my journey contines

i hope at least a few of you broke out into song when you read that title. i am singing as i write…

anyways this week has been kind of stressful as i mentioned i’m working on the semi annual report. i really do enjoy writing reports but it’s proving to take me much longer than normal to write because i need to get information from people (their reports are in Spanish of course), or I have to “interview” people and get more information (also in Spanish)… but I haven’t gone to Spanish classes in 3 weeks now, and although my Spanish is still improving bit by bit… it’s no where near fluent. so it’s frustrating when i don’t understand.

but it’s due Thursday now instead of Friday so there’s a little more pressure to get ‘er done.

it will be so nice to be done school and be able to just focus on work and Spanish.

thanks for reading!
Shannon

We went to a baseball game on Sunday past, VIP. In the stadium there’s a section that’s marked off with a fence that you have to show your ticket, get a bracelet, etc. to enter…

time has definitely come to get that nasty pic of the cockroach away from the top of my blog. last week was busy and i didn’t have much time to blog. i had 3 assignments for school as well as an online discussion for which my assignment was to read and discuss a few chapters in a book that i was told NOT to buy — frustrating. anyways, that week is over and a new week is here.

i woke up at 5:30am (for any of you who know me well, you know pigs must have flown today.) and headed to the gym. i walked there (10 mins), joined ($35), did some cardio (20 mins), and then went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face. there’s no way i could work out in the afternoon because it’s wayyyy too hot. anyways it was a nice way to start my day… went home, showered, made breakfast and here i am at work.

this week i’m working on finishing the semi annual report, at least to have a draft version, for Friday. there’s some number crunching, a lot of translating, and then the writing of the report. im best with the writing portion… jaja.

also, there’s been a breakout of leptospirosis in Nicaragua, especially in some rural areas. this is a disease, which you can read about at your leisure, that is transmitted when humans come into contact with water that has been urinated in by rats or animals by either taking it in water or if coming into contact with it when you have a cut or open sore. anyways it’s killing a lot of people and affecting obviously many families. at the same time, CIDA is coming to check on our progress and they are concerned (obviously) about going into those areas.

anyways i have a lot of work to do this week in church — school and working on this semi annual report — so please pray for me.

also, i wanted to let you know that i found a church i went to on Sunday - Covenant. it’s a church plant, the first English speaking church plant, from Covenant Church in the Texas. they don’t have strong ties, but it’s the mother church. anyways this church is for the English speaking or bilingual community — the services are in English. i enjoyed it, there were about 15 people and we met in the Princess Hilton hotel.

also, last night i went for Fritanga! real Nicaraguan food — not my spaghetti and store bought food. it was DELICIOUS!

that’s my update for now. i hope you’re all doing well! it’s been great to talk to many of you (school friends) and hear about your field placements, receive your email updates, etc. i really miss you guys and am so thankful for the internet!!!

thanks for reading
Shannon

p.s. if you haven’t already, click on Chris’ link on the right hand side of my blog to check out the video of his and Rebecca’s encounter with the mouse. lol

I also met Beth in Philly, a fellow cohortian… and she is doing her field placement in Zambia! She’s a very talented pianist and has been a joy to get to know.

I hope you’re having a fabulous birthday!!!

for those of you my faithful blog readers, you may remember the incident with the cockroaches at Palmer. I snapped the infamous pic in March 2007 when going to do laundry and finding the nasty creature dead in my path.

later on in the semester, I had one fall on my from the ceiling. Yes, yes… laugh it up.

so far, knock on wood, we have been quite fortunate with bugs, having only seen one small cockroach in our room, climbing up the wall, near my bed close to my head, to this point. (eww..)
tonight, while i was STILL in my bed (re: sick), i heard a scream come from downstairs. (If it was me I would probably still be freaking out. I have a serious fear of bugs)

Shannon: “Kiki, are you okay?”

Kiki: “I just saw a cockroach. That is the BIGGEST thing i have ever seen in my life.”

Shannon: “Ewwww…”

Kiki: “There it was with its little antennae staring up at me. No no with it’s BIG antennae!! What should I do? I don’t know how to kill this thing.”

Shannon: “Can you still see it?”

Kiki: “Yea.”

Shannon: “Get Santiago to kill it!” (Santiago is our guard.)

