Home Sweet Home

Oh my goodness i am so sorry i haven`t written in a while! these last few weeks have been NUTS!

I finally finished my two projects that i needed to complete while here in Jinotega! last week i pulled my hair out and whipped them out all at once! I didn`t want to be stressed this last week!

But let`s see....school and Los Pipitos has been the same old same old! I`ve done a lot of random things since the last time i wrote...so sorry i can`t really recall what i`ve done.

I`ve been hanging out with these 2 girls from New York who are doing service here with the family that teaches my host sisters english...wow that was confusing. Yeah but it`s been fun getting to know them and have some English in my life! haha... we`ve played a lot of games...gotten our nails done...and learned some NIcaraguan folklore.....good times.

The deaf community here has also been crazy. The school and daycare that cares for the deaf students brought down their coordinator from Oklahoma where an organization funds and helps run this certain house. Her name is Karen and she is the most interesting and wild person ever! I just love her. She is originally from Sweden but has been in Oklahoma for 5 years and is fluent in spanish and now knows sign language after 2 weeks! I`ve only seen her a couple times but she can sure talk your ear off but i love it! I also have learned so muchg more about the deaf community and their home from her which has been awesome! i can explain it better later! But a big group of about 20 other people came down to paint, do construction, and perform tests and medical assistants for the kids which is really awesome! so many white people here...it`s weird...which is weird that it`s weird....haha

let`s see...My family and i have been exchanging gifts and my money is flying out the window...so if you feel like making a donation to the ashley fund...i will be eternly grateful...haha

I`ve also loved how close i have gotten with the people and my family since being here...I laugh so much and it makes me sad to think i am leaving them all so soon! But it makes me realize how bad i want to come back...and SOON please!

But don`t worry...i am a little more happy than sad because i get to come home so soon! These 3 months flew by didn`t they? I can hardly believe it!

but the rest of the week looks like this....

Today is club day at los pipitos in the afternoon and i`m pretty sure they are throwing us a going away party...actually i am positive they are...so bring on the pinata!

then later tonight i am going to english class with my sisters for the last time :( pretty sad...but i`ll takes lots of pictures to remember my new friends

then tomorrow is a normal day of class in the morning and sports in the afternoon. then i am getting my nails done....haha

then friday is the last day! eek...i have class in the morning then i am going by the deaf house for the last time to see all the progress that happened this week and to say good bye...how sad

then i am making some delicious tacos at my house for my going away party with my family. Funny how i am making my own food for my own party...haha...but they know i like to cook so it`s fine by me! then somehow i have to pack all my stuff...nearly impossible....then the next morning jesse and i leave bright and early at 6 for our first homes! we`ll meet up with the rest of our group, stop by my family`s house and then we all head to Laguna de apoyo for a little weekend getaway before we travel home!

There we will hang out...present our final projects and get all antsy because 2 days later we will be on a plane back home! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH....can you tell that i am excited! Tuesday morning i leave nicaragua at about 6:45....get into miami at i don`t know when...wait for 2 hours then fly to chicago...then wait another 2 hours for the arrival of peru (if their flight is on time ofcourse....let`s hope so....then drive the 3 hours back to goshen where everyone awaits our arrival...i am nervous just writing about it now!

but as excited as i may seem...i am indeed sad to leave this place that has become a second home to me. The people have been absolutely awesome and i couldn`t have asked for a better experience! i can`t wait to show you all my pictures and reflect on all the things i did! but wish me safe travels and pray as well....

I will see you all so soon and thank you so much for all the support! It helped me so much!

Well...i guess this is it! wow.....

Love you all
Ashley

A little Note

Just thought i would send out a little note to you all to let you now i am still trecking on!

This week hasn`t been very eventful so it will be a short one!

There are no classes in the morning this week because it is their vacation time! so that means a lot of sleeping in for me and it`s a lot harder to motivate myself to workout in the morning!

Delena and Gwen visited us on tuesday and it was really great to see them. We sat down and talked to the leaders at Los Pipitos and they got a feel for what we do everyday. Gwen was snapping pictures the whole time so look out for those on the Goshen blog. Then we went out for a nice lunch and chatted it up! Then they visited Jesse and I`s families..that was a really fun time. My down syndrome brother JOse did a little show for them and they were laughing so hard. He also taught a little class lesson and yelled at Delena for getting up to leave. It was a fun time.
THen they headed to another city to visit more students! fun day

Yesterday was also a little party for some Germans who are leaving at Los Pipitos. There was a lot of food and dancing and a Pinata! they made jesse and i do it! it`s also a tradition here to dance more than you swing at the thing...so i was a little embarassed! probably the first time i was ever embarassed to dance in front of people. haha! but it was interesting to talk to the germans because our only common way of communicating was through spanish. they would be blabbing in german and jesse and i would be blabbing in english, then we would turn to each other and talk in spanish. Neither one of our native languages! Weird!

And this morning was one of my favorite mornings so far. I woke up at 9 after going to bed at 9 the night before, and cooked for like 3 hours with my mom! Let`s just say i have some great receipes to take back and jordan is going to be one happy man :) Granted everything was fried thuroughly in oil but WHO CARES! it was delicious if i do say so myself. Some tacos, these corn balls in a sweet syrup and salad! MMMMM!!!!

But the rest of the week will go about the same...more sleeping and reading. Oh yeah! i read an entire book this week! that felt good. and i need to get cracking on my projects and wash my clothes....which is a workout in itself! We are blessed to have washing machines in the states!

I might be taking a trip with my fam on sunday but don`t ask me where! they are confusing sometimes and joke a lot so i`m not sure what`s going on!

But i love and miss you all so much! can`t wait to see you all which will be in about 2 and a half weeks! unbelievable!

Adios amigos and que le vaya bien en todos de sus viajes!

lOVE ASH!

Oh hey!

Sorry all for not writing in a long time! It has been hard since i don`t have any trip or exciting things to write about. I do the same things everyday!

Want to hear what I do? of course you do!

Well i head to class at the special school....stand around until i am told what to do. Then I help with the deaf classes or with the little terrors (i like to call them). There is dance class a lot so that is kind of fun. Then I head out to lunch at my house, maybe take a nap. Hang out with my fam in the store we run out of house....eat a lot of bread. oh do i eat bread. My mom makes it fresh to sell and I am always getting what i want. It`s probably not good for my health and my host dad says i am going to get fat. It`s funny. But who cares! only 4 more weeks! then i sadly will have no delicious breads....except for the homemade bread Jordan`s mom makes...that is delicious! (thanks barb and john).

Then I go to Los pipitos at 2...sit around a lot and then do crafts, or dance, or any random thing. Jesse and I are working on a brochure for them now so that helps to fill in the days when there is nothing for us to do. Then I head home and either work on homework, watch soap operas, hang out in the store, play dutch blitz with Sonia and Karen, or go to Englsih class. English class has been fun lately because there are 2 girls from the states doing service with the family that teaches the class. It`s nice to get to know them and talk in english ofcourse. I`ve also been getting some special treatment with pedicures and manicures from a friend of sonia and karen. I love it!

