San Juan. It is then another 10min to the port in San Jorge and 1hr- 1hr 15min ferry boat ride to the island. The ride is rough, you can sit at the bottom which is very hot, not very much airflow. Or, you can sit on the very top where you get a nice breeze, but the sun can fry you and the sway at the top can make you pretty sea sick if your weak.

It cost C$50 a ticket per person. Since Jessica and I took our motorbikes it cost us C$153 each, one way.

We stayed at a little bed & breakfast called The Cornerhouse in the middle of town. A cute place with only 4 rooms and a great cafe, with real coffee and real food. It cost $30 for Saturday night and $35 for Sunday night, because breakfast is usually included but the kitchen was closed on Sunday. It was really comfortable and clean...the only problem is it's right on the main road so @6am in the morning you hear all the big trucks driving up to the port, everyone honks and motorbikes revving their engines. Saturday night the club 3 doors down was open until 3am, I think I was singing 50 cent's "up in da club" in my sleep.

Sunday Morning we all met for service in the central park, right in front of the Catholic Church. The bells where chiming, calling for their parishioners. I thought they were just warning people we had arrived. LOL

The group was split up to 2 Cars, 3 bikies and walkies. Those who did not have a vehicle stayed in the port town, Moyogalpa to preach. Those in Cars went to Altagracia. The Motorbikes, myself, Jessica and Mark (he rented a scooter on the island) started on the road to El Quino and worked all the way south to Balgue. Once we hit Los Angeles it started to pour so we had to stop under a bus stop until the rain died down. We worked until 330 pm. It rained most of the morning, but that didn't stop us motorheadz.

For lunch the 3 of us stopped at a cool vegetarian restaurant that had GREAT hummus and organic hot tea/coffee. It was right off Santo Domingo Beach, the view was beautiful. The bathroom was interesting so Jess wanted to take a picture.

We found some interesting people, mainly Germans, Italians and French. One place took me off road, up hill about 400m on the motorbike then another 250m by foot through the jungle. The man was not interested, but it was a cool place to explore.

We had planned to be tourist on Monday but there was so much of the territory that wasn't finished because of the rain (it rained everyday), we decide to do service again Monday morning. We didn't regret it! We had all planned to return home Monday afternoon but in the very last block of the territory in Moyogalpa Nathan and I found a young girl (11yo) and boy (16yo) that were born and raised in Miami. Both parents are Nicaraguan and own a pulperia (mini corner store) in town, they moved to the island 2 years ago. We showed them the tract and video, they seemed very excited. I decided not to waste time and offer them a bible study using the Good News Brochure, they both jumped on the chance and their eyes lit up when they saw some of the questions that would be answered using the bible. Katherine chose the chapter on 'Why does God allow suffering?' and Edwin chose 'What happens when we die?'. Unfortunately, they could not study today since it was 11am and they had school @12pm until 5pm. The best bet was the next morning...which means Jessica and I would have to stay another night on the island while everyone headed back home. I guess it wasn't a hard choice since I was praying that our trip wasn't going to be a waste, I had to do my part and work with the spirit. The next morning we met them at their store, we met their parents, who were very nice and waited for them to finish their chores and had GREAT studies. The kids are very energetic and Edwin seems to have a bit of A.D.D., but the both clicked right away with the scriptures and already had some thoughts that fit right in with what they learned. We plan on returning to Ometepe every Tuesday for their bible studies. 

Jehovah really did bless our efforts, because I stayed I was also able to start another bible study with a local that works at one of the hotels, his English was pretty good but I had to do the study in Spanish, his comprehension wasn't there. I was able to find a Ministerial Servant/Regular Pioneer from the local Spanish Congregation in Moyogalpa and introduced them to each other, he will continue the study later this week.

All in all it was an exhausting but satisfying trip. The third night we stayed on the island Jess and I did not stay at The Cornerhouse, we needed more sleep. We stayed just right out of town in Hospedaje Soma, it was $40 a night but it was like we were in the jungle, no car noises or clubs but all the sounds of the animals in the jungle.

The rest are just random pictures from the trip...

Mark was so excited when he rented the scooter, he was giving everyone rides.

I was passing time until everyone showed up for service on Monday morning.

Every time it rains on the island the streets flood. Yes, that's my bike, I thought it was going to get washed away. I had to wait until the rain slowed and the river wasn't so bad to save it, Jessica's to.

Rocky. Scott and Shayla's dog, he went door to door too.

Playing games until the rain stops.