my journey contines

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

the date is set, the ticket is paid and I will be arriving back in Toronto April 10th. i’m coming home!

thanks for reading,
Shannon

hope everybody’s doing well. many of you i haven’t spoken to in quite a while now. drop me a quick e-mail and give me an update! seriously (i’m not just saying that).

i am going to be travelling up north for 2 days with the gender & marketing specialists. i’ll be observing and interviewing participants in some training sessions related to cotton and diversifying crops. i’ll also be taking lots of pics so be eagerly awaiting that

anyways, thanks for reading!
shannon

the language barrier is still difficult, but it was great to be able to go, see a different part of Nicaragua, and meet some of the producers in the project. i’m currently translating the interviews and writing customer stories.

here is a video of the “drive” from the “field”. hehe a little bumpy.

I was going to add pictures but it won’t let me do that right now, so check out my flickr for up-to-date photos.

today we woke up early and Marshall, Noel and I went to a hotel to pick up the car that we rented for the day. we headed first to Masaya, but after all the confusing one way streets decided to continue to Mombacho. (volcano) there was no transportation going up when we got there, and we would’ve had to wait for a while. so the men working offered to take us up in their truck. there are moments where the trail is almost vertical - what a ride!!

when we got to the top unfortunately there were too many clouds to see anything. hence, we named it officially the end of the world. (see below)

Then after hanging out for a bit, we left and headed to Granada. Don’t quote me, but I heard it was one of the oldest cities in Central America? They have beautiful colonial buildings and it’s just a great place to visit. we got some dinner, were joined by one of the most lively little girls I’ve ever met (it was quite entertaining) and then headed back for the night.

Noel has to leave at 3:30am tonight because he has a long bus ride back to Honduras. (Noel — thanks for coming to visit!!)

It was a good day, although we didn’t get to do everything we’d hoped. It was fun though!

Thanks for reading,
Shannon

P.S. I ate muslitos de pollo - which as you can see on the menu below is “chicken things” lol… just thought it was funny so captured a pic to share.