Lesson One- Write Faster

I was so close to finishing the perfect post when BLINK, all the lights went out at this Internet Cafe in Granada, Nicaragua. Pues bien. I shall start again and keep things simpler.

My trip began in the Nicaragua capital Managua, not exactly a tourist hotbed but my homebase nonetheless. Being greeted at the airport by a man holding a KATIE MURTHA sign was awesome. This was due to the overall kick-assness of my hostess Elena (Leni) Reilly. The woman is beyond hospitable and fun. I haven´t expored much in Managua aside from the pool at Leni´s house and the Parque Historico Nacional. On Wednesday Brendan O´Brien, here on loan from the Embassy in Bogota, and I went to Leon, a Liberal univeristy town about an hour away, to meet up with Leni. She works for Save the Children and was there to do site visits on their latest efforts to get child care to remote villages. I spent the next day at the beach, reading and writing and drinking the national beer Victoria for a whopping 75 cents each. The cervezas here are served brilliantly cold, making their price and taste all the more appealing.

This weekend was amazing. Leni´s colleague and friend Elder arranged a very intersting and unique viaje that cannot be found in any guide book. We drove to a town called Somoto and then headed into the mountains. We drove up and up, over the rockiest of roads, until the villages were incredibly few and far between. I saw an honest to goodness cowboy (vaquero) and took his photo. He was very sexy; smoldering eyes, long lashes, and overall bad ass cowboy vibe. Evetually we stopped in a tiny village of 300 people with a small school, a few houses, and not much else. It was there we met our weekend guide Rafael who took us on a hike down to the river where children were swimming and mothers were washing laundry. Then things got really interesting.

The plan, and I use the word loosely, was to go to Rafael´s tiny comunidad for the night. Some rode horses while Elena, Elder, Rafael´s mother and I took the car over barely passable roads. Eventually we had to stop and go by foot. I was offered a horse and gladly accepted. There I was, riding a horse in the mountains of Nicaragua, under the brilliant moon and stars, thinking que buena es la vida! We found Rafael´s house, not exactly an easy exit off the Turnpike, where they fed us and we enjoyed a huge bonfire. Everyone fell in love with Jose Augustin, their charming mule. Honestly this burro had serious personality, and that isn't just the rum talking. Brendan, Leni and I pitched the tent in the dark, a tad difficult even with the headlamps and moon. I wouldn´t describe it as the most restful night of my life, but it was unique.

The next day we walked back to the car (a 3K hike at least) and then headed back into Somoto where we hiked into the canyons, jumped off cliffs and swam in the river. It was amazing.

Tomorrow I start three days of intensive Spanish classes here in Granada. For now I am off to find a small cafe and then visit the museums.

Besos del mundo!

Five More Days...

Five more days... Amazing how something that took forever to get here is now approaching so quickly. Perhaps even more amazing is how calm I feel, despite the Everest of packing that awaits my full attention. Everything is falling into place like it was more carefully planned than I can take credit for; tickets purchased, taxes filed, ipod updated, passport copied, contacts contacted. Nothing left to do but breathe in the winter air that has finally come to the east coast and get a pedicure. OK that's not all that's left but it's all I am worried about today!

Que suerte tengo, la vida es buena!

Happy Birthday MLK

"We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to humanity." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Katie's Report Card: Present salary = zero. Size of automibile = small 4-door Corolla. Quality of service: needs improvement. Relationship to humanity: Pretty good but can always use improvement.

As I prepare to embark on my journey through Central and South America I hope and pray that my immersion in foreign cultures will serve to remind me of the common humanity in all of us. PEACE!!!

Winter at the Beach

Being home full-time means that I am now officially back on the party circuit: baby showers, baptisms, graduations, weddings, wakes, birthdays, etc. Last week, a few days before the New Year, I was visiting family at the Jersey Shore for my cousin's baby shower. I awoke early one morning and decided to visit the beach, a mere 5 minute walk away from my aunt's house in Spring Lake, although at that hour and temperature I must confess that I drove the short distance. (Parking at the boardwalk is a dream in late December!)

I miss the ocean terribly. I saw it every day in San Diego and dipped my feet at least once a week. Since my return to the east coast I had yet to re-commune with the Atlantic and this particular morning, gorgeous, bright and crisp but not bitter, offered the perfect opportunity.

While the boardwalk was busy, the sand was free of traffic. I lingered for just a moment at the rail before stepping into the sand, so much crunchier than that of the west coast. It surprised me to see a sunrise over an ocean after all these years of sunsets. My tired eyes couldn't help but stare into the frisky sea, free of swimmers but not of attitude. I wanted so badly to dive in and swim to South America!; save myself the airfare and get a little exercise. My shadow tried to act as large as the ocean but inside I felt as tiny as the smallest shell.

All this self-reflection in the face of such natural majesty was invigorating; the scene so appropriate a metaphor for the imminent arrival of the New Year. We are already 4 days into it, and this morning began for me with another sunrise, viewed this time not by the sea but at first on the wall in my bedroom. A blurry hint of red until I could find my glasses and get to the window. The sky above the barren trees was passionately red and orange until it mingled with pink and then purple-grey-blue; a perfect pallette of the feelings of determination, hope, anticipation, and mystery with which I welcomed 2007.