Nicaragua – Week Three and Four
(Originally posted August, 2009) Things have gotten busy and I’ve neglected my weekly updates. In Granada I’ve been busy with the preschoolers and workshops at Los Caracolitos. I’ve made two trips to Jinotega and spent a weekend in Costa Rica with Maria. Around Granada we drove up to Catarina el mirador to see…
Nicaragua – Week Two
(Originally posted July, 2009) This week my projects are in full swing and I’m working hard to fit as much in during the time I have here in Nicaragua. I’m running several groups out of a small community center about a thirty minute walk from where I’m staying. Henry, the doctor who runs the…
Nicaragua – Week One
(Originally posted July 2009) Hello! Melony and I arrived in Nicaragua one week ago and have been having a great time since the plane landed in Managua. We’ve learned our way around Granada and are getting used to eating rice and beans at each meal. Melony has started her Spanish classes and I’m…
Back from Mexico
(Originally posted August 2008) After an amazing month at the Casa YMCA, Tijuana and a long day with Frontier Airlines, I am back home in Minneapolis. During the month of July, 163 youth passed through the Casa, some of them arrived more than once as they were unsuccessful in a second and sometimes third attempt…
Another Busy Week at the Casa YMCA – Tijuana
(Originally posted July 2008) It has been a very exciting week here at the Casa YMCA in Tijuana. Along with assisting the Casa with daily cooking/cleaning and working with the migrant youth, I have continued to work with four young adults from Mexico City as they complete a week of service at the…
Casa YMCA – Tijuana
(Originally posted July 2008) Dear Friends and Family, It’s been a year but now that I’ve been back in Mexico with new adventures, I think it’s time for an encore of the weekly update. I’ve been in Mexico for about a week at the Casa YMCA de Menores Migrantes. From the staircase of the…
Home after a Week of Goodbyes
(Originally posted August 2007) Hi Friends and Family, I’m writing this letter from my parents’ house in Madison. I arrived home yesterday afternoon. Yesterday morning, I was lucky enough to run into Kate Heideman in line at the Airport in Mexico City. Turns out we were on the same flight and everything. It was great…
¡Yeah for Estufas Ecológicas!
(Originally posted in August 2007) Hi Family and Friends, Greetings, once again, from Cuetzalan, Puebla. I almost didn’t make the two hour trip into Cuetzalan today because I’m not feeling well. It’s hard to spend two months in Mexico without catching some sort of stomach/intestinal bug. Yesterday and today, both Rosa and I have been…
Campfires on the Caribbean
(Originally posted August 2007) Hi Friends and Family, This week’s update comes from the costal town of Casitas, Veracruz. Yesterday we finished the tanks that we’ve been building in Copales and decided to visit the beach on our day off. Yesterday, we left Copales on foot, caught a bus to Ayotoxco and two buses…
From Blisters to Calluses
(Originally posted July 2007) Hello Friends and Family, It’s been a very busy week and I’m not quite sure where to start. Last Sunday through Tuesday, we met up with our compañeros from all the other communities for a few days in Zapatitlan. It was a great reunion and it felt like meeting up with…