somedays i feel like crying, don't matter if it's rain or shine

so, it's been a little while since I've updated you all..thanks for all the Mac hints, I took it to a store today so hopefully they can fix it and I won't lose all my files :(

I was going to do highs and lows, but it's been so long since I wrote that would take forever. But let's just say the highs have been coming more frequently in the past few days. The end of last week was a rough time for me. I was having a lot of trouble dealing, not with the Nicaraguan life, but with some other issues here. It was hard not to have all my best friends to turn to, so I kind of reverted into pre-college Jenn that likes to keep everything inside. This didn't bode well with some people, so not only was a feeling like crap, people were mad at me for not talking because they thought it was rude...great. I hope we're past that now and I can just keep my mouth shut when stuff bothers me because that's all that seems to work :/ (alyssa-don't be mad, you taught me well, it's just not working here! haha) Thursday mass actually came at exactly the right time. And this week, Greisy and Lora are coming with me. I miss masses at Fairfield where I can go with 20 other people and the kiss of peace takes a full 10 minutes.

I don't have Friday classes yet I had 5 straight hours of classes this past Friday. Apparently in Nica, when a professor has to miss class, they can reschedule it since all the students in the same carrera have the same schedule. This meant class from 1-3 on Friday afternoon..good thing we weren't traveling anyway. We also had Spanish from 10-1. After class we went to the mall to buy a present for Marcello because it was his birthday on Tuesday and his party Friday night. We told him we were gonna get a pinata and he seemed into it so we did...it was interesting walking into a party with a pinata but everyone seemed to have fun so i'm glad we did. It was so fun to walk into his party and see not only our language partners, but also people we knew from Ethics that we knew were going to be there. Walking in further, KVV and I spotted a girl we knew from Desarrollo. Basically, we knew everyone there and it felt really cool to actually belong in Nicaragua..and also to be at a house party instead of the club..much more to my liking :)

On Saturday Lora, Kristen and I left for Matagalpa. (Sarah and Xander didn't want to come, and Greisy had too much work). By this time, I was pretty sick and probably shouldn't have gone, but I was almost immediately better upon reaching Matagalpa and it's cool, clean mountain air. It was wonderful. Since we took a bus bound for Jinotega, we didn't go to the Matagalpa bus station, we just got dropped on the side of the road. That made finding our hostel a little challenging (Alba knew someone so called and made reservations for us..we end up getting a room and breakfast for $7!) We found a nice taxi driver who really took care of us and even spoke to the hostel owner on the phone to make sure we were going to the right place. Another guy was in the taxi with us and he spoke English. He then talked to the cab driver for us and the guy that spoke English assured as we were in good hands. It was a really cute exchange. While still in the cab, we saw some people that could have been Nicaraguan, or could have been American. They saw us and called out something along the lines of "Hey girls, how do you like Nicaragua", in English mind you. We laughed it off and continued to the hostel. No sooner than 2 blocks down the street from our hostel on the way to lunch, we run into them again. Turns out they were California, and now living in Matagalpa. I think by the time we leave, we will have met everyone from the United States that lives in Nicaragua.

Some days I wake up dreaming
Feels like I've never even woke
I answer life's big questions
As if it's one big joke

The rest of the day we just explored the city. I bought a shirt for $2 at a cute little shop and we got coffee/smoothies at a little shop. For dinner we went to this chicken place (aka gallo pinto for Jenn!) where the guy soon figured out we spoke English and started speaking to us in Spanglish. He really hooked us us, and when we didn't want soda he went out to buy us juice. On the way out he told us in both English and Spanish to be careful...everyone is always looking out for us!

In Matagalpa there were kids everywhere, and they weren't all beggers like in Managua. I started my photo project there because you could really see so many different emotions and stories in each face. I know where I'm going if I need more photos for my project.

