Ora Bolas - Letra

Oy! Oy! Oy! Mira aquella bola, la bola, la bola, donde vive ese nene.

¿Quien es ese nene?

Ese nene es mi vecino

¿Donde vive el?

El vive en una casa

¿Donde está la casa?

La casa esta esta en la calle

¿Donde esta la calle?

Está en una ciudad

¿Donde esta la ciudad?

Al lado de un río

¿Donde está ese río?

Está en Argentina

¿Donde esta Argentina?

Está en América del sur

Del continente Américano

Cerca del oceano

De la tierra más distante

De todo el planeta.

¿Y como es el planeta?

El planeta es una bola

Una bola por crecer... (bis 3)

Feliz Año Nuevo! It´s new year´s eve day here in Nicaragua. Courtney and I are in the department of Jinotega enjoying internet, a good Nica lunch and visiting friends. It´s a rainy day here but I´m sure that won´t put too much of a damper on the spirits and festivities of the Nicaraguans. New Year´s is more of a family holiday with a big dinner and then the burning of a stuffed man who represents the old year at midnight. I´m not sure I´ll be roaming the streets at this hour to witness it but I´ve seen the stuffed men already standing outside of the houses and I´ll use my imagination to picture him of fire. I thought I´d just leave some pictures of my adventure here in Nicaragau. Some work related and some just fun.

Happy New Year!

Courtney and I give oral health charlas (chats, talks) in the primary schools when we have some free time. It's a lot of fun and the kids really like it.

One of the Health Brigades that come through Nicaragua left Courtney a puppet designed to teach oral health. It has big teeth, it comes with an oversized toothbrush and has a built in water squirt mechanism that will shoot water at the kids from underneath the tongue....although we have yet to use this feature.

We start the charlas by asking for three volunteers. We give the volunteers disclosing tablets to chew, spit out and then model the pink stained plaque for all their classmates amusement. This is a great way to start off because the kids love it and it shows them exactly what we are talking about...plaque!Then we give the volunteers toothbrushes for being good sports and get into the substance of the charla. We talk about brushing, good foods, bad foods, the importance of teeth...all the good stuff.

It's a fun way to spend an hour or two when we don't have any other work to be done and it's a nice break from just pulling teeth in the health center...an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure.

I'm living and working in a town that's just 30 minutes north of my previous PC site, the city of Jinotega in the department of Jinotoga. San Rafael del Norte is the name of the town but it's still located in the department, think state, of Jinotega. It's 400 meters higher in altitude than Jinotega so it's a bit cooler during the day and much cooler at night. Which is great.

Courtney arranged for me to work with a dentist, the only dentist, in the health center here; Dra. Mirna.

The health center is owned, operated, and funded by the government of Nicaragua. All the services provided by the health center are free to Nicaraguans. And San Rafael just moved into a new health center, but with most of the same equipment they had at the old health center. Or in the case of Dra. Mirna, with less equipment than she had at the old health center. Apparently, the dental chair she had, which is a dental chair straight out of the 1950's, metal, does not adjust in any way possible and does not retain any of the old cushions it once had in it's day, does not fit into the new dental operatory.

The new operatory has connections for air, water, suction and all the things we associate with a dental chair but does not work with this old chair. So, for the time being, we are using a dining room table chair.

The light we had also did not make it, so we use the natural light provided by the window. And it works.

In the health center, Dra. Mirna, does extractions. And that is the only thing that is provided. Extractions. Cavity...extraction. Pain...extraction. Abscess...extraction. But, it is free of charge. Well, that is if you don't want the e-spri (spray anesthesia). This, Dra. Mirna buys and provides as a service to her patients for a small fee of 20 cords...one dollar. Also, before she sees a patient she discusses their current vaccinations. And the conversation usually goes something like this...

Dra. Mirna- Is your tetanus vaccination current?

Patient- Yes, I think I had the vaccination last year?

Dra. Mirna- You think?

Patient- Yes, I'm pretty sure it was last year?

Dra. Mirna- Okay, I'll believe you. But, if you get tetanus,

it's not my fault.

Patient- Oh. Well. I'm not really sure if it was last year or

not. But, I'm pretty sure it was in the last few

years.

Dra. Mirna- Okay.

It's a very strange conversation to have with a patient before extracted teeth. However, she does sterilize the instruments. But, are instruments are limited and they can't be sterilized after each patient, although she does scrub them with a brush and a disinfecting liquid, it's most likely a conversation born out of experience. Although I've never asked.

Dra. Mirna is interesting. At the health center, as I've said, all she provides are extractions...at the health center. However, at her home, she has a dental operatory where she provides, for a fee, fillings, crowns, dentures and most other common dental treatments. Which I find interesting. Dra. Mirna is a Sandinista...politically. However, in her private life she believes in capitalism. The two don't really go together. In the Sandinista theme song, Yankees are singled out as being the enemy of humanity and I've listened to many speeches by Mr. Ortega which blames capitalism, specifically that practiced by the U.S., as the cause of Nicaragua's problems. He even blamed the last Hurricane to hit the country on the U.S..

Interesting.

