So I have had a lot of time to think lately. Being that I am not doing much. And that it is holiday time, and got a few days off to hang out with some other volunteers. I had some good times over the christmas holiday. Bought some cute gifts for ppl here, and also bought myself some good times as well. I have decided that i need to journal better, and then that way my blog wouldn´t be quite as random and boring.
The reason I am even in the cyber right now is that I am sick, again. hahaha, oh the joys of being sick in nicaragua. THis time was worse than before, and i didn´t think that could happen. To save you all the not so pretty details, lets just say fate has a funny way of making you miss your last bus so you get to stay in a house that has a REAL toilet in the room less than 6 steps from your bed so that when you are running to the toilet every 5 minútes in the middle of the night you don´t have to leave the room, much less the house. And thank god that we don´t flush the toilet paper here and you have to have a trashcan in every bathroom, b-c vomiting while having diarrea is not convienient. So maybe I didn´t spare the details, but that´s because without them it would sound like i had the flew, not some bacteria that caused me to expel all liquid that i had ingested in the last 24hrs. Gracias a dios I had amazing ppl here to help me, including other volunteer friends who brought me suero (rehydration salts) and dramamine. It was a long 2 days, but i´m better now, well i have a cough, a very loud, annoying cough, damn that asma. Asma and chinandega dust don´t exactly "le cae bien" as they say here. So I´m going to Managua on Monday to get my lungs looked at.
But I couldn´t be luckier. The family that has taken me in here, has been amazing. They are making sure that I am getting everything i need and don´t let me do anything to help out around the house. But there is definately something to be said about Nicaraguan Hospitality. I really think that it has no borders. I don´t know what i would do without them.
It´s funny how similiar things are here with the US and oh how different they are at the same time. I mean, for instance, the transportation system in the country is amazing. Sure you may only have a bus that leaves your town 2x a day, but you can get literally anywhere in the country simply by bus, and you usually don´t have to wait too long. Not to mention the fact that you can move anything you want on the bus with you. (that can be a pain when you are just another passsenger on the bus and people decide to move a whole living room set and you have to wait for them to get it secure on the top of the bus). Speaking of living room sets, one would think, that this being nicaragua and all, they probably don´t have them here. Considering this is the 2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere, but that thought would be incorrect. Because while 90% of the population can´t afford it, some can. So they do have them here, and just like in the states, they have furniture and electronic stores, that you can pay monthly on the things you buy (with an extremely high interest rate). But i have come across alot of people that have refrigerators, some have microwaves, blendors (liquadores) are all the rage (anything cold is good in chinandega) some people have toasters, and even rice makers (they prefer to fry their rice tho). There are degrees of wealth here just like in the states, its just that there are even fewer people in the middle class. And the middle class here is not equivalent to that in the states. I hope to be able to expand more on this with time i´m sure i will. I guess the point i am trying to make is that just because it´s nicaragua, doesn´t mean i can´t get just about everything i could in the states, you just have to pay a hell of a price for it, and more than likely go to managua to buy it. But that doesn´t mean that even 15% of the people can afford to buy it. Nor make the trip to Managua. Sadly enough, I have seen more parts of this country than a large majority of the people that I have met. Including the families i have lived with.
Sorry to end so abruptly, next post will be more cohesive, and i´ll try to have pictures. Thanks, mom, for the rechargable batteries!
Well i hope everyone back home is having a wonderful, bacteria-free christmas and new years.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
I´m Dreaming of a White Christmas...not a dusty one ;)
Well I hope those of you that have it are enjoying the snow! I can´t believe all the snow you´ve had! So i don´t have snow here, but i do have dust! hahaha and believe me, it´s not nearly as cool as snow. Can´t ball it up and throw it at people as they pass, can´t make a fort out of it, can´t make a man out of it, you CAN catch it on your tongue, but that would be gross, and i´m just sure if every dust particle is unique like snowflakes are, i would guess not.
But minus the snow, christmas time in Nicaragua is beautiful. I can´t tell you how many times i have had people ask me, so you dont celebrate christmas there do you, and then when i say yes, people are like,¨"the same day and everything?" it´s fun to share things about our cultures that are alike. They were also suprised we celebrate New Years the same way. ;)
I have been doing well. I have a tos, but that´s the dust´s fault, not mine. The packages i got were from G&G Logan, and Dad & Jamie, thank you guys soooo much! G&G Logan, I absolutely love love love the shirts! and all the other goodies of course, my sisters were laughing at me as to why i had so much miel (syrup, but they don´t really use syrup here so we just call it honey) y jelly. I miss you all very much, Things have been busy, but good. I can´t wait to get my own place, I love living with a family, but I want to start living my way, which sounds selfish, but all that really means is i want to be able to decide when the music gets blared, and when i want to sleep in. Also i want to make a compost and worm boxes, and i can´t do that with all the pigs running through our yard. I might be getting a puppy! We´ll see. I haven´t really decided, i just wish they ate cochroaches like cats do! hahaha. I haven´t found a house yet, but i´m looking.
For christmas i will be going back to masaya to spend xmas eve and day with my old host family, and the 23rd i am spending with other people from my group. so i am very excited!
I wish i had something more profound to write, I always think of good topics when I am at home, but after taking the 1 1/2 hr ride to get into the city, I end up losing them. Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that you get everything you wish for and more, just keep in mind that even if you don´t you still are living in a country with clean streets, clean water, reliable electricity, more than likely are living in a house or apt. that has a ceiling and a roof, not just the latter, and that your house is sealed from the rain, and your walls are not made of thin tree branches with black plastic nailed to the outside. Not to bring you down, just to share some things that have opened my eyes in the past few weeks of living in Tonalá, oh and did i mention how lucky we are to live in a country that has a waste management system, however flawed it is, it is there and we use it and don´t burn our trash. I cannot begin to describe the smell and feeling of breathing when all of my neighbors burn their trash. I would say I can´t blame them, but I can´t. There is a trash truck that comes by to collect, and it costs 10 cords a month i think, which if that is the case, probably only about 40 - 50% of my town could afford it, and 10 cords is roughly 50cents, but it can also buy you 1/2 lb. of beans, and a whole lot of rice, which is the staple diet here.
well merry christmas all! miss you, cuidense!
But minus the snow, christmas time in Nicaragua is beautiful. I can´t tell you how many times i have had people ask me, so you dont celebrate christmas there do you, and then when i say yes, people are like,¨"the same day and everything?" it´s fun to share things about our cultures that are alike. They were also suprised we celebrate New Years the same way. ;)
I have been doing well. I have a tos, but that´s the dust´s fault, not mine. The packages i got were from G&G Logan, and Dad & Jamie, thank you guys soooo much! G&G Logan, I absolutely love love love the shirts! and all the other goodies of course, my sisters were laughing at me as to why i had so much miel (syrup, but they don´t really use syrup here so we just call it honey) y jelly. I miss you all very much, Things have been busy, but good. I can´t wait to get my own place, I love living with a family, but I want to start living my way, which sounds selfish, but all that really means is i want to be able to decide when the music gets blared, and when i want to sleep in. Also i want to make a compost and worm boxes, and i can´t do that with all the pigs running through our yard. I might be getting a puppy! We´ll see. I haven´t really decided, i just wish they ate cochroaches like cats do! hahaha. I haven´t found a house yet, but i´m looking.
For christmas i will be going back to masaya to spend xmas eve and day with my old host family, and the 23rd i am spending with other people from my group. so i am very excited!