This week was also a celebration for kids and we had a big parade in the streets! it was fun and there were TONS of kids but it was probably the hottest day since i`ve been here and i was wearing jeans and the sun scolded my skin! oh well. I got some frescas and shade after we walked the streets for 2 hours! but those canons...i will never get used to them

Let`s see....the rest of the week and next week there is no class in the mornings! it`s there vacation which is perfect timing for jesse and I but will probably make for a long week with not much to do. oh well....i can work out, work on my project, and just relax!

Also, Gwen and Delena are visiting next week so it will be good to see them again! And this saturday jesse and I are headed to Matagalpa to meet up with five other Goshen students! It will be SO GREAT to see them again! So i`ll let you know how that went later!

um...not a whole lot more...and i don`t think i will have a lot more stories from service...just little things. and yes alli and lindsey...I have gotten the preaching from Jose about every 5 minutes! And he doesn`t like to go to Los pipitos anymore! i don`t blame him...they do nothing!

As far as everyone else...Jamie- i`m glad you are having fun! can`t wait to hear about your summer!

My kulp south lovelys and more- I miss you all and can`t wait to dance it up in the Apt!

Mom and dad...hold down the fort for me and send whit my loving this weekend!

John and barb- good luck on your bike trip and can`t wait to hear about it! but be safe!

Jordan- rock out hard this week and become famous! I`m sure some huge label will want you guys in a flash :) and can`t wait to talk to you monday!

and Happy fourth of july this saturday!

love you all!

Ash

well hola!

Welp`welp welp...guess what! as of today...I have 4 weeks left here in Jinotega and 4 and a half weeks left in Nicaragua total! Where has all the time gone! I believe that the next 4 weeks will fly by with all the projects and journals I still have to do for Gwen and Lisa...Boo. It does keep me from getting bored!

Well let´s see....it´s kind of hard to write journals lately because of all th random things that go on each day....but this week at the special needs school we have celebrated Father´s day and teacher´s day! both holidays call for fiestas, dancing, and cake at school and I`m pretty certain there is no school monday and tuesday, but sometimes it`s hard to tell! spanish is still hard....and spanish sign language is even harder.

But this week I have done random things like make cards for the teachers and my favorite time this week was when I helped with the young kids at the school....i was practically pulling monkeys and insects off the wall as they screamed and kicked. That was an adventure. um....I had a very good conversation with 2 of the deaf professors about life here in Nicaragua and in the states. It was a very good conversation and i can`t really sum it up here. Ask me about it!

um what else...oh last night jesse, my sisters, 4 deaf professors from the school, and I went out dancing. It was a really fun time. I got a lot of practice in with Salsa and Marengue....and the deaf men can dance! it`s outstanding how much better they were than all the other people who could actually hear the music. It`s interesting to think about how much you can feel loud bass bumps and such without actually being able to hear. Mind boggling i know!

But tomorrow I am cooking for the fam and doing some more laundry! that stuff is hard to do by hand! and i will write a better blog soon i promise! but just letting you know i am doing great and loving it here....but also love thinking about coming home! Don`t miss me too much!

also...RIP Michael Jackson....

Love you all and HAPPY FATHER`S DAY

Ash

Service Part 1!

Whoa sorry it has taken so long for me to write you all! I have internet in my house but the computer has been broken all week and i finally gave up waiting and came to a cyber to write you all!

Well one week has passed in this new city and i have a lot to talk about! I`ll split it into 2 parts and start from the beginning!

Last thursday night was the going away party (despedida) for our host families! it was a blast but a little stressful! The night started off with a ton of Nicarguan folk dances and then moved onto performances by each of the three spanish classes. Our class sang a very popular Nica song...but it was really hard and we sounded absolutely awful! oh well, I won`t see a lot of those people ever again! Then random families and siblings did songs, dances, and skits. My sisters, John, Casey, Jonna, and I did a Nicaraguan Folk Dance it was really funny and we embarassed ourselves but had a great time doing it! The whole night was crazy and i was in charge of some of it so people were running around frantic asking me for help and questions! I LOVED IT! It reminded me of how hectic my life is in the states and it was a good time. I never thought I would miss that! but apparently i do! Then there was food for everyone afterwards and man was that a disaster. People here don`t really have potlucks or free food so the first half of the line each took about 2 plates stacked top the ceiling with food! some families even took 5 or 6 plates out to their car! Let`s just say there wasn`t enough food and our leaders were thuroughly embarrassed. Then my family was literally dragging me out of the place because they were so hungry...it was madness. My fam went out for pizza the last night and it was delicious!

Then I went home and packed all my stuff and had a little crying fest with my sisters and Jonna from Goshen. I wasn`t expecting that but it was a prime example of how close you can become to a fam in merely 6 weeks. Then at 5 in the morning...yeah....i wake up and my sister lays sadly on my bed while i get my things. Then i went out to the kitchen where my dad read some scripture and said a prayer for my travels! it was really nice but unexpected from my dad who I don`t think liked me very much. Ask me about that one when I get back. Then I went to casa verde where about half of the group met to leave for service. Everyone seemed pretty excited and we put the most people ever in one van with tons of bags on top. We got pulled over on the way. haha

Then from Managua groups started to dispurse from the bus stop to their different locations. It was kind of sad to say goodbye to my fellow gosheners who helped me survive my first 6 weeks! but it was also an exciting time to embark on something new! Jesse and I shared a bus ride with 2 other students going the same direction and I had a wonderful talk with Chelsea on the way. It was a total of 3 hours to Jinotega and it was a BEAUTIFUL drive. I felt like i was sitting in air conditioning the mountain air was so cold! Then Jesse and I started to get nervous considering we really didn`t know if we were getting off at the right stop. but a sign that read `welcome jesse and ashley`was a good indicator! There was about 4 people waiting for us and Jesse and I had no idea who was who or for which family! We just got in the taxi and followed!

We went to my house first had some grub and then went on to Jesse`s house. Our houses are really close! It was a fun packed day but it was a really warm welcome! I`ll tell you about my fam and a little about jesse`s and some about my work! but that`s all for this time!

I am living with my good friends Alli and Lindsey`s family from last summer! they are great! I`ve got mama Tomasa who is a genuine worry wart but is the kindest soul! She has a contagious laugh and is pretty lowkey! I can even serve myself my food which is a blessing in itself! Then I`ve got papa Romon! He is a hoot! Lowkey as well but makes me laugh too! Both my parents have a store run out of our house and spend all day everyday there assisting the customers! it`s a fun atmosphere.

