El Fin...

Well hey there folks!
I'm sorry it has taken me such a long time to write my final post. For all many of you know, I could have still been in Nicaragua for the past month. Well, no, I am now back on campus in Oberlin, gearing up for senior year (good god!). The rest of my time in Nicaragua was absolutely incredible. I hung out with the Jiquilillo kids all the time (they are indeed adorable), did some science experiments with them (with the 4th volunteer, Ryan--a new high-school science teacher from Oregon), hiked a volcano with a huuuge lagoon, played charades with backpackers from all over the world (including a hilarious New Zealander who did a tour of duty as a field commander in Afghanistan), read a bunch of books in hammocks, surfed a little bit (and got a little cut up), and went with Rancho Esperanza's cooks to the celebration of the anniversary of the Sandinista revolution (where we saw Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega speak). I couldn't have asked for a better summer. I got back to the states on July 24th, had a weekend of waterskiing and wakeboarding with cousins in New Hampshire, and then went back to good ole Readfield, Maine to chill out with the parental units and friends kayaking, swimming, boating, hiking, bonfiring, making smores, mowing the lawn, picking and eating blueberries, playing geetar and piano, eating mom's frenchtoast and local pies, going to the ocean, etc. etc. A nice low-key reintroduction to Amerikuh. I must say the culture shock wasn't as bad as I expected. That's not to say I don't miss Costa Rica and Nicaragua dearly...I plan on going back within a few years. Oh and I have a really hard time being in huge supermarkets and watching mainstream TV. But worse than culture shock has been simply withdrawal from how ridiculously fun the last 6 months were. I mean Maine and Oberlin are fantastic, but down there every single day was a blast, and that just doesn't seem happen here. So, with any luck, I'll graduate and go back to wiling out in the tropics soon! Thanks for reading my blog--I hope you enjoyed it. Oh--I almost forgot. Here's the link to some of the pictures from my time in Costa Rica with CIEE, afterwards, and then up in Nicaragua for when you feel like procrastinating: http://picasaweb.google.com/nfmeyer20

Enjoy!

Hasta luego y pura vida,
Nathaniel/Nata/NatoDos