I took this picture, unsuspectingly, last year at the high school. I saw it as an innocent and young gesture of budding love. I wanted to capture it with the cam. A perfect Valentine's Day picture.

Gioconda Belli- The Country Under My Skin

"The hamlets and villages of Nicaragua are sleep communities where time's passing is barely perceptible. Tiled-roofed houses, with high ceilings, and adobe construction, are packed tightly together and thickly planted parks, with large trees and the ever present old church. Only the center of town qualifies for paving, otherwise it's all dirt roads where pigs and chickens roam, bordered by houses built out of rough-hewn planks with outdoor kitchens, zinc roofs, and children running around barefoot and in rags."

Mireyling was laughing when she told me that Lupe had a little crush on me and got jealous when she saw me walking down the street with Joanna.

Lupe happens to be my four year old neighbor that has funny stories to tell me and usually drops by the house unexpectedly looking for markers or crayons or we go and buy beans together. Lupe lives in the small store next to my house where I go to buy basically everything I need. She has a cute speech impediment so I have to ask her to repeat herself a lot of the time and I thank her for being so patient with me.

Lupe outside the venta.

Lupe on Independence Day

¨Erik,¨Marta said softly. Cee Cee´s tail was wagging and I drifted out of my daze. Marta woke me up at 5:15 this morning so I could come out and see the pig dangling from the tree. He oddly enough didn´t make a noise getting killed and the cute old campesino man that did him in made me laugh. He had no shirt on and was using rope as a belt. I paid him 50 cords, he swung the axe (pig killing method) over his shoulder and swaggered off to start his work day fishing on the lake, just like that.

After washing down some coffee, helping to skin the pig, and minutes later eating some of the fried pork rinds, I was off to the country side by bike to help cut palm leaves with Erikson (the family farm hand), to wrap up the nacatamales.

Water service has been very irregular in town this month. We went three days without it last week and it´s been off every afternoon since. We have to fill up huge plastic barrels and resort to bucket baths at night, which are actually quite refreshing after you get over the initial dump on your head. I don´t think any of my neighbors saw me standing out by the lavendero taking a bath the day I took Cee Cee to Managua. It was still dark anyway.

The economy here is as always struggling. The government just announced that all ministries (aka government organizations) work from 7AM to 1PM as a cost saving measure because they can´t pay their utility bills. Prices keep rising, which is a never ending problem and conversation topic, while salaries stay the same or go down. Last year inflation in Nicaragua was a whopping 18%. I fear that it´s only going to get worse herewithout trying to sound too speculative.

Marta toasting corn to make pinolillo

Toasted cacao

Had to take Cee Cee to Managua yesterday to get her spaed. She was such a good girl. Her first time on the ferry and first time in a car. Minus throwing up on the outbound ferry (didn´t know dogs got sea sick) she was very well behaved. We picked up my friend Kristel and her three legged dog, Ty, in Nandaime to go get checked out as well. It was a dog taxi all the way. I gave an extra 50 cords to Ivis, my friend and taxi driver, to get the dog hair vacuumed up.

I also take back former comments about all Nica police being honest and good. We got pulled over twice for no reason and they hassled Ivis just to nail him on any violation.

You know what hit the fan when they opened up the trunk and started going through our stuff without even asking, to ¨look for drugs¨. Yeah lady, I hid drugs in my Sbarro pizza bag. Kristel rose her voice out the window, ¨US Embassy...we work for the US Embassy.¨

The cop came closer and I wondered how she got around passing the physical exam. Too many rolls were popping out of places that they shouldn´t have and it looked like she slapped some makeup on in the middle of a dark room. The blue eye shade she poorly selected was not about to be matching her uniform.

You should have seen the look on the officers face when Kristel told her again we worked for the US Embassy. She understood that much in English. It´s not true, but we do carry these white diplomatic ID cards and Peace Corps is technically a part of the State Dept. She stared at us for a few seconds.........¨Vayanse (Go).¨

The second time wasn´t nearly as long of a delay but the cops backed off when Ivis told them he was with a couple friends from the US Embassy.

I´m not sure if what we did was snobby or presumptuous but I just can´t stand that type of corruption. No protocol or procedure in place just like the lawless west.

On to the good news though, I have bought a pig from a friend of mine!!! This is the same friend that invited me to lunch last week and fed me rabbit. Wasn´t to bad. He cost me roughly 1550 cords or $78! I´m having my going away party in two days and we are going to make typical Nica dishes like nacatamales and vigoron. I sat down with Marta on my bed and we made a list of all the things we´ll need to buy. This is the fun part. I will not however be killing the pig. Don Miguel is going to find me someone who can do it for us and we got stocked up on the fire wood we´ll need to do the job.

I´m going to get back to snuggling with Civila and cleaning up the house a bit. man the dust here is BAD right now.

Here is a nacatamal. A type of pie wrapped in palm leaves with meat, rice, dough, and vegetables. I´m thinking of opening up a nacatamal store in Lake Forest;)

¡Clase papaya! (What a papaya!), when I saw the orange colored cylindrical shape sitting on top of the fridge. Minutes later, it was cut up and we were all enjoying it for breakfast, how the mouth seems to dissolve up the sunset colored flesh.

It still seems like I´m finding new fruits all the time in my backyard. Strange, odd, colorful, asymmetrical ones that can be eaten or made into some sort of juice. Noni, avocado, mandarin, sweet orange, sour orange (good for cooking rice), grapefruit, lemon, mango, star fruit, coconut, and papaya trees always give me something to look forward to in the morning. I was happy to see that lemon season is back when I noticed the round little green yellow balls hanging outside my window.

Days earlier I was recounting to Marta about how much I´d miss my tropical fruits, fruits that are going to cost me dollars by the pound in the US, and probably not taste nearly as good.

My eyes widened when I saw her coming around the corner holding a huge papaya by it´s stem, a few days short of being ripe. ¨Te la corté,¨she said giggling(I cut it down for you). It was a sweet gesture and in typical Marta fashion. She´s always watching out for me.

One has to slice the skin lightly with a knife so the milky substance it contains can dribble out. If not, it doesn´t taste as good supposedly.

Melocotón...star fruit

Noni...smells like bad cheese but makes a great juice when mized with lemon and sugar in the blender.

Grapefruit

Papaya

Oranges

¡Clase payaya!

Ripening in the sun

A young face taking a look at his outside world.

Jona and I are in Granada enjoying some down time seeing I am no longer a Peace Corps volunteer and just regular old Erik. It has been windy as hell lately and just today it came out that one of the ferries almost crashed because its motor went out due to the high winds and waters.....don´t ask cuz I´m confused too. It was mayhem I guess.

The same ferry was tossing when we left on it yesterday and some people even had their life jackets on. Today she had finally had enough. One of my friends is a crew member on the ship so I´ll have to ask him what happened. Check out the photo all the way at the bottom. All those plantains....that would have been a big loss.

So, here are some photos of the ¨new¨ferry that Ometepe recently got. She´s a 1966 Dutch liner that is going out of the port of San Jose. By Nica standards, that´s young. There was a huge hubabaloo about it because the ferries that leave out of Moyogalpa now have less passengers and less money. Milton Arcia is already making enough money charging us 60 cords each just for the hour long voyage across the lake. Que barbaridad.

The new ferry ¨El Rey del Colcibolca¨

Victor eating a banana.

