Where we stayed, at the Oasis Hostel
Horse carriage ride in Granada
William Walker's church in Granada
Old park in Granada
Horse carriage ride in Masaya
Masaya Market
Susan's new bag
Jimmy drinking cacao
Granada taxis
Monday, August 13, 2007
Trip to Nicaragua- Judy, Tom, Jimmy, Susan- July 16-19
Where we stayed, at the Oasis HostelHorse carriage ride in Granada William Walker's church in Granada Old park in Granada Horse carriage ride in Masaya Masaya MarketSusan's new bag Jimmy drinking cacao Granada taxis 
Drug ship caught off of Samara beach, Costa Rica
When we were in Playa Samara, we saw a drug ship scandal. The Colombians jumped into the ocean before the set their ship on fire. Many tons of cocaine were confiscated by divers after the ship finally sank. 
The boat finally explodes.
The boat sank. See the US Coast Guard ship and the helicopter?Playa Samara- Judy, Jimmy & Susan- July 7-9
WHERE WE STAYED: LAS BRISAS DEL MAR
LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTER
LOOKING FOR SHEELS
JUDY ON VACATION. THIS IS THE LIFE!Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Managua, Nicaragua, day 3, with Jimmy & my parents
Today Jimmy and I took my parents to Managua and we exposed them to a variety of cultural experiences that they will never forget. First we went to the huge market in the neighborhood where Jimmy grew up, and my parents were fascinated with the local feel to that environment. We did not see any tourists in that market, especially in the “regular” products section, like fruits & vegetables, flowers, piñatas, bathroom stuff, cooking utensils, etc. We spent a couple of hours in that market and the majority of that time was spent in the art craft section, where we all bought gifts and souvenirs. The colors of the art markets in Nicaragua are vibrant and brilliant, and the crafts are absolutely beautiful. After the local market, Jimmy and I took my parents to the huge mall that resembles any kind of nice mall in the States. Extremes. Being exposed to polarized realities is shocking, because wealth and poverty are just so different. We ate a safe lunch at the food court, and then left the mall with our eyebrows raised.
Then we went to Jimmy’s neighborhood. We went to his Aunt Deisi´s house to leave our bags of gifts and souvenirs while we went on a walk around the neighborhood where Jimmy grew up. He took us to his church, to the park where he played baseball, to the location where his parent’s house was (which was abandoned during the war and then sold illegally, and torn down, and the lot was divided up, and new concrete houses were built) and to his little school where he learned to read and write. After our neighborhood tour, we returned to his Aunt’s house and we introduced my parents to so many family members, which includes cousins, second cousins, third cousins, aunts, uncles and his paternal grandmother that Jimmy had not seen in over 20 years. Now my parents have a better understanding of who Jimmy is because they have experienced his roots.
It has been totally easy to travel with my parents. They are very easy to get along with and they are not demanding. I am very proud of them because they do not complain and they are dealing with the cultural experiences that Jimmy and I are exposing them to. They hop on any kind of bus, they cram into any kind of taxi, they walk along any kind of street, and they trust us as their guides. This experience in Nicaragua with Jimmy and my parents has been very intense and has created so many unexplainable memories.
Then we went to Jimmy’s neighborhood. We went to his Aunt Deisi´s house to leave our bags of gifts and souvenirs while we went on a walk around the neighborhood where Jimmy grew up. He took us to his church, to the park where he played baseball, to the location where his parent’s house was (which was abandoned during the war and then sold illegally, and torn down, and the lot was divided up, and new concrete houses were built) and to his little school where he learned to read and write. After our neighborhood tour, we returned to his Aunt’s house and we introduced my parents to so many family members, which includes cousins, second cousins, third cousins, aunts, uncles and his paternal grandmother that Jimmy had not seen in over 20 years. Now my parents have a better understanding of who Jimmy is because they have experienced his roots.