I wish i had something more profound to write, I always think of good topics when I am at home, but after taking the 1 1/2 hr ride to get into the city, I end up losing them. Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that you get everything you wish for and more, just keep in mind that even if you don´t you still are living in a country with clean streets, clean water, reliable electricity, more than likely are living in a house or apt. that has a ceiling and a roof, not just the latter, and that your house is sealed from the rain, and your walls are not made of thin tree branches with black plastic nailed to the outside. Not to bring you down, just to share some things that have opened my eyes in the past few weeks of living in Tonalá, oh and did i mention how lucky we are to live in a country that has a waste management system, however flawed it is, it is there and we use it and don´t burn our trash. I cannot begin to describe the smell and feeling of breathing when all of my neighbors burn their trash. I would say I can´t blame them, but I can´t. There is a trash truck that comes by to collect, and it costs 10 cords a month i think, which if that is the case, probably only about 40 - 50% of my town could afford it, and 10 cords is roughly 50cents, but it can also buy you 1/2 lb. of beans, and a whole lot of rice, which is the staple diet here.
well merry christmas all! miss you, cuidense!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Christmas in July
I cannot believe that it is almost christmas! I guess what makes it so hard to imagine is that i am sweating my butt off everyday. I have yet to see snow. lol don´t think that will be happening for the next 2 years. But things are going well. I hope you all enjoyed the pictures i posted last time. It was a lot of work, so you better have! But i have been really busy lately, suprisingly enough. (Just let you know that¨"shake it like a salt shaker" is playing in the cyber that i am in right now. hahaha) For it being their summer vacation, i figured i would be bored out of my mind for the next 2 months. but actually my site-mate invited me to help her teach english classes. In total, we are giving 7 classes a week. Which doesn´t seem like much i know but if you figure that each class is 2 hrs long, and that two of the communities that we give class to are roughly 1hr away from our home, by bus :) that´s 4 hrs a day just for one class! then we have planning, and on mondays and fridays we have 2 classes a day. plus these classes last until april! so we will be giving them while we are teaching in our real classrooms after class starts in february.
But being busy is good for me. I hated just sitting around. But i´ve quickly discovered that there really is no "happy medium" it´s either you´re really busy with a lot of projects, or you´re bored out of your mind. I still have a lot of people to meet, and i also need to find a house to live in b-c i get to move out of my host family´s house in enero, but i dunno with all the other stuff going on if i will find a house by then or not. who knows. well i would have posted more pics, but my camera is not sirving me well (no me sirve) and keeps eating up all the batteries i have and they are not cheap here, so i will have to wait until i get my packages with my rechargable batteries. i have 3 packages waiting for me, i´ll let you know whose they are when i get them, but probably won´t be for a few days, maybe weeks.
take care everyone!
¿Feliz Navidad!
But being busy is good for me. I hated just sitting around. But i´ve quickly discovered that there really is no "happy medium" it´s either you´re really busy with a lot of projects, or you´re bored out of your mind. I still have a lot of people to meet, and i also need to find a house to live in b-c i get to move out of my host family´s house in enero, but i dunno with all the other stuff going on if i will find a house by then or not. who knows. well i would have posted more pics, but my camera is not sirving me well (no me sirve) and keeps eating up all the batteries i have and they are not cheap here, so i will have to wait until i get my packages with my rechargable batteries. i have 3 packages waiting for me, i´ll let you know whose they are when i get them, but probably won´t be for a few days, maybe weeks.
take care everyone!
¿Feliz Navidad!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Primavera Azul!
Ok guys, i finally figured out how to do the whole photo thing, so here are a few. i´ll try to post a few every blog from here on out. ¡Disfrútenlas!
(una foto de mi cuarto en la casa de mi familia anfitriona en Masaya)
¡Qué linda!
(una foto de unas casas que están ubicadas en la carreterra entre mi pueblo y la cuidad)
(una familia que está alistándose entrar el bus. sí, el barrón está llevando un pollo en el bus)
(la parada de buses en el mercado viejo en Masaya, look at those beautifully repainted school buses from the states! the smaller ones are called microbuses and they are really not all that safe but people manage to fit about oh 15 ppl in a micro)
(el altar que mi prima hizo, ella pasó como 5 horas haciéndolo)
(la promoción del sexto grado (lo que discutí en la ultima blog)
(Beautiful Granada)
(esta foto es de mis amigitas. de la izquirda: una amiga de mis dos sobrinitas, mi sobrinita Mayoling y mi otra sobrinita Josmely)
(esta foto es de una baile que se llama "el viejo la vieja" y las personas que están bailando son dos muchachos! hahaha ellos eran alumnos del instituto de mi pueblo en Masaya)
(una foto de mi cuarto en la casa de mi familia anfitriona en Masaya)¡Qué linda!
(una foto de unas casas que están ubicadas en la carreterra entre mi pueblo y la cuidad)
(una familia que está alistándose entrar el bus. sí, el barrón está llevando un pollo en el bus)
(la parada de buses en el mercado viejo en Masaya, look at those beautifully repainted school buses from the states! the smaller ones are called microbuses and they are really not all that safe but people manage to fit about oh 15 ppl in a micro)
(el altar que mi prima hizo, ella pasó como 5 horas haciéndolo)
(la promoción del sexto grado (lo que discutí en la ultima blog)
(Beautiful Granada)
(esta foto es de mis amigitas. de la izquirda: una amiga de mis dos sobrinitas, mi sobrinita Mayoling y mi otra sobrinita Josmely)
(esta foto es de una baile que se llama "el viejo la vieja" y las personas que están bailando son dos muchachos! hahaha ellos eran alumnos del instituto de mi pueblo en Masaya)Hey everyone! I hope things are going well in the snow-covered land of Indiana, and the oh so warm and sunny FL! It´s hot here, as usual. but now is the fresco time if i haven´t already said that. All that really means is that you don´t sweat.... as much, but you still definately sweat. the shade is a beautiful thing though, so are hammocks, maybe my two favorite things in nica (besides the beautiful views of course.) But all in all there is little to complain about. I know i was a little upset about my new cucaracha friends but well, that happens. and while i wouldn´t say i am acostombrada, i´m getting there) things are slow now so i am going to hopefully be starting a community english class with my sitemate (who teaches english at the highschool) and probably in two other communities as well. we´ll see. she isn´t gonna be here much for the next month, so in that case i will be doing them solo! (entonces, wish me luck!)
So the graduation ceremonies have come and gone, and so has the purisima, oh how fun that was. lets just say its sortof like halloween, but without the costumes, and instead of saying trick-or-treat, people sing hymns to altars of maría that people put in their front porches and then the people give out candies, and tupperware, glasses, plates, ya know the typical stuff ;-)
But after the graduation ceremonies and for the purisima, there was fiestas/discos in town. the fiestas were after the promociones and they were free. i had to pay 30 cords to get into the disco after the purisima. and it was fun but i was a little disappointed in music choices. i mean you know how much i enjoy dancing, but i am not a fan of merengue AT ALL, machata i love tho but when i go to a disco i want some reggeaton! and instead oh about a good 30% of the songs they played were horrible 80´s songs in english! (of which i am not a fan).
But i was called up on to the stage infront of everyone by this guy that used to be the mayor and lets just say, i was extremely embarrassed and didn´t know what to say, i swear the moment i hit the stage i forgot every spanish word i know, luckly i remembered no se :-) those nerves. hahaha well i am going to try to put up some picks now. i hope people are doing well back home. things are a little boring at times, but i make it into the city once a week on the weekends, and i am con suerte in the sense that i do have someone in my site that i can communicate with fully.
Friday, November 30, 2007
A day in Tonala
Well everyone, i hope that your thanksgiving went by well. I spent it at the house of the Peace Corps director in Nicaragua. It was awesome! Right now i am in the city with my host sister visiting her family. It has been a long week, and together with a stomach ache and cockroaches in the latrina, it has been interesting. But all in all i have no complaints. Yesterday was the hardest and funnest yet. They had the promocion for the 6th graders and it was soo cool to see them all so proud and the teachers proud as well. They decorated the school, and they had important people sit on stage to congratulate the graduates as they received their diplomas. Apparently I am an important person, b-c i just went to watch, but little did i know they invited me to sit on the stage with the school director and delegada to the ministry of education. and then there was a party after wards. the thing a learned this week- you can never be overdressed, so if you are questioning what to wear, go for more. and nicas love to dance, from age 2 they can shake-it faster than you can imagine!!!!!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
I´m off!
Well as of yesterday I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i know you are jealous. hahaha Wow it´s finally happening. I feel like this whole process has taken forever, and finally FINALLY i am gonna get to see what it´s really like. I am going to be leaving from managua today to go to my site! It´s up to me now, no training staff, no group charlas twice a week, no mandated schedule of events to do. I have to find my own stuff to do now. Well that is not entirely true. I do know that I will be working in 4 schools with a minimum of 2 teachers in each school. they are all multigrado and i will have to bike to all of them but one that is located roughly 4 blocks from my new host family´s house. for the first 90 days we cannot leave our site but for day trips to the market and to do errands, and for EITHER la navidad o el nuevo año, not both. so that totally stinks, but i´m sure the time will go by quickly. i was reading interviews yesterday that the volunteers who have just left wrote and according to all of them the times goes by quick.
