25th in Jalapa!

Thanks to everyone for their wonderful birthday wishes. It made me smile to feel everyone´s love today! I am in Jalapa, Nicaragua, a small town very close to the border of Nicaragua. Jalapa is a sister city of Boulder, and I ended up here because I have had the opportunity to meet a few women from the community who have come to Boulder as part of a project with Naropa University. I am staying with a family, Eloy the father is a lawyer/agronomist, his wife Alejandra is a teacher/psychologist, their children are Vladimir, Walter and Santiago. The older two children study in Cuba, and Santiago the youngest is 14 and a dear. He has taken it on as his job to back sure that I am very comfortable. He waits in the morning for my to get up and then gets a breakfast ready for me. What a gentleman. I have been visiting some of the neighborhoods and schools where PIEAT, a collective of women dedicated to education and the health and well-being of families, work. I have also been helping them with some translation. Even though I am hard on myself because my grammar still is not perfect, it has been a help to them. They have been trying to coordinate construction plans over long distance with people who don´t speak Spanish very well. Yesterday I went to their meeting and they surprised me with a birthday cake. I was moved almost to tears, because these women hardly know me but have taken me in and demonstrated the most amazing generosity. This family has also inspired me, because the parents have been through a lot in their lives, including involvement during the revolution, and they have taken every opportunity they have been able to find to educate themselves and others. It makes me realize that instead of feeling paralyzed by not knowing exactly what I want to do, I should just follow the thread, and take the opportunities that are right around me. 

Today I woke up, and Alejandra made pancakes that we ate with guava jelly. I was able to get through and talk to my mom for a bit. Then Santiago and Walter and I went to the swimming pool. There is a beautiful and huge swimming pool here that was empty, probably because it costs 30 cordobas (1.50) to get in. So it is a simple day, but a beautiful one and I am enjoying it thoroughly. I have had my moments of wishing I were at home with loved ones, but this is a good place to be far from home. I have been well taken care of.

More when I can. Internet is a bit difficult where I am.