How do I catch everyone up on what's been going on in the last few months? I don't! I'm going to hit the highlights and show some cool pics and promise to post more often...but this may or may not be true...I'll try. I thought I'd start with my apartment. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment behind another house...so, my apartment is off the street. This is a big deal in Nicaragua because the noise level is greatly reduced and because people can't just stop by my house...which is the custom here. As far as apartments go mine is very nice. The previous volunteer lived here before me and as soon as she left I took over. My ceilings meet the walls, I have glass on my windows and tile on my floor. This is not the norm in Nicaragua. Also, I have 2 orange trees, 2 banana trees, one mandarin orange tree, one lime tree, one sour orange tree, and an avacado tree in my patio. There is also mint and cilantro growing everywhere on the ground. The family that owns the house in front, whom is very nice, take very good care of the plants. Okay, so this is my house. Nice, comfortable and I can eat things that grow in my patio. My Dad came to Nicaragua recently and we spent a few days in Granada, a d ay in Jinotega and then we went to Panama. We had a great time. I was so glad to see my Dad and we had a great time. These pictures are all out of order because I have not been able to figure out how to move the pictures around like I want them....so, just ignore that if you can. We rented a car in Panama...which turned out to be an adventure in and of itself. We made our plane from Managua to Panama by the skin of our teeth...they were calling our names as we were running up to the gate....long story involving a passport and a subway sandwich. Anyway, we made it. Landed in Panama aroung 8 o'clock. And were actually able to find our hotel all the way across town...we followed a thrifty employee for 80 percent of the way and then got horribly lost. We stopped at a McDonald's to ask directions... and to get something to eat. We thought we had the right directions but there was this one turnabout highway on/off ramp that kept messing us up. We eventually paid a taxista a few dollars to follow hime to the hotel. One of the things I learned on this trip is that my Dad and I are not what you would call strict by the map navigators. We are more trial and error types. Now, both styles are valid but with the latter type you have to be a little more relaxed and open to new and unexpected experiences...it turns out we both are and we did fine with this style of navigation. Funny thing is, that McDonalds we stopped at the first night became a very important point of reference for our future tours around the city. We saw the canal, the old city of Panama ( the oldest city in all of the America's on the Pacific coast), native Kuna peoples, the beautiful pacific and just had a great time. The picture overlooking the big buildings of Panama was taken from the top of Ancon hill where we were staying. We had a blast. Of all the things we saw and did, my dad said that he like Jinotega, where I live, the best and that he wanted to come back and spend a little more time there. We introduced him to a panadaria where they make these sweet treats and if you now what time to to you can get them fresh out of the oven. I hope he comes back.

I have discovered that if I sit just inside the front gate to my house....just off the street and in a little corner so nobody walking by can see me...there is a mysterious internet signal that I receive...gratis. Entonces, there will be a new post coming soon. Not right now becuase I'm too tired...but soon. Just wanted to give everyboy a heads up to see who all is still following this blog. I have to give a shout out to Andy who has faithfully encouraged new work...Mike also, until he got tired of encouraging and just started e mailing me to find out what I am up to. Also, some other good news. My Dad will be coming down soon and he will be spending some time here in Jinotega and we will be traveling to Panamá to see the canal. I will update with pictures and his reaction to this whole thing. I´m thinking of putting up some pics of my house, yard area so he...and everyone will know where and how I am living...and, if you want to come visit, you can see where you will be visiting. Alright, enough for now.

Shaun

Here's a story that some of you will appreciate and others well....might not get. I'm not trying to post to my blog only for some people but this particular post just kind of works out that way and it's too much to explain the whole story.

The church in the pictures above, La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias, is almost directly across the street from the house that I am currently renting a room in. I have known this church was here for sometime and thought it an interesting coincidence for it to be almost right in front of me. Well, the other day I left my house with a friend and we walked down to the corner store in search of diet coke...or coke light as it's known here. It was dark and sometimes it can be very hard to see at night walking on the streets of Jinotega. We walked to the store, bought our drinks, and were making our way back to the house. We were passing the church but I really didn't realize it because it was so dark. I heard some singing and the tune sounded vaguely familiar. Which was a little strange because here in Jinotega nothing is familiar, vaguely or otherwise. So I stopped and I listened to the singers and the song. The source of the song was the church, La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santo de los Ultimos Dias. I knew I had heard the song before but the words were all in Spanish so I wasn't sure. I thought just by the tune that the song was "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel". But, I kept listening and then it hit me what the song was. It wasn't "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel" but "There is Sunshine in my Soul".

Kristi, I remember you had wanted and hoped and prayed for some kind of sign. I had been wanting the same thing. Brenda, I remember talking to you about this very thing. Now, I don't know for sure if that is what it was or not but I want to believe it was. At any rate it spoke to me and it helped me. Jinotega, now, is not all that unfamiliar.

Here are a few pics of a weekend trip to selva

negra and some of a baby weighing session. These

pics are for you Andy.

One Month as an official Peace Corps Volunteer and...

Entonces, I have one month as an official Peace Corps Volunteer and I have not changed the world for the better, I do not speak fluent Spanish, I have not found a house of my own, I’m having difficulties with my main colleague, I broke a tooth and had to travel to Managua to have it repaired, I was sick with parasites, again, I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be doing, I was pickpocketed, when inquiring about the cost of things I feel as if there is always a price that’s just a little bit (sometimes a lot) higher than what is customary, and to be honest, I always have one question on my mind....What am I doing here? I was talking to a friend about these things and she said, “Well, you signed up for this”. Yes, before all of you agree with my friend out there, I realize I volunteered for the Peace Corps and I knew there were going to be challenges, hardships, loneliness, difficulties with the language and culture, sicknesses and on and on. I knew this and I volunteered anyway. So here I am and I have nobody to blame but myself. How does the saying go? Be careful what you ask for....

