a tender tennesee new year's is the only new year's for me

Rumor has it that Christmas is over. You may be wondering what tipped me off. It was KOIT. Tonight it was back to normal light rock less talk, love songs after dark instead of the Christmas carols it has been playing since I've been back. But that's OK I can handle it, I'm just going to a KOITless land, Memphis. My flight leave tomorrow morning at 6am, what did I get myself into? I hate mornings, especially when it is cold and when I am completely unaccustomed to having a normal sleeping schedule. I'll be gone until the third and Amy said she wants to hear about what actually is going on in my life so that should be interesting. Some things are better left unsaid in mass e-mails.
But on things that can be shared,
-Last week I was gently tossing my phone across the room at my mom and it broke. Sadness, I know, but now I got my number transferred to one of my dad's old phones and at least 95% of the keys work.
- The same person won the Christmas Eve poem contest that won the Christmas costume contest last week. I would be bitter but seriously you can't really be bitter at someone who can write the best bad poem. I keep forgetting that to win you need to make fun of everyone in the room and anyone that should have been in the room but bailed. Next year that plaque is mine.
-Last Thursday and Saturday I worked for DMG Engineering. Sounds impressive, yeah? DMG just happens to be my brother-in-law, I am a firm believer in using all family-ties to my monetary advantage. Although I've yet to be paid, any job you can do while wearing your red flannel penguin pajama pants is a good one.
-Last night we played the Family Feud DVD game. Our team definitely should have won but when you are asked "what are the top five human foods that dogs like to eat?" meat, steak, beef, hamburger, and chicken should not all be counted as different answers.
So I hope your Christmas was cheery and bright and that your post-Christmas week is fabulous.
Love, Joy

if you don't think my posts normally contain important information than this one might just prove your point. but who knows, maybe not

Yesterday I didn't get dressed until 3pm, yup and even then what I was wearing looked quite similar to what I normally sleep in. "What caused this lapse in fashion judgment?" you may ask, but I think it was a culmination of many things. Although life here seems so much easier maybe that isn't always a good thing. I think I over compensate and just stress myself out. Just because there are things that I can do here doesn't necessarily mean I should do them. I was telling my dad the other day that I haven't been calling people back because I'm not driving a lot and when I'm at home I don't feel like being on the phone because it is a waste of time. He told me that I need to not worry about multi-tasking. I guess here I just feel my time is limited that I need to get things done, and save money, and hang out with everyone imaginable because when I am in Nicaragua I don't have those options. But honestly by Saturday night I was dead, and then all the family and babies were over.

Sunday night was my sister's 4th annual Christmas costume party. I was a Salvation Army bell ringer. I didn't win any prizes but when you are competing against an entire Christmas tree farm you can't really expect to win. Oh and the fact that I was too lazy to carry around my bucket and bell most people thought I was a Target worker. I also didn't get any monetary donations, but Tinsel Town Barbie did give me a pack of gum and some trash. For your viewing pleasure I've attached a picture.

Monday I spent shopping with my sister, and then we finished it up today. Speaking of today, the sweater I am wearing is shedding everywhere, it is like that prom dress I had with all the glitter. Except instead of leaving a trail of hot pink glitter I am leaving gray wool. Maybe it is not that close of a correlation.

I had not been going to coffee quite so much but today was really cold. I went to Starbucks three times. I think my drinks got progressively worse and the first one wasn't even that great. Oh well, I guess it is time to cut back again. Another problem that I don't deal with in Central America, Sampson's Frozen Cappachinos are always magically delicious.

On Friday I might go to work. Really, who would want to waste a day working? But a girls got to do what a girls got to do. And it will get me out of babysitting.
Merry week of Christmas!
Love, Joy
PS Tune in next week for the results of the "2nd Annual Christmas-Eve Poetry Contest"

I wish I was ambidextrous

Hey you, how's it going? Today I started one of my glamorous jobs, it's in the interior design industry. Move over Ty Pennington, I'm stealing your job. OK maybe that isn't going to happen quite yet. It is all in who you know and I know my cousin, and she needed help stripping wall paper in her house. Billy thought it should only take us two days but if we continue at the same pace I think 2 weeks is a more realistic approximation. I just wish my left hand was more useful, because seriously my right side is very very sore. Although I'm sure it's not a problem that Ib Profin can't fix, I mean besides Salvation what problems can't Ib Profin fix? Maybe you shouldn't answer that.
Last week I went to Davis, I love that place, why did I ever leave? I know the whole graduation/I hate school thing but lots of people take more than four years. I guess we're all lucky I didn't take that route because without my departure you wouldn't be getting this e-mail. During my visit, besides hanging out with really cool people, I got to go to Zia's. Oh how I have missed their sandwiches! And I went to Border's twice. Why didn't I go there more often? They don't kick you out for not buying anything and you don't get as many dirty looks for being loud during finals week as you do at coffee shops.
From Friday to Tuesday I was in Pasadena and Huntington Beach with my mom. While I was there I was able to continue putting my major to use. I socialized. That is what you do with Sociology, right? Good thing I went to school for that because some of the people I had to hang out with were pretty lame. Just kidding, I love you all dearly.
Tonight I went over to my sister's to watch Gilmore Girls tapes. It was BYOTV since they just moved and their TV hasn't made it over yet. Some people may not think that watching TV is a good bonding time but I totally disagree. If you're with the right people any activity can be used to make you even closer.
I guess in the States I mostly just hang out with people, which happens to be my favorite thing to do. It also is one the things I do the least of in Nicaragua. Now I have less to write because I communicate verbally with much greater frequency.
It is getting late and I need to get rested for day two of attacking walls with the steamer and scraper, I know you are jealous.
Love, Joy

