in a city on a mountain

i really don't know why i went to barcelona, or why i go to school in ann arbor. suburbia life doesn't cut it for me, and i am definitely not metropolitan. no, i'm starting to think that i'm more of a mountain-type. a fire ant, roosters at dawn but i still got my 8 hours of sleep, mot mot, farmer's market type.




today on our field trip to collect bugs and identify them, and to measure tree sizes and forest canopy, my teacher stopped the car on the road to pick up roadkill.

in addition, the weather has been wack here (rain in the dry season, super hot days, super cold days). as i write this, the sky is a scary pink color, and while this picture doesn't capture it, here it is.

por supuesto

being in nicaragua, how to sum it up on this page.

it was beautiful it was terrible it was corrupt it was fun we were gringos we were tourists we were learning it was hot it was polluted it was tranquil it was peaceful it was war torn they were fighting they are fighting they are fighters we were contra

it was squatters and shelters and hostels and host families and stray dogs and little kids and gallo pinto and bucket showers

it was poetry and war stories and volcanoes and would you rather and music and dancing and pinatas and hammocks and futbol

it was stares and broken english and broken spanish and kids begging for money

it was a post revolution country that felt like a pre revolution country, and it was a lot to take in.

it was a place i'll be going back to, that's for sure.

con boca abierta

i worked in a coffee store for over two years, and probably drink a cup or more a day. heck, i even did a report on it and was in the growing hope group at school. and, finally, i visited an organic coffee farm, and saw all of the steps from little red berry on a tree to little expensive cup in your hand.

it was so great.

i was thinking that i wanted to be in the city for april, but after seeing this family and their way of life on this hill, with their garden and chickens and dogs and cows and horses and coffee and tons of land, i have started to rethink things.

like, i mean, check out this plant growing in a microwave!



i thought that after laura won the presidency, all would be quiet. but, because i live across the street from a bar, i still hear the crackling of the bouncer's walkie talkie, i occasionally hear the drunk quarrel, the screeching wheels of an intoxicated driver, and i just witnessed a group of dudes wearing big fluffy white hats (think jerremiguire) singing "day-O" and "feliz cumpleanos". also, two nights ago was this little earthquake which did nothing more than shake my room and light fixture and make all the alarms of every car on my block go off. it was awesome.

global weirding

the classes are great and the people here are great. the food trumps all, and there are puppies at ever turn.


i guess there is a downside, for the first time in my life someone tried to rob me. it took place at 6:45 am, on my corner, on the way to the volcano. i was with 3 other students. it was the scariest thing. he said, in english, to give him my ipod, that he had a knife. a cab happened to pull up, and the other students and i got in and rode away safely, without any confrontation or giving him anything. he probably only learned the smallest amount of english and i don't think anything could have happened, but it was mad scary to almost be burgled before 7am.

aside from that little setback, i guess everything else is great. Poas, the volcano we went to today, was really beautiful. For some reason it was also great weather.




tomorrow is the election for the president and it's been nutso here so far. the streets are filled with cars yielding the flag of their party, and honking. this probably won't stop until a winner is decided- hopefully tomorrow.



my house mom here is wonderful. she cleaned bluberry, which is kind of scary. she calls him "fresa"- strawberry.




this is the table that i sit at for spanish class


i'm going to go to church tomorrow with my family here and then watch the two great sports, football and politics.