My first three months in site are doing to be different. school ends in 2 weeks so i am not going to be working in the schools yet, but iwill still have a lot to do. i have to get to know my town and the people and hopefully some kids too. maybe i´ll even get to play some soccer with the kids around town. vamos a ver.
so please don´t get worried when i don´t write often. i will have a phone that you can always call if you are worried about me. but i´ll try to continue to keep in touch.
take care all! and wish me luck!
My first three months in site are doing to be different. school ends in 2 weeks so i am not going to be working in the schools yet, but iwill still have a lot to do. i have to get to know my town and the people and hopefully some kids too. maybe i´ll even get to play some soccer with the kids around town. vamos a ver.
so please don´t get worried when i don´t write often. i will have a phone that you can always call if you are worried about me. but i´ll try to continue to keep in touch.
take care all! and wish me luck!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
6 days!
In 6 days I am going to be an official PCV (peace corps volunteer)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited and so proud of all the people in my group that have stuck it out and will be there with me on friday to swear-in. Unfortunately we have had 2 people leave the group, but our group is awesome and ready to get to work.
I have been uber-busy lately. We had to wrap-up stuff at our schools and the three of us gave a capacitación to the teachers in our school over the guía that we use, b-c we gave them one as a gift to say thanks for letting us work in their aulas, and having patience with our spanish. Speaking of spanish, i had my final interview yesterday. I am not worried about being at the level you have to be at to ¨graduate¨ training, but I am anxious to see how i did, vamos a ver! I don´t think i could count the number of times i use that frase daily (or have used that frase since starting the peace corps process).
So for those of you that don´t know, i got a cell phone, but it´s not cheap, and right now i have no choice but to be pinche (cheap) b-c i have no money' lol, after all i am v-o-l-u-n-t-e-e-r-i-n-g. no worries, have enough to get me through, just not to talk for hours on the phone. feel free to call me b-c that is free for me, but i will probably only be calling the states after 8pm, and not frequently.
So monday will be my last day and night in the house that i have called my home for the past 10 weeks, and with the family that has taken me in and showed me how to do everything from flush the toilet (i´m telling you it is not as easy as just dumping the balde into the toilet bowl, there is a science to it) to wash my clothes and ride the bus. They are amazing, and i hope to visit them soon! my niece is obsessed with strawberry shortcake, chiquita fresa, and could talk about her all the time, my sister loves to sew and is attending classes to become a costurera (i think that´s how it is spelled) and my mom is awesome, can´t understand her some times, but has more patience with me than i probably have with her. my other sister is hilarious, is much smarter than she appears, and is a great mother to her two daughters. and my little sobrinita, adorable! she´s two and i have taught her to walk like a model with her hands on her hips, and she calls me Memoli. I will truly miss them. And i just made them french toast & bacon, over a fire, with a TINY pan, and believe me it was not easy, and i really don´t know if they liked it, but i did! tasted like sunday morning when dad used to make us the french toast out of the special cinnamin swirl bread (well didn´t taste exactly like that, but close enough that it made me remember it).
But i am totally excited to get started with work. I have so many things that i want to do! I want to make school veggie gardens, and work with the farmers to do worm boxes, maybe even the kids too. I want to hopefully work with the alcaldía (mayors office) and the centro de salud. but those are big dreams, so vamos a ver!
I am planning on living with a family for probably more than just 6 weeks there, depending on available housing, and cost. I´d rather spend more money traveling and more time working than worrying about keeping up a house and cooking all of my meals. but i don´t know, just depends on how much freedom i feel like i need. the new family seems really great tho. gotta build that confianza, but i know it will come with time. (as hopefully my spanish will to)
And for all of those that don´t know, i am going to be living close to the beach, and even closer to...manglares! (mangroves) i could not be more excited. i know that we have some serpientes peligrosos, like boas, but i still have to do some exploring. i have already established with my new family and counterpart that i am allergic to shellfish, and i feel like in that sense i am lucky, b-c i can use it as an excuse not to eat a lot of stuff, but also need to be aware of what i am eating b-c chinandega has a lot of shrimp-packing plants (and shrimp farms as well) but they cultivate other types of shellfish, and the people that work there often bring it home for their families to eat. Not to mention the lovely road that i get to take from Chinandega to my site. It´s a peach, but good news for me and the people that live there, the road is getting paved! But this is one of those processes that can take years in the states, so i´m just hoping that by the time i am COSing the road will be paved. who knows. but for me this is important, you see b-c it takes 1hr and 15min to travel roughly 15km.(i´m debating if i could ride my bike faster) and well after that long on a bumpy road in a hot bus with the lady sitting in front of me transporting her freshly (or not so freshly) cut meat, well i was not feeling so well. luckly i returned to managua from chinandega with my friends, and we stopped in léon to eat at a hostel (which apparently serves amazing pasta but i wouldn´t know b-c i was throwing up in the bathroom most of the time) and then from léon continued onto managua, in a bus that decided to break down well before we pulled out of the mercado, as well as got in roughly 3 accidents on the trip, and i swear at one time we broke 80mph. all i can say is thank-goodness for the sturdy plastic bags that our cellphones came in. Next time i´ll pass on the warm milk and sweet bread for breakfast.
But Nicaragua is great. Lately people have been asking if i really like it here or not. And the answer is without a doubt, yes. But it´s life, no matter where you live it, and in a developing country that life is harder, for a gringa maybe not that much harder, but for the people that are my friends, family, and co-workers here, it is. Also, no matter where you are, there are those things that just get to you, the trash on the ground, the neighbor´s repeatative blaring of the same 3/4 of a song over and over at the crack of dawn b-c the luz goes out at like 7:30 every morning (gotta aprovechar la luz!) or your neighbor that is so obsessed with his lawn that you don´t even dare to touch it, much less step on it. Here there is still the same drive to have money and be successful as in the states; but that is not necessarily the primary motivator. Here there are people with various (very passionate) religious beliefs, same as political. But there are challenges here that the majority of americans are not forced to face everyday back in the states. Lack of access to water (especially potable water), strong social norms i.e. gender roles, extremely high unemployment, little assistance for higher education, transportation system that is slow and at times dangerous, and education system that is struggling to accomodate a massive population increase and at the same time change itself for the better. Family here, is extremely important, what your parents, grandparents think is important, and there is much more obligation on the part of the youth to support their family. Nicaragua is poor financially speaking, but the culture is anything but.
I have definately learned a lot about Nicaragua, it´s people, it´s culture, and it´s history in the past 2 months, and I am excited to learn more. In order to conocer this beautiful country, it takes time, and that is something I am lucky enough to have.
and i was going to post pics, but my batteries in my camera keep dying. i dunno if there is soemthing wrong, but if someone who loves me wants to send me some rechargable batteries, i would not be opposed.
interesting nica details (they are not really facts, but commonly held opinions)
Chinandega is hot, not just like hot, but i mean HOT.
Shade will be more valuable to me in the next two years than my IPod.
The preferred way to drink gaseosa (soda) is out of a plastic bag with a straw.
Red beans have more flavor than black, and therefore everytime you make gallo pinto, or rice and beans (b-c they are 2 different types of comida) you have to use red. (with this i fully disagree)
Oil is needed to prepare all of the following, beans, rice, veggies, soy, tortillas, gallo pinto, soup well pretty much everything except for fresh fruit, and maybe steamed veggies, b-c that´s questionable.
It is considered slutty to have your bra strap show, but it´s cool to wear your black bra with your white lacy top.
You can carry anything with you on a bus, including (but not limited to) chickens (live and wing-flapping), meat, entertainment centers, baskets, pottery, mattresses, and anything that can be boughten or sold at the market.
Music can never be to loud.
Taking a shower in the middle of the day is dangerous, and if you happen to get a cold or sneeze the following week, the shower is to blame. (this one i´m on the fence with)
You cannot and i mean cannot drink milk when you eat a nacatamal. Only coffee.
Ketchup is a delicasy and makes everything taste good, including cold spagetti noodles. (i think they like it more than americans do! and definately with more sugar)
I have been uber-busy lately. We had to wrap-up stuff at our schools and the three of us gave a capacitación to the teachers in our school over the guía that we use, b-c we gave them one as a gift to say thanks for letting us work in their aulas, and having patience with our spanish. Speaking of spanish, i had my final interview yesterday. I am not worried about being at the level you have to be at to ¨graduate¨ training, but I am anxious to see how i did, vamos a ver! I don´t think i could count the number of times i use that frase daily (or have used that frase since starting the peace corps process).
