Well the semester is over, and it ended quite hecticly. The last three weeks of school was crunch time for my thesis. The week after Thanksgiving my first draft was due, then this past thursday the 23rd my final draft was due. Between the first draft and thursday I added 35 pages to my thesis- making it a total of 60 pages plus bibliography and graphs ect. Once I hit 30 pages it was hard to organize, but I was proud of my end product- Something that I've put in at least over 75 hours in- at least. Basically saturday the 18th through the thursday I lived in the library with my fellow international relations majors. I was there over 14 hours a day. We even had food delivered there. My roomates and I also pulled an all-nighter the day before it was due. So I was up over 48 hours working on it! It was actually really fun though. I was really into my topic, and it was fun spending alot of time making something good- something I turned in with pride.
Finals was two weeks for me, because I took a spanish class at St. Thomas- so my spanish final was a week before the rest of my finals. My spanish final was really hard- it was comprehensive so it covered everything from the semester. It was also almost half of my grade- which adds alot of pressure. Basically I'm glad finals are over!!

I can’t believe it is already Thanksgiving break- which means we only have about three to four weeks of school left! Ahh!! These past couple weeks have been really busy- last week I had to plan my last semester at Augsburg, I will be taking my history seminar class, honors seminar for my International Relations major, history U.S foreign policy, and a history internship at the MN historical society- so many classes to choose from but I am excited for next semester. Also this past week I was in Georgia for the School of the Americas Protest. I helped organize a group of 17 students from Augsburg to go down there. We took 2 vans and camped out at the Roosevelt State Park when we got there. It was a really fun weekend! It took us 30 hours to get there! When it was only supposed to take us 19 hours, but its cool cause it was a really bus ride. We passed though Tennessee and Kentucky on the way there. On the way back it took us about 26 hours, and we passed through St. Louis and Kansas City. It was a fun ride, stopping at 4 in the morning getting coffee to keep us awake for the rest of the ride. Once in Georgia I also got to see some friends I studied abroad with last semester which was AMAZING!! It was so nice to see them after a couple months being back in the U.S!

This past week was full of many fun events. On monday ASAC, a student activities council here at Augsburg put on a holloween event out in Murphy's park. It was cool, they decorated the trees and had a ton of delicious treats. They also had a glow in the dark volleyball tournament, so my roomates and I put together a team. There ended up being 8 teams, and it was actually really fun. We also won the tourney! So we all got gift cards- which every college student loves!
My birthday was on tuesday, so in celebration of my birthaday we made a huge pile of leaves out by the library and jumped in them. The trees by the leaves are so beautiful during the fall. The walk from the quad to the library is breathtaking, the reds and yellows. My watercolor class painted that area last week as well, which is perfect timing because this week most of the leaves are gone!
For Halloween one of my friends and I got dressed up like superheros and hung out with some friends and watched Hocus Pocus! Our costumes were cool, when we stood in the wind our capes blew behind us- really giving the true superhero effect.
By Thursday I was so tired I ended up crashing after my night class! All in all, a great week!

Midterms is finally coming to an end! I had many papers to write this week, and too many meetings, but atlas it is midterm break after today! I think the midterm most challenging was for my watercolor class- we had 2 ish hours to paint our midterm painting! We could choose any subject, and I chose to paint some fall leaves. Augsburg is beautiful in the fall! The trees by the library have the most beautiful leaves!
Today I will be working on my thesis then going to my history class to discuss history in movies- interesting topic
and then I get to go home!!

I had my first midterm of the semester on Friday. It was my spanish midterm- The day before was my bestfriend's birthday, also my roomate. So after 8 hours of classes, a bunch of us went out to eat to celebrate her birthday. We went to the Chatterbox cafe, which is a really cool restaurant where you can play board games while you wait for your food. While playing Candyland, we were inspired for our Halloween costumes- different characters from the Candyland game. I'm going to be the Lollipop princess!
So I ended up spending the night in the study lounge studying my spanish. I stayed up till 4 in the morning studying for spanish, then woke up early to study once again. It was nice though, I was the only one in the lounge, so I got alot of work done. I was pretty confident and think I did pretty well on the test which is always a good thing.
This weekend I worked at the coffee shop on campus alot. Weekend College had classes, so the coffee shop is open on saturdays. Then I did alot of homework-
I spent over seven hours in the library today working on research for my thesis!
and tommorrow I will spend another seven!!

This past week was homecoming! The school has been decorated in maroon and sliver ballons and awnings all over campus. In the midst of all this Auggie spirit, I realized this is my last homecoming here, ahhhhh. They had alot of cool events this year, the theme being 'Auggie Adventure'. Monday was the pep rally. All the people nominated for homecoming court did skits, and then they named the winners. My roomate's boyfriend is the Homecoming King this year!! It was really fun- his skit was hillarious!
I also helped put on a coffee mug decorating event. We gave away free to-go coffee mugs and set up a table with a ton of crafts that people could decorate their mugs with. It was really fun- people loved it. Yesterday there was a picnic out in the central park, and the football game- also a fun day.

This week has gone by so fast. Between writing articles for our school's newspaper and writing papers the past couple days flew by. My spanish class is getting more and more difficult, I really like my teacher though. This week we are doing presentations on different countries. I am presenting on revolutionary music in Nicaragua. Which is gonna be awsome! I found some cool clips on Utube and I'm gonna talk about the significance of revolutionary music to the people of Nicaragua. I am actually in the process of putting this into a powerpoint right now!!

