Overdue

I have been neglecting this blog again. Well, I've had quite a lot on my mind so blah. The school year is finally over. That is, there's still an official week of classes but no one is going to be there so they basically told me to enjoy my vacation until the promotion ceremonies the following week. Once again we have La Purisima, where people parade around town carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary and get food and small gifts from various families in a 9-day celebration of the Immaculate Conception. It's definitely the end of the rainy season, because it's been SO WINDY. I remember that about last December. Also chilly, but you people up north (meaning the entire United States) will laugh because for us cold is anything less than 80F. I've also been having some pretty disturbing health issues, nothing that makes me very sick but it makes me very worried for my future in Peace Corps. I won't go into details because I don't want to worry myself even more, but I am concerned that they will make me end my service early and I do not want to do that. I have less than a year left. I've been here for more time than I have left. I do not want to stop now. Not that I'd have much choice if they did decide to send me home, but I'd appreciate prayers to keep me here.

In more exciting news, I am going home for Christmas. I'm flying back on Christmas Eve, arriving just before Santa, and (hopefully...) coming back to Nicaland on January 10, in time for our in-service training. Also, I adopted a couple things from Chelsea, the volunteer a couple towns over that had to leave. I got her blender, her modem stick (which I am using now!), and her cat Boo. She is so very cute and loves to cuddle. I will hopefully manage to take some photos of her soon. I want to show the size difference between her and Batman. He's like twice her size, even though they're from the same litter and she eats at least as much as he does.

I know there's more things I should write about, but I have so much on my mind right now it's hard to sort through enough thoughts to get them written down. Maybe now that school's out I'll be able to breathe a little and think more clearly.

Saludos!

I'm trying not to drool thinking about this

The following comestibles are hard or impossible to find, super expensive, or just plain not as good in Nicaragua. I want to eat them.

- Smores

- Pizza

- Cheese that is not Nica queso, cuajada, quesillo, or other locally made varieties (not that those aren't good, but they're not the same)

- Thai food

- Indian food

- Mexican food (La Tolteca... Te quiero...)

- Apple pie

- Pumpkin pie

- Cheesecake (oh God...)

- Buffalo wings (Hard Times Cafe anyone?)

- Starbucks pumpkin spice latte

- Starbucks peppermint mocha

- Wawa's chicken salad sandwich with bacon

- Bacon (English style, none of that thin sliced American stuff. But that's better than nothing.)

- Whipped cream

- Taco Bell

- Dill pickles

- Krispy Kreme, chocolate-frosted, creme-filled, and other kinds of donuts

- Salt and vinegar potato chips

- Cadbury creme eggs

- Ribs dripping with BBQ sauce

- Salads

Okay that's enough of that. There's more, of course, but it's making me hungry and depressed thinking about them. Let's move on to something that I can have.

The following comestibles are widely available in Nicaragua, and are delicious. I want to eat them.

- Gallo pinto

- Pollo asado/carne asada

- Salpicón

- Crema

- Cuajada

- Tostones

- Tajadas

- Maduros fritos

- Sopa de frijoles and other forms of beans

- Huevos rancheros and other forms of eggs

- Fried rice (I can even make it Asian-style!)

- Spaghetti (NOT with ketchup and mayonnaise with grated cheese on top like they eat it here. I have to make it for it to be good, but it is fairly cheap and available)

- Ceviche (though it's expensive, mostly because I wouldn't trust it from anywhere but expensive restaurants)

...and plenty more. It's not so bad here food-wise, especially now that I'm cooking everything for myself. Yeah there's plenty you can't get, but there's lots of good stuff to fill your stomach too.

I moved!