Then there is Jose Romon.....he is the funniest kid i have ever met. He just turned 13 i believe and he has down syndrome. I don`t understand a single word he says but he is a so funny! But like seriously i have not understood a single word he says except for `ya`That`s ones not too hard. He also loves to dance to reagaton. Oh man he is a vulgar dancer but I laughed so hard i cried when he danced for the first time. it was great. I also took a lot of videos so you can watch them when i return. Then there is sonia and karen who both of which aren`t actually related but have been living with my family for about 5 years...going to the university here in Jinotega. They are close to my age and have become the closest with them. We talk all the time and it`s like having 2 sisters! they are great. I`ve also been going to their english class during the week which is a fun time. It`s really hard for them to pronounce things in english but creates a laugh for me! We also stayed up late last night talking about wedding stuff and school. It was hard to explain scholarship money in spanish. Let me tell ya! but it was a great time. Jordan....they liked your song! And lindsey and alli....they loved that video of you i have on my i-pod from kulp south! sorry... haha

But let`s see during the week I work at the special needs school in the morning doing basically whatever. Jesse and I aren`t really needed there but help out in the deaf classes mostly and have a lot of fun communicating in a THIRD language. He know`s a lot more than me but the kids don`t care...a simple smile lights them up! I am good at smiling too! Then in the afternoon we go to Los Popitos which is a like a day care fun time in the afternoon for the kids. We do anything from sports, dance, art, and crafts. The kids are great but yet again....Jesse and I don`t do that much. It will get better though! we`ve only had one week! But i`ve already learned alot from the kids here and am having a great time! I will write again but i have been here way too long and i want to get more in depth another time! But i love you all and i am so close to being home! only 5 more weeks! WOWZA! love and miss you all

Ashley

I´M LEAVING Diriamba and headed to Jinotega!

So my last cyber time here in Diriamba has officially come. The workers here are going to be very confused when I don´t show up anymore...I´m a regular!

But today has been a crazy day, running around buying last minute gifts for my host family, working on the going away party plans, and preparing myself for my exam and speech tomorrow in class! Where has all the time gone!

But friday morning...bright and early at 6 in the morning....is when I officially head off to Jinotega. It´s going to be an interesting trip with all my luggage and a huge water filter for Jesse and I. I think i accidently turned the font italic...don´t ask me how i did these keyboards are wack!

But i thought for my last blog here I would list some of my favorite memories or things i´ve learned from this first half.

1. I like a lot of foods that I never thought I would....like cow toungue and fish right on the bone....that´s right I ate cow tongue twice.

2. I don´t know my alphabet very well because every time i look in my spanish to englsih dictionary it takes me so long! I´m getting better though! probably because i use it so much!

3. I adore ice cream and sweets! I can´t go one day without them! it´s probably because i am fed so much salty, oily, greesy, fried foods!

4. You can´t ever go into a trip or event here in Nicaragua with expectations. Everything i have imagined thus far has been completely wrong....you just got to keep an open mind and not have an imagination!

5. I am just as capable as decribing love in spanish as i am in english. My family didn´t really understand how meaningful my engagement and the song jordan sang for me was until jonna and I explained it for 2 hours....WITH translated lyrics to the song. Let´s just say that took a long time...but my family finally understood how in love I am....that was a good day! Que bonita!

6. Oh and I know that I can actually communicate in spanish now and have conversation! it´s a miracle!

7. I love having sisters! My sister in the states is my best friend and role model and it has been so nice to have sisters here to! They are just great and I love them! Also my brother here is a pest and without my sisters I would go nuts!

8. Worship songs are very similar here in Nica as they are in the states. All of the praise and worhsip songs i sing at church I hear in my house! It´s a nice familiar sound and also reminds me how great God is all over the world!

9. I love the little things back in the states and they are way more important to me than i thought: pools, tv series, long conversations, music, mirrors (especially mirrors....they like don´t really use them here!), cold drinking water, warm showers, soap ( they don´t really use that here either YIKES), air conditioning, toilet paper (its expensive and not in most public restrooms), couches( they are also expensive and not in a lot of houses), pickes, and RANCH DRESSING ( i am craving it so much)! And MUCH MUCH MORE! but it also shows how spoiled I am in the states...and i will never take those things for granted again!

10. BUT, the united states isn´t as great as it seems. With it´s foreign affairs, debt, war, and the crazy stupid things it has done for NIcaragua!

11. The people here are very family oriented and they are so close! They are very dependent on the family for everything but everyone is so willing to help! Also culture and history is very evident in every NIca....a lot of people in the states don´t know about their history! they should! it´s important!

12. There is not really any stress here or busy schedules....that is very new to me! very nice actually!

13. Nicaragua is a great country full of a lot more culture and heritage on the Atlantic Coast! it like a whole other world on that side, which there is actually a great divide between the 2 sids today! WHO KNEW!

WOWZA I think that is it! but I am really excited for a change in scenery and will update you on my new life and service assignment as soon as I get the chance! it will be probably be a week or so! But I love you all and thanks for the support thus far! I´m half way! YAY!

Love,
Ash

ONE MORE WEEK....until service that is!

So the time has finally come for me to start packing up my little life in Diriamba and moving on to bigger and better things! or at least i hope so!

but before that....there are a lot of things to do! This past weekend I had a very relaxing fun time that was great for my last weekend here! Saturday....most of the group went to Hurtylandia which is a water park! i know who would have thought! granted it was only a big pool with one slide but it was SO much fun! we had some good bonding time with the group before everyone heads out all over the country! Then later that day I watched some movies, had cow tongue for dinner, and got roped into doing a Nicaraguan folk dance with my sisters for the going away party on Thursday.

I`ll talk more about that later! But then sunday, I watched approximately 4 movies and a half.....2 were in English :) and did a lot of homework for this week! Thursday is our final exam and 10 minute presentation! i don`t think it will be hard to talk in spanish for 10 minutes because i talk sooooooo slow! haha. And thursday is the Despedida! Which is our festive going away party! should be a fun time since i am doing a folk dance with one of the huge skirts!

Let`s see....yes! then Friday morning I leave for the small country town in the mountains called Jinotega where the breeze is cool and the people are welcoming! sounds like a salespitch or something! but I will be living with a whole new family in a whole new town! EEK! Jesse Heyerly and I will be working with Los Pepitos for their sports and recreation time! we are excited about that...because we both play sports and weren`t really wanting to teach or anything like that!

So that`s exciting! but i am really spacy right now and have a ton of stuff to do this week so sorry this blog isn`t as good as the others! but i will be writing one more before I leave on friday so be looking for that!

Love you all!

Ashley

WOA! One month!

Can you believe I´ve been gone for one month already!? i can hardly believe it myself!

Well the first new thing I can think of is that I have a cold! you wouldn´t think it´s possible with all the warm weather here but believe it or not...i got one somehow! It might be because of the changing of seasons. It´s rainy season here now...which when it rains...IT POURS! but i get that cold sniffle season changing thing from my mom! thanks mom!

