As much as I loved vacation it feels great to be back on my regular schedule. Let’s rewind back to February. First of all we celebrated the Superbowl down here! For most of the volunteers it is an excuse to get together, so basically Wil and I were the only ones cheering. But I accomplished my goal in teaching Wil how football works and what the rules are. So during the game after a recovered fumble he would look at me and say “that’s good right!” He told me that one time when he was in high school he and some buddies were playing basketball but it got dark and they couldn’t see the hoop so they decided to play “American football” which consisted of one person with the basketball yelling HUT HUT HIKE and everyone trying to tackle the person with the ball. But now, he is a Packer fan and understands the purpose of the game even though there were a few plays where there was a big pile of guys on top of each other that I am sure looked like the Nicaraguan way of playing football.
Valentine’s Day is also the anniversary of Matagalpa, 149 year anniversary this year. So Wil and I went to go watch some of the bands play and walk around seeing the different artesanias and traditional food for sale. Then had a fancy dinner and some wine in the city to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Then on Mark’s birthday and Aly’s engagement party day there was also a huge party at my house. My “host brother” was celebrating his graduation from college (the only one in his family of 8) so it was a pretty big deal. They brought in a DJ, killed two pigs (luckily I wasn’t around for the slaughtering and luckily they all know better than to offer me to eat the dried pig skin that was hanging on the line for a couple days), spent 300 dollars in just liquor, and invited pretty much the whole town! My host sister from training came to visit as well. We danced all night and then the next day I took her to a recreation area close to my house that has a pool and restaurant. I’ll be seeing her again shortly when my parents come to visit!
I also joined the town soccer team which has been pretty fun. At first we were playing on a regular field. The first team we played against I swear the girls were 12 years old! There was one girl my age so I just played against her. Granted I have a height and weight advantage but speed against these tiny Nicaraguan girls is not my strong point. We went undefeated in the league and now switched to futbol sala which is played indoors on a basketball court. At first I liked the idea because I thought it meant less running. It’s the opposite, because you have to play offense and defense the whole game. There are only 4 players on the court plus the goalie, and since the court is so small you really have to control the ball well or it just goes out of bounds. The other downside to futbol sala is that with all the dust down here, you just slip and slide everywhere! We had our first game last week and won 4-3.
Science classes are going well. The kids have been great for the most part. There are always those days (normally with my class of 50) when I just need to take a second and breathe and choose to laugh to myself at the craziness of the kids rather than losing my patience. Co planning with my teachers is great, since we’ve been doing it since last year they are used to it now and putting forth more ideas which is the objective. March 21st was World’s Forestry Day so I gave an interactive class about the benefits, threats, and facts about deforestation. Then we did a tree nursery with all my grades in recycled plastic bottles. Since it was there job to fill them with dirt and cow manure in their houses we will see how many of the trees grow considering that in most places in my area the dirt isn’t very fertile. Another thing I started at my school is garbage separation. Santa Julia, which is the same organization that I help out with, with the Special Education students, also has a recycling process. They donated 3 recepticles to us to collect plastic bottles. (which before this the school used to burn). So now every week with my students we empty the recepticles, smash the bottles and put them all in big bags to drop off at Santa Julia at the end of every month. A community member offered to also take the school garbage to Matagalpa to drop off at the dump (again instead of burning). It has been going great, the high school students even made extra boxes to throw out only paper. Thursday we did a community clean up as well with my 5th and 6th graders. Walking only 20 feet I had counted 38 plastic bottles on the ground! My sixth graders didn’t believe me, but when they went out to clean they realized that the majority of trash on the ground are plastic bottles which we can now RECYCLE! One other thing that I started in my school with the help and support of my director, is a community bank. Here in Nicaragua it isn’t common that people save money. They live paycheck to paycheck so this is a way all my teachers are saving 5 dollars every month for the end of the year. And there is more, they can take out loans. Banks here in Nicaragua have a ridiculously high interest rate (38%) on most loans so nobody can afford to take out a loan. Our teachers each month can lend up to 25 dollars and have two months to pay it back with a 10% interest rate. The interest then gets divided into all the members of the bank ( I think we have 20) at the end of the year. The teachers are smart and try to lend out or borrow all the money in the bank every month even if they don’t really need it so we can gain interest. I insisted that among themselves they had to pick the president and vice president so it can be sustainable so I got stuck with the position of keeping the locked box with the money at my house (the president has the key) As it turns out the only box we could find is a huge 10 pound wooden box. Perfect for storing a sheet of paper and a few bills of money right? So lucky me gets to lug that thing to and from school once a month.
