one year anniversary!

Believe it or not, I have been here for a year... i am more on the not believing it side... time has gone by very quickly. Its hard for me even to remember how i felt when I came, really I had no idea what I was getting myself into or what Nicaragua was like. Lucky for me, I was sent to a great country with some great people.

So what have I been up to these days?? mainly just working and waiting for the next couple months when I will be receiving alot of visitors! In march, for holy week, there ws vacation at the schools, so I also took a little vacation. I went the island of Ometepe, which is so beautiful! It is an island in the middle of the lake of nicaragua. It is formed by 2 volcanoes. There are quite a few people that live on the island.. it isnt that small. So, I spent some time on the beach and all, but my big accomplishment ws climbing the volcano Maderas. yup, i climbed a volcano! It only took us 10 hours... haha... normally it takes about 6 or 7, but lets face it... I am not that "active" so i had to take alot of breaks. There was even a point when there were almost tears because since i was always looking at the ground, i kept running into branches that reached across the path, hitting my head, hard. haha... i was not happy then but at that point i was 3 hours up and i couldnt turn back then. anyways, at the top of the crater there is a lagoon and its very beautiful. sooo.. that was my trip to Ometepe.

Since then I have been back in Sauce and working. Teaching is going ok. I get very frustrated because the schools cancel class ALOT and its hard to keep my class on track. There is a certain information I have to cover for my students to be able to participate in activities at the end of the school year... but when they cancel my class week after week, I dont get anywhere... and the rainy season hasnt even started... thats when things really get crazy. One of the reasons they cancelled class last week was because there was no water. Ya, no water came to my house from monday to friday... 5 days! the power was out, and no power= no water. it was not good, let me tell you. I was going to peoples houses asking to shower. I would ration a bottle of water for the day... I was not a happy person by friday. but thankfully the water returned and all is well now. Life is pretty boring when there is no power. I would sit in my chair with my 5 yr old neighbor and my music listening to totally inappropriate reggaeton songs and realized the little boy knows every single word. It was pretty hilarious/unbelievable.

I am also helping out with a few other projects in town. I am trying to get a computer for one of my schools. I am helping a women´s group with a sewing project. I am also helping a rural community get a tourism project started. So thats what I do in my free time as well. So i am pretty busy.


What else... what else... my dog is ok. he is a handful and destroys my stuff, but he is a cutie. I have learned to cook alot! its my new hobby, I also sew... i never realized I was so domestic.. I am so becoming my mother. ha. My new favorite dancing is bachata. and thats about all for now..

oh! my bike was stolen in february.. but it has been found! this was very exciting!

ok.. i got to go.. but I hope all is well and you are all enjoying the spring time (I am so jealous... its like 100 degrees here, i forgot to mention i also spend my time sweating and sitting in front of my fan. )