Made it home. It's been a long/fast 3 months. It feels great to be in my house and with family and friends again. But I am missing beautiful Nicaragua. Such a roller-coaster ride! I will post pictures and do a little more extensive update as I get used to this whole United States thing : )
Thanks to everyone who came to Goshen College to welcome me home. I think I win for having the most family members there. Thanks, I love you all!!
Update soon...
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Good and Bad News
Good News: My family told me my spanish is so much better.
Bad News: GORDITA. After they told me my spanish was much better they told me that I had gained weight. Ha. GREAT! : )
All is well here in Jinotega. Missing my family and getting more sad everyday when I think about leaving this beautiful country. But I am also so excited to be home....what a mix of emotions!
Bad News: GORDITA. After they told me my spanish was much better they told me that I had gained weight. Ha. GREAT! : )
All is well here in Jinotega. Missing my family and getting more sad everyday when I think about leaving this beautiful country. But I am also so excited to be home....what a mix of emotions!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
For lunch today...
For lunch today we ate fried pig skin.
Didn't realize it until after a few bites. Ha. Quite the experience. One piece even had some hair on it. That's when I asked exactly what we were eating...turns out it was pig skin.
Oh...SST. : )
Didn't realize it until after a few bites. Ha. Quite the experience. One piece even had some hair on it. That's when I asked exactly what we were eating...turns out it was pig skin.
Oh...SST. : )
Boredom...
If you know me, you probably know that I do NOT enjoying being bored. I am always the one planning something for a friday night. Or organizing an activity for all my friends. I always want to get my hands dirty and be active. I just love it. Bored is not really a word in my vocabulary.
Being on SST has really driven this point home. First of all, the work that we are doing here is not necesarily hands on. We often times are just observing rather than participating. Which for a while is fine....but after a while it gets old. And boring. JUST LET ME DO SOMETHING. That has really been a struggle for me on this service portion. I am here to do service and I feel like I haven't accomplished much, in terms of material things. However, the relationships I have built from just spending time at the Los Pipitos organization is really what will last a lifetime. I do realize that, and that makes me feel like I have accomplished something.
There have been a few weekends where I have almost driven myself crazy not doing anything. There is only so much conversation that you can have with our host family and there is only so much shopping you can do (I have to get all the stuff back to the states somehow : ) ha.) And Lindsey and I can only play Rummy and Dutch Blitz so many times. We have gotten really, really good at those games. And you can't do your laundry if you just did it yesterday. And after you read through all your books you brought, you start to read them a second time! So boredom strikes often. And sometimes it almost makes me crazy. I just don't know what to do with myself.
Even after all my complaining about my boredom, I think about the crazy life that I am going to have with volleyball season and school work this coming fall and it makes me realize that I will miss the laid back lifestyle that I have mostly enjoyed this summer. I have also learned that it is OKAY to be bored. Sometimes you just shouldn't do anything. Just be, and that's okay.
So overall while I have mostly loathed the boredom that I have experienced here, I think it has taught me some valuable lessons, about myself and about life.
Now it's back to work. Gotta finish those projects that are due in 4 days! You know you just don't learn enough just by experiencing SST. You HAVE to do other projects to pass SST. Who ever thought to make SST a graded thing. YUCK!!!
and NO I haven't been procrastinating on my projects. I was ALMOST done with all three of my written reports when one day the computer in our house decided to crash...luckily I had sent two finished reports to myself beforehand. But the one that was almost done...lost forever. So now it's time to start over, bummer!
Being on SST has really driven this point home. First of all, the work that we are doing here is not necesarily hands on. We often times are just observing rather than participating. Which for a while is fine....but after a while it gets old. And boring. JUST LET ME DO SOMETHING. That has really been a struggle for me on this service portion. I am here to do service and I feel like I haven't accomplished much, in terms of material things. However, the relationships I have built from just spending time at the Los Pipitos organization is really what will last a lifetime. I do realize that, and that makes me feel like I have accomplished something.
