T-9 days and counting

I can't believe how fast August has come. I have my plane ticket, finally know what my living situation will be, and am in the process of packing (oy vey, my room is a disaster!).

I found out this week that my living choices were to be in a house with a few other Americans who are teaching preschool at bilingual schools in Managua, or to live with a local couple. I chose to live with the couple. He is a history professor at the university I'll be attending (UAM), and I don't know what she does, but she is bilingual, which will be great for those nights that I know will come when my brain just will NOT think in Spanish. They have 2 spare bedrooms, one of which is currently occupied by a guy from Switzerland. I'm not sure if he's just there right now or will be there the whole semester as well, but that'll add an interesting aspect to things! The host couple will take care of all of my laundry and ironing, which will be really nice not to have to worry about. I don't know yet what my food situation will be, but as with most things on this adventure, I guess I'll just figure it out as I go! My friend Lara told me that Nicaragua is pretty unorganized (woo hoo), so I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for that and try not to get frustrated too much.

I bought a new backpacking pack this week, it should be here in the next couple of days, so I'm in a holding pattern right now on actually getting packed. The next few days until I leave are pretty crazy (cousins visiting from Texas, wedding in Spokane, Mariners' game with family in Seattle...), so I'm trying to get as much done as possible. My room, like I said, is a disaster area with piles everywhere. I've got 'yes', 'no', and 'maybe' piles all over the place, and am in the process of trimming things down.

I will have Skype on my computer while I'm there, and will most likely be getting a local (Yakima 509) number that people can call just like they would a cell phone. The other thing you can do is call my regular US cell number and I will be having it forwarded to my Skype account, so I'll be getting my voicemails and if I'm at my computer when a call comes in, I can take it! Download the program--it's free!--and we can chat computer-to-computer for free. If you have a webcam, we can even do video chat!

I'll do my best to keep my blog updated while I'm there, but I'm not promising anything :) You can always email me at alysoncote87@gmail.com or call my cell phone number (email me if you need that number).