Illinois' trip to Nicaragua is winding down, and Darci Dietrich has the scoop on the ninth day in Central America. Read about it all below!
Our last full day of soccer, and it was a complete day!
The day started out well for me actually last night as I was falling asleep. I love to sleep with thunderstorms and when it is warm. Last night there was a really big and really loud thunderstorm! It was such a peaceful night's sleep for me!
We had an early start this morning! The kids in Granada have the last Friday of each month off of school, so we had a big practice with all of the FSF (Fútbol sin Fronteras, Soccer Without Borders) teams this morning after breakfast. We got to be the coaches for the day, and as a team we got to plan the warm ups, drills, and games we wanted to play with the kids! Jaelyn and I even got to have a whole group of keepers to have practice with! It was a great opportunity to get to switch roles for a day and see practice from the other side!
After practice we had time to go back to Tres Pisos and eat lunch and take a much needed siesta!
The high school league final was in the afternoon. We got very crafty making instruments to help cheer on the teams! Janet found an empty water jug and turned it into a drum, and a noise maker got made out of an empty Gatorade container and a few Córdoba (the currenct of Nicaragua)! Janet took the lead and led us in cheers all throughout the game! The game was a hard fought battle between Guadalupe and Instituto. Guadalupe was the champion!
After the game we played our last game of pick up with some of the older girls from FSF! It was a fun and competitive end to a full week of soccer with the girls!
We got to explore the city more tonight and ate dinner on our own. Emily (Osoba), Kara (Marbury), Sabryn (Kapp), and I took some time to watch the sky during 
the sunset! The sky was a beautiful purple and pink, which looked even prettier with the volcano off in the distance and the yellow cathedral contrasting the sky! We are at the pizza place with the amazing ice tea again. The tea tasted just as good as it did earlier this week.
After dinner we all walked around Granada and got a chance to experience some of the night culture. The main street through town had a bunch of really cute restaurants, all with outdoor seating. Mixed in with the restaurants were small stores each with unique goods. My favorite was the Casa de Chocolate, a whole store dedicated to chocolate items! There were a bunch of street vendors selling their handicrafts, a few mariachi bands walking the street serenading different groups, some people juggling, and there was even a group that was dancing and performing with fire!
The city transformed at night and it felt like we stepped out of the daily Granada and Nicaragua we have been experiencing, into a brand new part of the world!
It was a great last day of soccer with the kids and a relaxing end to one of our final nights in Nicaragua. Buenas Noches!!
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