i heart malt-o-meal

Hello group of faithful followers. Last week I got a phone call from someone claiming that my updates are not filled with anything noteworthy. He, of course, believed that his phone call was worthy of being included in the next update. People, I know it may not seem like it, but I do have standards. When I received the phone call I was at Peet's coffee with madre, I got the peppermint latte, it was a little heavy on the peppermint. I almost died when I was trying to get the last bit of foam and ended up with a shot of pure peppermint, so then I had to pour my mom's tea in the cup to try to wash away the terrible terrible taste left in my mouth. This Monday at Peet's I got the gingerbread latte, my sister thought is was disgusting but after a while it really grew on me.
Yesterday my mother volunteered my dad to help me set up Christmas decorations, if you have ever embarked on a project with my father you may realize the challenge that this presented. But as the Good Book says "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Now we have lights up outside and a nicely decorated tree, and the attic is cleaned. Plus it gave me an excuse to listen to Amy Grant's "A Christmas Album" which is my absolute fav. Now as I was decorating the tree I came across many hand-made decorations, I feel I must take this time to apologize to my parents, grandparents, and whoever else I felt like bestowing my crafts upon. I really did think they were cool at the time. Hopefully, over the years, my craftiness has improved.
As far as artistic talent goes goes, this weekend I went back to my roots. On Saturday night I stayed at my grandpa's in Lake Tahoe, as well as being the coldest house I have ever been in, it also contains the most collector's items. I mean as a self-proclaimed collector, whatever he buys is automatically a collector's item, right? And he is an artist so mixed in with art-work he has purchased over the years there are hundreds of Vern Lee replicates and originals. So really, making crafts is a way to stay connected to my heritage. And also spreading out my stuff in every room of the house is in my blood, therefore maybe I should stop fighting it.
On Sunday I went to the second coldest house ever, in lovely Shingle Springs, Nevada. But after three hours it warmed up from it's original 42 degrees to a nice 65. My last week in Nicaragua was one of the coldest in history and it had a low of 65 in the morning. So needless to say the climate here is a little different than the nearly constant heat and humidity in Managua.
Oh, I've made some discoveries about myself lately, like that I really do like Malt-O-Meal. If you haven't eaten it lately you don't know what you are missing out on. And no you don't have to have it with Ovaltine. This morning, or I guess early afternoon, for breakfast I had corn Chex which happens to be another one of my favorites so next time you are in the cereal aisle you should pick up a box of that too.
Love, Joy
P.S. If you were still wondering and couldn't pick up on my subtlety, no I haven't started working.

Guess who's back.

I am.
I got back last night around 5 after a full day of flying. I flew back with my brother Joel and for the first leg of the flight we sat together. Lucky Joy got to sit between him and this guy that smelled like smoke and was wearing socks and flip flops . Other than that it was pretty uneventful, Just My Luck was supposed to be on but instead they played Little Man. I didn't put on the headphones and tried my hardest not to look up because I was pretty sure that I would get stupider if I did, and lets face it I don't have IQ points to just throw away. In Houston we were able to get on an earlier flight that made our layover 3 hours shorter, that was nice. So during that flight, with no movie, whenever I started to get bored out of my mind I would just think that my other option was to be still sitting at the airport. That flight I wasn't sitting next to Joel, but in between two older ladies. I wasn't in my assigned seat because I guess people have problems reading the numbers so just sit where ever they feel like, and I am just too kind to ask them to move. The lady on my right was playing the handheld Nintendo thing. It cracked me up because she was old, but I guess still hip, hipper than I am since I don't even know what those things are called.
In San Fransisco got picked up by my whole family, I told Joel that it was expected for the return of the prodigal daughter. My niece Emma came and about 70% of the ride she was showing off that she knows my name. She calls me Doy, I would be offended but she is only 1 1/2 and other relatives, that are much older, still call me Boy.
So far I have done some really exciting things in California. I do like the fall season, and it is cold here, so today I got to wear layers, but not Nica layers like two tank tops, but a tank top and a long sleeved shirt and a jacket. And the coolness made taking a hot shower even more amazing, I really forgot how clean it feels when you can put your whole body under the water instead of just one limb at a time, and wow my hair is completely different. I also got to drive an automatic. And I went to lunch with my sister at the coffee shop formerly known as Tackers. Also I talked on the phone, for all lengths of time and I never had to think about if what I was saying was really worth $.30 a minute (but maybe it is good to think of that).
Today I had to make some photo copies, just 15 and I brought my own paper. Anyways my mom gave me a pre-paid card but when I took it to the counter the lady told me that it would make more sense to just pay the $.75 because the pre-paid card was for the price of the copies if I used their paper. Sadly I had to tell her that I didn't actually have $.75, so I went to see if I had any in my car but there was only 4 dimes. Finally she told me that she would just use half of the card I brought it, over all it was a pretty pathetic experience. Maybe tomorrow my big outing will be to the ATM.
I guess some people think that I should continue these while I am in the states and in theory I agree, we will see if it happens in reality. I mean I don't want to leave you in suspense about whether or not I made it to the ATM. Plus I do have some pretty exciting job prospects that should make for fascinating stories. It is funny what jobs people think of me for, I think it stems from being perpetually poor.
So brief recap I am back in the land of milk and honey and would love to hear from you, so much that I'll probably answer my phone.
Love, Joy

Q: what has four wheels and flies?

