As I wrote before, I am really having a great time exploring this city.  I keep finding awesome things to do; I keep meeting awesome people.

I’ve started a Korean language club.  I found some other people interested in studying, and we have started to meet and practice Korean!  So far it’s just been once, but it will become a regular thing.  I’ve made a blog to complement this group, you can find it here:

http://portlandkorean.wordpress.com

OK.  So now I’ve spent just over 3 weeks here.  It has been really exciting.  I almost feel like a new person.  I’ve been doing a lot of things differently than in times past.

Here is the house I’m living in.  Sorry, the picture is dark.  I decided to update the blog at the spur of the moment, and well, you get what you get.  Anyway, it is a 108 year old house that apparently is modular.  The landlord says it (and the 3 houses nearby) were shipped on on trains and then assembled on site.  Turns out it was also assembled without inuslation.  No minor issue, but at least we don’t live in Minneapolis!

I have also been going to a number of different groups.  If you are new to a city (or if you just want to make friends in your current one) I strongly suggest meetup.com.  I have used that site to meet a lot of new people.  I found Spanish languge groups, professional networking groups, and I’m sort of starting a Korean language group as well.

I am also trying to be more intentional about eating well.  I mean, in my previous life, I was content to just eat chicken nuggets and call it a day.  Or ramen.  On occasion I would get really enthusiastic and make something more special.  I decided it was time to grow up in this area, so I subscribed to a weekly shopping list/recipe website.  I need that because I am so clueless otherwise.

I have joined zipcar.  Read about it.  It is awesome and fun.

I’ve been in Portland for 5 days now, and have managed to get a lot accomplished.  I’m pretty sure I’ve found a place to live. You might be able to tell, it is pretty close to the center of town.  Really convienient for school, which starts in the summer.  What reamains to be seen is how conveinient it will be for my job.  That’s because I am still searching for the right one.  Portland is supremely walkable, bikeable, and public transportation usable, so I think I might be able to get by without buying a car…unless I find a job out in the suburbs.

I think I’ve had a cup of coffee every day.  Don’t worry.. they all cost less that $2.

Tomorrow I’m going to sit in on a marketing class at the university.  It’s just a way to stay connected to what’s happening on campus, since my cohort doesn’t start classes until summer.

A change of scenery here because I’m about to have yet another change of scenery in my life.  I’ve developed this habit of moving around a lot.  It’s good, because it means I have gotten rid of A LOT of the junk I had been collecting over the years.  Cleaning out a storage unit you haven’t really opened much in 2 years is really great.  I threw away or donated more than half of that crap.

Anyway, this friday I’m moving to Portland, Oregon.  I should really say I’m starting the process, since a few boxes will remain at my parents’ house in Baltimore.  One day, I’ll have it all…..

I just got back from Central America last Friday and have been spending the past week organizing myself for this next change.  I’m getting really excited about it, and things are falling into place already, from nearly 3,000 miles away.  I have several open doors (to borrow a phase from Sarah Palin) right now for housing, and am beginning to explore what job possibilities there might be.  It is fun to sit back and see what God delivers!

Ok, so it has been a while since I posted last, but I have excuses.  First, I spent one more week at the farm, where you read by candlelight, so you can’t even hope to use a computer.  Blogs just aren’t much of a priority.  Then, I came back to town last Saturday, but I spent my time on the computer buying plane tickets, and then ran out to catch the next bus, so yet again, I didn’t bother to post.

I spent the next 3 days on buses.  Yes, 3 days.  3 countries.  I arrived back in Copan, Honduras late Monday, and now, after “the excitement” I’m ready to fill you in.

I decided to go back to the states.  Yeah, it’s about 2 months earlier than I originally expected/planned, but I had 2 major revelations.

1.  I don’t really like traveling alone.  Sure, it’s fun for a short while.  Seems like my threshold is about 2 months.

2.  It will really be wise to start working again, and stop spending money.  Especially with grad school impending, this is quite important.

And, I have already learned much more Spanish than I expected to learn in 2 months, so I don’t feel like I’m cheating myself out of that.

So, I’m going home.  For a week.  Then it’s off to Portland to find some sort of a job….but that really is quite a mystery.

I told you that I was going to a remote farming village to do a little more Spanish study.  I didn´t quite know how remote it was going to be… but it is about as remote as you can imagine.

The farming community was established a couple decades ago, during the height of the Sandanista government and ensuing opposition in the early 1980´s.  Then the village was attacked by the Contra forces in ´84.  There is a very dramatic story associated with that day.  The anniversary is New Year´s Eve, and I think I´ll plan to be there then to experience the memorial.

This is my bed.  Yeah, there´s a mosquito net.  It´s actually pretty uncomfortable to use.  You can see that while it is suspended above the bed, it would hang on your head and toes, which is mildly annoying.  I´ve probably used it about 1/4 of the time.

That is about the extent of ¨comforts¨in Lagartillo.  There are no phones, TVs, or plumbing.  This means I haven´t had a hot shower since I left the States!  Here in Nicaragua, there´s a bucket full of cold water, and a small pail.  It does the trick.

Since there is no plumbing, there are of course outhouses.  Here´s the one I stumble to each night.  It get´s dark at around 6PM, and I ran out of batteries for my flashlight with a week before I could buy more.  Candles work, but…

It turns out I´ve studied most of the grammar in Spanish..that is I´ve seen all the forms and tenses.  So I just need to practice speaking as much as possible.  I´m getting to do that by spending morning in the local school.  Not teaching English, but teaching… in Spanish actually.  I´m surprising myself every day.  THen in the afternoos is my ¨class time¨which recently has mostly consisted of chatting with my teacher for 3-4 hours about topics ranging from NCLB, to the election, to Korean.  He let´s me talk a lot about Korea and Korean.. which is good because I know a fair amount about those topcis, and it is always encouraging to talk about things you know well. Next week I´m planning to work my way towards Costa Rica and Panama, with the goal of seeing the canal.

I´m writing this post from Esteli, Nicaragua.  I´ve moved fon from Honduras for now, and plan to spend a month or so here.  But, I don´t think I´ll have much internet access.  The place bills itself as a remote farming community,and while they have a webpage, (Google ¨hijos del maiz¨) I don´t know if I´ll get many opportunities to update my blog or facebook profile.

This picture is from my last night in Copán, Honduras.  Believe it or not, most of the people around that table are from Portland, or intend to move there next year.  You may remember that I´m planning to go to Portland myself early next year.  Crazy huh!?

I’ve done a bit of a re-design here (really just using a different template) to go along with a new chapter in the history of this blog.  September 12, I’ll be flying to Honduras to start an immersion Spanish program.  I’m going to spend about 4 months travelling around Central America.  I will be attending immersion programs in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.

I intend to take lots of pictures.  I have aspirations of posting on this blog.  So come on back, put it in your RSS feed.  See if I have anyhing for you!

If you don’t know, Koreans students have it pretty rough. The following video does a great job of explaining the Korean education system in the context of their SAT

Tomorrow, I am taking the GMAT for the first time….should be interesting!