My most recent accomplishment and most likely my last, was a billiards tournament that a local youth leader, my sitemate and I put on to promote HIV/AIDS education. At first the concept of just entering the billiards hall was intimating. After all, that is a men’s only area in Nicaragua, (generally). However, that also means it is the best place to educate men on healthy sexual lifestyles since in their machista culture they make the decisions. This is why peace corps promotes this type of event. So we pitched the idea in our town and received immediate support from the mayor’s office and a local nonprofit organization. So with their support, last Friday we successfully threw the first Educational Billiards Tournament. And it was a hit. We (meaning a visiting health volunteer, a representative from the health center, and a youth group representative) gave five minute lessons between all rounds. Then in the last round, the two winning players had to answer questions every time that a ball went into the pocket in order to win. We had 16 players and about 50 other men that were just watching. HIV/AIDS education is important in Chinandega, since it is has the second highest rate of HIV/AIDS cases when it comes to departments (similar to states) in Nicaragua. In Tonala itself, there are only a few cases, but the point remains the same -prevention. We have already been approached to have events in the future so the youth group leader is already planning one for November in a nearby town. I think this event may have been the most sustainable thing I have done during my service.

So the days are ticking away and I finally can start to think about all the wonderful things that await me in the United States. Warm water. Cereal. A comfy bed. Clean elbows. Internet. Coffee shops. Non-leaky roofs. ….and of course friends and family that I miss a ton. However, I am going to miss it here. A lot. I have made some great relationships and had amazing experiences. I feel that I have really grown as a person. And the best part of it all. Michael Newton finally gets to have a dog in his house. His lifelong dream. 

On a side note, my Peace Corps’ friend had asked me to go to Honduras with her. Why you may ask? But of course….to go to Wendy’s. That’s the only reason that we spent a Saturday traveling back and forth to Honduras. It was fun though. A little adventure in our lives.

Big accomplishment. We finished the construction of the preschool classroom that I wrote a grant for. It turned out great and they are already using it every day.

I also have given three teacher workshops. Two of which were about gardening and the last was about using trash to make different things that can be used in the classroom. I also added some ideas about teaching the concept of multiplication. The first workshop I put on with the help of four teachers that I had been working with. It was amazing. They remembered everything that I had told them! I was so proud. They lead the workshop and they hardly needed my assistance. There was a part when we actually made a garden outside so they could see and practice the techniques. All the teachers that attended said that was the best part because they could apply what we were talking about! The next workshop was about taking seeds out of the vegetables, composting, and dealing with the plagues (problems) in the soil. Again I was assisted by another teacher, another peace corps’ volunteer and a worker of an agriculture government group. Another teacher that I previously worked with and I developed the last workshop.

It was great. I love working with trash as most of you know so I really enjoyed sharing my ideas and seeing my teacher of last year show her ideas that she now using as a result of what I had taught her. I also touched on some ideas on how to teach multiplication since it seems to be an issue here.

Also, I recently was given the pleasure to assist all you very generous people who donated computers to three of the schools here. Although I can’t say that I had anything to do with it in reality, I can tell you that the teachers and students are going to be ecstatic to have the computers. It is really going to help advance the teachers in their instruction. Hopefully the students will also start learning how to use a computer. Things move slowly here. So I am trying my best to get everything ready so that the computers can be put into the schools, kept safe and secure, and used properly. However, due to construction in the schools as well as lack of school attendance, it has been difficult to achieve. I will update you all as soon as the computers are in the schools. But thank you from myself and my community for being so generous and thinking of the needs of others.

Not having running water for over 7 weeks, taking bucket showers is kind of..... finish the thought please. I thought I would add a very strange day and night I had with my sitemate Laurel. I copied this from her blog because she said it so well.