Let´s see...from my last entry a lot of exciting and boring things have happened! Thursday was our trip to Masaya. It has been my favorite trip so far! We left after spanish class and it only took about a half an hour. We first visited a famous Nicaraguan Potter and his family that makes the most beautiful pottery I´ve ever seen. Masaya is a very artistic city where a lot of tourists go to buy beautiful bags, pottery, carvings, paintings, and jewelry. Let´s just say my money dissapered that day! But this family works all day out of their home, making their own pottery on the wheel, glazing it with these special glosses, CARVING the most beautiful designs for them, and then HAND painting them! all before firing them. They made some of the most beautiful pieces i´ve ever seen! Getting goods for fair price in Nicaragua is hard so they were glad to have so many people willing to buy their goods at fair price...and to not resell them for more! But their ideas of fair prices were so cheap compared to some of the pottery in the US. I almost insisted on paying more for some of the pieces! they took so much time! just another difference in countries...Nicaraguan people don´t really need hundreds of dollars for one piece to survive in their culture.

Then from there there were two options for the group: see an active volcano or go to Catarina for a view of the Laguna de Apoyo! i chose the latter because I was tired of walking up volcanoes! who would have thought. But me and 5 other people (including our country coordinator Delena) went to catarina for a beautiful view of the Laguna! if you have time...just look up one picture of it and you´ll understand! But we also saw some very eager men with horses who wanted us to go for a ride. Since we had an hour to kill, we decided we would do it! it was also only 100 cordabas (5 dollars) for an hour! so worth it! man was that a fun time. Also if we stood out as these white americans before...imagine a big group of us on top of horses screeming down the street in english! we stuck out a lot but had a lot of fun! except at the end of the tour...the leaders INSISTED that the horses run to the finish...i was not happy because it HURT and it was the end of the ride when it hurt the MOST! haha...but fun none the less.

and it was a good thing we chose that option because the volcano was closed and the group walked up a smaller boring one...haha!

Then from there the entire group went to the main market in Masaya where there were more shops than i could handle! i bought a beautiful new purse (you all know i have a purse problem :))...the guy gave me a wonderful discounted price! which was a lie because everyone got bags for that price and we sat and watched a little of some Nicaraguan Folk dance while we ate dinner! It was a fun night! also my host mothers birthday! we woke up that morning at 4:30 to sing her happy birthday! apperently it´s a tradition to sing in english here...let´s just say that i was the only one who knew all the words and the tune...it was really funny!

Then friday class was fine and we had a lecture on Liberation Theology. Then after that Jonna and i had a trip to a lakehouse to hang out with her family for 2 days! So we get in a mototaxi with this stranger who turns out...doesn´t know which house we needed to go to and we ask a ton of people before i finally call my sister and find out where it was! The rest of the night we just talked to all the families..laughed...and layed in hammocks as the rain poured down for hours! We went to bed...the ceiling leaked on my half of the bed and didn´t make a very pleasant sleep but somehow i slept with soaking wet sheets! i must have been tired

then the next day we woke up at 6....went to the beach....and sat for a long long long time! Jonna read a book while i watched some kids play soccer on the shore. It was really relaxing. Then we went back to the house on the river for lunch and we slept in hammocks for another couple hours! It was really relaxing but i got kind of bored by the end. Then i went back to Diriamba around dinner time and ate at my grandmother´s house for MOther´s day! it was such a big day for everyone! Then we went out for ice cream and they bought me this huge banana sundae while everyone else had these little small bowls! they like to spoil me!

Then sunday i slept in! oh man it had been a long time! then we sat around, watched tv, and had delicious fish for lunch! it was the kind you sit and pick at for hours, savoring it the whole time! it was great! but my cold made me sleepy so my family wondered why i wasn´t talking...i think my dad might have been mad at me....he is hard to read sometimes....and i can´t understand feelings in spanish let alone simple sentences! oh well!

Then sunday night a group of us went to casa verde to watch a movie with Gwen and Lisa...we had popcorn! oh man it was great, but the movie had really thick scottish accents so i didn´t really catch a lot of it. it was fun though!

But other than those adventures, everything has been great! I only have 2 more weeks left of spanish class before i leave for service! SO SOON! I am really excited to embark on a new town soon but will be sad to leave the group! Service will be pretty lonely but i´ve got a lot of good books to read and spanish to practice! It will be great! but i love you all and email me if you have something exciting to inform me of! Have a great June 1st and oh guess what! Friday, May 29th, was exactly a year from when I will get married! yayayaya! I was really happy that whole day!

And thanks so much for the pics Jordan, Barb, and John! it looks so pretty!

I love you all!

Ashley

Apperently, the sun is hotter in Central America!

So a lot has happened since my last blog entry so bare with me as i write a novel!

Let´s see, Friday we had a group trip to the capital of NIcaragua- Managua where I saw a lot of interesting, sad, and hopeful things.
We first went to the Chureca which is the trash dump where the trash of about 3 million people of Nica goes. We drove on a dirt path lined with small shacks for houses, schools, and churches. The smell was over powering and children were running around barefoot with dirt caked on to their bodies People LIVE in this trash dump...scrounging through the mountains...no seriously MOUNTAINS of trash for recyclable items that they can make money off of to feed their families. Entire families go out into this trash every single day and they only make about enough money to feed their family one meal a day. My heart was breaking as we got off the bus and talked to one of the families. The mother has worked in the chureca for over 30 years and has never been to managua...that is where the trash dump is located. She is a single mother and lives and works there with her sisters and their children. We also talked with some youth who have worked their way out of the trash dump to try and develop a life for themselves- they still live there but work and learn outside the dump to help the other families as well.

The whole experience was very sad and i just wanted to give all my money to the families...but the money will only go so far as they cannot get jobs anywhere else, and they have nothing else to buy but food for their families. Some young boys buy glue to sniff with the money they make because there is nothing better to do with lives. What a sad day....

Then we went on to the Jubilee community which lifted up our spirits a little more! It is a cooperative on the outskirts of Managua that helps farmers with loans and money to start up their businesses. The volunteers also helped hundreds of families during Hurrican Mitch when they were dumped a mile down the road from the Jubilee house. The cooperative is also building a large building so some ladies can start up a cotten spinning business so they can export natural an organic cotten clothes for full price to other countries and actually make money! The volunteers there do a lot of work and it´s nice to see hope for the 2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere...Nicaragua

Then we headed back home after a very long sweaty day....
Then I woke up the next day at 6 for another long eventful weekend with my host sister- Erika!

We left for the city of Leon saturday morning at 6. Leon used to be the capital of Nica and has a lot of historic landmarks and cool things to see. There are also a lot more tourists there so I didn´t stick out so much...it was weird!

We stopped in Managua (an hour away from jinotepe) because Erika had class. Jonna, Jonathon, and I sat in an air conditioned library while she was in class it was awesome! until the electricity went out and we sitting in pitch black with no idea what was going on...so the air conditioning didn´t last long.

