Do you hear what I hear?

Said the night wind to the little lamb
Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky little lamb
Do you see what I see?
A star a star dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
A song a song high above the tree
With a voice as big as the sea

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king
Do you know what I know?
In your palace wall mighty king
Do you know what I know?
A child a child shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold

Said the king to the people everywhere
Listen to what I say
Pray for peace people everywhere
Listen to what I say
The child the child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light

It’s songs like these that remind me to post. They remind me to share. This is one of my favorite Christmas songs. I love its powerful simplicity. Just like the birth of Christ it really doesn’t need to say more. It is what it is. He came to bring peace, goodness, and light. It is so motivating and yet it is a reminder of what I came to Nicaragua to do. Christ humbled himself to human form to meet the needs of humans, the need for peace. Through his merciful and loving spirit he cast out all darkness. I didn’t come to be better than the people here or to flaunt my fortunate upbringing. I came to humble myself to their level to truly see and try to meet some of their most core needs. One of the most powerful attributes of this song is how the message gradually builds in focus. It creates a wonder that leads you to the simple message at the end. While I can’t be perfect all the time and will continue to get frustrated every day by the enormity of the problems here (health, social, and economic) I will make every effort to keep focused on the goal for the next 15 months. I will strive to constantly be loving and compassionate with a gentle yet insightful spirit. It’s not just giving charlas that will bring peace. It’s the passion for peace that I show through daily interactions that will make the impact. My work for peace may not always seem to be successful, but I hope the effort won't go unnoticed.

I’m not sure how I keep myself too distracted to actually write a decent blog post. I mean I’m really not all that busy with work. I’ve been sick for just over two weeks now. It started off as a really bad sore throat and cough (usually how my colds start), but stayed that way up until Saturday when I started to get a runny nose. It’s finally working its way out. I guess that’s part of the reason. 3 weeks ago I was so distracted with planning my move to really accomplish anything, 2 weeks ago I was moving and settling, this last week I’ve been birthday”ing” which Included the visit of a couple friends but mostly just relaxing and trying to get over this cold.

On the actually getting down to “work” end of things, I really need to get motivated again to finish a couple new charlas I’ve been working on. I also need to keep up on my Community Health Survey. The results are due Jan. 15 and I have a ways to go before that will be ready. Finally, I need to keep working on getting a girls group and English classes ready to begin after the first of the year too. However, I get so distracted by the day to day things like discovering the key to the large “storage” room at the casa materna where all the earrings that the volunteer before me made. The last couple days I’ve been talking to a couple of the businesswomen in town to work with me and try selling them. They were intended to be sold in Granada, but I don’t have the desire to travel and sell them there. I’d rather sell locally but that means lowering the price. To me that’s fine because I haven’t invested anything, but that could make profits lower if I decided to buy more supplies and continue the project.

In other news, I’m trying to stay in the Christmas spirit while not getting so wrapped up in it that I only want to stay in my house listening to Holiday music and drinking hot chocolate. But that won’t help me accomplish what the lyrics above call for. While I do love my own Christmas tunes I also enjoy listening to the occasional Christmas music in Spanish that reaches my deck from a bar across the river. So far I’ve only heard a couple of unfamiliar tunes, but they definitely are unique and fully meet my expectations for well-known carols in Nicaragua. I purchased 4 pounds of sugar and 6 eggs yesterday. I’m planning to make Christmas cookies in the Casa Materna on Friday and with my little neighbors on Saturday. Hopefully I’ll remember to take pictures and post them.

I PROMISE to post again real soon.

Love, Peace, and Cheers to all!

thankful for internet, houses, and health

So I meant to post more often, but the Claro internet modem ran out of “saldo” and we couldn’t get more until yesterday. I guess I’m still too accustomed to unlimited internet access because I assumed that signing an 18-month contract for a 1G modem meant that you could use it all month on a 1G network for 18 months. However, it actually means that you pay the “monthly rate” of 300+ córdobas and get 1G of downloads and uploads, so when you upload OR download a total of 1G you have used all your “saldo” and must pay another 300+ córdobas to continue having internet access until you use up that 1G. We (Nata and I are sharing it) should be able to upgrade to 3G next month so we won’t have to worry about using it all in a week like we did last time. It will just cost about an extra 200 córdobas/month, but it should last us the whole month if we’re careful. I just really hoped that I wouldn’t have to worry about how much I use it, but you just never can get a break with Claro.

Anyway, things are going pretty well. I currently don’t have any Thanksgiving plans. I was wishing to have a nice thanksgiving dinner, but right now I really don’t have the extra money to make a nice meal to share. However I do have a “pumpkin” pie recipe using the local version of pumpkins. They are green and small but supposedly taste the same. Perhaps I’ll try making that and some mashed potatoes on Thursday. I also still have some frosting my mom sent me that I could use if I bake a cake.

I’m still not sure if I’ll be moving. When Ximena (my boss) came for my site visit last Wednesday she looked at the house. However, there were a couple things that needed a second opinion, so she took pictures and was going to have the safety and security coordinator look at them. I haven’t heard back yet, but the German girl, Silje, who is currently in the house isn’t leaving until Dec. 6. If I move it will cost quite a bit more each month, but it will be well worth it to cook whatever and whenever I want, have my own bathroom, and feel more independent again.
The elections were quite peaceful here. There was only one incident in one of the communities a few days after, but nothing that would affect my safety. Daniel Ortega had a clear win, especially in Rio San Juan.

I’ve been administering my community health survey and the results are looking decent so far. I don’t expect to see anything dramatically surprising, but I still have about half to go. I’m hoping to hitch a ride to a few of the communities within the next couple of weeks so that I can compare them with the results I already have.

Things I’ve been pondering as of late:
-how to actually impact teen pregnancy rates
-how to make manualidades (crafts) sustainable
-the Nica sense of color coordination
-how to make a garden effective and cost efficient at the casa materna
-how to train cats to eat mice
-what shoes besides rubber flip flops are best when it rains at least 50% of every day
-that I probably should cut back more on my evening tv watching (I really only plan to watch about 4 shows a week, but I have a tendency to just watch whatever is on if someone else is watching.)
-whether or not to buy Christmas lights to decorate.
-if my addiction to Christmas music is healthy (I’ve been listening at least once a day since mid-October)
…..so many more

Well, that’s it for now. Nata has been waiting to use my computer to play chess.

Love Peace Cheers

I'm back

Well here is my first post since I brought a computer back to Nicaragua with me.

I went back home a couple weeks ago for my cousin’s wedding and life has definitely been improved since. I can pre-type blogs (like this one), organize charla data, listen to music without my ipod, sync my ipod, buy new music, store photos, look at photos, drink more types of tea and hot chocolate, eat more peanut butter and other snack foods, be stocked up on toiletries, choose from a larger wardrobe, study for the gre with my new books, crotchet lots more with many types of yarn and needles, drink out of a starbucks travel mug, look at a map of central America, and read “Buenas Noches Luna.” AND Nata has a successful business. We’re getting an internet modem this week which will exponentially improve life again. It’s not that things were really hard or terrible before, but they were much more complicated and time/money consuming. Now things will be streamlined.