My English class is going well. This 6 week block I had all new students, and I feel like they are more interested in the class than my last group so it was pretty successful. My mom sent letters from her sixth graders in the States that were written in Spanish and English for my students. Oh boy, were my students excited about these letters. Of course all the girls wanted a boy pen pal and all the boys wanted a girl pen pal. So everyone is all giddy now about writing to their “gringo” friends.
Two Fridays ago, Wil’s best friend, Franklin, invited us to go on a day trip to a place in northern Nicaragua called San Rafael del Norte. I thought it was just going to be Wil, myself, Franklin, his wife and 3 kids, but along came two sisters and a brother of his wife and 2 of their kids! San Rafael del Norte is known for it’s famous priest, Father Odorico de’Andrea. Supposedly he was buried with brand new sandals, and then when they opened up his tomb years later not only was his body and face in tact, but his sandals had been used. So the story goes they he got up and would walk around still helping people. Nicaraguans say that he is in the process of being canonized a saint. After seeing the two famous churches there we stopped by the park to play with the kids, and then on the way home stopped at some greenhouses to see the gardens, and then of course to eat. We got back to Matgalpa at 4 and since Wil and I have been wanting to donate blood (more him than me) and we both had the day off we went. He does it every four months, and I went with him 4 months ago just to keep him company and the guy working guilted me into donating by telling me a story about a 4 year old boy in the hospital in Matagalpa that was dying because there wasn’t any blood in the blood bank at the Red Cross. Well that time Wil and I both had the flu so in the end we couldn’t donate. When we walked in and the same guy was there and he looked at us for a second and then was like “hey you’re the same couple!” and was excited we came back. I of course was freaking out since I hate needles so I couldn’t look. They started with me about 5 minutes before Wil, and he still finished first because I didn’t like squeezing the ball. In the end I survived, and plan on doing it again in 4 months.
So on to some bad news. On Ash Wednesday Kiotho’s mother passed away at age 57. She had been pretty sick with diabetes the past few months, in and out of the hospital. I had seen a lot of improvement the few weeks before. She had a heart attack and passed away on the way to the hospital. Kiotho is my age and my best girl friend that I have here, its twice as sad because her father passed away only three years ago. Here the culture is quite different. The day after someone passes away here, the house has a vigil for 24 hours. People go to the house all throughout the day to visit with the family. The family has the responsibility to cook for everyone that comes, which is economically a hardship, and a lot of work. School was cancelled and all the students and teachers went for two hours during the day to pay respects. Then at night the whole town went to the house. If someone didn’t know any better they would have thought it was a party due to the amount of people in the street, the yard, the house, the neighbors yard. There had to be at least 500. I stayed until midnight, but the majority stay with the family until six in the morning. The next day they had the mass at nine which was heartbreaking, but again everyone in the community was present. After the mass we all paraded down to the cemetery for the burial. Then for nine days they do a prayer service in the house at 4 o’clock every day. On the ninth day everyone from the community goes to the house again at night for the ninth day prayer service. They pray the rosary, sing, and again support the family. The family again has to feed everyone that comes. I stayed until 11 thinking it was over, but people stayed with the family again until about 4 in the morning. For me it was interesting to see that everyone goes to show their support for the family, even if they aren’t close friends or didn’t know the person very well. Kiotho seems to be doing a little better but keep her and her family in your prayers.
