ESTOY AQUI!!!!

Ok I'm just glad to be here in one piece, with all of my luggage. It was kind of a hectic traveling day yesterday. I was in LAX about ready to board, and realized that I couldn't find my bag. I called my mom while on the verge of tears, and she told me to run to the airport police and tell them... Because they can do something if a bag gets stolen at LAX. But that was also my idea, and on the way there I passed where I had been sitting and found it. Ohhhhh my gosh. I think it was one of the scariest moments of my life. But the flight was uneventful. I forgot to pack my headphones, and I decided if there was a good movie I'd buy them. But the movie was "Tooth Fairy", so I decided to forgo paying $3.00 for headphones for that.
Houston was also pretty stressful. I got to my gate an hour ahead of time, and decided to go buy some Wendy's (healthy eating) before getting ready to board. When I got back from Wendy's, there was nobody there. I freaked out again, because if I was stuck in Houston without any relatives living there I was NOT going to be happy. Maybe they had boarded early? So I went and asked the agent at the gate next door (going to Liberia, Costa Rica... good times), and she said it moved down the hall. Phew!
On the flight to Managua, I made friends with a girl named Delilah. She was 2 years old (of course) and told her dad I was her "mama". At first I found it kind of awkward, until she pulled out the magazine from the seatback pocket, and pointed to a picture of Kristen Chenoweth and said "Es tu!"I'll take it. She was the only person whose Spanish I could understand right off, and that was only some of the time. Trust me, the feeling of inadequacy is something I'm probably going to get used to over this month. The fact that everyone else can speak a different language makes me feel like I'm not that smart... Especially when Caroline acts so surprised when I know what a word is in Spanish. She's 5, for those who don't know. Anyway, I landed safely (the airplane fishtailed a little bit because it was raining), and got through customs just fine. Then the craziest thing happened. We had to scan our bag AGAIN. And it took more than half an hour, because 3 international flights came in at the SAME TIME. I was soooo mad. But Annie was there waiting for me, and I got to their house safely.
I don't think I'm going to get used to the feeling of everything being slightly damp from the humidity any time soon. I'll definitely hug my air-conditioning unit when I get home... It's actually not that hot. But it's like living in a comfortably-heated sauna. And that makes it really hard to stay awake all day long. One thing I won't be able to get used to? Not flushing toilet paper down the toilet. Seriously. They put it in a trash can next to the toilet!!! Ew. I'll just embrace it I guess, I did want a cultural experience. Today I've been amazed with everyone's Spanish. Annie speaks so well with all their help (they hired people from the branch, to help support their families), and even though her accent isnt perfect, she is able to keep up with them. Which is more than I can say for myself. I did manage to have a somewhat broken conversation with one of the housekeepers (Joelca?) and she knew who my mom and dad were (mi padre es alto, y mi mama es "Deena"). So I'm actually really proud of myself, because that's the first time I've had a conversation with someone in Spanish where I couldn't say "Oh you know what I mean", and I think she understood me and everything! Go me.
Well, tonight we're having a legitimate (as opposed to illegitimate) Nicaraguan feast! Jugo de Calala (maracuya), aka passionfruit juice; arroz con coco, aka rice with coconut; shish kabobs con camarones, aka shish kabobs with shrimp; torta de zanaorias, aka carrot cake; y tostones, or fried plantains (which are SO good!). So I'm going to go help in the kitchen (even though they've got two housekeepers on it) so I don't feel like a bum. But I'm keeping a good journal in addition to this! And I'll put pictures up soon, once I have more pictures. Hasta luego, todo!
Mom, can you give my blog link to Claudia? I'm sure she wants to read about this since she helped so much with my going.