Hi everyone, Im finally back on a computer!! So i have had a pretty rough two weeks, but i made i through and right now the group and i are chilling in a little beach/surf town by the name of puerto viejo. But the weather here has been pretty bad because there is a really big tropical storm right on top of us and there was an earth quake in panama causing the ocean to have amazing waves. So we are toughing it out in the rain. The last two weeks have been pretty hard, the turtle project wasnt that great casue it isnt turtle season. I did see a few baby turtles but thats about it. There was also very little food so i survived off of a jar of nutella for the week. After our week of turtles we went to Punta Mona, our supposed yoga retreat but it was actually a perma culture farm where they only eat fruits and vegtables. Which everyone knows how much i like those so i survived on one sandwich and two packetts of soda crackers a day. It has definitly been a really rough two weeks, but we leave for San Jose, Costa Rica tomorrow on the bus. We are planning to be there for three days and then off to Honduras where we are praying for nicer weather. I know this is brief but the rain has let up an i have to run back before the next down pour comes. Hope all is well.
xo soph

Hi everyone,
So it has been a really long time i know but i havent really been able to get to a computer much. So for the last week we have been staying in San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua, at a little place by the name of Parque Maderas. It was a hostel but also a perma culture farm. I is run by this guy named tyler who was super chill, and he just had this idea to start a hotel/hostel that could run on it own. So while we were there we helped out and did some yard work while also going to the beach and relaxing. While there i learned how to surf on the beautiful Playa maderas beach, it was awesome!! All of us girls got to stay in one "dorm" together but the beds were huge, i didnt know what to do with myself. I also managed to break two toes while running aound haha but they are fine. After spending an awesome week in San Juan del Sur, we took a bus down to Costa Rica, where right now we a residing in San Jose its the capital and a really big city. We are only here for a day, and then we are being picked up to go to our turtle project im very excited to see what it going to be like and hopefully ill be able to come back with a baby turtle haha. Hope all is well.
xo sophie

Hello,
So my week in Granada has come to a close. We spent all week studying and roaming around the city. School wasnt so bad, we were able to get our teachers to leave the classroom once in a while, we even had a party on Halloween! The pary we had was pretty amazing, the girls andI made a cake with crazy toppings it was so good. There was also a Piñata which was really fun, it was a witch of course. But the rest of the week flew by. We spent most of our time relaxing and roaming aroung the city. On Wednesday we went on a tour of the lake in a boat, but it was raining and i have never seen so many gnats in my life there was a swarm. So that was ok. But other then that the week went by and we made it through our last week of school. For Halloween we not only had a party but the girls and I went out to mi tierra a local disco teca and we danced the night away we had a blast. My host family was ok, we had a relaly nice house but they didnt really pay much attention to us and they hated it when we came home late so thats always a bummer. Tomorrow we move on to San Juan del Sur, to playa maderas an eco friendly run compoud where we are going to be helping out and doing some work around the place. I wont have internet there so i will tell you how it goes with everything there and the surfing. Hope everyone is well.
xo soph

Hello,
We are trekking through the few weeks that we have in Nicaragua, I am currently in the city of Granada. Its is very pretty, it has a very rustic look with lots of color. It is also hot as hell here, i haven't stopped sweating since i landed. But before i get to far ahead again, last week we spent the week in Leon. It was a really nice city and we stayed at the Lazy Turtle, it was a really cute little hostel. We did have an incident at night and one of the girls got mugged so that was pretty scary but everyone was fine and we all recovered. The night after a few of the girls and I went out dancing again and had a blast. And now we are in Granada. Today, because it is Sunday i have the day to just roam around. I am staying in another home stay with two other girls so that is really fun. We also got a TV in our room which is awesome!! But we are not just here to watch TV, I start my last week of language school tomorrow so that's a bit of a bummer but it will fly by. So i hope everyone is still doing great im sorry about the cold that i have heard about, keep in touch.
Sophie

