Friday, March 21, 2008

Semana Santa, Biblioteca, y Quinceañera

Semana Santa

Being that Sunday is Easter, this week is Semana Santa.   Having a week free has been very nice but since for the most part I make my own schedule, I guess the good part was other people having the week free as well.  Last year I went to Costa Rica for the week but this year was way more low key.  I went with a  group of friends to Laguna de Apoyo.  We stayed at this little hotelish place and spent the greater part of two days napping in hammocks and swimming in  the lake.  It was perfect. 

Yesterday I went to a conference for the day with the Nica church I used to go to.  I haven’t been exposed to as much Spanish as one may expect since I’ve been back but yesterday more than made up for it.  Boy was I tired by the time I got home.  But it was a really good time and I got to see some people I haven’t seen in a while. 

So enough details about that, I know you really wanted to hear about how we got there.  We went to this town called Dolores that is up in the hills probably about 45 minutes away in good conditions.  The conditions yesterday were not what one would really consider good.  I rode in a five-passenger car with four other people, this is acceptable.  But one of the cars we were caravanning with was an old Datsun pickup.  There was room for 2.5 inside but another 15 in the bed, so yes that is tough on any car but this one wasn’t that great to start off with.  Not only did we have to stop every 15 minutes to put in water to keep it from over heating but one of the wheels only had 2 lug nuts.  I can’t really say safety comes first in this country.  Did I mention that one of the 15 passengers in the back was a 13 month-old in her stroller?

Biblioteca

Things are coming along in my library.  I have successfully entered 170 books in our database.  I thought that we only had about 300 books to do but then I realized that books aren’t very big and that I am a terrible estimator.  I could explain more about this process but then maybe you would know how much of a nerd I really am.  Good thing you’re not here or I would have no hope hiding it from you. 

Quinceañera

Last Sunday was my birthday.   Last year no one knew it was my birthday until the day or so before but this year was much better.  My roommates were all out of town but some friends brought me muffins for breakfast and sang to me at the door.  For lunch I went to the Ferrer’s house and some people from Nica church were there.  The lunch was all in Spanish and I just sat there awkwardly.  I mean if you think I’m awkward in large groups normally stick a foreign language on me.

On Sunday night my friends threw me a party.  A few weeks ago this man asked me if I had turned 15 yet (and then if I was married or had kids) so the theme of my birthday party was quinceañera/luau.  For your viewing pleasure I’ve put in some pictures of this quintessential event.  I got to wear a nice headband for the occasion instead of the traditional tiara because that goes better with the luau theme


With BFF Lori.

With Lilo.


With cake in my face. 
 The next picture would show me spitting the frosting out onto the girl that shoved my face in. 

Monday night my roommates came home and took me out to dinner, and I’m still waiting for my gift from you so really my birthday was stretched out nicely.

Happy Easter! “He has risen”…you know the rest.

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