“Congratulations on your new President”

I missed the inauguration because I was giving exams to students who failed English class and this is their last chance to pass, but a lot of people were talking about it. I heard everything from how handsome Obama is to just flat out congratulations. Overall there's a lot of hope for our new president, not just on immigration issues which are obviously important to Nicaraguans but across the board.

Perdí la toma de posesion de Obama porque estaba dando reparaciones a los estudiantes quien dejaban la clase de ingles, pero mucha gente estaba hablando de esa. Escuche tantas cosas, como tan guapo esta Obama y felicidades. Hay mucha esperanza por el presidente nuevo y no solo por temas de imigracion.

I've been good and busy this week so I'm just going to post some photos from my trip to Diriamba and surrounding country this past weekend. It was their fiestas patronales in which they celebrate the town's patron saint San Sebastian. I wanna do some research to make sure I get some of the stories right so here are some shots from the finca (farm) of a friend the volunteer there and also the hipica in which men ride horses around and people drink beer and watch them. Good times.

Solo voy a poner algunas fotos de my viaje a Diriamba para las fiestas patronales. Voy a investigar algo de la historia entonces aqui son fotos de una finca y la hipica.

Maria (the volunteer in Diriamba) and I at the finca, Volcan Mombacho in the background.



Wildlife on the finca.



Streets of Diriamba before the hipica. You can just make out the clocktower in the distance which was a gift from Germany at some point in the past and has become the defining symbol of Diriamba.



Guys on horses.



One last thing. When I arrived home from Diriamba I was shocked to step off the bus and be staring directly into my living room (one way I've integrated here: some of the bus drivers know where I live and since it's right on the highway they drop me in front of my door). I knew the landlord was going to be doing some work on the roof but the project ended up being bigger than either of us expected and they replaced almost half the roof. Here's what it looked like from inside:

Una cosa más. Cuando llegué a mi casa estuve bien sorprendida a bajar del bus y ver directamente en mi sala (algunos de los choferes saben mi casa en la carretera entonces ellos me deja enfrente de mi casa). Yo sabía que la dueña quería arreglar el techo pero fue un proyecto muy grande.