January 2008 - Update from Dane

From PD Dane Thorwaldson:

Our friend Elena passed her exams for university with scores in the high-90s -- look out UNAN!!!

We are currently hosting an Occupational Therapy group from Worcester State: one professor of OT, a Physical Therapist and four students. We have been visiting different prosthetic clinics, rehabilitation centers, and orphanages along with the usual Manna communities to help them find their niche here in Nicaragua. They are from Worcester, Massachusetts and are working to find places where they can be of service and maybe even practice their skills during short term volunteer trips in the years to come. All four students summited Volcan Maderas in Ometepe this weekend, which all of you have done with your eyes closed, but I thought it should be at least included.

In other news, Julie and I got engaged on Christmas Eve this year while we were at home. If you want to puke, you can check out how it happened on my blog at nicablogua.blogspot.com in the next day or so. The wedding is going to be this November in Austin. Get pumped.

Fourthy grew a tumor this week, which is nice. I got a little scared and took him to the doctor, and he got a little scared and sent us to the animal hospital. Weak sauce. Turns out that it was just a pretty nasty bruise that needed to be drained of about two full minutes of flowing fluids/blood. It's now filling back up and going back down with about as much regularity as the brain waves in Fourthy's head.

Speaking of Fourthy:
Good news - He is learning how his body works.
Bad news - He is learning how Cola's body works.
He's still a little confused, which is understandable. When your choices are your Mom or your brother, where do you go?

Cola is HUGE. I haven't seen them next to each other yet, but I think that he may have passed Tank in wisdom and stature. I also now see that leaving his tail was not the loving gesture of sympathy that I once thought, but rather a cruel practical joke that would take effect long after you old balls left. Now that all of my shorts have permanent giant mud-stripes all over them and all of you are laughing at me from your computer non-lawn chairs, I seek only my revenge.

As most of you know, our programs will not begin until the second week of February, so the big updates will have to wait. Hence my ramblings. However, from my wanderings through the community this week, I have discovered the following: Idalia got a baby goat for Christmas that I should visit in the next


couple days or it will be slaughtered, Exequiel got beat in homerun derby by a gringo, Gabriel fell in love (but lost her because buses don't stop for love at first sightings walking down the road), Mercedes' vocabulary seems to be limited to "mentira", "mentiroso/a" and other relate-able words, and Sydney still has a cow-lick. Take it or leave it.

Be looking forward to more news and pictures in the Nica News(es?) to come. And remember, in all things, try to remember what Charlemagne would do. Ciao ciao.


Dane Eric Thorwaldson