Hurricane Jimena!

So I was going to include this post in the other one I just made, but figured i'd give it, its own post.

This weekend has been a new and interesting experience, rather exciting but scary as well. On thursday September 3rd Hurricane Jimena passed through the area of my city. school was canceled both thursday and friday allowing us to watch, explore and experience the storm full on. Through out the day I wrote notes and took pictures of what i saw.

My thursday started off with waking up at about 3:30 into the morning with my mom screaming, turned out there was a gas leak to caused a little fire and she was putting it out when she was screaming. the police came to check stuff out and make sure it was safe, and my dad got home from Tucson. After watching the rain for a bit we headed back to bed. The woke up again around 8:30 or so knowing there was no school! One of the first things i noticed was our room was a little wet. went down stairs and got some breakfast. Starting early in the morning and through out the whole entire day, the electricity went on and off, as well as the internet, phone service, and water supply (the water cut out in the middle of my shower). After breakfast my brother and i rain around in the rain and crazy wind for a bit and then came back to shower off and warm up. As the day went on the same problems continued and the rooms such as our room and the bathroom started flooding, so we were mopping them every once and a while. After a while My brother, dad and I all went on a search to find some bread. While driving through the rivers (streets) and lakes (parking lots) we couldn't find any place that was open. So we went back home for a while only to head out again to explore the destruction and go get some drinking water. Thats when I saw dozens of uprooted trees, flooded everything, stuck cars, destroyed walls and fences, destroyed taco stands (at one there was a guy cleaning stuff up in a boat). Fire fighters and police were rushing around. roads were some what destroyed, it was a mess. After a bit of driving around we saw that some of the OXXOs were open and went there to get some basics for the house, since they were come of the only places open, lines were forming out side them to bye stuff (as seen above).

The strong rain and wind lasted for around 24 hours straight, including the weaker rain and winds it lasted more around 35 hrs. But the sight of destruction didn't end there, in these few days after i have seen cars stuck in mud off the roads, brand new streets torn up, concrete walls completely taken down and a lot more. I saw all of this close to my house but we got lucky, where i live we didn't get the worse of it. how ever surrounding areas weren't that lucky. areas surrounding us got it worse than us, and we got some pretty big damage.

I'm glad i was able to experience a hurricane from a safe spot, if you want to see more photos check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickdykstra/ and if you want to here more about the hurricane just leave a comment with what you want and ill fill you in.

Best regards,

Nick Dykstra

Lots to say!

It has been quite some time sense my last blog post thus giving me quite a bit to say. I think ill just kind of go in order, like a time line and recap the things that are worth mentioning.

So first week of school! School started for me on Monday, August 24th and the first day was not easy. I was the new kid, getting all the weird looks, between not having a uniform and having blonde hair i didn't blend in very well. Didn't know anyone, didn't get how the school was run or how the schedule worked, and couldn't understand or communicate with others very well and the school i was going to was a completely different atmosphere, people and all. I didn't think i could do it, but despite my bad feelings about it, i got up the next morning and went again. Sure enough the second day felt a little better, still wasn't feeling great about it but I was glad it went a little smoother than the first day. I kept plugging away, and kind of dragging my self to school, then when i had to time to step back and look at it i could see it getting better, i have now completed 2 weeks of school and I'm feeling better about it. I'm growing more accustomed to the people and atmosphere, and over all I'm realizing that even though I'm not being academically challenged I'm going to learn a lot being in a different atmosphere I'm not accustomed too. On top of that I'm going to learn some amazing stuff, this semester i will learn and practice the basics of scuba diving and next semester i will learn and practice the basics of deep sea fishing! Can't learn that in Wisconsin.