My first week in my new house. I moved in on Sunday, after stressing myself into a cold on Friday. I'm still not better yet, and it's Wednesday. But that's not that important. The important things are as follows:

• It's HUGE. And it's ALL MINE. I don't know how I'll be able to feel crowded in the space, especially after my last room. I have TWO rooms, plus a really nice bathroom. The bedroom alone is at least twice the size of my last room. And then there's the kitchen/living room as well. Super fancy.
• There's no internet :( I'm taking my computer to school with me every day to connect there, as now both of my schools have internet. But I can't connect at home. It's ok though, I did way too much internetting before. I will miss being able to download whatever I want however. After my doctor's appointment next week I'll see about buying myself an internet stick. I'll make do.
• Batman is getting used to things. Sunday he didn't come out from under the bed until well after dark, refused to eat anything, and cried the whole night while trying to claw his way out the window. Monday he stayed under the bed most of the day but came out when I started making dinner, and bit my face the whole night when he wasn't playing with his toys. Tuesday he followed me around in the morning as I got ready for school, came out to see me when I got home, and played by himself a bit more at night. He'll be fine, he's already getting better. He really wants to go outside I think, but I'm not quite ready to let him out. My new host mom says I should tie him up outside for a while, but he's never been tied up and he's not used to it. I don't know how he'd handle that. Maybe this afternoon I'll ask her to help me do it, but I'll have to watch him very carefully.
• My new host family really seems like they're going to take care of me. They've already made a bunch of improvements to the house, like adding shelves in the kitchen and a mirror with a tiny medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and they're having a wardrobe built. Sunday my host mom gave me some of the bean soup she made, and yesterday she gave me some of her pollo asado. She keeps asking me how Batman is doing, and trying to make sure we're okay. I like the family a lot, even though it's not my old host family. No one is quite like Don Pedro...

This weekend Nica60 is taking a trip to Leon to celebrate our one year anniversary in Nicaragua. Then the following Tuesday I have to go to Managua for my mid-service medical appointment. Then the following week I believe I'll have a small group of trainees from the new group visiting me for a few days. I am looking forward to hosting them! I hope I am chosen as a host! Hopefully I'll find out soon so I can start making preparations. Also, the English volunteer in Rivas said she thinks my site applied to have an English volunteer. I hope she's right; I'd love a sitemate!

Hasta la próxima

Stress and good things

I didn't realize how long it's been since my last post. I've been writing my paper journal on occasion, but I'd practically forgotten about this thing. So since... *checks* April, what have I been doing? Let's make a quick account of events.

May: We had a training about how to make improved stoves. It was fun and I learned a lot, but chances are I won't get to do much with it here in my community. My friend Amanda, who lives not too far away, is planning on doing some, so hopefully I'll get a chance to help out there and put my skills to good use. Also, school. Lots of classes, with varying levels of success. The kids are always excited when I come to teach. I like making pictures and diagrams for my classes, which they seem to like. And I've introduced a few different teaching tools, like KWL charts and Venn diagrams and such. I also made some behavior charts and name sticks for more equal participation from all the students.

June: School. I planted most of my school gardens, from which we are starting to get results. We've picked a handful of tomatoes and cucumbers, and there's plenty more on the way. Continued teaching science classes, and was very very thankful when all the sex ed units were completed.

July: Site visit #2 from my program director, where she observed me teaching a class. She didn't have anything bad to say about what I've been doing, so hopefully that means I'm not a complete failure (just a partial failure). My parents came to visit for two weeks, and I took my first vacation days. We went to Ometepe over my school semester break, which was lovely. My mom wants to buy a house there. We went to see the archaeology museum at El Ceibo, which was amazing. I was extremely impressed. I would love to learn more about the archaeology of Nicaragua. Maybe I'll go get my doctorate in that instead of Chinese archaeology, or do a combination? We'll see. After Ometepe my dad got sick, then I got sick, so we didn't do much for the rest of the week of vacation. My mom and I went to the artisan market in Masaya. We enjoyed that a lot, and lament the fact that we couldn't spend a lot more money there. When everyone was finally no longer sick, we went to my schools to meet my classes, met all my friends and neighbors in town, visited my training family, and went to Granada and San Juan del Sur. They had a nice trip, and with any luck they'll be coming back to visit again next summer.

August: Has been busy and stressful. Lots of paperwork has been filled out. We had our annual living allowance survey, our 4-monthly reporting forms for both the US government and the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education, and my paperwork for my new house. That's right, on top of the rest of the stress, I'm moving at the end of the month. My current family's daughter is moving back from Rome in a couple months, in whose room I live. That means I had to find a new place to live. Fortunately, my host dad helped me find a very nice place. It's only a block or so from where I live now, and it's basically its own little apartment. I'll have two whole rooms and a bathroom completely separated from the rest of the family, with my own entrance to the street through the backyard, and they've told me I can use their washing machine. Yes, a REAL washing machine! It's worth the extra $30 or so a month I'll be spending on rent just for that, in my opinion. Now, before you get all "Oh, $30 is nothing", keep in mind I earn the equivalent of about $165 a month. This means that $70 for rent is a lot of money. But I'll manage. And I'm really excited about this new place. I'll really miss living with this family, but I'm so looking forward to having more space. Yay!