At last it is the weekend! Procrastination has gotten the best of me.. monday I painted for 7 hours straight because I put off doing my homework for watercolor all week. I love to paint but wow- then wednesday I stayed up late writing a paper for my seminar class. I must admitt I had enough time to write it, I just kept getting side tracked while researching. Which isn't hard to do when your researching an interesting topic.
I also really like my watercolor painting class. We often paint 'on location' so hardly in the classroom. We have painted in the quad, a couple of times by the library, and the other day we went down to the mississippi river to paint. It was goreous!! The leaves for fall are turning and it was a beautiful sunny day. This is my first actual art class, although I have painted for a while now.
In my seminar class on Thursday we had class outside as well, which was cool. When I think of a college campus, I picture students outside in the quad lost in dialogue. what a beautiful thing..

This past weekend was crazy busy. I worked friday night, and then some friends and I went salsa dancing which was really fun. I woke up at the crack of dawn Saturday to help out with the DFL caucus that was taking place at Augsburg. The student organization I'm part of, coalition for student activism, was helping sponsor the event so I helped organize things. It was a full day of speakers and discussions. Then in the afternoon some of my friends I studied abroad with that go to Gustavus and St.Olaf came up to the cities and we all hung out. We went to the Augsburg volleyball game, which was fun- and we won! I know the girls on the team because I played on the team up until my junior year. Sunday I helped out at the Caucus again, then did homework. All in all I hardly got any homework done but it was a really fun weekend!

Its only a couple of weeks into school and I am already busy. I've already pulled an all-nighter trying to finish my proposal for the thesis. Which I must admit, is partially my fault. I did not manage my time well, I filled in three extra shifts at the coffee shop by wednesday, which I enjoy working at but then wednesday night I did non stop homework. However, I am happy with my proposal I turned in. We had quite a few topics we could choose. Our theme for the International relations class is the movement of people; which can include any movement of people over borders. Including topics like immigration, refugees, human trafficking, and child adoption. I chose to do my paper on the influence of international financial institutions on developing countries, specifically the World Bank and IMF. When these organizations give loans to developing countries, the countries are required to implement structural adjustment policies. I will look at how these policies are influencing the movement of people. The WB and IMF's goal is to erradicate poverty, but they end up further contributing to the polarization between the rich and poor. Many problems include an increase in unemployment, lower standard of living, and also lack in access to resources. Many people have problems accessing water because a requirement of these policies is privitization. Anyways my paper will be kind of like that... just 50 pages longer!

Now a full week of school has gone by. I had some scheduling difficulties because I'm a double major so one of my seminar classes was during a class I had to take so now I am taking a spanish class at St. Thomas instead of Hamline! St. Thomas has a beautiful campus but it is way too big for my taste. One thing I love about Augsburg is how homey it feels and I always know some people in all my classes I take.
This past week we also had our first Coalition for Student Activism meeting, a student organization I am in. I've been in this organization since I was a freshman and I am really excited for this year. We already have a ton of cool events planned and alot of people who are interested in getting active in the group. But atlas I need to go do some homework, I spent too much time enjoying the weather in the park today!

My senior year of college has officially began! I moved back into New Hall on Monday and classes started on Wednesday. I think this is gonna be a great year, my roomates are awsome. One of the girls I'm living with I've lived with on and off since sophmore year, was on the volleyball team with and she also studied abroad with me! Its nice being back on campus, I've missed it after being away for over half a year. My course load is going to be pretty difficult this year. Since I am double majoring, I have a seminar class both semesters which means two thesis papers. But it will be fine because I'll be writing on a topic I chose. This semester, in addition to my International Relations seminar class I have a watercolor painting class, a history workshop class, and a spanish class which I am taking at Hamline. I'm kind of excited to take a class at Hamline, it'll be cool experiencing another campus, even if only for one class. The five ACTC schools in the cities; Augsburg, St. Thomas, Hamline, St. Kates and Macalester, Augsburg students can take classes at those schools and stay enrolled at Augsburg. Students at other schools can also take classes at Augsburg, which is cool cause it gives students alot more choices of classes they can take!

Well I have safely arrived in the United States. My flight got in saturday where my family tearfully greeted me, then we headed straight to my cousin's graduation party. We spent the last week of our travels in Panama. I was really excited to go to Panama, excited to experience a new culture and learn some of the history of Panama. I had written a paper on the Panama canal a couple years ago, so I was excited to see the canal.
Our first stop in Panama was Bocas del Torro. We left from Osa at 3:30 am and after six different bus rides and one boat ride we arrived in Bocas at 8 pm. We decided to take public buses because its more of an experience, especially getting through the border- which was interesting but another opportunity to practice my spanish.
Once we arrived in Bocas we went from hostel to hostel looking for a cheap place to crash. The hostel we finally found was perfect, where we stayed all of our nights in Bocas. It was owned by a German woman, and had a lot of travelers staying there. In Bocas we also met up with two girls from our program and a brother and boyfriend of one of the girls.
Bocas del Torro is a bunch of small beautiful islands in the Caribbean where you can basically go island hopping. There are alot of opportunities to swim, snorkel, kayak, sail ect. We basically just chilled, went to a couple beautiful beaches. The last day we were there we took tour where we were able to see alot of the islands. We first went to this area where there were dolphins swimming all over, jumping in the water- it was really cool. We then went to another island with grass huts and swam, and then we went to another island where we went snorkeling. The snorkeling here wasn't as good as in Honduras but it was pretty cool. There were a ton of cool fish and I saw a crab the size of a soccer ball, I also got to see a Jesus lizard again. After snorkeling we went to three more islands where we swam, and chilled on the beach.
After Bocas we went to David, a random town we stopped at to check out life in a non touristy area. I gotta go to work- I'll write more about my travels later!!
peace~

