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I'M BACK IN THE GOOD OL' YOU ES OF AY.

But my heart is still in Nicaragua. I am laying on my living room floor trying to summon my cat to come cuddle with me. I write a few sentences. Then delete them. Then shift positions in hopes that my cat will come to me. Instead I get the dog who smells like shit and is tragically ugly. I write a few more sentences. And start the process all over. I also get yelled at for not packing (I leave for Juneau in less than 24 hours and have nothing done). I'm having such a hard time putting these past three weeks into the right words. The words that the culture, studies, and geography deserves. This might be disappointing, but I'm probably not going to write a whole lot about it.

wall of shame

I'll say, though, that there was a lot of adventure in addition to what we were learning in the classroom. Several groups came in and talked to us about their struggles as a woman in their country. Female revolutionaries were expected to be soldiers, mothers, wives, and daughters. But after the war, they were expected to revert back to their "assigned gender roles". Nicaragua is still very  much a machista country. One night we ended up celebrating Mulukuku's soccer team's fifth championship with them. Some were forced to quit soccer because of their significant others were against it. Piropos, or cat calls, are prominent. Initially, I just ignored them because I'm a tourist and I stand out. But, I slowly realized that it was happening with all of the women. The men are asserting their dominance over the women yet again. Another individual that we had spoken with was pregnant in the eighth grade. Resulting in her being unable to finish school because she has a role as a mother. The father is not in the picture. Some women worked and lived in La Chureca, the largest dump in Central America. Though it is technically closed, garbage is still brought there and people are still living/working there. Abortion is illegal even though their is a high percentage of pregnancies that result from rape. Men do not provide financial support to mothers. To increase awareness of the abuse, sexual assault, and other negative aspects of the Nicaraguan male, there exists a wall of shame in Matagalpa. Offenders have their names painted on the wall and until they begin paying child support or confess to an assault, their names remain. However, many women have found a means of empowerment through making jewelry out of garbage from La Chureca. One woman, Martha, began Las Telares. It's a small business that was created to preserve the indigenous culture of weaving, even though it was illegal to do during the presidency of Somoza. Martha found a way around it, though. Some make baskets for a living in addition to working on the coffee plantations. If you were to ask these women how they felt empowered through jobs such as these, they would respond with having their own income and not having to rely on their husband for money. They can do what they please with it, which for many is paying for their child's education.

mainstream waterfall  

A significant amount of time was spent adventuring: kayaking, hiking a volcano, sleeping in tree houses of the volcano, surviving taxi rides, navigating the chicken buses, conquering dehydration, going to the Mouth of Hell (which the government used to throw humans into), fighting off demons, navigating to class, and more. We went to Isla de Ometepe one weekend and Mulukuku another. Isla de Ometepe is very touristy, and where most of our outdoor adventure occurred. Mulukuku is a very rural community. There, we stayed at the women's cooperative and further enhanced our understanding of the women's lives and experiences of Nicaragua. Got drunk with the soccer team. I drank a lot of coffee and I spilled a lot of coffee. I ate enough rice and beans to last a life time. I ate the freshest of fresh fruit almost every day. I drank a fair amount of Toña (Nicaraguan beer). Shared stories with my host family of nine (three generations worth). I told them that my sister has twenty assholes as opposed to twenty years (anos v. años). I ate at Kiss Me, a super cute hipster ice-cream shop, several times. I got used to cold showers. And, I have another experience that I will cherish in my heart forever.

Now that I'm home, reverse culture shock has hit but not as badly as when I returned from Bolivia and Chile. I have to consciously throw toilet paper in the toilet rather than in the garbage (we had to toss it in the garbage in Nicaragua). I went to get margaritas last night at El Beso and instinctively wanted to speak Spanish. Even if I'm just walking around the house or running errands, I find myself thinking out loud in Spanish. It's weird being back but it's good being back. I missed North America. I missed the snow. I missed my cat and dog. I know I'll conquer another Latin American or Caribbean country in the near future.

Stay tuned for a GoPro video of everything.

I got home late Thursday night and am already leaving for Juneau tomorrow  (Monday). The amount of time I have had to be at home has not been very long. Nothing is packed (naturally). But, I know that it will all get done. At least, I hope so.

As always, I'll keep everyone updated with my future endeavors!

-A

encouraging sign at the tree house hostel

casually standing n front of a volcano

water bottles filled with garbage to be used to continue building the bilingual school which is used to empower children to work in the tourist industry as they learn the english language. 

cows . 

'yaking

'yaking

COFFEE 

martha <3

watermelon

this young woman was pregnant in eighth grade. 

masaya volcano

ice-cream

more ice-cream

that view

hike up to the cross

result of hiking to the cross 

my host mom and i 

Matagalpa

Hello from Matagalpa!