There have been a few weekends where I have almost driven myself crazy not doing anything. There is only so much conversation that you can have with our host family and there is only so much shopping you can do (I have to get all the stuff back to the states somehow : ) ha.) And Lindsey and I can only play Rummy and Dutch Blitz so many times. We have gotten really, really good at those games. And you can't do your laundry if you just did it yesterday. And after you read through all your books you brought, you start to read them a second time! So boredom strikes often. And sometimes it almost makes me crazy. I just don't know what to do with myself.
Even after all my complaining about my boredom, I think about the crazy life that I am going to have with volleyball season and school work this coming fall and it makes me realize that I will miss the laid back lifestyle that I have mostly enjoyed this summer. I have also learned that it is OKAY to be bored. Sometimes you just shouldn't do anything. Just be, and that's okay.
So overall while I have mostly loathed the boredom that I have experienced here, I think it has taught me some valuable lessons, about myself and about life.
Now it's back to work. Gotta finish those projects that are due in 4 days! You know you just don't learn enough just by experiencing SST. You HAVE to do other projects to pass SST. Who ever thought to make SST a graded thing. YUCK!!!
and NO I haven't been procrastinating on my projects. I was ALMOST done with all three of my written reports when one day the computer in our house decided to crash...luckily I had sent two finished reports to myself beforehand. But the one that was almost done...lost forever. So now it's time to start over, bummer!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Lindsey and Alli Blog
First a little promotion for the goshen SST website. There are pictures posted from our city. You can see our family and the people we work with. You should check it out. http://www.goshen.edu/sst/nica08/
Because Lindsey and I are spending every waking moment together...sleeping in the same bed as well. We thought we should collaborate on a blog entry. We got a little lazy when trying to think of what to write, so instead we decided just to take little bits from our journal entries over the last 5 weeks here in Jinotega. Most of it is just funny things that have happened, other things might not make sense to you, but just use your imagination. Have fun! : )
"Most pointless afternoon ever..." -Lindsey Beck
"Walked around town for a while, tried to go to church. We were late...so our family bought us piza and ice cream instead." Alli Hawkins
"There was a pigeon up in our room tonight, luckily pops (dad) saved us" -LB
"Today=monotonous" -Alli Hawkins
"Momma told us not to go to school today because there was too much rain." -LB
"I HATE the rain" -AH
"...Not sure why but maybe its because of all the beans and cuajada(cheese) we have been eating." LB
"The sun is out...GRACIAS A DIOS!" -LB
"walked into the praising of mother mary. We werent sure if it was for church or the recent passing of a relative...but we got Tutti Frutti out of it." AH
"Sang the national anthem...twice!" LB
"We sat around a while, read, wrote some journals. We heard the chicken get killed and then ate it for lunch. Ha." AH
"...Even playe accordian for the pulperia visitors. Dont know why but Alli and I are funny tonight" LB
"...left early, went to get ice cream." AH
"Gallo Pinto was PHENOMENOL tonight!" -LB
"he was high on life today" AH
"Made friends with Sergio. I think he loves us" LB
"everyone stood in the shade, except the gringos." LB
"2-speed Jose Ramon. Sprinting or Dragging."
"Got in trouble today because last night I had Tutti Frutti and supposedly that is REALLY bad for THE GRIPE!" LB
"Jose was the priest sidekick today. Finally, his dream is coming true." LB
"We painted. Mine was awful." AH
"Computer crashed..real cool..." LB
So maybe that gives you a little sampling of what life is like here in Jinotega for us. Always exciting, always raining, sometimes boring, but we always have a good time. Especially with our family...who makes fun of us all the time. Ohhh SST. : )
until next time,
peace out and much love.