Nuevo Diario article

Fuertes vientos provocan estragos en Centroamérica

En Nicaragua un Ferry con 99 pasajeros y ocho tripulantes provenientes de la Isla de Ometepe en Rivas quedó a la deriva producto del oleaje

elnuevodiario.com.ni

AFP - 12:30 - 05/02/2009

Cortes de energía eléctrica, caídas de árboles, crecidas de ríos, aldeas inundadas y al menos dos muertos ha dejado un frente frío que azota a Centroamérica, acompañado de lluvias y fuertes vientos que alcanzan velocidades de casi 100 kilómetros por hora. Los vientos son usuales en esta época del año en el istmo y llegan por fenómenos atmosféricos registrados en el Golfo de México y el mar Caribe, y el presente frente se debe a un sistema de alta presión polar que se encuentra en el mar entre Texas y Florida, afirman los servicios meteorológicos.

Ferry a la deriva en Nicaragua

En el lago Cocibolca, en el sur de Nicaragua, un 'Ferry' con 99 pasajeros y ocho tripulantes que zarpó desde la isla de Ometepe hacia San Jorge, tuvo que ser auxiliado tras quedar a la deriva por una falla mecánica causada por el fuerte viento, mencionó el portavoz de la Defensa Civil, teniente coronel Gilberto Narváez. El temor a ahogarse obligó a uno de los tripulantes a lanzarse al agua a 200 metros de distancia del muelle. Asimismo, una mujer nicaragüense resultó herida al caerle la rama de un árbol en el departamento norteño de Matagalpa, aseguró Narváez.

El capitán del transbordador aseguró que la carga transportada era superior a la establecida por las autoridades, lo que condujo a un total rompimiento de las cadenas que enlazaban los vehículos pesados (un camión con alrededor de 10.000 plátanos, un microbús y dos camionetas) que venían en el barco. Tanto las autoridades del Bemérito Cuerpo de Bomberos como la Cruz Roja se hicieron presentes al lugar para evitar cualquier peligro, Asimismo, Defensa Civil dio orden de suspender cualquier operación de traslado (entrada y salida) hacia la Isla de Ometepe.

Carazo y Chinandega sin electricidad

En Carazo, la población permanece sin electricidad después que cayera al suelo un poste de luz en el kilómetro 54 de la carretera Jinotepe hacia Nandaime, que se presume abastece de energía a todo el departamento. En Chinandega, las ráfagas de vientos despegaron láminas de zinc en varias viviendas del barrio “Roberto González” y Santa Rosa, así como rótulos y postes de tendido eléctrico, que han dejado a cientos de usuarios sin energía eléctrica y agua potable. Las cuadrillas de la Empresa Nicaragüense de Acueductos y Alcantarillado, Enacal, trabajan para reestablecer el servicio a los usuarios.

Según Luis Ramón Lindo, director departamental del Silais de Chinandega, han orientado a la población a proteger los alimentos para evitar enfermedades respiratorias causadas por las polvaredas. Mientras que, Gloria González, directora departamental del Mined en Chinandega, asegura que están pendientes ante cualquier orientación del Ministerio de Educación de suspender o no las clases. No obstante, indicó que son los padres de familias quienes deben valorar si es peligroso enviar a sus hijos a clases debido al mal tiempo.

Dos muertos en Costa Rica y Panamá

Una mujer panameña de 50 años murió al volcarse el bote en que navegaba por una crecida del Río Cañas, cerca de la frontera con Costa Rica, país donde a causa de un paro cardíaco murió el policía Rafael Castillo, de 61 años, quien fue arrastrado en su motocicleta por la crecida del río La Trinidad, en la zona atlántica. En el país vecino las crecidas de ocho ríos anegaron 15 aldeas del Caribe, mientras la Comisión Nacional de Emergencias mantenía una "alerta amarilla" en esa zona y en un cantón del centro del país. "Se están enviando botes, alimentos, espumas (colchones), cobijas y se están fortaleciendo las bodegas instaladas en la zona" atlántica, expresó la Comisión.

Incendio en El Salvador

En El Salvador el viento ayudó a que se propagara un incendio forestal, que ha consumido al menos 30 hectáreas de bosque. En el departamento guatemalteco de Jutiapa, fronterizo con El Salvador, las ráfagas de viento llevaron a suspender las clases en al menos 25 escuelas por temor a que causaran daños en las aulas, divulgaron radioemisoras. En la ciudad salvadoreña de Izalco, 65 kilómetros al oeste de la capital, la ventolera destruyó los techos de al menos 71 viviendas, pero la Dirección de Protección Civil no reportó víctimas. Pueblos de al menos cinco departamentos de Guatemala permanecían sin energía eléctrica desde anoche. Los meteorólogos prevén que el tiempo mejore a partir de este sábado.

El frente ha bajado las temperaturas a 13 grados Celsius en ciudades donde la media anual supera los 25 grados, lo que tiene entumecidos a millones de centroamericanos, mientras las autoridades movilizan a la Cruz Roja, Bomberos, Policía y Ejército para atender las emergencias.

(Con la colaboración de Tania Goussen)

I was leafing through an old picture book about Managua at Hispamer, Nicaragua's largest chain of bookstores, imagining myself walking those streets in the book. The glorious mansions, department stores, and unique architecture called for a very different Managua than the one today.

Lizzet, my old boss, invited me to stay at her house for a bit last week and took me on a tour of old Managua, the Managua that the famous earthquake of 72' didn't destroy. We went with her daughter Magda, son Adiac, husband, and a friend.

It wasn't anything like the work of Gaudi in Barcelona, but when you are used to one story cement housing, it's enough to raise an eyebrow. We even took a tour of the newly finished sea walk park on the edge of Lake Managua.

Hey, I also have a new look too. Is it chiq enough for Chicago?

The old cathedral

Lizzet, one of my Nica mothers, and great friends

Pig roast anyone?

Do ya like the new look?

Magda speaks perfect English. It was the first language she learned while Lizzet was studying in Arkansas.

Magda and I at the edges of Lake Managua

Social Security building

With architecture like this, Managua used to be a beautiful capital city.

Katie is a NICA 44 volunteer that I stay with at times when in Managua. She lives in a town right outside the city called Veracruz. Her boyfriend Moises is a class act guy who works on the Atlantic Coast part of the year and also has family in Chicago.

Joanna and I tried training Civila with some new treats I got sent to me from the States. She really didn't get it.

I love this picture

Come on girl!

Nicaraguans love to hang up banners of all colors for any festive occasion. Walking down the lonely and isolated streets at night, the fluid flapping of the colored flags is a soothing and familiar sound.

Banners create a festive and cheerful environment to celebrate occasions. These blue and white ¨banderines¨ on the side of my house lull me to sleep every night.

Looking up into a nighttime sea of colors.

After class Johnaton came to my house last night and we sat on my bed while eating fresh ceviche and crackers listening to bachata music. He was reluctant to open up and I was feeling guilty. His Mom is leaving for Costa Rica in two weeks for the first time, and I´m leaving soon too. I think he was tired and so was I. I´ve been tired lately.

We got bored so we painted our finger nails black together. I´ve always wanted to paint my nails black since I was younger. The goth clique in high school was so mysterious and attractive to me(I know you´re laughing Gretchen). Probably because I was so different.

