Wednesday

Today was pretty chill.

I assisted a hygienist all day.

Also did some yoga... in a foreign country... in the rain. That's gotta be on my bucket list or something.

Also I got my dad to do yoga with me... that's definitely on my bucket list.

I did get to meet a girl who has already got her mission call to Provo! She was so excited when I introduced her to like tons of people who were from there. We are going to meet up in Provo.

It's going so fast! I don't want it to end.

Neekarrraguwa, Dia Dos

Nicaragua es LO MEJOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the best)

Let's break it down:

#1 - super hot tropical weather + 99.9999% humidity + broken A/C + lots of bodies crammed into one cultural hall = Priceless.

No really. I loved the crazy hot sweaty ness of it all. I really felt like I was in Nicaragua (I could have been anywhere working in an air-conditioned dental office but TODAY noooo. TODAY I was DEFINITELY in Nicaragua).

#2 - new friends.

My favorite today was the first boy we worked on. Erick. He was 11 but looked like he was about 7. He was super brave and had his little HLJ ring on. He and his mom told me he can't wait 8 years to be able to go on a mission, and his dream is to go to Salt Lake City (precious). Every time Dr. Oyuela would get out the needle Erick would grip the sides of the chair and just yell. Then his mom would start to tear up because she didn't want to see her baby hurt. I'm not sure who it was harder for. But, both of them were troopers and we made it through.

Dr. Oyuela. The dentist I assisted. He is a young Honduranian dentist who has helped out with every one of these trips. We really had a fun time together, talking about everything from salsa dancing to Disneyworld to reggaeton to comida centroamericana. I was grateful for his patience with my lack of experience in assisting. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a crazy white girl, but in all fairness... I am. We are totally gonna be Facebook friends.

#3 - food. so much food. I have to say, I like Central American food. Rice and beans... pretty standard (but still oh so delicious). For breakfast I had some fried platanos, a tamal wrapped in a plantain wrapper, a plaintain, and like 5 fruits I did not recognize and still have no idea what they were. For dinner we had some more delicious Nicaraguan food, but the best part was the salsa. Rafa (aka Dr. Oyuela) taught me how to say what the salsa was, but I already forgot. Gonna have to ask him that again... but it was kind of like the Central American version of pico de gallo. And coconut flan. yum.

#4 - my bed. I am seriously so worn out today. We worked on patients from about 10am to 7pm... and today was a light day. Good thing tomorrow is a day of rest... and then it's gonna be crazy! I love it though... the people are so beautiful and they are just so grateful for what we are doing.

I could totally do this the rest of my life if some rich relative I don't know of would just appear and decide to sponsor me to go on a bajillion humanitarian trips. That's likely.

Nicaragua, Day 1

So I have this goal to blog every day (because I didn't have room to bring my journal to Nicaragua).

I have a feeling it might be a little rough... especially if I'm this tired at the end of every day. It looks like that might be the case according to more experienced people I've talked to. But it will be a good kind of tired. A we-helped-a-hundred-and-fifty-people-get-their-dental-work-done-today kind of tired. I can handle that.

It's my first time being in another country (and I'm not counting Canada). Canada is totally cool and all. But we were speaking English. And I really could have been walking down the street in the good ol' U. S. of A.

But not Nicaragua my friends.

#1 - it is SUPER hot and humid. I love it (and the fact I'm sitting in an air conditioned hotel room doesn't hurt).

#2 - everything is in ESPANOL. I can talk to people in Spanish and they don't look at me weird. Okay, they do look at me weird because I'm a gringa, but it's nice to be the outsider.

#3 - it is poor. This is the sad part. Seriously... just driving down the street and looking in people's casas... they just don't have very much. And when we would stop at stoplights little kids--seriously like 5-8 years old--would come up to the windows asking for money. I've never seen anything like it in my life, and it breaks my heart! I want to just take all those kids home with me and love them and give them new shoes and braid their hair and sing them to sleep... you know? I feel like every little kid should have that.

Well, that is the update for today. I really spent most of the day on a plane and my bum hurt from sitting so much. Watching The Blind Side in Spanish was super entertaining though ("Beeg Mike").

ANnnnnd I don't have any photos. I couldn't find my camera before leaving, so I'm using my dad's. I've designated myself the trip photographer because I saw how many pictures he took last time (aka zero). There will be pictures... but they will be posted at a later date due to a lack of USB hook up.

Well, I'm tired and am going to bed.

Buenas Noches!

P.S. Here's a map of Nicaragua in case you were like me and don't know exactly where it is :)

AyAyAy!!!!!

Oh man I love my new work out clothes so much that they get their own blog post. That is imppppressive. I'm not even sure Zumba itself has gotten its own blog post. Anyway, I have posted a picture of me in them. No, the picture does not do them justice. But I mean, they make me look good in this picture so imagine how good they make me look in REAL life. Just sayin.

Confessions of a Food Addict

I'm afraid this post is going to have to be brutally honest.

#1-Sorry it's been so long. I don't know why I haven't written lately but right now is one of those times I just HAVE to blog. The words are like vomit and if I don't let them out they will just make me sick.

#2-I have a confession. I am an addict.

So, I gave up sugar way back in February... and it was only supposed to be for like 6 weeks. I've done it before. Not ever for that long, but it felt good. I mean, I was still eating fruit and stuff... but the straight up chocolate cake or triple fudge ice cream--forget it. That stuff always makes me miserable anyway.

So seriously. I didn't TOUCH sugar for 2 months! It was amazing. I was impressed with my own willpower.

MISTAKE: I did this little psychological trick where I would freeze stuff if it looked really good. Not like it would actually taste good after being frozen (for example... cinnamon roll? Not so good frost-bitten.) I also saved candy from Easter and Valentine's Day.

Well, tonight it happened. I think all that crap was hidden somewhere in my subconscious, and my subconscious let loose

The stress did it

Finals + taxes + fixing my car + finding money for rental deposits + figuring out graduation + accepting 20 extra hours at work + figuring out what the H to do AFTER graduation + running... always running from one thing to another = WHERE IS THE CHOCOLATE??!!!???!!

I found it. I ate.... way too much of it. I don't only feel like vomiting words but I actually really, really feel like vomiting. I considered making myself do it, but I really hate vomiting and am kind of opposed to that whole making yourself throw up thing.

Then I realized... I really am addicted. It was as if I was a smoker who had given up cigarettes for two months and then went CRAZY and went out and bought 5 cartons and smoked them in one night.

So I did what anyone who REALLY wants to quit (and I mean it. I want to quit junk food) and I decided to throw it all out. That's right. I rounded it all up--perfectly good chocolate kisses. Reese's peanut butter cup. Frozen truffles and chocolate covered strawberries. It was... really hard. At first. BUT then it was ssoooooo good. Seriously.

Now there aren't any calorie-ridden cadbury eggs lurking in my subconscious waiting to exploit my weakness when I get overwhelmed. I will want them. But I won't be able to eat them because they are DESTROYED. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

well

This is probably one of the most intense (or crazy) posts I've ever written. I feel better now.

except for that whole needing to vomit thing.