So its come to one week left in Esteli, Nicaragua. I can`t believe that I´ve made it through. Not because I doubted myself but because of everything we as a group have experienced in our time here. I´m very proud of my accomplishment - I´ve learned Spanish enough to become a sort of translator for my house; I´m starting to see people in the streets that I know and can say hi to; at work, I´m better friends with my co-workers, joking and laughing with them. Its amazing what I´ve developed here in 13 weeks. Most of my stay here was spent getting used to everything and wishing I could be back home in Canada. I can see why people say 3 months not enough, thats its only the beginning of good times to come. While I´m still super excited to go home, I can´t help but realize that I will miss FUNARTE staff and my host mom, and all the great people I´ve met during my trip. I didn´t think I would but now...

This has been an incredible experience and I´m so glad that I decided to do it and stay when times got rough. I think as a person I´ve grown so much and experienced so many new and exciting things, broadening my worldview and opening my eyes to different things about the world. For instance, poverty and what it really looks and feels like; living in a third world country; putting yourself in the situation where you don´t speak a word in the language. Challenging and pushing myself through all that has made me a more worldly person and I´m very thankful for that.

This past week, on Thursday, I got to go to Managua with FUNARTE to experience a day there and to see what they do. From 5am to 9:30pm we were there, working hard the entire day with kids from the streets at different workshop locations. Painting, cleaning, talking, teaching....oh my. The kids were so unlike the kids in Esteli - they were louder, dirtier, more demanding and overall more work. But they also come from different situations than the kids in Esteli; most of the kids in Managua that we work with are street kids. It was a tiring day but I enjoyed it, mostly because it was new and I got to spend time with people from work. Driving home at night, all sitting crammed into the bus, it felt like we were friends that had gone for a camping trip and were driving through the desert at night. I loved it and I will miss it.

In funnier news: today I was SUPPOSED to go to Miraflor with the girls for our final weekend in Miraflor. Siobhan and I were going to take the 3pm bus and meet Jess and Megan there. Instead, at 8:15am, Siobhan calls me and says: ``I have lice, I need help washing my hair and getting rid of it.`` So all morning, Edna and I were cleaning her hair. While we´re pretty sure we got most of it, we didn´t want to take the chance of it re-appearing the next morning or spreading to others. So we opted out of Miraflor and are having a sleepover instead. Its not Miraflor but hey...its still fun. Hopefully I don´t get lice though. Ew.


Hasta luego!

Even though I´ve been here for 2.5 months already, I still feel as though I´m treated as a newcomer. People in Esteli have seen me walking around the street I´m sure, yet everyday (maybe by the same guys) its catcalling and disrespect all the time. Taxi drivers, shop owners all try and rip us off; we get yelled at and cursed and have things thrown at us. Story: I was walking home the other day and out of a moving bus I got a mamone pit (a type of fruit) chucked at me. It hit me on my leg. It didn´t hurt me physically, but emotionally and mentally I was really offended. The reason I´ve come to this country is to help as best I can and to learn from their culture, yet I´m treated like I´m a bad person. I know that the people wouldn´t know why I´m in Nicaragua, but instead of treating with any decency, even to be ignored, we get disrespected and put down. I was really insulted and it was the biggest put down I´ve received yet.

Before coming here, I had never experienced this type of prejudice before. I never would have either back in Canada. But it took coming to a third world country, with a history of being treated poorly by North Americans, to experience it. Its not something I wish on anybody and it gives me a new perspective on the type of discrimination and emotions experienced by other races, such as African Americans, immigrants from India and Asia, etc. I know that I can never say I understand how they feel, at least not in any way to the same degree, but let me tell you, it is very degrading and demoralizing. I truly admire those people who suffered through it to fight against it and make a better life for future generations. It takes a lot of strength and courage to deal with such prejudice and though I´ve only experienced a very minor form of it, it was enough for me to get a new understanding.