Princesa and Diego update…not too much is new with my crazy pets. The other day I was holding Diego outside and a lady walked past and let me know that black cats are the devil and have demons inside. Yea, people here aren’t too fond of black cats…but I told her Diego was perfectly harmless and then gave him a big kiss. Princesa is good, she is due for all three of her vaccines so she is not going to be happy when I come home from the city today and take her to be injected from the “vet” in my town. She has been having major flea problems lately, probably because I bought a cheaper brand of flea meds and it just doesn’t seem to be working, if anything I feel like it’s attracting the fleas. It doesn’t help that every waking hour she is playing with the neighbors dogs which I am sure are full of fleas. I need to start looking into all the qualifications to bring her home, my time is running out here, and the months are flying by.
Well I am off to buy a pinata for my favorite boy, Juan Alfredo, it just so happens that his birthday falls on a day that I have class with him. So since he doesnt have a mom or dad I am going to surprise him with a pinata at school!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
SUMMER VACATION
So after I don’t do my blog for a couple months it’s so hard to do it again because there is so much to catch up on, but since my wonderful mother never forgets to remind me to do it, I finally decided to catch you all up on life in Nicaragua.
Let’s travel back to December when my brother and his girlfriend Kenzie came for their visit. They had originally planned their trip to Nicaragua to do an ultra marathon on Ometepe Island which is located in Lake Nicaragua. Well unfortunately the marathon was cancelled but we went to the island anyways. We took the bus to the port where the ferry leaves from. Thinking we were smart moneysavers we decided to take a smaller boat instead of the bigger ferry (saved 50 cents!) Turns out it was a bad idea because it was really windy and wavy. After 15 minutes into the hour trip we all started feeling a little seasick, but we all made it to the other side without incident. Once we were on the island we took an 1.5 hour taxi drive to the other side of the island and finally arrived at our hotel. They had a really great pretty room and Jamie and Igot stuck in smelly dark musty dorms with 12 other people! Haha the next day we went on a hike up to the waterfall San Ramon. Luckily I forsaw that hiking activities with them would be difficult for me so I brought good old Jamie along to be a straggler with me…and let me tell you we almost died climbing up to that darn waterfall! But I suppose seeing it was worth the aches and pains! But for them the hike wasn’t enough they had to run 10 km to the other hotel (Jamie and I insisted we switch hotels).
The Waterfall, is it worth a 3K uphill hike?
I forgot we went to San Juan del Sur too!
Stephen and short little Kiotho!
The cute couple at the top of the volcano!
That still wasn’t enough and they hiked the whole volcano the next day! Jamie and I sat out by a natural spring reading and sipping on orange daquiris. After our island trip we went back to my town for a couple nights, did a day trip to Esteli to order personalized cowboy boots. Then we went back to the states together on the same flight for my trip home for Christmas!
Quick review of my trip home: First of all it was great being home especially for the holidays! My first night I went out in Whitewater with the Whitewater game, I got to have lunch with Rachel and meet baby Rory, visit with Ryan and Kim, went out with the Stallis crew at the Dirty Martini, had a great take away gift exchange with the Boll family “something that reminds you of home”, a full day of xmas shopping with Becky, Marquette game with Big Daddy, Packer game at Aly’s, Christmas at our house with the Zielke’s, Christmas clearance shopping with mom, a little bit of destroying of dad’s laptop (sorry dad!), St. Al's 10 year reunion at the Painted Parrot, Bridal dress shopping and eyebrow threading with Brittany, movie night at Andreas, a visit out to Auntie Jeannies, Christmas cookie packaging with Granny, a night out at Paulies with the Pius crew and Malcolm, and a lot of lounging around an relaxing. All in all I couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas! Love you all!
Some of the Whitewater gang!
I finally got to meet baby Rory and see his dance moves!
Got to see Ry Ry and remind him to stay out of trouble!
Santa came to visit!
Marquette game with Big Daddy!
St. Aloysius ten years later!
Go Pack!
