I returned to Phoenix and am house sitting for a friend until the renter moves out of my house and I can get myself settled back in. I obtained a new cell phone so I can communicate and a used Toyota truck to get around in. Life here is easier in many ways but far more complicated than my life in Nicaragua. Adjusting has been and will continue to be a challenge. I lived a very simple life with just the basics and was happy doing it so all that we have here becomes overwhelming at times. I suppos…
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I have said goodbye to my Nica friends in Rivas and to my site-mate Jess Rudd, who has become a very dear friend of mine. I will miss her very much. I am now in Managua for the last two days taking care of last minute administrative details and starting to plan for the future back in Arizona.
It had been an amazing journey. I will need the perspective of time to evaluate the year I spent here in the service of the people of Nicaragua and the United States. When I have figured that out…
This was a large procession held the Friday before Holy Week from Popoyuapa, near Rivas, to the City of Rivas and back to Popoyuapa. It is a big deal! People come from all over Nicaragua, some travelling over a week in oxcarts, to come to Popoyuapa and request miracles or thank Jesus for requests granted. The procession is about 15 miles and many people walk barefoot. There is much religious devotion in the traditional event and about 10,000 people participated in one way or another. I sat with…
I finally travelled to Matagalpa last weekend to visit my friends Jenifer Byrne and Ashley Reeves. Matagalpa is northeast of Managua in the mountains. Coffee is king there. Matagalpa is a much more cosmopolitan city than Rivas and is built on many hills. The elevation is about 6000 feet. It rained like crazy there and all the while Jen had no water in her apartment until Saturday. This is par for the course in Matagalpa. We visited a waterfall outside of Matagalpa called Cascada Blanca where Man…
I have experienced some dizziness earlier in April. The doctors here at Peace Corps are wonderful and every possible test was run to determine the cause. No cause could be pinpointed so it could be anything from the intense heat this time of year to a much more serious problem that is hard to detect. I have decided to terminate my service at this point in time. I would feel more comfortable in the States being closer to medical care if this dizzyness reoccurs.
So I will be returning Ma…
Sorry I haven´t written anything for a while. My computer access changed again so it is more difficult for me to post these blogs. An anyway it is very, very hot right now and I don´t much feel like doing anything! Hope you all are well and happy.
Yea I know it is not that early....but I still managed to screw up adding letting alone typing things....but is it the thought that counts....hope y'all like the photos.....
I had a marvelous time in Florida visiting with lots of friends and most of my family. I was treated like a queen and spoiled with wonderful food and attention. Now I am back in Rivas and having a somewhat difficult time readjusting to the life here. Everything in the States seems so easy compared to here. My socks came out of the dryer soft....here they come off the line a little stiff. My Spanish suffered and I am busy trying to recoup what I learned before the visit.
However I would…
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I decided to take a break and go to Florida to visit my family from March 27 to April 5. The schools have a break that week for Semana Santa as well as most of the businesses here. The flight from Managua to Florida is only 2 hours, much shorter thatn the flight from Arizona to Orlando. So I will be living back in the land of luxury for a week and loving every minute of it. The transition there and back could be a challenge for me, but what's another challenge in this year that has been full…
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The pictures I added today are of two of the sections of my business class in the high school in Rivas. This is a class on creativity in business and why it is an important concept to the businese man or woman. I work with two teachers and five sections of the 11th grade, the last year of high school here. This is a "group" culture. The culture does not value individuality. We are trying to teach the kids to think independently, to think a little innovatively. It is a very difficult concept for…
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These pictures will give you some idea of the physical state of the educational system here in Nicaragua. Conditions are very poor for the teachers and students. The good news is that the opportunity for an education is now available to all children in Nicaragua, if their parents can afford the uniform of the blue pants or skirt, white shirt and socks and shoes.