Happy day before Thanksgiving!!
I was having problems making this update flow so you are getting bullet points instead of paragraphs. Really important things I put in bold. This is all to your benefit because if you are super busy bullets make for a a quick read, but if you have lots of free time you can take this as an outline and rewrite it in letter form.
-Although I'm in Nicaragua we still get to celebrate Thanksgiving. Actually I've already had two Thanksgiving potluck dinners. They were both nice enough although they couldn't really compare to the Thanksgiving potlucks we had in college. The ones here had a better food to person ratio. And a better space to person ratio.
-My brother Joel is in town again so actually that means half of my immediate family is in Nicaragua, but not necessarily the half that is best at cooking. So tomorrow I get to put my skills to the test and try to make a whole Thanksgiving meal, except Cristina is making the potatoes because I don't want to be considered a sell-out.
-On Sunday night my apartment made some really nice hand turkeys to hang on the wall.
-Nicaraguans obviously don't celebrate our Thanksgiving but that means here Christmas is already everywhere.
-I made gallo pinto again today but this time the maid helped me so it is much better, and I guess the beans I used last time were too old so that is why they never got soft.
-I have been driving a lot more lately. On Saturday I drove to the airport and yesterday I drove to the beach to pick up my roommate's family. I still get frustrated by driving on the road with ox-carts but I am learning to adapt.
-Last night I talked, through the computer, to my college roommate that is living in China. Since we both live in developing countries the technology is a little lacking, or maybe we are the ones lacking. There was about a two minute delay so it was impossible to figure out what she was talking about but over all that makes a pretty amusing conversation.
-On Monday morning I got a call saying that the secret friend gift exchange party, that I hadn't bought a gift for, was at 11. So I ran to the store to buy a present then got dropped off at school for the party that ended up starting at 12. We had to play games, I really don't like public speaking in Spanish.
-A: a garbage truck
-Friday there are promotion ceremonies at school so I guess I'll see which students actually passed to the next grade.
-I am coming back next year, I don't know what all that entails but it means that I need to be back here by the last week of January. I also don't know what grades I will be teaching, our school is most likely expanding to include secondary grades. Traditional Nicaraguan schools are open to primary grades in the morning and secondary grades in the afternoons. So if I teach the older grades I will have a longer work day, longer than the 3 hours I was working this year.
Committing to coming back has definitely taken a load off but also it means I have a lot of work to do. I finally bought shelves to store all my school supplies instead of leaving them in my suitcase under the stairs and really feel I can settle down more. On the other hand I now have the task of coming up with an English curriculum for nine months instead of nine weeks. I think that means I will have to teach verbs and sentence structure instead of just nouns and adjectives.
-I'm coming to California in less than a week, well, barely less, thanks to a purely selfless donation from my parents I was able to change my flight to come home November 28th instead of December 18th. I figured if I'm coming back down anyways whats the point of being here now. I can't decided what I'm looking forward to the most (besides seeing you, of course) but I know that taking a hot shower is very high on the list.
Love and Thanksgiving, Joy

Pictures, illness, birthdays, and philosophical thoughts

Hello, don't worry the time has come for y'all to sit back relax and enjoy my weekly update. I actually considered not writing one because I couldn't think of anything to say, but then I remembered this me and, as you probably know, I always have something to say. First topic of discussion (discuss:to consider or examine by argument, comment, etc.):

-I already shared the story behind the first picture, "The volcano of enlightenment." I think that seeing this picture will help redeem myself if you thought I was just a wimp, yes we were supposed to climb up that. And on a less bitter note I am standing with 2 of my roommates, Aimee(the blond one), and Rachel(the one in green), I'm wearing the red hat but if you couldn't figure that out stop reading this.

-This is a picture of two of the boys in my third grade class, Mauricio and Engels. They may look cute but later on Mauricio was in class trying to choke another student with that same balloon as the other teachers stood by and laughed and I tried to keep my hand between the balloon and neck. I haven't seen them in a few weeks but the promotion ceremonies are next Friday, I think.

-These are the girls that I tutor from across the street, Natasha is on the left and Sophie is on the right. Now focus on those lovely pieces of artwork, designed by yours truly. Today we read the book Thank You, Brother Bear, and although the title doesn't mention it, the moose plays a very important roll. Not that Natasha would know, she spends most of the time rolling on the floor and wiping her snotty nose on the throw pillows. Too much information? Sorry I had to witness it.

Now on to illness, I think without being graphic the phrase, "I lost my lunch," could be used if you times it by about eight. But that was all on Sunday night/Monday morning and today I am feeling much better.
Yesterday was my nephew Elijah's first birthday, I made a carrot cake, that I heard was nice (I still wasn't up to food), for the party and I'm sure he'll have fond memories for many years to come, similar to those I have of my first birthday party except he didn't wear a dress.
I am reading a book by George MacDonald right now and today I came across a quote today, "A man ought never to feel rich because of riches, nor poor because of poverty. The perfect man must always feel rich, because of God is rich." I think that is an important realization, if one is perfected in Christ all these worldly standards don't even matter. Even when we have nothing, we have everything. More and more I have to see that living here isn't about giving people material things, teaching them English, or doing whatever other humanitarian work that comes my way. But demonstrating the riches we have because of who our Father is. All of this is quite a load off if you really think about it, I'm poor and suck at teaching English.
Well, as I like to say, nos vemos.
Love, Joy

