The truth about packing + preparing to leave for Nicaragua!

Packing is insane.

Alright, so I've been telling everyone for WEEKS now that I am "all packed and ready to go!"

A.k.a I shoved a clump of stuff into my backpack, saw that it fit, and left it on the floor for the next few weeks with a false sense of being totally ready for my trip to Nicaragua.

Oh, how wrong I was.

My room exploded

It's funny how productive we can be at the VERY LAST MINUTE.

(Thank you, procrastination skills. You do me well)

Within one crazy, hectic hour, everything I'll be using for the next three months went from a disorganized blob-mound to being shoved/squished/crammed/jam-packed into two backpacks.

Ordered chaos

My 36 liter backpack proved to be a challenge when it came to fitting everything inside. I had to omit a lot of clothing just to make it work, but I'm sure it's better this way. (Sorry, little black dress. You're gonna have to sit this one out)

To be honest, even at home I tend to wear the same shirts over and over again. I think I'll do perfectly fine with the limited selection of clothing. If anything, it will make getting dressed in the morning a whole lot simpler! The only clothing-related decision I will be making is: which shirt stinks less?

I'm kidding, I'll be doing laundry! But there may be days when I will definitely live up to the name of this blog.

Anyways, my mom and I have arrived in Oakland and are staying overnight at her boyfriend Ashish's place before heading out to catch my (wonderful) 6am flight.

It's going to be a loooooong day tomorrow - I leave San Francisco tomorrow at 6am, and will arrive in Managua, Nicaragua at 6:30pm.

THAT'S TWELVE HOURS - THE TIME IT TAKES TO FLY HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD.

Anyways, I'm excited! It's crazy to think that tomorrow night, I will be in Nicaragua.

Let the adventure begin!

Comments

Hazelnut said…

:D This is how most people pack for college too. Weeks of disorganized blob mound then boom!

September 10, 2014 at 8:43 AM

Unknown said…

Must be the most exciting time , enjoy!!!!

September 26, 2014 at 8:17 PM

Sayonara Arigato

We went out to a restaurant for lunch today, a little eatery called.... something that's located.... somewhere (At this point, I have absolutely no idea where things are located in León or the names of the restaurants we've eaten at. Typically we just hop into Mateo's truck and go wherever he decides to take us.) The restaurant is pretty busy - lunch is the biggest meal of the day, so the place is filled with hungry customers. Inside, there is a wood fire stove in the center of the restaurant, filling the room with a thick, smokey scent. Upon entering the restaurant, I passed by an older Nicaraguan man, whose face lit up when he saw me. "Ohhh!" he exclaimed. "Sayonara Arigato!!" I laughed. It was something that caught me completely off guard, and the incongruity of it struck me humorous, since the man obviously thought I was Japanese. If this same incident had happened back in the States, I would have felt insulted, but there was something about how t...

Meet my host family!

This morning, we met our host families and host agency representatives for the first time! After a few hours of introductions, autograph bingo, a presentation about our Community Based Initiative (or as Sam liked to call it, "mini proyecto"), and a game of Pictionary, we finally parted ways and left Mateo's house with our host families. My host family is very kind! They are also about the same height as me (we're all cute and short!) so I think it's a perfect match. Paulino, me, and Doña Chilo They have two daughters, a dog named Bebe, a rabbit named Joka (ho-ca), and they live with their grandmother. Doña Venega and Joka el Conejo JOKA!!! I also had a mini-adventure on my first day with Mpowering People. Ingrid, my jefe/mentor, and Gabriela, a post-graduate volunteer, arrived at my host family's home on a motorcycle to pick me...

I'm in León!

We made it! After 12 hours of traveling, we've finally made it to Nicaragua...."we" being myself and the whopping THREE other volunteers - Maddy from Portland, Olivia from Denver, and Sam from Chapel Hill! I was surprised by the small group size, but apparently that's characteristic of the gap year program. We actually flew into Nicaragua during a lightning storm! It was quite the experience to be in an aircraft, flying among the clouds, while bolts of lightning are shooting down all around you. Fun stuff! Our in-country Amigos coordinator met us at the airport, outside of customs, where a huge crowd of Nicaraguans were clustered about, families waiting to greet family coming off the airplane as well as various taxi drivers and vendors advertising their goods and services. We chucked our backpacks onto the bed of the coordinator's pickup truck and drove to a restaurant, where we had our first meal in Nicaragua! Enchiladas con mole y champiñones The en...

The Stinky Girl Travels

Search This Blog