Agradecimientos

There are too many people to thank and more to be thankful for than words could begin to articulate. We proudly prepared a Thanksgiving feast for 50...it was a great success with love and care included in each and every bite. Five days have come and gone alredy. The airplane awaits after an early 4:30 am departure from Matagalpa. Stay tuned for favorite frames and a description of Thanksgiving, which turned into a birthday celebration followed by another celebration on a terrace overlooking the city that has become another home for me. Happy National Day of Listening!!!

Hoy?

Batido. Una caminata con las mujeres...dos tienen 15 anos y una tiene 14! Reunion con Harold. Almuerzo con Kitty en La Vita e Bella. Placticar con el equipo en la terraza. Una caminata a mi cerro favorito. Otro batido (con leche de soya!) Aqui...antes de cenar y dormir! I am always humbled...always asking myself how I arrived where I am and how I could possibly express my gratitude. I will miss my family on Thursday, but am in good hands and loved by my familia Nica. These days will prove to be quick but plentiful. I am glad to be here. It is important to make the face to face connection to assure people here that my intention is to be here time and time again. A rooster follows us up the hill. A dog ensures we don´t get lost. Two men with rifles say there may be danger but laugh and tell us to yell loudly if we encounter any. Peace is all we found atop a mountain, overlooking a city with the sun finding respite behind the peaks. If I had 7 children by the time I was 27? If I were pregnant at 14? If I were embarrased to tell someone my favorite color? If I wasn´t able to listen to the stories of the world? Then...

Airport yoga is the best

especially when you can find a quiet chapel.

La novena visita.

Hola desde Matagalpa!! After having traveled all day, I was greeted last night by Manuel at the airport. We agreed that our reunion felt familiar...This is my 9th visit to Nicaragua in less than 5 years! We drove 1.5 hours to arrive late to Dora´s house, a second home for me. She greets me from behind the partially-opened door as she has eight times before. We smile. Laugh. Hug. We are happy. the house is clean. She shows me my room. She is proud of my room. It is ´my room´in ´my´home in a country far away in a land in which I feel so comfortable and close to myself yet far from my family. After sleeping and dreaming for hours, Dora joined me for a ´batido´at Don Chaco´s...our favorite locale. The Casa Materna is full. There are 30 women there and 10 more in the hospital. One woman, Felipa, will have twins any day. The others patiently await seeing thier newborn for the first time. The staff is still glowing from their 20th anniversary celebration. It feels amazing to continually be welcomed into thier home and their arms. I was told recently that good luck takes hard work. I´m not so sure I agree. Will four pumpkin pies feed over 40 people?

The funny things about air travel.

Security measures and protocol are different in every country.

Multi-directional head bobbing and snoring yourself awake is always funny.

When arriving to other countries, it is customary to applaud when the plane lands.

In Maimi, a middle-aged woman in high heels decided she needed a wheelchair when she realized how long the line for customs was. She moved right to the front.

Running to the jetway can be a critical course of action. Seconds are prescious. make friends. Smile. Relax. Sprint! (They unlocked the gate for me so I could board).

Airline food is best on European airlines.

I can't help but think of Saturday Night Live each and every time I deplane an aircraft. "Bye-bye now. No. No. Bu-Bye."

Some highlights, as trip season reaches phase 5.

Highlights and memorable moments from the past 7 weeks (in no particular order):

Peru:
Morning runs
Rafting and laughing!
¨Greens¨
Inti Raymi in Cusco
A spontaneous cappuccino
Meditating in Machu Picchu
Hike to Puma Marco (running, laying, exploring, jumping, cheese sandwiches, the views, the women on our way down the mountain).
Yoga, ¨camouflage¨ and family meals at the hot springs in Lares
Returning home to Dolores and Yessenia
The dispachos with the shaman
The first time I saw Piscacucho
Jose Carlos´ eyes and the way they glimmered, shone and wrinkled when he smiled
William Flug making all of us laugh

Lima:
Cebiche
Late-night graffiti tour
The beach
The cab ride/tour with Horacio

Argentina:
Laying in the park
Lunch at La Siesta
La Boca
Laughing with Nick
El Gapon...my kind of people and food
Coffee
Tango
The oldest cafe in BAs with Jorge
Casa Felix!
Mercado Mataderos and choripan
Croissants and alfajores!
Picadas
Jenga
The accent.

Nicaragua:

Seeing my friends again and being welcomed ¨home¨
Talks over tea with Dora
¨Gambling¨ with my Nicaraguan mamas
Kitty´s patio
Morning batidos and gallo pinto
Yoga and walks with the women
Siestas
A hike to ¨Cerro de la Cruz¨
Fresh pineapple, coconut and well...everything
Our staff meeting...Songs, activities and laughter
Today. I was sent off with a special meal made by the women and staff

Life.

I often go to the hospital to bring, visit or take women back to the Casa Materna. We travel about 10 minutes in the ambulance the Casa owns to arrive to the regional hospital. With one of the nurses by my side, I am able to enter with ease and walk into any section of the hospital (even without a nurse by my side, I would probably be able to do the same). There are multiple rooms filled with women who have just given birth and who are waiting to ¨dar la luz¨. They talk with family members, eat from the enchilada stand, nurse, walk, sleep and invite me to hold their newborns.

As I reflected upon my visit to the hospital the other day, I wrote the following about a woman I met who was from Matagalpa (and had not been in the Casa Materna):

I think of the women I met today and about the one for whom my heart broke. She was so young and so sad. There she was, among six other women who had given birth today with their newborns by their sides. The babies slept, cried and ate as she grieved the death of the baby she delivered this morning. I weep for her loss and know she represents many strong women in the world who have had to face the same reality. Surely she will grow to love another child she carries, but until then, her loss poignantly resonates with me.