my journey contines

i had a wonderful time with my family today - boy, am i ever glad i got to come home. originally i thought that i’d be unable to come home for Christmas. and although i’m sure i’ll have those coming up in the future, i was glad it wasn’t this one.

grandma and grandpa came over and we took our time (lots of time) to just relax, have breakfast, open some gifts, took a break to put the turkey and start the dinner, opened a few more gifts, had dinner, visited, etc. i love my family so much and i’ve missed them incredibly while i’ve been gone.

here are just a few pics to share…

today i slept until 12:30pm… can’t remember the last time i did that. it was fabulous - i’ve been so tired. and i think after the last year, which really looking back on was incredibly busy and intense, i’m just tired, so so tired. but it’s been good.

i did some errands with my dad and went to my grandpa’s. mom, dad, grandpa and i visited for a while, which was nice. and then we picked up grandma and went out for a nice dinner at a restaurant nearby — DELICIOUS. but i must say i’m sure my stomach has shrunken because i was full so fast.

it’s so nice to be back with my family. i love Christmas.

thanks for reading
Shannon

P.S. safe travels to all of you that are travelling during the holiday season!

… and i’m about 1/2 way home. Or something like that….

this morning a friend Brenda took me to the airport in Managua. i got there, checked in without problems, and went to check my e-mail (for free in the Managua airport) while waiting to kill the time. i was a little concerned when i went through security and they stopped me to look through every item in my purse and backpack… they asked if my external harddrive opened. i tried to explain that it was broken (in my broken spanish - because the external casing is cracked) and then motioned that i had dropped it. i think i got my point by. hahaha… anyways, when he walked away and just left me there, i waited. until he looked at me and told me “Go!”. excellent communicator.

the flight was scheduled to leave at 1pm… we took off at 2:45pm. i had booked a window seat and surprisingly had nobody next to me!! so i was able to stretch out on the 3 seats, it was great…

now i’m in Atlanta, waiting for my final connecting flight to Toronto. it’s been delayed twice and now they’re saying we won’t leave until 10:15pm. but alas, i’m almost home so it’s all good.

i’m looking forward to being home.

thanks for reading,
shannon

… i want to go home …

another friend celebrates a birthday today…

In our pre-departure training we learned how everybody deals with living abroad in different ways. Some of us arrive on a high and crash after three months…. some of us arrive scared, and by 3 months in we’re loving it. Some are somewhat mellow all throughout…

I’ve heard about the “3 month mark” several times… and I believe I experienced it this weekend. For some reason, despite all of the things that I love (and I really do love it here!), I just felt really sad. I missed many of the little things from home, my family, and things I used to take for granted (re: being able to walk by myself at night, being able to communicate perfectly with almost anybody i run into, and being able to drink the water without thinking twice…)

So it really hit me. There were a lot of things that bugged me and I just didn’t want to be here. It was not a good day. I called my family — thankfully they let me just talk it out. I couldn’t really explain it… I just was venting I guess.

But I love it here, so it was just a day. And now it passed… once again, I love it here. I’m not sad. In fact, if anything I’m kind of sad to be leaving… I’d like to be staying here for Christmas. But I’m so happy I’m going to be able to spend it with my family.

Quite a difference between the street here and the street at home. Take a look!

it’s that time again… another birthday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH! I would have put a pic up but I don’t have any on my computer right now (new one). I don’t know if you’re still in Philippines or if you’ve gone home now, but I hope and pray that you have an awesome year full of new opportunities and joys! Can’t wait to hear the EP!

hehehe… okay so it’s a little premature but it made me laugh….

check it out.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1326879218

so maybe i should google it first… but i was just wondering if anybody has any tricks for making your ears pop? my one ear hasn’t popped since the first flight to Corn Island… and it would be nice if it did. do i just have to wait it out? any suggestions….?

thanks

after an early taxi ride and catching an early flight (6:30am), we were finally on our way to Corn Island.

the airport at Big Corn Island is really small… maybe it could sit 25 people inside the waiting area. we (Kyra, Wendy and I) met Megan (she flew with another airline) who was waiting with Marlin (taxi driver). as soon as we got in the car there was Carribean-style music playing (I don’t know the proper genre or term), the sun was shining, it was humid and so green everywhere! in about 5 minutes drive, we were at the dock to take the boat across to Little Corn Island.

the boat ride across was fun and the skies were clear! we landed on Little Corn Island and were met by a bunch of locals that greeted us with awesome Carribean accents — “Welcome To Da Island” — yay! on the island people speak English and/or Creole English (sp?). it took us only about 15 minutes to walk to the other side of the island where we quickly set up our cabin and headed to explore the island. it was gorgeous!!

our dinner that night was beef, garlic mashed potatoes, honey glazed carrots and apple pie. we relaxed for the night — so nice to just unwind and be on an island!!

Saturday was filled with more relaxation, some rain (which comes on suddenly… everybody runs to shut the windows and door or else everything inside your cabin will be drenched), and more delicious food. chilled on the beach for a while, met up with 2 of the girls that went scuba diving. i took some pictures just to show and give an idea of what it was like

we headed home on Sunday afternoon after a weekend of relaxation. the boat ride back wasn’t nearly as calm as it was when we arrived - the waves were up high beside the boat as the swells were pretty big… that was interesting. the flight home was thankfully uneventful….

and now back into the swing of work things again… until next weekend when I’m headed to San Juan Del Sur (beach) for the day on Sunday. and then… I’m going home to spend Christmas with my family!

thanks again for reading.
Shannon