Hi everyone,
Im finally in Nicaragua after 6 long weeks, we have left the comforts of Guatemala. But let me just recap the last few weeks. Last week we were in Antigua, which is an amazing city i absolutley loved it! I could totally live there for a while, there are shops everywhere and amazing restaurants. The first day we were in Antigua we just spent the day walking around and went to another market where they sold more amazing things. While walking around we also found a subway!! Where i was able to pound down a foot long sub and chips (which i have never managed before) , so hopefully i wont come back looking like a cow haha. The next morning we woke up nice and early and we hike up the side of a volcano! It was so cool i even saw a lava flow. The hike was pretty exhausting but this was inplace of our three day hike that was cancled due to tropical storms. So i really enjoyed the alternative. After the volcano, we got to sleep in and we went to Guatemala City for the day. The city is ok, its pretty dirty. But we did find the most amazing McDonalds I have ever seen in my life it was beautiful. Then we had another early morning and we flew to Nicaragua. I havent done much here yet but i am currently in the city of Leon. So i will write to everyone again soon. And thanks for keeping intouch!
Sophie

Hi,
This last week has gone by so fast i cant believe we are almost leaving Guatemala. To re-cap the last week, my teacher and i have been walking around town, she took me to the market, the church that is in the centro, and to the famous Bake Shop. So i need to elaborate on the Bake Shop, its a small bakery that is only open on Tuesday´s and Friday´s and there are the most amazing cookies ever! So this last tuesday and friday we have made sure to get to the bake shop right as it opens because they run out of food by the afternoon. Besides the bakes shop i have been salsaing all around town and it has been a blast and tonight we are going to a discoteca to dance. While here i have also been able to eat good food, pizza, mcdonalds, and Saritas (my favorite ice cream place ever). Now tomorrow we are off to another part of Guatemala, im not quite sure where because we were supposed to go on the "death hike" but due to the impending tropical storms we had to cancel the hike (yeah!). I will let you know where we are off to next once i get there haha, and hopefully i will hear from everyone soon!
xo soph

hi everyone,
So right now i am in the city of Xela its the second largest city in Guatemala. I have started school again and my teacher (Brenda) takes me around town and takes me to the market. As of now we haven't really done very much, but tonight i am going to Salsa lessons, so that should be interesting. I am staying in another host family, and got really lucky again because Megan another girl from the program is staying with me in the same house. So that is all i have done so far this week but i hope all is well with everyone and i will write again soon when i have done some more fun stuff.
XO Soph

Hello all,
So I made it down the mountain. The last week we have been in the Alta Vera Paz mountains chillen in the Chi Cac Nab village. So while we were there i got really sick with some sort of a flu like cold, which was a huge bummer because I had to spend all week in bed so that was really unfortunate. But the rest of the group helped build an alter in a church and they did an amazing job. So now we aer back in Coban and it feels really nice we get to take hot showers and have good food. Tomorrow we are heading to Chi Chi the largest market in Guatemala so that is really exciting!! Then we are off to Xela the second largest city in the guatemala so ill be able to write again soon. I hope everyone is doing well I love reading your comments.
talkto yousoon.
xoxo soph

Hi everyone,
So right now i am in the city of Coban, well its not really a city its more of a large village. We have finally left the lake side city of San Andre´s it is a little bitter sweet. Next week is going to be another adventure we are staying in a small village in the mountains that has no electricity!!! Isnt that crazy so it will def. be an experience. While we are there we are also goign to be doing construction work on a church in the village, so we will all be really tired and really dirty. But before i get ahead of myself tomorrow we are going to Samuc Champe, its sort of like a national park with lakes and hot springs. I hope everyone is still doing great, im sure i will have alot to blog about when i get back to electricity. Talk to everyone soon.
xo soph

hello all,
So i just got back from spending the weekend in the city of Tikal, the mayan ruins. It was really cool to see how all of the ruins are still some what in tact. While we were there some of the girls and I decided to spend our money on a nice hotel where i got to take a hot shower!! It was so amazing i just stood under it letting the warm water run over my face for like 5 mins. haha. That night i also decided to treat myself to a nice dinner, steak and french fries. After an exhausting meal we all went to bed and woke up at four the next morning to see the sunrise at Tikal it was really nice, you could here the whole rainforest waking up. After wallking around for a few more hours we all packed back into the bus and drove back to San Andres. It is also amazing to see how used to the heat i have gotten because the other night it was so cold i had to get out my sleeping bag and turn off my fan and the coldest it got was 75 haha so that was pretty crazy its gonna be a shock when i get back to Boston. I hope everyone is doing well, ill write again soon.
xo soph

