Oh, right, I went to Nicaragua.

Everything is so bright.

Everyone keeps asking me...

"How was Nicaragua?"
"Oh my gosh! You're back! How was it?"

And, really, all I remember is doing a lot of walking and trying to figure out what I'm going to write about. Because, by the time I left the US, I had two weeks, maybe three max, to start up a new story and make a new, different set of contacts in Nicaragua. It was like the entire first quarter of the year had disappeared and I was starting fresh.

I actually have detailed logs of the trip, because we needed to send them to our professors to send to the school to show that we actually spent the money we said we did, and the professors didn't just use the money to buy things unrelated to the trip.

My logs are great, and became a little sassy by the end of the trip.

• Thursday: Took an airplane to Managua then a bus to Granada, and then used our feet to go to dinner, exchange money and purchase a cell phone.
• Sunday: Woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel, walked to Pan de Vida and spent ~1.5 hours photographing and talking to Andrea, a 39 year old Canadian expat. Walked to hotel. Walked back to Granada cathedral square. Ate lunch. Walked back to hotel. Watched Lightroom tutorial videos. Organized photos in Lightroom. Contacted Nica gov't (again). Found address for office of immigration in Managua (planning on stopping by on Tuesday and requesting to speak to someone. Preparing to be turned down.) Attended group meeting. Assisted organizing after group meeting. Walked to grocery store and pizza place. Walked back. Ate food. Read a book. Now going to bed.
• Friday: We flew back.

Film photo after our group dinner on the last night.

I didn't get to complete an interview for my story until Tuesday, which was really late considering we arrived in Nicaragua on the previous Thursday. But! I still learned a lot!

I learned a lot about photojournalism, mostly in light of the fact that it's really hard to do photojournalism and written journalism at the same time. I was able to identify that writing comes naturally to me, while taking photos is a skill I definitely need to work on. It is also incredibly difficult to focus on photographing, improving my photography, and writing at the same time because the story I'm working on is incredibly nascent and needs a lot of attention.

So, while my camera is still my baby, I didn't take a lot of photos I can show people. I got to photograph a Canadian expat who owns a bakery with her husband, and I got to take some photos at a wind farm, but I also was very, very preoccupied by the issue at hand--I had no clue what I was going to do with my immigration story, and trying to figure that out took precedence over driving hours to the border just to take a few photos (because I really actually wanted to drive to the Costa Rica border and photograph it, but that didn't happen.)

Film photo of Andrea Pellegrino, co-owner of Pan de Vida bakery. Their cinnamon buns are amazing.

Ultimately, I think I'm also in a little bit of shock from the trip. It was crazy. Being thrown in to another country, hanging out with people for 24/7 for a little more than a week, trying to figure out what I'm going to write about and who I'm going to talk to....yeah. It was crazy.

In the end, I made some really great contacts that are yielding fruitful interviews and I will be able to pull off a story on south to south immigration, from Nicaragua to Costa Rica.

As I type that "I will be able to..." I just kinda can't believe that it's going to happen. I have so much work to do. SO MUCH WORK. Even as I type this, I'm listening to an hour long interview I completed in Spanish with the assistance of my friend Molly. The homework never ends, and I really don't want to think or talk about this trip until, like, EVER, because it's so deeply associated with how much work I have to do for this class. It's like a stress trigger.

So is the word "canal." OMG plz don't mention that around me.

We named her Rosie. She had street smarts and followed us around for a few days.

Ok. Deep breaths. Look at the picture of the puppy. In light of the stressed homework-y tone of this post, I did have some very good times. There were plenty of chances to bond with my classmates, and learn who likes who, who is scared of who, who is the craziest egg in the basket...the normal stuff.

I sat on the roof of our hotel many nights discussing life and religion over Toña and Victoria, two of the local beers in Nicaragua. I also got to eat a lot of really good food, namely gallo pinto, tostones y queso, and guyaba jam on toast. But mostly, gallo pinto. I also had my first macuá and got to use a burner phone for a week. I felt like such a secret agent; it was great.

What I got most out of this trip was 1) the ability to speak Spanish in stressful situations, 2) the understanding that I shouldn't compare myself to others too much when it comes to progress, 3) the general acclamation that comes with going to a foreign country for a few weeks. days. whatever.

It felt like weeks.

By the time we flew home, I was ready to be in Arizona. If I go to Nica again, it will be as a tourist--and I will surf.

Nicaragua

✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️

Here we go! 

I'm writing about immigration from Nicaragua to Costa Rica, and have interviews set up. I have two bags (a massive backpack that weighs 24 pounds and a checked suitcase that probably also weighs 24 pounds) and am so ready for this.

I'm also incredibly nervous. This is my first major journalism adventure out of the country. I'm still working on what I'm focused on, and will probably be refocusing as the trip goes on.

But it's also a learning experience, so that's okay.

I went to Welcome Chicken and Donuts this afternoon and told Michael (the owner) about my trip, and he said he's proud of all us journalism students; that we're hard working and willing to get dirty while reporting. He called us the kitchen workers of the journalism world. We make great product in a stressful, intense environment.

And that is some encouragement I needed to hear.