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.
No comments:
Post a Comment