Hola, from your soon to be Socialist

Well here we are again, week 10 of me being down here according to my Hello Kitty planner. My life here has slowed down quite a bit, which is hard to imagine. But this free time has had some benefits, I actually watched the American news today for like 30 minutes(but do they really need to keep cutting into normal shows). So right now I am, by far, more informed about both Nicaraguan and US politics than I have ever been in my life. Our elections here were on Sunday and results came in yesterday. Daniel Ortega of the FSLN, Sandinista party won. Last time he was in power 50,000 people died and people had to wait in lines to get soap. Obviously he ran a different campaign this time, and these same problems are not supposed to occur. No one will actually know until January when he takes over.
This morning I went running, it was my first time running here by myself. There is a road right next to our complex that has a new housing complex at the end, the guards are nice so they open the gate. It's no "tree city USA" but it does the job. Then at ten the two girls from across the street came over to learn. Yeah, they only pay attention for like 30 seconds even though I've been coming up with some really entertaining activities. The longer I stay in this country the less likely I am to ever have children of my own. Today my afternoon time with was canceled but that is OK because yesterday our worksheet had questions with the words do, does, and did. But not the regular verb "to do" but the one used in questions like "do you like puppets?" The question "do" doesn't translate to Spanish, and that is just confusing.
Last week I made cookies, real ones just like home. But then on Sunday I decided to make Nica food, I made Gallo Pinto the national food, beans and rice. I had never even made beans before, let alone mix them with rice. The beans were a little on the hard side, but Leo said some time this week we can make it together. So people be ready for me coming back with my cooking repertoire expanded to contain Nicaraguan foods.
My brother came down this weekend, not actually to see me, but my mom sent me down some new Khakis with him. Hopefully I'll have better luck in these ones, but since I don't have school again until February we will all have to just wait in suspense. Actually if anyone remembers this incident next year I'll give you a dollar, or a memento from Nicaragua.
So what's going down on the home front?
Love, Joy Joy
"Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee." -Psalm 143:8

i love you, i love you not

Today was my last day of school. Or that is what I heard when I got there, so obviously I didn’t have any end of the year activities planned. Tomorrow is a national holiday for Day of the Dead and then we don’t have school Friday or Monday because of the elections on Sunday. Final exams start next Tuesday but I’m not giving exams because my students don’t know anything. I’m still here until the middle of December so I’ll have to figure out what to do with myself. Well, I’ll still have my other two jobs, I think. The communication here is definitely lacking, but that is what is to be expected in a country that has four to five hour power outages every day.
On national news, the presidential elections are Sunday. Monday schools are cancelled because of anticipated riots. The US embassy recommends that we avoid large crowds, which puts a little damper on my plans to protest.
Now back to the electricity issue, in honor of the elections, there is a rumor that we will have power for ten days straight. But these inconveniences don’t really matter, what would be the point of living in Nicaragua if everything was the same. Plus, when the electricity is out we are forced to take time out from all the amenities that no longer work and come back to the simpler times. Times without running water, lights, television, or internet. Last night we just sat at the dinner table for 2 hours because none of us had anything better to do.
Monday night I went to the movies. So Cristina was just going to buy both of our tickets because she had a 100 cord and the tickets are 50 cords each. But then the girl at the counter asked if we wanted the package deal. At first we said no, because you never really need the package deal. But you know what it was? 2 tickets, a soda, and either a hot dog or nachos, for 99 cords. Yup, it was 1 cord cheaper to get the special and it included a beverage. So there we have yet another positive aspect of Nicaraguan life.
Peace out, Joy
P.S. I have one pair of khaki pants and as of today I have worn them to school three times. And every time I have worn them my driver has forgotten to pick me up, coincidence? Or are my pants being persecuted? Or is there another option that I am overlooking?

So today I slept in to like eight and that was late for me, are my college days really gone?

