Having Ryan come visit was the best. We got to play, stare at each other, laugh, hold hands, and be the affectionate in-love couple that we are and to make that even better we got to share Nicaragua’s beauty and help people together! He is such a blessing in my life and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!
Ok, so here is what we did April 11th-17th:
Monday: picked him up at airport at 8pm...I was so overwhelmed with joy to be near him again. Then, we went to host family house for dinner and playing with Gabriel, my host little brother. Gabriel was super excited to see him too and greeted him with a big hug. Then we went to the Quinta to spend time with Ginny and Cecil. Then back to the host family house for the night.
Tuesday: Ryan came to work with Dr. Karla and I. We took a little girl named Julia to get an endoscopy. Ryan saw me give her the mild anesthesia injection and he had never seen me do anything like that and he was able to help by carrying her after the procedure, which was really special for him. Then, we went to one of the schools in the market/business part of town and I toured him around the school and the kids flocked to him and I was able to introduce him to many friends of mine there. We took the winners of the hand washing and hygiene presentations out to lunch and Ryan got to try a lot of Nica food. The student winners were really proud and some of them would not have had lunch that day if we hadn’t taken them out. They sang in the bus, picked on each other and did so many little things like high-schoolers in the States do. That afternoon Ryan and I went to visit Heysi. She looked REALLY good. She had energy to put on a dress, make-up, her wig, and had energy. Her mom said it is the best she has seen her in a long time. We helped her pick out a new bed by car shopping which is when you drive down the market street with your windows down and the venders come and try to sell their stuff. Fun cultural experience. That night we went out to dinner with Dr. Karla, her husband, and her two-year-old who Ryan adored. I loved being able to spend time with all of us together.
Wednesday: We went to work again with Dr. Karla at the school in Los Brasiles where there is the special needs program and the orphanage. It was the day of the Hand Washing and Hygiene Presentations and Ryan and I watched and graded them all. Both of us were impressed with their enthusiasm, creativity, and effort they put into the presentations with props, dramas, and costumes. That afternoon Dr. Karla had to leave to take a little boy to the hospital so Ryan and I rode the public bus back to Managua.
Thursday: Ryan and I went to a beach called Los Cardones and spent the day there. The beach has a turtle sanctuary and saw baby turtles get released to the sea. We went horseback-riding on the beach at sunset, stayed in a little beach bungalow, relax in a hammock and walk along the beach under the moonlight... It was super romantic!
Friday/Saturday: We went to Granada which is a historic old colonial town with a lot of Spanish influence. We rode around the town in a horse-drawn-carriage, took a boat ride tour of the islands in Lake Nicaragua, danced in a gazebo in the city park. On our way out of town we went to the Mombacho Volcano and hiked around the old crater, and saw really pretty look-outs. Saturday night we had dinner with my host family and played with Gabriel and went to a concert for the church my host dad preaches at.
Sunday: We went to church at the English church I have been going to with all the international missionaries and embassy workers in the congregation. The songs we really good and we held hands during the service and got to pray together. Then Ryan had to go back to the States. It was an awesome week but leaving the airport was really hard because I love him want to be near him always. However….He liked it so much that he wants to share it with his mom and come back. He is coming back the last week of May with his mom, who is a nurse like me! I can’t wait to see them both and share Nicaragua with them.
Love,
Ayla
“If I would have told myself a year ago that I was going to be in Nicaragua visiting my girlfriend that lives there….I would have laughed and not believed it.” ~Ryan Thomas..."Life is full of surprises and often that is the best part." ~ Ayla Landry
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