Now, I’m just still trying to get back into the Sabalos routine. I’m planning the rest of my casa materna charlas for the month (after “aprovechar”ing Excel to make a spreadsheet of how many times I’ve given each charla). I’m also planning charlas to give in the schools in November and planning to start English classes in the next couple of weeks. On top of all that I’m still working on my Community Health Survey.
Hopefully I’ll be moving the middle of November, but It depends on house approval when Ximena comes for my site visit (proposed for the 15th). That will change a lot of things, but the change should ultimately be great. I’ll sometimes get lonely and perhaps scared on occasion, but I’ll have my gatitos, be able to cook whatever and whenever I want, have my own toilet and shower, control the cleanliness and sanitation, be able to put up my hammock without random people sleeping in it, have lots more space, and enjoy a gorgeous view.
Things are definitely gear up as we anticipate the elections in 3 weeks. Both parties have colored the streets. Lettering, t-shirts, posters, and banners in pink for FSLN and all the same in red for PLC. The hospedaje has been packed with politicians, party members, military (because of weekends free), and a smattering of other types.

Speaking of guests, that’s one thing that both entertains and annoys me. I love seeing all the people who come and go from here, but I really don’t like when they assume I work here and ask me every little thing. Just because I occasionally serve you food and hang out with what you assume is my “marido” (Nata) doesn’t mean that I welcome you to keep interrupting my tv viewing (happened to be the Tigers on Sun) and ask me where so and so is, where you can pay, where you can shower, where you can sign the book, where you can eat, where the showers are, and anything else under the sun that you can think of.

Well that’s about it for now. I’m sure I’ll be writing again very soon.

Paz and Cheers

oh long lost blog....

...and long lost world. I feel like I´ve been so disconnected from everything lately. I´ve been keeping in touch more with home while planning a quick trip home in less than three weeks.
However, I somehow feel like its not actually going to happen. I guess I cant really imagine what it will be like. My schedule for the trip is jammed pack. While i really wish I had taken more time off to be home I think its best that I didn´t. I don´t want to get to comfortable back in the states. I should have time to get most things done that I want to, and the rest can just wait. I´ll only be gone for another 19 months or so. I think I will manage perfectly well just as I have been for the last 8 months.
Im not really going to post anything now since I´ve already spent a lot of time at the cyber planning my trip.....but....I will say that posts will be coming much more frequently when I bring my new computer back here. I´m very excited for this new addition to my life. I think it will erase a lot of stress and worries. Let´s just hope it doesn´t ever stop working on me.
Pues, the rain just stopped so Im off to enjoy the second (and my last) day of the annual San Carlos fishing tournament. I saw a 109 pounder yesterday but im hoping to see a 200 today!

Shona

not sure

I´m really not sure what to write. Every time I get to the cyber it seems like there is just too much and I don´t know what to share. I can´t wait until I bring a computer back in october. At least that way I´ll be able to write the post any time and just upload it when i get online.

However, after writing this I realize that the problem isn´t just with blogging. I also haven´t really been journalling. In fact I haven´t journalled since may 8th. I know that might be more personal that many of you want to know, but I think it means that I´m doing ok.

When things are hard, confusing, or frustrating I write. When I´m comfortable and content I don´t feel that need.

I do, however, want to keep you updated as much as possible, so I will try to set aside my lack of motivation or focus and at least give a brief rundown of my activities.

Today (in an hour and a half) at 10pm Im headed to managua. Ill get in at 4am and despite my efforts will still have to pay 100 cordobas (just under 5 dollars) for a cab. HOwever, at least the cab has been peace corps approved and i have the taxi drivers info for safety reasons. I will spend the day in managua sleeping, taking a hot shower, eating in a mall food court, and buying contacts for my boyfriend. Monday I have a meeting with my maternal and child health sector to regroup after the first three months of service and go over some inservice things such as how to fill out our 4 month reports. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will be back in my training town of Santa Teresa, Carazo for spanish classes. There is a cyber so I plan to get on and update about what ive been doing in site for the last couple of months. Also while in Carazo I plan to visit my family from training, eat eskimo with natalie and julianne, and eat a burger and strawberry milkshake at Terry´s Diner. I´m hoping to leave early on thursday to take the ferry from Granada back to san carlos, but im not sure if ill be able too.

Anyway, that is what´s coming up in my week. I´ll post more about my past in the coming days. I also hope to post more pics but my memory card with all the pics from the last three months got some kind of virus and is currently not functioning. When I take more with my other card and am brave enough to use my memory card reader at the cyber again I´ll share them.

So I guess that´s it for now. I´ve already been at the cybr for 2.5 hours and am thoroughly prepared to sleep well during my 6 hour bus ride.

Cheers and Paz,
Shona

My life....or at least it feels like life.

...don´t ask me where that title came from. It just sort of came. I apologize if for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I´m typing this fast because I need to use the bathroom but do not want to leave the cyber to do so until im done.

Life has been good. Living here actually feels very normal. I have a list in my journal of ¨things that have become normal¨ that i will post sometime so you can get an idea.

Let me tell you about my adventure this past week. I went to Los Angeles......in El Castillo, Rio San Juan, Nicaragua. Its a small community in my municipality about 6 hours from where i live. That is, 3 hours by car over horrible rought more stone than gravel roads over hill and crossing rivers and then 3 hours by horse through muddy paths over hills and crossing rivers. I left on tuesday with a crew of health center workers. We were going for a ferria de salud on Wednesday to provide consultations, tooth extractings, immunizations, pap smears,hiv and blood sugar testing, urine testing, and a myriad of other things. When we left it was raining/sprinkling (or lluvizando). That was fine because I was riding in an ambulance. The terrain was rough as always and only a couple time did I actually think we might make it up a hill. But we made it up and down all with loud cheers and smiles each time we made it to the top. Just to clarify, its hard to make it up the hills because the are practically mud after a full day of rain and tires just cant get traction. On another ferria i attended in may the actually had to tie a rope to the front of our vehicle and pull it up manually. Anyway, we were going along just fine, well fine according to nicaraguan standards, until we reached a river. its normally a relatively small creek with a bridge over it, but after days of rain it had coverd the bridge and had a slight current. After about 20 minutes of assessing the situation, the drivers decided to cross. All vehicles made it without any trouble. We continued on just fine until we reached the top of a hill and hurt yelling. The abulance stopped and we all hopped out to see what was up. At the bottom of the hill was a very large river that would be impossible to cross in vehicle. We had to cross on foot. It will be hard to explain so I will attach pictures so you can see. Everyone made me cross first so that I could take pictures of everyone else crossing. So I started wading in the water with my camera tied in a small plastic grocery bag. The doctor who was acting as our guide saw it and insisted that he put it in his shirt to pass more securly. I hesistatingly agreed and grabbed his arm so start crossing. As you´ll see in the pictures there was a rope across the river to hold on to. I began walking and it took all my strength to not have my feet wiped out from beneath me. Actually at one point the were, but i just held on and pulled myself back up. About half way across it was much easier. Finally, my camera and i both crossed safely and were met with a crowd of smiling nicaraguans scattered on the hillside starting at me with wonder and amazement in the rain. When I pulled out my camera all the little kids moved much closed, watched my as I took pictures of everyone else crossing, and laughed as i poured water out of my rubber boots. When everyone crossed we headed up the hill to quezada and were welcome to the front porch of one of the residents for coffee and bread. It had never tasted so good. However, while trying the eat we were also surrounded by black bugs that I´m told come out right after the rain. They continued to cover my clothing, fall in some of the nurses´ coffee, and be just plain annoying until I got on my horse to finish the treck. The lady who gave us the coffee felt so bad for me that she gave me another piece of bread to put over my coffee so the bugs wouldn´t get in. Anyway, after a short rest horses arrived to take us and our supplies on the rest of the journey. As I mentioned I mounted mine and began the treck. Thankfully one of the young guides took the reins so all i had to do was try not to fall off as he lead the horse. This was perhaps the wettest 3 hour treck of my life. If got dark after about a half an hour and the only lights were two flashlights and the occassional strike of lightening. I was tired, soaked, and ready to curl up in my hammock when we finally arrived just before nine. We hurridly changed out of our wet clothes by flashlight (there is limited electricity ou there) and set up our hammocks. I enjoyed a hot cup of coffee and some gallo pinto before settling down for the night.