"On a recent Friday, Christine and I ran away to the city. We accidently let someone trim our hair. The trim resulted in losing at least 8 inches of hair and having more layers than seemingly feasible. Oh, and the cut? Horrible. I haven’t felt so ugly in all my time here. We were pissed enough that we decided not to go home. Instead, we went shopping for toothbrushes and tshirts and then let out our frustrations over pizza and beer. After dark, we showed up at our host aunt’s house in the city. Her son, who now is referred to as a woman, was firstly offended that she didn’t get to cut our hair and secondly appalled at what it looked like. She set out getting her friend’s hairdresser tools, attempting to salvage our hair (not really possible), and then getting us all dolled up to go out. What happens when former Miss Nicaragua Gay and now club entertainer does your makeup? You are ready for a drag show. And we were. We were also very thankful we didn’t have to look at ourselves that night. Ridiculous we looked, ridiculous we felt. The bar she took us to was playing 90’s rap—so fitting. Ridiculously, we threw our hands in the air screaming “heeeeeeyyyy hooooooo” and danced it all away…until we woke up in the morning with still horrendous looking hair. Our host cousin now refers to us as los pinches. To be pinche is to be cheap, stingy, or adverse to spending money. [Being pinche may have some reason as to how we ended up in the beauty salon in the first place.] I was telling my parents the sob story and about the neon pink and purple eye makeup to which my dad replied, well maybe your new haircut is cooler since your hair is shorter. And that’s the clincher. Not only is my hair NOT long like I asked for it to stay, but the few strands that hang down to the top of my shoulders are cut in such a crafty way to constantly cling to my neck. Gross feeling, gross looking.

But this country has done wonders for my sense of humor."

And the lack of consistency in my life from… electricity and running water… not rain…Ok... and maybe visitors also... Has left little opportunity to write….

Is there anyone out there? Kidding. I know I haven’t written in ages but I thought just in case, I would update with a quickie entry. Well believe it or not my two years, three months experience is coming to a close. Am I ready, you may ask? Yes and no. I would rather answer the question, would I do it again? And without hesitation I would reply: ABSOLUTLEY. Was it the hardest job I will ever love? (Peace Corps’ quote) Most Definitely. So Moco and I will be making the journey back to Atlanta (not Chicago) and roadtripping it back with my parents. Since the temperature is going to be a complete shock to both our systems, we will be found hibernating in my house. Moco, might, might be hanging out on the grass outside, if it’s still there, since he doesn’t know what grass is, and how soft it is.

As for what I have been up to since February. Hmm. How to summarize 8 months. Well I had lots of visitors to begin. My friend from college Alex, my brother Kevin, my cousin Connor, my long time childhood friend Emily, my sister Claire, her boyfriend John, his friend Billy, my neighbor and friend Nicki, and last but not least, my aunt Ceil all made their way down to Nicaragua and to that infamous town of mine. Each one has their own story of their adventures that could be shared (I would love for them to post it on my blog so each of you can read it!) So their visits kept me busy as ever and in touch with my life at home. I loved and appreciated each of them for taking the time and braving the experience that each of them had.

As for Peace Corps, my sitemate and I accomplished the amazing environmental day celebration with the help of all of you. My next post will explain this. So thank you. We also have started a new bottle construction project with a youth group. So we have been busy writing the grant proposal and stuffing bottles with used (cleaned) plastic bags. The grant has been approved and the money should come at the end of October. Sadly, I won’t be here to finish it but I will help it get started. As well, I was filmed for the 50th anniversary film of Peace Corp’s Nicaragua. That was exciting and we were lucky to have a flourishing garden at the school where we filmed. Little do they know that that beautiful garden was attacked by worms the next week and slowly dried-up. My gardens, as always, have been a challenge. In one school we were able to get about 100 vegetables but at the rest of the schools, between intense rain and the resultant loss of school attendance, we haven’t seen much success. Organic gardening is challenging, to say the least.

This upcoming week, my second to last week teaching, we are going to restart the gardens. It will be interesting to see how they do without my help! I hope I have shared my knowledge with them and as a result, their confidence and interest in gardening has risen. As for teaching, I have been teaching here and there but considering it is an election year, class is canceled a lot. However, we have still worked hard. I have also been giving English lessons to three teachers. It was a nice way to review my English skills; which I’m sure by reading my blog, you can see need some polishing. This group was also fun to teach because they liked doing activities like singing songs while one of them played the guitar. My beautifully pitched voice may or may not, have made it a positive experience.

