When in Nicaragua, just go with it!

My one-legged taxi cab driver is using his crutch to drive.... just go with it.
 
The water stops running at two pm everyday.... just go with it.

I show up to an event ten minutes early, the event starts 45 minutes late.... just go with it.

My friend`s, cab driver gozzles a soda she bought for another friend and then demands that she return the empty glass bottle.... just go with it.

I just got completely soaked in the 10 seconds it took to run to your car, and now we have to drive home  without wind shield wipers.... just go with it.
 

UAM CUSE

Its the middle of my second week at La Universidad Americana de Managua and I am loving attending school. First, I know that I have a better chance of actually going to class and being prepared because the teachers really hold you reliable. Also, its one place where I can count on air conditioning!! Apparently, this is the first year that all of the classrooms in the university have had AC, and I am definitely glad. Normally between class periods, I am desperately trying to find a cold room to relax in. In addition, another reason I am glad to be going to school here is the CUSE program.

CUSE stands for College of University Studies in English. An entire section of this university is all English speaking faculty and students. I have a couple classes, fortunately, in this college, and it is great. Instead of feeling behind and confused, I get a break and get to feel smart again simply because I can speak English fluently. The CUSE students are wonderfully helpful too since most want to improve their English. So of course I and other students usually end up in a bilingual conversation, myself speaking (attempting) Spanish and the them English.

The students are wonderful and they have such great ideas. I really see them trying to make a difference in their country. For instance, they have a recycling inciative that is just beginning. In a country that cannot seem to find a garbage can and therefore assumes that everywhere is a good place for trash, its nice to see a  group that is unhappy about the filth and is striving to change the circumstance. Also, the students started Bibloko, an organization that writes and publishes stories online for young students to read. This project is also trying to get more computers into local public schools.

I really feel that I am surrounded by future leaders. The activities that these students are doing are incredible. I can really see the potential that even young college students posses and its amazing!

Nicaragua!

Over the past few months I have abandoned this blog, but I am ready to start it up again whole heartedly.

 A lot has changed since I last wrote, the biggest change being that I now live in Nicaragua!! I got accepted to study abroad at the Universidad Amerciana in Managua. I have been here for almost two weeks and am really falling in love with the culture.

It is sooooo different from my life in the states, but everyday I am getting more accostumed to my new life. Here are some ways in which life here is different:

1. Of course I am speaking a lot of Spanish. The accent is very different from the Mexican Spanish that I was taught. For example Nicas (Nicaraguans) do not pronounce "s", so words like "bus" turn to "boo" and "mismo" turns to "mimo".
2. There is trash everywhere in the city! Its common to see people chucking water bags, wrappers, and food out the window of their cars .I am not sure why, but people can not seem to find a garbage can around here.
3. The food is definitely one of the biggest differences. I eat gallo pinto (rice and black beans) constantly paired with something fried, such as a madura(plantain), taco, pollo (chicken), and even hunks of queso (cheese)! I definitely am still trying to get used to all the oil.

Overall though, I am loving this experience. I apologize for the lack of pictures. Apparently, my camera looks expensive, and my host mom worries that it be stolen. As a result, I am not allowed to use it often. However, in the future I will try to find a way to take pictures so that everyone can see what I am experiencing.

Sedona Hike!

Well... my "friend" from my Thanksgiving post has now become my BOYFRIEND. We have been having tons of fun together and recently went on the Seven Sacred Pools hike in Sedona. The views were nothing short of amazing. The "pools", however, were a bit disappointing. Maybe if someone could inform me of their spiritual meaning and I would appreciate them a bit more. The hike to get to them is also very short so we decided to head out on some other trails in the surrounding area including the Cibola and Jordan trails. These hikes allowed for amazing views and were fairly easy walks.


The mountain in the background is known as the Sphinx, for obvious reasons.  The trails we followed basically curved around this structure.