The rest of the month will be stressful, finalizing preparations for moving, and then the first weekend in September is *dun da da DUN* my one year anniversary of my arrival in Nicaragua! I cannot believe I've already been here nearly a year. My groupmates and I are planning a trip to Leon for the weekend, a colonial city north of Managua. I've never been there before, so I'm looking forward to seeing a new part of the country. Then in the second week of September is my mid-term medical evaluation, only further pushing home that I'm nearly halfway through my time here. It's hard to believe but it won't be that long now before I'm going home (this Christmas or so) and then it's only a year until I go home for good. Better start considering a third year extension eh?

One more thing: Welcome to Nicaragua, Nica62! The new group of Environment and TEFL trainees arrived last week. I hope I'll get the opportunity to meet them all :)

Hasta la próxima

Look Ma, I'm teaching!

So after many setbacks, holidays, and generally a bunch of stuff getting in the way, I have finally started teaching classes only a month late. Two weeks ago tomorrow I taught a 5th grade class on blood types. This Monday I taught 6th graders the importance of being responsible parents, Tuesday I taught another group of 6th graders about diseases of the female reproductive system, and yesterday I taught more 5th graders about the endocrine system. This last 5th grade class was supposed to be 45 minutes, but PE was cancelled so surprise! I got half an hour's notice that I was going to be teaching a 90 minute class instead. After scrambling around to get things together, it thankfully turned out fine. Today I wasn't supposed to teach, but just happened to be in the 6th grade classroom, planning on helping with OTV (occupational, technical, and vocational class) but because their schedule was messed up due to an unscheduled religion class, Profe decided to take advantage of the fact that I was there and have science instead. I got to teach half of a class on the male reproductive system, even though I had planned nothing and really had no idea what I was supposed to talk about. Usually I kind of like to look up vocabulary in advance so I have an idea of what I'm going to be saying, but surprise! I was invited to explain what the penis does, what the testicles do, and the journey of the sperm. Good thing the teacher is pretty sin pena (without shame) so she was able to fill in the blanks where my preparation and vocabulary failed me. Tomorrow I am teaching the first group of 5th graders the endocrine system. I'm just going to use the same lesson plan as I had the first time, tried and true. I am going to have to explain to my teachers though that just because I am in their classroom during science doesn't mean I am prepared to teach every class. And if the class is extended, I would like a little extra notice so I can plan accordingly. An hour at least would be nice. And although they have all been good about the whole co-planning thing, I will have to explain the co-teaching thing again. This means no leaving during class, even if it's just going one classroom over to talk to another profe. And no sitting in the back of the room while I'm at the front. It's a team effort, and if they're not a part of the team, what is my purpose here? I will say though that they generally do a good job of jumping in and helping with explanations if I get stuck due to my sucky Spanish.

Although it appears that I am complaining about my first real week of teaching, I'm not. It actually went better than I expected. My activities were relative successes, and I think a few of them learned something. My only real shortcoming was that my Spanish is still fairly limited, but of course that will only get better. Also behavior is an issue, but I am suggesting some ideas to the teachers to help with that, and it's not my primary responsibility anyway.

Also, last week I went to the beautiful Selva Negra for a weeklong training in the cloud forest of Matagalpa. I saw a pygmy anteater and a bunch of birds that aren't around here in Rivas. It was a lot of information packed into a short time, but it was very nice to be in the mountains and in the cool and of course it was nice to see my training group members again.

Right now the neighbors' marching band is practicing again. I wonder what event is coming up now? Always something new in Nicaragua.

School, sister, Semana Santa, stuff

So apparently the last time I wrote an update for this thing was back before New Year. Wow. I am doing a really good job of keeping myself on track. So now I'll try to remember all the things that have been going on between then and now.