So after a hard first week of school, I had a great weekend to help me recover! I started off the weekend with a party on friday night! It was the birthday party of a friend and by far the biggest birthday party i've ever been to. Held on a rooftop property, there was a dance floor and DJ, amazing tacos and drinks being served, around 100 people and just a great atmosphere! After a great night out with friends i got some good sleep just to prepare for another day out. Woke up saturday morning, relaxed with my brother, and enjoyed a lazy saturday morning. Around 2:00pm we hit the road, grabbed some lunch at a great sea food restaurant by the name of "Cachoreadas". After fueling up we headed to the beach. there we met the two other exchange students and some other family friends. The time was finally here to try wind-surfing! We dragged the giant sails and boards out to the water and set um up. Plamosa, being the only one that already knew how to wind-surf, hopped up on one of the boards and started teaching us. Being to excited to try this out, was the first to jump on the board, of course first thing that happens is the string for puling the sail out of the water snaps on my and i go flipping off the board, only to get right back on! the string was fixed and i was back at it, i went for a long time with little success then gave up the board to let the others give it a shot as i went kayaking around with my dad. after a bit of kayaking i got back on the wind-surfing board as the others got out of the water to rest on the beach. i kept going and going, and couldn't seem to get any where then as i was walking the board out of the rough parts of the beach i cut my foot open but still really wanted to get some where on that board. i kept going and going until i was told i had t get out of the water to leave, sure enough before i left i was moving on the board, it was pretty amazing! i didn't make it super far and do anything impressive but i was moving :-D

We then packed up and finished the night at the movie theatre! Next morning we woke up and got a bit of an earlier start by heading out to our ranch to get ready for company. we set up everything as people started to come, we hosted the other rotarians and there families at our ranch. it was a blast; we had great food (fish tacos), played soccer, hung out, went swimming and had a great time. it was that night that i learned that the older brother of a friend here is one of the exchange students i met while still in the USA, that was a great time. So that is about what my awesome weekend consisted of, i sure didn't want to go back to school after that one!

That is a bit about what i've been up to lately. having some good times here and trying some cool stuff, still loving the food and i can't wait til i have more to tell you!

Comment and stay in touch,

Nick

fotos nuevos!!!

Acabo de poner fotos nuevos en mi pagina de Flickr! Hay Muchos nuevos, algunos normales y algunos muy interesantes! Mira! comenta! disfruta!

disafortunablemente, no puedo poner el todo de mis fotos por que Flickr no me deja con un pagina gratis.

Gracias,

Nick

p.s. don't miss that i just made two posts (not just one like normal) so make sure you see them both. one is titled "lots to say" and the other "hurricane Jimena"

My First Snorkeling Trip

Today, Sunday August 23rd, i set out on my first snorkeling adventure. It will always be one to remember. I'll Start from the beginning. I woke up at about 9:00 or a little before to my brother yelling my name, I responded and he asked me if i wanted to go snorkeling after breakfast and of course i almost jumped out of my bed with excitement. How ever being very tired i lounged around for a bit in my bed before getting up to take a shower and get breakfast. We hung around the house a bit and had breakfast, thats when i tried Machaca (a dried beef). After Breakfast my dad and i picked up some snacks for the trip to the beach. We left shortly after we got back, first stop we picked up a friend, Plamosa (He is a rotarian as well as the dad i will be staying with in about 5 months when i switch families). From there we went to our ranch for about 30 minutes, we grabbed a tent for the sun and some other equipment for the trip. We then hit the road for the beach. we went to a sweet beach in San Carlos, when we got there the two other exchange students (andre from brazil and monica from finland) as well as two other friends were already there, having arrived about 15 minutes earlier. My brother and i hoped in the water with them right away and just floated around near shore for a little while with our masks on. Then we suited up with the res of our equipment and started snorkeling. At first we were just stayed in by our side of the shore because going out just a small bit you could find rocky areas and see some sweet fish. Then the others asked andre and i if we could swim well, We both replied with a yes. With that answered they told us we we going to swim out to this rocky out-skirt that was a ways out there. I said alright lets do it, so we started going out and i was kind of watching the water the whole way looking at the fish and other wildlife. finally after a long swim and lots of exploring the water in between the shore and the out-skirt we got there. so now we are at this spot with lots of rocks and little reef like areas. So we just kept exploring and thats when i couldn't keep track of all the things i was seeing. I saw probably around 15 or more types of fish, just beautiful bright colors and all different sizes and looks. I saw and found different shells. I saw some plants and I saw tons of sea urchins. I also saw 3 different kinds of star fish as well, i got to see so much i had never seen before. so after a lot of snorkeling around i hoped out and started climbing on the rocky out-skirt with andre, it was sweet and the views were stunningly beautiful, too bad i couldn't swim with my camera out there. we did that for a while and then met up with the others again and then we headed back for the shore. We hung out there for a while, just swimming around a bit, skipping rocks, having sodas and chips and having a good time in the sun. and then after a while we packed everything up and went out to eat, the food was great, and it was a blast i felt like i was communicating so much more, the language was actually getting a tad but easier. We had a nice dinner, i had chicken tacos and a slice of cheese cake for desert, then we hit the road for home. dropped of Plamosa and monica, the foreign exchange student (his daughter) at their house, and then made our way back to our house. Wow I'm tired! it was a blast. Oh yeah and from one day of scuba diving parts of my body are like black. the tan line from where swimming suit covered and my back is like black on white. my stomach and chest are tan as well, as my arms and face, just not as tan as my back. i didn't think about it while i was snorkeling around but the whole time i was going around my back was getting pounded by the sun, but the water was keeping it cool, so i didnt notice. My first snorkeling adventure was a huge success in every way not just the snorkeling part. I feel like I'm finally settling in, I'm trying so many new things and thats just what i wanted.

