some parts of my life in picture, and some parts of my life not in picture

Hello again, I decided that now would be a good time to share some true to Nicaragua pictures. Sorry that none of them include me.

Nicaragua has it's prettiness too. On Friday night we went to a pizza restaurant called Meson Sur. The restaurant is really just the downstairs and patio of someone's house, I guess they don't really have zoning regulations in this country. But anyways it is really good and has an amazing view of a lagoon. Last time I went it was already too dark to actually see anything but this time it was early enough so I took a picture (actually I think someone else took it using my camera but that doesn't really matter).

They are opening a Smoothie and Salad shop near our house. This is probably the first one in the country. It is called Sambajuice. If you don't understand why this would be amusing (and probably illegal) look at the picture. But I don't really mind when Nicaragua rips off American things, we need all the help we can get.

On Monday night there was a crazy bat flying around our apartment, I think it was sick or something because eventually it landed in one of the pottery bowls we have on our shelves. My roommate, Aimee, then put a towel over the bowl and carried it outside still with no fight from the bat. She removed the towel and the bat stayed in the bowl, after about 5 minutes of it not moving I eventually braved taking a picture. Later on that night the bowl was empty so I guess in time it got over the tramatization of our little visit and flew away.

This next picture is of my 1st grade craft from last week. I realize it is missing a hand but at one point in time that wasn't the case. We made two of these people in each of my first grade classes. Coloring is usually a good way to kill time in class, the only problem is that most kids don't bring their own crayons and they always forget to return mine (that is the nice way to say steal). Now when they need to borrow their options include black, white, purple, and teal.

Last night, while watching Dancing with the Stars, I has a cup of tea with honey in it. When I finished I threw away the tea bag and left the cup on the counter. I guess this morning there were some ants in it so my roommate, Kristen, boiled water to pour in it. When I got back from school I took this picture. You know how as you are growing up you are told to not leave your stuff lying around because you don't have a maid to pick up after you? Yeah well here we do have one, so when dishes get left out by us they magically get put away for 3-5 days a week.

Now on to thing that are unrelated to these photos. I go in phases of wanting to read a lot and right now I am in one of those. I have read three full books and finished two since last Monday. Next week is Semana Santa and eight of us are leaving Saturday morning for Costa Rica. We will be there until next Thursday so I am sure I will have plenty of time continue reading. People are going to the States for the week and then returning and my mom is coming to visit at the end of April. So if you have been dying to send me something now is your chance. Mail doesn't really come here but things sent to Concord CA can be brought down to me so keep that in mind. Well I am off to do whatever things I'll spend time doing until I look at the clock and realize I should have been in bed a long time ago.

Love, Joy

Happy Spring

Springtime is here in theory, but no so much in Nicaraguan reality because we have 2 seasons, wet and dry. Now it is dry, and windy so when you come inside you realize that chunks of dirt have been blasted into your skin. I think it's good for the complexion. Besides wind, bugs are also out in at least semi-full force. Last night I couldn't sleep because I was itching and finally after two hours I took a Bennedryl. That stuff is magical.

Monday at school I started working on body parts with my first graders and today we did a craft. It was a pretty cool one but I forgot to take my camera so maybe next week you'll get a picture. In second and third grade I am just trying to finish up Unit 1 so that after Semana Santa we can start on the new unit. However, this process isn't going very smoothly and I had them write "I will not talk in class" 30 times, 50 for some. I've also been sending more students to the office. I realized when I sent them to the hall to sit with the other teacher they just run around, which kinda defeats the purpose if you ask me.

Last Friday I completed my 23rd year of life. It was super exciting and monumental. On Saturday morning Jeremy and Cristina took me out to breakfast at the one fancy hotel in Managua. I had waffles and the most kick in the mouth grapefruit juice imaginable. But no matter how fancy a place gets there still isn't hot water in the bathroom sinks.

I haven't been grocery shopping in a while and I'm definitely running out of food. As I am writing this I am wondering what I am supposed to eat for breakfast. I've been into pickles lately but I don't think those are considered a breakfast food.

