flying time

Why hello! It's been awhile, no? And what has happened? This:

-work, back in Telluride. It's like I never left.
-rearranged my room, adding a couch, which resulted in an actual living area. MUCH better.
-lost my tan from Nicaragua. Damn.
-celebrated Bluegrass on the only fully sunny day since I've been back (except for today, which is promising).
-developed anxiety (see the first note, about work).

And there has been more, I imagine, although I'm drawing a blank at the moment. Oh, most importantly, I have ignored you! Sorry about that.

lovely leon

Leon was lovely! I am too tired to write about it at the moment, so more on that later. But shown here in this photo is its claim to fame: the largest cathedral in Central America. Which I am now a bit tired of after editing all of my photos of it. I don't know why I felt the urge to take so many photos, since it looks the same in every single one. I got trigger happy I guess.

It was a cultural visit - we went to museums! Will talk more about that, as well as the amount of food I ingested in 26 hours, and our terrible experience with itching. Excited now, aren't you?

everywhere a bus

I've touched lightly on traveling via the buses here in Nicaragua, but since it feels like it has consumed our lives the past week or so, I thought I'd expound on the subject and construct a list of a few non-obligatory but seemingly standard rules that I've recognized for being involved in the bus industry here:


1. Be sure to write in an extra large fancy font on the front windshield of your bus anything about God and how much you love him. Call him "senor" or whatever you like, as long as you have words to show your undying love and affection for him. Bonus: additional signage (icons and visuals are a plus) within the bus so the people inside can be enlightened as well.

2. Turn on any type of music you please at any level of volume you would like. Rap-style spanish preferred, but polka-like spanish is also accepted.

3. Hire a fellow bus-worker to hang out the open door while the bus is in motion to tout your bus route and yell the name of your destination in rhythmic style out the window over and over to any and every person who is standing on the street. (Our favorite: Masaya! Masaya! Accent on the final "a") Because clearly every passing person is a potentially additional passenger, which equals potentially additional money for you.

3a. Side note: This guy must be very agile and quick in order to jump off and on the bus repeatedly and to squeeze down the aisle between mushed bodies to collect the bus fares from everyone when the bus is packed.

3b. Side note #2: These guys actually help us when we get anywhere because they always ask where you are heading and then guide you to where you need to be. I like them, actually. I confess.

4. When you stop for gas, don't bother turning off the engine. Not dangerous at all. (apparently?)

5. Be nervous, because there is a lot of competition. I'm talking hundreds (more or less) of buses everywhere, everyday. Really quite amazing. And they are all full.

6. Offer your services to those who live along your travel route - you can quite easily pick up a packed lunch from someone along the way to be dropped off to their distant cousin who lives 10 blocks down.

6a. Along these lines, try to work on the travel route of where your family lives. Then they can hand you your very own packed lunch as you drive past.

7. Ignore the mass of vendors who walk the aisle of your bus selling things: food, DVD's, watches, batteries, drinks, etc and etc. They will be persistent to those on board, returning repeatedly and standing in front of them, repeating their product's name over and over. And over. So much so that they start to think they want to buy it. But they will exit your moving vehicle once you start to drive. They always manage to find their way back to their stall in the market.


That's all you need to know here! You're welcome for the advice.

leon is for eaters

We are in Leon now for a few days. Got in this morning. Love it! It´s fabulous here. I just ate a very big meal served by a very big woman, which makes me nervous for what I just ingested, but I´m on vacation, so I´m pretty much over worrying about it now. Deep fried anything is delicious! Off to have a glass of the wonderful rum they make here (with Coke; I´m not that intense) to kill any bad stuff that may have been involved.

beach trip

Today we took the kids to the lake, which they choose to call "the beach", which I guess it does resemble, but it is nowhere I would like to swim. There is a lot of trash and pollution around there since that's where all the streams of water and sewage funnels out, which leads me to wonder what is in the water, so I chose to be an observer rather than a swimmer. In this picture, one of the kids from our class is graciously posing with the white foam-like substance she brought back from the water. I think this foam is actually a relatively normal thing in the ocean (correct me if I'm wrong?), but this foam from the beach here seemed to last longer than usual. I don't know. Call me paranoid (since I am. I know) but it didn't look good to me.

Anyways, an enjoyable day in the heat where the kids went in the water for hours. Anita and I snacked on all of the food we bought. All in all, a success. It was my last day with the class, sadly. Tomorrow we are off to Leon, another town here in Nicaragua, since apparently we have run out of time to do everything we want to do. We are rushing so many things this week. Have to see it all! Stressed! So ambitious, that we are even thinking of another attempt at Masaya. I know. Crazy talk. This time though, we are going to have the lady who cleans the office come with us - she volunteered to help us and is the sweetest lady.

And now I will awkwardly end this post, since I don't know how else to. Concluding sentences are difficult. I was never good in English class.

another week in paradise

And...I'm back. Ready to discuss what is one of the most special places. It is a beautiful island here called Isla de Ometepe, formed by two volcanos that create dramatic views from anywhere and everywhere you look. Amazing. Anyways, a brief rundown of the week in bullet point form, so I don't ramble on and on:

Hopped on the morning bus to Rivas, which was apparently rush hour. We had seats thank god, but it felt like the seats were smaller than ever, and unfortunately more people meant more sweaty armpits there to accompany us along the way.

