To Build a School in Nicaragua – Less Than a Week to Go

I Get to Build a School in Nicaragua

The past several months my Husband has been working with buildOn and the Nicaraguan Embassy to obtain a Visa for one of the students joining us on the trek. In addition, the other student has been working to get her Passport renewed. In the interim, we have been waiting for our flights to officially get booked until both students would for sure be able to go. Unfortunately the one student couldn’t get her passport renewed in time, and won’t be joining us. However, last night he finally managed to get more hope that the visa will happen, and as a result our flights have officially been booked.

Shy Girl Gets Brave

Yup, that’s right! It’s officially official. My flight leaves at 1:00 am (pst) on Sunday August 18, 2013. While the students are flying out of Seattle, WA through Miami, FL I get the pleasure of flying out of San Francisco, CA through San Salvador. I say “get the pleasure” in an ironic sort of sarcastic way… Why do you ask? Well let me tell you…

I am a pretty outgoing person. You know – the life of the party. But growing up, that was not the case. I was painfully shy and rather sheltered as a child. My Mother was the ultimate Mom protecting me from all dangers of the world, and in addition I had severe social anxieties. I would read the National Geographics thinking how cool it would be to go to far off exotic lands, but never once gave the thought to the details or what that would entail. So here I am, 40 years old, and heading into the great unknown. I know absolutely no Spanish. Well, take that back, I know enough to very poorly order a beer or ask where the bathroom is (the two very essentials when visiting Mexico as I did as a tourist in 2001). So, flying into San Salvador, El Salvador airport for a 6 hour layover is not the easing into this adventure I was hoping for.

Now while my initial anxieties kick in, I start to self therapize and convince myself I can do this. Really, what is wandering through an airport all alone not understanding the signs, or language of the others around me? I have been through much worse really (childbirth tends to bubble to the surface of major moments of survival) so this should be pretty uneventful. The good news is, as a tech geek, I get to try out the Google Translate app on my phone. Not only does it help when having a conversation with people, but it will translate text in photos as well:

Updates While Traveling to Nicaragua

In addition to my adventure in the San Salvador airport, I will do my best to take photos, videos, and document my week in Nicaragua so that you all can join me.