Just to sum up the rest of the trip quickly. Wednesday morning I bathed in the river (of course with clothes on), used the latrine several time throughout the day, helped with the hiv testing (i got to put all the bandaids on), took pictures, gave children candy, watched mud soccer, watched telenovelas on a tiny black and white tv, and drank lots more coffee. Thursday I woke up with tiny bug bites all over my left arm. (yesterday i had more. im told its some sort of bug that is so tiny it cant be seen and lives on your skin for 10 days and will continue to bite. it can be killed my washing the affected area in alcohol several time. i tried this and i don´t think ive gotten any more bites but i can count at least 20 right now). We had a delicious breakfast of rice, beans, cuajada, papaya, bananas, and pears (they are red down here). I decided again coffee because i didnt want to have to use the bathroom on the trip. We took lots more pictures of our group and the director of the health center took a ton of me on my horse because everyone kept mentioning that i wasn´t in any of the picture i´d taken so far. We finally headed out after packing up. After riding for about an hour we stopped at a house and were given a stock of huge avacadoes, other fruit, and water. We continued on and made it back to quezada. The ambulance and truck arrived an hour later. Miraculously the river level had lowered so much in less than 2 days that we were able to drive back across. When we got to the first river i mentioned you could see the bride and the water was at least 2 feet below. crazy. we finally made it home at about 4. I hopped right in the shower and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Well there are a lot more details, but at least this gives you a little taste of the adventures i can go on when i choose too. They are definitely not required but who wouldn´t want to do that. I´m headed to Fila Verde next tuesday and i hear its just as far.

Thanks for all of the love and support. Things are going well and I´m really enjoying my time down here. I can´t believe ive been in nicaragua for over 5 months. It´s ridiculous.

Enjoy the pics. ok its not working, so im going to run to the bathroom and try again later.

ok. im back and at a less reliable but cheaper cyber to finish up. the pics didnt work quite as expected, but you can see them on facebook.

cheers and paz as always

i´m still alive

This is just a quick post to let you all know that yes, i am still alive, well, and VERY happy.

I have a little bit of stomach pain with diarrhea right now that i like to call ¨mini-dengue¨ but if its anything like the last time i had it (my first week in site) it will be over by tomorrow and i won´t actually throw up. Don´t worry. It´s nothing serious just a very mild version of the same symptoms of dengue.

I´m here in San Carlos for the Rio San Juan Vac meeting and regional security meeting tomorrow. It´s nice becaus I actually get reimbursed for this trip.

Everything in my site is going great. I still haven´t really started working but i´m gradually easing into it. I feel very well integrated and practically everyone knows my name and greets me warmly when I walk by.

It´s sweltering hot right now. It rained for the first time in over a week last night so that helped a little, but not the same as the first few weeks of may. I had actually gotten used to taking my umbrella everywhere, wearing shoes that either dry fast or don´t get wet, and relying on the rain to get rid of the heat.

Anyway, I know I promised a better post, but I´d rather go down to the malecon and hang out with my other peace corps buddies. I´ll try to post some interesting anecdotes and stories from the campo (i.e. hiking over muddy hills, trudging across rivers, getting my boot stuck in the mud, fallng several times, sweating like crazy, riding back on a horse that could hardly walk faster than a human through the mud, and a small community full of smiling faces huddled under a small building waiting to be tested for hiv (among other things) including a little boy playing with his new toothbrush (probably his first ever)).

As always I love and miss you all so much.

Peace and Cheers,
Shona

over a month in site

Just to begin I´d like to say that things are MUCH better in every aspect for me.

I absolutely love my site even though it has started to rain every day and the cell service is worse than ever. (ps this post is going to be kind of short and really random). On the topic of cell phones, i have to charge mine twice a day and it still dies during the night. This is especially bad on days like today when the power goes out (or as nicas say ¨se fue la luz¨) during the night and i can´t charge it in the morning. I think it dies so fast for two reasons:
1. its an extremely cheap phone
2. it is constantly searching for service
However, I am extemely fortunate to have this luxury of a cell phone even though i don´t usually get text messages until several hours after the fact.

Another somewhat frustrating thing is the internet. I thought I´d be fine being far from a cyber, but this has proven to be very difficult since most of peace corps nicaragua uses it as a primary form of communication except for emergencies. If it weren´t so easy for everyone else to get to the cyber i´d be able to handle it better. Today I made the trip to San Carlos just to use the internet. I got on the bote at 7, arrived in S.C. at 9 and immediately bought my ticket to return at 12. I feel bad being out of site on a work-day. However, I did spend my weekend attending the Ferrias de Salud in Quezada and Buena Vista. They were muddy, rainy, and tiring, but packed full of people wanting medical attention. While it was a little sad that they hardly get this kind of assistance it was extremely encouraging to see how many people wanted it. I spent my time observing a little and writing down the information of each person getting tested for HIV. Honestly I didn´t mind the rain and mud (think torrential downpour) and got to sport my rubber boots fo all of both days. I felt very Nica as everyone else was wearing the exact same boots.

With respect to the rain, it now rains every day and is generally overcast and extremely humid. I don´t really feel the humidity because it is less hot than last week, but I can tell its there because everything is damp i.e. notebooks, towels that never dry, clothes that take a good day and a half to dry, my toms that took 4 days to dry because they kept getting rained on just when they were about dry, my hair, and gum. Gum and mints do not hold up well in this kind of weather. The second the package is opened they are gooey and if left on the table in my room are shortly covered with teeny-tiny ormigas (ants). These are the same ants that I often feel and see crawling on my arms or legs when sitting outside the casa materna (well actually anywhere). They don´t hurt, they are just annoying.

Community Integration-wise, things are going great. I am starting to make lots of friends, casi all of the children know my name and shout it when i walk by the school, i get along really well with the nurses and doctors at the health center (i usually get at least 3 or 4 hugs within 5 minutes of walking in), and I love living at Clarissa´s. I get asked several times a day when I´m going to start teaching english, and its getting really hard to say no to individuals. I do plan to have some classes in the future but only after i have a health work routine. I also can´t give lessons to each person who asks me ( i just don´t have the time), so right now i´m thinking hard about how to have a good balance.