Boarded the ferry for the island. A bit of a side-note: Anita and I are probably the two people in the world most prone to getting car/seasick, so we have been fearing this ride since we got to Nicaragua. I was most seasick before the boat even left the dock, and then, thanks to bad spanish-language music videos (I couldn't take my eyes off them!) and fear of death from toppling over with the waves, I forgot about being sea sick and we made it to the other side, sans vomit. Moral of the story? I'm pretty sure my seasickness is mostly mental. It should be called instead, "paranoia of being seasick." That's an ailment in itself, right?

Arrived at the beautiful island and took a taxi to Merida, where we were heading to stay.

Ometepe has BUMPY roads. I'm talking butt-numbing bumpy. For at least an hour of the ride. I am not exaggerrating at all when I say that this island is extremely undeveloped. Which is one of its main assets. Sooo...beautiful scenery along the way, and our first views of the volcanoes. So pretty. Can I stress that any more?

We arrived at our hostel which was along the lake and the most calm place in the world (pictured here). There is really nothing to do on this island except relax. No stores, nothing. So we were forced, happily, to just sit around, swim in the lake, lay in hammocks (but not for long though because I get seasick), watch the stunning nightly sunset, and read our books. Bliss.

Next day, a hike to a waterfall. And when I say hike, I mean a walk to the bottom of where the hike started, where we were kindly picked up by a couple with a car who drove us to as high as we could go in the car, which was about 45 minutes from the waterfall. They cut down our hike by a good two hours, bless them. They were god sent. Especially since it was completely uphill and rocky and in the sun. The waterfall was more like a wading pool, but no less magical. Anita sat on the rock where the water actually fell and said it felt amazing. I chose to only indulge my feet and wade.

Took a bumpy ride with that same couple down to the very south of the island, and shared the road only with locals (some on horseback), pigs, horses, dogs, cows, lots of wild animals. I want their simple life. Really I do.

Yikes this is going to be long. I am rambling like I had promised I wouldn't. Oh well.

Next day was the hike up the volcano! 1350 meters! Whatever that means in feet. I have been too lazy to figure it out. After countless warnings from people that the 7-8 hour round trip hike would be "the most difficult thing you will ever do in your life" (really? worse than childbirth? sorry Kelley and Leah, I'm sure it's not so bad) and that we "really shouldn't underestimate how hard it will be", we woke up after a nerve-wracking night ready to head out at 7am. We went with a group of people and two guides, and after an hour of a not-so-bad start, they informed us that it was at that point where the uphill would begin and it would continue for three straight hours. THREE HOURS. I clearly didn't believe them. But I was wrong. This uphill climb involved huge stairs made up of rocks, climbing up mud hills using your entire body...basically picture the movie King Kong. Very jungly. The guides barely broke a sweat in their 20 year old, torn apart shoes. Yeah, they do it about three times per week. No biggie. At the top we were greeted by a solitary mouse (weird, right? we think he wanted our cheese sandwiches) and a view of the crater lake, made visible when the wind carried the clouds away. Oh and by the way, we were completely beat by a mother-daughter pair who passed us while we were on our way up. The mom was probably about 60 years old. She put us to shame.

Next came the worst part of the hike - the downhill - which I thought would never end and that my kness would fall off before I reached our hostel. Either that or that my feet would never stop moving. It was hell. Luckily my knees didn't fall off and we were able to stop, and we got back, laid on our room's cement floor, and reminisced on how it really wasn't that bad. Ha. Or so we tell ourselves now.

Next day, we stayed at another part of the island where there is a beach, and went to the Ojo de Agua, which was a clear pool made up of spring water from the volcanos. This was heaven. In a nutshell. I'm serious. The nice Nicaraguan guy working there, Byron, talked American baseball with me, politics with Anita, and made us ashtrays out of soda cans. He was nice.

And the next day sadly was our last. It took an all day trip to get back to Granada, and we hung out with a nice Dutch (again!) couple who had gone on the hike up the volcano with us who we loved. And we discovered how hard we are to please since we were able to find so many annoying people at our hostel while we were staying there. Friendly backpackers we are not. People can be so weird. We'd rather just stay to ourselves. Ourselves and the Dutch couple, that is.

Now we are back and I leave on Friday! Weird! Where has this trip gone?

ometepe

This is the volcano we climbed! The big thing in the background. And I worry it doesn't look as hard as it really was. But I swear, hard stuff. Will talk more about our trip later after we finish up classes today, but I wanted to post something quickly since it's been awhile. Stay tuned.

the lowdown

The kids are so freaking cute. We have a new kid in our class today who is just adorable. Anita and I can't get over it. He wore all green and you kind of just want to put him in your pocket and take him home with you. Anyways, this photo is not of him, not meaning that Alejandro here isn't cute, it's just that this other little boy is just unbelievably cute. Anyways, enough of the word "cute".

After I got a question about the program here, I figured it would be a good idea to kind of explain things better about the organization we are working with because I don't believe I ever tried. So...the organization's main focus is tutoring kids after school to help them with their studies. There is a sponsorship aspect to it, as they seek donors to sponsor certain kids, and the donors essentially pay for their education since these kids' families don't have the money to do so. It's really sad, the level of poverty they live in. They are so cheerful so it's easy to forget the things they don't and can't experience because of their lack of money.

As for the photo classes we are doing, that is an extra component to the tutoring that goes on. It isn't as constant throughout the year, as there have been I believe only a few workshops before ours with visitors/volunteers, and the lady who runs the organization has done a few workshops herself and started the idea. It is great, since it gives kids something more creative to do and helps to encourage them to continue on with the tutoring program since apparently some of them lose motivation or have other commitments like work and drop out of school and the program.

