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Day 7 Blog

Travis Atkinson
ETBU Sophomore
Palestine, Texas

Saturday, May 14, 2017

Today we started off with a early morning breakfast and hopped on the bus for a day of adventures. Our first stop of the day was zip lining at the Mombacho Canopy Tour. It was an amazing experience to just fly through the trees and experience the beauty of Nicaragua. We left there and Judy, from Ignite International, told us she had a surprise for us. We soon found out that the surprise was a boat tour of Lake Nicaragua. There are over 365 tiny islands on the lake that were created from a volcano that erupted a few hundred years ago. We stopped at one island that the locals called "Monkey Island" and several of us were able to feed monkeys from the boats.  On our way to the bus, a few of us went for a swim in the lake. 

After the lake, we headed to Granada for lunch.  After lunch we were able to experience the Masaya Market, where there were a lot of local shops and we were able to spend about an hour buying souvenirs like shirts, mugs, and other hand made items.  Before heading back to the hotel, we drove to the top of the Masaya Volcano. It is an active volcano and we could only stay at the top for 10 minutes because of the sulfur. When we got to the top and looked over the edge the volcano mouth was massive, at least eight football fields wide. We could look down and actually see and hear the lava bubbling inside. It was an exhilarating moment to see something so deadly look so beautiful. After the volcano we headed back to the hotel to eat some pizza, swim a little, and get ready for our big game tomorrow. 

This trip has been an amazing experience for me. Seeing the joy on the kid's faces at the school each day we showed up was one of the best feelings in the world. It has shown me how much we take for granted in our homes and schools, and it has been a very humbling experience here in Nicaragua. Our team has definitely grown closer with God and with each other. After a week of playing with kids, painting, and moving piles of dirt it was very nice to have a day to just sit back and take in the beauty that God created here in Nicaragua. This has been my first mission trip and I'm excited to see what God has ready for me in the future.