Hi Everyone, I am up and around today even though the weather here is still a little rainy and the polluted air makes me cough. I wanted to update with some photos since I can´t do this from the hotel computer. Everyone here is paying attention to the flooding that is happening in Chinandega which is north of here. People are being evacuated via helicopter and we are watching this on the news in the hotel. Also, in Guatamala the Vulcan Picaya (?) erupted and people have been killed while others are being evacuated. Many people are suffering from the ash in the air. The news from home only seems to discuss the mismanagement of the oil spill in the Gulf. No other news has been given about what else is happening. So, I feel pretty ... read more

Hey again! I spent the afternoon yesterday and this morning walking all around Granada. It is a great city to walk in with parks and many cathedrals and old churches. I stopped at a tourist breakfast place owned by an American guy from New Orleans. It seems as if this is a spot for the expats to hang out and drink coffee. My plan for today is to hang out then head to Masaya where I will do another city tour for a day. Early in the morning I will catch an express bus to Matagalpa. In Masaya is an artisans market which I would like to check out. I hope to find a small place to stay because it was really crowded and noisy where I was in Granada. The guests left a huge mess ... read more

Hi everyone, Life here is good on the Island. I have a routine this week. I have been getting up at 5 am when the birds are making lots of noise, having coffee and breakfast and doing volunteer work on the island. It has been hot and dirty work, but I am learning a lot and speaking as much as possible with Spanish speaking guests and the workers. I am also attempting to study 20 pages of my Spanish grammar book which is really helpful in trying to formulate sentences when trying to ask questions. I can´t say my speech is any better, but I am understanding much more of what people are saying. After my breakfast I go to work. I have been making soil from chicken compost and rice hulls, making mango juice and ... read more

Hi everyone! I made it to Omotepe yesterday without any problems. It is remote but very beautiful. There are limited busses and limited internet connections available. I had to walk one hour this morning to get online. The people here are very nice and will walk with you and talk some on the main road. Most of the roads are not paved and I am not sure how confident I would feel on a bike. The place that I am staying is on the side of the Madera volcano which is the smaller of the two volcanos that make up the island of Omotepe. I will not attempt to climb these volcanos. The smaller one would take 4 hrs to hike up and 3 to hike down and I would not be able to manage that. ... read more

Hi all! Today it started out much cooler finally! It rained in the night and was sprinkling this morning which was a relief from the 90 F mornings (at 7am). I met the librarians early and we started into the very poor rural areas to give three different schools the opportunity to choose 2 books per child. Also, we provided the classes with some art projects which they really enjoyed. The schools generally have about 3 classrooms. The school day is often divided and some teachers and kids come in the morning and some have classes in the afternoon. One person traveled with us from the Ministry of Education to evaluate the voluntary preschool program at each school. The poorest school also received some shoes, white shirts and blue pants and skirts which is the school ... read more