Aloha, I’m kind of blanking on an introduction so we’ll get right down to business…
Job 1-Colegio Cristiano Presbiteriano
This week has been going well at school. I guess I’ve only been once but yesterday was great. Our new vocabulary is pats of the body and there are lots of activities to do with that. And once I think of something I basically do the same things with each grade and just go more into depth with the older kids, and that seems to work well, with minimal preparation. Last week I started a new detention policy with the 2nd and 3rd graders. At the beginning of class I write all their names on the board, every time they are disruptive they get a tic mark and for every mark they receive one minute of detention either during recess or after school. One boy, Mauricio, in 3rd grade had 20 minutes of detention yesterday. Another student, Heydi, only had it for 2 minutes but chose to stay after because she had nothing to do at home. Mauricio I don’t think really wants to go home either. He lost both of his parents and now lives with his 80 year-old grandmother and his alcoholic grandfather. I need continued wisdom to know how to discipline, not out of anger but really doing it because in the long run that will be what is best for them.
Another thing that has been a frustrating learning experience at this job is the manner in which North American support has been given. In other words foreign mission teams have been driving me crazy. When mission teams come down and offer their assistance Matthew readily accepts but little direction or thought is given to how they could actually best serve the students. Often they come unannounced and don’t realize that although giving gifts to the students is good it usually just creates chaos and takes away from the atmosphere of learning and order that the teachers are struggling to maintain. One week a group came at the end of recess and they had Beanie Babies and crayons for each student and they wanted to go into each classroom to pass them out. They came with no warning and no Spanish skills I was then the chosen translator to go in with them to each class and quickly tell the teachers what was going, after this generosity was bestowed they left and the school had to figure out how to get students to listen when they had new toys to play with. I need to learn to be patient and to figure out how to give direction to these groups without discouraging further involvement (although sometimes I start to think that maybe that wouldn’t be the worst thing).
Job 2-More practice for my Spanish
My routine working with the older girls in English has been going well. They have a strong enough foundation that I am able to tell them to write sentences at home and then in class we can correct them and work on new verb tenses. The most difficult thing is that they get ahead of themselves and write more complicated sentences than they know how and I get distracted and start jumping ahead myself.
Job 3- Yup I got a new one, and this one pays
So yesterday when I was walking in to my apartment I waved to my neighbor and she asked me if I was a teacher. I told her I was and she asked if I did after school tutoring. She has a four year-old daughter and one that is younger and wanted them to have some sort of schooling (I think so she can have a break). So once I give her a schedule of when would be best for me, they are going to come over three times a week and do some sort of activity (in English). I don’t think they are Christians but I think we will just end up doing Sunday school lessons and crafts, because I really don’t know what else we would do.
Sala Evangelio
Well speaking of Sunday school, I have started to help out with that on Sunday mornings. I guess every other week I am going to be quizzing the kids on their memory verses and assigning them new ones and then keeping them in their seats while the other lady in charge teaches the lesson. I’ve also been helping with the singing at church too. I guess Cristina is kind of in charge but neither of us have very strong accompaniment skills (I guess my 5 weeks of guitar didn’t really pay off). So anyways the girl who used to do it recorded the accompaniment on the keyboard. So Cristina and I pick out the songs and then practice singing them a few times, mostly for pronunciation, and then we press play and hold the microphone as we sing along to the words on the overhead. Does this remind you of anything? Well it reminds me of karaoke, which is totally fine because you probably all know about my mad karaoke skills. Actually I have to try to not go into it with that mindset or I’ll just laugh the entire time.
Maybe a little background on the congregation would be beneficial. It is very small, maybe 40 people. There are seven North Americans, one lady from New Zealand (I think), and the rest are Nicaraguans. The lady Doña Helen, from New Zealand , is a widow in her late 60’s and mostly she works with prostitutes. So her ministry is to share with them Christ’s love and then to provide some sort of education for them so that they can find reputable work without having to fall back into their old lifestyle. Some of them went to beauty school and just started a little beauty shop and others make jewelry or sew. So many of these ladies go to Sala Evangelio, at least two families consist of these ladies and their ex-pimps who they are now married to and starting God-fearing families. It is amazing to hear of their pasts but see the amazing work God has done in their lives.
The missionaries who started this Sala Evangelio are Grant and Kandy Ferrer and they also have a correspondence Bible school. People sign up and start a series of workbooks that take them through the Bible, every lesson has a quiz and when each book is finished the student turns in the quiz and receives a new book. Once one finishes all the books they get a certificate of completion. I just started the series yesterday. It has been good because reading in Spanish slows me down enough so that I actually think about what I am reading, which is something that I often forget to do when I am reading in English.
And lastly…
This is a little embarrassing but I ate at TGI Fridays twice this weekend.
Love, Joy

Better late than never?

Hey, how’s it going? I realize I had a pattern going with e-mailing on Tuesdays but I really didn’t have much to say yesterday, I don’t have much more to say today but I don’t want you to feel neglected.
· We have cable; right now I’m watching Latin American Idol. Efráin isn’t very good but I think the ladies like the whole Enrique Iglesias look.
· The rainy season started this week. I think it is supposed to start in May, so it’s a little late. The rain is a nice break from the heat but it means all of our laundry is hanging from the banisters to dry. I need to find a towel.
· Last Thursday there was a festival at my school to celebrate all of the departments in Nicaragua . Each grade prepared a presentation and I got to be a judge. Then we had a bazaar, and sold clothes for very cheap to the neighborhood and all the money went to the school. I was in charge of the 10 cord table so sold things for the equivalent of 60 cents. I think we made $200, so that pays for 2 months salary for a teacher.
· On Saturday I went with my roommate and we got pedicures for something like $10.
· Sunday I talked on the phone with my sister.
· Monday I didn’t have time left on my phone and I think my driver had the day off. Long story short, I didn’t go to work.
· Tuesday I didn’t go to school either, but I wasn’t supposed to. But I did go to my job in the afternoon. I really like working with those girls because the actually want to learn. They do homework and today they were assigning themselves homework.
· Today my students were crazy. In second grade I sent four girls out of the class to stand in the hallway, the entire class got recess detention for 5 minutes and if they talked they had to stay longer. These 5 minutes, were about 5 minutes longer than I had ever seen them quite and still before. One problem with this new policy is that one of the boys who had to stay after the initial 5 minutes just started crying and he wouldn’t stop. In third grade 5 boys had to stay after school most for 5 minutes, one took a while longer to shut-up so he had to stay for 11. I can’t even begin to express how terrible first grade was. Then all the teachers give excuses for their students’ terrible behavior, but really that doesn’t change the fact that they learn nothing and take 1st grade three times.
· This afternoon I took a two hour nap.

