Thursday we went to the U.S. Embassy to get absentee ballots for those who didn't fill out the form at home. It was great to be "home" for the short time we were there. Despite the special privileges we got since we're citizens, the security was about 10 times worse than at airports. Good timesss.
Friday we started Spanish class again finally and it was much less painful. Plans for San Juan del Sur fell threw. I think people were overwhelmed with school work / unaware of the short amount of time we have left here. It's already been 5.5 weeks! Next weekend is our friend Marcello's birthday so we'll probably stay in Managua on Friday to celebrate then hopefully off to Estelí which is farther north in the mountains aka COOL WEATHER!
Friday night Albs and Carlos took me and KVV along with two of the Nica girls (Gabriella and Lucia) to Las Galerias to shop a little and get this - listen to live music playing on the first floor of the mall. I obviously loved it. Then Carlos bought us all ice cream. So I guess staying "home" this weekend did have a few perks other than not having to pay for a hostel...
Saturday we went to lunch at this organic and self-proclaimed socially responsible restaurant. I was in heaven with the number of healthy, vegetarian options...we might have to make this a weekly occurence so we can all try everything we want! At night Marcello took us to Hipa Hipa again. If you know me, you know the club scene is not really my thing, especially not this often so I hope we start to find other things to do...other than Kristen seeing everyone she knows there (because of the connections her mom had when she visited)...what made the night interesting was after about an hour, 3 tall African American guys walked into the club. it was clear from the way they dressed that they were not Nicaraguan so after a while KVV got up the courage to ask where they were from...Houston and NY...they are supposedly here playing basketball for a month or so although I'm still sort of confused as to who they play for / who they're playing against / why Nicaragua, etc. Anyway, it was cool to meet some Americans in Nicaragua because that's not exactly a common occurence here.
Sunday we chilled out and ran some errands at La Union. We bought some oranges, which are ironically green here. We have yet to try them but I'll let you know how they are! Today was supposed to be filled with lots of classes but my last class got canceled and so did dance so I was out at 3. That didn't really help me get much else accomplished other than catching up with a bunch of friends, but that's more fun than reading about the historia de nicaragua anyway...
Today I realized that everything that I don't like about Nica (which isn't much) and everything that I miss about Fairfield really has nothing to do with Nicaragua or its people. It has to do with how I got here. I am here with 5 other Fairfield students and as much as we all collectively try to meet other Nicaraguans, it's hard when we're still doing that in a large group. I get frustrated and wish I could do things by myself like I'm used to but that's not an option here. It's difficult not having a place to escape to because the only place I can go is my room where I have a roommate, but I'll have to make the best of it. I was also catching up on some of The Mirror (fairfield newspaper) articles I've missed. In an article about a Fairfield grad who just won a MacArthur Fellow (yay, maybe Fairfield doesn't suck as much as all the ratings say!), the grad said, "I have learned to see Jesus in everyone, and hold myself personally accountable for what I do," he said. "If you imagine you're speaking to Jesus, it is much easier to not always be in contention with them, but rather learn to work together." I think this is a really interesting perspective that I am going to try to remember next time I'm frustrated with all of the rude comments and insensitivity that have become an all too common occurrence in our little FU group...
It's midnight. I have class at 7am...I still haven't learned how to go to bed early, so I've just learned to sleep less...and my camera is broken for the time being so pictures will have to wait...sorry!!
Escribame..Ecris-moi...write to me!!!!
PS, Fairfield you can take your rain back...I want to go to the beach soon. :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I'm happy to hear that you found a restaurant with good vegetarian options. Poughkeepsie isn't really good at that but you know how American restaurants roll.
It sucks though that you don't really have a place to go on your own to escape for a while. I feel like at college you don't really have that option much anyway. I miss having time alone to chill.
Post a Comment