So then I got back to Nicaragua with all my favorite guys waiting for me in the airport. Manuel went as far as to painting me a banner to welcome me back which is now hanging on my wall. (He is so silly) Walked into my house with an ecstatic Princesa running around in circles like a crazy puppy and a whole new house! My brother had secretly paid and discussed with the boys his plan to paint the division in my house! So it was a pretty purple, and the house was also spotless (luckily Manuel is OCD perfectionist and cleaned my whole house). So it was really great to come home again. The next day was even better because I had gotten presents for EVERYONE in my little family compound which is 17 people. (most of it were used clothes from Becky, so thanks beck) I realized that people here don’t give presents for Christmas. I asked a bunch of kids when I got back “So what did Santa bring you” and the reply was always nothing. If they do exchange it’s like a secret santa exchange and those who can afford it participate. But the kids here don’t get anything. So they were soooooo happy with everything they received from me. They got beanie baby bears, dresses, the older family members all got granny’s Christmas cookies, and my little student got a dollar tree puzzle and he started screaming like he just opened a playstation and ripped the box open to start putting the puzzle together. For the landlady that calls me her daughter I made a personalized calendar with pictures and everyone’s birthday written in it. She must have looked at it 14 times before she let anyone else touch it! She shows it to EVERYONE who comes over. I had also got zip up sweatshirt jackets and t-shirts for Manuel and Roberto for watching my house and taking care of Princesa. They loved everything about it and according to them even the Aeropostale box I wrapped it in. Wil got a Brewers hat which he wears everyday. So all in all everyone was very pleased with the surprise gifts!
Two of the girls happy with their presents!
For New Year’s I decided to stay and celebrate in my town. My good friend Kiotho was throwing a party at her house and it sounded perfect to me. So I got all dressed out and had a cocktail with the boys at my house before we went over. We started walking closer and I heard loud music and saw dancing and got excited. Then I walked in and realized they were all my students and neighborhood kids. We were the oldest people there! But of course all my students wanted to dance with me so us older people made the most of it and danced the night away, that is everyone except Wil. He preferred talking to Kiothos older brother. So his younger brother lucked out with having me as a dance partner! We left at 1130 to be home at my house with my family at midnight. At midnight all your here is fireworks and more fireworks. They are just noisy ones not colorful pretty ones. Little kids and adults alike are just lighting them off out of mortars. And of course they have the Viejo which is a stuffed man. On the inside are firecrackers and fireworks as well and as he is lit on fire the firecrackers inside of him start going off and everyone cheers! It was great being with the family, my princesa on my lap (scared) and holding my Wilfredo’s hand. I couldn’t ask for a better New Years!
The viejo my family made!
All the neighborhood kids with the viejo, excited for new years!
This is my favorite picture, and the way it came about is funny! I had the timer set up and the boys were all standing there and then I ran over and bent over like that in front of them and happened to be right in front of Wil and he looked down and realized the awkward position and yelling (in spanish) "Wait, wait, let me move, wait" and we all were cracking up as he was tryin to move out from behind me and the picture snapped!
The viejo at Kiothos house
The end to a perfect New Years, snuggled up with the love of my life...Princesa!
A week later Noelle and Inga came!!! I must say my school break hasn’t been a bit boring! They got in without any problems and right away had their first real Nicaraguan experience…the buses! We got on the bus back to my town with no room to sit (or even stand for that matter) but we squished in and endured the butt up against butt, stomach squished on a seat, people hanging on you, grabbing on for dear life, falling over and sweaty goodness of it all! After about an hour we all got seats and made it to my town in one piece. They had a mere 30 minutes to relax because lone behold they came in on a Saturday and I wanted to show them the Nicaraguan night life! So the usual group came over to my house to start the night off. There was a big birthday party in my town (Kitho’s brother in law) I felt a little awkward walking in with 3 gringas in tow. Everyone’s attention turned to us! Since the family is pretty well off they had a dance floor in the house and then mariachis playing outside. So all the townsfolk had fun dancing with the gringas, and believe it or not I got Wilfredo to dance! It has been a goal of mine and I had almost given up hope but he did it! At 11 we went to Matagalpa to finish the night at a dance club which I think Manuel enjoyed more than anyone else since he was in the middle of the circle of girls the whole night! Sunday we went to support the Quebrada Honda baseball team that are playing in the finals. They were down in the series 3-1 and last Sunday when I was in Costa Rica they won both games and so the championship is actually this Sunday! Anyways we went to the game, and then walked around Matagalpa all afternoon. Monday we went up to Esteli to do a cigar factory tour which was fun. We stopped at a outside restaurant place that has a farm and we walked around looking at all the plants. Tuesday-Thursday I unfortunately had meetings. The good thing is that our meeting were held at a toursity place that I would have taken the girls either way, and they were together, and they speak Spanish. The girls did the coffee tour, hiking, and photo shoots while I had training. Thursday the day before they left we just hung out at my house and played Desmoche, a popular Nicaraguan card game. Wil wowed them with his magic tricks as well. They were great spots and wonderful guests. My whole family and all my friends fell in love with them and we had a ton of laughs, especially at night laying in bed with Inga and Noelle singing and the sound of the word DESAFORTUNADAMENTE!