Then we left for Leon which is another 2 hours...and it takes about a half hour for the buses to fill...it´s really hard to go anywhere in Nicaragua. Then we arrived in Leon, dropped our stuff off at Erika´s friends house and went straight to the HUGE cathedral in the square. It was so beautiful and i could see 11 Volcanos from the top of this thing! I don´t remember the name...I was a bad listener...but i know it is very old and very important to Nica!
Then from there we went to an art museum which used to be the house of Ortiz himself....there was a lot of famous art pieces in there but i couldn´t take pics...booo :(

THEN we went to the museum of the famous poet Ruben Dario....my family gasped when i didn´t know who he was. Apperently he is the most famous poet of all of Nicaragua and the whole country died when he passed away. The museum was really cool and I wish i could translate his poems because they do seem beautiful!

so that was a lot of walking and the city of Leon is the hottest in the country...i know right.

Then we went on to Chinandega which is about 30 minutes away from Leon for a church service....we really didn´t know why we were there, but apperently Erika is the director of some baptist church group who travels around encouraging youth to come to a weekend retreat. It was cool and the singing at the church was fun...we obviusly didn´t know the words but had fun clapping! we also felt absolutely disgusting after sweating and walking all day.

Then we ate some food off the street when to a hostel (hotel) and slept nice and hard for about 6 hours....yeah that´s right. we got up at 6 to got to the beach in Leon...who does that? we found out why as it takes 30 minutes to get to the bus station in leon...then an hour bus ride to the beach (we were standing by the way) and then you have to walk along the coast a little to find the beach....by that time it was about 10 in the morning...which is also when the sun starts burning the skin to a crisp! let´s just say that i look like a lobster today and can´t really function without pain!

But the beach was beautiful! huge waves...no one around...warm water! We had so much fun getting tossed around in the waves! these are like real waves....some gnarly australian dudes were surfing on them! and there was this Nica guy who looked like he live in this little tiki hut where he sold drinks and surfed all day! what a life.

so we hung out for a while, swam, burned and headed to another part of the beach for lunch. It was an adventure getting there because we got off at the wrong stop and had to wait a half hour for it to come back...there is only one bus that travels the coast....GREAT!

But it was worth it! i had a fish that was pulled right out of the water that day and it was amazing!

then we had to eat fast because the bus was leaving and we headed back to Jinotepe whcih probably took about 4 hours total! GEESH! a long weekend but a lot of fun!!!

Welp´, this week we´ve got a couple more field trips to some farms and Masaya...we also have salsa lessons on wednesday so that should be fun!

My host mothers birthday is on thursday and mother´s day is on saturday! they don´t mess around here on mother´s day! The whole country stops to celebrate! it´s a big deal as it should be!

and friiday is an important date as it is May 29th....the day of my wedding next year! YAYAYAYAYA! I think that will be a very good day for me!

but i have written enough...i love you all and miss you tons!
have great weeks and don´t miss me too much :)

love,
Ash

We Like English

I think one of the greatest things about a weekend trip with the Goshen group is all the english we can speak without getting in trouble! haha

Friday, all 25 of us left for Esteli for a weekend trip. We first drove 2 and a half hours (uncomfortably) to a farm cooperative which grows fruits such as papaya, tomatos, and so on organically. I didn´t know a lot of how the cooperative works but i think the Goshen blog will explain it in more detail. Then from there we continued on to Esteli to Hotel Nicaraou...let´s just say that hotels in Nicaragrua are nothing like those in the states. There were birds and ducks wondering all around the center patio and the rooms were a struggle to figure out. Nicaraguan businesses also like to tell their customers anything to get business....we thought there might bot be enough beds for everyone! it all got worked out but thank goodness we have Delana-our country coordinator- she won´t take crap from anyone!

Then we ate in the hotel for dinner and had the rest of the night free. About half of the group went out dancing for a night out on the town. We practiced our salsa moves and stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of the discoteca! it was fun though! There was also a live band that entertained everyone with love ballads- the people with boyfriends and girlfriends and fiancees back home all had there arms crossed and sulked for a half an hour- missing their sinificant other....it was a funny sight but we all wanted the salsa music to start to take our minds off home! it did eventually!

Then we returned to the hotel and the next day we visited a museum close to the hotel. It was a museum started by the mothers of fallen soldiers during the revolution and wars of the 70´s an 80´s- we had some of the mothers talk to us for a brief 2 hours before emotions started running high. There were a lot of differing opionions about the government aid for the mothers of nicaraguan soldiers and a heated argument broke our between the women. When you´ve lost so much and fought so hard for freedom from the US government (weird right) emotions take over when discussing the difficult subjects. I could try to explain the opionions but it is a long story. if you´re interested- look up the FSLN, Somoza, or Sandino on the internet- these women went through more than i could ever imagine.

After an akward argument where our group sat in silence while they duked it out in spanish we left for lunch and finally was told what happened. Then we left for my favorite part of the day at a Women´s paper making cooperative. A group of women noticed a huge piece of land that was being used as a garbage dump and the amount of trash that was taking over the area. The land wasn´t owned by ayone so they took the initiative to start cleaning and sorting through the trash for recycling. They thoought of a way to reuse the trash and started making beautiful stationary and paper out of recycled materials like paper, onions, pineapple, bannanas, tobacco, and so on!

Someone showed them how to reuse the paper and they experimented with different organic materials that help die the paper different colors. It is a beautiful process and the paper is really beautiful after it comes out. Trash to treasure! It´s also a cooperative for abused and sexually assaulted young girls as a place where they can go for refuge. It was a really cool organization that isn´t a very hard process. It just took the initiave of someone who to want to clean up all the trash that had been piled higher than a house- yeah, can you imagine?

Then the rest of the night we hung out, relaxed, ate ice cream, and watched some movies.
Sunday morning we packed up the buses and headed for a water fall on the outskirts of Esteli. The mountains are beautiful out there and the air got cooler the higher you went. The waterfall was really beautiful but we didn´t swim in the water for fear of contracting a disease from the contaminated water. We just waded in it for a while and skipped rocks! There will be pictures on the Goshen Blog. Then we rode in the bus for a while longer to an artist in the mountains. He is a rather crazy man who has spent about 30 years in the mountains carving into the stone with beautiful pictures and sculptures. He was really excited to have so many people see his work and it was a really beautiful place...we could see almost all of Nica from there- but he talked a lot and we were really hungry from climing huge hills and practically the side of a mountain. it was a long day! Then we left for Jinotepe at about 4 and didn´t get back until around 7! It was a long weekend but really fun!

I got home and was surpised to know that I could still speak spanish after so much english on the weekend!

But overall I am still sweating and the whole group basically either has diherria or is constipated...not gonna lie, i feel great!! but i am kind of getting tired of cookies for breakfast...i´m not sure what my host mother thinks breakfast is like in the states...but we don´t usually have cookies in the states! oh well everyone else has been getting beans, rice, toast, and egg for breakfast! talk about a huge meal! i won´t complain about the cookies!

Oh, I´ve also learned a little more about my service location which will be Jinotega! My best friends alli and lindsey went there last year! what a coincidince! we will have so much to share with each other after those weeks! But I will be there with Jesse Heylery working with Los Pepitos. Those are children with down syndrome....I am really excited! The town is more in the mountains with a cooler, fresher feel and great people! or so I hear! I hope jesse is ready for wedding talk! haha- I´m sure he´s not!