Photos

for convenience and display reasons im going to be posting the photos on my flickr account rather than here on the blog. I will always try and remember to write a heads-up post here when i put up more photos on my flickr account to make it easier for you. but on flickr the photos will be easier to access and look much nicer.

here is the link....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickdykstra/

Thanks,

Nick

It's Nothing But New

With only one week down, my head is already tangled in cultural differences, new experiences and sights, food I'm trying for the first time, hot weather and a fast new language (yeah they speak too fast here for the spanish i learned in school). I don't know what to order when i go out to eat, or what half the little treats are in the gas station. All the small information you grow up with and you take for granted, is gone. Its a new world, but don't get me wrong, the differences are fun and the new experiences are great.

After my 22 hour long day of flying, unpacking and not understanding anything that was said to me, I got some sleep and started the next day just like I do at home;relax then breakfast and shower (only they eat way more for breakfast, they thought it was funny that i thought a bowl of cereal and fruit was enough). My first morning continued with relaxing in front of the TV with my younger brother, soon enough it was lunch. I had some home-made tacos, and again we ate quite a bit :) (like dinner in the US lunch is their main meal here). As i continued to communicate with my limited spanish, I ended my first full day with brother, as we tried to play soccer, but couldn't due to field availability. After my first full day I finally realized that they relax in other countries too and that I'm not going to be traveling and seeing the beaches and beautiful sights every minute of my exchange.

Time started to pass faster as i grew slightly more comfortable with my new home. I started meeting new friends and family and tried even more typical foods. I quickly learned the daily pattern; of relaxing in the morning/afternoon and going out at night. After a day or two I started fitting in and started to do a bit more. Even if my spanish wasn't any better, I felt more comfortable embarrassing myself.

On day number 3 or so I wanted to do something with my family, so I told them i wanted to make a smoothie, they didn't really know much about smoothies. So that day I enjoyed making my family a smoothie. My brother, mom and I made a run to the super market, we got the typical groceries as well as smoothie ingredients. they had never really tried a smoothie before, and i love them, so i had to make them one. Sure enough they loved it and wanted to make more the following days.