Cheers to Noelle and Inga being in Nicaragua!
Dancing at the birthday party!
Cheering on team Quebrada Honda!
Four days after they left I had my COSTA RICA trip with Kristina! I went down in TicaBus and she flew (obviously) I met her at the airport and then we headed to Playa de los Cocos for a week! It was yet another crazy time with Karen and Kristina. Well not too crazy considering our first night we took a “nap” at five for an hour to get ready to go out and woke up in our dresses the next morning at 8! We sure are party animals eh? We stayed a cheap little hostel but it was clean and close to everything so it was perfect. We mainly spent our days on the beach laying out or reading in our room. I love that we have the same ideals for a good vacation which is to relax, do sightseeing but not so much that you are exhausted. We did do one day long trip to a resort called Buena Vista. We left early drove an hour and a half to the resort and did ziplining! There were 10 cables some were long, some we went fast, one we did superman style, and one upside down! It was our favorite part of the day. After that we had a buffet lunch and then did some horse back riding down to the volcanic hotsprings. At the hotsprings we started in a sauna to open up our pores, then we put mud all over us to exfoliate and then jumped in the volcanic hot springs! They had a range of pools that started at 106 degress and then cooler ones that were 90. It was relaxing! Then they had a 100 meter waterslide that I went on that involved not only a tube but a helmet and woman diaper! (I guess so your swimsuit doesn’t get damaged). The next day we went snorkeling for a few hours out in the ocean which was fun! I used a life jacket just to be extra safe. The water was clear and we saw a ton of fish, got bit by little jelly fish, and had the opportunity to dive down and see sleeping sharks in a cave but we respectfully declined. We all went out for Kristina’s 25th birthday which was fun until one of the guys we were with got super drunk and super annoying but we made do. Then on her birthday we watched the Packers crush the Bears! Now the big question is, where will we be off to next??
For a more detailed description of Costa Rica trip check out Kristina’s blog:
http://kkatris1986.blogspot.com/2011/01/liberia-costa-rica-day-1-wake-up.html
Mud bath!
Kristina ziplinin superwoman style!
Getting ready to snorkel! What DOES happen if you pee in your wet suit?
What the majority of our vacation consisted of!
SISTER SISTER!
A few other new things in my life are that I joined a girls soccer team! We won our first game 7-0. I feel a little bad cause some of the girls are TINY, and here I am this huge gringa. But I went up against an older girl my age to make it even. I plan on starting a girl scout group. We had 3 days of meetings with the head GS leaders from Honduras and we are making a fashion line from used jeans. We will be making purses, headbands, cell phone holders, and coin purses. Then will be selling them at fairs to make money and talk about GS to the public. I start Monday in the school with the teachers cleaning and planning and then the students start class on the 15th. Special Ed classes start on the 7th and I am going to start English again on the 7th. So before you know it I am going to be super busy again!