I´ve only given a couple charlas so far, but will start giving more next week. I also want to start working in the schools next month giving at least 1 charla a week to each class. (its a small town so that wont be too hard). I also need to start working with the youth group, but i think that will take some time too.

Anyway, i´ve been on the internet for far too long, but i promise to write a more informative update next time i get to the cyber.

Peace and Cheers.

can someone say 180

It doesn´t seem like its been 3+ months since I left snowy Michigan and then snowy DC.....actually that´s a lie. It feels like it´s been much longer.

Just to sort of generalize and sum up my current feelings: It was a lot easier to be away when my thoughts of home were filled with freezing weather and snow. Now that I´m imagining the freshly blossomed flowers, warm spring air, and hopes of fun summer times, it´s getting quite a bit harder. Honestly, I think that most of this is due to my need to readjust all over again.

For the most part I feel settled in my new hospedaje home. (I had an epic battle which a cockroach last night. He insisted on continually attempting to climb the wall which hindered me from killing him until I brought the mosquito repellent into the playing field. He then had no choice but to fall and let me smash him with my Teva. This was a good lesson because I can now recognize the sound of a running cockroach in my room).

The food is great and with three decently well balanced meals a day and coffee everymorning in a beautiful semi outdoor dining room surrounding by Clarissa´s garden, I can´t complain. However, I have yet to do my laundry, and there is quite a load of dirty clothes crammed into my saco. There is a lavadora, I just haven´t gotten up the nerve to ask to use it. The days are hot, but the sound of occassional rain is soothing in the mornings. I have been told that I will come to dread this rain when the ¨rainy season¨ officially starts in a couple of months. To prepare I am buying rubber boots today.

I think the biggest obstacle in my adjustment is language in the workplace. By language I mean Spanish and not swearing. I thought I could successful communicate, while still basic, with anyone, but this has proven especially challenging with my new colleagues and the ladies in the casa materna. The talk very fast and casual (someone slurred) with eachother and therefore the same with me. I feel awkward asking them to repeat and slow down. They often do but in the same words. So if I didn´t understand something the first time it´s unlikely that I´ll understand it the second time. I just keep telling myself that this will come in time, but it sure is hard to plan my work when I don´t feel valued because of my language. My site visit on the 26th should help clear some things up. I know that I´m supposed to take things slow right now during these first few months, but forming real relationships with my counterparts and the casa materna is vital to my future work. Its not that I can´t communicate when I need to or that they ignore me because I can´t speak, Its only that I don´t feel confident anymore. I´m sure that when I get my tutor (after semana santa because the spanish prof is on vacation), I will improve a lot. Actually its not even that I need to learn more. I know a lot. I plan anything I want to say perfectly and understand someone´s words long after the fact. It´s the inbetween execution of my words and ability to quickly respond that´s lacking. Clarissa, my sort of host mom, but more like a friend, keeps reminding me that I´m doing fine and will improve quickly. However, it´s a lot easier to speak to her or other gente in the town when there is no professional pressure.

Sorry that was really rambly, but I just had to get it out there. Other that those concerns, my town is as beautiful as always. I visited both the escuela and the instituto on thursday and introduced myself to the teachers and students. I also visited the alcalde (mayor) and he seemed happy to have me and willing to help with whatever I needed (now I´ll just have to get up the courage to follow through on that help when I need it).

I also visit the cacao cooperative on Wednesday (started my the germans). They practiced giving a tour on me and I got to eat some delicious yet armargo (i think it means bitter) freshly sun dried cacao seeds. Something that not many others can say they´ve done. I only had a few as I thought was acceptable. Then the ¨tour guide¨ asked if I didn´t like them. I said that of course I did, and he said something to the effect of ¨well eat some more then.¨ Down here the rules regarding moderation are a bit fuzzy. If you eat something just because its good for you implies that you love it and want to eat it all the time (i.e. cucumbers, beets, gallo pinto, fresco de piña). I like to enjoy a varied diet, and that is just hard to grasp sometimes. However, I think I´ve finally rid myself of the soup. I really don´t mind soup, but I do not enjoy a ginormous serving bowl filled with hot liquid and ginormous chunks of vegetables and meat (of course still on the bone) when it´s at least 75 degrees outside. Clarissa somehow telepathically knows this and hasn´t once offered me the soup. If she did I would politely decline, but its much easier to not even have to encounter the situation. I´ve also eaten fish at least one time every day for the last week. I know that this will suprise you, Mom and Dad, but if you ate the same fish I do everyday you would understand. I get a few pieces (just enough) of finely breaded, just barely moist, and perfectly fried fish without the bones. It doesn´t even taste fishy. I realized that the reason I really didn´t like fish was the flavor and the chance of encountering a deadly bone. Here I have yet to come across that problem. Its also a lot cheaper to eat fish, so ¨when in (nicaragua)....¨

On the topic of food, Clarissa has begun to teach me to cook Nica style. Actually I just started watching over the counter and she began to quiz me. I would have learned in Santa Teresa, but I was always busy when the food was being prepared. I now know the concept of how to make Nica rice and fresco de pineapple, however i haven´t practiced yet. Clarissa said that this week (semana santa) there will be fewer clients in the hospedaje so she´ll let me practice some cooking.

...It seems like everything is happening ¨after¨ semana santa. Cooking, my site visit, legit work planning, visits to the communities, and a visit to a finca where they grow cacao. Oh, I also met the Alemana who lives in Jill´s old house. She invited me over to dinner on sunday. We had some good conversations (obviously in spanish because she is german and i don´t know german)(also one reason I am confused about why Its hard to understand my counterparts). However, I need to get to know her more if I hope to live in her house.

Well I´ve spent far too long on the internet, but I probably won´t get back to San Carlos for a few more weeks. However, I overheard mention of a cyber in my site the other day, so I definitely need to investigate. Also, I sent my first memory card home last week, so be looking for pictures from my parents.

I wish myself buena suerte!!! I know the adjustment will come eventually (it always does). I´m just hoping for sooner rather than later.

As always I miss you all and think of you often.

P.S. I already have lots of plans for those who come to visit me.

5 days

I can't believe there are only 5 days left until swearing-in. These 10 weeks have been both fast and slow at the same time. I feel like I've been here forever but yet it seems like I shouldn't be done with training yet. Sin embargo, I definitely think that I'm ready to get to work and get these two years started!

Right now I'm sitting at Terry's Dinner in Jinotepe using the free wifi and natalie's computer to write this. Yesterday I bought my first pair of Nica jeans. Don't worry they're not as skin tight as they could be. However, today is blazing hot and definitely not conducive to dark jeans wearing.

I had my final language interview on Wednesday and my interviewer told me that she thinks I'm intermediate-mid which is the requirement for swearing-in. Assuming she is right, I won't have to stay for an extra week of language classes. My last night in Santa Teresa will be Wednesday, and supposedly I'll be having a despedida with my fam. Actually I'll just give an outline of my week:

Today/Sunday = chilling in Jinotepe, movie with my Santa Teresa chicas, movie with the fam.
Monday = full day of HIV related sessions in Managua (starting at 7:45 which means I have to leave my house no later than 6)
Tuesday = shorter day of sessions in Masaya including final training evaluations
Wednesday = another full day of sessions in Managua including handbook review and finances breakdown
Thursday = moving out of Santa Teresa in the A.M. and heading to Managua.
= Embassy Visit!!!!
Friday = Swearing In + several parties/picnics to celebrate including visit to the country director's house
Saturday = hanging out in Managua and probably heading to Rio San Juan
Sunday = heading to and possibly arriving in Rio San Juan
Monday = The Real Journey Begins!!!!!!