New Year: I went back to San Juan and visited my family there. I hadn't realized how much I missed them until I went back. Sadly I was only there for 3 nights, but I had a good time. I went to the mirador about 3 times, had Eskimo, and played a bit of Uno. On NYE there's a tradition in Nicaragua of burning el año viejo (the old year). People make a scarecrow kind of thing in the shape of a man, dress him up in old clothes, and burn him at midnight while setting off the country's entire supply of fireworks.

There were at least two of these guys on my street. I nearly went deaf from the fireworks, and I am surprised no children or dogs got blown to bits.

So then I came back to my site and had a couple weeks of downtime before I started working as a translator for a medical brigade that came to Rivas. They were here doing eye exams and surgeries, and handing out glasses. I worked with them for almost three weeks, only taking a break for my PC training. We learned how to make improved ovens, which use less firewood than traditional ovens. A couple of my fellow volunteers have already made some in their sites or neighboring sites. I hope someone will take me up on my offer to build some here, but so far no one has shown any real interest. Bummer.

Then school started. The first week was pretty much a bust. Hardly anything was done in class, and most of the time the kids ended up going home early. The next week I observed classes, hoping to decide which teachers to work with. Didn't get very far, because a) the class schedules were still not finalized and b) science was very frequently pushed out of the way in favor of other more important lessons like PE and religion. Then the third week of school, I was back in San Juan for my language workshop: one whirlwind week of grammar, grammar, and (you guessed it) grammar! Useful but exhausting. On my way out to go back home I headed to Managua to pick up Gabi and the thing I have been waiting for since I arrived: my kitten!

His name is Batman. After spending his first couple weeks here named Camila, his testicles started to grow and we decided he might not be a girl. He likes to fly, bite faces, and generally be a hyperactive pain in the armpit, because he likes to bite that too. But he is very cute, especially when he's asleep.

So Gabi's been here for a while now, and we've done some traveling around. We spent a couple days on the island of Ometepe, which was beautiful, but we ran out of money so we couldn't do everything we wanted to do. We spent a night in San Juan del Sur at the beach. And we went to visit the Masaya Volcano. We had intended on climbing to the top, but due to certain circumstances, we only walked around the bottom. First of all, we didn't arrive until the afternoon, which severely cut into our time available to explore. Also, apparently there was an eruption the week before so the majority of the volcano was closed to visitors. But, the entrance fee was waived, and it was still a really cool place to visit. I can't wait to go again and hopefully do the night tour to see the glowing lava pit.

Gabi and I also did an environmental awareness day of sorts. Last week was World Forest Day and World Water Day, so we decided to do some activities in my smaller school with the 3rd through 6th grade classes. We did an activity with candy to represent the effects of deforestation and reforestation, and we did an activity about water pollution. Even if it doesn't change the actions of the kids, hopefully they will at least be thinking a little more about what they do that might affect the environment. It was fun for everyone I think.

Also last week was the Fiestas Patronales for my town. We celebrate San José (St. Joseph). There was an hípico, in which people parade their horses around town, a bunch of loud parties, and dangerous-looking rides in the park. In the schools there were several actos, where students give various performances, mainly dances. Needless to say, nothing was done during school last week.

The third thing that happened last week was the pilgrimage to Popoyuapa, an important church in Rivas. People come from all over Nicaragua to visit the statue of Jesús del Rescate (Jesus the Savior). When we were on a bus we saw the pilgrims along the highway, driving their oxcarts covered in hay. There were probably about 30 of them in the group we saw, and for days it was impossible to drive past Popoyuapa. We had to go around the back side of the church in order to get past it. We also saw a bunch of these interesting giant dancing lady dolls worn by people down the street accompanied by drums and more dancers. You always see something new if you look around.

So now it's Semana Santa. No school this week either. Basically what it comes down to is, I still have not begun teaching in the schools yet. There was only one week in which I could have taught, and that week I spent 3 of 5 days holed up in my room with the worst migraine of my life. So with any luck, I will finally be able to start teaching next week. I guess we'll see. And then the following week I have training in Selva Negra in Matagalpa. Looking forward to the mountains!

That's my January through March in a nutshell. If I remember anything else I'll add it as it comes.

Saludos!

Periodic update #???