So with renewed admiration for those currently dealing with prejudice and stuggling through it, I hope they can stay strong. And for everyone else...don´t be prejudiced! It hurts more than you know. Even if you don´t mean to or aren´t aware of your actions. Be kind to strangers and foreigners because it takes a lot of guts to come to a new country and start a life there.

But...I try to not let it get me down and approach everyone equally, trying not to believe that they will treat me badly just because I´m a foreigner. Because not everyone does...some are very kind and helpful. I say to myself ¨Just keep swimming¨and go about my business :)

Here are some photos from our trip to Granada and the Isla de Ometepe...enjoy!



The streets of Granada, with the volcano Mombacho in the background.



Mi neuvos amigos...Sara, Austin, Siobhan and Jess.



Lake Cocibolca, with the Isla de Ometepe in the background.



More colorful streets of Granada. As you can see, they are so well maintained and clean, very appealing to tourists. But beautiful nonetheless.



View from the tower we climbed on our horse carriage tour. With me in the way.



Sketchy ferry to Isla de Ometepe. Awesome right?? Just remember the chicken defrosting in the bottom.



Map of Ometepe.



El Ojo de Agua. You can just the clear blue water and the green trees surrounding it...with me in the way again (I want to show you guys I´m having a good time and am alive!)



Playa Santa Domingo. It was such a gorgeous hot and sunny day. In the background in Volcan Maderas, the one I TRIED to climb.



View from the deck at our hostel in Merida.



Monkey Island. I don´t know if you can see any monkeys or not, but they are there. I swear.



Sunset.



View from half way up Volcan Maderas. Its really pretty... I can only imagine what the view from the top would be like.



One more volcano shot...its just so pretty.



Proudly displaying my hair wrap in Granada, which I got upon our return to Granada.



Granada at night. This is a photo from our table at Nectar, the restaurant which we ate dinner at our last night. There was a warm breeze and everyone was happy.



Our dinner party. Like a mini family for one night.

That is the briefest of summaries in photos of my 5 day trip. It doesn´t do it justice but right now its the best I can do! So hopefully you can feel the magic and beauty and excitement that I felt.

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!

OK...so I had the best week of vacation. It was just what I needed to boost my spirits and make me happy for the next three weeks (side note: I only have three more weeks of work left - isn´t that crazy!!?? Then San Juan Del Sur for a week and after home sweet home!) Let me break it down for you because we all had a fantastic time! There were 5 of us in total - me, Jess, Siobhan and two new people, Sara and Austin. Sara is the girlfriend of Jorge, who we know here in Nicaragua and Austin is her friend. They´re here for 6 and 2 months respectively. And they´re really nice.

Sunday

We left for Granada early Sunday morning and arrived, after 2 buses, a taxi ride,and 4 hours or so of travelling, in the early afternoon in Granada. It is gorgeous. The buildings are all so well maintained and everything is so colorful and clean. It is a more touristy part of Nicaragua but I wouldn´t say it was swarming with tourists. You could tell that a lot of work was put into maintaining a good image. We checked into our hostel, managing to score a private bedroom for 5 people, and went about walking throughout the city. We ate lunch at this little cafe (grilled vegetable and hummus panini with pitaya fruit drink...delish!) and walked down to the Lake Colcibolca to check out the largest fresh water lake. It was awesome because you can see across the lake to Ometepe where we were going the next day. When we got back to the central park we took a carriage ride around the city to see all the historical parts of Granada. We got to see some of the oldest churches in Granada and the house of the guy who own Tona, Victoria and Flor de Cana (all the alcohols in Nicaragua). It was really interesting and we even got to go inside a fort and up a tower to get a gorgeous view of the city. On our way back we randomly met up with two friends of Sara´s who had been backpacking through Central America since May. They stayed at the same hostel as us and came to Ometepe with us as well. They are very...interesting. They both basically run on no sleep and somehow cram in a million things to one day. Don´t know how. But we went to dinner that night at the Bearded Monkey, another hostel right beside ours. Got a huge bean burrito that was really filling. Slept early because (a) we were wiped from travelling and (b) we were getting up early to go to Ometepe.