Ok everybody, once again I am sorry for not blogging. (Grant - I am ALIVE; I swear.)

As of last week we started school again. Yea. These past two months we have been on vacation. The school vacation gave my sitemate (Laurel), her brother, my host family, neighborhood youths, some professional tradesmen, and myself an opportunity to successfully build a house made out of plastic bottles (stuffed with inorganic trash). Everyone in town said we were crazy and couldn’t understand why we would be storing such an excessive amount of “garbage” in my house. But now they get it. The point of the project was not only to give my sitemate her own home but to show the town that there are other ways to use your trash besides burning it, dumping it on the street, or sending it to the town dump. Well, I think it worked. People are beginning to approach Laurel and myself with hopes of their own bottle projects. There is no protective fencing at the 4 schools that I work with. We are working to plant vegetable gardens at each of these 4 sites. Last year we lost a bunch of crops o animals, such as bunnies and lizards that make their dinner from our plants. So this year, we are going to build small walls made out of plastic bottles, creating a mini-green house effect. In theory I think it will work. Fingers crossed.

I was delighted to share Nicaragua and Christmas with my family. My brother, sister, and parents all came to spend the time with me. We had an amazing time. Sailboat rides, swimming, zip lining, beaches, fancy drinks, and lots and lots of laughs. I think it was my favorite family trip. I think we are finally old enough to fight a little less and understand each other a whole lot more. Then my parents and sister Claire left and Kevin stayed behind with me. My family lugged a used computer system (thanks to Tony Peterson) to Nicaragua for my host family; Kevin and I presented it to them. They are very excited as they learn how to work with it. We went on bike rides, ate sugar cane, played with the dogs, helped with constructing the plastic house, built a chicken coop, went volcano boarding, and did a coffee tour. Nicaragua continually surprises me. It is organized chaos, I am always finding new little surprises and adventures.

When my brother left and I had to return to my responsibilities in Tonala, I was greeted with the ultimate Peace Corps surprise. My 13 year old neighbor, with whom I had made two gardens at school, had made his very own garden. He used all the information he had learned and put it to use. It was exciting to see him absorb the knowledge and then find the self-motivation to put it to use.

Also during the school break, I was privileged to participate in a leadership camp, along with four local children I had invited from my town. It was a very exciting trip for all especially considering the distance we traveled to get to the camp. It was probably the farthest some of these kids had ever been and probably would ever be. But the camp was full of energy because there were young people from all over the country that participated. They were all able to share different aspects of their culture. We all gathered at this beautiful retreat center where they received classes on leadership, diversity, entrepreneurship, team work, etc. It was entertaining yet tiring. But the most eventful part of the trip was the journey home. First of all, we had to shove more than 50 people into a tiny mini bus. Included also was their drinks in plastic bags and their lunches in Styrofoam boxes. Secondly, the bus driver felt the need to catch-up on the time he lost trying to shove people into the vehicle and proceeded to drive like a maniac on winding roads. I’m sure you can guess what happened next. I heard screeching from the front end of the bus, “AHHHH que asco!” I slowly pushed myself out of the crevice I was standing in, to see one of the boys vomiting all over the front of the bus. I quickly, not so quickly considering I couldn’t move, instructed him to open a window and used plastic bags to clean “the situation” up. I felt that things were finally under control but as I turned I was greeted with the faces of the rest of them also on the verge of re-creating the same “situation”. I acted “quickly” and instructed those not feeling well to wiggle their way to a window. I thought to myself, wow, I am sure glad I am not a mother yet!

The following day, I was graced with a visit from my friend Alex as she was fleeing the snow storms in the U.S. On her short visit, she was greeted with swarms of mosquitoes, landed in mud as we fell off a bike that we were sharing, surfed at the ocean, and went dancing.

Unfortunately all vacations come to an end. I am now confronted with tons and tons of work. But I like it. “Times a wasting.” So far this is what the agenda includes:

1.) I just turned in my grant proposal to build a preschool classroom

2.) Next week we start compost pits in preparation for the upcoming garden season

3.) Building plastic bottle fences

4.) Building a youth center using the plastic bottle concept

5.) AIDS awareness billiard hall tournaments

6.) Re-starting a farmers market

7.) Continuing to teach English class

8.) Pen pals with U.S. students and Nicaraguan students

9.) Amazing gardens with lush vegetables….

