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.

Hola Nicaragua!

Before I begin, I'd like to reiterate that all of the statements and opinions presented in this blog are mine and mine alone, and do not reflect those of Peace Corps or the US government. That said, let's get started!

After a tiring journey, I arrived in Nicaragua yesterday. It was kind of a blur, because I was so tired, but today I feel slightly better. I still feel like going to bed in a few minutes (it's only 8:00pm) but at least I was able to function most of the day. Today and yesterday we had lots of information sessions, we got vaccinations and signed a bunch of paperwork, and this morning we had our language placement interviews. I'm not sure how well I did, because I was incredibly nervous and I'm sure it affected my performance. I know I shouldn't have been so worried, but can you really blame me? They recorded it for goodness sake!
Anyway, tomorrow we find out who our host families are for training, and then Saturday we meet them and move to our new homes for the next three months. I hope my family has children. It would be fun, and I think I would learn more easily if I could talk to kids instead of adults. And I really hope my family has pets. I am already going through animal withdrawal!
The good thing about Nicaragua though, is that wildlife is never far away. Today I saw my first Nicaraguan hummingbird, though I couldn't get close enough for a good look. I also saw two really pretty jumping spiders, a lizard, a couple flocks of interesting but far away birds, and a kind of jay with a really neat tail.
I'm pretty tired now, and I have to finish reading the training manual, so I'll end with a picture I took from the plane. It's a little dark because I couldn't figure out how to change the brightness setting on my camera (I finally got it this afternoon) but you can see how beautiful this country is. Buenas noches!

T minus 11.5 hours to Nicaragua!

It is now 2:01am and I am already up and getting ready to leave for the airport. Yesterday was staging in DC, and this morning we are flying out to Nicaragua. It's hard to believe this day that's been in my future for so long is finally here. It's a mixed blessing that these past few days have been so busy I haven't had time to think or worry about what's coming up. I also haven't had time to prepare, so I might be in for a shock when I arrive. We'll see.

Too tired right now to write anything proper, so I'll just leave it at this: Although I am an average Volunteer, I am easily the oldest in this group. Damn. If I have internet at the orientation retreat I'll try to write again, otherwise it may be a while. Wish us luck!

It's just a number really

I've been thinking more and more about what to expect as a PCV. One thing that I am slightly concerned about is age. I'm only 28, but most volunteers seem to be closer to 24. And by the time I actually get there I'll be closing in on 29. And by the time I complete my service I'll be near on 31. That slightly frightens me. Will I fit in with the younger crowd? What will the people in-country think of an old maid with little in the way of marriage plans? Will there be other volunteers in my group that aren't fresh out of college? I don't really think it will be an issue once I get there, but me being me, I worry about silly things like this. Plus, once I get back, will I be too old to start the next phase in my life? What do I want to do after Peace Corps? Will I be ready to get a PhD by then? If I do decide to get my doctorate, that will be another 5 to 7 years and I could be nearly 40 by the time I finish. I still really want to do Peace Corps, but am I just postponing what I need to do with my life, or is it my chance to see a path I might not have considered before? I still have a few months before I leave to think about these things, so hopefully I'll sort some of these things out. Blah. Self doubt sucks.

Preparations can commence!

I got my new invitation today! I will be an Environmental Education Promoter in Nicaragua! I'm leaving September 4, so I will have plenty plenty of time to get ready.

I haven't really had time to thoroughly read the information, but it looks like a perfect assignment for me. I get to work in primary schools, and I will have other projects such as gardens, tree nurseries, and environmental clubs. Plus, Nicaragua is close enough to home that it won't break the bank for people to come visit me :D PLUS, it's right next door to Honduras so I can probably swing a trip to my almost-home. Huzzahs all around!

Now, if this assignment gets cancelled too, I will be very disappointed. But for now, I'm very very excited. Yay!

The wait is almost over (almost)

Got an email today saying that my application status has been updated. They mailed my new invitation packet on January 18. That means with any luck, I might find out where I'm going TOMORROW!!! I don't know how I am going to sleep tonight. I really really hope that this assignment works out. I'm itching to be on my way again!