Monday

Catch a really early bus to Rivas, and from there we caught this sketchy little ferry boat over to the Island. The ferry was really small and downstairs where we sat there were bags of defrosting chicken on the floor, piled ontop of one another, leaking juices. So sanitary. But it was a short 1 hour ferry ride and before we knew it we were on Ometepe! The two guys who we met the day before, Juan and Justin, somehow met this guy named William who told us to stay at his hotel in Altagracia. This was not our original plan (we wanted to go to Playa Santo Domingo) but we went with the flow and took another bus to Altagracia where we checked into Hotel Castillo for the night. It wasn´t really the best hotel - the food wasn´t great but expensive and the town had no life. Our beds were hard and Siobhan´s had bed bugs. But we did manage to visit the Ojo de Agua, the Eye of the Water, while there. Its this beautiful natural spring of water that is so clear you can see the bottom perfectly. We swam in there for a couple hours and then caught a bus back to the hotel, showered and went for a small night time tour of Altagracia. We walked around and saw the museum (though closed) and walked through a cemetery at night. Verys cary but we did it! Then dinner and bed. Eventful day again.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning was hot, bright and sunny! We checked out of the hotel after enjoying a wonderful breakfast that we bought of peanut butter, bread, bananas and juice. We took a bus to Playa Santo Domingo and spent the entire morning there, swimming and lying on the beach. I´m proud to say I got my first bikini tan/ burn ever! We did get a bit burned, though in really weird places i.e. a strip across my stomach but no where else; dido for Jess but it was on her back. Whatever. We got sun! We ate lunch at the beach and then took another bus to Merida. It was actually 2 buses we had to take and while waiting for the second bus we met other backpackers, from Montreal and Holland. They were going to the same place as us and so we ended up eating dinner together the next couple of nights and hanging out. It was really nice...I love the people you meet while travelling! When we get to the hostel its this really lovely oasis. A bit more expensive than the other hostels but well worth it. We got a room and then rented kayaks to go visit Monkey Island. There are two islands about 20 min from our hotel that you kayak to. One has Capuchin monkeys and the other Spider monkeys. Apparently these monkeys were rescued from being chained up and were freed onto this island. It was really neat to see them walking around and coming to the shores. When we returned we went swimming and cooled off. We wanted to watch the sunset and drink milkshakes but unfortunately our milkshakes took too long to make so we missed the actual sunset but still went out onto the dock of the hotel until it was dark. So lovely. You have a clear view of the Volcano Conception from the dock and it was surrounded by clouds but with a background of the setting sun. The sky was blue and yellow and purple and...fantastic. I can´t describe it. Nice breeze, just relaxing and drinking our milkshakes. We then ate dinner with our new friends (a good hearty dinner of pastas and bread because...) in preparation for the volcano hike we had booked for the next day. The plan was to hike the second volcano on the islan, Volcano Maderas. That was the plan anyway.