Um let´s see...not a lot of fun things this week. We have a day trip on Friday to the capital city of Managua but I don´t really remember what we are doing there and I think my family and myabe Jonna´s are going to the beach over the weekend! should be fun!

I miss all the family back home and can´t wait to hear about your adventures!

And Whit, I´m sorry I coudn´t be there for your graduation! I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU!

Joc- sounds like mayterm was fun and I love your emails! you are funny and p.s.- a little mototaxi was blaring [yeah] through their speakers and it made me miss you! we´ll dance to it when we get back t school!

Everyone else, I miss you so much and thanks for keeping in contact! I love you all and soak up the sun for me..I am getting a mean farmers tan!

Love,
Ash

Week 2 Done!

Well it officially has been 2 weeks and I am still sweating, don´t worry!

But we had our first trip this past weekend and it was a lot of fun to get out of little Diriamba and see more of this beautiful country. We left sunday morning around 7 a.m. for Mombacho- a volcano here in Nicaragua. It was about a half hour bus drive to the base of the volcano and another half hour ride up the mountain. We took this HUGE truck with all 30 or so of us up these steap hills that tipped and turned to what seemed our death, but we made it up alive. Then we hiked some beautiful trails on the top of the volcano and once we reached the top, we could see for days! It was very pretty and none of my picutres did it justice.

Then from their we went to the Granada Islands which they are about 375 chunks of volcanic rock that were shot into the ocean a long time ago because of a volcano arruption. They were sold to very rich people who built their own little palaces on these chunks of rock. How would you like to own an island? But we took 2 little boats and toured around these islands- it was really really pretty but probably the most touristy thing we will do all summer. We stopped at a specific island who was home to a lot of monkeys! Lola decided to come on our boat and hang out with us for a while. It was so cool! They are going to be a lot of pictures on Goshen´s blog. I think Gwen got about a 100!

Then we got off the boat and were bombarded with vendors trying to sell us neckalces, bracelets, and anything you could think of. It was overwhelming. But nothing beat what happened next. A group of drunk South Africans pulled up in their boat after a long ride with a lot of rum and decided to talk to all us girls- very closely! They spòke perfect english and started to talk of our beauty and such....let´s just say that one of the men bought me a white shell necklace and crowned me the new queen of South africa- forcing me to get in tons of pictures with them. I think they were trying to win me over or something? But what the hey- i got a free necklace out of the deal! Lisa also announced that she was going to take a picture of us for my fiance and they thought that was awesome and proceeded to harrass me more and take more pics! haha, it was really funny but we gave him a false name so that i wouldn´t be stalked or something. So if you see any pictures of me on the blog with a white shell necklace- remember to bow to me when i return to the states, because i am the new queen of south africa! haha

But other than that, I am started to feel like a part of my family here in Nica. I am actually able to incorporate humor into our conversations which makes it easier to feel more comfortable and not so much like an outsider. They still make fun of spanish, but that´s ok because my spanish is awful! They are also starting to feed me more food now that i am feeling better, which is starting to be a lot for my poor little stomach! They laugh and say ¨va a ser mas gordita¨ which means i am going to get fat....how nice of them! haha. that´s one difference that i´ve noticed, Nicas like a little chub- but people hate it in the U.S. - go figure!

But spanish class is going fine of course- i am starting to feel more like i am in school with all the homework we are assigned and the confusion with spanish....i thought i was done with school? NOT! But the lectures this week have been very important and interesting. Monday we had the Nicaraguan equivelant of Obama come and speak to us about his work with the Literacy Crusade in the 70s. This crusade brought irliteracy in Nicaragua from 76% to 14%! and this man was in charge of it! He had done more things in his liffe than i could ever imagine doing in 5! He was truly inspirational and taught us all a lot of life lessons. I really enjoyed his lecture. If you have time- look up the Literacy Crusade of Nicaragua- it is shocking!

Also, sometimes at my house we listen to english praise and worship songs that really keep my spirits up! It is nice to know that these people that i live with praise and worship the same God as I do. And that no matter how strong of a language barrier we have, that God can always connect us together in a beautiful way! It´s like someone told me before I left, ¨Just know that you can not go where God is not¨ and that has become evident in these first 2 weeks- which also gives me motivation for the next 10!

I love you all and keep praying for me! I heard these next 2 weeks are the hardest!

Love,
Ash

As I´m sitting here.....

...I have lost about 10 pounds from sweating alone. It has got to be one of the hottest days since i´ve been here and it is pretty miserable. But it is indeed friday which is a relief....i don´t think i could take another spanish class without a break! Classes this week have been fine....they become longer throughout the day and seem to drag on but i seem to be learning a lot as well. Our teacher is very paitent...and goes very slow....which sometimes get redudant after 3 hours in the morning...but it´s better than being lost and confused right?

Our assignments range from conversations about our host families, written paragraphs over lectures, and random debates where each are student is a different type of fruit and we have to fight over who is the best fruit! haha...that´s been the most interesting so far! We have also had some assignments where we read a newspaper article and spanish and are only allowed to ask our families questions over the words we don´t know....those have sparked some funny conversations. Nicaraguans are very animated and like to act out their descriptions...my host father did some funny things that night.

Let´s see...a typical day for Ashley Nichole....i was called Nichole for the first 3 days because my parents needed to practice saying ashley...i enjoy hearing them say my name everytime...ashwy...kinda sounds like that!

But yes...I wake up for class about 7 or 8ish...depending on how hard i am sleeping. The rest of my family wakes up at 6 every morning which sometimes wakes me up as well...they get up stinkin early here! But then my mother offers me breakfast. I told her I don´t usually eat breakfast and oh did that worry her. she insists i eat breakfast even if it is a little yogurt or chocolate cake. Yeah that´s right, i had chocolate cake for breakfast this morning...it was delicious but very surprising. Every kid´s dream right? Then I head for Jonna´s house...which is approxametly 30 seconds away and then we walk to the park where the buses pick people up for Jinotepe. We ride the bus for about 10 minutes...pay 5 cordobas...and walk about 1 minute to class. Class goes from 9 to 11:30 and then we head out on our own to eat lunch in Jinotepe. We´ve had pizza, shakes, steak and chicken, vegetarian malaysian, and lots and lots and lots of RICE AND BEANS (gallo pinto). No one give me rice and beans when i come home....I might die! Then we have a lecture from 1-3 on various topics. some this week have been on the history of Nicaragua and organic coffee farming. It´s been really interesting to hear about how much influence the United states has had on little countries like Nicaragua...sometimes I feel ashamed and wonder why the people here don´t run me over with their cars. But that just shows their hospitality and kindness towards others. They are so nice here, opening their home and time for me with no complaints. Not to mention they are very patient with my spanish...haha

But it seems a lot of times after lecture some of the girls and I walk around the market, or visit each other´s houses, sip on lemonade and talk to other host families, and etc! I came home at 4 today and my parents were freakin out asking why i was back so early and why i haven´t hung out with my friends. they are funny. But yes, i spend a lot of time talking about random things with my family, hanging out with Jonna and doing homework, or hitting up the cyber cafe for some blog writing :) Jonna and I have become really close...and not just because our houses are so close. haha. I´ve made my first new SST friend!