Another day or two passed and i was headed to San Carlos with my family. After about 2o minutes of driving we grabbed some ice cream, and then headed further into the city. As i stared at the ocean, they pointed out various sights to me, such as a mountain by the name of Tetakawi (breasts of the cobra). this mountain is the most famous peak in the city of San Carlos. As we drove to our destination i gazed at my surroundings with a great big smile. in about 10 minutes we wound up on top of this small mountain, over looking the ocean and rocky coast. i took pictures and checked out the small shops that were up there and then we were on our way. we drove back down and made a stop or two for some photos and then headed to a friends house. These family friends were also hosting a student from brazil. I got the chance to meet him and walk around on the beach with Andre (the student from Brazil) and my younger brother. It was quite the view! Time flew past and it was time to head back. but my night didn't end there, shortly after we got back around 9:30 my brother and i headed out for his friends going away party. there i met lots of new people and got to see a bit more of a popular neighborhood (miramar). Finally after a several hours there we ended our night just to take wake up tomorrow for some more. It took me until this day to realize how fast you can become busy in this culture. One minute you are relaxing in front of the TV, with nothing planned and the next your in the car only to return after 6 hours of adventures.

next day, after relaxing for the morning, i headed to our ranch (about 15 minutes fro our main house) with my brother, mom and dad. there we had lunch with our grandma and a cousin. thats when i fell in love with ceviche (we had it on a tostada, but ceviche reminds me of a sea food pico de gallo with more ingredients). we hung out there for a while, kicking the soccer ball around and swimming in the pool. We headed back around 9:30 and then finished the night with a standard "driving around, listening to music and getting food".

During the ride back from the ranch that night i heard a little but more about my school from my mom. i start school this coming monday and the school is called cet del mar. my mom claims it is the best school for guys and that ill love it. as i began to as more about it I started to realize my mom wasnt lying. i found out ill have the chance to take classes such as scuba diving, kayaking and other sea related classes. The school is on the ocean, and supposedly is like a little island connected with a small walk way. It's suppose to be easy in terms of homework and i've heard its like a year of vacation, because the work is your traditional boring school work. All of this i have just heard from others (in spanish). So when school starts and i see it for my self, ill post some more about it :)

Recently i have continued to do small things from day to day. i have begun to attend rotary meetings, and have met the other two exchange students in this area. I've hung out with past made friends and made new ones. I've played soccer and eaten out 10 times or more in a week. I've done a lot and i just can't remember it all, its hard to sit down and process it all into one blog post at once. As i remember more stuff i want to share, ill have to update you. for now i hope this gives you a good idea of what i've been doing and what has been going on here.

I'll be in touch,

Nick

p.s. asking me questions or making suggestions would help me with the whole remembering what else to post.

Im here!

I just arrived in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico yesterday at about 3:30 (5:30 in wisconsin). My flights started bright and early, i left madison at 6:30 and flew into memphis, from there i took a plane to Phoenix and then hoped on a tiny plane with a total of 8 passengers on it and flew into Guaymas. I got off the plane and started sweating right away. The airport here is less then half the size of your typical Walmart so finding my host family, even while i was fighting the heat, wasnt a problem at all, they were 4 of the 12 people in the building. As i continued to sweat my host family welcomed me with a nice meal at this small traditional restaurant where we met up with my older host sister. we ate and then returned to my new house, they showed me around and my host brother helped me unpack. I gave them there gifts and they loved it all! as they day went on we just hung out and i got to know them a bit more, we asked questions about all my responsibilities etc. after that was settled my host sister and mother took me out to show me around the city, i met my rotary chairmen and had a desert called respaldo (This is like an icy but better, it has real fruit and the syrup is real). When i got back i almost went to bed, but then my host sister invited me out with her friends so i couldn't pass up another opportunity to meet people and see new stuff, we drove around in her friends mustang :) and stopped various places, i met probably another 10 people that night and got to see a beautiful sight of the city lights across the water! after driving around and hanging with people we decided to call it a night. After being awake for about 22 hours i crawled into my new bed and fell right asleep!

it feel likes home here but at the same time it doesn't. My host family is so similar to my family in madison and they are so welcoming and helpful, but obviously its not going to feel completely right at first. I guess i had these ideas that when i got here i was going to be blown away instantly with sights of the city and all this beautiful stuff and when that didn't happen right away i thought i didn't like the city. I thought about it and then remembered what previous students had told me, that i must go with an open mind, not expect anything and then ill fall in love with it! so thats what i plan to do in these next few days.

so thats a bit about my arrival here in this completely new country! ill have to tell you more later.

Nick Dykstra