It has been totally easy to travel with my parents. They are very easy to get along with and they are not demanding. I am very proud of them because they do not complain and they are dealing with the cultural experiences that Jimmy and I are exposing them to. They hop on any kind of bus, they cram into any kind of taxi, they walk along any kind of street, and they trust us as their guides. This experience in Nicaragua with Jimmy and my parents has been very intense and has created so many unexplainable memories.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Masaya, Nicaragua with Jimmy & my parents, Day 2
Today Jimmy and I took my parents to Masaya, which is a little city that is famous for their art market because most of the crafts are made in that area. The art market is located inside an old ruin and it is the size of a city block. We spent 4 hours walking up and down the lanes and returned to many shops to buy gifts and memories. My mother went absolutely crazy and smiled the whole time. When we left the market, we took a horse carriage taxi, and both of my parents loved it. My mother was laughing and clapping because she got such a kick out of the two horse carriage. Today was a cultural experience for my parents because we traveled on a normal Nicaraguan bus, which is a US school bus that was probablly condemed there over 30 years ago. Upon arriving to the bus terminal in Masaya, we turned into a soccer field sized lote of mud that stored around 100 (school) buses. We saw some shantytowns neighborhoods with tin shacks that brought tears to my eyes. The poverty in Nicaragua is so obvious and everywhere that it never ceases to shock me. There is trash everywhere and people just throw their garbage out of the bus window. It is so different here.
Nicaragua is having electricity and water shortages, so we often are without both. I just took my first shower after arriving early yesterday, and it is 6pm right now. In Masaya, they do not have electricity or running water between 7am and 2pm, and Granada has a later schedule, so I realize what a priveledge it is to have constant electricity and running water in the sink, toilet and shower.
Nicaragua is having electricity and water shortages, so we often are without both. I just took my first shower after arriving early yesterday, and it is 6pm right now. In Masaya, they do not have electricity or running water between 7am and 2pm, and Granada has a later schedule, so I realize what a priveledge it is to have constant electricity and running water in the sink, toilet and shower.
Costa Rica to Nicaragua with Jimmy & my parents
I am here in Granada with my Mom and Dad. Today was a huge cultural experience for Mom and Dad because we took an 8 hour bus ride and crossed the Costa Rican/Nicaraguan border. We walked around Granada a little bit today, and it is such a beautiful and poor/rich place. The rich/poor gap is astonoshing. Jimmy got really nostalgic at dinner and started to tell my parents about his family´s experience during the war. He was conceived in the year that the war started. He talked about playing as a little boy in the small bomb shelter that his parents dug in their back yard. Jimmy explained how fortunate his parents were before the war, in that they had a nice house and jobs, and then the war displaced them, so they lost EVERYthing. Jimmy said that he does not know all of his family because they have been displaced and he meets a new family member everytime he comes to Nicaragua. I am never ceased to be surprised by how much I learn about my husband when I come to Nicaragua, because his memories open up and she shares so many of his memories. Jimmy teaches me so much and I can feel his happiness when we are in his home country.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Baby Christian Nicolas
Christian Nicholas Smith Pumalpa4:45 am EDT June 21st, 2007
10 pounds even22 5/8 inches long
New York Project
Push-Pins represent that 2,200 Global College inquiries so we can visually see where our areas of interest are located. 
Monday, June 11, 2007
Day 1 at work, Day 2 out on the town
My co-worker Lorna knocked on my dorm room door at 7am, instead of 8am, because she had mixed up the time. Ha! I answered the door groggily and she was all ready for work. Ha ha!
Work today was…interesting. I feel like I was busy the whole day, but I do not really know what I accomplished. The dynamic of the New York team is very different than that of my Costa Rican team and adjusting to another work environment can be a fragile transition. I tried to organize myself and make a plan for the week, but I felt like a chicken with its head cut off since there seems to be a complete lack of an agenda for this “intense Admissions week.” Hmmm.