Ever since last year Jona and I have had a friendship that has grown closer and closer, mostly in the last few months. It all started that December night in 2007.

We were having an English class party in Ligia´s house. The tostones, frijoles, rum, and coke were all being shared, and in good company.

I left to wash my hands and Johnaton came up behind me. He wanted to tell me something and I´ll never forget it. He nervously opened up to me, as I sat on the edge of the lavandero. He told me about how he´d never felt such a strong connection with a friend before, about how much he appreciated me, and loved me.

In that moment all I could think about was the movie Ordinary People. Think about how the mom, Beth, can only sit there frozen when her son, Conrad, tells her that he loves her.

I didn´t know what to say, and my Spanish certainly wouldn´t have helped. I wouldn´t have been able to find the words in English. I didn´t want to be frozen like Beth.

No male friend of mine had ever told me that he loved me up until then.....but it was true....and it happened in Spanish. For the first time I could feel my brain making that transition into my heart. If you have ever tried learning a new language you know what I´m talking about. You can speak the words and you know what they mean perfectly fine but they don´t have the rough edges on them. They are empty. The swear words don´t make you cringe and the compliments don´t make you feel warm inside. That takes time.

His words were so full of warmth and so full of meaning that night that I could almost feel my nuerons firing away with new excitement. A new memory to store away in the archives. That was more than a memory though. It was and is a mark on my heart. That´s the transition to the heart that I´m talking about. I got it. All I could do was put my hand on his shoulder and invite him to eat Christmas Dinner with my American family when they came into town.

Jona, as I call him, is a great English student and LOYAL friend. He gets my sense of humor and is so comfortable in his skin. We can pass hours laughing together, or in silence. He´s not afraid to give me a hug or will let down his gorgeous charcoal black hair and let me run my hands through it while I teach him new English phrases or practice all of my new Spanish vocab on him.

In fact, I´ve never had a friendship with another guy like the one we share. It´s a blessing. It´s always been a challenge of mine to have deep, open, personal, fun, and emotionally intimate relationships with other men. But I found it, and it´s ironic that I´ve been able to experience it in Nicaragua, a country full of machoism.

He´s never gotten the chance to travel around and see Nicaragua, his own country, so after I close my service on Jan 30th I´m taking him to the Atlantic Coast to vacation together in one of Nicaragua´s most unique regions.

¡This one´s for you Jona! I love you...Te amo.

In Nicaragua there is always time to sit and talk. There is always time for people. Jona and I parked outside the bank watching the people go by.

Nicaragua´s national police force has good officers that are willing to help, for the most part, with few resources. They were really helpful when my cell phone was stolen in July and I also make an effort to wave hello walking past the police station in town. Nicaragua prides itself on having the most female officers out of any Central American country. Alvaro and I always talk to each other when we get the chance. He´s wearing the traditional uniform that is easy to spot from far away. Some people refer to police officers as ¨los azules¨ or the blues. He´s only 19 years old and there are many more that look younger while standing guard on the street.

One of my students, Kenya, invited me to eat lunch at her house. Doña Oliva, Doña Elida´s daughter and Kenya´s grandma, made us a cheese soup. It was unlike any other I had tried before: Thick and creamy with coconut milk.

It was a typical Nica meal, sitting at the table, chickens waddling around, kids screaming in the background, and Doña Oliva telling stories just like Doña Elida.

Doña Oliva talks to me slowly and loudly, as if I still had trouble with my Spanish. It´s a sweet gesture. She was going on about the difference between the houses in Nicaragua and in Miami all while taking a breath about every 20 seconds to yell at the dog and then continue with the story. The story how Nica houses have dressers and the houses in Miami have closets. She gave me a mini tutorial on how a closet is much more useful and takes up less space than a dresser.

After about 15 minutes of trying to help her pronounce ¨Fort Lauderdale,¨ with no luck, I was filled up on cheese soup and went outside to wash my hands when Irania spotted me with the camera. She wasn´t shy of the lens and kept wanting me to take lots of action shots to prove to her Mom that she really does help out around the house.

Irania doing chores

Sweeping away

How could I forget the cheese soup.......so good!!!!!!!!!!!!

¨Take another one!!!¨she kept yelling.

So proud.

Doña Oliva far right with Doña Elida next to me.

¨I have to go. I can´t stay here anymore.¨ she said holding back tears. ¨I would have left a long time if it wasn´t for this class.¨

I was blown away. It had meant that much to her?

We were once 40 and now we are down to eight...no seven....without Katy. I didn´t realize that things were so bad at home for her until she announced her departure. For over a year Katy, a teenager mother of two, brought her two young daughters to English class without ever hardly missing a day.

Our community English class is more like a small family that hangs out after class and supports each other in hard times. I will truly miss them, the walks to the class, the shared confidence, the personalities.

Katy in class balancing being a teenager mother and student.

Island Life

Another one of those tropical sunsets ushering in a gorgeous night full of familiar smells and sounds.

I loved running my hands through the bucket of cows milk mixing it until it thickened, then pressing out the excess liquid as it came to. I made cuajada with Marta the other day. It was so therapeutic. If my hands could have sex, this would be how they´d do it. We took out our frustration on the cheese because she just had a chicken stolen recently as well. Standing there talking about our lost feathered friends colors, we laughed and bonded.......all while making cheese.

The Novoas are in Managua and I´m becoming more and more close to Marta as each day goes by. She´s been my Nica mother the past two years and she still teaches me new things. Marta walks into Moyogalpa almost every day from La Concha four kilometers away to clean, wash clothes, and manage the Novoa household. Erik, ¨I won´t be coming in as much when you´re not here.¨ she said.

Cuajada is a soft type of cheese that is maybe similar to feta but much saltier and great to eat with gallo pinto or just beans alone. Even better....with a fresh, hot tortilla.

The cheese is almost consistent as Marta mixes it.

Weighing the cheese to get a half pound exactly.

My built in best friend and guardian. Cee Cee is always happy to see me! I love seeing her tail twirl like a helicopter as she runs up to greet me from a long distance away. I´m taking her to Granada to get her spaed soon.

Happy to see me!

Doña Elida came back! She recognized me right away and hasn´t missed a step at 93 years old. I´m still ¨El Gringito¨ or ¨El Yanquito.¨ We started right where we left off, sitting on the porch in rockers, the same old stories about Miami, some new ones about her childhood on the island, the days spent fishing, and playing with the marbles she used to keep in her toy chest.

I´ve been sleeping every night with the pillow she gave me. I tried explaining to her that I already have four, but she laughed in that high pitched cackle, opening up a closet full of them. ¨I have more than you!¨ she continued laughing. ¨Take another one for your head.¨ She even gave me a small place mat for my table.

Every time I walk into the house she gives me the same tour of the photos that are hanging on the wall. I never manage to get tired of hearing her talk!

Doña Elida with some neighborhood kids

“They would wait for me. They always did. But history wouldn’t. That day would never happen again, and I had to live it.”

I felt the same urgency Gioconda Belli felt the day she arrived in Managua, that hot July day in 1979, to celebrate Nicaragua’s successful revolution.

History wouldn’t wait for me either on Nov 4th, 2008. I had to fly home and it didn’t matter how close I was to finishing my Peace Corps service.

I will never forget standing in Grant Park, nudged somewhere in between the Chicago skyline and the sea of fervent onlookers, on the tips of their toes to catch a glimpse of the latest results on one of the jumbo-tron screens.

