The Stinky Girl Travels

This weekend, we had our first Amigos excursion to the beautiful city of Granada and a relaxing beach hostel at Laguna de Apoyo. Although I was sick during the entire trip, I still enjoyed it and had a great time thanks to a lot of ibuprofen and cold medicine!  Here are some beautiful views of Granada that I took from the top of La Iglesia de Merced:       The main cathedral  La Iglesia de Merced:  You can climb to the top of this tower, which is where I took the photos from! It's an amazing view of the city.  Inside the main cathedral in Granada:  Street view of the cathedral:  Horse-drawn carts sponsored by "Claro" and "Movistar", the two phone companies in Nicaragua:     Granada definitely has a more touristy vibe than León  Funny story: while walking down the street in Granada, a boy selling bracelets started to follow us. As we kept walking, he suddenly came up to me and began flirting with me. He asked me my name, to...

As you all know, it has been a trying experience for me to deal with street harassment on a daily basis. It varies - some days, I am confident enough to deflect these comments and keep my head held high. Other days, my confidence deflates and I begin to sink into a hole of anger and frustration, obsessing over ways I could have reacted, things I could have said that I didn't have the courage to.... I even began seriously considering carrying a rock with me and tossing it menacingly into the air as I walked to work, just to get those teenage boys to stop bothering me on my way to work.  Fortunately, there's a better way to deal with this than carrying around rocks. After sharing my experiences with Ingrid at Mpowering People, we had the idea of doing a project with the communities to combat this issue. This definitely wasn't something unique to my experience - it is a problem local women have to deal with every single day too.  During our meeting last Thursday, the mothers o...

I think grocery shopping in other countries is such a neat way to experience another culture!  Although most people buy the bulk of their food at the markets since the produce is generally fresher and more economical, people do go to the grocery stores, or "supers", for more specialty items that you can't find at the markets, such as pancake mix, dairy products like yogurt and non-local cheeses, etc.  The largest grocery store in León is Union, located in the center of the city. Here's some pictures of what I bought!  Chimichurri, chile sauce, and salsa. The chimichurri goes really well with the fried fish my host family makes!  I haven't tried this yet, but if it's anything like real dulce de leche, it should be fantastically delicious.  Because sometimes you just need some gelatin in your life  I was so excited to find that they have Gouda, amongst other cheeses such as parmesan, mozzarella, and American yellow slices Healthy whole grain apple and cinnamo...

Here's a usual weekday for me:  7:00am  Alarm goes off. I hit snooze and sleep for 10 more minutes in blissful denial. 7:10am  Alarm goes off again. Was that really 10 minutes? I need more sleep.  7:20am  Ten...more....minutes.... 7:30am On a bad day, I'll really push it and hit snooze again. Usually, I find the inner power to turn off my alarm, open my eyes, and attempt to keep them open without relapsing back into sleep.  (Ahhh, some things never change, no matter where you are in the world. It's just like waking up for school every morning!)  7:35am Eat breakfast, which is usually a fruit salad of papaya and banana, yogurt, or leftover gallo pinto with fresco or a glass of water.  7:45am Throw on virtually the same outfit I wear every single day: a pair of baggy Royal Robbins khakis, tennis shoes, and here's the tough decision - Amigos polo shirt, "peace love penguins" t-shirt, or my button up blouse.  Getting dressed every morning has nev...

It began to rain right as I was leaving for work, and I thought, eh, just a little bit of rain, not a big deal. Rolled up my pants, put on a rain poncho, and headed out in flip flops thinking it was better than getting my tennis shoes soaked.  Oh, how wrong I was... About halfway there, I came across an intersection that was completely flooded on both sides, creating two rivers that had a swifter current than the Tuolumne River during the summertime.  A river, how refreshing! Wade across, cool off your feet..... No. No no no no no.  Two reasons why wading across is a horrible idea:  1. Tomorrow is garbage day, so everyone put out their garbage on the street today to be picked up tomorrow. But since there are no city trash cans, garbage is either put into sacks or heaped into piles on the curb. That means that everyone's rotten food and bathroom waste is floating in that river.... 2. You don't need to guess where all the horse and dog poop is.  Yeah, I was not ab...

On my way to meeting Sam and Olivia today at Libélula cafe, I made friends with an older woman named Matilde. She was just a complete stranger walking in front of me, but that all changed when all of a sudden she looked back, saw me, and proceeded to enthusiastically carry a conversation with me for the next 15 minutes, speaking to me with great excitement as though we were long lost friends!  The conversation wasn't so much of a conversation as it was her talking about random subjects, everything from the impending rain to her family, rapidly in Spanish, and me agreeing and nodding to her periodically, but I enjoyed it immensely. She was one of those people that are perfectly content with carrying on a conversation with anyone who is willing to listen, and I was glad to have a companion during my walk.  Funny enough, she complimented me on my Spanish five minutes into our conversation, even though I hadn't said much more than "Si" a few times. I guess my excellent sk...

I've been missing home a lot more lately, so I decided to make a list of the things I miss and the things I love about being here. Originally, I began this list in my journal to give myself some perspective, but I thought it'd make an interesting blog post as well.  Sometimes, the things you miss when you're actually away from home will surprise you!  List of things that "I miss......but on the other hand" : 1. I miss walking around my home barefoot, feeling the carpet between my toes.....but on the other hand, I like being able to walk straight into my shower without having to take off my shoes!  2. I miss going grocery shopping with my mom, and clean, air-conditioned stores like Trader Joe's and Costco...but on the other hand, I enjoy the chaotic frenzy and exciting new sights, smells, and sounds of the outdoor markets here.  3. I miss hummus, of all things....on the other hand, fried plantains are pretty darn good.  (Like the girl from the taco shell commer...