Lindsey and Alli
Because Lindsey and I are spending every waking moment together...sleeping in the same bed as well. We thought we should collaborate on a blog entry. We got a little lazy when trying to think of what to write, so instead we decided just to take little bits from our journal entries over the last 5 weeks here in Jinotega. Most of it is just funny things that have happened, other things might not make sense to you, but just use your imagination. Have fun! : )
"Most pointless afternoon ever..." -Lindsey Beck
"Walked around town for a while, tried to go to church. We were late...so our family bought us piza and ice cream instead." Alli Hawkins
"There was a pigeon up in our room tonight, luckily pops (dad) saved us" -LB
"Today=monotonous" -Alli Hawkins
"Momma told us not to go to school today because there was too much rain." -LB
"I HATE the rain" -AH
"...Not sure why but maybe its because of all the beans and cuajada(cheese) we have been eating." LB
"The sun is out...GRACIAS A DIOS!" -LB
"walked into the praising of mother mary. We werent sure if it was for church or the recent passing of a relative...but we got Tutti Frutti out of it." AH
"Sang the national anthem...twice!" LB
"We sat around a while, read, wrote some journals. We heard the chicken get killed and then ate it for lunch. Ha." AH
"...Even playe accordian for the pulperia visitors. Dont know why but Alli and I are funny tonight" LB
"...left early, went to get ice cream." AH
"Gallo Pinto was PHENOMENOL tonight!" -LB
"he was high on life today" AH
"Made friends with Sergio. I think he loves us" LB
"everyone stood in the shade, except the gringos." LB
"2-speed Jose Ramon. Sprinting or Dragging."
"Got in trouble today because last night I had Tutti Frutti and supposedly that is REALLY bad for THE GRIPE!" LB
"Jose was the priest sidekick today. Finally, his dream is coming true." LB
"We painted. Mine was awful." AH
"Computer crashed..real cool..." LB
So maybe that gives you a little sampling of what life is like here in Jinotega for us. Always exciting, always raining, sometimes boring, but we always have a good time. Especially with our family...who makes fun of us all the time. Ohhh SST. : )
until next time,
peace out and much love.
Lindsey and Alli
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Nothing New...
Nothing very exciting or new to report. I am still alive and well. Just working for the last few weeks here in Jinotega.
This week we had visit from Maria (our SST leader). It was GREAT to see her again and it made me really excited to get back together with the group. At the same time it made me realize how quick time has gone here and how sad I am going to be to leave this family. I have been VERY fortunate to have two amazingly great families. I don't think I could have had a better SST experience, but we'll save all that reflecting for later : )
Another thing that I have been very thankful for is that I have remained healthy through this whole experience (knock on wood...) But I am thankful for my strong stomach and great health so far.
Living with Lindsey has also been quite the blessing. I think I would be rather lonely without her. We always are laughing about something and always are having a good time with our family. I have really appreciated getting to know her better through this whole experience.
This week is already halfway over and then we have one more full week of work, then a half a week. Then we are traveling back to Jinotepe. 2 weeks to go. And 20 days until I am back in the states! I am excited, but sad as well, to leave everyone behind here in Nicaragua. Oh the bittersweetness (?) of it all.
Anyway, all is well here. And I will be home before you know it. July 29th! See you soon.
Buenos Noches!
This week we had visit from Maria (our SST leader). It was GREAT to see her again and it made me really excited to get back together with the group. At the same time it made me realize how quick time has gone here and how sad I am going to be to leave this family. I have been VERY fortunate to have two amazingly great families. I don't think I could have had a better SST experience, but we'll save all that reflecting for later : )
Another thing that I have been very thankful for is that I have remained healthy through this whole experience (knock on wood...) But I am thankful for my strong stomach and great health so far.
Living with Lindsey has also been quite the blessing. I think I would be rather lonely without her. We always are laughing about something and always are having a good time with our family. I have really appreciated getting to know her better through this whole experience.
This week is already halfway over and then we have one more full week of work, then a half a week. Then we are traveling back to Jinotepe. 2 weeks to go. And 20 days until I am back in the states! I am excited, but sad as well, to leave everyone behind here in Nicaragua. Oh the bittersweetness (?) of it all.
Anyway, all is well here. And I will be home before you know it. July 29th! See you soon.
Buenos Noches!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Just Another SST Adventure...
Another great week on SST. I have one interesting story to share from this past week.