I have a little bit of wifi, which has been nice because I can communicate with the fam bam back home. It also allows me to check in with anyone who may be reading this (which I didn't think would be possible). But I'm safe in this beautiful country. Its beauty lies in its geography, culture, lenguage, and history. , I've only seen a small part of it thus far. So I imagine that it will just get better!

We landed in Managua at about 9 PM yesterday and got to our hotel around 10. Trying to find a shuttle to take us there was somewhat problematic (mostly because it was right across the street--(dangerous) walking distance). But it all worked out. The hotel was super cute and definitely touristey. It felt like we were in a tropical paradise with the ability to bask (basque?) in the glory of airconditioning. It was like 90 degrees or more and mega humid.

Today we just lounged around the hotel area waiting for our shuttle to take us to Matagalpa (about two hours away). We sat in sweat poolside. And when I say we, I mean other members of the program. There aré twelve of us and two UWEC professors. We arrived to Matagalpa just before 7 and got settled into our hostel. Shortly after we had a Matagalpan dinner which entailed chicken and rice.

Nothing too exciting to report, otherwise. Tomorrow the real adventure begins: city tour and we meet our host families. I brought them candy corn...

Anyways. It's now 10:00 PM. I'm exhausted. Wish you all could be here! I'll post when I can.
XOXO

-A

2K16

Happy New Year everyone!

Just a warning, I'm doing this from my phone so it may not be very aesthetically pleasing.

I am exhausted due to not getting any sleep whatsoever NYE. I wish I could say that it was because I was out having the time of my life celebrating the end of 2015. But I wasn't. I spent my New Year's Eve packing for Nicaragua, writing a 5.5 page paper, and hanging out with the parentals a little bit. Not too eventful but I really did enjoy being home.

My flight for this three week adventure left MKE at 6:00 AM. But I actually think it was later because there was a mechanical issue or something. I don't actually know because once I sat down in that seat, I crashed. The woman next to me said something to me about my sleep habits when we landed...I hope it's because I just slept the whole way and not because of my Darth Vader breathing. And of course, wth any flight there is always the fear of your luggage not arriving. That fear escalates a large amount when it is international. Granted, it's just one backpack that I checked. Hopefully my backpack makes it to Managua. Otherwise I am stuck wearing my winter leggings, wool socks, and Alaskan Brewing Co. tee.

I'm currently sitting in ATL internally debatíng if I want to nap. The biggest con is that if I touch my face to any airport surface, I will get MRSA. I also have yet to find a prime nap spot. The pro, I won't feel nauseated anymore. And well, SLEEP. AH. The struggle.

But anyways, I am looking forward to what these next 3 weeks will bring. I'm sure it will be emotionally and physically exhausting but worth all dollars I've paid. Plus, it will help me grow or something like that. And being able to utilize my Spanish will be great -- after all, it is my degree. It's also been hard to focus on this trip because I am, once again, thinking futuristically. Thinking about being back in Juneau and everything I need to do for that journey.  Then I remind myself of my 2K16 goal: be in the present.

With this mentality, I have no doubt it will be a good year. Nicaragua, móving to Juneau, weddings, a potential Seahawks/Packers game in Seattle (cough Dad), and so much more! HOORAY.

I'm not discrediting 2015. It was a great year. Half of it was spent in Alaska (as you know) and the other half in my motherland: WI. I rollerbladed a marathon, have had incredible job opoortunities, grew in my relationship with God, GRADUATED, gained and lost relationships, laughed a lot but also críed a lot, went to a Taylor Swift concert, went to South Dakota, got to share AK with one of my best friends (shout out to Margaret), roadtripped out West, had more than my fair share of awkward momentos, lots of animal selfies, illegal croquet, and so much more.

When midnight hit last night bringing 2K15 to an end, I didn't feel anything magical. Maybe a sense of nostalgia? Exhaustion? Joy? I don't know, man. It's sad to think about another year passing because well, I feel old. I'm now pretty much móving out from good ol' 5812. I'll miss the smell of Putter's breath in the morning. I have a full time job lined up. I have to think about things like a credit card, insurance, ordering checks, paying for braces (oh yeah--I need to get them again), paying rent, etc. When I look in the mirror, I don't see someone who is capable of the adult world. I still see the Allie who was afraid to go in the basement and the girl who would rather be at home instead of being with friends. WHAT HAPPENED?! I'll be 23 in a few months, then soon after 25, then 30, then 50, then 80, and then with Jesus (hopefully). Yikes. But you know, I see myself still doing crazy adventures, rollerblading, eating candy corn with my dentures, etc.

Right now, though, I'm just a girl trying to solve a nap crisis.

Hugs and love and more hugs!
-A

(Also, my wifi in Nicaragua will be spotty. Check back in 3 weeks or so if you want to keep following my life. I understand if not. New year new choices)