Quick



On the way to catch a boat to Island Ometepe. Credit to Paris.

  This past weekend a group of us went on a small tree day weekend trip to the Island of Ometepe. It took around six hours to ge to our destination in Merida. The island itself is quite calm. I hope to come return possibly before I leave Nicaragua to hike one of the volcanos. The site in the island was amazing. Down below is a picture of me during a sunset. The weather down here is completely different from what I imagined it to be. The rain seems to play to a soothing tune. The wind blows as a reminder of the earths warmth and the clouds form to embrace the beauty of the landscape.


Sunset in Ometepe on Lake Nicaragua. Credit to Paris.

 I am completely exhausted. My body not only hurts from all of the excersise that was done over the weekend. I am sunburned. My homestay family has given me a hat to wear at el campo. Tomorrow I will be heading out to live with a different family at el campo for five days. I expect that it will be a bit like my dad's family's rancho but we will see. I am a bit worried about the mosquitos but hopefully I do not get sick.

It has been a while since I have last posted. Many things have happend to me that keep making this study abroad trip more and more incredible. In the past couple of days since I have last writen on this blog I have learned how to tread water, my hair has changed to green highlights because of the water in a public pool, I have hiked a bit of Volcano Maderas in the Island of Ometepe, I have seen shooting stars and I have kyacked in Lake Nicaragua.

Volcano Maderas' Waterfall. Can you spot it?

 A su casa la an maltratado,
 Su nombre han usado,
 Mentiras, desputes, corbardia
 Me callo sabiendo que deveria gritar
 Me callo sabiendo que tiene lagrimas
 Camino y me tropiezo

 Su casa verdadera es verde,
 Su bienvenida es la corriente,
 Su bendicion es la vista,
 Y su traision es la iglesia.



Shout Out to Roosevelt University @ Chicago!

What makes a good tourist?

I come and I do not pretend.
I cannot pretend, and I cannot forget
I know that I can come and go.
I know that you see me as a local or maybe as a neighbor.
I know that when I speak you wonder and stare.
I come with an open mind
      I atleast try.
I come to learn not to teach.
I come to live not to see. And I hope you understand. I do not what to be that tourist.
That tourist that comes and goes.
That tourist that pays a fee to see and take a few pics.
I am a student.
I do not come to solve your problems because I know I have a long way to go to learn about you first.
A good tourist comes to hike.
A good tourist comes with respect.
A good tourist goes to the zoo not your backyard.
A good tourist can communicate.
A good tourist is hard to find.


Ometepe
Huembes, San Jorge, Moyoglapa
Caminos de tiera y piedras
Habitaciones compartidas y comidas repartidas
Estrellas, nubes y olas.
El lago de aventuras, locuras y ense~ansas
San Ramon, Cascada, Volcan Maderas
Hermanos, apuestas, gitaras y botellas
Moyogalpa, San Jorge, Huembes

TEJIDO

Unfortunately I have been a bit sick. My throat has been itching and now I have a runny nose. Last night my body was tired and with the heat I threw up in the small trash can. I did feel better afterwards which is good. I lost my scarf walking to the SIT center and thought that I was going to have to bare the cold in an air conditioned room in the UCA. I was fortunately able to sit in a much warmer seat in the room. The change in climate is probably what has been getting me sick.

One thing that I am loving about Nicaragua is that there are so many juices! I have asked my Nica dad to give me the recipes so that I can take them home and share the delicious refrescos with my family. I spoke with my mom today and was touched to here her voice and hear her say that she misses me. I know this is hard on my parents but I am truly blessed to be here. I never imagined that my classes would be taught by revolutionaries much less ex-militia. The way that the program is set is truly fascinating because it is all woven together with the same base and developed with distinct focuses in the specific area.

This video was recommended to me by my Spanish Professor and I thought I'd share it. I have not been taking any pictures and thought that a video would not be so bad.

The baby in the house is sick and I have not seen him in two days. I only hear him cough and cry in the adjacent room. I hope to get well soon so that I can see him. One thing that I do Cherish is having long talks with my Nica dad. Today, I was able to sit down with him and my Nica brother to talk about the kind of human Che Guevara was. I was then left with my Nica brother and I have to say, he always has something to say that impresses me. He is very well educated and knowledgeable that makes me wonder what is happening to the education in the U.S.

Regardless, I am enjoying every minute in Nicaragua.

QUE CALOR!!!

