Thankful.

I sit here in my hammock, already sweating at 8am, enjoying a cup of stovetop-brewed coffee that still has some of the grains in it because they can’t ever be completely strained out. The street outside my house is loud, kids heading to classes, people to work, the occasional cowboy riding by on his horse. Dogs bark, fireworks go off, and life goes on. Today is not a holiday in here.

Amidst the heat, noise, and unstrained coffee, I find myself thankful.

Really, really thankful.

Thankful that this morning I could wake up and ‘aprovechar’ the wifi of my neighbors to post this.

Thankful that I now live in a house where my things no longer mold just from being inside the building.

Thankful that I have a house.

Thankful that after struggling for years with gray/cloudy skies, I am living out a two-year respite of sunshine and blue skies.

Thankful that when I went to clean out my mini-fridge yesterday, I came to realize that over half of what was inside was deliciousness I had been given by six different families. Love.

Thankful that I have a mini-fridge to clean out.

Thankful for the hospitality, love and patience of my Nicaraguan community.

Thankful I have not gotten Dengue.

Thankful that my self-care afternoon this week included spending three hours at a rural beach swimming and splashing around a natural, crystal-clear swimming pool that forms when the tide is out with local kids.

Thankful that later this afternoon I will get to be swimming in a pool and enjoying turkey, gluten-free stuffing, and no-bake cookies with some dear friends and PC staff.

Thankful that I have met some pretty incredible people over the last few weeks who have changed my views about the future, careers, and loving the job you have.

Thankful that I get to see my dad in t-minus three weeks.

Thankful that regardless of parasites, thefts, and the hard days, I get to live out this dream of spending a couple years abroad.

Thankful for my incredible friends and family back in the States who I know are rooting for me and love me.

Lastly, thankful that I have no shame in posting this early-morning, puffy-face selfie for you all to enjoy. See Mom? I’m alive and happy 🙂

Love you all dearly. Happy turkey day!

The Ground On Which We Stand.

“Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else. Let’s be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.”

~Henri J.M. Nouwen~

Semana Santa.

“I’m part wood nymph. I require mountains and warm, dense patches of moss to thrive.”
Vera Farmiga

Holy Week (Semana Santa) acts as Nicaragua’s Spring Break, so I have had this week off of classes. Since everybody and their mother goes to the beach for Semana Santa and I live close to a beach that was soon to be invaded, I turned and headed to the mountains.

Coffee, hiking, rosquillas, and hot showers were calling.

After fighting crazy crowds at the bus station, getting asked by a news film crew to dance on national television with a towel to promote the beach, and many hours of travel, we were on our way.

In my ears this week: She Lit A Fire – Lord Huron. Check it out!

My friends and I started off our week out in Esteli, with a day trip up to do the full Somoto Canyon experience. This is an amazing combo of hiking, swimming, and cliff jumping in one the most northern parts of Nicaragua.

Sweet, sweet outdoors, you do my soul so much good.

One of the cliffs in the canyon you can jump off! I’m doing a 25-footer in this picture, and just out of frame to the right is the 60-foot option.

We continued being tourists (so strange after living in country for almost a year) by heading to do a cigar factory tour in Esteli. It was a fun glimpse into the local industry and the guys in our group thoroughly enjoyed themselves, as you can probably tell:

The factory was an incredible mix of colors, smells and textures. Photographing was quite fun here.

Post-cigar tour, my dear friend and fellow PCV Maija and I headed out for a coffee date and art walk around Esteli. Beautiful art in the midst of crumbling buildings and cobblestone streets? Count me in.

Maija being my unintentional model and making art look even better.

I loved this painting that was on a wall down the street from our hostel:

After an outing to a hilarious karaoke club on our last night in Esteli, our PCV group and two new friends from Texas trekked it to the bus station and caught a ride to Matagalpa to disfrutar the mountains and cold air.

Our first stop in the Galps? Iced coffee, obviously!

After enjoying some good food, amazing mojitos and lots of laughs, that group left the following morning, leaving me to make new friends and figure out what to do with 3 solo days in Matagalpa!

There ended up being some great folks staying at the same hostel and we took off for a mountaintop adventure the following morning. This is the view from the top of our hike to El Apente, looking down over Matagalpa. Instead of trekking down the normal way, we wove our way through back trails and down through local farms, ending up at a secret, beautiful, hilltop convent. It was bliss.

