Religious Parades are something that I am starting to get used to here in Nicaragua. Nearly every month of the year is a celebration month for one of the many patron saints. The various peublos in Nicaragua each celebrate a Saint at a different time during the year. These festivities are characterized by very loud noises. It is not uncommon to awake at 3:30 in the morning to a full 20 person marching band playing their songs in between explosions of home made fire works. This would seem unusual in most parts of the world, but you must remember that many of the citizens that are over the age of 30 years old in this country can remember days when the explosions were not homemade fireworks, but gun shots and bombs in their streets. From 1978 until 1985 Nicaragua was in a constant state of 'WAR". Thousands of Nicaraguas children were killed, and many families fled so that their children's lives could be spared. Today we celebrate with many of the same sounds and the excitement that floods the streets on the days in which Saints are being celebrated, I must admit can be contagious. Although, it does cause a little frustration when it comes before 6:00 am on a school day.