Greetings!! Our study abroad program officially ended on the 12th of May- a couple days before it ended our cordinators took us to Leon and to the beach for two days of swimming and hanging out. After everyone flew home, a couple of us who stayed behind started our travels. The past couple weeks I have been traveling with a couple people from my program. Before heading to Costa Rica, I spent some time saying goodbye to my host family and friends there. It was hard to leave Managua and say goodbye to everyone, but I was excited to see more of Central America.
Our first stop was in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. A cute little town on the pacific ocean. From there we left for Costa Rica, taking alot of chicken buses to reach the border and make our way to Monteverde. Costa Rica is alot different from the past three countries I have been living in. Even small things like public transportation are so different. I have alot of distinct memories from experiences on public transportation, having to sit on bags of coconuts in El Salvador, cramming too many people on a bus for it to go up hill in Guatemala, being showered with fruits as your bus runs off the road trying to pass another bus, and being able to buy a whole bag of mangos for 20 cents from a street vendor on a bus in Nicaragua.
Our first stop in Costa Rica was beautiful Monteverde. There we did some wonderful hiking. We went on a hike to a waterfall with a lake underneath that you could swim in, which was completely out in the middle of nowhere and the hike was breathtaking! After Monteverde we went to La Fortuna to see volcano Arenal. Volcano Arenal is a huge volcano that is continually erupting. We took a hike where we could see the lava coming down the volcano- which was really cool. We also visited some hot springs and spent sometime chilling in the warm water.
We stayed in La Fortuna for a night then took a bus to San Jose, the captial. We only spent one day there, but it was a nice to see the capital to compare to other capitals we´ve been to in Central America. After San Jose we took a bus to a small town to see a less touristy area, where we had some great comida tipica and danced to music on the streets. The next day we went to Osa Peninsula. To get to Osa we had to take a taxi boat which was the craziest boat ride I´ve ever been on. Half way through the boat ride they stoped us to give us ponchos, but there weren´t enough so we all had to share- it was just one of those great travel moments - where your sharing a poncho with a complete stranger, trying to have a conversation in spanish, theres so much rain your soaking wet, and your flying three feet off your seat every fifteen seconds cause your going through huge waves in the mouth of a river problably 30 mph faster than you should - it was great - I practically had a smile on my face the entire time.
Osa was relaxing. We went hiking in Corcovado National Park- a beautiful rain forest. We saw a ton of wildlife- toucans, scarlet mccaws, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, alligators ect. Our tour guide was a hoot- we went on these random hunts - climbing all over the place off trail looking for Tapers- which we never found. It also rained almost the entire six hours so we were walking in huge puddles flopping around in mud. It was so much fun!!
Yesteday we left Osa at 3:30 in the morning to come to Panama. We finally arrived in Bocas after fourteen hours of travel. Costa Rica was gorgeous but vary touristy, I am excited to be in Panama and have the opportunity to expereince one more culture before I head back home!

The past week and a half has been really fun but also vary intense. Last weekend I went to Corinto with my host family. Corinto is a small town on the beach in the south western part of Nicaragua. It was a really nice relaxing weekend. We spent alot of time with the family, the entire extended family lives within a couple blocks of eachother a minute walk away from the beach. Its a cool city because it hasn´t been occupied by resorts and restaurants, casas de carton line the beautiful beach. Also everyone rides bicycles and takes tricycles for taxis. My family owns a couple tricycles so we took those out and biked our family around. There was a fair going on Saturday night, which consisted of a Ferris wheel and a merry-go-round. The Ferris wheel was problably the scariest ride I have ever been on, but it was fun!
On Tuesday we had our final take home exam due and since no one did it over the weekend alot of us stayed up till 5 in the morning, then some of us had a good conversation about living in Nicaragua.
Thursday we left for our "mystery location" which was a beautiful beach near Leon. It was a really nice two days. We did alot of swimming, ultimate frisbee and just hanging out. Thursday night we had a bonfire and made smores. We also made a human chain laying on the beach looking at the stars and talking. It was alot of fun.
Last night we all went out one last time- it was so fun! We went dancing at a couple places and everyone was just groovin and having a good time. At about 4 am we took the first bus of people to the airport. It was really hard to say goodbye, its been really hard saying goodbye to all these people because I have grown so close to them over the past four months. Four months is alot of time to spend with only 17 other people your age. I mean we´ve had friends from some of the countries but all 18 of us have been together the entire time. We have been through so much, its just hasn´t sunk in that its over. I keep thinking I´m gonna see them all tommorrow and we´ll continue our experiences here.

