One of the things I have been working on is being present. I have been living a lot both past and future, but not so good about being in the present. The other challenge has been to be present in a way that believes that my life is real. I think because I have been traveling so much (a week in Panama, two weeks in Granada, half a week in Puerto Cabezas, half a week somewhere in the south Atlantic area of Nicaragua, a few days here and there in Managua) and the familiarity and unfamiliarity of Nicaragua. Or maybe it’s just my inability to be present…poco a poco.
Nicaragua feels like a familiar unfamiliar place. The weather, the markets, and way of living, reminds of the a mixture of where my grandma lives and the rural areas of Taiwan. Obviously, the culture, the people, the housing, etc. is completely different, but there is a bit of similarity that exisits.
My daily life, for the last couple of weeks: study 6:30-7:30, breakfast at 7:30, class at 8:00-12:00, lunch 12:00-1:00, teach math in spanish or play games with junior high/high schoolers from 1-3, study/do work for work from 3-6, teach English from 6-7:30, eat dinner 7ish-8, hang out with the family I am staying with for half an hour or an hour. Go to sleep around 9:30-10.
I’ve been learning a lot, both about myself and in speaking Spanish. Thankfully, it is starting to come back a little by little. I need to learn alot more vocabulary and memorize the grammer, but it’s good to know that I did learn a bit in college.
Apart from school, this past weekend I ran around a lot. Went out on Thursday night with one of the women in the homestay I am at, climbed volcano Monbacho, visited an old crater of a volcano that is now a lake called Laguna Apoyo, and visited briefly a small town called Masaya that is located next to an active volcano.
So as it is, lots happening and on the surface it all sounds amazing and it definitely is, but sometimes I am still lost. The key to it all, I think is to be present. To a degree I am here, but to a degree I am in the U.S. thinking about things that have happened, what it means to have a home, and how to be at home whereever I am. Thinking about people at home and trying to balance myself. So this is the story right now of my life. Poco a poco.
Thanks for journeying with me.