We arrived at the Seven Pools. I believe that this is actually a river after the snow melts and such. Maybe it is a bit more impressive then? Anyways there were three very small pools, about the size of a large foot, at the beginning. The last four pools were larger and probably two feet deep. It is pretty amazing how these pools are carved into the red stone.

 

The cutest thing about these Sedona trails are the millions of pieces of red rock that are heart shaped. In many of trees people have displayed the hearts, and with it being so close to Valentine's Day and all, the hearts really added a touch of romance. Of course, I spent much of the hike trying to convince Patrick that the hearts were nature made. But I think he still believes that someone sat there carving them all. Nope! Love is everywhere in nature. 

Thanksgiving

So I know Thanksgiving was a while ago, but life got busy with the end of the semester. So finally I can post some Thanksgiving picture. For the long five day weekend my friend, Patrick, came home with me to visit my crazy family. Since he is from Washington, he had to either sit at school for the holiday or come with me. I planned several activities, and I knew we were going to have tons of fun. One the first things we did was visit Fountain Hills, home to the tallest man-made fountain in the world. The fountain shoots over 500 feet high. It is quite amazing. My sisters loved chasing the numerous ducks and our talented game of frisbee!

That night we decided to go to the Mesa, Arizona Temple to look at the beautiful lights. We had a great time while drinking hot chocolate and walking around enjoying the Christmas spirit. 

Our last exciting activity was our trip to the Phoenix zoo. Patrick had never been to a zoo, so I mad it a priority to go. We had a blast!!

Overall, Patrick and I had so much fun coming to my home for Thanksgiving. It was a great way to ring in the holiday season.

What you'll find in Mesa, Arizona

Of course this is a cute little smart car sporting American pride.

This is a great replica of a school bus. I think the bus driver is a bit big seeing that his head is busting through the roof.

I decided to return home for Veteran's Day weekend, and see what the family had planned. They were going to see the Veteran's Day parade located in Downtown Mesa. My younger sister, Bailee, is on her high school's color guard and we were excited to see her perform in the parade. However, I was very surprised at just how entertaining the parade would be. I had no idea of the many social amenities that Mesa, Arizona offers. Here are some of the great and perhaps laughable highlights of the parade:

I feel that no caption is required here :)

So this appeared to be a typical Mesa bike gang that supports the Veterans, until we see the tiny motorcycle weaving in and out of all the other tough and expensive looking bikes. In addition, the woman driving seemed to be having so much fun, so it really added to the parade.








Well finally it was time for my sister and her band to come perform. They looked and sounded amazing. Bailee has put so much effort into Color Guard and really looks beautiful and great out on the football fields and in this case in the parade. Let's just say she really knows how to flip a rifle around. Great job Bai!!

 

Overall the parade was great and of course entertaining. It was great to see all the social clubs and activity groups that reside in Mesa.  It was also fun seeing how they spice up a Veteran's Day parade.

Final Day on the San Juan

Sunday was our final day on the river. We were just sailing straight through to our take-out location in order to get back to Flagstaff at a decent hour. Today was my lucky day to be in the "Duckie". To those of you who do not know river terms, myself included, a duckie is basically an inflatable canoe. I had been a little eerie of the duckie because I knew I would be getting wet. To make matters a bit worse, my class had camped in a canyon, where there was little sun. We woke up pretty cold only to realize that our wetsuits and gear had not dried from the day before. Also the sun would not fill our canyon until noon so nothing was going to get much warmer until were paddled into sun light. I gingerly put on my wet river shoes and suit and was ready to find a patch of sun light. My partner and I climbed into our duckie and started paddling. Without any previous experience, our efforts only seemed to spin us in circles. We learned we were somehow more coordinated and could go straight if we went backwards. Of course eventually we would just end up in our regular 360 pattern. Finally we made it to a patch of sunlight. Our red, frozen hands dried out and instead of frustration at our failing efforts, everything just became funny. Then we both had to use the restroom. I was getting desperate so our river guide told us to just stop at a beach and go. Immediately I located a perfect location a few feet ahead. We hit the sandy shore, ready to relieve ourselves. Of course, just as we stepped out of the duckie, we sunk up to our knees in mud. My partner's shoes were falling off as he tried to pry his feet from the quick-sand like mud. Once we freed ourselves we ran in opposite directions to use the restroom. Then back into the duckie we went. However, we had not realized how long we were stuck in the sticky mud. Everyone else in the group was way ahead and quickly disappearing from site. We both kicked our paddling skills into high gear trying to work with the river and avoid spinning in circles. We were exhausting our every effort, while the groups ahead weren't paddling at all and still seemed to be moving faster. At last, totally exhausted, we were able to catch up. Of course, thats when the guides and other students decide to tell us how to paddle correctly! Eventually we arrived at our pull out destination and headed down the road toward home.

