Day Nine (el 10 de enero de 2009)

Today started with a change for breakfast, pancakes :) and a curious cat that wanted some such he jumped in my lap to let me know this. We went sightseeing in Leon before our volcano adventure. First we saw the rubble of a church bombed during the Sandanista struggle, the church right next to it, and the entrance to a National Guard prison where Sandanistas were tortured (we didn't go in). Instead we went to an art museum to see some religious works, obras del movimiento barroco, Nicaraguan contemporary art, and some classics. One to note was Picasso's bombadero de Guernica which was combined with another painting (I was hoping to just see Picasso's original work). We had Paninis at Cafe Rosita and geared up for our Cerro Negro adventure. Unfortunately Meredith and I both forgot our cameras in our hotels but Kris took a lot of photos. It took 45 minutes to drive there, an hour or so to climb, 30 seconds to board down, and 45 minutes to drive back. I had never been to a volcano ever so this made my life so far. First off the entire volcano is BLACK. There were fumes rising from the crater and around it and sulfur and basalt developed on the slopes, rich in color. Almost at the top is a seismograph reader and at that point the wind was so strong that i almost got knocked off the volcano early. From the top I felt like a God. I dug a small hole with my boots and the soil under the surface was too hot to touch. Finally we were briefed on how to ride down. Meredith and Kris boarded down first and they both wiped out. I too wiped out but it was the most fun I've had in a long time. I want to climb and board down again because I know how to ride now. We were all covered in volcanic ash from hair to boot. After a much deserved shower we ate a much deserved dinner at a Spanish tapas restaurant called Venivé. Meredith ordered the shark jeje. The night was very relaxed, we ate ice cream at an arcade and visited a bar before calling it a night. Funny that on a Saturday in such a big city everything closes at around 11:30-12:00am. Tomorrow we're returning back to El Sauce by bus. (Photos: The cat at the Lazybones, outside the Sandanista torture chamber [the statue is of a man who killed a national guard with a rock], the ruins of a bombed church, and the gang at Yia Yia at night)