Wednesday

So when the early time of 5:30am came around the next day, we were getting up to go hike a volcano. However, after breakfast, Sara and Jess kind of backed out because the day before they had burt their feet on a rock hidden in the water at the beach (I tripped over it many times as well). They didn´t think hiking the volcano would be a good idea so they told the guides they wanted to see the Cascada Ramon instead. Unfortunately the guides interpreted this as we all wanted to see the cascada instead of the volcano and so took us the 3km hike to the entrance of the cascada just to find out that no, 2 people wanted to do the volcano. So Austin and I trekked back the 3 km to the entrance of the volcano which was right beside our hotel, and then began our hike. At this point, our guide was pissed at us because he didn´t want to hike it, we were 2 hours late starting, and so he said he would only take us half way up. Volcano Maderas is about 1,400m high. We wanted to go to the top. So then that meant we had to hurry to make it back to the hotel before dark because the average time up in 4 hours, 4 hours down. The guide starts RUNNING basically up the path to the volcano. There is probably a good 3 km path to the base of the volcano which you walk before even starting the volcano climb. Its uphill as well. So I´m already tired after the first 6km, then the next 3km uphill. The climb up the volcano is INSANE: it is so steep; at points I was climbing up 3 ft. high steps of dirt and roots and over fallen trees..OMG. I thought I was in shape but I died a little on that climb. I couldn´t make it to the top. I barely made it half way but I pushed myself to get there. It took us two hours to make it to the halfway point and I was spent. My thighs were jelly and I was so sore. I felt really bad because I was the one who pushed for the top but I just could not make it. If our guide hadn´t been going so fast and we had those extra 2 hours then I think I could have done it. But we were basically running up the volcano. So we rested and then climbed back down, which was just as dangerous as climbing up. Its muddy and slippery and I slipped so many times that at points I was clinging off trees for support. I did a matrix back bend at one point because I slipped and tried to right myself. But were made it back by 12:30pm, about the same time as the three girls got back from hiking the cascada. All of us so sweaty, literally dripping, we change into our bathing suits and jump into the lake. I was so muddy and sweaty and tired; treading water was difficult. We lay in the hammocks the rest of the afternoon and ate coconut ice cream with chocolate sauce as a reward while watching sunset (unfortunately it was cloudy but it was still lovely and breezy). Dinner was fantastic - 3 bean enchiladas pile high with fresh vegetables and avocado slices on the side. GREAT! As you can guess, we were in bed early because we were so tired and were getting up early again to catch a bus off the island. Super day though, a nice ending to the Isla de Ometepe.

Thursday

Early breakfast, pay and then catch an 8:30 bus to Moyogalpa, the port where we catch the ferry. Thre hours later, we arrive. Take the sketchy ferry home (it was really wavey and the boat rocked so much from side to side) but we made it to Rivas and then tired of buses, paid a taxi $25 to drive us to Granada. He was so scared the entire drive because if the police caught him with 5 people in the car he would get fined. We had to at one point hide Sara as we drove by police. But it was all good and we made it to Granada safe and sound. We arrived in Central Park so we went to this bracelet stand we found the other day and all the girls got a piece of hair wrapped really colorfully. Its really nice and a good memory of our time there. We checked into our last hostel and met this really nice couple, Dan and Audrey who had been travelling for 2.5 years. We ate dinner with them at this nice restaurant called Nectar. We ate outside on this strip set aside for just walking along and enjoyed the cool night air. I got a curried vegetable crepe and fresh lemonade. One last dinner to mark the end of our vacations. It was such a nice night of story telling and making new friends. Dan and Audrey were really cool and had so many stories to tell of their travels. Very nice people. We were in bed by 11pm because guess what...we had an early day the next day!

Friday

Wake up at 5:30am, eat breakfast and catch a 6:45am bus to Managua. We were back in Esteli by 10:30am and have since washed laundry (OMG...our laundry STUNK so bad from sweat and wet clothes...it was digusting. We were all a mess at this point), ate lunch and showered....oh so nice. Tonight we´re going out to celebrate the final night of Priti, a girl living in our house, because she leaves tomorrow.

Our friends from Canada came in today (they had a horrible 1 day delay in the Miami airport) and so we get to see them tonight! I´m so excited to see them and have a bit of home. Only 3 more weeks until San Juan Del Sur and then I´m home! So excited and I know that I will give these last three weeks my all..they´ll go by so fast.

That´s all for now. Its a lot of information. Its not even that detailed. If you can, google the places I went to see the wonderful pictures. I´ll try and upload photos soon.

Hasta luego!

Hey everyone. So its been a while since my last blog. Not much has happened in my life to be honest. If you want a laugh about my Sunday, read Jess DB´s blog about it...very funny and oh so accurate.