I was dreaming, no, I was alive. Me, standing in the midst of it all. Black, Hispanic, white, old, young, gay, straight, immigrant, citizen, all together, crafting the beautiful face of America. And there I was, a tiny freckle on that face.

The autumn wind was brewing something up. “CHANGE” was the cry of the people that night. Even the leaves were excited as they fluttered down out of the night sky from tree tops, like little messengers, telling all of us to hold on just a little longer.

Then it happened, like the moment when you close your eyes at the top of the rise on a roller coaster. You know it’s coming, but the feeling is still sensational when you go over the top.

“I will never forget the eagerness, the hope, the joyous optimism on those faces. What more could I ask for to bear so much witness to happiness? I felt I was floating over a canopy of grinning faces and outstretched hands. I was witnessing the birth of my country. What ever existential doubts one had disappeared right here.”

I wonder if Gioconda would have felt the exact same way standing next to me that night in Grant Park, as she did in 1979? She probably would have. I too, had witnessed a birth. Seeing people who have lived lives of oppression reach that light at the end of the tunnel. Seeing an America stand tall, seeing an America choose right over wrong and honesty over corruption. Seeing an America be strong and not just act strong. Barack’s voice echoed in the distance, “If there is anyone who doubts that America is a place where all things are possible…tonight is your answer.”

Chase, a Peace Corps friend, drove in from Omaha to be in Chicago that night. We met two great gals. Valerie and Natalia are Russian-Americans, living and working in Chicago. They promised me they´d wave hello to Sarah from Russia, seeing they can look at Alaska from where they are. WINK WINK Sarah.

Waves of people on that magical night waiting and watching the results come in. The weather could not have been any more perfect. It was moving and momentous being there.

I love my tajadas with vinager. They are the perfect snack to tide you over until a meal. They are thin plantain chips put into small plastic bags and are sold everywhere in Nicaragua. There is always a bottle of vinager sitting nearby that you can use to spice them up after ripping the bag open slightly. Nicaraguans usually make their own vinager and then put it in an empty plastic water bottle. A hole is punched into the top of the cap and all one has to do is flip it over for the vinager to dribble out. ¡Delicious!

¡Sold in any marketplace and very cheap! ¡A little bag costs only one cordoba!

Put some vinager on those tajadas.

I was sitting on my back patio talking with Marta, sipping on an instant coffee(Café Presto) enjoying the November winds. I had the nagging feeling that something wasn´t right. It kept grabbing at me, but I listened to Marta go on about her snobby little daughter-in-law any way. God knows how open her ears have been open to me in my hard times.

She continued cleaning the recently harvested corn by sorting the good kernels from the bad ones. I leafed through the post election TIME that I bought in the airport on my returm trip to Nicaragua.

I always used to get confused about how Nicaraguans keep track of which chickens belonged to which family because they meander around, pecking away all day, crossing property lines.

Sitting there on the patio, I started to count the chickens: Only nine. I walked over to the star fruit tree where they roost: None. I looked under the table where the lay their eggs: Only two.

Where in the hell was my rooster? I called out Marta, ¨¿Dónde esta el gallo mio? ¿Lo has visto?¨

She forgot to tell me. He had been missing for a week. So in other words, someone stole him. It´s very common this time of year with Christmas nearing.

I´m still bothered by it. He had grown so big, beautiful, and tall. I really enjoyed watching him grow, roam around the patio, and was really looking forward to the chicken dinner I was planning with friends!

Other than that ordeal I´ve been feeling really confused, sad, guilty, and anxious about leaving Nicaragua. I´m trying to come to terms with it all.

Island life. Horses always find their way home after walking through town. It´s common to see horses loose in the streets. They don´t get stolen though!!!

A happy update all. Found out that I was accepted to Teach For America!!!!!! Even better I´ve been invited to serve in Chicago as a potential K-8 teacher. It was a last moment decision to apply to Teach For America after talking with some friends that have done it. The actual application took a long time however:) It´s an amazing organization that will give me a chance to keep on serving back home. I didn´t want to publicize it but now I´m excited about it.

Dear Erik,

I am pleased to extend you an offer to join the Teach For America 2009 corps! This offer to join Teach For America reflects both your outstanding accomplishments and your potential to move students to achieve. In order to secure your place in the 2009 corps, you must complete matriculation forms on the Applicant Center on or before Friday, December 5 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Effecting dramatic, measurable gains in students' academic achievement is an incredibly challenging pursuit given the obstacles facing students and teachers in our nation's lowest income communities. You have demonstrated great potential to excel as a teacher despite these challenges and to ultimately assume great influence in our country. We now invite you to make this commitment and take our effort forward.

Hey All-

Here in Nicaragua again after a successful short tour of the US. I got a lot accomplished while at home for a couple weeks.

1) Took some Illinois Board of Ed teats to get certified. Still waiting on the results.

2)Celebrated my Dad´s birthday and Thanksgiving at the same time with a two-for-one special dinner

3) Gave a presentation about Nicaragua to 5th and 6th graders at the local Jr. High. They loved it! Such good kids.

4)Election Night Victory Party in Grant Park.....ahem.

5)Teach For America Interview. I like how multifaceted it was. Both individual and group work components.

Things were politically tense when I got back. There was a lot of violence in Managua after the mayoral elections. The Sandinistas took to the streets tearing down and burning opposition party propaganda. They blocked the roads in protest and even damaged quite a few vehicles. It was horrible with both parties claiming fraud on the other side and people finding ballots thrown out. It´s sad to see Nicaragua in disarray at times. It makes progress seem at too slow.

The Sandinistas did win in my town which is the first time it has ever happened in Moyogalpa. The new mayor goes by the name of ¨El Gallazo.¨ Something to do with a rooster. I´m not sure. I put an article below.

Sandinistas lead in Nicaraguan mayoral elections

By FILADELFO ALEMAN, Associated Press Writer Filadelfo Aleman, Associated Press Writer Mon Nov 10, 5:46 pm ET

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nicaragua's ruling Sandinista party claimed victory Monday in nationwide municipal elections, but rival parties said the early returns were misleading and the U.S. government expressed concern about the vote.

The mayoral elections were seen as a referendum on leftist President Daniel Ortega, whose government has come under fire for barring two opposition parties from fielding mayoral candidates and for police raids against non-governmental organizations.

Sandinistas and opposition supporters engaged in scattered rock fights in Managua, the capital, and police spokeswoman Vilma Reyes said four people were injured, including two teenagers hit by bullets.

The country's Supreme Electoral Council said the Sandinistas were leading in 94 of the 146 mayoral races nationwide with a majority of votes counted. No percentage of votes counted was given, and results from six municipalities had not yet been calculated.

With 69 percent of votes counted in the race for mayor of Managua, former boxing champion and Sandinista candidate Alexis Arguello led with 51 percent while former Finance Minister Eduardo Montealegre had 47 percent for the Liberal Constitutional Party.

Sandinista congressional leader Edwin Castro said the party's own quick count showed it had won in Managua and in 95 to 100 other municipalities, though he acknowledged apparent losses in provincial cities such as Jinotega and Granada.

Montealegre, who lost the 2006 presidential election to Ortega, said he was winning in the capital, and his party said it had won about 60 mayoral races. Montealegre said horn-honking Sandinista car caravans that appeared on Managua streets Monday were "celebrating their own defeat."