It is now Thursday and I am exhausted. This week has been busy but amazing. On Tuesday we presented our final projects and individual reflections of our semester. For my final project, three girls and I did our project on homosexuality in Nicaragua. We met a women from the US who is here doing a project financed from a grant creating a coffee shop. What sparked my interest on this topic was I found out that it is illegal to be homosexual in Nicaragua. There is a law forbidding people to be homosexual and promote homosexuality. Can you imagine a law forbidding you to love who you want to love!! So we did some interviews with people from different organizations, and the more people we met the more interested I became in this project. The people we met with were so nice and so open about their lives. Not many people from the US come to Nicaragua, let alone do projects on what it is like being a homosexual. For our final presentation we did a water color painting using the Beehive cooperative´s portrayal of politics using butterflys (its hard to explain unless you´ve seen the paintings)But it turned our amazing!! The night before we presented we had the people we interviewed over for pizza and heard what they thought of it and their interpretations of it. It was a really good experience overall, I learned so much and met so many interesting people! For my personal reflection I wrote a poem about my experience here.
Our history class is finally over, and I definately enjoyed it. Classes abroad are so much better because meeting people, experiences and hearing speakers are part of the classes. I have really grown to love the program and all the people on the program. Thinking about going home has brought alot of mixed emotions. But I do have a week and a half left so I am gonna make the most of it!

The week is coming to an end.. which means only two weeks left of the program- oh my- I can´t even begin to think about not being around these amazing people anymore. Yesterday we had our history final and today normal classes resumed. We had a similation debate today in political science about the CAFTA discussions. I represented the Nicaraguans discussing the free trade agreement. It was pretty interesting, we also got into a debate about if the US government truely represented its constituents by creating an agreement like this. Last night we went salsa dancing which was so much fun and this weekend we have individual interviews for our final project!!

This past week has been extremely busy. Coming back from the rural stay, I was a little sick, but no worries I have fully recovered. This past weekend was nice and relaxing. Friday we went to a baseball game, the national sport here. Managua played Leon and lost 5-0. It was really fun- and completely differenct than baseball games in the U.S. The concession stand system is crazy! The moment you walk in the stadium women with cute fluffy skirts offer you cervecas and gaseosas (beers or sodas) and theres women constantly walking around trying to sell some food of some sort, no hot dogs though. Its really fun to watch. In between innings they play music and everyone gets up and dances- it was really fun.
Saturday I just hung out with my host family- it was my host sister´s birthday. Sunday a couple girls and I went all over Managua trying to find one specific store. It was so much fun- I got to see alot of Managua and kind of figure out the bus system. That evening we went to a folk ballet. It was so cool! Im folk ballet women dance around in big colorgul gorgeous dresses that look really cool when you spin. The men wear really colorful costumes and sometimes masks. It was really cool.
This week I have been doing alot of homework. We had our history final today- which went well. and tommorrow is the weekend!!!

I´ve just returned from a very refreshing four days in the rural community of Miraflor. The area was absolutely stunning...there were rolling hills, huge storybook trees that had either spanish moss hanging from their branches or beautiful brilliant yellow flowers, cactus galore, and the general feel of being in the middle of a jungle. And it really was out in the middle of nowhere...it was a 3 hour drive from managua, an hour of which was up a winding, narrow dirt road that may be the bumpiest ride i´ve ever experienced. The stay in Miraflor was exactly what i needed...i had been a bit homesick/stressed with schoolwork the week before, but my time soaking up the countryside, relaxing in the hammocks, and playing with all the adorable farm animals at my house (puppies, piglets, cows, chicks, and horses!) I milked my first cow and this has completely refreshed me for these last few weeks of the program. My host mother was incredible...she is one of the leaders of the women´s cooperative in miraflor and has built a beautiful house and family...staying with her reminded me of being out at the lake(my grandma´s house)...surrounded by tons of beautiful flowers and good food. There was limited electricity(only a few houses were powered by solar panels) and so bedtime was very early...on average during our stay, we went to bed at about 8pm and woke up at around 6am to make tortillas and help milk the cows and help get water from the well- theres no running water there-which is definitely a lot harder than it looks! The stay was also refreshing temperature wise...since it´s located up in the mountains it´s a lot cooler than managua...it was the longest chunk of time since Guatemala that i went without sweating. Alas, we packed up our bags this morning and returned home to our hot and humid managua...i was really sad to leave, but hope to return someday...

Well the past couple of days have been nice and relaxing. We have had class every morning for both classes. Almost every class has been speakers. Today we had a speaker who helped negotiate in the International Monetary Fund. He spoke about Nicaragua´s foreign debt problem and Nicaragua´s Poverty Reduction Plan. I have also been hanging out with my host family alot. I love them so much. They are so much fun!! Theres always a ton of people at my house- which is fun. My mom teaches kindergarden level children at our house- its fun to hang out with the kids!

