6 Months in NIcaragua: A few reflections

As of today, I've been in Nicaragua for 6 months. This is the longest I've been away continuously from my home in Jersey and it's also the longest I've ever lived away from the States. It's a long time and it's a short time, in the scheme of things. It's hard to really measure what's changed, pin down exactly what'd different about me in the last few months, although so many surface things have changed that sometimes when I look in the mirror I can't even recognize myself. Who's that girl in tight jeans and a polo shirt with painted nails and hair bling? Who's that carnivorous girl who goes to church, sits around watching telenovelas, doesn't own a bicycle, goes to bed at 8pm, occasionally uses styrofoam cups, and wanders arounding singing children's songs/generally being foolish? Sometimes I feel as if my personality has been erased almost completely, and I haven't quite gotten back around to reinscribing a new one. But then I have moments of strength, or zanyness, or an opinion slips out, or I curl up with a good book and I know I'm still in there, somewhere.

Here are a few things I've learned these past few months:
-That referring to cold showers as "refreshing" is a euphemism. But that they are not really that bad after a while.
-That chickens and dogs near and far can make a sinister chorus at 3 am, as if they were plotting a revolt against their captivity.
-That parrots can learn to catcall.
-That knowing grammar rules and having better spelling than native speakers has almost no bearing on your ability to actually speak a language.
-That English doesn't have a word for the male version of a mistress or the relationship between two sets of parents-in-law.
-That you can erase permanent marker off a whiteboard by writing over it in dry erase marker, that you can erase a whiteboard using only a sheet of paper and that chalk will always get all over everything and there's nothing you can do about it.
-That while the shortest distance between two points is a line, it doesn't guarantee that speed will be involved in any way.
-That long bus rides are awful, but give you plenty of time to think.
-That any surface can be a comfortable place to sleep if you are tired enough.
-That patience must be practiced, and practiced, and practiced. But that bringing a book along can sometimes help.
-That big is beautiful, beauty is subjective, and the exotic will always be viewed as beautiful, no matter what (sweaty, exhausted) condition it presents itself in.
-That every country, no matter how small, and every person, no matter how poor, craves dignity.
-That it is possible for a "poor" person to have a much nicer phone than you.
-That a universal health care system, while far from perfect, does a lot to reduce suffering.
-That being bored is a choice to let your immediate surroundings limit your imagination.
-That sunsets and water can take on infinite permutations of color.
-That it is hard to keep in touch, but it is harder not to.
-That friendship is just as valuable as romantic love, or maybe more.
-That strangers can become family if you want them to be, but there is no substitute for those you've loved longest.

21 months left. Bring it.