So for those of you that don´t know, i got a cell phone, but it´s not cheap, and right now i have no choice but to be pinche (cheap) b-c i have no money' lol, after all i am v-o-l-u-n-t-e-e-r-i-n-g. no worries, have enough to get me through, just not to talk for hours on the phone. feel free to call me b-c that is free for me, but i will probably only be calling the states after 8pm, and not frequently.
So monday will be my last day and night in the house that i have called my home for the past 10 weeks, and with the family that has taken me in and showed me how to do everything from flush the toilet (i´m telling you it is not as easy as just dumping the balde into the toilet bowl, there is a science to it) to wash my clothes and ride the bus. They are amazing, and i hope to visit them soon! my niece is obsessed with strawberry shortcake, chiquita fresa, and could talk about her all the time, my sister loves to sew and is attending classes to become a costurera (i think that´s how it is spelled) and my mom is awesome, can´t understand her some times, but has more patience with me than i probably have with her. my other sister is hilarious, is much smarter than she appears, and is a great mother to her two daughters. and my little sobrinita, adorable! she´s two and i have taught her to walk like a model with her hands on her hips, and she calls me Memoli. I will truly miss them. And i just made them french toast & bacon, over a fire, with a TINY pan, and believe me it was not easy, and i really don´t know if they liked it, but i did! tasted like sunday morning when dad used to make us the french toast out of the special cinnamin swirl bread (well didn´t taste exactly like that, but close enough that it made me remember it).
But i am totally excited to get started with work. I have so many things that i want to do! I want to make school veggie gardens, and work with the farmers to do worm boxes, maybe even the kids too. I want to hopefully work with the alcaldía (mayors office) and the centro de salud. but those are big dreams, so vamos a ver!
I am planning on living with a family for probably more than just 6 weeks there, depending on available housing, and cost. I´d rather spend more money traveling and more time working than worrying about keeping up a house and cooking all of my meals. but i don´t know, just depends on how much freedom i feel like i need. the new family seems really great tho. gotta build that confianza, but i know it will come with time. (as hopefully my spanish will to)
And for all of those that don´t know, i am going to be living close to the beach, and even closer to...manglares! (mangroves) i could not be more excited. i know that we have some serpientes peligrosos, like boas, but i still have to do some exploring. i have already established with my new family and counterpart that i am allergic to shellfish, and i feel like in that sense i am lucky, b-c i can use it as an excuse not to eat a lot of stuff, but also need to be aware of what i am eating b-c chinandega has a lot of shrimp-packing plants (and shrimp farms as well) but they cultivate other types of shellfish, and the people that work there often bring it home for their families to eat. Not to mention the lovely road that i get to take from Chinandega to my site. It´s a peach, but good news for me and the people that live there, the road is getting paved! But this is one of those processes that can take years in the states, so i´m just hoping that by the time i am COSing the road will be paved. who knows. but for me this is important, you see b-c it takes 1hr and 15min to travel roughly 15km.(i´m debating if i could ride my bike faster) and well after that long on a bumpy road in a hot bus with the lady sitting in front of me transporting her freshly (or not so freshly) cut meat, well i was not feeling so well. luckly i returned to managua from chinandega with my friends, and we stopped in léon to eat at a hostel (which apparently serves amazing pasta but i wouldn´t know b-c i was throwing up in the bathroom most of the time) and then from léon continued onto managua, in a bus that decided to break down well before we pulled out of the mercado, as well as got in roughly 3 accidents on the trip, and i swear at one time we broke 80mph. all i can say is thank-goodness for the sturdy plastic bags that our cellphones came in. Next time i´ll pass on the warm milk and sweet bread for breakfast.
But Nicaragua is great. Lately people have been asking if i really like it here or not. And the answer is without a doubt, yes. But it´s life, no matter where you live it, and in a developing country that life is harder, for a gringa maybe not that much harder, but for the people that are my friends, family, and co-workers here, it is. Also, no matter where you are, there are those things that just get to you, the trash on the ground, the neighbor´s repeatative blaring of the same 3/4 of a song over and over at the crack of dawn b-c the luz goes out at like 7:30 every morning (gotta aprovechar la luz!) or your neighbor that is so obsessed with his lawn that you don´t even dare to touch it, much less step on it. Here there is still the same drive to have money and be successful as in the states; but that is not necessarily the primary motivator. Here there are people with various (very passionate) religious beliefs, same as political. But there are challenges here that the majority of americans are not forced to face everyday back in the states. Lack of access to water (especially potable water), strong social norms i.e. gender roles, extremely high unemployment, little assistance for higher education, transportation system that is slow and at times dangerous, and education system that is struggling to accomodate a massive population increase and at the same time change itself for the better. Family here, is extremely important, what your parents, grandparents think is important, and there is much more obligation on the part of the youth to support their family. Nicaragua is poor financially speaking, but the culture is anything but.
I have definately learned a lot about Nicaragua, it´s people, it´s culture, and it´s history in the past 2 months, and I am excited to learn more. In order to conocer this beautiful country, it takes time, and that is something I am lucky enough to have.
and i was going to post pics, but my batteries in my camera keep dying. i dunno if there is soemthing wrong, but if someone who loves me wants to send me some rechargable batteries, i would not be opposed.
interesting nica details (they are not really facts, but commonly held opinions)
Chinandega is hot, not just like hot, but i mean HOT.
Shade will be more valuable to me in the next two years than my IPod.
The preferred way to drink gaseosa (soda) is out of a plastic bag with a straw.
Red beans have more flavor than black, and therefore everytime you make gallo pinto, or rice and beans (b-c they are 2 different types of comida) you have to use red. (with this i fully disagree)
Oil is needed to prepare all of the following, beans, rice, veggies, soy, tortillas, gallo pinto, soup well pretty much everything except for fresh fruit, and maybe steamed veggies, b-c that´s questionable.
It is considered slutty to have your bra strap show, but it´s cool to wear your black bra with your white lacy top.
You can carry anything with you on a bus, including (but not limited to) chickens (live and wing-flapping), meat, entertainment centers, baskets, pottery, mattresses, and anything that can be boughten or sold at the market.
Music can never be to loud.
Taking a shower in the middle of the day is dangerous, and if you happen to get a cold or sneeze the following week, the shower is to blame. (this one i´m on the fence with)
You cannot and i mean cannot drink milk when you eat a nacatamal. Only coffee.
Ketchup is a delicasy and makes everything taste good, including cold spagetti noodles. (i think they like it more than americans do! and definately with more sugar)
Friday, November 2, 2007
Back home again
So i realized that i have been MIA for a bit. I was on my site visit in... Chinandega! yes that is where i will be living for the next two years. not too far from the capital city, but not beachside. However, there are mangroves close by and its only like 2 hrs to the beach. and i got a cellphone finally! hope you all are doing well. i am fully recovered from the sicknesses, although i did get bus sick on the way back into managua. my road to my site is really bad. takes over an hr to travel 15km! yeah, it was not easy. but things are going well. we swear-in in 2 weeks! yay i'll finally be a real volunteer!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Sweet Recovery
Well i am doing better, thank you all for the concern and support. it was hard being so far away from home, all i wanted was my confy bed (which i then realized that i sold it before i left, so even if i was home i wouldn´t have lol) but i´m doing well. going through the motions. i taught on thursday, horrible time managment, but i am learning, and it is a process. it´s called training for a reason i suppose. And i find out my site on this coming wednesday! we are all so nervous and excited. keep your fingers crossed for me guys!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Parasites, Amoebas, and Bacteria, oh my!
Well this has been an interesting week and a half. We are currently in the process of getting our site assignments, so we had our volunteer visit and had a site fair in which we learned about all the different departments. Friday we had our mid-training language interview which i did horrible on, but oh well.
