Thursday, January 19, 2012

Nicaragua

So I have been back from Nicaragua for a couple of weeks now and have been working on writing about it in other places but I wanted to add it to my blog too because it was a pretty significant adventure.  I don’t have a ton of time to write so I will focus on adding some of the pictures that will convey most of the story.

*Note – hover over the pictures to understand*

This is the orphanage we stayed at in Diriamba

 banana trees buildings on the compound where we stayed recreational building the yellow and blue house is where we stayed, the green colored house is the wash room

Everyday we ate rice and beans and sometimes we even got it twice!

Yumminess

For our construction project we were told to tear down a building….and so we did.

 This is the building they told us to tear down when we got thereNo better place to start than the roof Then I jumped through the ceiling to make this mess There was alot of excitement in my heartSee that pile of wood? We had to take out every nail.  Tearing down walls and knocking down doors Whoo! The hard workers responsible for the mess 

Everyday after work we got to play with the kids.

Typical chaos :D   Marlo! Marriana and Jose Miguel My buddy whose name I very sadly cannot remember at this time

After three days of work we had a day off to go adventuring, and these are some of the adventures. 

 A picture is worth a thousand words...what an awesome groupA true Nicaraguan delicious tamale. Nothing compares   Oh the things you will see....at the marketLaguna de ApolloWasn't it snowing that day in Ohio??  The stress of being at such a relaxing location   tropical sunset Oh hello, how did you get on our boat? My new friends!

We also had a day to go visit the dump and sewing center.  Afterwards we went and played with the kids some more. 

Yes, people actually live in garbage.  Be thankful for what you have  People dig through the trash to salvage anything possible

Our very last day, only a few hours before leaving, I thought I would get a little soccer in. 

  the victim the culprit

Don’t worry, it is almost all the way better.  Overall the trip was an amazing time and I’m so glad that I went.

We arrived safely and were picked up at the airport by Norwalk’s new mayor and got home just in time for Jordan’s birthday dinner. 

Now I’m back in my city ready for a new semester!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

It’s a Wonderful Life

I know it has been so very long since I posted last, I mean it is almost Christmas here and my last post was from New Mexico.  There are so many things I could write about….school, soccer, my trip to Denver, the amazing Thanksgiving break I just had.  These are all really great stories but I feel like it would take me forever to catch up.  So I’m not even going to try.  But I figured I would post about my night last night so that you all could know how much fun I have in college and why I love it so much. 

It started when I got done working on a group project and went to work.  Now whenever I say work and I am talking about college you should assume that I don’t really mean work because it isn’t.  If anything they pay me to have fun around here.  I started my job at the theatre up again this week because the soccer season is ended so now I have time.  Yesterday at work I moved chair around for a performance tonight, then I got to climb up on the grid (the beams up in the ceiling with no harness or support and the possibility of danger everywhere) to rig up some curtains. 

After that adventure I worked out with some of the soccer girls and I am very proud of the current sophomore class for stepping it up so much.  I had alot of fun with them because it was so laid back yet we were pushing each other to do our best. 

Next, was the third annual December 2nd tradition of PUMPKIN SMASHING! Yes, this mayor’s daughter drove around town (my city, not my dad’s) and stole pumpkins to throw out the dorm windows. (note for those of you who look down on this practice I justify it in several ways.  1. We always clean up our mess 2. It is after all December 2nd. I consider it an act of charity helping people dispose of their soon-to-be-rotting pumpkins so that they can start celebrating Christmas. 3. It is so much fun) The past two years we have always done it out of my 3rd floor window but this year my window screen is locked in so we had to go visit some friends on the 4th floor of Parsons.  I must say the effect of the extra floor makes for a smashing good show. 

"So what were you doing? Sneaking" Muahaha you are going to your doom! My partners in crime, you'd think they would take this a little more seriously    This is what is known as pumpkin surfing This show was made possible by.... Pumpkin anyone?   The aftermath of a pumpkin smash....