Princesa and Diego update: I had bought Princesa a cute pink sweater since it gets chilly in December and January at night. And I would take her out walking through town. Instead of people greeting me they would just kind of stare as I walked past and after I walked past I could here them whispering and I would see them pointing at her! For me it is just absolutely hilarious that everyone in my town thinks I have gone crazy putting a sweater on my dog! She loves it though! Diego is good, just always wants to eat. He will sit on his food bucket and meow for 2 hours until I finally can’t take it and give in and give him more food. Crazy cat. Well think that’s about it for now! Oh yea one more thing GO PACKERS and Happy Birthday to my wonderful Madre tomorrow!
She loves to nap in the hammock! She gets her own blanket too, how spoiled is she!
Me and my adorable Princesa and her sweater!
Let’s travel back to December when my brother and his girlfriend Kenzie came for their visit. They had originally planned their trip to Nicaragua to do an ultra marathon on Ometepe Island which is located in Lake Nicaragua. Well unfortunately the marathon was cancelled but we went to the island anyways. We took the bus to the port where the ferry leaves from. Thinking we were smart moneysavers we decided to take a smaller boat instead of the bigger ferry (saved 50 cents!) Turns out it was a bad idea because it was really windy and wavy. After 15 minutes into the hour trip we all started feeling a little seasick, but we all made it to the other side without incident. Once we were on the island we took an 1.5 hour taxi drive to the other side of the island and finally arrived at our hotel. They had a really great pretty room and Jamie and Igot stuck in smelly dark musty dorms with 12 other people! Haha the next day we went on a hike up to the waterfall San Ramon. Luckily I forsaw that hiking activities with them would be difficult for me so I brought good old Jamie along to be a straggler with me…and let me tell you we almost died climbing up to that darn waterfall! But I suppose seeing it was worth the aches and pains! But for them the hike wasn’t enough they had to run 10 km to the other hotel (Jamie and I insisted we switch hotels).
The Waterfall, is it worth a 3K uphill hike?
I forgot we went to San Juan del Sur too!
Stephen and short little Kiotho!
The cute couple at the top of the volcano!
That still wasn’t enough and they hiked the whole volcano the next day! Jamie and I sat out by a natural spring reading and sipping on orange daquiris. After our island trip we went back to my town for a couple nights, did a day trip to Esteli to order personalized cowboy boots. Then we went back to the states together on the same flight for my trip home for Christmas!
Quick review of my trip home: First of all it was great being home especially for the holidays! My first night I went out in Whitewater with the Whitewater game, I got to have lunch with Rachel and meet baby Rory, visit with Ryan and Kim, went out with the Stallis crew at the Dirty Martini, had a great take away gift exchange with the Boll family “something that reminds you of home”, a full day of xmas shopping with Becky, Marquette game with Big Daddy, Packer game at Aly’s, Christmas at our house with the Zielke’s, Christmas clearance shopping with mom, a little bit of destroying of dad’s laptop (sorry dad!), St. Al's 10 year reunion at the Painted Parrot, Bridal dress shopping and eyebrow threading with Brittany, movie night at Andreas, a visit out to Auntie Jeannies, Christmas cookie packaging with Granny, a night out at Paulies with the Pius crew and Malcolm, and a lot of lounging around an relaxing. All in all I couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas! Love you all!
Some of the Whitewater gang!
I finally got to meet baby Rory and see his dance moves!
Got to see Ry Ry and remind him to stay out of trouble!
Santa came to visit!
Marquette game with Big Daddy!
St. Aloysius ten years later!
Go Pack!