The nationwide vote was the first major electoral test for Ortega since he returned to power nearly two decades after leading a Marxist government that fought U.S.-backed Contra rebels.

Ortega has regularly criticized Washington's foreign policy and built strong ties with Cuba, Venezuela, Russia and Iran.

Opposition leaders have criticized the government for failing to invite observers from the Organization of American States and refusing to accredit the local group Ethics and Transparency, which has monitored past elections.

Ortega said he rejected the observers "because they are financed by outside powers" and accused local news media of conducting "an open campaign" against Arguello.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said there were reports of "widespread irregularities taking place at voting stations throughout the country" and said the refusal to permit outside observers has made it tough to "properly assess the conduct of the elections."

"We also note that political conditions that existed during the campaign were not conducive to free and fair elections," he said.

I´m in León now killing some time before I fly out on Tuesday. Johan and I went jumping off the ferry my last day on the island. The sunset swallowed us in that night while floating on the surface of the glassy water. I´m so confused right now about leaving Nicaragua in January. So many mixed emotions.

Can you ever get enough sunset pictures?

In Altagracia with the volcano in the background. Getting some shade under the sweeping branches of this tree.

Some of the volunteers got together to support Barack Obama with an OBAMANOS themed party. We watched videos, ate, and had fun.

Lori and Shyra

Popcorn

Grilled hot dogs

DANCIN!!

¡Buenas tardes all! Well, I missed my flight to the States because I overslept so I'm coming in on Tuesday. I have my Teach For America interview on Wed so I'll do my shopping here to get the nice pants and black shoes that I'll need.

I'll be home until the 11th of Nov so feel free to call me on my cell phone if you want to talk.

Back to "buenas tardes" though because this May 13th, 2006 edition of "The New Yorker" that my eye just spotted just reminded me of something. I was recently joking with another volunteer about Nica greetings. Greetings are important and expected in Nicaragua.

Can you imagine walking onto the public bus in LA, or the subway in Chicago and belting out a "GOOD MORNING" to perfect strangers? I'm sure most people wouldn´t do that and you'd probably get dirty looks just for saying a simple "hello." I always smile seeing the little old NIca ladies that struggle up the bus steps every morning and yet never fail to give a "buenos días." People actually answer back too.

I'm going to walk around Chicago when I get home and greet random people just to see how many actually answer me back without looking at me like I'm crazy.

A very typical Nica scene. Time can move slowly here. Doña Leticia (and Lupita) always says hello to me.

"Chinear" literally means "to cradle." You'd have a difficult time picturing two grown men cradling each other but it happens all the time here.

Not in the way you're thinking. Nicas easily double and triple up on bicycles to get around. The first time I tried riding sitting sideways on the frame I almost fell off. Nicas make it seem so effortless. It's pretty efficient and fun once you get used to it. Try it out!

Yessir with his mom out doing some shopping

Civila loves Jasmine. She also loves Lori. I've never seen her warm up so fast to anyone. If she doesn't like you, you'll know. My neighbors tell me I have a strange dog and she is just so moody. Lori theorizes it's because Civila's black and has an attitude........I'm not so sure.

Jasmine and I made a jingle for Cee Cee (Lori coined that name) one morning while she was trying to cuddle up with Jasmine. She seems to like it.

It's play time, with Civila

And she's playing

And she she's playing

(REPEAT)

Hey, when you are bored you come up with strange stuff.

It's playtime

With Civila

And she's playing

And she's tired

She was yelling so loud across the street that everyone nearby could hear her. “Erik, Erik…que te paso? Te has hecho un chancho! (Erik, what happened to you? You’ve become a pig!)” I just smiled and waved hello. It’s been 14 long weeks since I’ve updated you all and I apologize.

You can probably guess what I did in the States, from my neighbors comments, when I was visiting for three weeks. It was refreshing and fattening. I put on some pounds and the Nicas recognized it. I’ll never again in my life be offended by being called fat. In Nicaragua it’s complementary actually. In a country with poverty and hunger, people see it as a sign of good health. I’m not talking about obesity, but rather a little chub. I stuffed my face with all the good food that I hadn’t tried in nearly two years, visited friends, threw a BBQ bash, and spent time with my family.

It seemed so surreal at first, touching down in Miami. I was put up in The Radisson because of my cancelled flight to Chicago. I stared out of my hotel room window remembering what Gioconda Belli wrote, “And in New York, such an abundance of lights! The contrast was enough to make you cry. When I went out into the streets I finally understood why Charlie always said Managua was so dark.” The Miami skyline was spectacular that night. So many lights!

The night in Miami was a good transition to being back in the States. I didn’t even have to speak English. The next day, I exchanged my American Airlines voucher at the Cuban sandwich shop in the international terminal and took a seat to dig in. I observed my surroundings, which I do a lot of in Nicaragua, and just couldn’t wrap my mind around how Americans socialize; or how they don’t. No one appeared to have time for anyone. No one appeared interested in having it either. Noses wrapped around papers, fingers punching key pads, I-phones, I-pods, ears plugged up. Was it sensory sedation or sensory overload? What about being plugged into the people around you? I’m not trying to sound pious but I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to be away from the tech networking scene that prides itself on making us more social as human beings. Nicaragua has let me take part in a natural flow of human dialogue with no preservatives added. I’ll get off my soap box now because I am after all a friend of technology.

There was only one moment of anxiety I felt during the three weeks. I wanted an iced tea so Gretchen and I drove to Whole Foods. I was dumbfounded by the variety. I’m lucky to find a bottle of iced tea in Nicaragua and when I do, there is only one flavor. I had forgotten the complexity that goes into simple decision making when buying products back home. I thought about my low hanging fruit trees while trying to decipher the countless tea flavors waiting to be purchased and consumed. I thought about the simplicity in making lemonade every morning. I love to hear the thumping of the ripe green little fruits as they hit the soil after banging them down with a bamboo chute.

I missed Nicaragua more than I thought I would; the smells, sights, sounds, and rhythms that come together to make Ometepe and this country who she is. The methodic scrubbing of dirty clothes on a lavandero, the jingling bells of the ice cream man, the rhythmic call of the fish seller in the morning, roosters crowing, rain tapping away at the tin roof, horse drawn carts, street vendors, barefoot children, hummingbirds at my window, parrots, volcanoes, cuajada (Nica cheese), gallo pinto, crowded buses, my friends, and mid-day naps were all once foreign to me, but have become a part of who I am here in Nicaragua.

It soothed my bones to step off the plane and feel the blast of tropical heat rising up from the tarmac. The very next day Ali sped over to my side of the house. Concepcion had erupted and the ash would soon be swirling down. I rushed to get my freshly washed clothes off the line and inside for shelter. In my scuttle I noticed a hummingbird fluttering steadily next to a star fruit while the tortilla man rolled by casually on the main street. He went on selling tortillas, and I was in a sprint to get my clothes inside. It was a simple moment that could have easily been forgotten but hasn't escaped me. That moment was Nicaragua; a steady but beautiful chaos.

Hi Everyone!!