I spent the rest of the week walking the empty city streets, soaking up the breeze and occasional rain, treating myself to some Chinese food, journaling, napping, and hanging out with fun new friends from around the world.

Here is the crew playing a very international game of Apples to Apples, or as we affectionately renamed it for our English friend, Scones to Scones.

The Final Count:

Hostels Stayed In: 2

Buses Taken: 9

Taxi Rides: 6

Kilometers Hiked: 12ish

Cliffs Jumped Off: 4

Number of Countries New Friends Are From: 7

Cups of Coffee Drunken: Lost Count After The First Day!

—

As I head back to site and normal life, I am reminded how grateful I am for breaks.

I needed a rest. A chance to breathe. Some fun. New experiences.

And this week was all that and more.

So thank you Maija, Aaron, Henry, David, Clare, Sanin, Denis, Becky, Alex, Keenan, and Kevin – you guys made this week so fun!

A Five Minute Life Update.

If you and I had five minutes to chat, here’s what I would tell you:

It rained last night in my site for the first time in 5 months. A sweeter sound has never been heard.

Every other minute of the day is mid-90s and crazy strong wind that causes dust storms. I have eye infections galore due to the crud that travels with the dust and into my eyes every time I open them. Regardless of how often I sweep and mop (multiple times a day is my normal routine), there is still an inch of dust coating my floors, books, clothes.

Mangoes are coming into season. Watermelon is delicious, as is the cantaloupe I bought today. Avocados are making their appearance in the market again after a long absence. Well worth the 20 cord splurge. Green peppers are now huge and amazingly delicious, and only cost 5 cords.

My site mate made my week by making me a morning iced coffee to start a long day. And it was amazing. My recycled Gatorade bottles now have a steady job of chilling full of chocolately-coffee goodness in my family’s fridge to be waiting for me in the morning.

I only had three guys ask for my phone number this week. And only one of them was a student!

I spent today rechecking in with various contacts in the community since I don’t have classes Fridays. Besides visiting the superintendent, I even snuck in a visit to the NGO in town that has air-conditioning and purified water. Sweet bliss. I ended my day by showing up at my friends’ house and begging to chinear (snuggle) with their one month old baby boy. Between baby snuggles and being named ‘Tia Kacie’, this lady left with a very happy heart. I have strict instructions to come back every day and am happy to oblige.

There has been a lot of death and random violence in my community in the last two weeks. Between a horrid car accident I saw in Managua last weekend and one that happened right outside my community on Wednesday, no less than 11 people have been killed in the last 5 days. At one of my schools, a fight broke out between a couple students and ended up with 16 students fighting and somehow beating up an old man in the central park. I saw another car/motorcycle accident this morning in town. Thankfully the driver was okay, just nursing some cuts on the side of the road, where the local business owner had provided him with some bowls of water to wash up, his motorcycle laying sprawled in the middle of street. During a break in classes on Wednesday, I had to notify the vice-principal about another fight at a different school this week, and she called the police to come handle it. Too much.

I may have broken out into a really embarrassing celebration dance on the sidewalk in the center of town today when I caught the quesillo lady 30 seconds before she was leaving. She not only unpacked all of her stuff to make me a fresh quesillo, but gave me double cheese. For free. Best. Day. Ever.

I bought a basil plant in Managua two weekends ago and a planter to put it in last weekend in Caterina. I finally planted it today and words do not even begin to express how happy it makes me to see that little plant when I come home.

I have started working out more frequently, even going on 6 AM runs. If you know me, you know the level of stress required to get me out of bed that early and to go exercise is high. Very high.

I am trying hard to remember to be gentle with myself. These have been a couple rough, stressful weeks. And I need to remember to breathe, to give myself some grace, and to loosen up a bit. Life is going to go on.

“But this is what I’m finding, in glimpses and flashes: this is it. This is it, in the best possible way. That thing I’m waiting for, that adventure, that move-score-worthy experience unfolding gracefully. This is it. Normal, daily life ticking by on our streets and sidewalks, in our houses and apartments, in our beds and at our dinner tables, in our dreams and prayers and fights and secrets – this pedestrian life is the most precious thing any of use will ever experience.”

~ Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines

Truth.

I found this on Pinterest awhile back and it continues to strike me again and again how true it is. Grateful to be learning from people who are on the other side of this idea – a community rich in family values, traditions, and beautiful culture, despite being the secondd poorest country in the western hemisphere.