So I have some exciting news: tomorrow is the 30th Anniversary of Esteli´s independence as a result of the Sandinista revolution. There is supposed to be a huge day of celebration; Daniel Ortega is coming to Esteli in the morning and then there are activities in the park in the afternoon and in the evening thats when the fun begins - lots of music, dancing, entertainment and of course people drinking. Not that I´m going to be one of those people...thats not how I ¨roll¨. Anyways, I´m very much looking forward to this because its a significant event in Esteli´s history and I get to help celebrate this milestone accomplishment. I hope its fantastic!

On Sunday, July 19th, its the 30th Anniversary of the Sandinistas seizing power and ultimately coming into power. This too will be an exciting day, though I believe most of the celebrations will be happening in Managua.

In other notes, I feel that through everything, complaints, journeys, and experiences, we´ve recently (and finally) come to call Esteli home. Whenever we´re travelling and its hot or we have a bad hostel, we say we can´t wait to get home....where home is Esteli. Its nice to think that we´ve settled into some routines and that the I atleast have reached new levels in terms of my relationships with people. For instance, at work, I´m joking and laughing with my co-workers so mcuh more because I feel more comfortable with them and my Spanish is better as well. In a sense, we´ve created our own little lives here and I think I may understand how its difficult to leave that behind: its a routine and its something that you created all by yourself. Its evidence of your independence and the ¨situation¨ you put yourself in this summer. I´ve built a sort of family here (my host mom, my international housemates, friends we´ve made while travelling), I have a job, I know the city really well; I´m still learning the language but that would get better with more time here. In the end, I think I will miss Esteli and Nicaragua...most of it anyway. Will NOT miss the cat calling and constantly being a foreigner and deceitful taxi drivers, etc. but I will miss the people I´ve come to call friends and family (especially Edna) as well as work and the culture. Its all so different to back home. However, I am still so excited to return to Canada and see everyone! Only 4 more weeks. I´m pumped. In these last weeks, we´re tried to plan things to do and embrace work full force so that we´re happily but seemingly quickly finishing our placements.


That´s all for now. Thanks for reading!