So, Sami, what have you been doing for your first month in site? Well, dear readers, as it so happens I've been doing a few things. I have been reading a lot. I have been disfrutaring my really good internet access (for the less español-ated among us, that means enjoying). I have been adding to my compost, and recently started clearing land for my vegetable garden. I have been studying and trying to practice my Spanish. I have been performing my duties as an honorary two-year-old. I've been walking a lot, making my face known in the community, occasionally working up the courage to talk to random people in the street and making a couple friends. And I've been talked about. I am known as the gringa who isn't allowed to ride a motorcycle, and now I am the gringa with an entourage of dog friends who follow me around. That's not a derogatory term for anything, I am actually followed by a pack of dogs quite frequently. My American friend Diana who lives down the road has I believe 6 dogs, and whenever I go to visit her up to three of them follow me home, and occasionally to the park. So of course people notice, and of course people comment. I haven't heard anything bad yet, so let's hope it stays that way. I hope the repercussions are that word gets around that I like animals, and maybe someone passes an unwanted kitten my way. That would be awesome. But don't tell my mom :D

So, Itza is my two year old playmate. Or rather, I am her gigantic living doll. She must like me, because she virtually never leaves me alone. She's very cute though. A couple weeks ago she got her first pikiteta (or bicicleta for those who don't speak toddler Spanish. Or bicycle for those who don't speak regular Spanish either). So I have spent a good chunk of my time every day pulling her around the backyard. It's quite a workout, as the yard is very lumpy and rocky, and she hasn't learned how to pedal yet, so I basically have to carry her and the bike around. She is not light, and neither is the bike. She also likes to come in my room and sit on the step at my door, take off her shoes, and do things such as put on my shoes and insist that they fit her and that her shoes fit me, tie me up with a leather belt, make me draw people that are singing the Nicaraguan national anthem, and jump on and off the step. And she likes to sing the national anthem. She's very cute, holding her hand at her chest and singing at the top of her lungs. She loves it when I sing with her. And ever since I taught her ring around a rosy we've been playing that about 20 times a day. And she's starting to sing along, requesting "ashes ashes" when she wants to play.

Well, my dinner is ready. Tomorrow I'm going back to my training town for New Year. I can't wait to see my family there! Feliz Navidad, feliz año nuevo, and all that good stuff!

Settling in and whatnot

So here I am in site. I've been here nearly two weeks now. I swore in on November 23, and arrived here on the 24th. I am very slowly working my way into the community. I always knew this would be the hardest part for me, because I am a very shy person. But I've just been walking around town every day, not always talking to people, but just letting my face be seen. And I am already known by every student at my public school. Not by so many kids at the Catholic school, because that school is a lot bigger and whenever I have gone there it seems like no one is around. Granted, it was the last week of school, with exams and all, and no one really cares after exams anyway. So I'm not too bent up about not being known there. I'll get there.

Today I walked to a neighboring town that borders Lake Nicaragua. It wasn't as far as I'd expected, about 3 or 4 kilometers. Took me just over an hour round trip. I didn't go all the way to the lake, but at least now I know how to get there from here. And because I wasn't nearly as exhausted afterward as I thought I would be, maybe soon I will try to walk to the neighboring town the other way where my fellow Volunteer Chabe lives. It looks like it's about 7 or 8 kilometers away, which is apparently quite doable. Might have to think about taking public transportation back, but we'll see when I go.

So anyway, enough boring stuff. Is there anything interesting I've done? This past week has been the Purísima, the celebration of the Immaculate Conception. On my wanderings I've run across some of the gatherings. Basically it's a lot like a Catholic trick-or-treat that goes on all day every day for like 10 days. People go around to houses carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary and get sweets or drinks or plastic cups and stuff. Tonight is the big conclusion, La Gritería. People go around some more, yelling "Quién causa tanta alegría?" "La concepción de María!" (Who causes such happiness? The conception of Maria) Then they sing something and set off firecrackers and generally make a crapload of noise. And then they get more sweets and stuff.

People always seem to think that life abroad is so interesting, but really it's just life. I don't really know what I should write about. I had that problem in China too. People would always ask me, "What's it like living in China?" And all I could ever say was "There's pollution." Day-to-day life really doesn't change a whole lot, no matter where you are in the world. Small details might be different, like how you wash your clothes or how often you go to a supermarket, but for the most part it's pretty much the same. (For the very interested, my clothes get washed by a lady that comes to the house every week and hangs the wet laundry on a clothesline made of barbed wire, and I can go to a supermarket pretty much every day if I want because Rivas is super close and they have a Pali AND a MaxiPali. Also, most bathrooms here, even indoor ones with real plumbing, rarely have sinks inside. I wash my hands from the bucket in the shower and then use sanitizer in my room.)