So then I got back to Nicaragua with all my favorite guys waiting for me in the airport. Manuel went as far as to painting me a banner to welcome me back which is now hanging on my wall. (He is so silly) Walked into my house with an ecstatic Princesa running around in circles like a crazy puppy and a whole new house! My brother had secretly paid and discussed with the boys his plan to paint the division in my house! So it was a pretty purple, and the house was also spotless (luckily Manuel is OCD perfectionist and cleaned my whole house). So it was really great to come home again. The next day was even better because I had gotten presents for EVERYONE in my little family compound which is 17 people. (most of it were used clothes from Becky, so thanks beck) I realized that people here don’t give presents for Christmas. I asked a bunch of kids when I got back “So what did Santa bring you” and the reply was always nothing. If they do exchange it’s like a secret santa exchange and those who can afford it participate. But the kids here don’t get anything. So they were soooooo happy with everything they received from me. They got beanie baby bears, dresses, the older family members all got granny’s Christmas cookies, and my little student got a dollar tree puzzle and he started screaming like he just opened a playstation and ripped the box open to start putting the puzzle together. For the landlady that calls me her daughter I made a personalized calendar with pictures and everyone’s birthday written in it. She must have looked at it 14 times before she let anyone else touch it! She shows it to EVERYONE who comes over. I had also got zip up sweatshirt jackets and t-shirts for Manuel and Roberto for watching my house and taking care of Princesa. They loved everything about it and according to them even the Aeropostale box I wrapped it in. Wil got a Brewers hat which he wears everyday. So all in all everyone was very pleased with the surprise gifts!
Two of the girls happy with their presents!
For New Year’s I decided to stay and celebrate in my town. My good friend Kiotho was throwing a party at her house and it sounded perfect to me. So I got all dressed out and had a cocktail with the boys at my house before we went over. We started walking closer and I heard loud music and saw dancing and got excited. Then I walked in and realized they were all my students and neighborhood kids. We were the oldest people there! But of course all my students wanted to dance with me so us older people made the most of it and danced the night away, that is everyone except Wil. He preferred talking to Kiothos older brother. So his younger brother lucked out with having me as a dance partner! We left at 1130 to be home at my house with my family at midnight. At midnight all your here is fireworks and more fireworks. They are just noisy ones not colorful pretty ones. Little kids and adults alike are just lighting them off out of mortars. And of course they have the Viejo which is a stuffed man. On the inside are firecrackers and fireworks as well and as he is lit on fire the firecrackers inside of him start going off and everyone cheers! It was great being with the family, my princesa on my lap (scared) and holding my Wilfredo’s hand. I couldn’t ask for a better New Years!
The viejo my family made!
All the neighborhood kids with the viejo, excited for new years!
This is my favorite picture, and the way it came about is funny! I had the timer set up and the boys were all standing there and then I ran over and bent over like that in front of them and happened to be right in front of Wil and he looked down and realized the awkward position and yelling (in spanish) "Wait, wait, let me move, wait" and we all were cracking up as he was tryin to move out from behind me and the picture snapped!
The viejo at Kiothos house
The end to a perfect New Years, snuggled up with the love of my life...Princesa!
A week later Noelle and Inga came!!! I must say my school break hasn’t been a bit boring! They got in without any problems and right away had their first real Nicaraguan experience…the buses! We got on the bus back to my town with no room to sit (or even stand for that matter) but we squished in and endured the butt up against butt, stomach squished on a seat, people hanging on you, grabbing on for dear life, falling over and sweaty goodness of it all! After about an hour we all got seats and made it to my town in one piece. They had a mere 30 minutes to relax because lone behold they came in on a Saturday and I wanted to show them the Nicaraguan night life! So the usual group came over to my house to start the night off. There was a big birthday party in my town (Kitho’s brother in law) I felt a little awkward walking in with 3 gringas in tow. Everyone’s attention turned to us! Since the family is pretty well off they had a dance floor in the house and then mariachis playing outside. So all the townsfolk had fun dancing with the gringas, and believe it or not I got Wilfredo to dance! It has been a goal of mine and I had almost given up hope but he did it! At 11 we went to Matagalpa to finish the night at a dance club which I think Manuel enjoyed more than anyone else since he was in the middle of the circle of girls the whole night! Sunday we went to support the Quebrada Honda baseball team that are playing in the finals. They were down in the series 3-1 and last Sunday when I was in Costa Rica they won both games and so the championship is actually this Sunday! Anyways we went to the game, and then walked around Matagalpa all afternoon. Monday we went up to Esteli to do a cigar factory tour which was fun. We stopped at a outside restaurant place that has a farm and we walked around looking at all the plants. Tuesday-Thursday I unfortunately had meetings. The good thing is that our meeting were held at a toursity place that I would have taken the girls either way, and they were together, and they speak Spanish. The girls did the coffee tour, hiking, and photo shoots while I had training. Thursday the day before they left we just hung out at my house and played Desmoche, a popular Nicaraguan card game. Wil wowed them with his magic tricks as well. They were great spots and wonderful guests. My whole family and all my friends fell in love with them and we had a ton of laughs, especially at night laying in bed with Inga and Noelle singing and the sound of the word DESAFORTUNADAMENTE!