10.) ….who knows

11.)

Recent animal update: So Moco is good as always. But there is a new addition to the family. His name is Jerry. He is my cat. Yes, I do have allergies to cats but certain events led me to choose sneezing over worse. Here is what compelled me to get a cat. Basically, I was awaken one night to a wet feeling on my back and decided to turn the light on. I was both frightened and disgusted to find a huge rat perched on my mosquito net. I didn’t sleep that night…or the next either. So I took action. I covered the top of the net with plastic. To my astonishment two of the local boys who had heard my story found a stray cat for me. The ironic part of it all is that I am allergic to cats, but in my house I don’t seem to be affected. But here’s another issue. I suddenly seem like the crazy gringa again. Why? ---because I have found myself now living in animal barn. Not only do I feed my dog and cat but my host family’s cat Jack, that now refuses to leave, as well as their dog Cuco and my sitemate’s dog Dumbo. But no that’s not all, just to add to the stampede that follows me to my house everyday, a little orange kitten now is appearing in my house, and he as well, will not leave. A month ago, I was crying that a rat peed on me and now I am living in a menagerie- but no more rats or mice!

So we are coming to an end to the school year (February until the end of November) as well as the rain season. However, the rain season sure wants to go out with a bang! Two weeks ago, there was a hurricane in Honduras which continued on - passing through the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. It caused a lot of flooding all over Nicaragua, displacing many people and taking-out many roads as well as bridges. All volunteers were told to stay in their sites until the danger of traveling passed. With such weather, school was the last thing on anyone’s mind. I spent the week hanging-out at my house and my host family’s house. I went a bit stir-crazy! The week before the heavy rains we had no water or electricity but luckily the week of the storms we still had both. SO my days were full of eating, watching movies, cleaning, playing with my dog, sleeping, and … eating. Then, I had to make my way to Managua to give a charla to the new trainees about Materials Development. It was a really fun charla to give since it was basically about recycled materials and how you can use them in the classroom or with youth development. Considering that the teachers here are underpaid and just getting by, it is important to show them how they can use their discarded trash to work with their students. For example, making faces on used cardboard as prizes, making beads out of magazines, using plastic bottles to plant, making white boards out of plastic and cardboard, etc. I know I have said this before, but it is seriously amazing the amount of things that can be created from used items. And they look great! My next project is to learn how to crochet. Following that, I can use plastic bags as yarn and knit a purse! Sounds weird I know, but the bags are beautiful and a great use of the plastic bags. In Nicaragua, about 75% or so of the trash is organic! It’s crazy what a small amount of inorganic items that they produce in comparison to the U.S. That’s why it’s great to teach the concept of compost pits so as to re-use that organic trash as well as fun things like (recycled - plastic)purses.

In the schools, we lost a lot of school days so now things are all jam-packed. Due to the rains, the majority of our gardens flooded and we lost a lot of our plants. However, we have already had great harvests. In one of our schools we have had about 70 cucumbers and a ton of green beans. In our garden in my host family’s backyard, we have spinach planted! I am really excited for that! Hopefully the chickens won’t get to them. My teaching has been going well. This week I started to co-teach with my teachers. SO much easier and I feel much more effective. As well, my site mate, Laurel, and I have been busy. She taught me how to make homemade jam, we made roasted corn salsa for my corn charla, and we also made homemade paper., to name a few things. But most importantly, we started a Mujercitas youth group. We have only had one meeting so far but it’s looking good. The girls decided on a cooking, arts and dance group…dance might be a challenge (for me) but the other two sound good. Laurel is into Yoga so I think we might incorporate that as well. I am also starting an English class with a few teachers and another with a few students. Should be interesting considering that I can’t spell and my grammar is horrible but haha oh well. There are a few other projects in the works but I will wait to see if they actually happen.

