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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