When I first arrived to Jinotega, one month ago, I, along with other Peace Corps Volunteers, worked with a group of doctors from the US. We went along and translated for the doctors and nurses and I was able to do some dentistry. It was great. We had to be up around 5:30 and we returned to Jinotega around 6. We traveled around to the outlying communities and worked with some really great people. I was actually able to translate and felt pretty good when someone called me over to translate and I could actually do it. I felt like Peace Corps was the right choice and I was going to be all right. Then, the medical brigade left. During this time we had what’s called a Jornada de Vacunas. This is where the doctors and nurses from the Health Center here in Jinotega go to the outlying communities and vaccinate people. This is something I was really interested in doing and I set out for the health center Monday morning at 5:50 AM; it’s a 10 minute walk from where I am living to the health center. I waited for everyone to load up the trucks, said hello to people I had previously met and was introduced to a myriad of new people. I wasn’t sure what I was going to be doing this day but I was excited. It turns out I went along with two of the health center employees. Our job was to go to the outlying communities and make people aware of when and where the doctors and nurses were coming and who should be vaccinated. This involves riding around in a truck with two seriously loud speakers on top announcing this information and posting signs. We did this all day over some seriously rough terrain. Think dirt roads with ruts, rocks, streams, mud and the mountains of Jinotega. Now, I was okay with this as it gave me the opportunity to see some beautiful country. Jinotega is the center of coffee country in Nicaragua and has a mountainous terrain with some of the communities having very cool climates. One day, I only took off my long sleeve shirt for about 2 hours in the middle of the day; the rest of the day was a little chilly. It also gave me the opportunity to see and meet the farmers of these large coffee plantations. These are very poor, humble people that always offered us coffee, beans, tortillas and cuajada to eat. I was never hungry. The guys I was working with were also given big bunches of bananas cut right off the tree and carrots the size of which I had never seen. Great people. I was a little bored as I was just really riding in the back of the truck and not doing a lot. We stayed out each day until about 7 o’clock at night. I was exhausted when I returned home. To cure my boredom on these trips I started taking pictures of some of the people. Now, at first the people were shy so I couldn’t just go up and start taking pictures. I would show them my camera and show them a picture I had previously taken and then ask if they wanted their photo taken. I was amazed at how popular I became. The kids in every community loved the camera and laughed when I showed them their picture; even if they did not smile for the photo, which is a cultural thing here. Here in the mountains I got to see how the farmers live and it’s a far cry from Managua and other major cities in Nicaragua.

During this time I was also trying to find a place to live, find my way around Jinotega, work on some of the required work I have to do within these first few months of service, study Spanish, take part in some of the cultural fiestas, figure out how to start working with the other NGO’s and the schools here in Jinotega and basically figure out what a PCV does. I am the first Health PCV here in Jinotega so I have to blaze my own path. I don’t get to pick up where someone else left off. Also, my main colleague in the health center has never worked with the Peace Corps before and we are still trying to figure that one out. He is a very nice guy that means well and wants the best for our working relationship...it’s just a little strained right now while we define roles. The Jornada continued but it continued without me for some days because I believe in the mountains I picked up my second parasite.

Not a whole lot to tell here and I won’t be that descriptive. I started having some of the same symptoms I did with the last parasite/bacterial infection I had but I didn’t feel nearly as bad; I could actually leave my bed. So, I picked up some antiparasite meds and started the 6 day course. I felt better within 3 days and was back to my normal self in 8 days. Parasite gone with no obvious signs of a bacteria. During this same time my tooth broke, or an old filling broke taking some tooth with it or some variation of both or one or the other. Believe me, I was in my mouth with flashlight and explorer trying to figure out which. The good thing is I did not have any pain. From my self evaluation, my tooth was on the verge of needing a crown so I called the PC office and scheduled a dental appt. I arrived in Managua, where it has been 98 degrees everyday for the past 2 months, this is the hottest, driest time of the year, where I was surrounded by taxi drivers who began asking, “A donde va chele?”. “Where are you going whitey?” Being in Managua can be a good thing but with a parasite, broken tooth, 98 degree temperatures, being called whitey and trying to be charged those special prices reserved for cheles; this was not one of those times. Long section of the story short, I visited the dentist and she prepped tooth #30 for a resin inlay and cemented it the next day. She was very professional, used top of the line materials, gave profound anesthesia, and I was very satisfied with her overall; this is what I reported to the PC as they asked me to evaluate her. Okay, on to the pickpocket.

This weekend was our fiestas patronales. These are big parties which celebrate the patron saint of the town. We had parades, horses, bands, mass at La Peña de la Cruz ( the cliff of the cross), bull riding and a big festival Saturday night. I went to the bull riding and festival Saturday night with 7 or 8 other PCV’s. I was told to be very careful as there would be people coming in from everywhere and a lot of people drinking. I was also told that a lot of people got pickpocketed so to not bring things of value...cell phone, wallet. I listened and only brought a little bit of cash and my debit card; I had to bring that as I did not have any cash and had to go to the bank before going to the festival. I did however have on cargo pants where the pockets buttoned down and the buttons where on the inside flap of the pocket; not visible from the outside. I felt pretty safe but was still cautious. As I was standing in line (read people pushing and shoving and elbowing each other for 15 minutes, until I decided I was never going to make it to the ticket counter and decided we should try to buy our tickets at the gate), I felt someone trying to reach into my pocket. I immediately brought my hand down on his and turned to look this would be thief in the eye. He tried a couple more times but I kept my hand there and felt him each time. I left the line with my money, debit card and the feeling that I made the right choice in pants and would be able to feel a would be pickpocketer. However, after leaving the bull riding ring and trying to get into the stadium where the festival was there was a huge crowd pushing and shoving, much worse than before and it was all I could do to stay on my feet a couple of times. After we entered the stadium I went to retrieve my money from my pocket and noticed the button undone and the pocket was open. I stuck my hand in to find it was empty. They got me. The second guy apparently was much better than the first because I never saw, heard or felt anything. The only good thing is that he did not get much money and I was able to have my card blocked before he could make any charges. I called the PC Safety and Security Coordinator and he handled everything for me, even putting the stolen money back right away. It was only 5 dollars but here it’s 100 cordobas and it’s lunch at a nice restaurant, with drink, dessert and money left over to buy a DVD on the street. And it was my 100 cordobas. Almost all the people with me said they had been pickpocketed before and some of them lost cell phones. The safety and security officer stated it had happened to him too. Next time I won’t bring my debit card and I wont’ put my money in my pockets; maybe my shoe? Here, all the women carry their money in their bras and it’s normal to see a woman before she pays for something reach in to her bra to retrieve her money; some of the PCV’s do the same. When in Rome...right?