I really had a great time on the San Juan. I began to see the Indian culture and desert in a different light. I had often looked at Indian Reservations with a negative connotation, but this trip really opened my eyes to a new, although ancient, culture. I have a lot more respect and understanding. The San Juan sits among gorgeous canyons and rock formations. I would encourage people to plan a trip to the area even if only to look at it. However, please research and remember the history of the area and please respect the land and artifacts.

River Trip: Day Two

The next morning we awoke and were ready to go. We had 12 1/2 miles to travel in one day, so we had to stay organized and get going. We got on the river and were off. Today we were going to be hitting several rapids so everyone was extremely excited.
After dipping and diving through the rapids were made a quick stop to a pictograph. Pictographs, unlike hieroglyphs, are painted on to the canyon walls. Because the paints come off the walls relatively easily, it is amazing to see several that have withstood time. The reason for this pictograph surviving is likely because it does not face the constant wind and is hidden on a canyon wall.I loved seeing the little hand prints that surround the painting. The big circle symbol of the pictograph is thought by some anthropologists to represent war. Of course, the exact meaning is unknown.

Also while looking at the pictographs we saw many granaries.These are storage units that were often built high of the ground and in small cubbies in canyon walls. These granaries haven't yet been examined or dug though to determine what was stored in them. Actually many sites along the San Juan have remained unexcavated in order to preserve history and tradition. It is also done out of respect to our ancestors.

In order to see the pictograph we had to cross a small river. At one point we were all up to our waist in water and up to our knees in mud. Of course this muddy water was not new to our group. The San Juan and surrounding area has survived centuries of soil erosion. The banks of the river are all sand and the river is a nice brown color. My class couldn't decide whether the river was the color of chocolate milk, cappuccino, chai tea latte, or the just chocolate. But either way, getting into the river was definitely exfoliating.

Once we saw the pictograph and crossed back over the small river, we continued downstream to make camp. Remember those groups that were with us at launch? well we had to camp just a little bit downstream from one of them, and let's just say they were not going to waste any of that beer. Til pretty late in the night we heard tons of laughing and even some mock howling. Meanwhile our group is having a camp fire discussion on the cultural and environmental issues of the river. But we did not mind the noise; it made the night hilarious for sure.

On the River: Day One

My small class arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed at five AM outside the university pool. We loaded all of our gear and set off on the four hour drive to Bluff, Utah. Most of the van slept the entire drive only to wake up to a chill wind at our launch site. The San Juan at one point was being trashed and over-used by the hordes of tourists that would flood it's shores every summer. Now the Bureau of Land Mangement restricts the amount of river runners to 15,000 a year. Because of this our class was lucky just to have been drawn to go. With the drawing, the BLM restricts when people are on the river too. That is why we were doing our river excursion in the cold fall air instead of the warmer summer months. Also as a result of the drawing system other groups were launching on the same day as my class. The must have thought we were crazy or something. We pull up to the dock and begin to outfit ourselves in wet suits, splash jackets, life jackets, river shoes, and helmets. The other groups stood confused in their shorts and sandals all the while loading several 24-packs of beer onto their boats.