After all of this activity I was feeling the need for a college burrito.  I couldn’t find any pumpkin smashing friends or soccer friends to go with me to acquire said burrito so I wandered upstairs.  Now, for most people upstairs is like, ok, another floor up.  But this upstairs happens to be the honors floor, thus people who understand me for me.  Now I found some friends with adventure hats and three of us went and got some delicious burritos.  As I was sitting in the honors dorm surrounded by people of a like mind and a love for awesome, we got a brilliant idea. 

What happened next brought so much joy to my heart.  About 20 of us got on coats and hats and headed downstairs to….. the laundry room (of course).  At which location we found a sock and lint and put the lint in the sock and proceeded in parade like fashion outside where……WE BURNED IT ALL!!!!!! (whooo loud applause). Ok so maybe the fire wasn’t that great and the lint really didn’t burn well at all but the company was amazing and fire never ceases to amaze me even if it is only a small flame and it was wonderful just to have that much excitement over fire.  It reminds of one time with flour……

After the fire adventures we watched The Hunt for Red October, a comedy about how the US wins a “really big butt” from the Russians, then I watched a little Monty Python Ni! before going to bed having had a wonderful evening.

Note* This post was not posted until Sunday but there is no need for wars over the print date of this material and it lining up on some special timeline.  Everything will be ok. 

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Ya’ll watch out now!

So, this is what I did last Saturday that I mentioned in my last post.  Sorry it has taken so long to get up. Oh yes I did! I haven't named this one yetMy big purchase for the summerThey even look good on me  Gettin my cowgirl on   

  Makes me so happy    When I'm happy I climb trees They even bring a certain coolness factor to my ego

They even make skirts look good!

Ok, so now ya’ll know what’s up, from last weekend.  Hopefully I will have time tomorrow to blog about this weekend.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Children, Guns, N Rainbows

Yep, that’s what went down this week, I will give you a brief written update, then let the pictures say the rest.  Hint: in order to find the secret treasure, hold your mouse over the picture to discover great things (for those of you who desire to unlock the best part of my blog).

On Sunday and Tuesday evenings I went to hang out with a family from the church that has 5 young children.  Most of the time I was there there were actually nine because the neighbor kids came over.  It was so wonderful to be able to hang out with kids and be myself and have a good time.  We played soccer,  baseball, super mario, ping pong, danced, ate pizza sitting on the floor, pillow fights, went to the park, and other various activities those two days. 

In other news, it has actually rained several days here and it has been glorious.  One day, I heard the thunder and went out on the back porch to watch, it was cool because the storm wasn’t to the house yet but you could look out over the city and see it rolling in.  I so wanted to go on the roof to watch but when my people left for Ireland I had to promise them several things and that was one of them.  So I took a few pictures from the back porch to the best of my abilities. 

On Friday after work I went with two other interns to a shooting range.  I had a blast.  ‘nough said.

On Saturday I went for a hike with Miss Serena and we saw the white owl again and this time we got some footage, I will see if I can get that up in the near future.  Saturday afternoon I did exciting stuff that will get it’s own blog post soon. 

Which leads up to today.  Went to church and now back at the house chilling and cleaning and preping for this next week. 

Ok, enough talk.  Picture time. 

Pure awesomeness right here I really did need help with the wii, it was sad how pathatic I was at mario galaxy, if it wasn't for the kid, I wouldn't have lasted a minute, oh wait, I didn't     someone showed him my secret ninja style - tounge out    A beautifully un-made bed.  If only the child who took this picture knew how much joy it would bring me.   But don't tell the mother, she doesn't know I have this ;)      yes, the tongue out is also helpful when trying to figure out a computer, trust me, I know     the deep concentration on their faces must have been from trying to figure out what the heck I was doing on the wii     Joy (this picture was taken by a 3 year old) More pure awesomeness

 The only reason I'm popluar with these kids

This is the result of letting a 6 year old take your camera I think she liked taking pictures of herself Maybe just a little? This one turned out really good Maybe one day she will be a photographer ?

So, check out the rainbow, (this picture was taken with me standing on a box, NOT the roof) :(   Look closer, YEAH I got the lighting!           Me shooting a gun, this is becoming more and more of a common occurance :)

Another angle so you can see my guns

Another angle so you can see my whole outfit.  Cute huh?  

  I murdered this groundhog, can that count for hunting?   Don't be so petrified, it's only wood