The weather is hot of course but when you sit for a while in the breeze, it feels amazing! and the nights are beautiful...no sun...cool breeze. oh man! and when it rains here...IT POURS! like golf ball size rain drops. The mosqutos aren´t as bad as i thought they would be...they are just in the house which makes the bites easier to get. I also have a few friends who scurry around my room...some cockroaches, lizards, crickets....we´re best friends now. They don´t bother me anymore...I never thought this day would come :) I´ve also watched more spanish soap operas here than i watched regular television during the year! they are obsessed, not to mention that they are the only things on the 2 channels in my house! i got to jonna´s house to watch english channels!

Now for the funny stories....

1. I have found out what a lot of random things meant a week later. say for instance, my mom gave me a huge wad of toilet paper when i left for the day once and i had no idea why, plus i did´n´t understand her. come to find out, a lot of places don´t have toilet paper...i realized this yesterday and then it all made sense!

2. My parents can leave the house and come back 30 seconds later with toilet paper and cold gatorade for me. I thought it was a magic trick! the closest store i knew of was about 5 blocks away...it was impossible! i found out yesterday that there is a store inside a house on my block...go figure. I am an idiot.

3. a group of us was visiting Bethany´s house and her dad asked what we did during the day. we had cookies so i was trying to figure out what cookies was in my head and i remembered dulces. He asked how our spanish was as I said ¨dulces!¨ but i didn´t hear his other question. so everyone thought i answered with dulces! they laughed a lot at me after we figured out the confusion....also, Dulces doesn´t mean cookies :)

But overall the days seem to be going fast. When i think about how much time is left...i cringe. But when i think about all that´s happened so far...the time has flown! it´s a vicious cycle...slow....fast....slow....fast.

We also talked about control in our reunion session with the whole group on wednesday and how we are feeling with the out of control life-style we are living right now. I am always in control of my everyday in the U.S. and it has been a real growing process for me to let go of the control this summer. I can´t control my spanish and the fact that i am stuck here for a while. But i do have control over my attitude and what i can get out of this whole experience. I know i am getting a lot....but I am gradually starting to find out what that actually is. This week has been hard and mind boggling. I´m just trying to grasp my head around the whole picture...yikes! the sweat is clogging my brain!

But in all my free time to think, i´ve also finally been able to relax (in a new way) and bask in all the glory of the engagement that happened about 4 weeks ago. When asked questions about the wedding and engagement, i remember how blessed i am and what it all means...I´M GETTING MARRIED! I was so busy before i left that i didn´t have time to just sit and dwell on the fact that about a year from now i will be tying the knot with the one i love and spending the rest of my life with him! HOLY COW! I am smiling real big right now! But get excited because i will be so ready to nip this wedding planning in the bud when i return! haha

Well, that was a really long entry, but I needed to update you all!

Nicaragua is beautiful, great, lonely, hard, challenging, blessed, and causing me to stretch my comfort zone to a whole new level!

Thank you all for being that comfort zone....and I can´t wait to experience you all again when I return!

Love,
Ash

First day of school!

Today we had our first day of class and it was really nice to hear some slow easy spanish for once! We went around the room of people, being asked random questions. I guess they are trying to see where our spanish skills are so they can place us in a certain group by wednesday- i can easily say that I will be in the begginner group :)

Then we went out for lunch in Jinotepe on our own and I ate normal food for once! i mean the normal food they have here :) but I didn´t have too much! whoever said that I will probably gain weight this summer is eating their words right now!

Then in the afternoon about 1 o clock we had our first lecture. Let´s just say that history is not my favorite subject so it was hard to follow the loads of information our speaker gave us today on Nicaraguan history.

Then after that me and bethany, John, Casey, Naomi, and Gina all visited each other´s houses. we walked around for a good hour and a half or so...let´s just say it doesn´t take very long to get across town! we lost jonna along the way, she was supposed to meet us at the clock but never showed and my family said they told her to go to bethany´s house but she never went there. so we aren´t really sure where she ended up but she was with her papa. so we didn´t worry too long :)

Then we all parted and have been hitting up the cyber cafes...i tried calling jordan but according to Tim Blaum he is working out...so i´m hoping that by the time I am done on the comp he will answer his phone :)

calling the united states is really cheap here! like one cent in a minute in american dollars. which you would be about .025 cordabas if you were interested.

but i had my first break through with spanish when i cam home from class today! John and I actually understood what my parents said! we both jumped up and down after we left my house! my family likes to slur their words and is hard to understand! well i have to figure out if i can get more minutes here...until then adio!

I need to ask more questions...

So this morning I agreed to go with my host and John Stuekey to an unknown place at 6 o-clock this morning. First of all, John and I thought it was a 6 in the evening and were in for a rude awakening this morning. Then when I woke up at 5 this morning, my nauseousness came back and I started to worry about the trip. We took a taxi to the Jinotepe bus station where John and I found out that the trip would last until four in the afternoon and that the bus ride was 2 hours! I quickly took some Dramamine for fear of throwing up all over the Nicas in front of me and started to figure out a way I could get off the bus before I hurled. John and I talked and started talking to Marciel about it and turns out her phone is out of minutes and none of the vendors at the bus station would let us use theres'. So we talked it over and decided to head towards Casa Verde where Gwen and Lisa live. It was about 7 in the morning by then and I knocked on the door, yelled their names in a little panic. And there they come in their pajamas really confused. So John and Marciel leave for the day trip- poor John and I stay at Casa Verde. I slept for a couple of hours because of the Dramamine I took, which is probably the most I have slept in the last 2 nights.

Now I am hanging out on the internet- eating pan tostado and ginger tea and wishing I would have asked more questions before I left this morning. Oh SST.....

The first couple days...

Well let´s just say that this internet time was well needed!!!

Let´s start from the beginning! I always pictured send off as a more terrible thing than what it was for me on wednesday. i was so tired of waiting around to go that I felt a lot better to leave, of course I cried but with the amount of people there I couldn´t help but smile- they were there for me! As the bus pulled away and everyone waved it was a great sight that I had been waiting for for 3 years! Phew...I was ready to go!

On the bus I read a few letters from you all and talked with the people sitting around me! One of the main conversations as we traveled was...¨what do we say in spanish if we are in this situation¨ Later I came to realize that all of those conversations didn´t help and I knew no spanish at all. even when you tell them to talk slower (mas despasio por favor), they talk as fast as i would in english! GREAT! not to mention that they drop all the 's' in every single word. especially my family....I understand everyone else's family fine- mine is a challenge.