Nevertheless, we all dressed and set sail in our three boats, prepared for the great adventure ahead.I really fell in love with the geology of the San Juan. The different rock formations and high cliff walls were beautiful.


Our class made a quick stop for a delicious lunch and small hike. The hike lead the group up to some ancient petroglyphs that were carved into stone by the Ancestral Pueblo. Little is known of the meaning of the pictures, so sitting around making up stories and meanings is really entertaining.

Soon our tour down the river was done for the first day. We had traveled 5 1/2 miles and were ready to make camp. Before dinner, though, we hiked to an old ruin. This location was probably my favorite. This house and kiva were built centuries before my visit and yet were perfectly preserved. We even found some old corn cobs that had resisted decomposition in the high desert walls. The kiva's insides walls were still coal black from a fire's smoke.It was truly amazing to just imagine one day in the life of this ancient culture.

On the hike back from from the ruins, the Honors director at NAU encouraged us to look at the ground. Before our eyes thousands small pieces of broken pottery lay. We had hardly noticed them. In some of the coil styled pot pieces little fingerprints and nail markings were visible. It really hit me then that the inhabitants were humans, just like us, and we were visiting their homes. Just on day one, the San Juan trip was already broadening my perspectives to a new culture.   

San Juan River Trip

At the beginning of the semester I was searching for a final class to fill my schedule and I came upon HON 244. This class seemed like a perfect fit. It gave me honor credits and had a small class size. I enrolled as was set to go although I had never heard if its main subject matter: the San Juan River. The first class I attended I learned that I was going to go on a three day river excursion.Man was I excited!! Throughout the semester my class has been reading and studying all about the environmental and cultural problems that involve the river and the surrounding area. Finally, it was time to actually see the river!

Ways to Save in College!

Just about everyday, I come up with a way to save something. Sometimes its time or money or effort or even my own sanity. As a result of all of my fabulous saving ideas, I figured I could make an on-going sequence for my blog. So every now and again when I have an saving epiphany I post about it. Hopefully someone out there can use my inspiration and save himself.

Without further ado, ways to save MONEY in college tip #1: Stop drying loads of laundry. My roommate and I were forced into doing this one day when all of the dryers were busy in our communal laundry room., but it ended up working out great. Not only do I now save about $1.25 ($0.75 per load) a week but I do not have to worry about being late to pick up my clothes.As it is common in our small laundry room for wet or dry clothes to be tossed on the floor if the owner is not exactly on time to retrieve them. In addition, I already have the perfect drying rack, my own bed. I use the ladder side to place small items like socks, shorts, and underwear, and then I can hang shirts, pants, and dresses on the bed frame. The only down side my roommate and I have discovered to this method, is that instead of it taking 45 minutes for clothes to dry, it takes around 4 hours. Eventually, I may have to break down and use the dryer again in an eurgent "I need this dry now" case, but for the time being the bed/ drying rack is working great and saving me money.

Snow Already?!

So the good news is I got my computer back and it is 100% fixed (at least I hope it is). Either way it is working great. The other news, I have not determined whether its good or bad yet, is the snow!! It happened last Friday. I came out of my Spanish 303 class and BAM, it was snowing. I loved it! It melted pretty rapidly but it did dust the top of the San Francisco Peaks creating a brilliant view. The snow was beautiful and not too cold. However, the rumor around campus is that we are going to have more snow storms this year than we have had in the past 50 years. Also this was the earliest it has snowed in the past 40 years. So not only will I be experiencing just winter, but it is bound to be an exciting one. Apparently, according to one of my sophomore friends, I looked like a real fool running out of class and capturing these photos. But what can I say? I am a freshmen. So i suppose my worrying about the cold a month in advance was not uncalled for because it is already upon me!