Anyway, I'm sending my first memory card home sometime this week, so you can start bugging my parents for pictures within the next month. I'll warn you now that I haven't taken a lot, but that will change once I get in site and feel comfortable carting my camera around.

Cheers and Paz
-Shona-

The longest post I'll probably ever write

Hola to all my lost long friends and family.

It seems as if I’ve been gone for far more than just 2.5 months. I’m not saying that I want to, but even if I were to leave now this has been a once in a lifetime experience. My Spanish, even though far from perfect, is way better than it ever would be. I’ve also learned to live without so many things that I was accustomed to (even though I still miss them; i.e. huge wardrobe, the wii, cooking whatever I want whenever I want, going to Meijer several times a day, my debit card, my car, hot showers, frosting, and unlimited access to the internet). I’ve learned to appreciate the little things that I can still enjoy; i.e. nacatamales, rosquillas, watching Disney channel with my nephew, talking in English with my fellow aspirantes, having an excuse not to shower or do laundry when the water goes out, not having to cook or clean for myself, and my mosquitero.

Speaking of my mosquitero, the following is a poem penned by yours truly.

Me and My Mosquitero

I love my mosquitero.

Love it, I really do. I

t feels more like a fort

Than a cage at the zoo.

It protects me from malaria.

That prevention is a must

If I’m sleeping through the night

Or napping after lunch.

Its big and green and makes my bed

Oh so cozy when I rest my head.

My new address is:

Shona Smith

Postal Numero 5

San Carlos, Rio San Juan, Nicaragua

If you start sending my letters there I will be sure to get them sooner at my site. Otherwise, I’d have to wait until I get back to Managua, and I don’t know when that would be. By the way, I am writing this on my compañera Natalie’s computer, so I don’t have to worry about the time factor. Also, it is much more grammatically considerate.

Outline of the rest of this blog:

 Food

Television

Weather

My future home

Food: The food here is good just a little too similar each day. There are two typical breakfasts. The first consists of a huge plate of fruit including at least two or three of the following: watermelon, banana, pineapple, papaya, or mango and a small loaf of bread with pre-sugared instant coffee. I used to eat this breakfast every week day. However, about a month ago I began having extreme sensitivity (ironically enough the word in Spanish is sensibilidad and makes me think of sense and sensibility every time I hear it or say it) in one of my front upper teeth. It got so bad that I could feel it no matter the liquid or its temperature. However, I did master the skill of putting my tongue behind my tooth every time I drank something. This started on a Friday, and conveniently I was headed to Managua that Monday for some sessions before Practicum Week. While it wasn’t an extreme emergency, I decided to call the med office on Sunday to see if I could somehow get a dental appointment while in Managua. If I couldn’t I would probably have had to go at least another week without getting it checked because I was headed to San Ramon, 4 hours from Managua, until Friday. I didn’t think it was really serious, but the more people I talked to the more scary possibilities they suggested, i.e. cavity, skin graft, dying tooth, exposed nerves. Miraculously I got an appointment for 10:30 on Monday morning and Eduardo, our chauffeur, support staff, problem solver, snack buyer, and anything else we might need, drove me to the dentist. She was super sweet and will be the one to give me my yearly cleaning. She did some x-rays and told me my teeth were perfect. However, without even asking what I generally ate she said that I could not eat pineapple for at least ten days and should eat/drink other citrus fruits cautiously. She said my tooth should feel better within the week, and the sensitivity is actually a common occurrence resulting from too much citrus. I laid off the piña and was back to normal in a couple of days. However, my family found this very entertaining when I got back home and told them. I think the funniest part came exactly 9 days after I returned from practicum week when my mom bought a pineapple, told me several times how sweet it was, and said she would serve it to me the next day. The following day I had fresco de pineapple for lunch as well as a huge chunk of it as a snack while watching my favorite telenovela, El Fantasma de Elena. I now only eat it occasionally. (I forgot to mention that the pineapple down here is white and much more flavorful than in the states). Additionally, I don’t eat a huge plate of fruit every day. My family is beginning to wean me off of it because it is somewhat expensive.

Instead I often eat another typical breakfast. This includes gallo pinto (fried beans and fried rice that they fry once more while mixing them together), fried egg, fried platano, and fried cheese with tortilla and the same pre-sugared instant coffee. (I now have a special place in my heart for this super sweet weak drink. I still enjoy my coffee dark and black, but a little sugar makes me feel at home). This breakfast is often hard to eat so early in the morning due to all the grease and more than once I’ve felt slightly queasy in class after. Nonetheless, I love a good piece of queso frito. Other times this breakfast is varied to some combination of egg (scrambled with peppers or ham, or just fried in oil), beans, bread, and a banana or avocado. This variation has come more recently since my mom left for Costa Rica (Her dad who lives there is very sick, so she’s down there for the rest of my training). Any of these breakfasts can include rosquillas if my host dad walks by while I’m eating.

My favorite breakfast only comes on Sundays (and not every Sunday). This breakfast is Nacatamales. You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten one. The are similar to a traditional tamal but yet very different and much better. It is a mixture or corn meal/dough (called masa), some rice, a piece of sausage, a piece of potato, a piece onion, and if you’re lucky you’ll be alarmingly surprised by a piece of spicy pepper. All of this is perfectly arranged in a Banana leaf (they look identical every time) wrapped up and cooked in a pot over the fire/coals for a while. My family buys them from my aunt. However, when I’m in my site I will buy them from a lady who makes them on the street corner every Sunday for 24 cordobas (just over 1 u.s. dollar). It is more than enough for a meal so I plan to save the leftovers for breakfast each Monday.

Wow, that was a lot of information on breakfast. Moving on to lunch. Lunches vary greatly so I’ll just list some typical dishes. Rice + tomato salad / tomatoes/ cabbage salad +platano maduro, + some kind of meat (usually chicken) (that’s what I ate today), soup with rice and huge chunks of veggies, a whole fish (eyes included which I don’t eat) with a side of soup and rice, the new lunch for Friday’s during lent: cheese soup with rice and corn meal patties/cookies, or sopa de frijoles (one of my personal favs). The first time I ate this bean soup I was extremely frightened. It includes an item in the soup that looks very similar to an internal organ. I waited until my mom left the room and decided just to cut it in half with my spoon to investigate. Surprisingly it was just a poached egg that got died brown because of the beans. I proceeded to eat it and have loved it every since.

Dinner is generally beans and rice or gallo pinto, corn tortilla, cheese (white and salty yet super natural), and avocado or tomatoes. Occassionally there will be a fried egg (my personal favorite) or fried cheese. On Sundays I sometimes have tamales with dinner and we generally drink coca cola.