Sorry for being so late in updating my blog (6 weeks ago). It´s not a lack of content, but rather a combination of writers block and burn out. I have good news though. I´m going home, for the first time in nearly two years, on the 26th!!! I´ll have three weeks of vacations to reflect upon my service thus far all while in the company of the people I love and know best. I have some mixed emotions about it and they seem to be at two extremes. I´m excited and nervous: Excited to see my friends, family, and country. Nervous about how this will affect future decisions that I make and also because maybe I´ll realize some of the changes I have taken on. I´ve been in Nicaragua for 22 months straight.

I´m having a BBQ on the 5th of July at my parents house so everyone is welcome. Please come!!!!!

PS-The transportation strike finally ended after 12 days. I barely listened to the national radio address that Pres Ortega gave announcing the agreement that had been forged between the transportistas and the government. Not too many others in Moyogalpa seemed interested either. Then again, the island never lets go of that gentle equilibrium it has. Ortega´s address was nothing like an FDR fireside chat with families anxiously wrapped around their radios in angst. The deal that was struck gives those who provide public transport, of any kind, a fuel subsidy that maintains the price of gas frozen at a favorable price. Sounds great, right? Hmmmmmmmmmm...........ask the taxi driver I recently talked to in Managua. The subsidy only applies to the cheapest gas possible, which his car was not made for. GOCHA!!!!!!!!

PSS- Karen, my supervisor, came in from Managua on Mon and Tues for my final site visit. Very Successful.

There is a full transportation strike underway in Nicaragua and its getting messy. Luckily, this battle has failed to hit the island keeping it peaceful here, as always. It could change though? The ferries are still running for now.

In Managua there are no buses, taxis, and trucks have even come to a halt as well. Violent protests have broken out in the streets now claiming one death. With gas prices here topping $7 a gallon the transportation unions are asking for the ability to raise the rate they charge to passengers, which is regulated by the Ministry. When does a crisis oficially become a crisis?

Have you ever had one of those moments? One of those that lifts you up from a rut? One of those that manages to erase away the days stains? One of those that reminds you to take a deep breath.....that everything is just fine? I had a few of those on my birthday last month.

I had to laugh when I found two of my ¨presents¨ waiting for me outside the night of my birthday. ¨She came by and left them for you,¨ my sister Milena told in the middle of eating a bowl of gallo pinto. ¨I tied them up for you.¨ her voiced echoed as I made my way to the back porch. ¨TIED THEM UP....What?????,¨I thought to myself.

It was hard to see in the dusky gray light but I made out the shadows of two chickens sleeping together at the edge of the big white table kept in its usual place under the tin roofed patio.

¨They are the good kind........I´m jealous,¨ Milena added in, still eating the gallo pinto, and now smirking. ¨I think I´ll rob them,¨ she laughed.

I had been meaning to buy two chickens from the English professor, Ada, for the longest time but this came out of no where. With egg prices so high, I figured I´d make the investment.

The next day I saw Ada´s daughter Katherine in the street and asked her very directly how much I owed her mother for the chickens knowing that Nicas will do anything to skirt discussions of money. ¨Oh no no no.....they are a birthday present,¨ she smiled patiently. My heart must have grown twice its size at that moment.

I have no idea how she knew it was my birthday, but she must have remembered it somehow because she was right on. Have you ever gotten live chickens for your birthday? It was a first for me.

My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year which meant working the whole day. To be honest, I´m not really that big on birthday´s. I don´t go all out and I´m fine with just a card and less rif raf. Maybe it´s being a twin and without Gretchen at my side it just doesn´t feel right celebrating. Ironically, our first birthday ever apart was our 21st.

I have had some memorable recent birthday´s though. For our (people tend to smile when I use ¨our¨) 19th I flew in from Tampa to surprise my family. Or for my 20th when my University teammates put on a surprise party.

My 26th is going to have it´s place on the list too. I was woken up at 5AM with two consecutive phone calls: One from a Nica friend and the other from a PC friend. To be serenaded early in the morning is customary here and not as romantic as you would imagine. ¨Las Mañanitas¨ is a beautiful Mexican birthday song with poetic lyrics that could make anyone feel special. My favorite line is ¨El día en que tú naciste, nacieron todas las flores. (The day you were born, all the flowers were born).

At work, the staff had a lunch for me consisting of the typical tajadas and pollo (plantain chips and chicken), which I can never manage to get enough of. It was a touching gesture when I was passed a bag that held a new green and white polo shirt and a matching baseball cap. A sign of Nicaraguans generosity despite their economic situation. The students sang Las Mañanitas to me and I even got a few hugs.

That wasn´t enough! Later that night while I was taking attendance at my community class I noticed a few rare absences only to suddenly be showered with grafitti and glitter from behind. The some 20 students in my community class had planned and conspired to put on a tiny festival. Class was canceled that day needless to say. They had bought soda, a tub of ice cream, and cookies. We danced together right their in the classroom and played pin the nose on the clown. I was given a pair of socks, two handkerchiefs, and a small clay jar. My face is still sore from the permanent smile that crossed my face that day.

That following weekend, the Rivas PCV´s plus a few more drug me to a small dance club right on the beach in San Jorge and treated me to an alcohol free night of catching up and putting our stresses aside. The cold winds off the lake were a blessing that kept us from sweating until the point of melting.

After all was said and done I laid up in bed the following morning and got the present that I get every morning from my personal alarm clock that never lets me down.......kisses from Civila. Ahhhhhhhh....one of those moments.

Whether it´s work or play, Jasmine and I always have a good time.

Lori is the TEFL volunteer in Rivas and has enough attitude to subsidize all of Nicaragua. How did we become such good friends? That happened back in November at the All Volunteer Conference while working on a dramatic skit. Since then, it´s been a blast.

I love having a place to hang out in Rivas now (even have a copy of her house keys) and don´t have to worry about leaving Managua so early all the time in order to make the last ferry. No one can make me laugh more. Thanks Lori.

Civila (Cee Cee) LOVES her Lori by the way.

YOU SO CRAZY!

¨The air in the tropics suggests, during the day, that nothing can be accomplished, that decay and lassitude are man´s lot. But at night the air feels full of excitement and potential action. Some perfumed promise waits in it to be realized.¨

-Brazil- John Updike

The sun has been scorching lately. Accomplishing the smallest task seems like lifting a heavy weight. I wait for night like an owl. Is that a haiku? I just bought Al Gore´s documentary in Spanish and am now convinced more than ever that global warming is taking it´s toll. This year is so much hotter than the last.

Luckily, my heat rash hasn´t been acting up lately and it was a pleasant surprise to hear the familiar song that the rain drops play on my tin roof when it rained two nights ago. I gave Civila a bath today after she had been rolling around in a soiled diaper she found God knows where.

Life goes on for everything and everyone. The plantain trucks are running on and off the island with no rest. In charge of the island´s main export, they go off to El Salvador and Honduras like lighting, and return even faster. I can hear their rumbling off in the distance every morning coming from the fincas in the neighboring villages.

An island stuck in time? Yes, in many respects, compared to the United States.

A brilliant orange.

The last lancha of the day pulling into port.

In the distance, a fisherman with his catch.

The day I took these pictures there was a huge mess at the port. I had just spent the day with a friend from Managua that owns a farm on the island with an amazing view of the lake.

There was a small protest at the port because the ferry machine operator was drunk and the port military would not give the ferry permission to leave. In a span of about 15 minutes I must have been told three times we were leaving only to have the story change. It was on the news and people were freaking out just to create drama in my opinion.