After work, Lorna and I met up with my yoga mentor, Alanna Estes. She was my mentor during my yoga teacher training three years ago in Colorado. Alanna and I had not see each other for over two years, but we quickly caught up on our growth over the past few years and then talked like friends. Even though she is, and always will be, my yoga mentor. I look up to me and she inspires me because her positive energy is radiant and her smile is calming. I respect Alanna greatly, so enjoying some tea in east side Manhattan was a pleasant experience while it slightly rained.
After drinking tea with Alanna, Lorna and I walked around that part of Alphabet City, and had some falafel for dinner. Then we took the subway to Little Italy, where we met up with Nicoletta, a past Friends World student. We ate delicious gelato, and the met up with another past Friends World student from Japan named Nochi. We went to another restaurant and alas, I ate more gelato, while they enjoyed Italian beer and pizza. It is times like these that make me realize how impacting this job has been on my life because I have made so many friends that travel all over the world. Our conversations are intellectual and motivating. The students that I have worked with from Friends World/Global College are extraordinary human beings that help me appreciate the uniqueness of my job.
Work today was…interesting. I feel like I was busy the whole day, but I do not really know what I accomplished. The dynamic of the New York team is very different than that of my Costa Rican team and adjusting to another work environment can be a fragile transition. I tried to organize myself and make a plan for the week, but I felt like a chicken with its head cut off since there seems to be a complete lack of an agenda for this “intense Admissions week.” Hmmm.
After work, Lorna and I met up with my yoga mentor, Alanna Estes. She was my mentor during my yoga teacher training three years ago in Colorado. Alanna and I had not see each other for over two years, but we quickly caught up on our growth over the past few years and then talked like friends. Even though she is, and always will be, my yoga mentor. I look up to me and she inspires me because her positive energy is radiant and her smile is calming. I respect Alanna greatly, so enjoying some tea in east side Manhattan was a pleasant experience while it slightly rained.
After drinking tea with Alanna, Lorna and I walked around that part of Alphabet City, and had some falafel for dinner. Then we took the subway to Little Italy, where we met up with Nicoletta, a past Friends World student. We ate delicious gelato, and the met up with another past Friends World student from Japan named Nochi. We went to another restaurant and alas, I ate more gelato, while they enjoyed Italian beer and pizza. It is times like these that make me realize how impacting this job has been on my life because I have made so many friends that travel all over the world. Our conversations are intellectual and motivating. The students that I have worked with from Friends World/Global College are extraordinary human beings that help me appreciate the uniqueness of my job.
Out on the Town, New York day 1
I have been all over New York city today using the subways, the ferries and my feet. I met up with a previous Friends World student, Nicoletta, and she took me to see some amazing sights of her native city. First we went to Battery Park, and then we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I learned so much about the massive immigration to the United States during the late 1800s and early 1900s. We went through the Ellis Island museum and we watched a great documentary about how European immigrants flooded into the United States through New York's door. Afterwards we went to Ground Zero, where they are still cleaning up debree from 9-11 and looked at the powerful pictures of tears that poured almost 6 years ago. Plans for the Liberty Tower are underway, and it will be a beauty of a building/memorial. Then we went to Union Square and enjoyed some down time in a five story book store. I hung out in the Buddhist section and I think I found something for Payson and Jimmy to read at the wedding ceremony. Finally, we went across town to a hilariously decorated Indian restaurant, that had extremely delicious food that overly filled our bellies. Now I am back in Brooklyn and I am dreading my return to the horrible dorm. I mean, there I do not even have a shower curtain and I had to buy my own toilet paper yesterday. Nevertheless, I am fine and awed by this massive city. I simpley cannot understand how a city of these proportions can be sustainable. I mean, where does all of the food come from? Where does all of the trash go? How does water get pumped to the top of the skyscrapers? How is electricity made? How can people from every country around the world live together? I mean, really! Today I heard more other languages than English. This city truely does have people for EVERYwhere. The diversity and presence of cultures is astonoshing. I like this city, but it is overwhelming, and I do not think I could live here. OK, off to the dorm. Chao.
Monday, June 04, 2007
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