After I was sure it was dead and out of the house… I went down and took a pic. You know me and my camera. I was going to try to put a matchbox for size, however its legs were still moving. So Santiago’s foot will have to do for now. It was big!!!

cockroach still kicking and crawling after being stepped on several times.

i’m writing to you from my spot on my bed. my spot - as in the same spot i’ve been most of the weekend. i developed a little bit of a cought on wednesday and it worsened as the days continued. thursday night i started to be really achey and began having fevers. friday i had been planning to take the day off work to write two papers that were due for school, however i was sick all day so i didn’t end up writing anything. at one point i thought i was okay, so i went out for a bit for a change of environment — but it hit me again in the night so back in bed regretting my decision to have left earlier.

anyways i’m fortunate that a friend of mine here, Megan, has a friend that is a doctor. he came over on Saturday to check on me and suggested some medicine to help with the symptoms. after a bad night Saturday night, he yesterday suggested some antibiotics.

i’ve now been in bed for 19 hours straight - sleep is the best medicine! but i’m not feeling all that great so i’m praying that the antibiotics kick in soon and that i’m able to get back on my feet to catch up with work and to write the two papers that are now past due.

there’s nothing better than mom taking care of you, lipton’s chicken noodle soup, and some ginger ale with the bubbles stirred out when you’re sick. i don’t care what anybody says — that’s the key right there. and sleep, of course.

thanks for reading and make sure you get enough sleep so you don’t get sick! hehe
shannon

today i called Jacob on skype. it was great to talk to him! he said when he walks by our room he is sad because i’m not at school anymore. some people that you meet in your life with whom you become great friends… Jacob is definitely one of them! it was good to hear his voice. he is going to buy a calling card to try to see how he can call me easily in Nicaragua.

at the same time i chatted a little bit w/ Janell who is currently IN Liberia, having returned from the bush, in Jacob’s home country.

and I talked to my aunt, got a little update! i miss you!

this weekend i also chatted w/ Rosa, Rebecca, Chris, Faith, Dawn, Jenn, Chantelle - isn’t technology great?

thanks for reading…. again. (2 posts in one day! hehe)
Shannon

there’s something funny when you get REALLY excited about getting change. it’s become my sole PURPOSE around here. hahaha… when i take money from the bank machine, it gives me in 500 Cordobas which are really hard to break, because nobody wants them. Most people don’t even want 100s…. so it takes a long time. Then you get an extra reason to look forward to Friday night outings w/ the expats. Oh i’ll pay and take all of your smaller bills… hahahaha

anyways this weekend was pretty good… and so far *knock on wood* it hasn’t rained today.

i’m finding it kind of hard to do school work, work AND language classes. so i’m going to take a break from language classes this week… i have a large paper due on Saturday and i won’t be able to get it done if i do spanish classes in addition to everything else this week. but i have enough to practice.

remember past tense? what a wonderful world it opens up.

thanks for reading
shannon

seriously, not the Sunday school answer. but have you ever really stopped and thought about that questions? why do you wake up every morning? why do you do what you do? do you enjoy what you’re doing? if not, why are you doing it?

brain fart, philosophical moment, call it what you will… I’ve just been thinking about this a lot lately… i mean we all SAY we have things that drive us, that make us tick, that push us to continue when we feel like we can’t do anymore. why do we do it? are you living up to somebody else’s expectations? or do you really have a sense of where you’re going.

the reason i say this is becaue i genuinely believe that I have a few reasons for doing what I do. first of all, things have worked smoothly, doors have opened, and I believe that God has made it really clear that this (Nicaragua, right now) is where I’m supposed to be. i try to remind myself of just how clear God has made that to me before when I have moments of doubt, frustration, etc.

i’m also doing it because i really really love people. and to this point i haven’t really interacted with people as much as i’d been hoping to. the work i’m involved in is important, it’s contributing to a bigger project and it will benefit real people!! but sometimes i just find it a little harder to be motivated when i’m in the office, and not with the people that are benefitting.

i saw a sign for a bilingual church yesterday and was really excited to check it out, as it’s pretty close to where i live. however, i then found out that it doesn’t meet until next week. so much for that… but i am really looking forward to it next week, nonetheless…

and to tie, or try to tie, my thoughts back in with my above thoughts… i just really think that if you are fortunate enough to have a choice (re: go to school, work, where to work, what to eat, what to do!!) then you should really make the most of it!! seriously… don’t wake up each day doing things that you don’t want to do. if you have a problem with what you’re doing, ask yourself why. what would you rather be doing? (i’m not speaking in terms of some crazy wishes and no rules lifestyle) but, what would make you feel more fulfilled? why aren’t you doing it.

i do love where i am. i love these people.

thanks for reading
shannon