Any way, permission was given to a government ferry to leave, that was by chance docked, and I got to watch the military kick off three drunks that started fighting!! Listen to me........ Yes, I do have a life...an island life.

It happened kind of as a last minute decision. Elton has a different style that I like very much and regretted not making the effort to get to know him better when he told me about his move to Panama.

I decided to have a going away party for him and the guys on the block. Guys that I always chat with but never really sat down to have the type of conversations with them that I wanted to.

I just see so much potential in this group of guys (one a law student) my age that a lot of the time resorts to sitting on the street corner whether it be lack of work, societal influences, or simply nothing else to do. My wheels have been turning for quite some time now about..what to do what to do.........hmmmmmmmmmmm.

This party broke the ice which was a blast. They even dove right into the Mentos that my Mom sent me in a package last week. This Saturday we are having a lunch at my house to talk about various community projects that we could get involved in and explore their ideas about how to better their community.

A diverse and fun group.....

Each one with untapped talents, thoughts, and capacity to do great things.

They really got into the different poses. Elton is in the yellow shirt below. I have my arm around Pedro who is the law student that I mention above, and a natural leader. Pedro took a liking right away to my community project idea.

Where's my sign???

You are so not bad Ricky!!!! Ricky speaks really good English and seeing we are neighbors he always tries to have conversations with me at my house. The only problem is when it's at two in the morning after a night at the club and I'm trying to sleep...........tomorrow Ricky tomorrow!

Thought this was a cool pic.......this dove managed to take up residence in the tree right outside of my house. A sign of good luck maybe, considering the dove is a symbol of Peace Corps.

PS- In Managua because I have a weird rash on my body...luckily its only caused by the heat and nothing worse.

Do you wanna cool down after your primary vote? Or maybe even get warmed up before you go to your polling place, if you still haven´t yet voted? Hillary and Barack aren´t the only ones dueling it out to win a nomination ya know!!

If Ometepe were a presidential candidate she would be one major player, an unstoppable force, a political machine, loved by the press and feared by her opponents. She would have Hillary´s experience, intellect, and saavyness. She would take on Barack´s energy, exuberance, and excitement. She´d carry the star power of both of them combined. She would be blessed with John McCain´s.......................ummmmmmmmmmmmm............................. John McCain´s...................... Well any way.........I need your help. Well, not actually me, but my home here in Nicaragua.

The buzz started the day I came back from vacation reading La Prensa on the ferry. A beautiful spread of Ometepe appeared on the front page. I always thought that the ¨7 Wonders of the World ¨ just had to do with the ancient ones, but I was apparently mistaken. Ometepe has been nominated to be one of the ¨7 Natural Wonders of the World!¨ How pijudo(awesome)is that?

There is an web based vote taking place and if you get a free moment, the campaign that was started looks pretty cool and some of the other nominations do as well. Just do it!! You don´t need to register or even ask for an absentee ballot. So with out further delay............... I leave you with the website.....have fun. http://www.new7wonders.com/nature/en/vote_on_nominees/

PS- Just spent a two day tour of the island with my boss Lizzet. I tried convincing her that the island was in need of new TEFL volunteers that come in July. It worked because it looks like Ometepe is getting two! They will be in far removed sites that are in need of the support in various aspects. I was able to see some new places on the island for the first time myself. La Palma was impressive with no electricity and people still living in ¨ranchitos¨ (houses made of palm leaves and plantain peels).

HI All-

Currently on ¨Spring Break¨ with about eight other volunteers in a very unique area of the country called Rio San Juan. I just got off of a 12 hour ferry ride and in a few hours have to get on another small bout for a two hour ride out to a small archipelago of islands, on Lake Nicaragua, called Solentiname.

I have a backlog of entries all the way back to November so I have got to start rolling out the presses for you big time when I get back.

Lori came over to the island to prepare for the trip and we cooked up a whole bunch of food for the ferry ride like fried fish and plantains. We joked around a bit because all we do is EAT TOGETHER!!

Don Miguel stopped by to warn us not to go swimming in the river San Juan because of the freshwater lake sharks which are supposedly abundant in these waters.

I laughed at the story he told us twice about a man getting eaten by a lake shark because it sounded like something right out of the Spanish version of JAWS. It´s hard to know whether Nicas are exaggerating or not.

Ho Hum....Civi is being watched by Milena and man does she LOVE Lori. Civi tried sleeping with her every night.

Aside from work I´ve been giving some HIV/AIDS presentations to the kids at school and I´ll have to update you to some changes I´ve had this year regarding my work assignments......but work will have to wait because I´m on Vay K!!!!!!!!!!

I had been planning on doing it for a while and promised my two little neighbors Stephanie and Allison that it would happen. I am a firm believer in always holding promises to little kids and when an adult promises to do something, it should be fulfilled. What it took was having my sister here in December to get me motivated to finally come through and I am all the more happy for it.

Remember doing that when you were a little kid? Scribbling your name in the towns freshly paved cement sidewalk with your friends and a stick in hand. Someone had already done that part for us on the cement wall outside of my house. Instead of some doodled names and a date though, this person had engraved the outline of a potentially beautiful landscape. All it needed was a paint job. Here´s how it happened!

The players: Gretchen, Stephanie (above), Allison (right), and oh yeah.....the wall!!!!

The end result. Don Miguel was quite impressed with the monkey and my neighbor, taking a break from her sweeping, came over and watched the painting take place. This is a really nice memory that I have right outside of my house and spices up Calle 8, that´s my street, a little bit more. Especially during this dusty and dry season.

PS- Had a new experience today. I translated (which is tiring and hard work having to go back from English to Spanish and vice versa in a matter of seconds) for a medical brigade that came into town. There were nursing students and pre-med students from Valparaiso University that had their nice little suburban eyes opened to the realities of third world health care and all of the superstitions:) We saw a lot of undernourished kids amidst an array of issues.

The funniest had to be the one patient we saw who was a mother with an infant boy, trying to explain that one of his testicles was bigger than the other. Sounded not too out of the ordinary to me but then again I am no doctor and was only translating. It worried the mom because she couldn´t find the home remedy for him and so she came to the hospital..............are you ready for this?

She has been trying to search high and low for a special nest made by a type of hummingbird, to take it, and put it around her sons larger testicle of the two to help shrink it to its normal size again. She swears it worked on her older son. Don´t even ask!

Also...BEWARE PREGNANT MOTHERS....we recently had a lunar eclipse here and if you are pregnant and leave the house during a lunar eclipse your baby might be born with deformities. Couldn´t stop laughing at that one when my neighbor, who was God honest serious, was trying to convince me that it is fact and not fiction. What would the AMA think of all of this? I wasn´t lying when I told you all that the book I am going write after my PC experience is to be titled ¨Erik In Wonderland.¨ That is sometimes how I feel here.

A summer camp in January you say? Yes, it´s true..a summer camp in January when all the bright and happy faced children of Nicaragua are on ¨summer break¨ from classes. At the end of January I was invited, by Peace Corps and the US Embassy, with some other volunteers to be a part of something new.

One hundred high school and university aged youths from Nicaragua participated in am English immersion summer camp where they lived in dorm for two weeks, received daily classes, and participated in daily field trips around Managua.

The site of the camp was at a rather drab convention center owned by the Ministry of Education but never the less it did the trick. As PCV´s were able to select some of our own students to participate in the camp and help them get around the application process.