I am currently back in Nicaragua! We left Honduras on Sunday at 5 in the morning and arrived back in Managua at 6 in the evening. I didn´t think anything could pass kayaking through the mangrove forests, until our experience on Thursday. We left at 5 in the morning to drive to a coastal city farther south in Honduras. We then took a boat to the pig islands, a beautiful strip of small tropical islands. The water there was so beautiful! It was so clear- amazing. We then went snorkeling on the coral reef!! It was so cool! We had permanent smiles on our faces the entire time! The coral reefs are beautiful and the fish are so beautiful. I have never seen so many amazing fish- it was unreal. After we snorkeled we went to a small island and had lunch and went swimming. We swam from island to island- it was pretty fun. On Friday and Saturday we just chilled on the beach and read in hammocks. Overall spring break was really relaxing and a perfect break from traveling so much in a group.

Greetings from Honduras!! Last thursday we moved in with our host families- I really like mine, they are so much fun! But on Saturday I left with a small group to Honduras for spring break. Our bus left at 4 am on Saturday and ten hours later we arrived in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. We then took a taxi to La Tigre, a national park in Honduras. In the morning we went on an amazing hike in a cloud forest! It was so beautiful, we were literally in a cloud. Cloud forests are forests that recieve a majority of their water from clouds because the clouds are so low. Therefore, the trees have plants and vegetation growing all over them, it is a really interesting and beautiful ecosystem.
Later that afternoon we went to La Libertad where we met up with Kat´s friend, who is also in the Peace Corps and has been living here for about a year. It was a cute small town and we spent the night there in her host family´s house. Monday morning we took a bus to San Pedro and then to Tela, our final destination of the trip. Tela is a beautiful small town on the ocean. It is usually not touristy, but during Semana Santa, which is holy week, most Honduran families leave their homes and head for the beaches. But it is not too crowded here, which is nice.
Tuesday we just chilled at the beach and relaxed, tired after all that traveling. On Wednesday a couple of us went kayaking in Mangrove forests. Mangrove forests are trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics. It is an amazing ecosystem. We saw Jesus lizards, which are lizards that walk on water. We saw alligators and beautiful birds. We also saw alot of beautiful bright blue butterflies. For lunch we went to a Garifuna village and ate on the beach. Garifuna villages are interesting. The eastern coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua have large African populations. This is beacause during the conquest many slaves were brought over, so now on the Eastern coasts there are interesting mixtures of Indigenous, African and spanish culture.

Tommorrow we move in with our families!! Today we found out who we will be living with and a little history about the community. I am really excited, however we move in tommorrow then on Friday we leave for spring break so I won´t have much time to talk with them but I will have five weeks with them after!
Today we went to an indigenous community that has been preserving its history through pottery, so they have a huge pottery artisan market. We had the opportunity to make our own pottery, which was really fun. Then this afternoon we had a speaker about the history of the Atlantic side of Nicaragua. The culture on the east side is completely different than on the Pacific side. It was colonized by the British rather than the Spanish so there are different indigenous ethnicities and also there is a Carribean influence. Its really interesting, I´m hoping we have time to go visit!!

Day numero tres in Nicaragua. The past couple days we have been getting adjusted to Nicaragua. We´ve had class yesterday and today. In addition to classes, Yesterday we had a walking tour of Managua, and a bus tour of the old part of town. Today we listened to a speaker today who gave us the entire history of Nicaragua and talked about the current political situation. Our reading has been pretty interesting. Today we read and had a good discussion about Non Governmental organizations roles in developing countries in terms of citizen participation. How much of a role do they play, how much do they hold back. Because dependency can be generated, then the organization leaves and problems remain. This all ties into sustainable development, its a complicated issue but given the number of NGO´s its an imporant to study this- especially since I hope to work in that field someday!

We have arrived in Nicaragua!! We arrived yesterday afternoon at the CGE house in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Nicaragua is gorgeous and really hot. The day before we left for Nicaragua, was the anniversary of Oscar Romero´s death. There were events going on all day. In the morning we went to a church service at the church where he was shot. Then we marched with the people of El Savador from the church to the Cathedral downtown. It was a beautiful march. There was music, people were giving speeches, there was artwork, people were holding signs, and people were chanting Que Vive! which means he lives! During the night they had a concert in Honor of Romero. This night was problably the highlight of El Salvador for me. The bands that played were amazing, and people were dancing and signing, one of my favorite bands from El Salvador played and they were amazing! The concert went all night long, so I did not get any sleep, but it was worth it!
Classes started today- I think these classes are going to be really interesting. I´m taking Topics in history, world history, women´s study class and a political and economic survey of Nicaragua class. Both of the professors seem really cool too, they both have interesting life stories!

Today is my last day in El Salvador! Tommorrow we leave for Nicaragua at 4:30 in the morning! This past week I have been doing alot of school work. We broke up into small groups to work on individual issues that interested us. I worked on environmental issues, so I interviewed the Ministry of the Environment and various NGO environmental organizations. It has been really interesting. El Salvador is the most deforested country in Latin America aside from Haiti. There are only 1.9% of the origonal forests left in the country, which is horrible. On Friday we gave our group presentations, my group presented our information in the form of a news report- it was really cool.
This week I have also been working on my final project for the class, which could be whatever, it just had to portray our knowledge from the class. I did a painting, with various quotes and images. Friday was problably my favorite class of the whole four weeks because there was so much creativity, and it was interesting hearing people talk about how they are digesting all these experiences and information. And last night we went Salsa dancing!! it was really fun- the music scene here is amazing.
Today is the anniversary of Oscar Romero´s death, a liberation theology martyr who died in 1980. He was archbishop who had a strong commitment to helping the poor of El Salvador. This morning I went to a church service in honor of him. Then they had a march in honor of him where we marched all the way from the church he was shot to the cathedral downtown. It was great though, people were giving speeches, signing music, there was so much passion and hope there it was a beautiful thing to see. There must of been a thousand or so people there. Tonight theres a candle light vigil, concert and candle march which is usually attended by thousands of people. I think I will go if I get all my stuff packed! I am gonna miss El Salvador- but I am excited for Nicaragua!!