Cheers to Noelle and Inga being in Nicaragua!
Dancing at the birthday party!
Cheering on team Quebrada Honda!
Four days after they left I had my COSTA RICA trip with Kristina! I went down in TicaBus and she flew (obviously) I met her at the airport and then we headed to Playa de los Cocos for a week! It was yet another crazy time with Karen and Kristina. Well not too crazy considering our first night we took a “nap” at five for an hour to get ready to go out and woke up in our dresses the next morning at 8! We sure are party animals eh? We stayed a cheap little hostel but it was clean and close to everything so it was perfect. We mainly spent our days on the beach laying out or reading in our room. I love that we have the same ideals for a good vacation which is to relax, do sightseeing but not so much that you are exhausted. We did do one day long trip to a resort called Buena Vista. We left early drove an hour and a half to the resort and did ziplining! There were 10 cables some were long, some we went fast, one we did superman style, and one upside down! It was our favorite part of the day. After that we had a buffet lunch and then did some horse back riding down to the volcanic hotsprings. At the hotsprings we started in a sauna to open up our pores, then we put mud all over us to exfoliate and then jumped in the volcanic hot springs! They had a range of pools that started at 106 degress and then cooler ones that were 90. It was relaxing! Then they had a 100 meter waterslide that I went on that involved not only a tube but a helmet and woman diaper! (I guess so your swimsuit doesn’t get damaged). The next day we went snorkeling for a few hours out in the ocean which was fun! I used a life jacket just to be extra safe. The water was clear and we saw a ton of fish, got bit by little jelly fish, and had the opportunity to dive down and see sleeping sharks in a cave but we respectfully declined. We all went out for Kristina’s 25th birthday which was fun until one of the guys we were with got super drunk and super annoying but we made do. Then on her birthday we watched the Packers crush the Bears! Now the big question is, where will we be off to next??
For a more detailed description of Costa Rica trip check out Kristina’s blog:
http://kkatris1986.blogspot.com/2011/01/liberia-costa-rica-day-1-wake-up.html
Mud bath!
Kristina ziplinin superwoman style!
Getting ready to snorkel! What DOES happen if you pee in your wet suit?
What the majority of our vacation consisted of!
SISTER SISTER!
A few other new things in my life are that I joined a girls soccer team! We won our first game 7-0. I feel a little bad cause some of the girls are TINY, and here I am this huge gringa. But I went up against an older girl my age to make it even. I plan on starting a girl scout group. We had 3 days of meetings with the head GS leaders from Honduras and we are making a fashion line from used jeans. We will be making purses, headbands, cell phone holders, and coin purses. Then will be selling them at fairs to make money and talk about GS to the public. I start Monday in the school with the teachers cleaning and planning and then the students start class on the 15th. Special Ed classes start on the 7th and I am going to start English again on the 7th. So before you know it I am going to be super busy again!
Princesa and Diego update: I had bought Princesa a cute pink sweater since it gets chilly in December and January at night. And I would take her out walking through town. Instead of people greeting me they would just kind of stare as I walked past and after I walked past I could here them whispering and I would see them pointing at her! For me it is just absolutely hilarious that everyone in my town thinks I have gone crazy putting a sweater on my dog! She loves it though! Diego is good, just always wants to eat. He will sit on his food bucket and meow for 2 hours until I finally can’t take it and give in and give him more food. Crazy cat. Well think that’s about it for now! Oh yea one more thing GO PACKERS and Happy Birthday to my wonderful Madre tomorrow!
She loves to nap in the hammock! She gets her own blanket too, how spoiled is she!
Me and my adorable Princesa and her sweater!
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