one week in Nicaragua

So I wish I could have written my first update sooner but access to the internet, electricity, and the opportunities to just sit down and type at a computer have been few and far between. My journey so far has found me in here in the capital of Managua muy feliz pero extranando a mi familia y amigos y amigas (happy but missing my friends and family). I have done and learned so much already. So let me try to start from the beginning and explain where life here finds me now...

I arrived last Thursday, exhausted because I had stayed up the whole night before packing despite the fact that I had started (sort of) to pack at least a week before that. So without any sleep, I left with my whole family accompanying me. That was such a blessing to be able to say goodbye to both of my parents and brother and sister at the same time. Tears came to my eyes but didn't run down my cheeks until I read beautiful notes of love and blessings from my parents in the Atlanta airport. My flights were fairly smooth even though the second flight from ATL to Managua was slightly delayed. The second flight was actually the most empty international flight I had ever been on with a lot of empty seats!

Exhausted I landed in Managua, went through migration and customs without a hitch and waited for my ride to arrive at the airport. I met a young woman about my age who was coming to work with the Seventh Day Adventists somewhere on the Caribbean coast for 9 months as a nurse. We were both waiting for rides but mine came first! I was warmly greeted by
Antonio a driver for Accion Medica Cristiana (the group I'll be working for that will now forever be known as AMC) and Nery, a woman who works for AMC in Human Resources and whom with I would be living for the first 5 days in Nicaragua. My first day I didn't do much but I met briefly many people in the AMC office who all greeted me with smiles and welcomed me to their country. Friday, I was set to take a "tour of Managua" with a tour guide named Adrian Gallegos.

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Ok the lights/electricity are about to go out here so I have to go but I promise to finish my story soon! Love and peace.

almost ready to leave

I officially have only 4 full days left until I leave the country for 16 months. I am at once joyful and filled with excitement, but very sad and conflicted about leaving my family and friends for so long. The past week at home has been filled with attempts to reunite with friends I have not seen for a very long time and make sure to talk to and get together with all those close to me as much as possible. It has been such an important piece of my transition. And everyone I have talked to in the past three weeks that really knows me (you know who you are) have reassured me in the best of ways that this is where I am meant to be in my life. It's so cliche to say I am about to embark on an extremely life-changing experience, but it is true. And I embrace the chance to do so.

With the suitcases out of the attic, I am currently really beginning to pack after a few days of shopping for toiletries and other essentials I don't feel I can buy in Nicaragua (or at least selfishly would like as a comfort for the first few months). I have to make choices now about what I need to bring with me and what are those things that can really remind me of who I am and where I come from. I know from my travels in the past, especially when I was in Thailand, that there will be many days when I feel so alone and homesick. It's natural. I have too wonderful of a family and set of friends not to miss home. So I am consciously making sure to pack my "heart" as well as what I own in the next few days. (thanks to a friend for that reminder)

Tomorrow is my last day of church before I take off and I am so excited to talk to both of my pastors before I leave. I need to listen to their wisdom and hopefully receive their blessing for the journey I am about to start. I admire them both greatly and wish that I had been able to connect with them more before I left. Bottom line now: use these last few days to the fullest possible extent and appreciate the blessings I have and remember who I am and why I need to do this job. Wish me luck...

I booked it!

I am now officially leaving for Nicaragua on August 23rd VERY early in the morning. I will soon be saying, "Goodbye, America." It has a good ring to it. But I won't really want to be saying goodbye to all the wonderful people who are my family and friends. I'll be missing my brother's graduation from high school and my sister's beginnings of her Junior and Senior I.S. at Wooster. I'll miss my parents incredibly and I will probably miss my grandfather's retirement from his life as a doctor. So many of my friends are in similar places to where I am at, whether that means they have plans or they are trying to figure them out. Everything seems to be in transition in my life.

And that is a good thing. Something I am trying to embrace. But it won't really seem real until I am on that plane at 7:00am on August 23rd. Right now, I have to finish my preparations to take the GRE, pack for my last trip to Canada for a few years, and put all the necessary pieces together to get myself ready to live in Nicaragua for 16 months. Here goes!

Ode to the sentimentals...

So it's been a month. Seems about average. Maybe if I set my standards low about how much I will write here, it will make me really excited when I write once a week when I first get to Nicaragua. This entry will be more stream of consciousness than anything. Last night, I went to see the movie "Waitress" with Larry. Adorable movie. It stars Kerri Russell (I forgot how gorgeous she was) who is a waitress at a pie diner and is a fabulous baker of pies. Everyone raves about her pies. She ends up getting pregnant with her husband's baby, but she hates her husband so it is not really a joy for her. She has an affair with her OB-GYN and watches as her waitress friends go through their own relationship troubles. It has a wonderfully happy ending but I won't spoil it for you. The point I really want to make here is that I feel that there are certain people who will cry in movies like that, those that will admit that they enjoy them, those who will say, "Yea I guess it was ok," and those who just won't even go see them. I feel most akin to people of the first two types. My heart goes out to you. Don't be ashamed at being touched by art.

Tonight I had a blast with some of my friends from college. Three girls who I was definitely friends with but who I did not hang out with as much as I would have liked to. It's funny how you don't appreciate things as well as you do once they are practically out of reach. But I also learned two pretty fun card games tonight: Tonk and Turretts. We had a blast. Oh and note to self...aim for the center of the cue ball and you will succeed more at pool. Nighty night. Happy August. 4 days till Canada. 4 days till I take the GRE (eww). less than a month till I leave for Nicaragua.

rekindling the fire (of justice)

July...hmmm. My life seems to be speeding by at the speed of light. Training continues to exceed my expectations and all of the people in this group continue every second I interact with them to inspire me, love me, laugh with me and at me (in a playful way), and speak to my heart in an incredible way. I am in true community. Today our training session was about power in the media and I regained or re-ignited a fire (that thing called passion for social justice and that "righteous indignation" that MLK, Jr. talked about) that has always been in me. We discussed the current situation with the media and the war in Iraq. I am deeply disturbed by the complacency that has been created by the lack of access the media has been granted and the lack of accountability the media and government have been held to by the American public and the world. We are all a part of the system and should all be ashamed for not really taking action to hold those who deliver our information to us accountable. One of the most powerful pieces of the workshop for me was understanding that when the huge media conglomerates sell airtime, they are really selling OUR time. WE should have the last say in what we are seeing on TV, hearing on the radio, and reading on the internet. The women who ran our session today were from a group called the Center for International Media Action (CIMA). You can check them out at http://www.mediaactioncenter.org/ to learn more about what you can do to add your voice to the fight for media that works for the public interest.

After dinner, we watched "The High Cost of Low Prices" which is a documentary about Wal-Mart which I had seen before. I still get so angry as I am reminded why my conviction is so strong about never supporting their business. Please, check out more information about Wal-Mart and if you don't have to, don't shop there. Sorry to sound self-righteous, but it is an awful corporation.

On a lighter note, I ate delicious popcorn all through the movie. At least my tummy was happy.
Manana muy temprano por la manana (very early tomorrow morning) we'll be heading over to the Church Center for the United Nations and participating in a protest against a restaurant in NYC which refuses to treat its workers justly. Justice is sweet but I promise not to get arrested....this time. I love the United Methodists more every day. Don't worry Presbyterians, you still rock my world.