Tuesday, April 20, 2010

April showers- aka, floods!


Did you know that Chips Ahoy cookies and peanut butter are amazing? I love them separately, but I think it might be time to join them together. Hold on… oh, yeah…. That’s heaven on earth!

So, I’ve been without a stove now for a week. It is the second time that my electric one has gone on the blink, so I decided to buy a gas stove. I got it for fairly cheap, and then my bf Douglas was going to give me the gas tank and tube. But bless his heart; he has just been so busy lately (Marcia that was for you). Although it has cut down drastically on the amount of dishes I wash each day, it would be nice to cook up some of the good food I brought back from the States.


I HAD A WONDERFUL TIME IN THE US!!!! It was so nice to see so many of my friends and family. If I didn’t get to see you this time, I’ll try my hardest on the next trip. The 10 days seemed to fly by, but I did get to do some cool stuff. I first visited my aunt and uncle in Atlanta, and then we went to Cracker Barrel (what I was craving most!) on the way to Knoxville. In Knoxville, we watched Alice in Wonderland in 3D IMAX. Pretty snazzy, huh? We ate lots of my favorite foods, played cards, played pool in the amazing new basement and just hung out with the family. I went back up to JC for a few days to meet up with the ladies, give a few presentations, and hang out with some very lovely people.

Finally, I went to Arkansas to visit Katie. It was actually the second time I saw her during the trip because she surprised me in the Atlanta airport. What a sweetie! She, mom and dad were pretty sneaky to keep it a secret for more than a week (even when we “conference” called each other- they were in the same room!). In Arkansas, we went shopping, had pizza, went to church and saw her university. The highlight was going to Hot Springs, Arkansas to do the mineral baths. I never knew there were so many ways to take a bath. The most intriguing must have been the hot butt bath- good for hemorrhoids. Katie and I walked away from there with more than a few funny stories.

So here are a few of my thoughts about my visit:

- The portions were huge! I split most of my meals… thanks Lindsey :)
- Everything was very clean… amazing how we don’t just through our garbage everywhere.
- There is only one person in each car! I’m used to an average of 4 here. Max is 10 in a 4 door.
- Refills? What are those?
- Everything is so easy there… you don’t even have to think about what you are going to say… you just say it and it happens. There is rarely any confusion or repetition of conversations.
- I got to wear WHATEVER I wanted and no one stared at me!
- I could drink the water, but I never did. Why would I when I could down a gallon of chocolate milk?
- It was very quiet. Are there noise laws or something? How do you know what’s happening in town if they don’t announce it by loudspeakers mounted on trucks? (haha, one is going down my street right now) You mean you discipline your dogs if they bark for more than 10 minutes? What?
- It was cold! One night I wore two jackets, gloves, and a scarf while mom and dad chilled in a long sleeve. So maybe I’m just not used to it anymore. Kinda makes me rethink coming back in December. Yikes!


Although I could see so many differences between my current situation and my old home, it felt like I had never left. It was very easy to get used to all the conveniences. So I figured it would be really difficult coming back to Nicaragua, but it wasn’t either. Douglas made it a lot easier by meeting me at the airport. He carried my suitcase (while grunting and joking about its weight) as I carried my big backpack. We made it back up to Ocotal and I settled back into my house. I wasn’t overly happy about sleeping under a mosquito net again, nor seeing that I still have SO MUCH work to do on the house. After a week of running down my landlord, the work is finally beginning. It will take quite a bit of time and effort, but hopefully by the time Mom and Dad come in July it will be done.

Speaking of, I’m going to finish painting my house. I have all the blue done, which covers the top ¾ of the wall. Now, I just have to complete the brown at the bottom. Wish me luck. I hope all is well with you all. Write me some letters if you like (Thank you Tera, Katie and Maher, Pat and Cliff, and Steve and Sherry for the letters!):

Laura Sanders
Apartado Postal 25
Ocotal, Nueva Segovia
Nicaragua
Centroamérica

I also enjoy emails with updates about what YOU are doing: pcnic09@yahoo.com

Do you know what they call pool cues here? Tacos… hahaHAHAhaHAhaha… I love it!