The camp was fun and drama free until a group of students was caught letting a fire extinguisher off in the dorms and with just my luck it was one of my students! We had a heart to heart moment afterwords about responsibility, maturity, representation. I was fairly upset at him after having written him a letter of rec and reminding him that what he did reflects poorly on his fellow islanders and me.

After classes in the morning sessions, field trips were taken to select sights around Managua like the National Palace, the city zoo, and the movie theater. One of the more anti-climatic excursions but most memorable ones had to be the visit we paid to El Nuevo Diario which is Nicaragua´s arguably largest paper (there are only two). We didn´t see the printing press but went to the ram-shackled headquarters to learn about the papers history and talk with some of the journalists typing away. It was a scene right out of the movie Superman...a Nica Lois Lane punching away at her old computer keys trying to meet the deadline. Journalism has always been interesting and somewhat romantic to me but is one thing that I have never pursued.

To round off the moment we all piled in front of the building to take a picture. The next day there we all were on the front page of El Diario. Now I´ll always have a great memory of a part of my service that I enjoyed.

Probably the most rewarding part of the summer camp was being able to connect with the kids at meal times and at night before bed time even though we stayed in a separate hotel as volunteers. Edwing is 15 and from Cuidad Dario and reminds of myself in so many ways. Articulate, kind, and likable he has an undying passion for flying even though he has never flown. He just knows he´ll like it. The sky has, still does, and always will captivate me and Edwing was full of questions about my short flying days.

One of the nights I took advantage of being in ¨the city¨ and went to the theater with a Nica friend of mine from Managua named Omar. We bought tickets for Soy Leyenda (I am Legend) with Will Smith and as we were entering the theater with popcorn and sodas in hand Omar told me he was excited because it was his first time seeing a movie in the theater. He´s 22. I congratulated him and it was another one of those ¨grounding moments¨ that always reminds me where I am, who I am, and what I´m doing here.

The end ceremony was a treat for the kids as they were able to meet with the Ambassador, take a picture with him, get a certificate, show off their US national anthem singing skills they picked up, and say farewell. Quite a few were full of teary eyes having to say good bye to old friends and new. I know that if I could have done summer camps for my entire service, it would have been extremely rewarding.

Me and some of the guys squeezed onto the bench.

Geneir from Rivas is so funny. One of their class activities was to design a fashion show describing their clothes and accessories.

George was one of my favorite students. We liked watching music videos together at night.

The other volunteers that I worked with and some of the staff.

Working in class.

With my bosses daughter, Magda. Magda grew up in the US when her mom was completing her graduate studies there. She is a really cool girl.

My island guys!!!! Roberto, Luis Alberto, and Pancho.

Man....I dont complain much but it IS GETTING SO HOT HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a few queries that I just want to put out there in writing.

Why is it that nothing works here? The extension cord that I bought one month ago short circuited. My lamp light flickers on and off as if I were stuck in a prison ward. My radio of a year old has a busted speaker. The TV I bought used last year decided that one day it just doesn´t want to turn on. My coffee maker doesn´t make coffee, and one side of my electric stove is the coldest thing nearest the equator.

Why is it you can never get change when you need it? Getting change can be a drama to the end. Businesses here never start the day with change in the drawer and you get looks from the vendors like your the $%"·$&/ if you give them a bill more than 50 cordobas and they ask you....¿No Andas Sencillo? Don´t you have change? Ummmmmmm.....if I had the change I would give it to you....you´re the business.....dont you have the change? I have two strategic stores that I know always have change that I can go to in order to cash my whopping 100 cordoba bill.

I had to go to 8...count em....8 stores one time to buy two bags of ice for a party. The catch is though that all of the 8 ventas (stores) had signs hanging up advertising the sale of ice but didn´t have any. The stores don´t have it when you need it and when they do have it they never have the proper change for you to purchase it.

I know I´m talking in extremes here....thanks for letting me vent. Despite all of the differences...and my American impatience at times...I love Nicaragua.

Visual stimulation works ya know. I could use I nice Alaska snow capped mountain right about now. This was back in my flight attendant days.

¨She left you her fridge,¨ she gently told me in the middle of purchasing eggs. ¨You were like a son to her and that is special because that woman does not take to people that well. She keeps insisting that I give it to you so I have to follow through with my promise that I would.¨

I never would have thought that a 92 year old lady could have been one of my best friends. Short, hard at hearing, and a shrill voice, Doña Elida was like the icing on any cake or the life of a party; anything but dull.

We met by convenience after she moved into the vacant house across the street from mine. After the moment that I helped her get a small mouse out of a trapped pillow case we were an instant match.

How can I explain to you my relationship with this wacky and unique woman. In many respects she is the grandmother that I never had. I never tired of the same two stories that she would tell me and they always managed to be funny. The most famous one has to be about the month that she lived in Miami (I swear to you that Miami is THE Nicaraguan Mecca and for most Nicas Miami IS the United States or seems to be the only place that exists in the USA) but had to leave because it was TOO COLD. Yes, you heard me, TOO COLD IN MIAMI. ¨Solamente andaba en sueter (I was only wearing sweaters),¨ she used to screech away. ¨¡MUY HELADO!¨ Even how she flew there all by herself.

The second one details a list of all the foods that she used to be able to cook in her younger days including chancho frito, nacatamales, sopa de mondongo, chicharon......¡DE TODO! A sad face would follow her reveries of better times when her body permitted her to do those things.

Most of the time I would just sit on her porch with her and sit, chat, listen to her preach away, watch the news together, and enjoy the company. She would even sing to me some Bible songs. Civila gave her daily visits to eat her spare scraps and lay on the cool white and blue ceramic tiles in her house.

Most of our conversations consisted of me screaming because of her hard hearing and Civila must have nearly 100 different names as a result. ¨Wewela, Chepilla, Cepilla........and many more.¨ She never could get it, but it none the less did not put a damper on their relationship. She even let Civila into her house to sleep one stormy night that I was in Managua despite the protest of her cook at the time, according to the story.

My favorite memories have to be of the moments of us dancing together from afar. I always sweep my house with the front door open and the radio on. Sometimes I´ll dance a little while sweeping and from Doña Elida´s porch she has the perfect vantage point to peek inside. I stretched my hands up into the air waving hi and she started to dance along while sitting down in her rocker.....smiling away. Those moments were few in frequency but plentiful in the happy endorphins that flowed through my brain creating memories.

A week ago she was obliged to go to Managua to live with a daughter of hers there because the daughter who was watching over her on the island went to Miami to work....UNHEARD OF!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Either way I was a bit misty eyed saying good bye to her and she just stood there in her usual night gown smiling away at me telling me how much Civila loves her.

This past weekend my PC friend Lori came to spend a few days on the island and she laughed as I walked through the front door holding the small rusty fridge that Doña Elida´s granddaughter made sure I received. We sang ¨Movin On Up To The East Side¨ as I plugged in the fridge that was left for me to watch over. I inaugurated its use by putting in some organic chocolate bars (V-Day gift from the family) to keep cold.

I imagine her sitting on the porch as I leave for work now, and miss her seeing me off every morning giving me her advice of the day. ¨¡Si estan de necio...... que les pegue!¨ (!If they (the students) are being brats........HIT EM!

Seeing off a dear friend