Well, these are some of the experiences I’ve had so far this month. I still am not sure what an effective PCV is and sometimes I do wonder what I’m doing here. The good thing is not all my experiences have been difficult or negative. I’ve also had some really good experiences and the good thing about good experiences, at least for me, is that one good experience is worth more than x number of bad experiences. However, they can also be personal and difficult to put into words. So, while I may think and occasionally question out loud, What am I doing here?, it’s only because the moments I think I know what I’m doing here can be fleeting and difficult to share. I’ll try anyway but not with words. I’ve included some of my favorite photos I took while traveling in the mountains. I have looked at some of these pictures many times since taking them and yes, I did sign up for this.

I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer...we all are and I feel we have all earned it. We started off with twenty and now we are 18...miss ya’ Ginner. We lost one before we even arrived in Washington so I don’t know if you can count her or not. Anyway, we had our juramentacion in Managua at the Hotel Intercontinental. It was a very nice affair and I have to say the Peace Corps provided a very nice thank you to our host families and a good send off to ourselves. The highlight of the swearing in were: the cake, the pastries, the coffee, Mike and Ian’s speeches....and not necessarily in that order...but the pastries were so good. Let me back up just a little bit though and I’ll try to provide a glimpse into what has been happening the past weeks and why Mike and Ian’s speeches were the highlights. We have all been separated into groups of 3 or 4 in different training towns. I have been with three other aspirantes in a town outside of Managua. We had a really good group and we have come to know each other well and I speak for myself when I say that I’ve come to rely on them for support and to speak English with. These last few weeks, after we returned from visiting our future sites, we had to finish up our youth group projects, we had our final language exam to determine if we had met the minimum requirement to be able to be a productive volunteer, we had our last few days of class, we celebrated a holiday called Semana Santa, and we had to be packed up and ready to leave our host families for Managua for a final few days of technical training. We were busy. It was an emotionally and physically exhausting time. Our group did not do a final project but the whole point of the youth group was a learning experience....point taken. We learned a lot. I entered the Peace Corps with an Intermediate Mid language level. This was good as Intermediate Mid is the minimal level we aspirantes have to obtain in order to be sworn in. I tested out at Intermediate High. I was very pleased with this even though I still believe I have somehow tricked the teachers into thinking I know more than I really do because I am constantly reminded of how much I need to learn. The last few days of class went smoothly. They were held at my house and that was great as I have been doing so much walking in the hot, dry, dust blown Nicaraguan day that being able to wake up and walk to the living room for class was a treat. No complaints there. No Semana Santa. Semana Santa is the week before Easter and it’s a big holiday week here. Most people take the whole week off and many businesses shut down. We were given Thursday and Friday off. This was a nice break we were all looking forward to until about Thursday afternoon. Most of us were bored our of our minds. Sometimes in our little training towns there is not a whole lot to do. With Semana Santa, there really wasn’t anything to do. I spent most of the day Thursday being ridiculed by someone, whose somehow related to our family, for not opening a coconut with a giant knife. Now, I’m pretty much like any other guy. I have an ego. When someone asks, especially a girl, asks me to do something, especially if it involves a knife, I try to do what I can. But a coconut...come on. I’ve never opened a coconut before. I don’t even know where to begin. She just thrust the coconut and some machete looking knife at me and told me to open it. Nothing about that scenario made my ego kick in. I just flat out told her no. She gave me a hard time for a little while but it had no effect on me. Looking at that knife and realizing there is no 911 in Nicaragua kept my ego perfectly happy to refuse to even care. She eventually got some neighborhood boy to come in and open the coconut. You know how he did it? He looked at that knife and then took the coconut and smashed it on the concrete wash basin. Smart kid. Friday looked like it was going to be another long, hot, boring day until I got a call from a friend saying that a group of people were going to the beach and did I want to come. I told her yes, packed a bag, said goodbye to my family and left for the beaches on the Pacific. Now traveling in Nicaragua is not easy. However, after almost 10 weeks at this point we felt pretty confident in our ability to get around. We got on the bus for the beach and left. We got to the beach and made a strange stop. The cobrador, the guy who collects money, got out of the bus and traded in some larger bills for some smaller ones at a pulperia. He never said anything to anyone on the bus. He got back on and we were off. We arrived at another beach, about 10 minutes away, and the bus stopped and this was the end of the line. This is not however where we needed to go nor where we told the driver where we were going. The place we wanted to go and told him we were going was the beach where we made that strange stop and nothing was said to anyone. Now, on this bus there were 4 girngos and 2 Nicas. We tend to stand out in Nicaragua and being the majority on the bus felt that because we were not told when we arrived at the other beach we should be driven back to the first beach, our original destination. However, the driver, the cobrador, and the people who were loading onto the bus all felt differently and before it took and ugly turn we all decided to get out and walk. We arrived at the beach finally and we had just enough time to go swimming and watch the sunset. Then, we realized that there were not enough rooms at our friends house for us and we set out to find the hostel in this town. It was dark and we were hungry and didn´t know exactly where we were going. I was with a good group and I have to say looking back it was a lot of fun. We all finally found a place to sleep and called it a night. The next day we were back at the beach and then we had a long, hot, dry bus ride back home...it was great. We returned to our training towns and had 2 days of class and took our final language exam. We said our goodbyes to our families...Dona Alba Luz she a tear and I have to admit it was difficult leaving her that morning as she was such a great host mom. I plan on visiting her and the family again and I will always have a special place for them. It was one of those it was the best of times worst of times kind of thing...but I tend to bond with people that feed me...especially really good gallo pinto. We all arrived in Managua for our last training and we stayed at a very nice hotel....they had hot water,a.c., and televisions in each room. The owners were very nice also and put up with our wrestling in the back yard. Yes, we wrestled...some have the pics to prove it and my legs still hurt just a little bit. We swam in the pool, ate together, and enjoyed the freedom that speaking your mother tongue with other people that speak that language gives you...after being tongue tied for almost 3 months....it was great. We have a great group and it was tough for me to leave everyone. I will not see most people for the next 3 months....that´s longer than I have known them and they have become such good friends. This is why Mike´s and Ian´s speeches were the highlights for me. Mike spoke about some of the highs and lows of training. He did a great job of capturing what some of us felt and even though he was speaking in Spanish and to everyone, we were the intended audience. Ian had a more formal speech with the ambassador present. He too did a great job and it was a great goodbye speech.