Drinks for every other lunch and dinner are usually some type of fresco (lately pinolillo, made of ground corn). My favorite is arroz con piña (pink, thick, and looks like pepto-bismol). Much of these things may change once I get to my new home in Rio San Juan so I’ll keep you all posted because I’m sure you’re just soooo fascinated with my dietary habits.
P. s. you can’t get virtually any American food from any American restaurant in Managua including subway and mcflurries.

Television: I currently have cable television in my home, but I probably won’t when I move. It has all the basic channels like Disney, cartoon network, discovery, history, tnt, cnn, tcm, espn, and fox. Additionally, there are music video channels, local programming channels, several channels with a mix of current shows from the u.s., and a random assortment of movie and other channels with Spanish programming. You can pretty much always find a good American movie either dubbed in Spanish or with subtitles. I watched American Idol last night (the episode from march 8). I’m beginning to get really annoyed when you all tell me you think of me every time you watch survivor. I would absolutely love to be watching it too, but I have yet to see it on tv down here. However, it was filmed on the pacific coast a few hours from my future home, and the volunteer before me met some of the crew.

A couple weeks ago I watched Apocalypto with my host mom and dad (my dad loved it because as he explained to me, obviously in Spanish, it is a story about events than actually happened to tribes of people in Central and South America). I think he felt that it was a part of his history, and we connected on feeling a deep sense of pain for the people who had to go through pointless suffering and persecution like that (something that nicaraguans definitely understand). The more I read my Nicaraguan History Packet the more remorseful I feel as an American. I’m not going to go into it here, but our country does a lot of ridiculous things just to keep control of people we have no business controlling just for the sake of having control (and it keeps happening every day).

Telenovelas are also super popular down here and are on primetime, as well as throughout the afternoon, every weekday. Unlike soap operas in the states these generally only run for a couple of years. I just saw a preview for a new novela that is almost an exact replica of Grey’s Anatomy. I can’t remember the name now, but all of the characters look remarkably similar to the main characters on Grey’s. Oh how Nicas love their American culture.

 Weather: I’m going to skip this because the only significant thing to note is that it’s hot and generally very windy (that’s usually the reason for power outages) in Santa Teresa, and it is even hotter, humid, and often rainy in Sabalos (my future home).

Rio San Juan = my home in hopefully two weeks: I will be living in a somewhat quaint little river town (I have edited out the name for security purposes) about two hours east of San Carlos (capital of Rio San Juan). It is less than an hour north of Costa Rica, and many of the residents work in Tico (costa rica). Nonetheless most nicas don’t like ticos and vice versa. My town has about 2500 residents and 42 surrounding communities many of which are only primarily accessible by river. Most people travel there by river, but if one absolutely has to use a car they can drive on a road north of the rio san juan and cross the rio on super small car ferry. There are 8 pulperias (little corner stores), a couple of comedors (cheap restaurants), several hotels (one very nice hotel across the rio where hopefully my parents will stay when the come to visit), 2 schools, a health center, casa materna, police station, basketball court, and of course the dock. The people are very friendly and are used to having a female peace corps volunteer (I will be the seventh). I will be living in a hospedaje (hotel) for the first two months owned by Clarisa (my host mom) who is related to about half of the town. She is super kind and sweet and is a great cook. While I’ll have my own little room, I’m already looking forward to living on my own. The volunteer before me (she just moved out last week) lived in a great house up a little hill from the dock. Supposedly it is one of the nicest volunteer houses. It’s a little pricey but I think it would be worth it. Currently there is a german roommate who will be living in it until October, so I would have to get to know her before asking if I can move in . I also got several offers from families who want me to live with them, but right now I think I’ll want my independence and more privacy.

I’ll only talk briefly about my future work because this post is super long (four pages). There is a huge variety, which I love. I will be working a lot in the casa materna and occasionally in the centro de salud (its always busy). I also hope to form a young women’s group and pregnant women’s group (it also will consist of young women due to the high prevalence of teen pregnancies). I hope make frequent trips to the outlying communities with a health worker who has a boat. Another project I want to start is a youth group focused on promoting tourism. I think if the young people had something more productive and fun to do they’d be a little less likely to get pregnant. Though there are several men who give tours (and also enjoy speaking the English they know to me), but there is still a lot of undeveloped tourism. Additionally there is a chocolate co-op, but it is run by germans (actually ritter sport). I want to get the local youth involved in making and marketing chocolate locally and to tourists. This side project would be a big undertaking so we’ll see how much of it happens. There is also a huge desire for English classes, so I’ll probably work in the school with a mix of health education and English clubs. I also plan to work on improvements in hygiene and sanitation as well as brigadista training to sustain my work after I leave. I’ll keep you updated on my work over the next two years.

If you actually read this entire entry thank you, and I hope you enjoyed it and got many of your questions answered. I love and miss you all. The next time I post I promise it will be sooner and not quite this long.

Paz and Cheers

failure

well i have a super nice long blog post written. i typed it on natalies computer, a fellow trainee in my town, and saved it on my ipod. however, this computer wont recognize my ipod. actually it keeps connecting and disconnecting, so using that as a usb drive is out of the question. thankfully its still saved on natalies computer, so ill hopefully come back tonight and post it straight from the source. besides that im doing well and really enjoyed my site visit in sabalos. i hope the snow has all melted by now.

the above picture is a nacatamal. my absolute favorite food here that is only eaten on sundays

my home for the next two years

Im excited to inform you that I have the utmost priviledge of living in Boca de Sábalos, Rio San Juan for the next two years!! I get to visit it for almost a week starting saturday (i think the journey starts friday night). Its really close to the Costa Rican border on el Rio San Juan. From what i hear its super tropical, super humid, has a long rainy season, and has lots and lots of plant and animal diversity. One of the primary activities is cacao production. I dont want to say too much about it before I visit, but Ill be sure to write a long post after I get back next week.

San Ramon

Greeting from San Ramon!

Its a little town near Matagalpa in the northern area of Nica. There are gorgeous mountains full of trees and fincas, aka farms. The vistas are beautiful. Last night after the two hour bus ride from Managua, and two different cabs, we practically hiked up the super steep driveway to the hotel. Needless to say we were all extremely out of breath. We had dinner, a quick charla, and prepped for today. This morning we woke up in this gorgeous, fresco pueblo had breakfast and headed out to visit a brigadista. The landcruiser ride there was a blast. We had to go up and down through hills and across at least three small rivas full of rocks. After our visit with the brigadista she showed us around her fincas. There are coffee plants, mango trees, lots of chickens, two natural wells, and so much more. I could definitely live in a place like that for the next two years. After our visit we headed back into town. The heading back consisted of an hour plus walk through rugged paths and the crossing of those three small rivers on foot. It was so beautiful and refreshing. It felt good to actually explore some nica nature. I took loads of pictures of the vistas and pasajes and hope to upload a few using a friends memory card reader within the next month sometime. After a well deserved lunch my group headed to the casa materna in san ramon to give a charla and just hang out with the ladies. There was actually only one embarazada staying there because the other 6 had gone into labor yesterday. They said it was because of the full moon. Anyway our charla went very well, but tomorrow we are headed to a different town nearby for the day to work in a casa materna with more embarazadas.

Next monday and tuesday is the mid term language evaluations and sometime next week is the site fair. Hopefully within the next two weeks Ill know where my site for the next two years is going to be. Im so excited and nervous at the same time.