And I'm not positive how each kid gets chosen to be with the organization, but I believe it is in fact a bit of a selection process since they don't have enough facilities for all of the kids, obviously, but they are all from a neighboring barrio, so I imagine it has to do with teachers' recommendations and word of mouth.

As for cameras, all 9 of them have been donated by people for the kids to use - they are the basic little digital cameras. So we are mainly teaching them the creative, compositional side of photography, and less on the technical side. Especially since I have to keep remembering they are all between the ages of 11 and 12. Still a bit young to get too technical, especially when many are still learning to read.

So that's the lowdown on that. Today we endured maybe the hottest day of my life and spent the morning with the class, then we took them down to the market to take photos and after we went to the baseball game but this time only took pictures - didn't play. This was beacuse we had zero energy and I couldn't even imagine putting on one of those smelly gloves since it would limit the amount of fresh air that could reach my body. I'll take fresh air anywhere. I am forgetting to mention the highlight of the day (sarcasm at its best)when we had returned mid-day to the office after our long morning, and the electricty wasn't working, so again, no fans. We pulled out the rocking chairs and sat outside with our soaked towels draped over our bodies. Like old grandmas on a hot summer day. That's us.

Off to bed and no, I will NOT be taking a shower tonight since we have had no water. All day. After so much sweating and heat, no fresh shower. I am off to jump in a puddle.

encounters

Here's the San Juan del Sur beach. Note the adorable dog in the bottom who was tanning himself in the sunset. And napping.

Also on this beach we encountered:

An old lady, not wearing enough supportive clothing, going for an early morning jog with 5 dogs on leashes and a parrot resting on her arm. Crazy? Or talented to be able to juggle all of those animals while exercising? You decide.

An old man who apparently is the town drunk/homeless guy, having a snooze. He made many appearances during our stay actually: once asking if we were going to finish our food at the market since he wanted to generously finish it for us, and once letting Anita know that she had a "very pretty face".

beach trip

We're back from a trip to the coast - a very exciting trip as it is Anita's first time seeing the Pacific Ocean! We think, that is. As we are geographically challenged and are not sure of some locations where she's been in the water, which I'm too embarrassed to ask about, so we'll just go with the idea that it was her first time. And she loved it! As did I. The water was so warm, it was like a bath.

Anyways, to start, we took the fun chicken bus to get there, and we learned a valuable lesson. Sit in the front of the bus. We made this promise to ourselves after arriving in San Juan with sore butts and mild cases of car sickness. Plus on the second bus we had to take, we stood in the back, thinking it would be just a quick trip and to kindly let our fellow passengers enjoy the seats (we are thoughtful people), only to get cramped into the corner by bags of food and supplies, and ladies who decided to get comfortable and stand in our very valuable personal space, directly underneath my armpit and where Anita's left foot should go. You would think that the presence of my armpit would be enough to make someone move (trust me, it should be), but apparently for this lady it wasn't. I may not smell as bad as I think I do. Anita woke up the next day with one sore leg.

But alas we arrived in the small town of San Juan del Sur, and it was so cute. We had heard many compaints that it is a touristy, overpriced beach town, which it was, but it was still so cute! I loved it. And I think I want to live in a beach town. Everyone is so relaxed. And the water is so nice. Just so refreshing. Especially after the heat of Granada, since there was a wonderful breeze through town.

We situated ourselves, and then that night met up with a friend of a girl I work with who lives down there. He does fishing tours and rents out property, and it was interesting to talk with someone who lives there and can have some more insight into the town. Basically, it's Telluride in Nicaragua. A small town, tourists discovered it, realtors came in and drove up the prices, and now there are more realtors than locals (or so it seems) and no one is buying. What do you do. We had drinks and food up at this gorgeous resort where you look out over the ocean and watch the sun set, and it was a nice introduction to things.

The next day we headed off to some neighboring beaches, and they were gorgeous. Totally uncrowded, and we ended up all by ourselves where we decided to camp out for the day. It was hot as hell, but we found a shady spot to bring relief to our tanning process, and read our books and enjoyed ourselves, not doing anything really. Not much thinking going on with me, just focused on tanning and having an empty brain, both of which come naturally to me. We came home to realize we were more red than tan, which was not the best surprise, especially since it elevated our inner temperature about 10 degrees, making for a hot night sleep. Oh and also, being in San Juan enabled us to take showers in the morning (hooray for non-stop water!) but apparently they encounter the problem of electricity being turned off sporadically. Wonderful! Which you wouldn't think would be too much of a problem except when you realize that fans need electricity. Yes, they do, I can assure you.

The next day was a day of relaxing. And watching European soccer/football. Yay Barcelona! Otherwise we wandered around, had lunch at the market which had amazing local food (We are getting our nutrients! We ate fish there! Protein at last!), and went for a hike up to see Jesus. Not the real guy, sadly, but a statue of him that overlooks the town from a mountain. Pretty cool. He meant business. There we encountered a family from Ohio who I am quite positive are in the dictionary under the listing for "American tourists". They did such charming things as refer to the Nicaraguan cordoba as "not real money" and ignore the girl who worked at the gate when she spoke to them since they didn't know a word of spanish. The father wore a shirt telling the world that he loves Alaska and the mother informed Anita, when she told them she was from Spain, that she too had a t-shirt that said Spain on it. Great folks. The hike was also entertaining since on the way, you get to see the monstrosities that foreigners have constructed there. I'm talking Mediterranean villas with infinity pools at every place. I think I'm just jealous.