The NGO, Opportunity International, donated about 200 books to each of these schools and I am working with the teachers/libra…
Today is the last Friday of the month which is the teacher planning day in all the schools. It is more or less organized with a general meeting with a pep talk for an hour and then they break into subject areas to plan the next month's classes. The class schedules have, and still are in some cases, been a mess. There are still scheduling problems that are being dealt with including in one of the classes I am working with So far my two counterparts seem to be good teachers, consciencious and inte…
Yesterday was a wonderful day! My site mate, Jess, and I took aday trip to Volcan Mombacho, about and hour and a half by bus from Rivas. It was a wonderful adventure into a cloud forest reserve. We got to the top on aWW II transport vehicle after paying our admission fee. The road was so steep it would have been difficult to even walk up, no less drive! Halfway up is a coffee plantation (finca) where we sampled wonderful coffee while waiti…
Nicaragua has two seasons, the rainy and the dry. We are a few months into the dry season and everything they told us about it is true. It is hot, hot, hot during the day and cools off little at night. The fan goes constantly for the great majority of us folks living in this country who cannot afford AC. March and April are supposed to be the hottest. Can it really get worse? Guess so. The rainy season is hot too but the afternoon rain storms cool it down and the nights cool off nicely.…
Betty you had mentioned that you and several other "seniors" were getting together to focus on the issues of senior pc volunteers....what are the issues? what are the general concerns, as well as the advantages of being a senior? What suggestions were made?
Classes begin on February 2nd. That is today but there is no clss schedule yet in the high school I work in. There is a power struggle going on between the principal and his superior, who used to be the principal there. So the kids are there with their homeroom teachers and nothing else is happening. There is a morning and afternoon session at this school so we can double the chaos. So I am just sitting back until my counterpart teacher texts me with the schedule for our joint class. I have othe…
January 17, 2010
Gosh, it has been a long time since I have written. Well, school is back in session February 2 so my work load is starting to increase with planning and meetings to attend. We got the word last Friday that our business class is now going to me mandatory in the last year of High School in all of the high schools in Nicaragua. Up to this point it was only in the schools that had volunteers. It is a big accomplishment for Peace Corps Nicaragua. So, since I spoke with you last I hav…
December 25, 2009
Christmas is lower-key than in the United States. One still sees Chistmas trees decorating houses of those that can afford them. Christmas lights are a big hit and the blinking kind adorn the inside and outside of homes is some of the nicer barrios. A few little gifts are given, especially to the children, on Christmas Eve. Mostly it is a religious holiday with church services on Christmas Eve and then a large dinner at midnight with the whole family to celebrate. The barrios a…
Betty,
Lost my hard drive and in the process lost your physical address, etc....finally found your blog again and hope this message reaches you.... Kevin and I are fine and weather is chilly---about 30 degrees and snow on the ground......had a great trip to Istanbul.... Please send me your physical address and email address again so I can keep in touch.... Feliz Navidad and Prospero Nuevo Anno! Love, Susan
December 14, 2009 Monday
There has been lots going on lately. The Purisima celebrations lasted two weeks with the grand finale on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. On Saturday, Dec. 12, there was a big procession in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe. She appeared to a Mexican indigenous and poor little boy and has quite a following here in Nicaragua. Apparently the little boy represents all the poor Central Americans with some indigenous blood. There is actually a Virgin of Guad…
The Catholic feast of the Immaculate Conception is known as La Purisima in Nicaragua and is celebrated as a national holiday here. The statue of the Virgin Mary is taken from the church each day for two weeks prior to the 8th, dressed in white and carried to different barrios, or neighborhoods, of the City. The pictures are of Mary in my barrio at the corner of the street where I live.
She is brought out each morning after mass and processed through the streets and then returned to the church be…
Just to let you all know that I am OK. My laptop is in for major repair after a virus crashed my hard drive so I havet had the ability or tool to do extensive updates for you. Hopefully I will get it back tomorrow or so.
I spent the afternoon with Bob and Debbie Callahan on Thanksgiving. It was a slice of Americana with the guys playing touch football and smoking Nica cigars by the pool, a turkey dinner with all the trimmings and pleasant conversation.
They were a delightful couple and very down to earth. Americans from the Peace Corps office and the Embassy opened their homes to volunteers for the holiday. It was a wonderful and thoughtful gesture on their parts.