By far, the most exciting thing that has happened to me so far, is having the oportunity to experience what it feels like to a whole little party of parasites and bacteria living inside of me! Ok, so maybe exciting is the best adjective to use to describe this experience. Last week, the overwelming feeling of nausea forced my host sister and i to go to a labortorio in the next town over, after carrying my lovely sample with me, then getting blood taken (which luckily was just a prick on the finger, but i did NOT know that going in and was nervous as all good be), and waiting an hour to get the results that i had.... lumbrices (huevos de lumbrices to be exact) living inside of me! But that´s just the beginning, but yesterday I got to go the lab again, different side effects this time, and i currently am in the possession of amoebas and bacteria! Not gonna lie, i´d prefer the worm eggs right now, but I´m doing well, got some meds (gotta take 3 different kind!) and i´m just sleeping alot. The lab i went to yesterday was beautiful by the way, so that was reassuring. And i really can´t complain, bc like i´be been saying, i want to make all the mistakes possible during training so that i´ll know how to handle things when i get to my site! I trully feel prepared now. hahahahaha
The only thing that bums me out was that i didn´t get to enjoy my afternoon off yesterday or go out with my friends last night! I have been looking forward to that for weeks now!
I wish i had time to really talk about Nicaragua. All of my friends i feel have shared very insightful opinions about the country and culture and the similarities and differences between here and the US. I promise i´ll get to that, but you know it will be long so i´ll save it for another day!
Also, currently Nicaragua has experienced heavier than usual rains and a lot of flooding and landsliding has been the result. All of the volunteers from the northern departments have been evacuated from their sites and are safe and sound, all others are awaiting further notice, but while the peace corps community in Nica is safe, many Nicaraguans have not been as fortunate. Many are sick, stranded from help, are missing or unfortunately did not survive, please keep the country and the region in your thoughts. The massive amount and constent pace of the rain has over saturated the ground, and even in urban areas there is a lot of flooding.
By far, the most exciting thing that has happened to me so far, is having the oportunity to experience what it feels like to a whole little party of parasites and bacteria living inside of me! Ok, so maybe exciting is the best adjective to use to describe this experience. Last week, the overwelming feeling of nausea forced my host sister and i to go to a labortorio in the next town over, after carrying my lovely sample with me, then getting blood taken (which luckily was just a prick on the finger, but i did NOT know that going in and was nervous as all good be), and waiting an hour to get the results that i had.... lumbrices (huevos de lumbrices to be exact) living inside of me! But that´s just the beginning, but yesterday I got to go the lab again, different side effects this time, and i currently am in the possession of amoebas and bacteria! Not gonna lie, i´d prefer the worm eggs right now, but I´m doing well, got some meds (gotta take 3 different kind!) and i´m just sleeping alot. The lab i went to yesterday was beautiful by the way, so that was reassuring. And i really can´t complain, bc like i´be been saying, i want to make all the mistakes possible during training so that i´ll know how to handle things when i get to my site! I trully feel prepared now. hahahahaha
The only thing that bums me out was that i didn´t get to enjoy my afternoon off yesterday or go out with my friends last night! I have been looking forward to that for weeks now!
I wish i had time to really talk about Nicaragua. All of my friends i feel have shared very insightful opinions about the country and culture and the similarities and differences between here and the US. I promise i´ll get to that, but you know it will be long so i´ll save it for another day!
Also, currently Nicaragua has experienced heavier than usual rains and a lot of flooding and landsliding has been the result. All of the volunteers from the northern departments have been evacuated from their sites and are safe and sound, all others are awaiting further notice, but while the peace corps community in Nica is safe, many Nicaraguans have not been as fortunate. Many are sick, stranded from help, are missing or unfortunately did not survive, please keep the country and the region in your thoughts. The massive amount and constent pace of the rain has over saturated the ground, and even in urban areas there is a lot of flooding.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
he regresado!
I returned yesterday night from a ciudad in the department of Matagalpa. Amazing place. Went through matalgalpa, matagalpa (capital city of matagalpa) and it was awesome. the mountains are soo pretty and views the clouds and the sky of every hue of light blue imaginable. Definately was a visit that was interesting. The town i visited was large, and i am now definately thinking that i want to go to a small site. Which is strange b-c of you would have asked me before i left, one of my biggest fears was that i would be placed in a site that was small. I definately feel like a town of 15,000 ppl is too huge for me. a few thousand would be perfect. But who knows where they will send me. I wish i could say that i returned rejuvenated and ready to work, but i think i hade more motivation before i left. at least more idealism-optimism. Now i see how things can set in and how easy it is to just do the status quo. I don´t want to just do the status quo. That´s definately not my reason for being here. If anything it is the exact opposite. I think i have officially come into what Cuerpo de Paz calls the second phase of adjustment. The "honeymoon" period has worn off and reality is setting in. Or my perception of reality which is false and totally nitpicky. hahaha. i will adjust, the visit helped a bit with reality check too. I know that I can do this job, and that was something that I needed to be reassured of. However, the trip back was an interesting one. I returned solo (my trip there was with another aspirante). I took a bus that went straight to managua so i did not have to go through the dept. capital. However, the bus was packed with ppl! And i don´t mean sitting 3 to a seat packed, i mean crammed like sardines standing in the aisle packed. I was scared of squishing the little boys standing beside me when we took a sharp curve. For roughly 3 of the 4 hrs i stood. Which stunk not only b-c i was tired and hot and feared my nausea from the night before might return, but b-c i missed the view, i couldn´t see out the windows! But finally, about an hour outside of managua, the old man sitting in the seat next to me stood up so i could sit down, very kind of him considering it really looked like he could use all the rest he could get. And THEN I SAW THE VIEW, mountains and a river that looked so peaceful, and the rain started so the clouds came in, and i LOVE the rain (as you all know) IT was wonderful, made the 3 hrs of standing totally worth it.
This week has sped by. I cannot believe that my 5th week here is over! However, i am glad to be back in my training town with my host family. They are so comforting, they really help me feel at home. Especially when my stomach is cramping and they tell me that i am not allowed to have eggs or milk b-c that will make it worse, and when they check my body temp. b4 they serve me coffee just to make sure i am not too cold (b-c that would just make me worse). They have already invited me back for christmas, and i could not be more excited. well maybe if all my family and friends from the states came down to visit, but i am not seeing that as being a possibility. :)
We still have so much to do before training is over, and we really do not have much time!
I wish i had a funny story to tell, I am sure i will after this weekend. We are finally going to visit the volcano! Definately recommend to all of you to read the Moon Handbook to Nicaragua, its amazing and the deatials are awesome. written by RPCVs (returned peace corps volunteers) that did their training in one of the pueblos blancos también.
Next week i am going to visit a dump! sooo excited, will explain more later!
This week has sped by. I cannot believe that my 5th week here is over! However, i am glad to be back in my training town with my host family. They are so comforting, they really help me feel at home. Especially when my stomach is cramping and they tell me that i am not allowed to have eggs or milk b-c that will make it worse, and when they check my body temp. b4 they serve me coffee just to make sure i am not too cold (b-c that would just make me worse). They have already invited me back for christmas, and i could not be more excited. well maybe if all my family and friends from the states came down to visit, but i am not seeing that as being a possibility. :)
We still have so much to do before training is over, and we really do not have much time!
I wish i had a funny story to tell, I am sure i will after this weekend. We are finally going to visit the volcano! Definately recommend to all of you to read the Moon Handbook to Nicaragua, its amazing and the deatials are awesome. written by RPCVs (returned peace corps volunteers) that did their training in one of the pueblos blancos también.
Next week i am going to visit a dump! sooo excited, will explain more later!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Long week
Wow what a long week! My heat is pounding as i sit here staring at this screen, but i have to write and tell how great things have gone this week. First, thank you soooo much Aunt Nancy for the care package, sooo sweet and the coloring books, crayons, and stickers are a big hit with my sobrina. (the other aspirantes loved the peeps) My fav was the pictures tho, and the crystal light packets. For future reference, anyone who would like to send me things, chocolate is always good, preferably something sealed well b-c it will melt, pictures, and crystal like packs, or emergen-C packs. there are other things también, but i can´t think of them right now. plus i really can get a lot of things here, but finding good quality markers and crayons has been impossible.
teaching went well. i didn´t make any huge mistakes. the lesson was simple. its amazing how much i underestimed the amount of time they would need. i definately went like 15 min over. but the teacher was cool with it, she is great, already asking when i will be back. best behaved 5th grade class i´ve been to (with the exception of Mrs. Foster´s class of course ;) who i miss dearly!)
sunday i go on my volunteer visit, and return on wednesday. will finally get a chance to see what its really like and what i´ve really signed myself up for. i´m actually going to an area that they say gets fairly cool at night, so should be interesting. i have a good 6 hrs to spend on a bus, so plenty of time to think. lol
will write again when i return!
teaching went well. i didn´t make any huge mistakes. the lesson was simple. its amazing how much i underestimed the amount of time they would need. i definately went like 15 min over. but the teacher was cool with it, she is great, already asking when i will be back. best behaved 5th grade class i´ve been to (with the exception of Mrs. Foster´s class of course ;) who i miss dearly!)
sunday i go on my volunteer visit, and return on wednesday. will finally get a chance to see what its really like and what i´ve really signed myself up for. i´m actually going to an area that they say gets fairly cool at night, so should be interesting. i have a good 6 hrs to spend on a bus, so plenty of time to think. lol
will write again when i return!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
1 month today!
