We took advantage of having a car and took a day trip to Managua after squaring away our visa extension paperwork.
When we went last week, immigration would not process our request for a 60-day extension without a signed lease. We arrived at immigration at 7:45 am on Monday morning in Rivas to finalize the paperwork with our lease in hand.
We took the recommendation of some people who posted about the visa process on Facebook and found someone to meet us at immigration and translate for us. RJ, our translator, works in tourism, and right now that industry is struggling, so in his downtime he volunteers to help people like us with visa extensions. He was a great help.
We heard many people are only getting 30 days extension and he was able to get 60 days for us. We are pretty sure that would not have happened if we went on our own.
We highly recommend that you get a translator if you go to immigration in Nicaragua and do not speak Spanish. The people who work there do not speak English and we have heard that they get annoyed with people who do not speak Spanish (and rightly so). The woman working asked us a lot of questions and having RJ there made the process much smoother.
After Rivas we drove two hours to Managua.
Managua is the capital of Nicaragua. It is a shock to the system after living in San Juan Del Sur for two months to see traffic lights and traffic.
We went to Walmart to check it out and stock up on provisions. Masks are required, They spray your hands with sanitizer, and they check temperatures of everyone entering. It was not crowded and it is smaller than most Walmarts in the US. 
We were hoping to find a crockpot, but we cannot find them here. They have rice cookers and electric griddles and the selection of blenders is mind-boggling.
The boys picked out some toys and we got a lot of snacks. We had two shopping carts full of goodies. 
We felt like being back in the states. Since we have been in Central America we have only bought as much as we can carry from the small stores in town. We have enjoyed not doing big-box shopping.
After Walmart we went to McDonald’s. The boys were begging to go and the closest McDonald’s is in Managua. Henry ate a Big Mac, half of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, french fries and a hot fudge sundae. They sell fried chicken at this McDonald’s.
The boys passed out on the ride home. It was a full day of adventure. We had a family sleepover that night. Judy was the first one to pass out for the night and the boys played a good-natured prank on her.
