my journey contines

wendy wendy wendy….

we had a farewell surprise party for Wendy tonight, thanks again Megan for hosting and setting that all up and all your hard work! Wendy got a new job back at home and so she is leaving us tonight/tomorrow (middle of the night-ish). while we are all very excited for Wendy, we are also sad that she’s leaving.

that’s one thing that’s hard about working abroad as such… people come and people go. but friendship is stronger than distance, and with communications these days it’s much easier. so we know you won’t be with us at Chaman, or Los Idolos, or MetroCentro, or Gallerias, etc. BUT we will keep in touch.

we’ll miss you, Wendy!!

thanks for reading,
shannon

me & wendy

all of us!

some of you will remember this song/poem… it was on the radio in 1999, popular at graduations and such. just wanted to share the lyrics with you. i was listening to it today… hehe

Sunscreen Song
Baz Luhrman

Ladies and gentlemen, if I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proven by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice now:

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, nevermind. You will not understand the power and the beauty of your youth until they’ve faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous your really looked.

You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be wreckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with other people who are wreckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and in the end it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know, still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees - you’ll miss them when they’re gone!

Maybe you’ll marry. Maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children. Maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce. Maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do don’t congratulate yourself too much. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody elses.

Enjoy you’re body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They’re the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, and for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, for as the older you get the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northen California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inallieable truths: prices will rise, politicians will filander, you too will get old and when you do: you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders. Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fun. Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patience with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

today, ladies and gentlemen, i am going to venture to Mercado Oriental (Oriental Market) — the largest market in Central America, spanning at least 30 city blocks. as foreigners, we are advised not to go there… at least, not alone. so I’m going with Claudia, a friend that I met at Viva Spanish school (originally she was my teacher…) Anyways, we are going… so I should be fine.

i will update you later

thanks for reading,
Shannon

i’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. yea, maybe even more than usual, believe it or not… you see, i’ve been thinking about overall how wonderful it’s been to be here in Nicaragua (i know i had a hard time for a while there…). and then i think *gulp* i haven’t been in Toronto for almost a year and a half. my roots will always be there, and that’s where my family is and i can’t WAIT to be with them again. although i also feel like all these new friends i have are now all over the world… and that’s a tad bit lonely. i guess that comes with the territory in this job? but it’s a bit scary.

you see i was also thinking of travelling. my internship is finished April 4th… and i was thinking about the grand idea i’d had to go backpacking through Central America. i was a little afraid that it’ s a now or never thing. when am i going to have the opportunity to come back here? and it’s much easier when i’m young, and single and don’t have a job (minus the $ part…). that’s not to say that i imagine myself getting married anytime soon unless there’s somebody very important that some of you have waiting for me to meet? ahahaha… but. in all seriousness, yea. i bought this awesome backpack!! i wanted to use it… soooooooooo these are some of the ifs, ors and buts in my head at the moment.

and when i DO come home. then what? it’s exciting, right? the world is my oyster. but i don’t like oysters… haha. i like home and my family. and change is good. it’s the one certain thing in this world, next to death and taxes. and sheryl crow always told me that “A Change Would Do You Good”…

*gulp*

the next unknown.

thanks for reading
Shannon

Hi everybody! As you can see, I’ve decided to move my blog over to wordpress.com. Please make note of the new blog address: http://shannonbrisco.wordpress.com

I’m still figuring out how to move over my little map of where my readers are and adjust the info on the side, so bear with me

As always, thanks so much for reading.
Shannon

It’s my other housemates birthday today… so Happy Birthday Marshall!!

so in Nicaragua they do not only celebrate love on Valentine’s Day, they also celebrate friendship. what a wonderful concept, because we all have friends (although we might not all have a special someone *sniff sniff* hahaha) anywhooo with red balloons in the coffee shops and cut-out hearts on the windows of the stores, today is recognized for all types of relationships - platonic and romantic.

asides from the repeated statement that nicaraguan men have hearts so big that they have room enough to love 3 women each… and that the ratio is somewhere like 3:1 for women to men… there are some beautiful people here and i’ve made some wonderful friends. took me a little while to adjust to some of the cultural differences, and i’m probably STILL adjusting. some friends i’ve made just recently, having met in Matagalpa last weekend… or at work today. jajaja… it’s nice to meet new people

another friend i’ve made while being here is Kiki, my housemate. and today just happens to also be her birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kiki. She told me that she has red hair because she was born on Valentine’s Day, and the good news is that if you don’t have a Valentine you can love her for Valentine’s Day

and since my other housemates birthday is tomorrow, we had a little party at our house to celebrate both of them. i will upload pics tomorrow

happy valentine’s day

thanks for reading
shannon

A Prayer for Love

Everyone longs to give himself to someone,

To have a deep soul relationship with another,

To be loved thoroughly and exclusively,

But God to a Christian, says,

“No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled,

and content with being loved by Me alone.