Most of us stayed an extra night in Managua as we didn´t have to be in our sites until Sunday. It was tough leaving people but we each set out in groups of 2,3 and four early Sunday morning. I left for my site around 9 and I am here now. I have been buys meeting with people and trying to figure out the best way to start my next 2 years. That´s not an easy task...especially when you miss your friends...amigos para siempre.

Alot has happened since I last updated and I'm going to try to relate as much as I can in this update. I will update my blog more often than this but this has been a really busy month.

It started out as a typical month with Spanish classes and technical training. We had just returned from visiting other volunteers and we were all excited about where people had been and what volunteer life was like. I think everyone had an eye opening experience and we realized that volunteer life will be drastically different than our training....which is a good thing. As soon as we returned we had a debriefing about our site visits and then we had to think realistically about where we could be placed for the next 2 years. It struck more thank a little panic into a few of us...myself included. We had a site fair where volunteers from the available departments came and briefly presented a few things about each site. We had to fill out our top three choices and that was followed up with an interview by the PC staff. The big day came after a long week of HIV training where we were all away from home and tired and worn out. We each were given our sites and for the most part people were happy. There were a few people who were not too happy. Overall the PC did a great job of placing us where they thought we could get the most positive work experience and give our available talents to the communities. I was really excited about my site placement as it was my number one choice. We had about a week to prepare to go visit our site and the families we will be living with, after we swear in on the 28th of March, for the next 6 weeks. I was excited and anxiously waiting our site visit but it was back to my training town for my Spanish and tech. training. Everything was going fine and then one Sat. I didn't feel quite right.

It wasn't a big deal. I felt a little feverish and tired but just chalked it up to a lot of traveling, classes, stress, tired....etc.,etc., etc., I felt like that for a few days and then Tuesday afternoon, after out class ended at 3, I told my teacher I was going to lay down, in my room as the class is being held at my house, and I would see her tomorrow. I felt terrible the rest of the day. I left my room only to hurry to the bathroom and I told my Mom I wouldn't be eating dinner. The next morning I felt even worse. My stomach felt like one big cramp, my head hurt and I couldn't stand without feeling like I was going to throw up. I walked out into the living to let my class know I would be quickly returning back to bed to find only my Mom and teacher. Apparently at about 3 in the morning, one of the girls in our class had to be taken to the hospital, the other girl rode with her and was going to be sleeping in and the guy in our class was on his way to Managua to visit her as he had been told the girl was about to die. It turned out she wasn't about to die but she had a sever parasite and bacterial infection and was in really bad shape. The PC had her in the best hospital in Managua and she would be fine in just a few days. Meanwhile, I had to travel to the next town to go give blood and a stool sample so they could figure out what I had. Now, at my present condition I could barely stand and there was no way I could walk out in the heat, hail a cab and travel to the next town. The doctor advised my to take a Dramamine, which we have in our PC medical kit, and lay down and go as soon as I could. I did and I finally left the house around 12 o'clock. I had my mom find a cab that would pick me up right at the front door and deliver me directly to the lab. I gave blood and the other sample, as much as I could at the time but I was really drained and the sample was very small. I returned home and climbed back into bed not to leave again until the next day around noon. Now being sick is miserable enough. But being sick in a windowless room with a tin roof that bakes under the Nicaraguan sun, with roosters crowing, smoke wafting in from God knows where and none of those unique comforts from home that we all crave when we are sick is really miserable. By Wednesday, with the help of Dramamine, I was able to leave my room and eat a little. I received a call from the PC Med officer that my blood work was normal and the other sample revealed nothing. Maybe it was just a virus. Okay. Friday we were leaving for our site visits and we would be in Managua meeting our work counterparts for the first time. I made up my mind that I would be there looking as well as I could. The morning went okay but around 11 o clock my stomach cramped, I starting feeling cold and feverish and knew all was not well. I didn't want to get on a 3 hour bus feeling like this and be away from doctors for 5 days. I told our trainers I was feeling poorly and I left the meeting early to go visit the doc and leave another sample for the lab. The PC put me up in a nice hotel in Managua Friday night and Sat. morning I was able to give the lab the sample they were looking for. I popped my Dramamine and left for a 3 hour bus ride to my site.