"How" is "como", except when in cases like "how much", then it is "cuanto"

Well, today so far has been pretty productive. In the morning I taught kindergarten, then I ran errands, started another job, and did a pilates DVD. It is good that I’m doing more because the maid thinks I have too much free time, and she is probably right. I guess I’ll tell you about the job and if you have any questions about the rest feel free to ask away.
My New Job
So there is this girl from Wisconsin , Michelle, who used to work at NCA with my brother but now she works at this center for handicapped kids that come from poor families. And by poor I mean, one family is just a mom raising 3 kids on 300 cords a month ($17.50) and the rest make from 1000-3000 cords (so like $70-$210). The center does therapy, equestrian stuff, and has a little school area. There are morning and afternoon sessions and most kids come two times a week so in total about 50 kids. There are 5 full-time, Nicaraguan employees plus Michelle and some other lady, that I haven’t met, that is in charge. Well I guess all the employees have been wanting Michelle to teach them English but she really already has too much going on. So I am going to instead. Today I just went to look and they wanted me to start but I can already see a few challenges. I think all of them know a few words in English but some more than others, so somehow I need to figure out how to reach each level. One lady has been taking classes to get her GED and one of her classes is basic English. So because of this she has her view on how English should be taught. She had some pretty strong opinions on today’s lesson even though the other girl, who knows less English, was very engaged. I am excited that I will have fewer issues about classroom control than with my other classes. On the other hand with my younger classes I can get away with more vocabulary whereas these ladies have grammar questions, and English grammar is hard to explain. I’m planning on working at this place Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons, after I finish my other job, during their lunch breaks. Oh yeah and they wanted homework. In my other classes the homework is to draw a family tree, but I don’t think they would really appreciate that.
Hum…What Else?
-Yeah I didn’t quit my other job just now I have two.
-At school the teachers keep telling me I should buy a car, they think that just because I’m white I should be able to go out and buy a car no problem.
-I bought Nica food off the streets twice last week, including the vegetables, and didn’t get sick.
-Yesterday the power was out for an hour in the morning and then from 11am-5pm and then off again in the middle of the night.
-On Tuesdays the bread shop makes bagels. Today was cinnamon raisin which is exciting because the plain ones taste pretty much like those big pretzels from Costco.
-This afternoon we are supposed to be getting internet at our apartment, but actually last weekend one of our neighbors got wireless so we’ve been able to use that (as long as there is electricity).
-I am wearing jeans right now and it is way too hot.
-I miss being with all ya’ll but appreciate your attempts at keeping me connected.

It’s not all malls and frappachinos

Hola gente, So this e-mail is going to address some of the more serious aspects of my life here.
Primero: My Schedule
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings around 7:30 I take a 10 minute walk down to the school where my brother teaches(NCA). Seems uneventful yes? But my blondeness (although fading) still gets me plenty of attention. At NCA I get picked up by Oscar, he is Nicaraguan and probably 60. His wife died 4 years ago and he has 6 kids, the youngest is 16. I usually get to my school around 8:00 and sit in the office or the kindergarten classroom until 8:30 . At 8:30 I go into the second grade classroom and teach for 45 minutes until recess. After a 30 minute recess I go into the 3rd grade room for 50 minutes and then onto 1st grade to finish off the day at 11:30 . After classes I wait in the playground until my driver comes. In the afternoons Julio drives me. He also is Nicaraguan and is 27. He is married with three kids, the oldest is 7. His oldest he had with his first wife who died, and now the kid lives with his grandma in a different town. After school he drops me off either at NCA or at my apartment then I do whatever. I realize that 8-12 isn’t a very long schedule but it is comparable to most jobs I have, and it is in Spanish.
Tuesdays I have off.
Thursdays I am at the school. In the mornings I help out the Christian education teacher and after recess I teach English to the kindergarten classes.
New Topic: more into the lives
Sometimes it is hard to live with people. For example, my brother. We always go though rough patches mostly personality clashes but this is the most time we have spent together in a long time. Also it is difficult because it is such a small community I don’t have my same outlets as I had in Davis . Actually in general there is just a lot less freedom than I’m used to. I can’t really do anything on my own either because of safety or my lack of transportation.
Relating with Nicaraguans is difficult as well, I often feel that my Spanish is inadequate to really get to know people. You also pray that this will improve and I will be bold with what I do know.
The school I teach at is Christian sponserd; we have Bible education on Thursdays and Fridays and chapel on Fridays. These are good things but I am unsure about the kids (and teachers) having personal relationships with Jesus. It is hard because statistically their futures are not looking bright. They are all so hungry for love but only Christ will be able to give them that and not let them down ever. You can pray that I will know how to show them Christ’s love but not sacrifice classroom discipline. One 1st grade girl in particular stands out to me. Her name is Selena. I noticed in class that she seemed a little different like maybe had a learning disability. Then one day at recess she introduced me to her mother. Her mom is missing one hand and walks with a fairly substantial limp. Her mom brings her lunch to her every day and last week her mom came with her arm in a cast and her face was scraped up. I don’t know what happened but more than likely it was abuseI know that now everything is even more difficult with the mom. Monday in class Selena tugged on my shirt and whispered to me that she loves me.
Another thing that I am realizing is that the lives here are just so much more difficult than I’m used to. Most of the teachers teach at my school in the morning and another school in the afternoon. The 2nd grade teacher is at my school from 7-12 and then at 1 she goes to a different school to teach high school science. And she has a family. Another girl that works in the office is 29 and has an 8 month old baby. But during the weeks the baby is with the grandmother in another town and the mom only gets to see her on the weekends. I don’t know where the father is.
So that is a very limited idea of what I am involved with here and I’ll try to keep sending things to give you guys a bigger picture. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Continue praying that I have wisdom in my relationships and that God shows me how I can be effective for His kingdom wherever I am (right now that’s in Nicaragua )
Much love to all, Joy