Anyway I need to go but I hope to update again soon!

Miss you all!

Cheers and Paz as always

Finally an update

Buenas!

Im finally making myself sit down an write an update. Im still distracted by facebook as always but I dont have any pertinent homework to get done today. I mean theres always something to do but nothing due tomorrow.
So where to begin....well Im eating stale rosquillas right now. My family hasnt made a new batch since friday so im thinking tomorrow morning ill be woken up at 430 to the sound of pounding corn and kneeding dough right outside my bedroon door. Oh the joys of home business.
My week has been very busy but not too stressful. Everyone keeps saying how busy we are but I feel like i have more free time and less work than i did in college. My group prepared a charla on sunday for a womens group but only one lady showed up. Today we walked for over an hour going door to door visiting and interviewing pregnant women. We also invited them to our next charla, so hopefully well actually have an audience.
Today I gave my second charla in the centro de salud. Last tuesday I gave my first one on la higiene de la boca. My charla this morning was sobre larvarse las manos. If you dont know what those are you should look them up.
Its becoming really hard to say certain words and phrases in english now when ive been saying the so much in spanish. Por ejemplo (por example), casa materna, salud materno infantil y nutricion, y hay muchas mas. I feel proud that im beginning to think and dream more in spanish but its still hard at times. However, I usually get caught off guard when a nica starts talking to me in english. Often Id rather they just talk to me in spanish.
Obviously I still miss a lot of the conveniences of "back home" but its the little everyday things that make me love it here. Por ejemplo, when people say "por ejemplo." The way they say it is just so great and matter of fact. Its my favorite when im talking to my five year old nephew and he whips out "por ejemplo." I guess youd just have to hear it to understand. Other things that make me smile inside are seeing my clothes hang on the line in our little patio, watching my dad rotate rosquillas in the hornea (special outdoor oven), latino music videos, sitting in the park, looking at and talking about my nephews pet fish with my nephew (hes just hilarious. his new favorite thing is to do the egyptian pharoah dance move every time he sees me. last week his favorite thing was to mimic the expressions i had made during one of my spanish class activies (por ejemplo, estar enamorada y tener miedo)), staring at the catholic church, eating eskimo with my amigas, listening to my dad sing every verse of every birthday song after i only asked if the second line was feliz cumpleaños a ti like the first, watching old mexican movies with my mom, and seeing the random american tshirts and hats. Obviously there are many other little things that make me smile inside everyday, but those are just the ones that come to mind ahora. (Tambien, something that its cool and creepy at the same time is when random people ive met once remember my name and use it).
Things that have become normal:
-throwing tp in the trash rather than the toilet
-cold showers (even though i still dont like them)
-traveling only by crowded rundown microbus
-sleeping under my mosquitera
-having ants crawl on the walls of my cuarto
-using papelographo and marcadores every day
-telenovelas
-keeping money in my bra
-hearing yelling vendors in the streets
-being called chele, chelita, and amor pretty much everytime im outside my house.
Just to name a few.
I went to mass on sunday, and while it was entirely in spanish i really enjoyed it. The traditionality and orderliness of it is so comforting in my somewhat hectic life thats constantly pulling me in several directions at once. Its hard to balance my personal, professional, and academic lives when they are forcefully and intentially interwoven. Por ejemplo, most of my spanish homework consists of talking with my family about their lives and traditions, my ability to make effectiv charlas and giving them is directly related to my spanish speaking abilites, and my everday interactions for the relationships that I can use for health education. These seem extreme now and will be even more so when I move into my site.
Speaking of my site I still dont know where Ill be place yet. I kind of am hoping to be placed on la costa atlantica, but i heard that they will probably place the more advanced spanish speakers there. Most likely ill end up somewhere north central. Ill be ok wherever Im placed. Im just excited to get to my site and actually start doing "real" work.
OH, I almost forgot. I get to go to Volcan Masaya on Saturday. Its active, and Im so excited to finally see some nica natural beauty and hopefully photograph it. I still havent gotten my camera out yet, but I definitely plan to for this trip.
I should probably get headed home now.
I never know what to post in these updates, so if you have any questions just post a comment and ill answer all in my next posts.

Cheers and Paz to all

oh facebook

I would've actually had time to post today but facebook was just so distracting. Life in Nica has been pretty much the same every day except for all the concerts last week and fiestas on the weekend. Im getting a lot busier with preparing charlas, surveys, etc. I thought that when I was busier I would think of home less, but its actually the opposite. I really just want a cheeseburger, mac and cheese, and a nap on jareds couch while watching a netflix movie. I guess my life in the states was busy but in a different way. My down time there was spent just relaxing, but here even my relaxing requires thinking (to understand the television, talk with my family, and be careful how im perceived simply just walking down the street). Right now im preparing my first charla to give in the centro de salud next tuesday. Ill be a ten minute somewhat interactive presentation on oral hygiene focusing on hygiene for pregnant mothers and infants. Ive gotta go research some more. Hopefully Ill get to post a longer update soon.

no tiempo

Im not taking time to update today, but ill gather my thoughts and hopefully post on monday.

Segundo Semana

Hola Amigas y Familia!!!!

I made it to the ciber again. Mis compadres y yo are going to try to make it a weekly habit so that week can keep our families and friends up to date. it only costs about 15 cordobas per hour (less than 1 u.s. dollar - the exchange rate is roughly 1 dollar = 22 codobas). Life in Santa Teresa has been very fun so far. Of course I miss the states, but i really enjoy the pace of life down here and the lack of snow. Primarily I miss the familiarity of the states. Its much easier to life and function every day when you know whats expected of you and communicate easily in any setting. My spanish is improving poco a poco as they say down here, and im beginning to be able to form sentences a lot faster. I really love the people in Sta. Teresa. For the most part they are all extremely friendly and patient with us cheles (a common nica name for white girls. Each day we learn more about the health issues facing pregnant women and their children. Next week we are meeting with a group of women from one of the local churches to beginning discussing topics we can give them three charlas (short talks or lessons) on.

This last weekend was filled with loud noises, music, and lots of people due to the festival. While noisy it provided some distracted from what otherwise might have been a boring couple of days. As I said before Im becoming more competent and confident in Spanish so each day i talk with my host mom and family a little more. She keeps telling me that if I talk more and ask more questions I will learn faster but at the same time its only my first couple weeks and the language will come in time. On saturday I found out that it was extremely politically correct to bring uno to nicaragua. In fact my host sister owns it and loves to play it frequently. My host brother kept giving me the wild draw four cards and when they realized i never had yellow cards they picked that on a wild. Boy did they enjoy laughing at me when i had so many cards i had to make a pile on the table. Needless to say I didnt win that round. By that point in the day I was so fed up with Spanish that I spoke
English with Carlos (boyfriend of my host niece) as much as possible.

Sunday was very slow paced like saturday. I spent most of the day reading, studying, watching tv in espanol with my host mom alicia, and taking a nap. However in the evening my host sister asked me if i wanted to go to a baptisma with her. Her husband Juans neice had just been baptised and they were having the traditional post baptisma fiesta. It was at a house just around the corner from my house and when we got there virtually everyone was dressed in white. I however was not but was assured that it was perfectly fine. I was introduced to far to many friends and family members to remember, but it was a lot of fun. As typical of nicaraguan fiestas there was lots of good food, latino music, and of course dancing. Just a forewarning that there may of may not be a video of me attempting to salsa dance with a new “friend“. So Im apologizing in advance if it ever goes public.

