Michellita
Michelle Jacobson Joined: December 2nd 2007
Logged in: January 14th 2011
Logged in: January 14th 2011
My traveling experience started in Mexico in high school, then on to Iceland and Norway in College. Then, I took a huge risk and lived in Barcelona, Spain for a semester in college. These experience have only fueled me to learn from and appreciate people from all over the world.
Out of college, I served through the non-profit org. Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, also known as Friends of the Orphans. I was the English teacher and journalist on the island of Ometepe on Lake Nicaragua. This experience changed my life and I will forever be touched by it.
Travel Blog Posts
Escuela AKF
Ha pasado mucho tiempo! Well, I am back in Nicaragua, no surprise there. After a long year of living in Minnesota, my time came to go back to the country I fell in love with. My Rotary district is involved in a 10 year long initiative with the Masaya Rotarians and I received a scholarship to attend the next delegation. With Chile out the window, another opportunity came by! I spent close to 12 hours in 3 different airports and airplanes combined, just to get the cheap ticket. It was a long, lazy day, but well worth it for the price.My plane mate happened to be a Scottish who spent half his life in Nicaragua. He gave me a complete history of Nicaragua's torn past. I spotted Pharaoh Casino from the plane and saw all the ... read more
Nica Remembered
Hello all! I just want to prepare you guys for my next travel back to my home in Nicaragua. Although going for a different purpose, and will be experiencing a different side of the country, the people and places will be comfortig and familiar to me. Look for more updates with pics later. Bon voyage! ... read more
After getting back from Nicaragua last summer, I was anxious to travel again. My life of exciting travel hadn’t worn off and I was ready to chase the next adventure. As I have volunteered a lot, I research Asian programs in Japan and South Korea as they pay the best for English teachers/assistants. I took Summer/Fall 2009 to prepare to teach in South Korea, the safest and fastest growing country to take in English teachers. I applied for a few programs, talked with numerous people, read books about South Korea, and paid for paperwork to be shuffled. I even had a few interviews, which didn’t produce jobs. However, something inside of me was not feeling as excited as I should have felt. I was more dreading life in South Korea for a whole year, a culture ... read more
How do you define traveling? Some countries or thoughts that may come to mind include: Sierra Leone, scuba diving off of Belize, or perhaps a family vacation to Europe. I partly define traveling by a change in my state of mind, where I am transported into such a different environment that I learn to see people, ideas, cultures, languages, religious, notions and ways of doing things differently. This is not surprising, given that when you travel, you may surprise yourself: you may learn that you are much more open than you thought you were; you may also learn that you can really learn to salsa dance like the Hispanic women do. You may learn your limits, your frustrations, or that little things about your foreign roommates really bother you…You may find things that give you joy, ... read more
A Gifted Musician
It has been 4.5 months since I arrived back to the civilization I know as Minneapolis, Minnesota. How great those two words sound together. Still in Nicaragua the last week in May, I didn't want to leave the country I never thought I would call home. My very last day and night in Nicaragua was unforgetable. I said goodbye to my friends in Granada, one of whom took the bus ride with me into Managua. Having to say goodbye is never fun. I emptied all my Cordoba out of my bank account, transfered it to USD and spent the afternoon shopping. I would miss the fruit in the little plastic bags for 5 Cordoba, the men shouting at me to buy lottery tickets or to change money illegially on the streets, and of course the crazy ... read more
Da boys
Although I am posting this entry a few weeks after being back in the United States, I still feel it is important to share with the travel blogger world my reflections and experiences. The entry was written at the time, in early May. Sit back, relax, and enjoy learning about Nicaragua's best kept secret: Bluefields. Two weeks. Fourteen days. That’s all I have left of my time with the beautiful children on my tropical island of Ometepe. In these last moments, I have been trying to really tune into life here, to take it all in, as I know that in an instant, it will all be gone. I decided it would be a good time to visit Bluefields, where I have a few connections. Although the city itself is not pretty and the ride there ... read more
Jeffrey with my sunglasses
The entries seem to keep pouring out like hot cakes! I guess that with my new responsibilities, I have more free time to write. Funny that this weekend is Earth Day. I think people in this country celebrate it, but you would never know for the piles of trash present along any road. Something really needs to be done to preserve the beautiful land here before the trash ruins it, creating a distasteful view and stench. So much could be done to improve the garbage system if only the people cared to get some initiatives going. This week has been a very long week. We just got done with Semana Santa, or holy week. This means lots of masses and Stations of the Cross. They were very deep and meaningful, but also very long! The Easter ... read more
Via Crusis
I write to you from a rainy Ometepe. The second of April brought rain, a little earlier than expected. It was almost like a little April Fools joke. However, the rain is cleansing to the soul and to the spirit. And, it helps cool things off in this ridiculous heat. Fitting in work, leisure time, and especially time with the kids is going to make my last 2 months go by very fast. The kids have started going to school all day, until 4pm. This gives me time to spend time at the computer, which I need to do a lot for my job. There are only 2 places in this property that have working Internet since there are problems, as usual. It has almost been 3 weeks with no working Internet at the home. In ... read more
Managua
Since my time in this country is dwindling down, I have tried to soak up every experience here and let it permeate through my entire being. Often, it is very hard to put into words what life is like here. However, I hope my journal hints a little bit into this experience. And, I only have 2 more months worth of stories to tell from my time in this beautiful country. It’s hard to believe that after all the things I have gone through and triumphed over in my time here, that I am still standing strong. When everyone else had left early or left after the year, I was the only one in my group to stay. I guess this is testimony to the love I first felt for this country since I first visited ... read more
Lovin my kids
I was not looking forward to going back to Nicaragua. Going back home was amazing: I was able to drive where I wanted, buy what I needed, choose from a closet full of outfits and accessories, was able to choose from a load of on demand movies, and there was water and light when I needed them. Life was good. However, I trained my mind for a visit back to the jungle life. When I arrived in Atlanta’s airport, I reminded myself that this was the last stop I would have to buy whatever goods I needed and to have the life of automated soap dispensers and flushing toilet paper down the toilet. Landing in Managua was great. Looking out my plane window, I could see the city lights sprawled out, giving the city the impression ... read more
