Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a wonderful day filled with family and friends, food, and happiness.

I spent Thanksgiving day in Leon with the other volunteers, Vanessa, and Matteo's cousin, who lives in Leon. We went to a restaurant owned by a Canadian that cooked a traditional Thanksgiving meal, and it certainly did not disappoint. We each had a heaping serving of turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash, lentils, green beans, cranberry sauce, candied carrots, and finished off the feast with a slice of pumpkin pie topped with a heavy cream. Delicious! I was also able to video chat with my family at home for the first time since I've been here, which was wonderful to do.

I have heaps upon heaps to be grateful for this year. I am thankful for pan de coco and pati, for Friends being on 6 times a day, and for my mattress. I am thankful for the nearby ocean, salty air, and buoyant water. I am thankful for my bike with it's basket. For mamones and 

bananas, La Colonia and vitamins. I am thankful for 13 cord buses to Chinandega, salsa music, and patient people. I am thankful for my dogs, my smiling, enthusiastic and encouraging students, both young and old. For my family- my family back home who has supported and loved me from near and far, no matter where I am in this world, as well as my Nicaraguan family, who has truly treated me like their own daughter and sister. I am so incredibly grateful for family, both blood related and otherwise. I am thankful for all the beautiful and loving people I have met here in Nicaragua, both foreigners and natives, who have welcomed and supported me, and helped me make the most out of this experience. I am thankful for all the energy and culture that surrounds me, and my ability to experience it all in such abundance. 

The past week or so has consisted of more working, exploring, and fun, as well as an altercation with a thieving (and scheming!) cleaning lady. My host sister just came back from the hospital where she had an operation on her back, which thankfully went well, but the last week has been very busy, with my family coming back and forth from Leon. I had a near-death experience in Sunday when I went on one of the rides that was set up in the central park. These rides were all rides that were recalled from the US in the '60s due to being unsafe and then sold to various Latin American countries, and it was absolutely evident why they had been recalled from the States. No rides had any safety precautions at all, which led to people (including myself) almost being thrown off the edge, as well as leaving me with some significant whiplash for the next couple days. 

My work here is wrapping up, and it's hard to believe that my final day of work, the 11th, is in 11 days- meaning that tomorrow is the first day of December! The temperature is getting down to a chilly 85 degrees here- not exactly prepping me for East Coast weather! I've started to prepare for my departure slowly, and although I'm excited to see my friends and family, I know the coming weeks will be very bittersweet