Next week my Korean students are testing to get into NCA (the English speaking Christian school). Today they needed help filling out the application, I think the funniest part was them trying to figure out how to spell their parents' names. Jeung, Jung, Jong, Jeng...beats me. In math tutoring yesterday I got totally stumped on a problem. I guess we all knew it would happen eventually but really it is ridiculous to give problems that are nothing like the examples. And it was about probability, or at least it had the word "probability" in it which automatically confuses me.

As for tomorrow it "is a new day with no mistakes in it yet." I think I am going to make tacos for dinner.

Don't worry I'm alive

I realize, although it is possible you didn't, that last week you most likely didn't get an update from me. But hey, that is the first one I've missed since the beginning of September, and that's not bad.
Visitors from afar
Last Wednesday night my sister, brother-in-law, and niece came to visit. It was great to have Californians here, and even better to have relatives that pay for everything. Another advantage of their presence was that I got to take three days off of school and we got to go visit other parts of the country.
On Thursday night we went to Volcan Masaya and the bat caves. I'd been there before in the daytime, but when you go at night you get to see all the bats flying out of their caves to find food. Us brave people (not Jeremy), went to stand by the entrance while thousands of bats flew out around us into the dark. I like bats better outside than in my apartment. Also at night you can go to the far side of the volcano where you can look over the edge and see the lava in the center of the crater. There was no fence or anything to keep us from going too far just a post. Definitely in the states it would have been a lot more secure. However, they did make sure to tell us to back into our parking space for quick getaway in case of an eruption.
We also went to a beach on the Pacific coast, lake Nicaragua, a few markets, and out to a lot of meals. They left this morning and I am now officially exhausted.
Trials and Testing
Last Friday I had to give my classes quarterly exams. I asked Matthew if I was able to fail all of my students, he said no. Today I had to give them re-takes. Their re-take was me writing the correct answers on the board and them copying them. Still some of them got in the 70's. Tomorrow I have to turn in grades. My roommate just told me that it is OK to mark students' participation grades down if they annoy me. I need to not take advantage of that freedom. Have I mentioned I don't like children?
What part of America am I in?
So this morning started off a little rough. I was really unprepared and when I got to school I couldn't find my driver so I ended up being late for class. Then I found out about the whole grades being due tomorrow thing so I had that in the back of my mind the whole day. But school actually ended up being fine. Then, when I was getting driven home, I had this great idea of getting dropped off at Jeremy and Cristina's to get their car and then going to the new coffee shop down the street to grade papers. It was just like life in the states but even better because I had an amazing turkey panini and iced caramel macchiato for only $4.50. The owners of the coffee shop are from Sanoma County and you can go in there and totally forget you live in one of the poorest countries in the world. I'm considering applying for a job there.
Pop-Culture
This afternoon at 2:00 I had tutoring with the Koreans. It has been getting a lot better because I am worrying less about finding grammar worksheets and am focusing more on conversation and watching Saved by the Bell. Was that show ever meant to be taken seriously? Because I just try to suppress my laughter the entire time, especially during the sentimental times (I think this habit carries over quite strongly into my real life).
Conversations with my students are definitely interesting. Talking to the two younger ones is hard but the oldest one is fairly proficient. Today she asked me who Anna Nicole Smith was and why she was so popular (good question). She saw Larry King talking about her last night and took pictures of the TV screen so I could explain to her who the people were. Luckily freshman year of college we spent many hours watching the The Anna Nicole Show so I had a lot to say. Next she asked me if I like Angelina Jolie. My opinion wasn't as firmly established on this one so I took the opportunity to talk about Proverbs 31:30 the whole charm being deceitful and beauty fleeting thing. It really is ridiculous how much of my brain is wasted on celebrity gossip (or I guess any gossip), I claim to believe that Christ in me is the hope of glory but really so much garbage goes into how I perceive people or myself.
Off to Work I Go
That's about all I can think of to share with you right now, plus I need to finish calculating grades. F F F.
Love, Joy