One month today! Don´t have much time. But wanted to say happy B-Day thomas! love and miss you of course. hope you got my voicemail! Also, today marks the 4 week point that i have been here. crazy. i teach a class tomorrow! can you believe that, i can´t. I really hope i don´t screw up and end up cursing at the kids instead of telling them to raise their hands before they speak. lol wish me luck.
So far things are going well. really really busy this week with planning my lesson and our meeting and preparing for my volunteer visit! will write again soon! love you all!
So far things are going well. really really busy this week with planning my lesson and our meeting and preparing for my volunteer visit! will write again soon! love you all!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Attempting to be Nica
Felt like writing in this color b-c i feel that it describes my mood! hahahahah today was long, and busy. and i definately went through some different moods. but all in all the day ended so positively. We had training all day. Which is good b-c we get to meet current volunteers and pick their brains apart about every possible scenario that could happen in the schools or at our sites in general. the meetings (charlas) always run long, i´m sure they love us! hahahaha. I also met the volunteer that I am going to be visiting in a week! YAY! I could not be more excited to see how things are at a site. It is definately really really far from where i am now, but hopefully i´ll be able to travel most of the way (4 hr bus ride) with another aspirante and then she will meet me in the department capital and we will ride another 2 hrs by bus to her site! That is definately going to be an adventure! hahahha. I am really hoping to go shopping tomorrow! hahahahha yeah im defintely roughing it huh. hahhaaha actually i have not been yet, and its not like i am going to be going to a mall. definately some outdoor markets. Hasler, you would definately appreciate it when i say that i times i feel like i am living in the Suzanna y Javier book. hahahhaha
All in all i have no complaints. I just hope that my spanish is improving more than i can tell. As my facilitator (spanish teacher más o menos) told me, we are each our toughest critic. But i know that i speak easier than before (out of necessity as well as practice) but i am wondering how much vocab i am really truley remembering and how much just comes in one ear and gets lots in translation.
This is week has been the longest by far, and from what i can tell they just get busier. I am slowly but surely gaining confianza with my new family, i truly do love them all dearly. I have one mom (her husband passed away 5 years ago, but was dearly loved, and i wish i could have met him, he was an agriculture engineer and new everything about the environment from what they tell me) I have two older sisters. One is in her late 20s and the other only a few years older than i am but has 2 children. So I have two neices, ages 8 and 2 1/2, that i absolutely adore! And all of her friends as well. But they are great, have a great sense of humor, and are extremely patient with me - and love to talk with me which is extremely important.
Nica people are definately some of the most hospitable i have ever met! Its amazing how i can walk up, introduce myself and they will invite me to sit in a rocking chair with them (b-c everybody has at least 4 in their home) for hours literally and are all patient with my broken spanish. It rains at night, which reminds me of the rain in florida and tends to get me missing the beach and my family at moments, but then i wake up in the morning to a new day, some coffee and pinapple and look out the front door at the street and realize that this is where i am supposed to be!
All in all i have no complaints. I just hope that my spanish is improving more than i can tell. As my facilitator (spanish teacher más o menos) told me, we are each our toughest critic. But i know that i speak easier than before (out of necessity as well as practice) but i am wondering how much vocab i am really truley remembering and how much just comes in one ear and gets lots in translation.
This is week has been the longest by far, and from what i can tell they just get busier. I am slowly but surely gaining confianza with my new family, i truly do love them all dearly. I have one mom (her husband passed away 5 years ago, but was dearly loved, and i wish i could have met him, he was an agriculture engineer and new everything about the environment from what they tell me) I have two older sisters. One is in her late 20s and the other only a few years older than i am but has 2 children. So I have two neices, ages 8 and 2 1/2, that i absolutely adore! And all of her friends as well. But they are great, have a great sense of humor, and are extremely patient with me - and love to talk with me which is extremely important.
Nica people are definately some of the most hospitable i have ever met! Its amazing how i can walk up, introduce myself and they will invite me to sit in a rocking chair with them (b-c everybody has at least 4 in their home) for hours literally and are all patient with my broken spanish. It rains at night, which reminds me of the rain in florida and tends to get me missing the beach and my family at moments, but then i wake up in the morning to a new day, some coffee and pinapple and look out the front door at the street and realize that this is where i am supposed to be!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Week 3!
So i´m in my third week! wow this is going by fast. In like 1 week i´m going to be doing my volunteer site visit! that´s just crazy!
K, sad thing, i totally forget the really funny story i was going to tell in my last blog. hahaha, typical huh. no worries, i´m sure it wouldn´t have been nearly as funny for you all to read as it was for me. But lots has happened since my last post. I am totally loving my new family, not that i didn´t totally love the last one as well, and i still talk to my sister from my other family so that is great :) But yes, things are going well at home, i am starting to wonder how much weight i am going to gain considering 75% of my meals are fried, hahaha. gotta love that. at least i get fruit for breakfast everyday, which i totally love! And i went on a hike with some of my fellow aspirantes that live in the surrounding pueblos. we hiked all the way down to Laguna de Apoyo. OMG was that long, it took us 30 min to get down there, and it is one steep hike, and a good hour and 20 min to get up. I thought i was going to lose my legs they were so tired. But i´m totally stoked b-c i learned that there is a place to rent kayaks on the laguna!!!!!!!!! A friend and i are hoping to go soon! Oh i miss kayaking soo much. And the laguna is beautiful. Crystal clear and deep blue. Its really deep too, but calm and beautiful. After the hike, we went to the Mirador in Catarina, which is a huge tourist spot and i totally understand why. You can see the city of Granada from the mirador and lake nicaragua! It´s amazing! The three days of body pains is totally worth the swim in the lake. It was so refreshing! And i definately recommend that if you come to visit me you have to see this!
We also had our first meeting with our grupo de jóvenes last night. oh the joy, actually it was fun. we made a community map and talked about this saturday when we get to make our Vivero! Going to be soo exciting, i can´t wait! We had all the kids volunteer to bring tools, i couldn´t believe how many kids were like, i´ll bring a machete! I was just standing there thinking, guess its better you than me considering i have never even held one of those things before! Guess that will be changing soon tho! Wish me luck b-c next week i am giving my first charla to a classroom in the elementary school! ahhhhhhh i hardly feel like i am capable of doing that, but i guess i´ll find out soon. Well i think we are going to go get some icecream tonight! which i am totally stoked about!
hope you are all doing well and enjoying the beginning of fall! the weather is still the same here, hotter than you can imagine or cool and rainy. Keep up the comments, i love them!!
K, sad thing, i totally forget the really funny story i was going to tell in my last blog. hahaha, typical huh. no worries, i´m sure it wouldn´t have been nearly as funny for you all to read as it was for me. But lots has happened since my last post. I am totally loving my new family, not that i didn´t totally love the last one as well, and i still talk to my sister from my other family so that is great :) But yes, things are going well at home, i am starting to wonder how much weight i am going to gain considering 75% of my meals are fried, hahaha. gotta love that. at least i get fruit for breakfast everyday, which i totally love! And i went on a hike with some of my fellow aspirantes that live in the surrounding pueblos. we hiked all the way down to Laguna de Apoyo. OMG was that long, it took us 30 min to get down there, and it is one steep hike, and a good hour and 20 min to get up. I thought i was going to lose my legs they were so tired. But i´m totally stoked b-c i learned that there is a place to rent kayaks on the laguna!!!!!!!!! A friend and i are hoping to go soon! Oh i miss kayaking soo much. And the laguna is beautiful. Crystal clear and deep blue. Its really deep too, but calm and beautiful. After the hike, we went to the Mirador in Catarina, which is a huge tourist spot and i totally understand why. You can see the city of Granada from the mirador and lake nicaragua! It´s amazing! The three days of body pains is totally worth the swim in the lake. It was so refreshing! And i definately recommend that if you come to visit me you have to see this!