A little on the life of your favorite gringa stuck in Central America

Well people, here I am again. Today I am writing this from one of the two Nicaraguan malls. This mall is the 'nice' one and it has wireless interenet. This past week has been fairly uneventful. I laugh frequently or at least want to. I still don't know why any Nicaraguan would ask me my opinions on who should win for president in November. I can't even figure out how many candidates there are. Like I'm pretty sure one of them died this summer and is still running. So when I get asked that or for my phone number when I am just trying to make small talk I just laugh. Ok well yesteday I took pictures in my classes (which they loved) so here they are. love, joy

This shows part of the outside of the school, the long building
holds all of the classrooms, the roof on the left is of the church
we share the campus with, we can only use that for chapel on
Fridays. On the right (it isn’t in the picture) is the office, and
a room they are hoping to call a library (once they get books)

This is the playground (note the transparency of the slide on the left)
The shack to the right gets opened up for kids to buy food during
Recess, it isn’t affiliated with the school but Matthew sees it as
A good way to support the community.

Second Grade (The blue book they are holding is the project they are working on to learn their colors)

Third Grade

Kindergarten (I didn’t have a chance to take a picture of all 30
Of them but here are three), I teach kindergarten Thursdays.

First Grade (This is a lot of 1st graders and I think 6 are absent)

On bats, volacones, and other things Nica

The other night as I was trying to sleep I kept hearing this noise so finally I decided to go check it out. As I stepped out of my bedroom a bat flew in and landed on my bedroom wall. We leave the balcony door open so I had to stand in the stairway to wait it out.

So Cristina warned me that the gringos here hang out in two groups, the more creative ones and the more athletic ones. My apartment has the athletic ones. Just like Daivs, yeah? No, there we made collages in our spare time and I would take cardio kick boxing to socialize. On Friday my “friends” here were hiking a volcano. Yeah it was really just a huge pile of gravel. Two steps up one step back completely on your hands and knees. After about one hour, I was 75% of the way up I realized, “Hey you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. Your brothers aren’t here to make you and you really don’t care what these people think. And you don’t enjoy hiking.” So I quit. But still I have plenty of bruises and scrapes to remind me of the occasion and the back of my legs got a nice tan.

That same night after I took a cold shower I grabbed my shirt off the bed to put on and yeah there were ants all over it. Not the nice ants from home that are just annoying. These ants bite and were everywhere. I just got back in the shower and stayed there until I had enough courage to brave the elements.

But things are good too. This morning I went to Curves with Cristina. Last week I had to get a copy of a key made and it was less than 18 Cordobas, so only like a dollar. Last Thursday and Friday were holidays so no school and I have today and tomorrow off as well. I went to the movies on Saturday and it only cost $3 and I didn’t even have to turn off my phone because I wasn’t really worried about incoming calls.

Well lovely people I think that is all for now, keep up the good work.
Love, Joy

Uh, mas despacio por favor

Hola, que pasa? Well I'm here about to complete my first week in lovely Managua, Nicaragua. Today was my first day of teaching and i wore white pants and a green shirt. That's the kind of info I'm supposed to put in this thing verdad? Hum I guess the easiest way to break this down is by day so I'll try that.
Tuesday
Bienvenidos a Managua. Yup I got here, safely and fairly stress free considering I flew with my sister-in-law and my 9 month old nephew.
Wednesday
I spent most of the day settling into my new apartment. I'm living with three other girls in a three bedroom three bath apartment. It is very nice and clean and spacious. It seams bigger than my apartment in Davis but maybe because there is only the stuff that would fit in 2 50lb bags each. I also went to the Nicaraguan version of Costco with my brother and sister-in-law. It was more exciting for them then me because I'm not at the state where my body craves orange juice yet.
Thursday
I think this might have been the first day I used my mad Espanol skills. I had a conversation with the maid that consisted of her telling me she could tell I'm an Eklund because I look just like my brothers. Now a little more on the maid situation...I mean my mom does an amazing job on my laundry but this lady not only washes it but puts it back in my dresser. And she put it all in the right place, (this is very important to me folks). Also on Thursday I went with Cristina to a cafe with wireless internet and drank a Nicaraguan Frappachino. Oh and for dinner I went to the house two of my roommates are house-sitting at for dinner.
Friday
This one was interesting. I met with the man Matthew that runs the school where I'm teaching. He is Korean-American. We went out to lunch at one of the four Koren restaurants in Managua. I got some beef thing that tasted very similar to PF Chang's lettuce wraps. I got to use a lot more Spanish this day because the school has a driver that picked me up and we just chatted it up in my poor Spanish.
Saturday
I went to the Market. I bought two rugs.
Sunday (Home stretch folks only two more days)
I went to church in the morning. Actually to two different ones. First the English one that all the missionaries go to and then to the Nicaragua one. My brother spoke at the Nicaraguan one so it was in English with translation. Now this brings me to my next point. Electricity. Saturday it was out from noon until 5:30. Sunday from noon until 7:00. That is annoying. I think everyday there is no electricity for at least a little. But after that from 7-9 my apartment has a coffee night and people come over for a little food and games and stuff. That was good, just like old times.
Monday
Today was my first day of teaching. I walked to my to the school my brother teaches at which is about 8 minutes from my apartment. Then I waited for the driver to pick me up. The school is about a 20 minute drive from here. When I got to the school Matthew wasn't there so this lady in the office was going to show me the classrooms. First she introduced me to the first grade class, then to the second grade class. When I walked into the second grade class she left me there and I was supposed to begin the molding of these 18 young minds. I almost started laughing but restrained myself. Yeah second graders are crazy, they don't stay in the desks or in the classroom necessarily. They already knew colors and numbers so today they learned to say "Hello, my name is..." and "How do you say...?". After a super productive hour with second grade it was recess. Matthew still wasn't there. I talked with some of the kids and ate the last of my Trader Joe's Sweet, Savory, and Tart trail mix. Next I followed the third grade teacher into his room. I was doing pretty well until they asked my how to say ardilla in English. Yeah apparently it is Squirrel. After that I went back into the first grade class. They made second graders look like angels. Now I am at my brother's school using the internet to write this way too long letter.

