This has been a fairly hard week, what with adjusting myself back into Nicaraguan life – a life without maids to come and make your bed, without air conditioning, without all you can eat buffets with homemade bread and REAL butter. I’ve been doing so much traveling this month and attending so many different conferences that I haven’t been in my house for more than a few days at a time. And when I was there, I knew I had another hotel stay or trip to McDonald’s (I get an Oreo McFlurry every time I’m in Managua) to look forward to. But that all came crashing to a halt when I came home for good a week ago to my hot, dirty house that has since been without power two days this week. I’ve had kind of a rough transition, and it’s really hard not to focus on the bad things. It’s really hard not to think about going home in 2 months and enjoying the luxuries of hot showers and every food I have been craving for the past 8 months. I find myself sometimes thinking so much about the bad things that I decided instead to focus the good things, the things that I love about this place. And that’s where this list came from. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed making it.

1. I love how all of the children want to be my friend, how they call out my name when they see me, how they rush to greet me when I come to the school, how they make me drawings and are so very trusting and open.
2. I love how everything (food wise) you could want is sold in the streets of the bigger cities, and how a lot of the people selling get on the buses also. I know this is out of necessity, because they need to make a sale and not because they are trying to make my life easier, but it’s still quite convenient.
3. I love the sound of rain on my tin roof, and the relief from the unbearable heat that it brings. Rain has become the ultimate sigh of relief for me.
4. I love that in pretty much any situation, I can speak Spanish and understand it. Living here for the past 8 months has improved my Spanish SO much…I can’t wait til I get back to the States and I whip it out on some unsuspecting Hispanic person. I’m going to blow their socks off.
5. I love how almost every fruit and vegetable I could desire is available and SUPER cheap. For example, I can get a pineapple for $0.50 or 6 avocados for $1.00. Pretty sweet, huh?
6. I love how public transportation is so easy here. Although sometimes it can be really frustrating, I have to admit that it is way more accessible (and cheaper) than in the States.
7. I love the people who are truly generous and not conniving, who don’t want to rip me off and share everything they have, even though they have so little. It’s so nice to encounter these people.
8. I love the beauty of the landscape. On the way home from Chichigalpa, there is the most beautiful view of the volcano La Casita, which is actually only 6 km from my site. The mountains make an amazing backdrop. And the lush green up in the mountains is unparalleled to anything I’ve seen elsewhere.
9. I love tajadas (fried plantain chips) which come with a salad of cabbage and tomato and a spicy vinegar sauce. An order of tajadas with an ice-cold Coke in the middle of a 110° day – priceless.
10. Lastly, I absolutely love the fact that I am not a tourist here. I love that I know the history of Nicaragua – where the people have been and where they are going. I love that I know about the political system and the economy, how I know where places are and how to get there.

Well, there’s my list. I really try to focus on these things when I’m having a bad day or really missing home. Speaking of which, I’ll be home in 53 days!