So now we are back in Granada, where, only AFTER our walk home with heavy bags, it seems to be getting a bit cooler. As in, it may now be 93 degrees instead of 95. We're getting somewhere. Tomorrow is our day of planning for this weekend's class, which takes a long time when you put it off all day, doing other unimportant stuff and procrastinating. I'm good at that.

telepizza

Just a little interesting tidbit - we had pizza delivered to us tonight! Pretty cool, right? We don't even have a street address (there are no numbers here for houses, just street names and a general description in terms of how many blocks away from something you are) but they made it! And it was delicious. We splurged and payed a whopping $1.50 for the actual delivery. After a big baseball practice (where the ball twice went directly between my legs and under my glove into the outfield - not embarrassing at all) and a day of walking aroud with eight kids taking photos in the blistering sun, we definitely deserved it.

early class

While I am all for enthusiasm, there is a point where one should tone it down.

I found that out this morning when we were getting ready for our class, which starts at NINE AM and the first student showed up at 7:30am. That's right, 7:30am. We had just woken up! Anita told him, half asleep and in her pajamas, that the class doesn't start until 9am and that he needed to come back later. However, the other 6 that were there today showed up at, oh, around 7:45am and said that they would just wait outside, thinking surely we wouldn't just make them wait outside. But being the ever-disciplined person that I am (some may just call me anal, I just say I'm being professional), I made them stay outside until 8:45am so that they learned their lesson. I did feel bad though when they found a mango while they were waiting and brought it to us. I'm mean. I know.

Punctuality! It isn't just about not being late apparently!

deep thoughts

A few more things about life here that may be interesting, or may not.

But first, a thought from my awesome travel partner, Anita, that I think is genius: For those here, and anywhere really, who think that we, as tourists, may be stupid, inexperienced, out of place, (i.e. the girl in the market who laughed at us (see previous post)), we would like to drop you off in the subway station at Times Square during rush hour and see how you do. Good luck with that. Let's talk again after, when you've figured that one out. Thanks.

I'm still not understanding anyone here, but I've begun to blame it on the fact that they don't pronounce there "s" here and that they have a very strong Nicaraguan accent. And then I feel better.

Oh and by the way, many people, including us before we arrived, would think that the men here would be aggressive toward women because of the Latin men stereotype, that they would be hollering at us, whistling, etc. but you would be quite surprised. Most times they don't even look! It's great! We have concluded that it is worse in New York City and Madrid. The worst for sure is Italy, but Nicaragua, not so bad. (That one is for you dad!)

Something odd - we met 5 Dutch people in our first week here. That's a lot right? And last night was the Orange party at the Dutch-owned hotel run by a guy we know here, and there were tons more. For such a small country, this seems strange to me. PS. For an interesting story, check out what happened yesterday for Orange Day in Holland. Crazy and sad stuff.

It's Labor Day here! Happy May Day!

never ending days

So since we wake up at 6am, the days just seem so freaking long. Since this is unusual for me to be up so early, I'm not sure if this is common for early risers, but good lord, when 6pm hits, I feel like it's time for bed.

And a few days ago, we truly had one of the longest days since we've been here - in a not-so-good way, but we made the best of it.

We decided to do a trip up to Masaya, known to be touristy, but the place you go to buy souvenirs since it is known for its huge market with crafts, hammocks, etc. I was thinking how great it would be to get some gifts, get something for myself, see other tourists around since there aren't many here. Sounds pleasant.

So we hopped on a bus to get there, which drove us to what seemed like a huge dirt field filled with masses of dust, trash, locals and other buses. We got off and it was so hot - just so hot. The heat cannot be conveyed in words. And no tourists. Which we thought was odd. But we headed into the market that was right there and were immediately overwhelmed. It had so much junk like shoes, clothes, bath products, food with flies buzzing around it, all totally local stuff. And we were the ONLY gringos there. We were so confused, so hot, so lost, since it was a maze of alleyways and everything looked the same. I swear they all sell the same stuff and could make life easier if they condensed a bit. But anyways, we were made fun of by a girl who was working there, and thank god for Anita who could understand and give a piece of her mind right back at her. We spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out where we were and how it all went so wrong, all while inhaling smells that I swear shouldn't be allowed and getting more and more frustrated. We couldn't pull out our guide book because we would have looked even more out of place, and everyone was just moving so fast. So fast! We bought a Coke, looked at each other, and realized we were both thinking the same, that we should get back on the bus and go home. We failed. And we had no energy to figure it out. We got on the bus, pulled out our peanut butter sandwiches and had a good laugh about it all, at just how pathetic we were in the whole situation. We were so overwhelmed with the culture shock that we had to balance it out by going back and watching the European soccer tournament at a bar and drinking. I had two drinks and felt MUCH better. I think at this point it was only noon too, and the sun was just starting to beat down. God, just terrible. But drinks do help. Yes indeed.

All in all, another day with lessons learned. We realized later on that we were at the wrong market - there are two and we went to the local one. Duh. Good to know. Perhaps we will give it another go, perhaps not. So no one should expect any gifts from Masaya.

And PS: This photo is definitely NOT Masaya. It's Granada.

a change in temperature

Yes, your eyes are not fooling you, that is Anita wearing a winter hat. The reason being that we hiked a volcano yesterday morning and the temperature there was 60 degrees, a drop from the 100 degree temps in Granada. We did not come prepared, as no one really warned us about this dramatic change, but thankfully our guide had extra clothing for himself that he selflessly shared with us. I had on a huge XL sized red long-sleeved shirt. So yes, this was our trip up to Mombacho Volcano, a quick trip since the volcano hovers right over the city. It was so great to be cold! I made sure not to complain too much about it, since as soon as we returned to the city, we were bombarded again by the heat and wanted to turn around and go back.

