Sitting in Sarah's new apartment in Brooklyn, watching Carrie's first quicktime video. A Cuban flag billowing in the exhaust of an air conditioner. Jackson and Sarah sit on Sarah's bed talking about boys, video editing programs, and work. Sirens run in the background. A nieghbour swings by asking about a sublet. Sarah shows her and Carrie and I smile about Sarah's directness.

Im happy. Its a nice moment in time when I can sit with two friends and enjoy their company and we can talk, laugh, relax, gossip, and let it all hang out. The street echoes with yells, smashing and cars splashing through puddles and whitenoise, that air conditioner drown out everything except for Sarah's voice talking about her crush.

It feels so nice to be here, right now, with them.

joe and i sit in the laughing goat, a coffee shop art space located on pearl st in boulder, co. I have been in the country since yesterday afternoon. First watching people mill around the houston airport, cold and driven, then watching the smooth black pavement of rt 36 fly below me as we floated through rush hour denver traffic towards boulder in the cab of a red pickup truck named betsy. Betsy did good. Safely getting us to boulder where carrie and i got a sweet blue cruising bicycle fixed, honorably named rosquilla after the hard circular corn, cheese and lard coffee dunking cookies from nicaragua. I left nica with a 1 pound bag of them and now there are only 7 or so left and some crumbs kicking around in my pack.

it didnt felt like i was leaving, when i left, as i left, i felt like i was just day tripping to managua and esteli. The day tripping turned into a 4 week vacation to the united states. Unlike a month in china, england, or south africa, this is a month in the united states, it feels like im more of the foriegner here than i am nica.

Starbucks Workers at 57th and Lexington join the IWW

Starbucks workers continue to join the IWW despite intimidation, harassment and constant violations

This is the 5th Starbucks store in NYC to establish a public organizing committee and make collective demands from the company. some of these demands included a guaranteed 30 hour work week, an end to the 1 minute lateness policy, an end to unfair firings and immiedate action over rodent and insect infestation. Workers also call upon the company to stop all illegal anti-union activity, stop violating federal labor law and to abide by the National Labor Relations board settlement Read more here.

mm. deep breathing. trying to let my body settle and my muscles relax and regroup after an overly intense game of ultimate frisbee. chris's wedding was beautiful, long and enchanting, filled with magnificent people and words; great dancing and wonderful food, an amazingly decadent vegan chocolate cake and then a long night of talking, card playing and relaxtion in a room we didnt pay for with people i dont really know. meeting, greeting, talking, making friends and seeing old ones.

navigating the hell of managua, its discombobulated and chaotic noncenter and the maze of language that taxistas and streets kids use is a manic and kind of after panic place of existence that i really do not enjoy existing in. but i made it and survived and helped another out of the chaos that it is.

back in ocotal, back at work, back trying to be organized and get over the ache of my muscles, hoping that its not dengue. praying that its not dengue, not now, for fucks sake because i can in no way afford any type of medical coverage in the states at all.

going home soon. good bad and everything in between there is no clear way for me to figure out what i think or thought was going to happen, its just going to be three weeks of open ended interesting fun and explorative adventure in the land of new jersey and oh, what a land it is.

in managua, waiting for people to arrive. one has already. watching dynamics of people run around and trying to get the read of everyone who is at the table its like waiting tables but with language as the prize not tips. i dont know how any of us are doing. i dont want any of us to fall behind.

the concert that daddy yankee gave here the other weekend is being rebroadcast over the hotel tv at 1030am on a saturday, it is never too early for some reggeaton. never.

i want to ride my bike and race and win. a desire i have been feeling recently.

zone out, stare into the box and lose yourself. ask for no problems and you will recieve no challenges. i want challenges, maybe just problems with pretty faces.

its a saturday in managua, i feel this and therefore it must be real.

“Dile a tu mama, dile a ella que no soy ignorante. Que se leer, no perfectamente pero ahora se. Y puedes decirle a tu mama que tu no eres mas un ignorante. Ahora sabes como vivimos en Nicaragua. Tu sabes como comemos, como nosotros trabajamos, tu conoces la vida aquí.”

Emerson Aguilera
Trece años
Estudiante de Secundaria