Moco is good. I may be a little too obsessed with him. I have been trying, but failing, at teaching him to fetch. He did bring it to me 5 times this week but I think it was because he got tired of me chasing him or because I got in his way. My site mate was talking to some teachers the other day that told her that my dog is like my boyfriend; that I love him a lot, and that I am going to bring him back to the states instead of a husband. I might have to agree with them. I am going to put a video up of him showing he acts every day when I get back from school. I think he is a little too attached. To call him, I use a kind of hissing noise that the locals use and he comes running, barking and jumping all over me. It is pretty funny until he bites holes in my clothes. He has successfully ruined about 4 shirts that way.

The rain has stopped for a while but the sun has gotten really strong! And it’s HOT! It is either lots of rain and mud or lots of dust and heat. I honestly don’t know which one I prefer. Yesterday, I went on a bike ride with Carlos and Laurel. We had two bikes, three people, and three dogs. We took turns carrying each other on one of the bikes. We stopped by the finca/ plantain farm of my host family. It is ¼ the size of our actual town’s size. It is huge. There was a ton of pigs, cows, hens, chickens, and turkeys. The turkey was breathtaking. But just as we were commenting on its beauty, Laurel’s dog, Dumbo, decided to take off after it with Laurel and me behind him. It was quite the scene. Then we headed on further, passed a hot stream and stopped for some cold Coca Colas in glass bottles. Moco felt the need to roll around in mud every two seconds as well. I really enjoyed the whole adventure. The views were beautiful. We were surrounded by green lush vegetation, crops, cows, volcanoes, etc. Later that night we went to a 6th grade fundraiser dance. It was interesting being at a dance with almost all my students but I think it just brought out- my awkward- just- go- with- it- dancing style.

Ok, well I am sure there is more to say but I think I have bored you all enough for one day.

This is the blog of my site mate. She is a much better writer than me and much more interesting. So check it out. http://llaidlaw.wordpress.com

Wow how time flies, I can’t say the same for my mom, but I sure don’t feel like it has been a year since I left my cozy home in Chicago. The break-down for the first year: 3 months of training and 9 months of field service. That means I have a year and 3 months left. I am currently in Granada as part of the reception group for the new trainees of the environmental sector. We are no longer the babies. It was a special privilege to be one of the volunteers chosen to greet and energize these new volunteers who are starting out on this challenging but rewarding experience. It brought me back to that time of uncertainty when I first arrived. I felt exhilarated and re-motivated as I listened to the wonderful speeches presented by the training crew. With my year of experience I now know what they meant when they presented this information to our group a year ago. There was a repetitive theme of “keeping your motivation” resonating from all the speeches. This is probably the biggest challenge.

One year has gone by and I feel like things have only started. I successfully completed my training; a tight-scheduled, high-stressed, language intense, technical skills - focused boot camp. I feel it was successful in preparing me for the roller-coaster ride that I was about to embark on. I went into my environmental education program with only a bit of experience in both teaching and environmental issues, so I had a lot to learn. From where I am sitting now, I can say that I still have a lot to learn but I have learned a whole lot. As a recent college graduate, I left a culture of partying, letting loose, and feel less... well... awkward. I have learned a lot about myself (I can now dance with all eyes on me) and enjoy the freedom of being comfortable with myself. My Spanish went from a basic communication level to a point where I can speak fast without writing it out or thinking it through in English first. I even dream in Spanish!!! My schools are amazing. There are days when their lack of discipline and irrelevance to being on time frustrates me, but together we have learned. I have taught them the science topics in the most creative ways I can think of. They have used their imagination, created, listened and felt the excitement of education. One class cheered the other day as we went over their exams on a topic that they were able to understand collectively. As for their gardens that we have struggled to keep alive in these winter down-pouring rains, some failed and some are flourishing. It is very rewarding to have the students run up to me, all smiles, yelling "Prof, we have 20 tomatoes". It’s exhilarating!