On this hike, we saw such botanical wonders as the plant smoked by indigenous people to cause abortions, the plant used in Viagra, and the "sensitive" plant that wilts when you touch it and stays that way for a few hours until it feels better about itself. Our guide also informed us that on the volcano is a plant that gets you high as well as a plant used to induce diarrhea. Who knew! You can take care of quite a few things on Mombacho. We debated bringing some of the stuff back with us to start a new business in the states, but then thought that perhaps we'd run into some problems at customs, so we decided against it.

granada

Here is a photo to give you a sense of what the city of Granada looks like, architecturally, but to get a real, personal sense, imagine a layer of sweat on your body, lots of heat, stray dogs at your feet, etc. And there you have it.

Anyways, a bit of notes on life so far:

It's expensive here! Well, not expensive of course, but not as cheap as one would think it would be, and definitely not relative to the level of the economy here. Granada is supposed to be more expensive than other Nicaraguan cities, but they all are apparently pricier than one would expect. Or at least what I had expected. For instance, at restaurants, we are spending sometimes close to what we would spend in the US. Damn tourists.

We were fortunate to make friends with a scorpion the first night we arrived, after we were alerted in the middle of the night by the barking dog we are watching. I was too tired to be scared so we got the broom, slammed it down onto he scorpion and killed it (I think). Funny how ballsy a lack of sleep will make you.

Not to brag, but we played baseball the other day and I hit a home run and our team won. Ok, so we were playing a team of 10 year olds, but that doesn't take away from the glory I felt at the time and still feel now. It was so much fun - baseball is huge here and we played on a trash-filled, dirt field in the barrio with some kids from our school. We're totally locals. Big props to Anita for running full force into the field of garbage to get the ball that was overthrown to her. I've never seen such dedication.

Our body clocks have adjusted nicely as we now go to sleep at 9pm at the latest and wake up at 6am. It's impossible to sleep past that time, due to heat, the fully-risen sun and barking dogs. Who knew I was such a grandma. Actually, I did know that. So. Pathetically, life as usual - no change there.

The best part of the day - showering. Which happens only at certain times of day because they turn the water off in the morning after 6am, more or less, and don't turn it back on until about 3pm-ish. It does two things: makes a good excuse for not doing the dishes after breakfast, and makes you that much more excited for your shower at night. Honestly, it's the highlight of our day after being out all day. Although I feel bad for anyone who has to smell me until then.

Another adjustment here: our lack of nutrient intake. Due to our volunteering budget, we are trying to save money on food, which lead us last week to a nightly cuisine of pasta, and this week we have moved up in the world to dinners of rice and beans, which are actually delicious when you add a few spices and olive oil and eat it with tortilla chips. Oh and by the way - we got the beans for 25 cents at a local little store behind someone's home. A find, right?

That's it for now. I don't want to overwhelm you with our stories all at once, so more to come later. Plus more photos. You can see what I've got so far on my flickr site which I'll be adding as I take them.

Gotta go take my shower now!

clase

Our classroom! Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself, that Anita and I got all this stuff set up in our makeshift classroom. In this photo the kids hadn't arrived yet, clearly, but you can imagine 8 kids, very attentive, ecstatic to be there, hanging on to every word we say...you get the picture.

perros

Sooo....apparently dogs and I don't get along in this country.

This dog in the photo? Hated me. Right after what you see here in the photo, it aggressively barked at me, and it's friends came out and barked at us and chased us off. I pictured an Alfred Hitchcock "The Birds" moment, but instead of birds, with dogs. I swear it felt like there were 20 that were coming after us.

Also, we are living with a dog who annoys me. Which is weird, because dogs almost always don't annoy me. I don't even want to pet it! I'm kind of mean to it!

What's happening here - I like kids and I don't like dogs! It's opposite day.

nica vida

Hola de Nicaragua! That's a demonstration of the level of spanish that I can speak, apparently. I know I like to brag about having my minor in spanish at BU, but apparently I've forgotten most everything that I learned. Oh well. It's coming back to me little by little, but I'm sure people are getting sick of my usual response of a blank stare when they speak to me. I can get my words out relatively well (meaning, in broken spanish) but when it comes to understanding, it's not so easy. I knew I should have litsened more to those spanish podcasts before I left! Dammit!

But alas, here we are, and I'm writing after having just finished our first class of photography. How it works is that Anita and I will be teaching a group of nine kids on the weekends. We went into it without knowing too much, so it came as a sort of surprise when we found out we would be the actual teachers, doing it by ourselves (considering my lack of teaching experience and my hesitation towards actually liking children), but it was actually really fun, I have to say. I'm growing up! The kids are so sweet, they learned to speak slowly with me, and we had a nice adventure out into the barrio where we all took portraits of each other. The kids are really into it, which is great for us. Makes our lives easier. And the people are so friendly and warm towards everyone.

Anyways, backing up a bit...we arrived on Sunday to hot hot weather. It's not as horrible and humid as I had prepared myself for (which is my tactic - always prepare for the worst and you will never be disappointed. And yes, I do realize that makes me a negative person. Oh well.) but it is definitely very very hot. We met with the lady in charge of the organization, she brought us into the city where we had a nice dinner outdoors with some of her friends here, and got a taste of what it's like. Granada a lovely little city (more like a big town really) with colorful one-story buildings and lots of happy people. Everyone is out and about, not dying of the heat, apparently. We will have to learn their secrets.

