Bienvenidos to my Blog!

Hello Family, Friends, and Curious Readers,

Thanks for stopping in to see what I am up to. This is my first blog, and I hope not to bore you too much with the details of my life. But rather hope to offer you some insights into development work, the highs, the lows, and well the boring.

But before I move away for 27 months, let me give you a little information about myself before I lose a steady internet connection.

So after graduating from Boston College in 2005, I decided I wanted to learn Spanish and "save the world" so I moved to Cusco, Peru. I began by volunteering for The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco by researching and writing a small business plan for the organization. I continued to work with the organization until February of 2008, when I returned to the US to prepare for my move to Madrid, Spain for 15 months to study an International MBA at IE Business School. And now, after a year of searching for the perfect development job, and taking odd jobs in the meantime, I have joined the Peace Corps and am volunteering again. So wish me luck, and PLEASE someone stop me from volunteering again!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

29 Things...


Since I will be turning 29 in a few days, I decided to compile a list of 29 things I am most thankful for at this point in my life…
1.) My family– without you, I would not be who I am today.
2.) My friends – ditto.
3.) No regrets – at least none that truly matter.
4.) My education – I never really appreciated how lucky I was to have received the education I have until I started teaching.
5.) Scholarships – Being Financially free to follow your heart really takes a lot of stress off of you.
6.) Spirituality – Without faith in something, I would not be where I am or who I am today.
7.) My ability to adapt to new situations – The last 7 years would have been very difficult if I couldn’t adapt.
8.) Peanut Butter – I mean really, it makes any bad day better.
9.) Peace Corps - especially my assignment in Nicaragua
10.) Technology – Internet and Skype have saved the day more than 100 times.
11.) Falling in love – who doesn’t love that one.
12.) Having your heart broken – it’s true that which does not kill us makes us stronger and better people I say.
13.) Diet Soda – I know somewhat contrary to staying healthy, but it just makes me so happy.
14.) Latin Music – Makes you want to shake it even when you don’t really want to.
15.) Living in one of the greatest coffee regions in the world! – Addicted, seriously.
16.) Latin Men – Even if you are a sweaty beast they make you feel attractive.
17.) Speaking Spanish – makes me feel accomplished even if I am just asking for a glass of water
18.) Working out and personal trainers – I have never been more sweaty or more motivated in my life to stay healthy.
19.) Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting – Betty or Duncan really doesn’t matter to me.
20.) Never having a routine day – keeps me on my toes and from getting bored
21.) Cheese – it’s just so freaking good.
22.) When you find a song that says everything you want to say.
23.) A great dress at the second-hand store – 10 bucks for a new dress???
24.) The ability/freedom to change my life anyway I want to
25.) Not feeling pressured by peer pressure
26.) Good Red Wine
27.) Dark Chocolate
28.) Knowing that I could choose to lead a normal life, and choose not to anyway.
29.) All 29 years of my life, and every experience I have lived, and everything I have to look forward to!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

BirthWeek Fun!

I know I haven't updated in a little while, and I apologize for that. Life has settled back into the routine of planning for classes, going to classes, working at my assigned NGO, house sitting for friends, and working on grant applications for funding on projects that I want to work on during my time here in Nicaragua. But this week is something special. I am going to turn 29 on Sunday and have decided to start celebrating early by turning my birthday into a birthweek! It all started last weekend with a celebration in Esteli with Yessica, Carlos, and our friend Stephanie. We went to MaxiPali (which is the Nicaraguan equivalent to Walmart (is actually owned by Walmart) and bought the fixins for my favorite meal: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, Veggies and Dip, and Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting.

It was SOOOO GOOD. Let's be honest, let's let the pictures speak for themselves. (P.S. for the rest of the week I am back on my diet haha.)

Striking a traditional Nicaraguan pose to be sexy for the camera. haha.

Along the same lines but with a satirical spin

Yessica working hard on the garlic bread!

Carlos and Gloria having mojitos while waiting for the food to be ready

Stephanie and I had matching outfits (and we didn't even coordinate that!)

Spaghetti!!!!!

The makings of a two layer cake!

You can only appreciate how amazing this cake is when you haven't seen or tasted anything like it in over a year!

Of course I had to spring for the skim milk!

Can you tell how excited I am???
To continue with the birthday celebrations, when back in Matagalpa, I went over to my friend's Tommy and Linda's house for dinner. We had red wine, brocoli, beans, brown rice, chicken, and for dessert, and friend of theirs brought cinnamon rolls! It was a great night, great conversation, and another wonderful way to celebrate my birthweek! Well, I hope you all are well and are making good choices (better than that GIANT piece of chocolate cake I had haha) I love you all, stay tuned for the rest of the birthweek fun!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

The rest of Nick's Visit and a trip to Masaya!

This is a little late, since Nick left back in March, but better late than never.

So Nick and I had a wonderful time here in Matagalpa, but since Nicaragua is such a diverse place, I figured we should try to see some more of the country before he left to go back to the US. So after class on Friday morning, we headed down to Masaya with a former student of mine, Yasser. Luckily we were able to get seats on an express bus, and we arrived safely in the evening. Since I had been up since 6:00am, and since we were all hot and  hungry, we went to a Chinese restaurant down the street to have dinner then headed back to the hotel for the evening. Saturday was full of shopping for artisan crafts (which Masaya is known for and pretty much the reason for our trip), donkey cart rides, lunch of Baho (which is a traditional Nicaragua pot roast more or less), more shopping for clothes, avocado smoothies, and watching the sunset over the laguna at the edge of the city, followed by the best Mexican food I have eaten in years! It was a busy day as you can imagine, but we had a great time. Sunday, we had to take Nick to the airport, and I headed back to Matagalpa with Yasser for one last week of classes before semana santa.

Here are the pictures I know you have been waiting for! Keep making good choices!

Chicken Basket anyone?

A stuffed Squirrel? What interesting finds!

Nick and I showing off SOME of our purchases

On the donkey cart ride!

Front view of donkey cart ride!

Baho... so good, perhaps my favorite Nica food

a MEDIUM sized find! for a dollar... check out what the shirt says!

Avocado smoothies, I had the pineapple ginger one!

Laguna de Masaya

Enjoying the sunshine

Yasser and I

Nick and I

AMAZING Mexican food

Mole Enchiladas, that's a real smile kids!

From dinner at the Chinese restaurant