Hola,
So im sorry i havent put any pictures up yet the computers here arent that great and if i tried to they would all die and the city would lose power. So i am still in San Andres, the small city on the lake. And the last few days we have just been going to language school and chillin. We went to Flores the other day(its the biggest city in the area) and we walked around and had PIZZA!! it was amazing me and four other girls went and we ate like hungry wolves haha it was pretty funny. And mr. bogle there are no chocolate chips bummer, i know. Other then that we have just been relaxing by the lake and this weekend we are going to Tikal, the mayan ruins, so i will have more to tell yall when i get back so ill talk to you soon.
xo soph

Hello all,
I know it has been a while im sorry i have just been moving around and switching places. My current location right now is in San Andres, Peten in Guatemala. Im sorry but i am going to make everyone jealous, San Andres is beautiful we are staying on this lake that looks like a tropical ocean it has tropical turquois water, and it is so nice and warm. So besides swimming in the lake every afternoon, I have to go to language school in the morning but after that we go and do little activities and swim. So i am living in a house with a Grandma, Grandpa a mom dad and their four daughters(they love to hula hoop) it is so cute. Also my bedroom is seprate from the house it has two beds and i have my own fan but not only that but i have a view of the lake from my window and my own veranda with lawn chairs. Ok i will stop bragging about my amazing digs haha. So i hope everone is doing well and I will try to write more often.
xo Soph

Hello all,
I am still in Poptun and it has been storming like crazy it storms all night here which sounds pretty nice at night because all of the roofs here are made of tin. In poptun right now we have redirexted from digging the ditch because all of the neighbors we complaining and apperantly the director of the school who gave us the project had no idea what she was talking about so that was annoying but now we are working with the kids in the class rooms and we made masks of dogs lions and elephants they were so cute. I am writing to you from an internet cafe that costs me 5 questzales per hour and it is 7.50 Q for 1 dollar it is so cheap that is why i can blog so much. But we are leaving Poptun on Sunday and then going to out next homestay so i will keep you updates. Talk to you soon
Soph

Hello,
So right now we are staying in the village of Poptun, guatemala and we are in our first homestays. I got a really nice house the family is not so nice but we have running water a working toilet and a shower so that is pretty nice. We also started our projects today and we are clearing out an overgrow ditch but they dont really want to give us any real jobs because we are with mostly girls and we think we cant do anything. We are all getting along really well which is great and the bugs havent been too bad [knock on wood]. But it is really really hot but there have been a few rain showers here and there which is nice casue it cools everything down. I hope everything back home is good and i will write again soon.
sophie

Hey everyone so it is really easy for me to get to a computer here so i will blog as much as i can because it will become a lot less as i go on. Today i went white water tubbing with a good amount of the group and yes i did say tubbing it was awesome! we had to wear helmets and everything it was so cool we went off water falls and through rapids i have never done anything like it. Everyone in my group is really nice and cool. So hopefully ill be able to keep updating.
XO sophie

Guatemala

Hey everyone!!
I made it to Guatemala it is so hot here!! haha but i am getting used to it. I have already seen a tarantula it was huge and black!! and todaywe went cave climbing it was really intense and there were the holes that were crazy small and i barley made it through! so we are staying at this place called finco ixobel it is pretty nice and probably as nice as it is gonna get haha. Well hope everyone is doing well and i will try to talk to you soon. xoxo sophie

Central America

Hi everyone!

I am just setting up the blog I am going to be writing on while I am in central america.

So I hope you enjoy all my posts and stay in touch.

~Sophie