Anywho! It was a 3 hour bus ride to Chicago and then we flew to Miami, about a 2 and a half hour flight. We ate some food in Miami and watched CNN for an hour, updating us on the stinkin Swine Flu that has corrupted our lives! People were wearing masks all over the airport!

Then we rode on the plane for another 2 hours to Managua- the capital city of Nicaragua. But we actually arrived a half an hour later because of the time changes. weird huh! I watched the office and some scary-bulky-man that looked like he could snap me in half sat next to me, but he started watching the movie twilight so i stopped worrying! haha

We arrived in Managua and we felt a nice cool breeze as we met up with Gwen and Lisa- so we initially thought the weather was fine until we were rudely awakened and realized that we were in air conditioning! go figure. it was actually super hot and already dark. we piled all of our luggage onto a small yellow truck and all 28 of us climbed into the smallest bus I have ever seen! it was cozy!

Then we went to a retreat center there in Managua and spent the next 2 days going through orientation and touring a little around the city! there is a lot more trash and pollution here than in the US. you could probably see in our pictures sometime.

Then friday morning we left Managua for Jinotepe which is where our classes and Casa de Goshen (casa verde) is located! It is a sweet little town and we toured around for the day and went on a scavenger hunt for all the places we will need to use in the next weeks .

Then later that afternoon we left with out host families! talk about a scary time! I live in Diriamba which is about 5 minutes away from Jinotepe. I have a father you is a photographer named Magdiel and a mother named Noemi. I have a sister who is 17 named maciel and a brother who is 13 named magdiel jr. They are a really nice family but are already worried about me because I am sick! Go figure i would get sick in the first days. it is a combination of heat, citrus food, and nerves. Mostly diahhrea and i feel nautious! haha great! i will get better soon though. no one needs to worry!

but spanish is hard and it´s hard to talk to people right now! but as soon as i start taking class next week i will be fine! but my hour is running out here at the cafe but i will get on in the next couple of days as well! it is a couple blocks from my house! i love you all and thanks for the emails!

Joc- you´ll be fine without me!
Alli- eat up spain for me and i can´t wait to hear more about it!
hannah- i´ll call you sometime and laugh into the phone loudly- that´s all you need right?

and I miss the rest of you as well! I´ll talk more about my family next time! I´ve only known them 2 days! haha!
I love you all and be thankful you have the weather you have up there!

buenas!!!

A Little Bit More About My Trip!

About Nicaragua SST

Explore volcanoes: Gaze across the blue crater lake in the collapsed Apoyo volcano. Peer down into the Masaya volcano and smell its sulfurous fumes. Relax in a hammock on one of Lake Nicaragua’s 365 tiny islands created 20,000 years ago when the Mombacho volcano blew its top off, or look for monkeys in the orchid-rich cloud forest that now thrives at the top of the extinct Mombacho volcano.

Ask Nicaraguans their opinions of the Sandinista revolution in the 1970s, the Contra War in the 1980s, and peace since the 1990s. Drink pinolillo, eat nacatamales, and sing “Nicaragua Nicaraguita.”  This is Nicaragua SST.

You will fly to Nicaragua, located in the middle of Central America, with the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans on the west and east coasts, and with Honduras and Costa Rica to its north and south.  After arriving in the capital, Managua, we will go to Jinotepe, a mid-sized cities less than an hour away and at an elevation of 1500 feet in a coffee-growing region of the country.

Nicaragua was one of the first host countries when Goshen College started the SST program in 1968.  The country continued as an SST location until December 1972, when a major earthquake destroyed Managua two days before Christmas.  But SST again returned to Nicaragua after a few years, until the country became unstable in the 1978.  Now, for the third time, Goshen will be back in Nicaragua for SST.

Study

Each student will live with a host family and participate in language study after being placed in a small class with other students at the same Spanish level.  Lectures will feature Nicaraguan history, politics, poetry and literature (a disproportionate number of famous Latin American authors come from tiny Nicaragua), sustainable development, art, the Somoza dictatorship, interviews with former combatants from both sides of the civil war, and tropical biodiversity.

Service

Possible service assignments during the latter six weeks could include community health, reforestation, gender issues and peace education.  The assignments may be located on the Pacific coastal lowlands, the island of Ometepe, the rolling pasturelands in southern Nicaragua or the mountainous north-central highlands.

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About SST: via Goshen College

The following is a short summary of SST from the Goshen College website! 

Here, you can view pictures that leaders post as well as read journal entries from various students.... 

If you want to check out this site for yourself visit this link!

About SST

SST is a 13-week journey, in which you will learn to know a different culture from the inside out - its language, its customs, its history and, most importantly, its people. You will also learn to better understand yourself and your place in the world. Pack your suitcase and an inquisitive mind, because your classroom is now an open door.

Many colleges offer international education options and the number of students studying abroad is at an all-time high. Yet, SST is one of the nation’s most original study abroad programs because it takes you from North America to another culture and another way of life. By joining SST, you join more than 7,000 Goshen alumni - guided by more than 230 faculty leaders in 20 countries - in a 40-year-old tradition of entering a new world of interest and insight.

Expect to be transformed. Often our SSTers say that their hosts give them far more than they feel they are offering in return - through kindness, acceptance, laughter and generosity. Through the successes and the challenges on SST, you will grow as a person and discover new insights into God’s presence in the world and in your heart.

Study

"I learned a lot of facts about the culture in classes, but the real education was in communicating with my host family."

~ Nick Gingerich ’05, Dominican Republic SST

"The most surprising part of entering another culture I found is that once I started to form relationships with Ethiopians, they began to honestly express their impressions of my own culture. I learned a lot about how my own culture is viewed in the world."

~ Celeste Kennel-Shank ’05, Ethiopia SST

With about 20 other students, you will begin your SST experience in your host country’s capital with six weeks of intense study, including focused language instruction with trained nationals. 

Language classes occur daily. Class sizes vary, ranging between 5 to 10 students per teacher, providing students a better opportunity to improve speaking ability. In the evenings, in most locations, you will return to a host family, a wonderful way to get a perspective of everyday life – the workday, simple meals, personal histories and joyful recreation. 

In the afternoons, seminars and field trips will put you in touch with educators, scholars, government officials, historians, authors, service workers, musicians and other experts on different aspects of life in your host country. You may find your classroom expanded from the Great Wall of China to Lalibela, churches carved entirely of stone, in Ethiopia.

Service

Service is the true heart of the SST experience, as you meet and engage people from a different culture. In this second half of SST, you will gain profound insights into the host culture—and the different meanings of service. No longer is it simply accomplishing a task, but service can be as simple and profound as listening to the life experiences of others.

"It was on service that a family received me as a complete stranger and, more than anyone I’ve ever met, taught me the meanings of hospitality, generosity and unselfishness."

~ Danny King ’05, Germany SST

Service assignments vary on every SST, but typical assignments would include:

	Teaching English
	Working in a school with children
	Helping at a health clinic
	Assisting in a community development project
	Volunteering at Habitat for Humanity