Volcanoes, Latrines, and Plastic Bags

Went to visit a volunteer in Somotillo, Chinandega the last few days. Really good learning experience about the lives of volunteers. However, in addition to observing charlas, youth groups, and a HIV desensitization, here are my highlights:

1. On the way there, I heard a Spanish version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and it was a duet. Totally rad.
2. The buses here are horrible. The saying is that when buses in the US die, they go to El Salvador. And then when the buses in El Salvador die, they come to Nicaragua. Just imagine. The bus I took to Somotillo on Sunday was quemando or burning every time we slowed down or accelerated, which made it difficult to breathe. Dad, I think these are probably the exact same buses you sold back in Annapolis, barely resurrected from the dead.
3. I saw my first active volcano!!!! Smoke coming out of the top and everything. I was so stoked that while I was on the bus(it´s a 5hour bus ride to Somotillo, so I had a lot of bus time in 4 days), I took out my disposale camera to take a picture. The woman in front of me turned around and smiled and the guy behind me was really sweet and held the curtain away from the window so I could take a picture. Everyone around me was smiling at me for being a huge gringa.
4. In Nicaragua, they drink beverages out of bags. Either after the earthquake in ´72 or the revolution in the 80s, Nicaraguans had nothing to drink out of because it was all ruined, so they started using plastic bags. I´ve seen it one the streets a lot. They sell bags of water for 1cord, refrescos for 3. I had some water out of a bag and some Fanta Red too. Just chew a whole in the corner and drink. A little scary while drinking Fanta, but my bag didn´t leak.
5. I saw Honduras! Somotillo is 12km from the border and Monday night, we went for a walk and ended up walking all the way to the border.
6. Used a latrine for the first time. I thought it was totally fine, until the subject of cockroaches came up. The girl whose house I was staying at bought some powder stuff that you put in the letrina to kill the insects inside. So we poured a bunch in, spraying Raid around the edges as we did, and then put the lid on. We checked on it a few hours later and the cucarachas poured out of the latrine, so I participated in some cockroach genocide.