But my first week back was horribly boring, which is so unfortunate. Because of this influenza scare going around all workshops with kids were cancelled this week at FUNARTE (there was apparently a case of flu at one of the schools we work with). So instead I spent every day, 7 hours a day working on a manta WHICH I found out today that I was not supposed to do because the projection was bad. Of course. I like doing mantas, I do, but every day all the time is really long and I more enjoy working and playing with the kids. My last three weeks will have to be spent soaking up all the wonderfulness of the children and their painting.

For some reason, Siobhan, Jess and I have a week off...something like its our organizations vacation times or something. I feel kind of bad getting this vacation seeing as I was off last week sick, worked one week and then get another one off. But we´ve decided to take advantage of this time and go visit Granada and Isla de Ometepe from Sunday to Thursday/Friday. A couple nights in Granada and a couple on Ometepe. We´re super excited...carriage rides in Granada, a tour of las Isletas; then onto Ometepe for some sun and fun at Playa Santo Domingo and a visit to a nature reserve called Charco Verde. Hopefully everything goes relatively smoothly but I will DEFINITELY update you on our travels when I get back.

In other news, I´ve done a complete turnaround in terms of health. I feel SO great and its almost like I was never sick. Its fantastic! On Canada Day we all went out to celebrate and I had, for the first time in weeks! two double mojitos. I know I know...but its Canada Day and we need to celebrate somehow! It was so much fun and it was nice to be out for the first time in so long and actually be able to enjoy myself.

Don´t interpret this as a countdown because through everything I´m mostly enjoying this experience, for it certainly is one. But as of yesterday we have exactly 6 weeks until we leave:

1. Finish this week.
2. Next week is Granada/ Isla de Ometepe; Brittany and Becca arrive on Thurdays
3. 3 more weeks of work - can´t wait because this means we get to do more workshops and maybe one or two more mantas
4. 1 week San Juan Del Sur
5. Then home!

However: I have recently been feeling very sad for some reason and finding myself really wishing I could home. I´m so conflicted about this because everyone tells me that at this point in my journey I should be wanting to stay here. But I don´t feel this way at all. It seems almost that I´ve done everything backwards; I was fine for the first 2-3 weeks and then I got sick, when its usually sick right away then fine; I was enjoying my time here in the beginning and being really positive but now, though I´m still being positive, I find myself very sad somedays and wishing I could be home. I don´t understand and I feel really bad and confused about this because I want to get so much out of this experience and if I feel this way, am I taking anything away from it?? Any advice or comments on this matter would be so helpful. I feel kind of like I´m failing and not appreciating this in someway. PLEASE HELP!

Uuummm....not much else to say until next week. Although, we have so many people in our house leaving us soon; Priti leaves next week (it feels like she just got here but its been 4 weeks already), then Rebecca and Margarite leave the week after and then possibly Tim. Its so sad because there will be none of our friends here for our goodbye party because we´ll have wished them farewell already! One thing I love about this trip though is how many great and fascinating people I´ve met and come to really be close with; that is one thing I will miss about Nicaragua, my house more specifically because its been through living with Edna that I´ve met almost all of these great people! I really hope that we can keep in touch or have become close enough that in a couple years time I can email them and say ¨Hey! I´m coming to see you!¨ Its weird how quickly you bond with people in these situations because everyone is equal and in the same boat. Great times have been had with new friends and I will miss this!

Ok. That´s all for now! Hasta luego and take care everyone - until next week!

I was debating whether or not to blog about this but I thought I might as well, seeing as most of you will find out eventually.

As you know, I´ve been sick on and off for about 4-5 weeks, with intermittent nausea and diarrhea, coming and going, making me think I was better then I´d get worse again. I went and got tests done and it turned out I had a parasite and a bacterial infection or a GI infection. So I took some medication for it and it seemed to be a bit better. However, after I went to La Chureca last week I got really sick. On Friday, I threw up 3 times and went to see the doctor who thought it was an ¨ intoxication¨ from the dump, some germ or bacteria I breathed in while there. She gave me a shot for anti-nausea and told me to take it easy, no work.