We also had our first meeting with our grupo de jóvenes last night. oh the joy, actually it was fun. we made a community map and talked about this saturday when we get to make our Vivero! Going to be soo exciting, i can´t wait! We had all the kids volunteer to bring tools, i couldn´t believe how many kids were like, i´ll bring a machete! I was just standing there thinking, guess its better you than me considering i have never even held one of those things before! Guess that will be changing soon tho! Wish me luck b-c next week i am giving my first charla to a classroom in the elementary school! ahhhhhhh i hardly feel like i am capable of doing that, but i guess i´ll find out soon. Well i think we are going to go get some icecream tonight! which i am totally stoked about!
hope you are all doing well and enjoying the beginning of fall! the weather is still the same here, hotter than you can imagine or cool and rainy. Keep up the comments, i love them!!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
El día de independencia
Today is independence day for Nicaragua. And this is a new thing for me, obviously. Yesterday was a celebration of winning a battle, can´t remember the name b/c i am horrible, but from what i learned it was against what i believe were american marines, and the Nicas won. (they were out numbered and fought by throwing rocks, so that´s kinda of a big deal, i´d probably celebrate too). But yesterday was huge, parades in everytown, traditional dances and the works. Today, nothing.No parades, no festivals, no fiestas, nada. And i wwas really hoping to get to go to a fiesta or two. Guess I´ll just have to wait :)
Anyways, life is going well with the new family. They are very kind and hospitable. They are always home and spend lots of time talking with me (well more like talking and i try to catch what they are saying so that i can say something in return.) Its actually not that bad, just the different accent is hard to get. i need to talk with lots of different ppl so that i get used to it. Oh, but i have a huge room! seriously think it is bigger than the last one, and definately bigger than my room in my last apartment! Crazy. I have an inodoro, so in that since i have very lucky that i do not have to use a latrine. It doesn´t flush, I have to poor a huge bucket of water into the bowl to flush it each time, and this my friends is a science. You have to raise the bolde high enough in the air that it has enough force to flush the water, but not so high that you splatter the water all over yourself and the entire bathroom. lol, which of course it has taken me many attempts, along with an instructional lesson from my sister. oh the joys! it´s a good thing i´m not shy. hahha. oh and i finally get to take bucket baths. i actually prefer them. i can take my time and not feel that i am wasting water. and its honestly not as cold. I wish i had more time b-c i have an hilarious story. but i will have to wait until next time.
love and miss you all!
Anyways, life is going well with the new family. They are very kind and hospitable. They are always home and spend lots of time talking with me (well more like talking and i try to catch what they are saying so that i can say something in return.) Its actually not that bad, just the different accent is hard to get. i need to talk with lots of different ppl so that i get used to it. Oh, but i have a huge room! seriously think it is bigger than the last one, and definately bigger than my room in my last apartment! Crazy. I have an inodoro, so in that since i have very lucky that i do not have to use a latrine. It doesn´t flush, I have to poor a huge bucket of water into the bowl to flush it each time, and this my friends is a science. You have to raise the bolde high enough in the air that it has enough force to flush the water, but not so high that you splatter the water all over yourself and the entire bathroom. lol, which of course it has taken me many attempts, along with an instructional lesson from my sister. oh the joys! it´s a good thing i´m not shy. hahha. oh and i finally get to take bucket baths. i actually prefer them. i can take my time and not feel that i am wasting water. and its honestly not as cold. I wish i had more time b-c i have an hilarious story. but i will have to wait until next time.
love and miss you all!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Buenos!
Hey fam and friends, sorry this is short. Don´t have much time, have to go to an interview. I just wanted to let ppl know that i have changed to a different house. I´ll explain more later, nothing wrong or bad happened, just found a family that would have more time to spend with my during the day which is uber important especially when practicing spanish is my job right now. Anyways, don´t call the old number i gave you. I will let you know when or if i get a new one. i hope to buy a cell this weekend or next week ;)
love and miss you all!
p.s. i´m doing great. love the new family' it´s bigger than my last one, and i love nica!
love and miss you all!
p.s. i´m doing great. love the new family' it´s bigger than my last one, and i love nica!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Week 2
Oh my oh my oh my. I am here, i guess it hits you when you are sitting in the cyber and 2 perros walk in off the street. hahaha. That´s where I am and I love it. Last week was great, getting adjusted to the new place. This week is going to be fun, boy are they keeping us busy! This week we are having our primera reunión with our grupo de jóvenes! Its going to be soo much fun. We are going to do fun environmental projects, like a vivero (tree nursery mas o menos) and it seems like we are going to have a pretty good turn out. there is a mandate to the schools in Nica that each student in the last year of high school has to have 60 hours of environmental community service. so we there are a lot of kids interested. also we are going to be working with the elementary school too.
Things are going well so far. On saturday we all (18 of us) went and visited a self sustainable ranchero that is located not too far from here. it was soo cool, we learned about composting, worm boxes, and so much more! We finally got to play in the dirt! All this classroom time had made me anxious and was definately happy to plant some trees.
On sunday I went to visit the laguna, which is apparently a huge tourist site as well, but it was pouring down rain, and i kid you not it was soo foggy that i could not even see the shore of the laguna, much less the water. hahaha, it was an experience none the less, and i´ll just have to go back another time.
I have definately been learning alot, but i can´t help but feel like i will never be fluent. Then again it is only my second week here, so i guess i should not get ahead of myself. Hopefully at the end of training i will look back at this and laugh - HOPEFULLY.
Thank you all for the great notes of support. I have written some cards and letters to send home, but have yet to be successful in locating a mailbox or post office. Hope you all are doing well! Take care!
Things are going well so far. On saturday we all (18 of us) went and visited a self sustainable ranchero that is located not too far from here. it was soo cool, we learned about composting, worm boxes, and so much more! We finally got to play in the dirt! All this classroom time had made me anxious and was definately happy to plant some trees.
On sunday I went to visit the laguna, which is apparently a huge tourist site as well, but it was pouring down rain, and i kid you not it was soo foggy that i could not even see the shore of the laguna, much less the water. hahaha, it was an experience none the less, and i´ll just have to go back another time.
I have definately been learning alot, but i can´t help but feel like i will never be fluent. Then again it is only my second week here, so i guess i should not get ahead of myself. Hopefully at the end of training i will look back at this and laugh - HOPEFULLY.
Thank you all for the great notes of support. I have written some cards and letters to send home, but have yet to be successful in locating a mailbox or post office. Hope you all are doing well! Take care!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Hola de Nica!
Hi everyone!
I hope you are all doing well and benefiting from the Hurricane. It is close by, but not too close, it hit the atlantic coast, North east of where I am and is headed to Honduras. We have recieved a little bit of rain, but not more than should be expected during this time of year. Today was a regular day, Spanish class until 3pm. We are making a map of the town so that we know our way around (always a good thing :) and so that we can have it when we work with our youth group. After spanish class i learned how to wash my clothes, oh mother and father you would be so proud, I know how to wash my clothes by hand!
My host family´s house is beautiful! The entire yard is a garden, with hundreds of types of plants, Grandma Mix, you would love it!
Besides that I have just been trying to learn alot of spanish. Which is not easy, but I think that it is coming along, slowly but surely. Wish me luck!
I´m so excited b-c tomorrow I get to see the rest of my friends from the Env. Ed. group that are living in the towns nearby. We are all going to learn about an environmental project that is taking place near us. Well I need to go get some cena, i´m starving! Adios!
I hope you are all doing well and benefiting from the Hurricane. It is close by, but not too close, it hit the atlantic coast, North east of where I am and is headed to Honduras. We have recieved a little bit of rain, but not more than should be expected during this time of year. Today was a regular day, Spanish class until 3pm. We are making a map of the town so that we know our way around (always a good thing :) and so that we can have it when we work with our youth group. After spanish class i learned how to wash my clothes, oh mother and father you would be so proud, I know how to wash my clothes by hand!
My host family´s house is beautiful! The entire yard is a garden, with hundreds of types of plants, Grandma Mix, you would love it!
Besides that I have just been trying to learn alot of spanish. Which is not easy, but I think that it is coming along, slowly but surely. Wish me luck!
I´m so excited b-c tomorrow I get to see the rest of my friends from the Env. Ed. group that are living in the towns nearby. We are all going to learn about an environmental project that is taking place near us. Well I need to go get some cena, i´m starving! Adios!