The next day we got up kind of late and ate breakfast at the hostel. Then we took a bus bound for Jinotega that let us off at Selva Negra..a beautiful cloud forest. We walked around a little bit, met the owner, swang on the swingset, saw a copy of my rainforest book in spanish, and had some fresh fruit juice. The food was a bit pricey but all locally grown so it was worth it. When we started down the hill to return to the road and catch the bus, a local offered us a ride..in English. Needless to say, we accepted and rode in the back of their pickup truck most of the way back to Matagalpa so we could catch a bus back to Managua. It was great riding down the windy roads in the open air. And for those of you who are nervous, it was also completely safe...

Some days I feel like singing
I sit back and just groove the day away
Maybe pick up a guitar
And play what I want to play

When we finally got on the bus home, we soon realized it was not an express bus, but rather a bus like we took to Rio San Juan that decided to stop for every breathing being on the side of the road (including chickens). It was interesting to say the least. It only took about an hour more than it should have and made for a few good laughs...definitely part of the Nica experience. They were transporting some things on top of the bus as well, and when someone needed to get something down, one of the boys working on the bus climbed up to get the package. As soon as it hit the ground, the bus started again...and completely unphased by this, the boy climbed down as the bus was moving. I was so scared for his life, but he was so used to it I guess.

Back in Managua, I found out my computer wouldn't start. I was trying everything, and at one point I unplugged the tv to try plugging my computer in that outlet because we were sure it worked. A little while later Kristen noticed her internet wasn't working. We checked to make sure I didn't mess anything up and finally realized that my computer was broken and her internet wasn't working...great right? Except when I said that just for the hell of it I would plug the TV back in just so that everything was just how we found...immediately her internet started working again...only in Nica...can anyone explain this one for me?

Today I feel like laughing
Seems to be no reason at all
And if the world stops spinning
I'm not afraid to fall

Quick update on the week - had my Spanish finals, and we all got A's!! Got a new group in Desarrollo Sostenible and they're really awesome..we worked on a project the other day then went to the teacher to have him check it over before it's due..lovinngggggg that i'm in the overachiever group! We have a test in historia on friday (orignally Monday, but apparently it's completely okay to cancel classes and reschedule them for Fridays...) I'm a little nervous, but hopefully it will be fine. We have our first real assignment in fotografia, but Kristen Lora and I are just working together after we sort of got used for our cameras by some other girls in our class. Hopefully we get that project done while we're in San Juan del Sur this weekend. The first Ethics test was also this week, easy A for all us English speakers and I don't think the Nica kids did bad either. The only other important thing that happened this week is we went out to eat a lot aka spent more money than we usually do in Managua. When I asked Kristen what else was important she said, "Well, we went out to eat a lot, which is kind of proportional to our happiness." So, true.

Today, Greisy went with me to the Mac store and after a while we finally got a guy that was able to help us. I understood most of what he said but a few times Greisy translated or confirmed things for me. After her doing that 2 or 3 times, the guy breaks out in perfect English. I thought it was hilarious. After that we talked Spanglish for a while and got everything sorted out. They're going to run diagnostic tests this weekend and I should have some more information by Monday at the latest. After that Greisy and I hung out til we met Lora for mass. Then the 6 of us Fairfield kids, Isabel, Andrea and Carlos went back out to Ola Verde (the organic place). I was going to try something new, but when they didn't have what I wanted I couldn't think fast enoguh and ended up with the same delicous meal. Then Carlos took me and Lora to the post office so we could mail a few things and then we got ice cream because obviously hadn't eaten enough already. Did you know they make Chips Ahoy McFlurry's now?? Then the 4 of us came back to hang out, watched part of Flight 93 or United 93, we weren't sure which. Then, we rented Georgia Rules and Carlos brought his DVD player over so we could watch. Carlos and Lora just left, but all in all it was a great day. I'm glad we actually got to do something at night instead of stay in our room doing nothing. It's great to have friends with cars :)

Sorry it was so long, a lot to catch up on. And sorry for the lack of pix..camera is STILL broken. San Juan del Sur this weekend! For those with facebook, check out Kristen's pix since she is the only one of the four who still has a working camera...

ps-next blog entry - perhaps stealing from elyse? i thought the Ecua looks like, smells like, etc. was really interesting...