November 13, 2009
Time just flies by. I am very comfortable living here in Rivas. In fact, when I am away for a while I can’t wait to get back to the serenity of my little home. Yesterday was the National Competition for the winners of the business competitions of youth groups in the Regional contests. I went to Managua with the principals of two of my schools. The competition was fine but the trip is a two-hour plus trip by bus and taxi each way so it makes for a long day…and an early one. We h…
November 13, 2009
Time just flies by. I am very comfortable living here in Rivas. In fact, when I am away for a while I can’t wait to get back to the serenity of my little home. Yesterday was the National Competition for the winners of the business competitions of youth groups in the Regional contests. I went to Managua with the principals of two of my schools. The competition was fine but the trip is a two-hour plus trip by bus and taxi each way so it makes for a long day…and an early one. We h…
November 13, 2009
Time just flies by. I am very comfortable living here in Rivas. In fact, when I am away for a while I can’t wait to get back to the serenity of my little home. Yesterday was the National Competition for the winners of the business competitions of youth groups in the Regional contests. I went to Managua with the principals of two of my schools. The competition was fine but the trip is a two-hour plus trip by bus and taxi each way so it makes for a long day…and an early one. We h…
November 13, 2009
Time just flies by. I am very comfortable living here in Rivas. In fact, when I am away for a while I can’t wait to get back to the serenity of my little home. Yesterday was the National Competition for the winners of the business competitions of youth groups in the Regional contests. I went to Managua with the principals of two of my schools. The competition was fine but the trip is a two-hour plus trip by bus and taxi each way so it makes for a long day…and an early one. We h…
Sunday November 8, 2009
I don’t have an internet connection today at the office and it is raining hard outside so I will jot down a few notes. This last Tuesday thru Friday was spent in Spanish classes in my training town of Catarina. I learned quite a bit about what I don’t know and now have a good course of study to follow for the next few months on my own. On Friday night in Managua was a cocktail party at the Holiday Inn to raise funds for our business competitions especially the National Co…
I posted some pictures of the Regional Competition for the business groups representing 10 schools. Each picture has a description with it if you click on the picture. You ask who won First Prize? Well, the display was very small, I didn't even get a picture, but it was very creative and added value to originally existing products here in Nicaragua. They made and sold various teas that were combinations of flavors. I actually bought a few to take home and try. That group will go to Managua for t…
Wednesday October 21, 2009
I added some photos today that I took of the Artesanias Filigrana. This is a cooperative of 13 women in a little town called Buenos Aires outside of Rivas. The jicara is a fruit that grows in abundance here. It is not eaten by people but fed to animals. The women pull out the seeds and pulp and dry the fruit and then carve beautiful designs in it. My NGO may make an investment with them so they can build a building to work and sell their things. OI is already marketing…
Wednesday October 14, 2009
It rained hard last night and now at 8:30 am in the office the air is very still and very humid. I don’t have the fan at the moment. There is a new manager here in the Opportunity International office in Rivas and he is living in the apartment upstairs and uses the fan at night. So I will have to ask him to bring it down. Claudio Martinez used to work with Peace Corps. He had a four-month contract to help with training the Agricultural Sector in my training group. I di…
Saturday October 10, 2009
It was another unusual week with some new experiences. I have become involved in organizing the over 50 volunteers in Nicaragua. I was encouraged to do this by our assistant country director who is also in this age bracket. Peace Corps is trying to recruit older, more experienced volunteers. Some of us in that category think there are lots of things that will need to change in the recruiting, application process and training areas. We have concerns that the average 27 y…
Friday October 2, 2009
I am assigned to work with an NGO by the name of Opportunity International in Rivas. I am to train small business people in business skills. I work with people individually and in workshop settings. One of the projects of OI is creating lending libraries in Nicaragua. There are none. That is to say, there are only a handful started by Americans and others who see such a drastic need here. Being a great reader, one of the first things I noticed is that I never saw anyone re… 
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