This weekend we went to Suchitoto. It was a beautiful town, similar to Antigua but less touristy. The architecture is colonial style, so the houses and churches are gorgeous. The first night we stayed in a hotel. Then on Saturday we took a boat ride on the lake, and visited different communities. Saturday night we stayed with another host family, which was fun as usual. This morning we had discussions about the books we read. It was a great discussion. I complained a little this week about the large amount of things we had to read, but I learned alot from those books!!

This past week has been pretty intense. We´ve had alot of class work. Right now I am reading Economic Hitman for class, which is a great book, I recommend it. We also had class on Wednesday and Thurday, then had meetings in the afternoons. On Wednesday we met with the Bishop of the Lutheran Church here, and apparently he was just named the Bishop of all Central America. He was really fun to listen to, quite a contrast from the other Bishop we met with. His church is vary active in liberation theology, so he spoke alot about how his church is active.
This morning we went to the United States embassy and spoke with a couple representatives. It went alot better than I had thought it would. The people we spoke with seemed to know the Salvadoran culture and people fairly well. Which is surprising given the context of the embassy. The embassy is the third largest embassy in the world, and it has tennis courts and a movie theatre, its really ridiculous. The people we spoke with even said that some people there have no clue about the culture here and speak no spanish. They spoke about a number of issues, gang activity and the war in Iraq because El Salvador has troops in Iraq. The also spoke about immigration. The do interviews for a number of visas there. To get an interview in costs 100 dollars and its a three minute interview! We also talked about the amount of Salvadoran immigrants in the United States. 500 Salvadorans leave for the United States a day! Right now ten percent of El Salvador lives in the U.S. and remittances are large part of the national income. It is predicted that if the FMLN doesn´t win in the elections in 2009, the number going to the US illegally will double to 1000 a day! Its a hard issue, and I see both sides of it. But being here and living with families and seeing how hard it is to make money, I can understand the desire to go. The minimum wage here is 3.50 (US currency, they have US dollars here) a day, which is not vary much. But thats enough rambling. For dinner we are going to an art gallery!!

So yesterday we went to the beach!! It was beautiful, we had the opportunity to surf, but as a beginner the waves were too big so I opted to wait. It was a little surf community, and there were a ton of surfers from California. These are the first people I have seen in El Salvador from the U.S. We chilled at the beach all day then came back to San Salvador, where we went out to eat for Erin´s brithday. This was my first time having sushi and it was amazing! Then we all came back to the house, chilled and listened to salsa music. There is some really good music here, and in Guatemala too. Today we went to Tipo De Maiz, which holds workshops for youth and adults and then I continued to read The Weight of All Things. It is a book about a boy who gets separated from his grandfather during the war, and has many adventures along the way. I have to read one more book this week and write reflections before Friday! Tomorrow we have class again, which I always look forward too, then we are meeting with the Bishop, which is also something to look forward too!

These past four days we have been living in a rural community. The community, Nueva Esparansa, was formed during the civil war and has a really interesting history. The community started to form in Nicaragua, where people were living as refugees of the El Salvadoran war. When they came back to the US, they came together with Salvadoran refugees also from Honduras and Panama. They started an agricultural cooperative to sustain themselves, and still have the coop today. They grow sugar cane, coconuts, and cashew nuts. The community is set up in a completely democratic form. The entire community makes decisions together. The community also has cow herds that they use for milk, Its funny to see how many cows were roaming the streets.
We all stayed with individual host families. The family I lived with was fairly large, most of their family unit eigther lived in my house or in the houses next door.
While we were there we had to opportunity to visit their coconut fields, sugar cane and cashew fields. We got to drink coconut milk and eat raw sugar cane, which was pretty cool. The cashew trees are wierd, cashews grow from the bottom of a fruit, its kinda funny lookin. We also visited other communities who shared their history. It is interesting how these communities for because, alot of them have ex-guerilla and ex-military men from the war in them. But because they all live in poverty, they are able to get along because of their common bond. Its fascinating!
There is also a vary strong sense of community and sense of identity. They all care for each other and work together to over come difficulties. Liberation theology is also vary alive there. Many of them talk about verses from the bible such as Exodus and the Beatitudes and relate the stories to their life and live through them. I feel I am learning so much about the Christian faith by talking to all these people that truely live our their faith, its amazing!