First, let me say that I love my site. The climate is great. Cool in the mornings and nights but it warms up during the day. I'm going to need a sweater for the nights though. I love it. I actually need blankets to sleep at night! Its located in the mountains and is green and pretty. My host family is nice and the father actually use to live in Gainsville, Georgia. He and his wife are very sweet and he speaks English. He is a real character and has taught me some good slang. And the dog, Bling, and I get along very well. Sat. afternoon I called the PC Med. officer for my results and it turns out I had a parasite. She told me what medicine I needed and I simply walked 2 blocks to the nearest pharmacy, bought the meds., for about one dollar, and was feeling much better in about a week. I am almost back to normal just still tired. We are back in our training towns and have a little over a week left in our towns before heading to Managua. We will have a few days of training in Managua and then leave for our sites. We are all very excited and it feels like we are done and ready to go be volunteers. The picture of the spider is what I found just above my bed when I returned home. Luckily, it was on the outside of the mosquito net and I was able to take care of it easily. I have seen those spiders before. The last time was when I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and looked up at the mirror for a few second before realizing I was looking right into the face of one of those things. They are big. I didn't know what do to...there was no way I could wash my face with that spider just above my down turned head....so, I called for my Mom. She came into the bathroom and I showed her the spider...assuming she would be a little taken back as I was....only to hear her laugh at my and grab a hand towel and shoe the spider away. It really only went about 2 feet but she seamed satisfied with this result and left me to finish up in the bathroom. I finished brushing my teeth and washed my face very quickly all while keeping one eye on that spider. I want to say thanks to Mike and Scott for the harassing e mails to update this blog and also to Joyce for the continued support. I miss all of you guys and I hope everything is well. Dad, happy birthday again and Erin give me a call when you can so we can figure out what happened to that package. And Jackie, I tried to send you an email but it was returned. I'll try again but let me know if it has changed. Love y'all. Shaun. Oh, the other picture is our group on a field trip to one of the many Volcanoes here in the land of Lakes and Volcanoes.

My volunteer visit to the department of Rio San Juan and to the cities of San Marcos and Los Chiles was a success. It all began Thursday night. I was all packed and prepared to leave Thursday night as Friday morning I was leaving my town for some training in a nearby town and directly after that I, along with two other aspirantes, would be riding in the Peace Corps vehicles, new Toyota Land Cruisers with A/C, to Managua. We arrived in Managua about 6 in the evening and went directly to the Peace Corps headquarters. We grabbed a few books and copies of Newsweek and checked into our Peace Corps paid for hotel rooms. The rooms were nice but modest. We did a little shopping in Managua, mainly supplies for the trip the next day, and went to dinner. We had a great dinner, drinks, coffee and desert for around 8 or 9 dollars. I can´t remember exactly. We went back to the hotel as we had to get up around 5 30 to catch the bus leaving at 7. We made it to the bus stop and boarded an old American blue bird school bus, made in Ft. Valley Georgia, for the 12 hour bus ride. The first 3 hours were smooth. Paved roads and not to hot or dusty. Then, the pavement ended and the roads were not just unpaved but with holes, rocks and were just generally in bad shape. We stopped right before we hit the dirt roads so we could eat and the guys on the bus tightened all the lug nuts on the wheels. We stopped several times along the way but only one bathroom break. When we stopped about 4-5 people would board selling different things from soft drinks to fried chicken. I didn´t know what was going on for the first few seconds as these people boarded and began to shout what they were selling. They usually did it in a sing song kind of way...for example, the lady selling fried chicken would shout...pollo frito pollo frito polloooo friiiiiiiiiitooooooo, and so on. Usually there were people already standing in the ailse so they had to squeze past these people to sell their things. It was interesting. The bus would leave and they would ride down the road a way selling and then get off. I think they did this all day and would just ride the buses up and down the highway. I did buy some things from them on the way back that were very good. Okay, so we arrived in San Carlos about 5 30 in the evening. We didn´t feel like going on to Los Chiles so we stayed in San Carlos for the night. San Carlos is beautiful. It sits at the intersection of Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River. We were able to watch the sun dip down behind some mountains in Costa Rica. It was very tranquil. My volunteer and I caught the 8 o clock bus out of San Carlos to Los Chiles. I spent the next few days with him and left early Weds. morning. The pictures above are of the MINSA house were he lives with the doctors that work in the health dept., one is of the town of Los Chiles and the men are making sidewalks and curbs, and the other one is of my making a tortilla in the Casa Materna...much to the amusement of about 6 pregnant women. The woman before me made it look so easy but my tortilla turned out pretty poorly. I learned a lot from my visit and feel energized to really work hard in these last few weeks of training. I tried to catch the 4 am bus out of Los Chiles but there was a truck stuck on one of the bridges so I couldn´t leave until 6 am. Getting up at 3 20 to find out the bus will not be arriving is really a bummer. I made it back to my house around 7 o clock weds. night. I took a shower and went straight to bed. Today was a whole other day. I gave my second charla, first solo charla, in the health center and will be giving a long charla in the school Monday. We have training in a diff. town tomorrow and a different town again on Sat. We also have a youth group meeting Sat. I guess I´ll prepare my charla all day Sunday. I´ll let you know how that goes. I´m really nervous becasue my Spanish is improving but not so great.

Miss you all and Feliz dia de la Amistad y Amor.

Okay, so today I gave my first Charla...lecture,talk,show and tell....with Rachel, one of the other aspirantes that live in my town, to the Central de Salud. It went well. Our theme was Dengue. It wasn't very long but we had a good time and the people seemed to enjoy it. They were interactive and participated in our true/questions at the end. I only have about 6 more to do before I become a volunteer. The first picture was taken by Megan, another aspirante in my same training town, who took the picture unbeknownst to me after out teacher informed us of our upcoming charla schedule. I was a little bit overwhelmed to say the least. The next 5 I will have to do by myself. The longest one will be in the school. It should be about 45 minutes long. This will be a little difficult because the children in the school can be a little hard to control...I should know, I went and observed a class today. One teacher to 44 students. She did a good job but there was a lot of talking, getting up out of chairs, talking out of turn, candy and numerous other things that may be difficult for me to deal with. The director of the school is very nice and helpful and seems to want us to come in and speak with the kids. Some of my time will be doing Dinamicas. Dinamicas are great. They are games to reinforce the theme of the charla. We have been learning a lot of Dinamicas and they can be fun. At any rate, the kids will love them and I plan to use a few. My theme will be personal hygiene and the importance of brushing your teeth/not eating a lot of sugar. Kids get a lot of sugar here and sometimes toothbrushes and toothpaste are low on the least of priorties.