Ok, fine I said. I spent all weekend feeling nauseous, basically living off of dry toast, jam and bananas. No milk, no fried food, nothing but basic food. I can do that for a few days. But by Tuesday, I was still feeling nauseous all the time and obviously that´s not good. It should have cleared up by then. So I went back to the doctor who agreed with me, saying it should have gone away and that I may still be feeling nauseous because the bacterial infection never cleared up. So she prescribed me some anti-biotics for the infection, some anti-nausea pills, Metachlopromin or something, and somethng else to calm my stomach because the antibiotics can upset your stomach as a side effect. So I was to take the anti-nausea pills 20 min. before eating, three times a day. I did this for 2 days before I started having side effects. It started with my entire body feeling restless, like I had drank too much coffee and had caffeine just racing through my body. I´d had it before with Gravol (its one of the side effects) but never this strong. Then Wednesday night, after dinner around 8pm my eyes started to go weird. I could only look up, as far as my eyes could go, and to the left. I looked like a deer in the head lights, my eyes open wide and always looking up. My face was screwed up in a grimace to accompany my weird eyes. I clearly wasn´t OK, because I also had double vision if I tried to look elsewhere and if I closed my eyes, my eyes were moving under my lids like in REM sleep. So we told Edna, because all my friends were freaked out, and she took me to the doctor.

She tested all my reflexes which were fine, and I could identify things, I just couldn´t see right. So she ended up calling someone at a clinic and I was taken over there at like 9pm or later. They had to open the clinic just for me. I ended up getting a CT scan done of my head, with contrast being pumped into my arm. My eyes were so messed up I couldn´t even look at the guy who was putting in the IV. I was so scared. They were looking for signs of a lesion, or stroke or something to explain my eyes. Nothing. Everything was clean. Which is good. I´m too young to have a stroke thank you very much.

Basically, they told me to try and sleep and see how tomorrow was because no one could explain it. I had an appointment the next day to see a neurologist so maybe he could tell me something. Somehow, I managed to fall asleep - I don´t know how because when I tried to close my eyes, I couldn´t really and it was so dark in our room I couldn´t tell if my eyes were fully closed. Somehow I slept though and the next morning, my eyes were fine. A little sore but fine. I was scared to look up though because I didn´t want them to get stuck there like the night before.

I went and visited the neurologist who did a couple simple reflex tests but concluded everything was fine. He thinks, as does the other doctor, that the anti-nausea drug was overstimulating my optic nerve. Apparently, this same situation happend to someone the doctor knew, like a nephew or something, although it is not a common side effect. Its not even listed as a side effect I don´t think. Anyways, I stopped taking that drug, and stopped taking the anti-biotics because for all I know that could be causing something as well. Not taking any more foreign medication. The doctor told me to just drink lots of water and flush it out of my system. So I did, and I think for the most part I´m better.

I haven´t had any nausea until today and I´ve been eating more real food which is a nice change. My parents are obviosuly freaked out though and there is a small chance that if I get sick again I might go home. I can´t do sickness here anymore. I can´t be sick for school and I´m most likely going to need to sort this all out and make sure I´m healthy before I go for Don Training. I don´t want to have to go home but health is important too. I really hope that I will start to get better and be able to return to work, since I´ve been not working for a week. It´s so frustrating and hard because I´m a rollercoaster of symptoms; sometimes I´ll feel fine, but then I might eat something and feel so sick after. I just never know.

I will try to let you know what happens and see where I´m at in a few days. I really hope though I get better because I´ve come so far on my adventure that I would feel like a bit of a failure to go home.

In other news, Jon Daley, our English housemate left today for back home. It was very sad because he´s been there about the same amount of time as me and was kind of like a brother. Very sad. Tomorrow morning though he will be enjoying his full English breakfast which he´s been looking forward to for so long. We will keep in touch.

Hasta luego!