This week I have been studying liberation theology with sister Peggy here in El Salvador. Peggy is an amazing person and so inspiring! On Monday we had a day off so we all went to the beach and rode the waves. The waves were huge! I got caught in the under toe quite a few times. But it was really nice to have a break.
Also this week Erin and I have been working on our campaign for Student Body President and Vice President. It has been kind of frustrating for me because this is something that I really am passionate about and I have to campaign thousands of miles away. But I feel study abroad experiences is something that is important in the college experience. I feel like I have learned so much here, not only about the global community but also about myself.. so I just remind my self that when I am getting frustrated!
In class we have been learning about the history of liberation theology. Also as part of my class I am reading War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges. It is vary interesting. The author talks about how when we go to war our construct for whats right and wrong changes. The more I thought about it the more it made sense. When we are at war, our definition of what is moral changes, I mean we literally kill people and its ok. Its interesting to think about.

San Ramon

So the past couple days I was at a rural stay. I stayed in the community of San Ramon. It was amazing!! My host family was so nice and so interested in talking about my life! They were also really open about their lives and experiences they have had. San Ramon is a base Christian community, they are vary alive in their liberation theology. Friday I had the opportunity to talk to members of the community, and hear their stories and talk about history and politics. On Saturday we went to a memorial service for those who died in March during the war. It was such a powerful celebration. It was a celebration of their lives and there was music and people talked about how the lives of Oscar Romero and Rutilio Grande still influence their lives today. On Sunday I went to their church service- It is amazng to witness such cheerful and active faith. People are so hopeful, and their community is so strong its absolutely amazing. Sister Anita, who helps organize with the community is one of the most independent women I have met. She basically helped this community organize and start social programs that help people in the community but also those outside of the community. Oscar Romero once said, When I die let these people be my microphones, and this community was a strong example of this.
This weekend I also got the opportunity to make soy milk! At a soy restaurant that is run by this community. It was a great weekend, I was sad to leave!!

We are in El Salvdor!!! We arrived in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador! We are all staying together in a house right in the heart of the capital. And the food is awsome! It is also alot hotter here!! El Salvador is not as mountainous as Guatemala but it is equally gorgeous!
We are taking a liberation theology class here with Peggy, a sister of the church. So far class has been amazing! Peggy is so funny and so intelligent, and everything about the class is interesting! Weve also been learning about the history of El Salvador and the politics of the region. We have also learned alot about how involved the US is in Salvadoran politics. During the civil war the US sent over a million dollars a day to pay for the military here! El Salvador is also the only Latin American country with troops in Iraq and El Salvador has the third biggest US embassy next to Israel and Iraq. We got to drive by in and soon we will meet with the ambassador but its absolutely huge! and for what? This week has definately made me question the US in terms of political decisions in the past.. and now. Today we visited the area where 4 jesuit priests were murdered by the military. It was emotionally intense, actually this whole week has been reallly intense, but still really fun. Tommorrow we leave for rural home stays, which will be a great experience!!

This past week I was in a rural stay in Cantal, Guatemala. It was a rural home stay, so I lived with a host family. It has problably been my favorite weeks so far. I stayed with an indigenous family and they were really nice and welcoming. The community was pretty small and we continued our spanish classes at a nearby church. We had spanish every morning then we had activities in the afternoons. One of the activities we did was cooking. Some women from the community came and we learned how to make tortillas and tomalis, we even got to grind the corn ourselves with stone.
My favorite activity we did was helping out with the Chico Mendez project, which is a reforestation project ran by local community members there. They plant 60,000 trees a year! We got the opportunity to help plant some trees and learn about the project. The man who runs the project, Armando was really inspirational. He donates so much of his time to this and it is hard work- let me tell you and he doesn´t get paid, he just wants to "give the world more oxygen". Which is amazing I mean here he lives in not vary good conditions but he wants to help make the world better by reforestating areas in the mountains!
This community was also largely affected by the civil war, one of the few communitys to resist the military. Because of cafta(The central american free trade agreement- with the U.S.) their water supply was privatized and also electricity. So they didnt have running water between 7 am and 5 pm. So it was also my dirties week. But I loved the people there, and it was overall a great week!
Saturday our group went to Antiguea, Guatemala. This was basically a culture shock compared to Cantal. It was a gorgeous city, but really touristy. Of all the cities weve been to this had the most tourists.. by far. The architecture is all colonial, and the night we were there there was an orchestra performing and fire works in celebration of the beginning of Lent- it was kind of magical!

So it has been a week since I have written last and I feel like I have a book's worth of things to write about, but I shall summorize. This past weekend we had a free weekend. So some of us went to the Lago de Atitlan, which is 12 cities along the coasts and on the mountains of this large beautiful lake. Its breathtaking! We stayed in San Pedro, which was a small hippie town next to the water. Our hotel, which cost 3 US dollars a night was right next to the lake! The first night we got there we ate at a restaurant overlooking the lake and mountains.
Saturday we were going to hike the mountain, but we met a local who took us on a tour of his familites coffee fields and through the mountains to look at the beautiful scenery. It was absolutely amazing! Not only was the hike nice but I learned alot just talking to our guide. He is Mayan, and he talked alot about his faith and his family structure, politics of the region, and also what everyday life is like for locals there. It was really cool. After hiking in the mountains he took us to San Jose, another town by the water. From there we walked on the beaches, and skailed rocks to get back to San Pedro. It was a great weekend and I wish we would of had more time there, I could of stayed there a week!