The picture on the bottom is of my host brother Jordy. He started school this week and was looking sharp so I decided to take a picture of him. He goes to school Mon-Fri., from 7 am ...yes, he has to be at school at 7 am...until 12. He is a normal 11 year old and likes to play in the street a lot with his friends and is pretty good at futbol.

The next big news is that we are all going on visits to other volunteers. We are all so excited. We found out where we are going yesterday and I'm going to the farthest site possible. Yes, the farthest. I'm going to the Rio San Juan area; a place the Health Director told me some volunteers never get to see. It's on the lower right part of Nicaragua...close to Costa Rica. The bust ride will be 16 hours long. Also, I had a note inside my folder which explained where I was going and the volunteer I will be visiting that read....Bring Dramamine! The roads the first 3 hours are paved and decent but after that it's unpaved with potholes. This is why the trip is so long...the buses have to go slowly. I'm traveling with 2 other aspirantes and one volunteer. Each aspirante will be going to visit a different volunteer. All but us three will be leaving Saturday afternoon. Because we have so far to travel we are leaving Friday for Managua. The Peace Corps is going to put us up in a hotel Friday night as we have to catch the bus very, very earlier Sat. morning. We should arrive very late Sat. night to our sites. The four of us, 3 aspirantes and one volunteer, will be able to travel about 12 hours together. This is reassuring. I'll post some pics and let you know how it goes. I'm really excited about getting out and seeing the rest of the country and feeling a little freedom. The bus ride I'm not so excited about but that's life. You have to take the good with the bad.

Taylor get better, Katie thanks for the card, Jack I wish I could listen to what you thought about Disneyworld, Erin keep up the good work, Dad...brush up on your Spanish as mine is still questionable, Janna pinch Caralou on the back of her thigh when you get a chance, and Kristi my family loves stories about Hayley anda por los aguacates. Love and miss you all. I'm doing well and feel this is where I should be right now.

Shaun

So I hope I have figured out how to post photos. If this works I'll post more showing my host family and the house and town where I'm living. The photo are of my room. I have my mosquito net, to protect me from malaria and dengue, my bed, my nightstand, the lamp I bought and yes Kristi, that is the calender right above it all. I love lookin at it when I'm getting ready in the mornings. The second shot is right outside my bedroom...which is literally outside. This is the backyard/patio. I have a lock to my room but the keys to open it sit right beside the lock on that red table. My mom does all the was here right outside my door and I usually open the door in the mornings to see her washing clothes. I have to go outside on the patio and enter a door to the bathroom. Overall, I like my room. I have a tin roof and sometimes it scares the heck out of me when a gust of wind bangs the branches against it and it makes this loud noise like someone's trying to open my door. The other day my cousin, who lives next door, told me someone killed her dog. I wasn't exactly sure why they killed her dog. I thought she said it was a robber and that's why they killed it. The whole night I slept very lightly with my mag lite flashlight almost in my hand the whole night. I shined it on the door about 3 times that night. The next day I told my teacher what happened and she didn't act suprised in the least. She said it wasn't a robber it was just someone who didn't like to hear the dog bark or didn't like the way it acted in the streets. It made me sleep better the next night but still sad. The dogs here are very skinny and afraid. I'm getting used to passing big dogs on the street and not having to worry about them. Here, they are used to being put in their place and are not aggresive towards people. I had one dog rush me while running out in the country and I just raised my hand and he took off quickly.The other part of this blog is my trip to the beach today. It was nice. Pretty beach and we had some great fish at a place on the beach. I took a nap in a hammock in the shade. It was great. The way back was a learning experience. We had to take an old US school bus that was packed. I stood up the whole way with people all over me. We kept stopping and taking on passengers too. It was crazy. This one guy had a live chicken in his lap...antother lady had a puppy. The driver bought a tortilla sandwich from one of the ladies on the bus. At one point the driver and his cobrador, the guy that collects the money, stopped the bus to get out and talk to some friends on the side of the road. After 5 minutes the people inside starting shouting at them to hurry up. At one point we stopped to let some people out and our bus was backed into by a car. We all unloaded and I assumed we were going to take another bus. Everyone hurried to get off, looked at the car and watched the people push the car away from the bus, then hurried back on. It was so strange. When I say hurried read pushing, shoving and no concern for the safety of other passengers. It's every man for themselves. When it was time to unload the bus, it does not unload like a normal bus should...the passengers in the front first then the next row then the next and so on. The people from the back just rush down the middle and if you can't get out of your seat in time...to bad. Overall, it was a good day. I had a lot of fun with my host family and I hope we get to travle again soon. I'll post more pics in the future. Love and miss y'all!Chon

In my pueblo everybody you pass on the street says Adios. Not hello or how are you doing...but Adios. It was a little strange at first but now I kind of like it. When you think about what you are saying, to God, it's kind of nice. I'm getting used to it anyway.

I went to the next city over from us that is a little bigger and bought a pillow. This has really made my day. My pillows were hard and heavy and this new pillow is like a real pillow. Soft and light. I'm sleeping so much better already.

I think I have figured out how to put pictures on this blog so I will try and do that the next time I update. Everything is going well. Today is Sunday so I have a free day. I got up and ate breakfast. I had something called a nacatamale. It was good. It is potatoes, pork, rice, sweet peppers wrapped in a leaf and boiled. It was better than is sounds. After that me and Jordy, my 11 year old host brother, went to the local soccer/baseball field to watch a baseball game. The players were men and they all had on different uniforms..even guys on the same team. It was a little odd because sometimes a guy on a bike would ride through the outfield during the game or someone would just walk through the side of the field. They were okay players and some of the guys in the town turned out. Their were two guys sitting next to me driking liters of beer. This was at 9:30 in the morning! Oh well. They didn't bother anyone and I left before they went and got their third liter.