We spent the week orienting ourselves, having coffee and meals at the cafes, wandering the town, and we took a quick one day trip to Laguna de Apoyo (which is what this photo shows - it's a crater of a volcano that has become a lake. Or something like that). It's a beautiful spot known as the place people go to have a break from the city and escape the heat and it was definitely that. Until, that is, we took the ascending 3 hour hike, that took way longer than that (I am not in shape I guess?), in a forest of trees that blocked ALL wind, creating a cocoon of heat and mugginess, if you will. It was an uphill battle to the top, and I found out that there is someone in this world who sweats more than me, and that person is Anita. And she is proud to admit it. Although not happy about it, as we both ended up with wet clothes and lots of dirty sweat once we reached the top (you're welcome for the visual). But oh well. I am actually quite proud of us and our adaptation to the constant sweat and heat. Or rather, we haven't adapted, we just try to ignore it. Therefore I will stop talking about it to forget about it right now, as I am sweating profusely and I stink terribly. But moving along...

Anyways, much to catch up on and I think I will write in small doses so I will be back in a bit with more anecdotes. As always with traveling there are some funny things to report. So get excited and stay tuned. Well, not that exciting. But will be worthwhile to read, I think. Ahhh so much pressure now.

en route

I know it's been a month since I've posted and I'm not going to give excuses again, or say that it won't happen again, because clearly it will, so I'll just dive into things. I'm at the Miami airport right now, finished with a red-eye (never fun, especially with a screaming baby and turbulence) and meeting up with Anita here before boarding our flight to Nicaragua. But first, a few observations of the Miami airport:

No moving walkways. What? My bag is heavy and I just had to trek across the whole airport. I am a lazy American and feel I deserve one in every American airport!

Lots of spanish speakers. I feel that if I was more delirious than what I am after barely any sleep, I may think I was already in Nicaragua.

Lack of Starbucks. All I want is my coffee and it seems all there is are only au bon pains and weird cafeteria breakfast places. Don't despair - I did find one, but again, this is America - wouldn't there be Starbucks' everywhere? I feel like I'm already in a different country.

Anyways, next I'll be writing from Nicaragua. Hopefully not too hot, despite the 97 degree constant weather I've been seeing on weather.com. And hopefully a bit less nervous about the whole language barrier. I'm counting on the fact that it will all come back to me. Right?

(PS. Please excuse my grumpiness. Most likely it is due to my lack of sleep)

Until then!

ideas

It's a snowy yet gross day, due to the fact that it has been sunny and warm for weeks and everything is melted and dirty, and the snow today unfortunately is not helping enough to cover up the ugliness. So I thought I'd put up this Thailand photo to remind me of better weather times.

I'm at work, the job I despise as a concierge, therefore I am thinking. Thinking a lot. And I am enlisting you for help. I realize that I want to work only for myself. That way I don't get annoyed at people who are incapable of doing a good job and I only have myself to depend on. I just need to think of what I want to create. I'd like it to incorporate photography. But I want to do my own business, be it creating some sort of craft and selling it, creating a service for people to use, lord knows. But if you have any ideas as to what would make your life easier that you have been waiting for someone to come up with, please share. Maybe I can help. I am all ears.

Otherwise I am going completely stir crazy. I need to stop this six day work week as I need at least two days off where I can relax. I have learned my lesson. One day off per week is not enough because you inevitably spend that day worrying you aren't doing everything you need to do and trying to get all your fun in on one day combined with your errands you need to do, therefore not relaxing one bit. Sigh. I'd like to also take a road trip of some sort that gets me beyond Montrose and its Target and DMV. That is not a whole lot of fun. But soon...off season and Nicaragua. I can make it!

sneak preview

Tonight was a great night. For 2 reasons.

1. We hosted an event here for the film festival that has been on my mind for months now, has stressed me out the past few weeks, and eventually it snuck up on me and before I knew it, tonight it was to happen. A lesson I learned is that I am not, nor do I want to be, an event planner. I mean, let's talk about it. RSVP's. It is on the invitation for a reason. Just let me know! Don't make me contact you repeatedly to get an answer. This was necessary because part of the event was a movie at our theatre here, which only seats 185. Considering we sent invitations out to over 200 people and I hand delivered about 80, I spent the past few weeks concerned we would oversell it. Anyways, 130 responses later, and only 80 people come. You just can never know I guess. Hence why I don't like planning events. But it was a great night - everyone was really happy, the reception afterward went well, the people were so friendly, and it left me with a warm happy feeling that makes me happy about my job. Something to remember when I start complaining about it in a few weeks.

2. The film we saw was amazing!! I can't explain how much I liked it. Since I was working as everyone was coming in, I creeped in as it was starting, sat in the back corner and laughed out loud all by myself. I couldn't help it! It's going to be released in July - our director saw it at Sundance and loved it, so she had it brought here for this event, and everyone here loved it too. It's called 500 Days of Summer, and I highly recommend that you all see it when it is released. It's a romantic comedy that is intelligent, quirky and unexpected. The actual film was a surprise for everyone (including me) until the film started rolling in the theatre, which made it that much more exciting. Suspense is a good thing, I am learning. Check out the trailer for it here.

Oh and I forgot there is a third reason why tonight was amazing - I got to take a box full of chocolates home that were leftover from the reception. A highlight indeed. My painful sugar headache I am feeling at the moment is well worth it.

muddy mess

Someone got into some mud the other day. And was quite happy about it. Although her mother was not.

let's play ball

Nothing like a good game of catch with Charlotte using snowballs as the object to catch. The game never ends! The snowballs are everywhere!

