The Queen of The Broken Scoop

When I was arrived in Managua and was told I was going to be in Quebrada Honda I was told I would also be the Queen of Quebrada Honda. How true that was. It also turns out that in Spanish Quebrada Honda means Broken Scoop. For those of you who do not know, I am leaving Nicaragua. The doctors here cannot cure me from whatever I have and I pray that my doctor at home can. Therefore, this will be my last blog, just incase someone is still checking.

I have been nothing but overwhelmed the last nine weeks, emotionally and physically. I have seen extreme poverty and in the midst of it all generous people who would literally give you the shirt off their back or the rosary on their wrist. I have learned so many things about the world and myself. I believe even more will become evident as I return to the land of excess and opportunity. If there was one thing I could ask for more of…it’s time. Where does the time go? When I got here I wanted more time with my family and now that I am leaving I want more time in my town and with the children. They were just starting to give me hugs and hang on me all day long. They took an interest in me, probably because I always had a camera around my neck, I think they liked me and now I have left them. How do we all take time for granted? In Quebrada Honda there was nothing but time for me to just throw myself in. My first couple of weeks there I was just testing the water with my feet and never was able to fully immerse myself. Why? I was too scared to let go of home. Now that I am returning home, what I would give for more time in my broken scoop. Since the Queen’s butt is broken she will be returning tonight at 11:25pm to Denver International Airport.

I hope you all have enjoyed reading this and I am sorry it has come to an end. Thank you for all of your love, support and prayers. I love you all and can’t wait to see you and share more of my experience with you !!

When it rains, it pours....

Greetings! Bienvenido! Today has been the second day of rain. I think it is funny how people react the same all over the world when there is bad weather. Everyone has been really tired here and not wanting to work because it has been cloudy and crappy. I am usually that way too but today I was excited to see it. Why? Because it felt like home. I got up and put on my jeans and an undershirt and a sweater, grabbed my north face fleece and went out to face the world!! HA! All I had to do was walk across the street in the mud! There are a lot of other people who make a three mile trek one way just to get to school! I will be honest…I just would not go. =D The cold is also very relevant, I think it was 40 degrees or something like that and I had the same coat on that I did when I left Colorado and it was 3 degrees! Funny right? Using the restroom last night in the rain was not my idea of fun either! So far my roof does not seem to be leaking. It is not the rainy season yet though. I finished my anti-biotics today! Yea! One more thing behind me!! Unfortunately, my dear friend Henry has had to go into Managua because his sister has become very ill. He is not coming back until next Monday! UGH! Please keep her in your prayers!! He is my best friend around these parts and not having him here is going to be just another obstacle!

Today was kinda a funny day too. My friend Oliver, from the peace, corp came into town. He teaches a business class on Tuesday’s to the high school group. He is from Chicago and speaks English…obviously! We get along pretty well and I think I am going to be able to out with him and some of his friends this weekend in Somoto! Which is excellent!! Gives me something to do!! I plan on drinking a lot of water and getting a lot of rest, wink, wink. Anyways… When he comes into town we end up talking quite a bit because well we speak the same language. Which means we eat lunch together when he is here and he helps me with things that I can’t translate yet and so on. Anyways, Ena, the woman who taught me how to make tortillas told him that he should marry me so I would stop being so sad. Oddly enough I understood her and I am sure I just turned red, I think Oliver did too. Then she told me that my thighs were fat. My friend Trino told me that my face was fat the other day. That is just kinda how things go here. They tell you the truth or some part of the truth. I really wanted to reply and be like…yeah…well I might be fat but one day I will be skinny and you will still be ugly. But number one I don’t know how to say that in Spanish and number two she isn’t ugly. I just laughed. Oliver was like nothing to worry about in Nicaragua it means that you are healthy and he clarified that with her and she just shook her head no and laughed. Then she went on to say that I don’t eat much because I don’t want to get fat. They are all like a family that says too much about you. Don Bayardo told Oliver that I didn’t like the food. I like the food!! If I didn’t I wouldn’t eat it!! I had an infection in my intestines because of it!! They are lucky I am still eating it at all!! I can’t really afford to feed myself three meals a day and well I don’t want to cook that much either so I eat and it is good. I do always say no to the salad though. We had some kind of vegetable mush today it was really great. We had chicken and vegetables yesterday. Usually have rice and beans for breakfast and dinner. I have other things to make for dinner like macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly, and top ramen and I just purchased some canned tuna so I can start making tuna salad. What I would give for a Cheeseburger!! I did buy bread, milk, jelly, tuna, mayonnaise, mustard and a cold chocolate milk at the store today for less then ten dollars!! Amazing right?