Well, another week has passed and I feel like I've been here for alot longer than two weeks. I feel like I experience so much everyday that time has gone by alot faster! Last Sunday I met and moved in with my host family. They are pretty cool and the family is really big. My host mother is a grandma, so her kids and their kid’s children live with us. There are 12 of us that live in the house and there is only one bathroom… which is ok because I am not there a lot. The family is really fun to talk to and there are two little girls are super cute and fun to play with. My bedroom has a really nice view, facing the mountains, which is distracting to study by.
This past week we also started Spanish class, which is a one on one tutor for five hours a day. It is very intense, but I think I’ve learned more Spanish in one week than I had in a year. We have Spanish during the morning then in the afternoons we have sessions. For example last Wednesday we met with members of the Guatemalan military, which was interesting to witness and also frustrating.
This past weekend our group went to Chichicastenango. Chichi is couple hours away from Quetzaltenango and it is a gorgeous city! It is in the mountains, like Quetzaltenagno. It has more of a small town feel to it. On Saturday we visited a widow’s cooperative in an indigenous community. There were so many beautiful cloths there. On Sunday I went to mass in the church there. It was vary traditional Catholic mass, it was a cool experience. They said the mass in Spanish and Quiche, the indigenous language. We also walked around the market, which was huge. The streets completely transformed from Saturday to Sunday, it was amazing!! I definitely could of stayed longer in Chichicastenago!

Well I made it! I arrived in Guatemala City on Monday and stayed there a couple nights at the CGE House. I am currently in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala where I will be living with a host family. Thew drive here was so amazing! We drove around in the montains and the scenery was sweet! There were so many little communities along the way, and women walking alot the road carrying things on their heads. The culture here is definately different, in the plaza ther were goats where people just go up and fill up their milk bottles straight out of the cow!

Overall Guatemala is gorgeous! There are a ton of mountains and valleys. There is an active volcano right next to the town we are in now-it has smoke coming out of it and it is really sweet. In Guatemala City I met my group that I will be spending the next four months with. Everyone seems supper cool. We also toured the city and heard a coupe speakers. We are learning alot about the history of Guatemala. Guatemala just ended a 36 year civil war ten years aogo. It is interesting learning about the political history of Guatemala and how closely tied it is with US intervention.
I know i use the word amazing alot but it accurately describes this city!

Today is my last day in the states! I can't believe I am actually leaving. It hit me last night at 2 in the morning when I was no where near done packing and frustrated thinking of all the stuff I need to bring. I thought I could go out with my friends then just throw everything in my pack- I was wrong. It would be alot easier if I didnt need all these medications and stuff because of issues that might present themself like malaria and bacterias. But it is definately well worth it!

I've been excited to study abroad since I heard of the concept in junior high, although for years I was set on studying in Ireland. I didn't even think about going to Central America until this year when I kept hearing about it from friends who had been on the trip. Then I went on a week long CGE trip to Mexico and got to see how amazing the CGE programs are. Right when I got back to the U.S. I applied to the program! CGE has alot of great programs- I think that is a huge perk about Augsburg. As students we have opportunities to go on these programs and have once in a lifetime experiences- without having to pay alot. I paid 250$ for my trip to Mexico because of a scholarship! including airfare!! the trip was amazing-- It was a great experience.

I've been at Augsburg all day- my parents dropped me off this morning because they didn't want to drive in the snow storm. So I've had all day to see friends and just chill. My flight leaves tommorrow morning at 5 am! wowsa- thats early-I don't even think I'll sleep tonight. I just looked up the weahter and it is 70 degrees and there is no snow. The snow storm was a nice send off today-I love snow but the sun and surfing easily trump it. The next time I blog I will be Guatemala!!

Only two days till I leave.. wow. I'm going back to campus today to meet with a professor and see some friends before I leave, have coffee with a couple seniors I won't see for a while. I also have a suprise bachlorette party to go too! That should be sweet- we are having it in the Augsburg room- which is a fancy conference room at Augsburg- and were all dressing up so it should be fun! I always feel kinda old going to bachelorette parties and baby showers. I also feel kinda older thinking that when I return to Augsburg I will only have one year left and I will be graduating! On the front page of the Star Tribune today there is an article about seniors who are deciding what college they want to go to.. I feel like I did that just the other day!

This break has gone rather fast... and I have procrastinated on doing anything for my trip. I just started reading two of the recommended books; Rigoberta Menchu and Understanding Central America. Understanding Central America is really interesting- for example I thought Panama was considered part of Central America but because of the pre-Columbian indigenous cultures it is technically part of South America. Lots of interesting historical and political factoids like that. Actually I should problably go read some more right now....

The semester is over!!! Finals week was pretty intense for me. I practically lived in the library for the week before and the week of finals. Once it was all over though it felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Finals is definately a different time on campus. Students walk around in a sleepy daze and consumption of cafinated beverages increases. It is stressfull, but its also kinda challenging which can be exciting, some might call me crazy for that comment but who doesn't like a good challenge? Although I definately don't like having to function with no sleep for days on end.
In addition to all my finals, I had to pack all my stuff to move out since I will not be there next semester. I also said some farewells to those who are graduating this year and will not be at Augsbug next year. Its weird and kinda sad realizing I will not be at Augsburg next semester. I think a big reason I wasn't excited to leave was because this past semester was awsome. I had good classes and just had alot of fun hanging out with people. I just keep thinking about next semester- I am so excited to go! Only three weeks left!