Note: the game seen here is being played in the pond in town park that snows over in the winter. Everything was fine that day. However - after over a week of sun and no snow, it has returned to being a slushy pond beneath the snow. Which I found out the other day after finding myself and Charlotte knee deep in dirty water. Lovely. My shoes, after laying them on the heater to dry overnight, are about a size too small.

move in ready

Cute house, right? Modest, simple, basic...and $6.9 million. Still want it? By the way: no yard, no covered garage, small downstairs bedrooms with windows more like air shafts. Sigh.

Or, if that's too much money, feel free to check out this one. It needs a "major remodel" but is priced low, at $1.495 million.

Gotta love this town's realtors. Really helping the average local people to afford a place in this town. Although I do like one - the one who let me take photos of this listing.

film releases

It's been kinda cool to see the films screened back at the Film Festival being released gradually to the public and to read how they do and if people liked them. I just saw a review for the film Gomorrah which was one of the more disturbing ones I saw but I liked it, so I guess the brutality was worth it. Other people like it too! And all the Slumdog success is pretty cool. A lot of people like to talk about how they saw it first while it was here, because apparently watching movies can be a competition. Did you know?

super saturdays

I don't have many new photos so I'm using another of the old slides from photographs taken by my grandfather (And dad I'm still scanning! Slowly, but surely they will be done!). This is a view of Diamond Head from an airplane window. (duh)

So as I don't have any real interesting stories, this will be a scattered posting but I thought I'd update the blog anyway. So here goes:

I booked my trip to Nicaragua! Flying down there on 4/19, so surely the blog will get more exciting around that time. Maybe even readable. Possibly enjoyable.

Sadly, due to my procrastination, incorrectly-sized mattes delivered by the frame company, and lack of happiness with my print quality, I am NOT in the show I had signed up for here. I waited too long to get it all done and learned my lesson to prepare myself better next time. Luckily it wasn't a big deal for the lady who was organizing it and I could pull out, but still, disappointing.

I've been snowboarding blues! Not perfectly, but I get down! And I only bail about half the time! It's frightening because it feels like it's as steep as a cliff, while I know it's not. I am dramatic. After some more practice, I imagine and hope it will get less daunting. Oddly after spending all day working on it yesterday my neck is now sore. Hmmm. Because my neck is involved in snowboarding? I think not. Therefore I am confused. Confused and sore.

I love Bravo. Bravo TV, that is. This is the best time of year for me. Real Housewives of OC had the finale and will be airing the reunion next week. The finale was followed by the Real Housewives of NYC premiere, which is pure euphoria for me. Millionaire Matchmaker has premiered. Top Chef finale is next week. And next up is Make me a Supermodel. Good god I'm getting excited just typing this out! Bravo is just the best. I don't know what subconscious addictive measures they use and how they do it, but I can't stop. It's interesting (or sad?) - I can't get into tv shows usually, but these suck me in and I can watch them over and over again. I wave my white flag and embrace it.

Alright. Enough blabber for now. More blabber to come.

my job

Very timely, the NY Times has written an article about ski clubs, which includes talk of Telluride's and a quote from my boss. So, if anyone's wondering what kind of a place I work at (where people leave their trash everywhere, see previous post), it's like this...

baffled

Please help me. If someone can explain reasons for the following, I would be much appreciative.

(FYI, these habits have been witnessed at my concierge job, which has taught me that I will, from now on, avoid working in the customer service industry)


-When there is a trash bin directly to your left, why would one leave trash on the counter? Is it too difficult to move one's hand to the left and let go of the object?

-When there are multiple signs explaining a recycling program that uses two distinct bins - one bright blue with writing all over it about how to recycle, the other is just basic black - why would one still put non-recyclable items in the incorrect bin?

-When a cushion falls off of a chair, wouldn't one usually pick it up? And maybe even put it back in its place?

-Haven't men learned to put the toilet seat down? (see the previous related question regarding putting things back how you found them)

-If someone drops something, why wouldn't they pick it up? Bad back maybe? Can't bend over?

-Is it polite to take food off of a plate I am carrying before I have even reached the place where I am putting it?


I could go on and on with the behavior that just blows my mind at that job. I know these people usually have others doing things for them, but honestly, isn't this stuff just common sense and decency that your parents taught you? I think people need to teach their children better how to be respectable human beings.

decisions decisions

So for this upcoming exhibit, the theme is Before & After. With my uncreative mind (ironic for a wannabe photographer, I know) I have come up with the following interpretation for my photos:

Having moved too many times to count in the past 10 years or so, I have always been fascinated with the objects/belongings I've brought with me to each new place, why I chose certain things to keep with me, what significance they have to me, and where they end up in my new abode. I find there is always a discomfort in trying to find each object a new place in its new home, since it was originally for another home, but now has to find a spot in the new one. Often time each object takes on a new meaning from "before" (the previous home) to "after" (the new home).

I'm thinking that other people experience this sort of transition from an old home to a new one. So I photographed objects in my new place and where they have a new home, and how it fits (unwell sometimes, which is why the lighting is sometimes harsh and the colors are desaturated) in its new place. The montage above are my options, thus far. And I think it will be all of my options because I'm running out of time! Yes, I've procrastinated, as usual. Any thoughts on which to choose? I'm editing it down to 3...

Discuss.

for sale

Anyone want to move in to the apartment below my sister's? Looks like you'll be sleeping in the bathroom though. Minor detail.

new year times two

Happy chinese new year! I didn't realize it was already time for it, but apparently it is. Which is weird because that means that it's been two years since I've been in Hong Kong for the Chinese new year when I did my big Southeast Asia travels. Two years! Holy moley. How did that happen. Anyways, new year, new times.