The only other distinctly non-American thing that's happened so far that I can think of is the other night I was sitting in my room and a large purplish praying mantis flew into my room, landed on my pants, looked at me for a moment, and then flew behind my door. I have no idea where it went after that, because when I looked for it not 30 seconds later it was not there.

Next time I write an entry I think I'll write about Itza, the completely adorable two-year-old that I live with. She's great because my Spanish is better than hers and it makes me feel good that I am better than a toddler.

Hard to do properly detailed entries when your internet access is so limited

I am currently visiting my site where I will be living for the next two years. I can´t say exactly where it is for security reasons, but it is a small town in the department of Rivas. Everyone seems very nice. My counterparts work in the two schools in town, the public primary school and the huge Catholic primary/secondary school. The big school has a really nice computer lab with free internet, and my host family operates an internet cafe in their house. Finally I won´t be isolated from the rest of the world anymore. I met a bunch of people today and yesterday, including the mayor, the police chief, all the teachers in both schools, and a number of other people in the community. There´s a gringa lady living in town who´s very nice. She has a lot of pets, and she says if I want to come live in her house after the first two months I can. Not sure I will though, my host family is really nice, and there are a lot of other people in town with places I can rent if I want. Tomorrow I´m going back to my training town for the last few weeks of training. Only 22 days left until I swear in, and I´ve been here nearly two months already. I´m only about an hour from my training town, so it will be really easy to go back and visit them, just a straight shot up the carretera from Rivas.
Other things that have happened in my weeks of separation from internet:
-We made our garden in the school and it got eaten by leaf cutter ants and stomped on by jerk neighborhood teenagers but it still managed to turn out well (though we´ll see tomorrow if it´s still okay).
-I had my second language interview and I progressed over an entire level, which they say is more or less unheard of.
-I saw the national bird of Nicaragua several times, plus a flock of toucans and what I believe was a flock of blue and gold macaws.
-I taught three classes in the school and I got excellent remarks on all of them.
-I went to the Peace Corps office and from the outside the compound looks a bit like a jail but inside it´s really nice.
-I realized how very much I should appreciate hot showers when I can get them. Also cable TV.
I probably ought to get off the computer now. I´ve been here for quite a while and I probably have a bunch of other stuff I need to do before lunch. I need to go home and look at my list of activities.
Adios.

Week 3 of training

So I've now been in Nicaragua for almost 3 weeks. I don't wish to worry anyone, so I will only say that I am having a hard time getting used to not seeing or communicating with my family and friends. Hopefully I will manage to get over it soon.

Anyway, my town is really pretty. It's famous for its artisans (I won't say more on here because it's recommended not to for security reasons) and it's close to a refuge so there's all kinds of birds and trees and flowers. Very nice. I don't have my photos with me today but I'll try to bring a few on a flash drive next time. It's not that hot really, especially at night. I sleep with a blanket most nights. And although it is the rainy season, those tropical rains do not play around. The sound of a rainstorm on a corrugated tin roof is not something I like to sleep through.

My family is great. I live with Melania, her husband Jose, and 4 of their grandkids, 28 year old Grethel, 17 year old David, 15 year old Geovanny, and 11 year old Daniela. I love Daniela. She is absolutely amazing, so much fun and such a good teacher. But the best part is 4 month old Rubi. He is a very tiny grey tiger kitten. Soooooo cute. And he loves me. Every time I sit down he is in my lap within a few seconds. And we also have a parrot named Chocoyito but he bites. There's an uncle who lives nearby who has three parrotlets, one of which is REALLY sweet. Don't tell Reggie, but I have cuddled with him and tickled his eyes quite a lot. And my mom is a really good cook. She always worries that I don't eat enough, but I eat SO MUCH. I'd be surprised if I haven't gained weight since I arrived.

Okay, that's enough English for now. I'm going to Masaya shortly with one of my sitemates to buy a cell phone. Finally, hehe. Adios for now.