On Thursday, Lindsey and I were making our 20 minute trek to Los Pipitos for the afternoon sessions that we help out at. On the way, the strangest thing happened to me. We were walking down the sidewalk, like we do every single day. I looked to my right and there was this middle-aged woman leaning up against a truck. Immediately, I could tell something was wrong with her, that she was either drunk, or had some type of disorder. Her clothes were all mismatched and she seemed really dirty. I didn't think much of it and continued to walk on with Lindsey. When about 20 seconds later we heard footsteps getting closer and closer and then we heard a voice. Something in spanish that we couldn't understand (I wish i would've known what she said). Just as we were turning around to see what was going on behind us, a metal rod, probably about 10 inches long and the circumfrence of a dime, hit me square on the back of my head. A METAL ROD! I turned around and said "what the [heck]?". It was the lady that was leaning against the truck. She looked really angry and just as I turned around she turned and walked the other direction. Lindsey just stood there cracking up and asked if I was okay. I was so dumbfounded that I was just hit in the head with a metal rod, I didn't even know what to say. Que Raro! How strange. Lindsey and I kept on walking and laughing because it was such a strange occurance. I didn't sustain any major injuries, just a slight bump on my head today. Plus, a lot of questions about what was wrong with the lady? And why was I the choice target for that metal rod? In the words of Lindsey and I "Ohhhh the adventures of SST...."
So, that was the excitement for me this week. Ha. I was really missing home this week as I remembered it's the fourth of july and it's always family time. Not to mention that wimbledon is on...probably one of my favorite weeks during the summer : ). But the week here was still good. On thursday, at Los Pipitos, the acttivity is sports. And I got to lead stretches. It was really nice because I felt like I was actually contributing something and invovlved. That has been a struggle for me on service so far. But I keep reminding myself that its more about just being here and building relationships than getting a ton of stuff accomplished in 6 weeks. Today, Lindsey and I took our sisters out for lunch because it was the 4th of July so we wanted to have our own celebration. You know, because we are so patriotic and all ha. : ) Afterwards, we headed to Los Pipitos for the afternoon and we got to participate in painting. Um, and if anyone knows the extent of my artistic ability you can imagine what my work looked like. Yeah, interesting.
But overall, a very good week. Tomorrow we are going to a party with our sisters at their university. So that should be a fun time. And next week, the school we work at is on vacation, so that means only working in the afternoons. Rough life, I know! Now we only have a few more weeks here and then it's back to Jinotepe. And then back to the states. Time is just flying.
Buenos Noches!
On Thursday, Lindsey and I were making our 20 minute trek to Los Pipitos for the afternoon sessions that we help out at. On the way, the strangest thing happened to me. We were walking down the sidewalk, like we do every single day. I looked to my right and there was this middle-aged woman leaning up against a truck. Immediately, I could tell something was wrong with her, that she was either drunk, or had some type of disorder. Her clothes were all mismatched and she seemed really dirty. I didn't think much of it and continued to walk on with Lindsey. When about 20 seconds later we heard footsteps getting closer and closer and then we heard a voice. Something in spanish that we couldn't understand (I wish i would've known what she said). Just as we were turning around to see what was going on behind us, a metal rod, probably about 10 inches long and the circumfrence of a dime, hit me square on the back of my head. A METAL ROD! I turned around and said "what the [heck]?". It was the lady that was leaning against the truck. She looked really angry and just as I turned around she turned and walked the other direction. Lindsey just stood there cracking up and asked if I was okay. I was so dumbfounded that I was just hit in the head with a metal rod, I didn't even know what to say. Que Raro! How strange. Lindsey and I kept on walking and laughing because it was such a strange occurance. I didn't sustain any major injuries, just a slight bump on my head today. Plus, a lot of questions about what was wrong with the lady? And why was I the choice target for that metal rod? In the words of Lindsey and I "Ohhhh the adventures of SST...."
So, that was the excitement for me this week. Ha. I was really missing home this week as I remembered it's the fourth of july and it's always family time. Not to mention that wimbledon is on...probably one of my favorite weeks during the summer : ). But the week here was still good. On thursday, at Los Pipitos, the acttivity is sports. And I got to lead stretches. It was really nice because I felt like I was actually contributing something and invovlved. That has been a struggle for me on service so far. But I keep reminding myself that its more about just being here and building relationships than getting a ton of stuff accomplished in 6 weeks. Today, Lindsey and I took our sisters out for lunch because it was the 4th of July so we wanted to have our own celebration. You know, because we are so patriotic and all ha. : ) Afterwards, we headed to Los Pipitos for the afternoon and we got to participate in painting. Um, and if anyone knows the extent of my artistic ability you can imagine what my work looked like. Yeah, interesting.