Things are good here. There were about 10 days of sunny weather where I swear it felt hotter than the summer. I know it wasn't of course, because the thermometer said about 40, but the sun is intense here! Honestly I could have worn flip flops. Otherwise, been working a lot, getting out, going to the gym, a bit of hiking and snowshoeing...it's been great. Except that I have a new fondness for pastries and cookies since I am constantly surrounded by them at my job. So hard to resist! They talk to me! They really do ask to be eaten. So I oblige.

I also have a great idea for a new job venture. (And yes, I know, I seem to have a new job idea every few months.) I can't take all the credit for this one as it was my co-worker who got the wheels turning, but she was saying that I should take photos of people in the summer on hikes, like portraits of them at the peak or end of the hike. Which got me thinking...I could be the photographer that documents the hike/tour. I mean, please tell me if I'm off base here, but don't we all love to have great photos of adventures we go on? And not just of ourselves posing (which I would do as well even if I hate cheesy portraits), but of us hiking, biking, rafting, etc. where we are in action. Unposed and candid. And then I would take photos of the scenery along the way. Then they can order whichever ones they would like after the hike. That way it's kind of like a documentation of their outing. So they would have good, quality photos to have with them of their trip! I have to talk to some outdoor stores and see if it's feasible, but I'm thinking they'd go for it. I'd probably just charge for the guests' photo orders, but maybe I could add in a cost to the tour organizers and they could use the photos for marketing. And in the end, it couldn't be terrible because I'd get to go on some cool hikes! Well?? Thoughts?

there is hope

How exciting is this! I hope they can do it.

1st grade humor

I am immature, which is why I find this article HILARIOUS.

photos of the day

This is pretty cool - seeing how so many people spent this amazing day.

color coordination

So I think I've calmed down since the other day and come up with a more neutral color for my wall. Thank you all for talking some more sense into me. Not that black is bad, but I think I need to start slowly. So I've decided on the color that's in this blog post. It's cute! And her colors seem similar to mine with the browns and reds. So this will be my next project. Someday. It may take months, but it's on my mind...

chilling with my sock

It's been awhile since Charlotte has visited the blog, so here's your latest labradoodle fix.

back in black

Call me crazy but I think I want to paint this wall black. Is that a bad idea? I photoshopped what this side would like like (very sketchily, don't look too close...). I don't know if it goes with the wood drawers/kitchen that face this wall, but I think it could work. No? Thoughts? Other colors?

UPDATE! A good point brought up by my dad - is it possible to paint the white back over black paint? Since I'm renting I will have to paint it back when I move out, so would I be creating way too much work by doing this? Anyone?

showing my stuff

Some exciting news - I am going to be exhibiting some photographs in a group show here done by the arts school in conjunction with the museum. The title is Before & After and my idea is a bit obscure but fits the bill (or so I tell myself). The show is in February and is totally casual, but I'm excited! I'll keep you posted on my progress.

let the sun shine in

This makes me so happy!

broken butt

I think I've injured my tail bone. I fell on it not once, but twice today, and I had to take a few moments the second time around to remember how to breathe. Oh yes, and this was when I was snowboarding, I should clarify. On a good note, I'm getting there. While my falls were more painful, there were fewer than usual, so that's good, right?

let the year begin!

Ahh 2009 - you have arrived! I'm a bit ambivalent about the new year. 2008 really was a good year for me. Looking back on things, it's been full of life changes, travel, new surroundings, health, Obama, and much much more. But then terrible things happened too - the economy, mmm....I've been sitting here for the past few minutes trying to think of truly bad things. But for me, it's actually been an ok, if not greatly positive, year. I consider myself really lucky. I am definitely looking forward to 2009 though. With my upcoming trip to Nicaragua, my new outlook of feeling healthier here in the rockies, and who knows what else, things will be good I think. And after speaking with friends and family, I really truly believe that this will be a year for positive change for all. And that is the word from me, if it matters at all, which it probably doesn't. But there's my two cents. And if you're reading this blog, that means that my two cents maybe count for something.

So to start off the new year are a few random updates from me, since I tend to not be updating this often (sorry Brooke!) and my mind is all over the place lately...

-My snowboarding is improving. The rumor around town was that after 3 days, things should start to click. And I am happy (and relieved) to announce that it is true! Plus or minus a day or two. But today was the day where I actually started to feel comfortable in the uncomfortable position of going sideways down a bumpy hill with both feet strapped onto a board. Seems so illogical, but that's snowboarding for you.

-Holidays are terrible in a resort town. Get out, people! Or if you are here, calm down! You're on vacation! Don't ask me for too much! I'm not used to doing this much work since there is usually no one here! No one except for happy people who you should aspire to be like! Try smiling, will you?! And PS: don't take up the whole ski run or I'll run into you! (By the way, I'm better now because they are gone. I'm done with the exclamations)

-Tom Cruise is a good person. I say this after much deliberation, as I have always made fun of him and have not taken anything he's done seriously (except maybe Top Gun when I was in high school). BUT. After his very generous donations to the film festival and then for supplying his Valkyrie movie to be premiered here in Telluride to raise money for the local high school theater, I think he's a good guy. He'd be an even better guy if he and the family had shown up to the movie, but I can't be too picky. And the movie was decent. I liked it.

More thoughts to come. I'm exhausted from snowboarding which has affected my stream of thoughts. I will write more. Soon, I promise.

And to sum it all up - HAPPY NEW YEAR!