Until giving yourself totally unto Me,

To have a intensely personal and unique

relationship with Me alone,

Discovering that only in Me is your

satisfaction to be found, will you be

capable of the perfect human relationship

that I have planned for you,

you will never be united with Me;

Stop planning,

Stop wishing and allow me to give you the

most thrilling plan existing – one that you

cannot imagine.

I want you to have the best.

Please allow me to give it to you.

You just keep watching me,

Expecting the greatest things.

Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I am.

Keep listening and learning the things I tell you.

You just wait, that’s all.

Don’t be anxious.

Don’t look at the things you want.

You just keep looking off and up to me or

You’ll miss what I want to show you.

And when you are ready,

I’ll surprise you with a love far more

wonderful than you could dream of.

You see, until you are ready

(I am working at this moment to have both

of you ready at the same time),

Until you are both satisfied exclusively with

Me and the life I have prepared for you,

You will not be able to experience the love

that exemplifies your relationship with Me,

and this perfect love.

And dear one,

I want you to have the most wonderful love

I want you to see in the flesh a picture

of your relationship with Me.

And to enjoy materially and concretely the

everlasting union of beauty, perfection, and

love that I offer you with Myself.”

Here are some photos from my time in Matagalpa this weekend. Am I getting good or what? ahahaha… I love taking pictures.

friday finally came Wendy picked us up (Kiki and me) around 1:30 and we headed on our way - destination: matagalpa. after a delayed stop in PriceSmart (similar to Costco) we were off… one more stop at On The Run for lunch and we were off again…

about 45 mins. into the drive Wendy noticed that the engine light had gone on… now Wendy has had problems with said car on and off, although it’s been a blessing to us all! however, we weren’t sure. usually she just uses it driving around Managua… anyways, next thing she noticed the temperature gauge was in the red…. and smoke was coming out of the hood. thankfully there was another car stopped at the side of the road with a young girl (maybe 23) and two young boys and their grandmother, changing their tire. they had the orange triangles we are required to use when stopped on the road here… so we stopped behind them. after checking it out for a min, they walked over and the girl quickly took charge pouring water into where coolant should be. it quickly became apparent that we apparently had none in the car… as the water was spouting out and the car was having serious issues. the girl then flagged down a 4×4 and a bunch of guys jumped out. she asked them if they had rope and promptly tied a 8ft. piece of rope doubled between the two cars. she then proceeded to pull our car - TOW the car, down the high way. see said video.

after stopping once to re-attach the rope, we stopped in a little town (i’ll have to check for the name with Kiki). we were being watched with somewhat strange reactions as three “chellas” jumped out of this car being towed and gathered around it. one guy came over and said he was a mechanic, and after calling somebody in the office to check it out, we found it was okay to leave the car with this mechanic and continue on our way to Matagalpa. how you ask? on a bus. yes, a bus. one of the experiences that until this day i had not experienced. today was the day.

Bus photo - Copyright 2008. Kiki Tegelberg (click to see more photography)
This bus is unusually uncrowded, but gives you an idea…. It is not the bus we took up north.

This is a photo I snapped while driving back from Chinandega… it gives a better idea of just how crowded these buses are. Craziness…

And this is Wendy gracefully posing for a photo in the bus on our way to Matagalpa. Notice all of the passengers also either staring at me or posing for the photo. haha…

very nice and asked about where I was from, what I was doing, etc. She was on the bus with her three children heading back to where they live in Matagalpa… she told me about a non-profit organization she had started that reached out to care for those in need: orphans, street kids, young mothers, etc. and we talked about a friend she had in Canada, etc. later she asked if we would like to get off at their stop, in about 10 mins., andAbout 15 mins. into the ride, the lady in front of me (I was standing the whole time) started talking. She was catch a ride to Matagalpa with their friend. SURE! Sure enough 10 mins later we jumped off the bus which barely stops at the stops (sometimes people jump off when it’s still kinda rolling) and walked to the truck. we got into the back of the pick up truck, after assuring the woman that it was okay and would further enrich our adventure! haha… it was so dark you could see all the stars. it was beautiful!!!

Kiki shares a little about it here…

Part II — A little hard/impossible to see but the rest of the audio haha.

in matagalpa we went for dinner at a local cafe and then heard some local talent play in another restaurant. it was really fun!!

but what an adventure. and really not anything i would do back in Toronto… haha

thanks for reading,
Shannon