Anyway Ive been on the computer for over an hour, so i should probably wrap this up.
I miss you all and hope to post again soon to keep updating you all on my life in nicaragua.

Below is a schedule of the rest of my week
Miercoles = morning class, trip to diriamba for more vacines and a group class
Jueves = typical day of classes
viernes = trip to managua at 5.30 am for a full day of sessions with both groups
sabado = trip to (not sure which city yet) for another day of sessions on maternal and infant health.

Cheers and Peace

A Whole New World

hola from santa teresa, carazo. í´m not going to use caps or much punctuation because i´m paying per minute and it´s a lot easier to type this way. i really am enjoying my time here, but i´m not gonna lie it´s hard. every moment of every day except for when i´m studying, reading, or journalling is in spanish. oftentimes i don´t understand my family´s questions so i really don´t talk as much as i would in english, but each day gets exponentially better. there are two other pc trainees or i should say aspirantes in my little town. in our stolen moments of speaking english we´ve communicatd that we´re all having the same difficulties with communication. my family is extremely accomodating and friendly so i´m slowly learning the customs and language. today during one of our activities julianne (one of the three in santa teresa) had to ask my host mom Alicia about me. Alicia said that she wishes i would speak more so that i could learn even faster. i looked at my host mom and we both laughed a little. she knows its hard for me but its good to know that she cares about my learning. she has had 13 aspirantes live with her in the past, so i guess she knows what she´s doing. yesterday i met el novio (carlos) of my host niece (denisa). he´s from santa teresa but he speaks almost perfect english. it felt so wrong to speak to him in english but it helped clarify some words i´d been wondering about. he said that i spoke spanish much better than many of the past aspirantes. and that after these few months i´d be speaking almost fluently. it´s so hard to comprehend that right now, but each day i am getting significantly more confident. right now i´m in una libreria in santa teresa. i have no idea how much this costs per minute but i´m hoping its not too much. each day during the week i get up around 6:30 and eat breakfast at 7. i usually have bread, some kind of rice and beans, and a fruit. the coffee is good but its made by boiling water and mixing in coffee and lots of sugar. so far i´ve tried everything i´ve been served. most lunches consist of more rice and either beans or chicken and veggies with a refresco (water mixed with super sweet fruit flavored juice stuff). it´s kind of hard to describe but just imagine a smoothie that isn´t frozen. i usually just have water for dinner. oh, another interesting thing is that there is a huge watercooler container with purified water just for me. i feel like i should have to use separate water but its just one of the many peace corps rules. i haven´t written any letters yet because i have yet to find a post office but hopefully by next week i´ll have gotten a chance. my room or cuarto is actually pretty big and i share a bathroom with my host brother but he isn´t there very often because he works in jinotepe ( the biggest nearby town). he has a motorcycle so i´m so upset that it´s another peace corps rule that we can´t ride them or should i say no puede manejar o andar una motocicleta. i´ve met a lot of people in sta. teresa but i´ve been really bad at remembering names so far. hopefully they will start to stick because knowing the community is one of the most important parts of integration. my family makes rosquillas for a living. they look like little cookies but they taste more like crackers. this morning i woke up to the sound of dough being pounded flat and rolled out on a table right outside of my room. it was so cool to be able to witness first hand how they´re made. i guess they´re really popular in sta. teresa. another thing that i always get a kick out of is when my family asks me about something i like and then it magically appears at the next meal. it´s really nice that they care so much but it makes me have to be really careful about what i say i like. when i told alicia that i like hamburgers i made sure to specify that i only eat them occasionally and that they aren´t good to eat all the time. i definitely don´t want them to go out of their way to get things like that for me. my sister julisa and her esposo juan own and operate an ice cream and sorbet shop aka un eskimo right next to my house. actually they are connected as are most of the houses on a given block. picture the main drag of any small town where all the buildings are connected. mi casa is acrossed the street from the park which is in the center of the pueblo. therefore there are always lots of people walking by and stopping in to say hi. right now there is a festival going on for sta. teresa so this weekend we are expecting losts of people from surrounding town. it´s so strange to have a small carousel and ferris wheel right outside my front (and only) door. i attend spanish class from 8 to 12 each morning, return home for lunch, then have more class from 1 til usually around 3:30. the morning sessions are usually more formal while the afternoon sessions involve visiting different places in sta. teresa, meeting important community members, and practicing what we learned in the morning. This week classes are at Natalie´s but next week they´ll either be at my house or julianne´s. anyway i should probably go and get back to attempting to talk to my family. adios!

Day One

I left Grand Rapids, MI at 6:45am today. I spent my 30 minute flight to Detroit talking to a very interesting older man. He did something with the military/teaching college classes. Coincidentally enough he's been to Germany and visited Paul's American Restaurant (my uncle's restaurant). I got into the Detroit airport at about 10 to 7 and had to book it from gate A47 to A8 to make my flight to D.C. I made it there with plenty of time and even stopped for one last iced coffee. While waiting a few minutes to board I spotted several other people who looked like they might be headed to the Peace Corps too. I was right about at least 2 of them. I eded up sitting next to a guy who was headed to staging to leave for Panama with the Peace Corps. It turns out both the Panama group and my group to Nicaragua had their staging at the same hotel at the same time (separate sessions of course). The group to Panama is all English/Education volunteers and my group is all either Maternal and Child Health (like me) or HIV/AIDS Health promotion. After taking the airport shuttle to the hotel I had plenty of time to regroup and get lunch with a few of the other girls headed to Nicaragua before our registration at 12:30. Registration and staging was long and intense but also very fun. We just kept re-emphasizing that "we're a family now," and it's true we really are and will continue to be. We got done around 7 and a group of us headed out to dinner at Uncle Julio's (tex-mex). It was delicious last meal in the states. After I got back to the hotel I hopped in the shower preparing to get to bed before 10. However, when I got out my roommate told me that our flight to Miami had been canceled and we didn't have to be anywhere until 10 in the morning. That's why I actually have time to write this now. My roommate Kim, whose laptop I'm using, is from Oklahoma City.

I think the best part so far has been meeting 45+ other people who are experiencing the exact same thing as me. I don't feel like the only one anymore. They've had the same questions, struggles, and anticipations as I have. We also all get along really great so far despite the large group size. I think it's mostly because we have soooooo much in common.

Anyway, that's about it for now. The next time I post I'll fill ya'll in on how the flights to Managua worked out and the impact this delay will have had.

-Peace and Cheers-

New Beginnings

Well..........in less than 48 hours I'll be in Nicaragua!!! It is still completely mind boggling to imagine how different and challenging these next 27 months will be. If you don't already know (hopefully if you're reading this you would) I will be serving with the Peace Corps as a Community Health Promoter. If my 3 months of training goes well I will be working to promote maternal and child health and nutrition. As I have internet access I'll be primarily updating here as opposed to sending out lots of individual emails, so if you'd like to keep up to date on my adventures this is the place.

Cheers