We ended up taking Oliver back into Somoto this afternoon and we talked a lot about being in Nicaragua and different things we struggle with here. A funny subject did come up though. There are a lot of animals running around here. Hens, rooster, dogs, cats, donkeys, cattle and horses. Anyways, because of, well I am not really sure what, you see animals having sex at least twice a week. All you can do is watch too. It makes you feel incredibly uncomfortable; especially with the roosters they just have their way with the hens and leave them. Before you know it, it is over and you are like what just happened? Well I leave you with that!

I was finished there until another greatly funny story just happened. I was going out to use the out house and the door was open and I was thinking to myself that I have been lucky so far that I have not walked by any of the guys peeing or anything. I share my outhouse and shower with four men. And they don’t use the outhouse to pee. I wouldn’t either but I can’t imagine what would bit my butt. Anyways, the door was open so I was like no one is in there…then I thought it’s too bad there isn’t a light to say busy or something. Yeah…I know I am lame I just don’t have anything else to do with my thoughts!! So I went to go in and there Freddy was just taking a dump…ay!!! I just busted out laughing and couldn’t move from that spot. He laughed too and Don Bayardo came out of his house to see what was going on! Oh life just keeps getting better around here!! Me Voy! I have to use the restroom…

Here are some pictures I have been meaning to post but our internet has been a little too slow for them


This is a picture of me and one of my students


These are some of the boys are the school


This is my center

So lonely...

What an amazing day…well afternoon I had today. I had been feeling lonely and sorry for myself on Saturday and so I decided to watch Under the Tuscan Sun, which kept me up until 11. I was really hoping that I would be able to sleep in then…so then I wouldn’t have to get up and find something to do. Well it turns out I was wide awake at seven thirty. Ugh, I had plans to go and make tortilla’s a new friends house, but I wasn’t suppose to be there until ten. Yeah…that’s a lot of time to waste. I thought about going out with my camera but I have been almost tackled by all of the kids when I go out! I wish they would just pretend like I wasn’t there and let me shoot. I mean it happens even when I don’t have my camera. I hear a child always yelling “Gringa” or “Hello” or “How are you my friend?”…so I am hardly invisible!! I ended up going and making tortillas and it only took us until ten thirty!! Then Ena and I went and looked at my neighbor Freddy’s new house. Ena is married to Melvin one of the guys who works at the school. If any of you know my friend Gabe just compare him to Melvin! Melvin cracks me up and he would do anything for you!! He’s so funny though. His wife also works in the kitchen at school and goes to school on Saturday’s with the other scholarship kids. She gave me two eggs that her chickens had laid (just had them for dinner…best eggs I have ever had!) and told me to come back whenever I get lonely. So afterwards I came up to my house and I am pretty sure I cried for about three hours straight. I have started reading this book about Zen and living in the now and not day dreaming about the future. I day dream a lot here…like about when I get to go home that oh the pictures I will have…but then it talks about how much you are missing! Well of course!! I just broke down and cried! Not to worry things got better!! Then it was time for mass. Well…I haven’t really liked Mass here…at all. I have hated going every weekend and started just standing in the back because I was tired of feeling like everyone is starring at me. Today we got there early because the boys from our center played the music. I was actually able to get a seat and two members of Trino’s family came over and sat next to me. Trino’s daughter and his sister to be exact, well his daughter had this great hand made rosary on her wrist and I told her that I liked it and she gave it to me!! I was like what? Why? I was floored!! Mass was actually very beautiful too. I am not sure what changed my mind…maybe because I wasn’t day dreaming about home? Then his sister invited me over after mass because the day before I said I liked her dress…well guess what? She gave it to me along with another one!! I have not seen kindness like that since I have been here. I think in America we can’t just show up at someone else’s house and be like I’m going to hang out…but here…it seems like that is what you have to do. There is a little old woman who always asks me when I am going to come back. I really like her and I can understand her pretty well.

Oh! On the truck ride back from church I ended up in the back…standing up…yeah that might be a line crosser…I haven’t decided yet. Anyways me and my monkey arms reached the OH SHIT bar at the top of the truck so I had something to hold on to. Well one of my students, she is a neighbor too, was standing in the back of the truck and she looked pretty uneasy about it…I gave her my hand during the first part but that wasn’t enough she ended up standing up next to me and put her arms around my waist to hold on. She is only 13 or 14 I am not sure and I think it was funny that she trusted me in the back of the truck, I don’t ride in the back of trucks! I don’t know what I am doing!

Not much else going on…I ended up going to the doctor last week because I was tired of having my chronic case of the runs, turned out I had an infection in my intestines. They gave me three shots in my ass and some antibiotics and sent me on my way. I feel a thousand times better!! I think everyone around here gets shots in their butts. There is some virus/cold/infection going on and I am not the only one who has had a shot in my butt this week. =D Hopefully not much of that will go on again this week…and hopefully never again for me!!