HACE un calor en Managua, Nicaragua! I was finally able to discribe this heat. As I lay on my bed sweat just keeps happening. At times it is like I am in a sauna at ballys, not with the excessive heat but with a notch lower. I do not know if my body will adjust itself to the heat of Managua, Nicaragua but I sure do hope so. There is just no possible way that after these three months I will  not lose weight and be healthier. I am constantly drinking water to keep hidrated. We have been doing a lot of walking and I rarely eat any snacks. Today was one of the girl's brithdays so we had birthday american donuts. They are de-li-cious! I am doing pretty well in getting used to all the little creatures in my room. I have a little ant that has been wondering around my laptop as I write this post. I could possibly kill it or give it a name.

MI CASA EN NICA No. 1

I was finally able to meet my home stay family today. They are very sweet and there is a new born baby in the house! as I carried him I noticed that he has the same small hole in his earlobe as I do. It was as if we were meant for one another. I now have a new baby brother, a Nica mom and dad as well as two sisters and a brother. I am lucky to have wifi in my room. I have keys to the front gate and to my room which is like a second entrance to the house. The only time that I will have running water will be from 12 midnight to 10 AM everyday. This means that I have to wake up early everyday that I wish to shower. There is a washing machine but it is to be used only when its an emergency and I need my clothes right away. Today at dinner I ate a chile.. I thought it was a red chile that wouldn't be too hot. I was wrong. My mouth was burning and I had to drink a lot of water and juice, as well as bite ice for the burning to go away. The dish consisted of chicken which I covered in jalapano sauce, steamed broccoli, steamed carrot, white rice with corn, and jugo de pitahaya. It was delicisous. I also had a few fried slices of green plantain. It was prepared by my Nica dad! Since my new Nica family loves  Mexican food I plan to make a dish some time during my stay to share. I need to ask my mom for the ingredients and recipes. 

MOVISTAR

TODAY was a very busy day. It started with interviews for our spanish class placement. I am most consern about academicly improving my spanish and expanding my vocabulary list. I don't know how my spanish class will be structured so I will find out possibly tomorrow or Monday. After everyone was done with their interviews many of us went together to the mall which is like a fifteen minute walk away from Casa San Juan and bought cell phones. We only have two options in Nicaragua, it was between Claro and Movistar. Of course we picked Movistar. Both practically offer the same service except one is slightly better in the coast and the other one slightly better in the north. The tie breaker was that tweeter functions with Movistar. This is my first cell phone from out of the country!! We had dinner at our directors house and had great patahaya and burritos. I was able to talk more to our friend driver and found out that he is catholic and sings in his capilla in a band. He mentioned that they are trying to record a CD and hope to get working on it within this month. Some of the songs that they sing are religious and include the sounds of some popular music such as La Bamba and change the lyrics to something about Jesus/ God. It is interesting becuase they are asked to play at parties and often times they are asked to play something from the coast and they are able to sing a familiar genre with a twist of Christianity. He has invited me to come see his neighborhood since I was asking alot about the dynamics of it. I plan to take his word and visit him and his family as well as meet his band or listen to some of their music. I haven't declared my ISP but there is no harm in keeping an open mind.

         --La Cuneta Son Machin --

Possibly the most exciting and thrilling part of today (as in Saturday) is that we were able to attend La Cuneta Son Machin's concert in La Ruta Maya!!! I am now in love with this band. The music played tonight was a mix of folkloric dance music and rock music. It is very vibrant and passionate. I could not stand still for very long because the music just got to you. The band also played some very energetic songs with comical lyrics, and even pulled out some jokes for a bit in the middle of songs. They are officially my favorite band. They are all about Nicaragua and take pride in being Nicaraguenses. Their songs range from love songs, to songs that speak of the revolution, to very comical ones that are just to laugh at and dance to. Their musical instruements are not just objects but they use their voices to make different sounds and rythms. I was very impressed! I do have some videos but I will need more time to be able to download them. I am not too certain that I will be able to do that.

It is late and I have to go to bed now. Tomorrow I will finally meet my new family!

PITAHAYA

I lost internet for a bit so this post was to be up like two days ago. I am posting what I had written. Later tonight I will try to post something from last night and today.

IT'S pitahaya!!! (Task: How is that drink made!!! jajaja... Se corta en pedasos y se muele con agua y despues se colea. Encuando esta en la jara sele pone algo de limon y LISTO!!! )

Nos dicen que nuestra casa esta con dios pero que no vayamos a dios.



IT is god on top of the world. It is a landmark that we are able to use to tell that we are close to where we are staying. We have been warned that it is not a safe place to walk/be by. So our homes are by god but we must not go to god. Funny, no? We took a small tour around the city to see the neighborhoods from inside the van. It started raining for a while and I was able to see that on the side of the roads  are constructed in a way that rain runs down on the side of the roads. Its like an open gutter constucted to help with floods. It would be interesting to find out if it all leads to the lake which I am sure it does.

I had more written but it unfortunately did not save. :(