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