They Called Me: The Ugly American Girl

"They Called Me 'The Ugly American Girl'" is a memoir. It follows the story of what happened to me during one full year (Feb 1997 - Jan 1998) that I spent living in a very rural, isolated region of Nicaragua. I was 24 years old. I wrote detailed letters home to my parents with much of the story, which they preserved. But they were missing a significant part of what happened to me during that year. There were many unpleasant and not-so-unpleasant experiences that I did not write home about. This is a powerful story of transformation and finding myself that I think many people can relate to. It is honestly written as my account of the very personal experiences I underwent that year, and how I survived it, even managing to grow.