my journey contines

is it even possible for another computer to fry on me. there was one day, once upon a time, where i believed i was good with computer. however, with time they must be making them better but to break faster because another computer crashed on me!!! i was using it and the screen just went black. not to mention that the screws always fall out of it… grrr. I HATE COMPUTERS.

also the job search continues. that´s not new, but continuing. and cool. wide open world of possibilities!

anyways i´m still reachable!! just on the cell. my email will be hard to access unless my computer magically gets fixed. here´s hoping.

miss u. thanks for reading, as always.
shannon

i don’t think it will hit me until i’m home, and even then maybe not until after a little while. i was sitting in a taxi yestereday driving around just trying to absorb as much as possible of my surroundings. and while i know this is not everybody’s passion, i wish that my family and close friends could be here even for a short time to share in this experience.

there are little children, i’d say from the age of 4 in the middle of the street rolling on the grass that divides to two lanes, fighting, that run up and start trying to clean your windshield when you drive by. they’ve got the puppy dog eyes perfected as they ask you for “un peso” and hold out their hand.  this is always sad. why are they out so late at night? why aren’t they in school? there are some questions for a good research project and there’s possibility for change there for sure. but one of the things that gets me even more is when there are mentally/physically handicapped people that are in the middle of the roads begging for money. it just seems so wrong and it’s one of those things that at least for now, i remain helpless to.

the majority of my time here has been spent in the sun as really the rainy season only lasted till about November and maybe early December… it’s starting to get very hot again but the sun is always out! it’s beautiful. i so am not looking forward to the snow.

yesterday i was walking and talking to some people in various organizations about possible work opportunities in the future… at one point i found myself not lost, but confused about where my destination was. (i knew the area more or less)… i stopped and asked for directions from 4 people, each of which gave me a different answer, but they were so helpful!!  finally i stopped at a little food stand, like a mini outdoor convenience stand… they were so friendly and initially amused at me rusty spanish (although i was amazed as i continually feel more confident and able to better communicate!!) anyways, before i left, i decided to get a hotdog and bottle of water and sat down to talk. it ended up that they invited me to their house and to go with them to the beach this weekend… hahaha. i love it!

the holiday weekend here is called Semana Santa and it really started tomorrow. businesses close and pretty much everybody heads to the beach. i will also be heading to the beach with a few friends, to San Juan del Sur (I haven’t been there yet.)… take pics, I sure will. you know me.

i’m also debating what will make the transition easier. do i need to set up my suitcase and start packing? just so that i can look at it each day and have the realization start to sink in? eek i don’t know… any ideas?

thanks for reading,
Shannon

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

today i did some random things.

- cut up some yellow and orange pepper. mmm healthy snack.
- organized my itunes. (OC much?) but now they all have the album covers and album names
- deleted a bunch of contacts on facebook with which i really don’t talk to anymore and they don’t talk to me — so it’s ok. just purging and narrowing my list.
- did my laundry. (not yet by hand, the laundry machine got fixed)
- got some photos printed at PriceSmart and hung them up on my walls, which had until now been bare.

and those were the random things of today.

thanks for reading
shannon

i’ve never sold books on half.com before. but as of today i have. it’s great. try it. you can make money for the books that you don’t want. I made $38.00 on mine!

thanks for reading.