Monday, September 3, 2007
My new hometown
Buenas!
That´s the most common word i hear everyday. So i am finally in my new home. Well actually right now i am in a Cyber down the street. But things are going well. Of course I miss my ppl back home. And things are slow b-c we are still learning how to communicate but besides that things are going well. I have two new sisters and a new mother, and according to her i have a whole new extended family that lives near by. I met a few of my new cousins, but now worries kate and jill they´ll never be able to replace you ;) I am doing well, a little under the weather, but well. I have eaten lots of beans and rice (gallo pinto when they are mixed together), and pinolillo. Pinolillo is actually a drink that is really good. You mix it with sugar and it tastes kinda like chocolate coffee, but it is actually made from corn and something else.
The ppl here have been very welcoming and patient. Apparently I am part of the 3rd or 4th group of aspirantes to live in this pueblo, so that is good that the ppl aren´t completely caught off guard. My house is beautiful. The entire yard is a jardin with more than 100m plants that my mom sells to the universities and other merchants to sell.
Well time is money, and i have run out. LOve and miss you all!
That´s the most common word i hear everyday. So i am finally in my new home. Well actually right now i am in a Cyber down the street. But things are going well. Of course I miss my ppl back home. And things are slow b-c we are still learning how to communicate but besides that things are going well. I have two new sisters and a new mother, and according to her i have a whole new extended family that lives near by. I met a few of my new cousins, but now worries kate and jill they´ll never be able to replace you ;) I am doing well, a little under the weather, but well. I have eaten lots of beans and rice (gallo pinto when they are mixed together), and pinolillo. Pinolillo is actually a drink that is really good. You mix it with sugar and it tastes kinda like chocolate coffee, but it is actually made from corn and something else.
The ppl here have been very welcoming and patient. Apparently I am part of the 3rd or 4th group of aspirantes to live in this pueblo, so that is good that the ppl aren´t completely caught off guard. My house is beautiful. The entire yard is a jardin with more than 100m plants that my mom sells to the universities and other merchants to sell.
Well time is money, and i have run out. LOve and miss you all!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Hola todos!
Estoy en Nicaragua!!!!!!!!
I cannot believe that I am finally here. Pre-service training has been awesome, just getting to know the other voluntarios and my fellow trainees. Our hotel is beautiful, but haven´t gone exploring yet so I don´t know much about my surroundings. Saturday is going to be a big day though. that is when I meet and begin living with my host family! today we had our spanish evaluations - that was fun, hahaha not. But they need to know my level. Apparently we are grouped according to our spanish speaking abilities, so i will be with 3 or 4 other ppl that speak the same level as i do, which is good. besides that, not a whole lot is going on. getting shots and getting to know the staff and bits and pieces about the country. I don´t know where my site is yet, but we find that out tomorrow! I am sad to leave some of my new friends. On Sat. the aggies are splitting away from us and are going te be living in towns that are like 3 hours from where all of us Env. Ed. ppl will be. The next time I will get to see them is for our swearing in ceremony. But I´ll at least be fairly close to other EEs. Few things that I have learned so far - wear bug spray all the time! well actually that´s really the main thing that i have learned hahaha. Also, when it rains here, it rains! And I do not mean carry a strong umbrella, i mean stay indoors until it stops if that is at all possible. hahaha But it´s amazing at the same time, it was soo humid yesterday, and during the day it is very hot, like mid 80s at least. But it starts to cool down very early, around 5 or so, for instance I am wearing pants and a tshirt right now and would be completely comfortable outside- that is something that I cannot even say about Florida for most of the year. Also, I have learned that this is the rainy season, and it lasts from roughly may until december. and then the rest of the year is extremely dry, but apparently you can´t truly grasp it until you´ve lived through it.
Oh also i am looking forward to having weekly access to writing b-c for the next 3 months we will be going to a city once a week that will be large and have internet cafes! Also, when i get to my permanent site, i should be getting a cell phone. and incoming calls are free! (but outgoing ones are very expensive)
Wish me luck!
Estoy en Nicaragua!!!!!!!!
I cannot believe that I am finally here. Pre-service training has been awesome, just getting to know the other voluntarios and my fellow trainees. Our hotel is beautiful, but haven´t gone exploring yet so I don´t know much about my surroundings. Saturday is going to be a big day though. that is when I meet and begin living with my host family! today we had our spanish evaluations - that was fun, hahaha not. But they need to know my level. Apparently we are grouped according to our spanish speaking abilities, so i will be with 3 or 4 other ppl that speak the same level as i do, which is good. besides that, not a whole lot is going on. getting shots and getting to know the staff and bits and pieces about the country. I don´t know where my site is yet, but we find that out tomorrow! I am sad to leave some of my new friends. On Sat. the aggies are splitting away from us and are going te be living in towns that are like 3 hours from where all of us Env. Ed. ppl will be. The next time I will get to see them is for our swearing in ceremony. But I´ll at least be fairly close to other EEs. Few things that I have learned so far - wear bug spray all the time! well actually that´s really the main thing that i have learned hahaha. Also, when it rains here, it rains! And I do not mean carry a strong umbrella, i mean stay indoors until it stops if that is at all possible. hahaha But it´s amazing at the same time, it was soo humid yesterday, and during the day it is very hot, like mid 80s at least. But it starts to cool down very early, around 5 or so, for instance I am wearing pants and a tshirt right now and would be completely comfortable outside- that is something that I cannot even say about Florida for most of the year. Also, I have learned that this is the rainy season, and it lasts from roughly may until december. and then the rest of the year is extremely dry, but apparently you can´t truly grasp it until you´ve lived through it.
Oh also i am looking forward to having weekly access to writing b-c for the next 3 months we will be going to a city once a week that will be large and have internet cafes! Also, when i get to my permanent site, i should be getting a cell phone. and incoming calls are free! (but outgoing ones are very expensive)
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
From D.C. to Managua... and beyond!
Alright ya'll so I've finally found a few seconds to write again. I'm still in D.C. and leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. (Literally my check out time is earlier than I go to bed some nights ;) But nonetheless, I'm stoked. Meeting all the other volunteers has been so much fun! We have spent most of our time doing official business stuff, but during free time I've gotten to know quite a bit about these people - and am excited to learn more. There are people here from all over, but no fellow Hoosiers :( Oh well, I promise I will represent us well! hahaha
I am going to miss all of you back home, but I brought a lot of pics and memories to accompany me along my adventure. I would give the play by play of what I have been up to, but that sounds boring and would take a long time. However I have learned a little about what my next few weeks will be like, and I know that every day I will be learning even more. I know that I am going to be spending the next few days in Managua and this upcoming weekend I'll get to meet my host family!!!!!!!! Oh- soooo stoked for that, knowing my luck I'll get a family with a bunch of little boys and all I brought was glitter pencils and flower erasers! hahaha
After this weekend, I'll be at my training site with 3-4 other volunteers, so I'll get to spend even more time with my new friends! We'll have Spanish lessons mon-thurs and then other days are spent on technical training. So I am gonna be real busy doing all sorts of fun stuff!
Wow- this is already crazy long, and I am rambling- hahaha as if that is a surprise! Oh and I forgot to put the disclaimer that I am the world's worst speller, so deal with it :)
I'll post again soon!
I am going to miss all of you back home, but I brought a lot of pics and memories to accompany me along my adventure. I would give the play by play of what I have been up to, but that sounds boring and would take a long time. However I have learned a little about what my next few weeks will be like, and I know that every day I will be learning even more. I know that I am going to be spending the next few days in Managua and this upcoming weekend I'll get to meet my host family!!!!!!!! Oh- soooo stoked for that, knowing my luck I'll get a family with a bunch of little boys and all I brought was glitter pencils and flower erasers! hahaha
After this weekend, I'll be at my training site with 3-4 other volunteers, so I'll get to spend even more time with my new friends! We'll have Spanish lessons mon-thurs and then other days are spent on technical training. So I am gonna be real busy doing all sorts of fun stuff!
Wow- this is already crazy long, and I am rambling- hahaha as if that is a surprise! Oh and I forgot to put the disclaimer that I am the world's worst speller, so deal with it :)
I'll post again soon!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Anticipation
This is my first official post on my blogsite. This is going to be just one of many interesting parts of this Peace Corps experience. I have never used a blog before, and I had to have help posting my pics on facebook! Wish me luck!
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