I love you, Joy

all my bags are packed...am I ready to go?

Hello, and welcome to update numero dos from Joy! Although it may seem like you just heard from me, really a lot has happened (unless you did just hear from me than not much has changed). I'm a little tired so there is a possibility this e-mail may actually be brief but more likely it will be incoherent. So either way feel free to stop reading whenever and I'll never know. And here she blows...
Mexico and Memorial
On August 16th I went to Mexico, on August 15th my grandmother died. She had been sick a long time and things went more quickly and painlessly than we ever could have hoped for. My family all encouraged me to still go on the trip and that was definitely the right decision. I think God really used this time in Mexico to increase my confidence about this whole Nicaragua thing. Obviously the extra language use was helpful and I got to see that God really does have a plan. That aside, one thing that was really good on the trip was that I got to spend lots of time with the little kids. Now you may be thinking "Joy, why was that a good thing? You don't even like kids." That may be true but I am moving to Nicaragua to teach kids with no direction. Hanging out with them in Mexico got me accustomed to being with kids that don't speak English and reminded me that kids do like to color and play games like pato, pato, ganso (duck, duck, goose).
Other things were cool too. Like on Sunday nights everyone gets dressed up and goes to the town square. They separate by gender and the boys circle the square walking clock-wise while the girls walk counter clock-wise. If a boy likes a girl he asks her if he can walk with her and the walk around it together, in the girls direction. It was just like old-fashioned prom or something.
I could say a lot more about that, but I won't. I got back to my lovely home town the following Thursday and then two days later we had a memorial here for my grandma. Although it was sad, it was nice to see the family and Jeremy and Cristina (and Elijah) were able to come up from Nicaragua
Moving On
Since then I've been packing and cleaning and trying to do things I won't be able to do once I leave. These things include, but are not limited to; talking on the phone, drinking Peet's coffee (well maybe not actually coffee but I'm sure there is a little in what I order), driving, watching cable television, taking scalding hot showers, having tea parties with my sister, socializing with people I know. Pretty much really important things.
Am I Excited?
So lately people keep asking me if I am excited or nervous, prepared or overwhelmed. Yes, I definitely am.
Love, Joy
PS. What is going on with you?

1st Nica Letter Revised and Expanded

Dearly Beloved, how are you? I am doing well, I am typing from my room at my parent's house and am surrounded by bags of stuff I haven't yet unpacked from when I moved out of my apartment in Davis two months ago. It is odd because I've been working in an office for the past two weeks organizing and filing, yet when I come home, I dig through things to try to find slips of paper with e-mails written on them. So the good news is, despite my chaos, you made the cut onto my e-mail list. However, my mom just informed me that maybe everyone doesn't want e-mail updates on my adventures. So if you are one of those people, I won't be offended but this will be my last e-mail to you. On the other hand, if you or someone you know would like to hear from me just send me an e-mail back and you'll be added to my mailing list, and I'll be really happy.

And enough of that and here comes update numero uno.

For the past year I knew that I was going to be graduating soon and that I would have to move on to something else in my life. What that would be was a mystery, but the idea of getting a career or going to grad school wasn't looking very exciting. Last summer my oldest brother, Jeremy and his wife Cristina moved to Nicaragua and since then they have been trying to sell the idea to me. Well I've been down there twice and it is amazing how many doors God has opened up as I began praying about it. So from September 5th to December 18th I will be living in Managua, Nicaragua (that's Central America folks). I will be teaching English three days a week at a local Nicaraguan school in the slums. Currently the school has no English program at all or any resources, so what ever I have to give they will take. The man, Matthew, that runs the school doesn't seem to have any problems with the fact that I have no experience with this kind of business except 6 years of Spanish. To my knowledge I will be teaching Kinder-Third grade English two days a week and Bible to all grades (K-6) one day. I am not going to live with Jeremy and Cristina but with three gringa girls that teach with Jeremy at the American school.

So that leaves me with little less than a month and the time is already filling up. On Wednesday morning I am flying to Mascota, Mexico on a missions trip with nine friends. When I get back I am going to visit my grandparents in Oregon for the weekend, then I will be back in Concord a week before I leave. Throughout all this it is amazing to see how much God continually provides and how smoothly things have been coming together.

Even if you don't want more e-mails I want you to know how much of a blessing and encouragement you have been in my life. Thank you for taking the time to read this and sorry it is so long (I hate reading long e-mails).

PS here's whats new. I did go to Mexico and it was absolutely amazing and God really used it to prepare me for Nicaragua. Being on the trip reminded me of things like that kids like to color. So now I just need to find a coloring book and I'll be set. I didn't go to Oregon because the day before I went to Mexico my grandma passed away. It ended up being really perfect timing (if there is such a thing) and we had a memorial service last weekend were I got to see lots of family. So now I leave on Tuesday and I bought shampoo yesterday so I'm ready to go.

I love you, Joy

I have lots of prayer requests but this is one way you could pray "To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you," -2 Thessalonians 1:11-12