But overall, a very good week. Tomorrow we are going to a party with our sisters at their university. So that should be a fun time. And next week, the school we work at is on vacation, so that means only working in the afternoons. Rough life, I know! Now we only have a few more weeks here and then it's back to Jinotepe. And then back to the states. Time is just flying.
Buenos Noches!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Things I miss a little bit...
I’ve been keeping a list in my journal. This list contains some things that I do miss from home, but obviously I am surviving just fine without them. So I am going to title this list; Things I Don’t Want To Take For Granted When I Get Home.
(I don’t need these things to survive, but they do make my life more convenient and comfortable and I don’t want to take them for granted. Not having these things for 3 months has really taught me a lot about myself and what I am capable of. I am thankful for that opportunity, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss the convenience of it all.)
Things to not take for granted...
1.)Carpet=walking around in the house without shoes.
2.)Couches. They just don’t have them here.
3.)Hot showers.
4.)Soft pillows
5.)My cell phone. Everyone has one here, but me. Ha.
6.)Hairdryer.
7.)My car
8.)Soft water…that’s for you dad. : )
9.)Water from the tap. No more fear of parasites.
10.)A variety of clothing
11.)Subway…it’s just really good.
12.)Smiling at strangers, not being stared at.
13.)Hugs from family
14.)Church community
15.)Starbucks…iced lattes.
16.)Flushing normally
17.)Washing machine.
18.)English.
19.)Milk and Cereal for breakfast. Gallo Pinto is great, but man, I do crave Lucky charms!
20.)Jocelyn. I think I was just thinking about her one night and added her to my list. I miss her! And all my friends.
21.)Regular cheese.
22.)Hooded sweatshirts. This one has especially come up the last few days since it has been FREEZING here in Jinotega.
23.)Febreeze…Weird, I know.
24.)Volleyball.
25.)Quiet sleeping conditions.
26.)Smooth legs. Shaving is hard to do when you are trying to take a quick shower!
27.)Being able to joke. Taking jokes in Spanish is hard because it’s hard to read if what is being said is really a joke. And then to joke back is equally hard because you don’t want to be misunderstood or offensive.
28.) Kyle.
(I don’t need these things to survive, but they do make my life more convenient and comfortable and I don’t want to take them for granted. Not having these things for 3 months has really taught me a lot about myself and what I am capable of. I am thankful for that opportunity, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss the convenience of it all.)
Things to not take for granted...
1.)Carpet=walking around in the house without shoes.
2.)Couches. They just don’t have them here.
3.)Hot showers.
4.)Soft pillows
5.)My cell phone. Everyone has one here, but me. Ha.
6.)Hairdryer.
7.)My car
8.)Soft water…that’s for you dad. : )
9.)Water from the tap. No more fear of parasites.
10.)A variety of clothing
11.)Subway…it’s just really good.
12.)Smiling at strangers, not being stared at.
13.)Hugs from family
14.)Church community
15.)Starbucks…iced lattes.
16.)Flushing normally
17.)Washing machine.
18.)English.
19.)Milk and Cereal for breakfast. Gallo Pinto is great, but man, I do crave Lucky charms!
20.)Jocelyn. I think I was just thinking about her one night and added her to my list. I miss her! And all my friends.
21.)Regular cheese.
22.)Hooded sweatshirts. This one has especially come up the last few days since it has been FREEZING here in Jinotega.
23.)Febreeze…Weird, I know.
24.)Volleyball.
25.)Quiet sleeping conditions.
26.)Smooth legs. Shaving is hard to do when you are trying to take a quick shower!
27.)Being able to joke. Taking jokes in Spanish is hard because it’s hard to read if what is being said is really a joke. And then to joke back is equally hard because you don’t want to be misunderstood or offensive.
28.) Kyle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)