I've only been hassled a few times. No big deal. I had this one drunk old man come up to me and shake my hand. He heard the change in my pocket and then started saying...give it to me, give it to me. I just said no and walked away. He was old and drunk. Overall the people here are very nice. The host families are all very accomodating and protective. We can't go anywhere without everyone knowing where we are. My host mom is Dona Alba Luz. She is great but we have a hard time talking. But its getting better.

The co director of the inter american region came to our pueblo Saturday morning. She was very nice and interesting to speak with. She served as a volunteer in Morocco. The director the entire Peace Corps was also here in Nicaragua but we didn't get to see him. He did speak at our staging event in Washington D.C. which I hear is rare. He was a interesting speaker. He served in India in the 60's.

I finally put my footdown with Jordy today. He had been following me all over town and I had to pay for him at the cyber (internet place...pronounced sea-ber), he would grab things at the pulperias (small stores in our pueblo), and he ordered something from a street vendor...all without asking me and I had to pay for everything. Now, everything here is really cheap. Taxi rides to the nearest town cost around 30 cents US...but the Peace Corps pays us like most people here get paid (they probably pay us more, but still, it's not a lot). So I have to save my money. We were walking home from the baseball game and I wanted to come to the cyber. I couldn't affor to pay for him because I only brought a dollar. I told him I needed to go to the cyber and asked him what was he going to do. He said he didn't know but walked right to the front door of the cyber with me. Before I went in I said okay, well, I guess I'll see you at home in about an hour. He was a little dissapointed but it had to be done. Good kid but I just can't afford it. I'm sure we will be okay.

I hope everyone is well and I miss y'all.

I'm here in the town I will be living and training in for the next 3 months. Tonight is the first night I'll spend with my host family. I can't say exactly where I am due to Peace Corps restrictions but the address that I posted is where I can receive mail. My family seems really nice but I can't understand what they are saying. They speak really fast and they use a different Spanish then I am used to. My head really feels like a brick right now after our Spanish class this afternoon and speaking to my family all day. I think we are about to leave to go to a fiesta patronale in a nearby town. I'm sure when my head hits the hard mattress under my mosquito net in my room with no air conditioning I will fall right asleep. On a good note, the lunch my family made today was great. Rice, beans and chicken that was realy very good. I was impressed. So at least I will be eating well. There is also a rooster next door so the sleep may not be good. I'll update more later...my time is up here at the internet cafe.

My address during training will be:

Shaun Elliott, PCT

Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz

Apartado Postal 3256

Managua, Nicaragua

Central America

The mail service is pretty dependable but I think it takes letters awhile to be delivered. This will be my address during training, the first 3 months, and then it will change. I will update the new address when I get it.

I leave tomorrow morning for Washington, DC for orientation and then Wednesday morning, early, we all leave for Managua. I'll have a short layover in Miami.

All three of my sister, my brothers in law, and nieces and nephews came over today. Wish you cold have been here Katie. It was great. It was 68 degrees outside we ate outside while all the kids played in the yard. Janna, my sister, made some great brownies and another dessert, I don't know what it's called, that was very good. We had Dinglewood chili , it's a Columbus thing, and hot dogs. That's what I wanted for my last supper. It was delicious. I guess I'm all packed, thanks to my sisters, and ready to go but I feel like I'm forgetting everything. I got a great Calender from Kristi that she made with personalized dates and pictures of our family. I gave my nieces and nephew presents and things to hold on for me until I get back...Haley and Jackson. I told Janna to tell Caroline, her 8 month old girl, stories about me until I get back. We'll see. The picture above is my niece Taylor and I. I gave her a heart charm necklace with her initials on it. I'm really going to miss my family.

I am leaving Monday January 7th for Washington D.C. That gives me three days to pack( I still need to buy a backpack), finish tying up loose ends with the attorney, say goodbye to friends and family, eat all the food that I know I'm not going to get for awhile and do I'm sure some things that I can recall right now. I procrastinate. My motto is why do today what you can put off until tomorrow. Not a great motto I know but it's who I am and I've decided to embrace it. Things usually have a way of working and I hope this works out as well. I've decided that I'm not really going to pack like I'm going away for 2 years. The truth is I'm leaving the US for 2 years but they have stores, malls, drug stores, supermarkets in Nicaragua. I'm only going to take things that I may not be able to get there and personal things. I'm taking my baseball glove because baseball is a big sport in Nicaragua and I love to play baseball. I'm hoping I can work that into one of my youth group activities somehow. We'll see.

I spent Christmas in Salt Lake City with my sister, Katie, and her family. They have lived in Salt Lake for a few years now and really like it. My Dad and I flew out the 21st and came back on the 28th. My sister Janna and her family were already out there and we had a great time. We went snowmobiling and snowboarding and enjoyed the snow. It's really pretty out there put I couldn't live there. The snow and ice get to be a little much after awhile. The Friday we flew into Atlanta the temperature was 68 degrees and humid. That's my kind of Christmas.

Today was my last day at work and it was bittersweet. This is by far the best office I've ever worked at and the best group of people I've ever worked with. I'm really going to miss everyone there. I really have to say thank you to Dr. Edge (4th from the left) for being so supportive. This is a picture of all of us, minus Karla, at my goodbye lunch at Henry's the day before (I'm 3rd from the left). It's a great french/cajun restaurant in Acworth. It was tough leaving today but tough in a good way. I would really like to come back after the peace corps and work with them again if I can. We'll see. Anyway, thanks Andrea, Jill "Jillian Jackson", Candice "Canned Ice", Tiffany, Jenifer, Jean, Karen (with her son Caden), Brandee, Dr. Edge, Joyce, and last but certainly not least Angel....and you too Karla!