As for the green market, we are still struggling, but have not lost hope. As a result of working with the market group I have gotten to know some very interesting women. I have learned so much about their culture; and in turn, they have learned about mine. There are things that they don’t understand about our culture / me, things that they think are weird. And most of the time, they are completely wrong and based on generalizations. There are things that I have come to appreciate and love about their community, such as their family values and general hospitality. But I can't make sense of everything; such as machismo. All in all, it’s the up and down feelings that I’m still experiencing. There are days when I get to my house, tired, covered in mud, frustrated with my students or teachers, only to find out there is no water, no electricity, and all I want to do is scream and walk-out the door and not turn around. But I don’t and I won’t. Then there are other days when I walk down the street, my dog by my side, stopping to talk or say adios, and feeling exited about the daily challenge and motivated to continue even through the hardships. All and all it's been great and thanks to all of you that have helped me get to this point; this is your victory too.

I am sorry for my absence for the blog. Things have gotten fairly hectic. To begin with, the rain season has started, strongly. It rains almost every day and sometimes for two or three days straight. It is pretty certain that if it is raining right before class or about to start, that no one will show-up to class. So there have been a lot of missed days.

I have also started through much work, a farmers market here in my town. We have had the help of the Mayor’s office with the funding but as the costs have seem to much for them to maintain we are now searching for funding. It was successful in the beginning. We had a live band, a great selection of vegetables and fruits, meat, milk shakes, hens, cheese, eggs, piñatas, everything. But as the rains have picked-up and many are waiting for their new crops, the market has been looking fairly scarce. The Mayor’s office has lost some of their spirits as well as some of the people. But I am still going to put my effort forward to try to make it work. It seems that it is what the people need and want, it just takes time.

As for the schools, I have been giving my charlas about the environment and science. We celebrated Earth Day and Fundacion Coen donated schools supplies. I also used the tattoos and stickers that Myra sent to give to the other children that didn’t win so that everyone felt like a winner. It was great. Each student had to think of an Environmental slogan and then accompany it with a drawing. I loved reading the children’s responses because it seems like they had been learning something from my charlas. As well, we have started the garden section of the year. We have already planted tree nurseries and produced compost. We are planning on planting the trees in July. The gardens are a wonderful thing for the children but a lot of work. I left almost every school with blisters all over my hands. So far we planting in three and are waiting to plant in the last after break. One of the schools has beautiful cucumber plants growing so far. We planted a variety of cucumbers, squash, watermelon, melon, cantelope, carrots, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and beets in almost all the schools. I have my fingers crossed that things go well.

As well, I am working on a project with US AID to fund the construction of two classrooms. One of my multigrade schools studies outside with just a roof above. Details to come.

That is the jist of it all. The dog is growing and very playful. He is vago, which means he wonders the streets close to my house and comes really inside when he feels like a little TLC or food haha. Yesterday was the celebration for the Day of Teachers. It was provided by the mayors office. It included speaching, singing, raffles, lunch, and lots and lots of dancing. It started at 10am and I returned home at 9 pm. I am a bit sore today. On Sunday I am graced with the precense of a friend, miss Ally Warner, and we are going to do a little traveling. It worked out great because we have a week break from school at the same time.

That’s all for now. I will try to be more in contact! 

As Christine’s parents we traveled for 10 days in Nicaragua, we brought to her lots of hugs and kisses, and a little bit of home. We had a wonderful experience!! We were graciously welcomed by both of Christine’s host families and embraced by her fellow Peace Corp co-workers. We speak un poquito Spanish so Christine worked overtime as everyone’s translator.

We experienced the beautiful views of volcanoes and their crater lakes; we kayaked through the islands on Lake Nicaragua and saw exotic vegetation and animal life; we met other Peace Corps members and enjoyed sharing all of their experiences – so diverse and yet still very similar in many respects. We experienced the insanity of driving in the capital city of Managua during a Sandinista rally and then being shaken down by the police. We traveled on roads that were filled with rocks / boulders and potholes along with bicycles, cattle, push carts, horses, motorcycles, stray dog, vendors, and people (the road belongs to everyone except those in cars!). We spent the day at a cousin’s finca (farm). On another day we went to the oceanfront and body surfed in the warm water and played on the black volcanic sandy beach.

We spent a week in Christine’s small community, in the Department of Chinandega. We lived in her cinder block home with her new puppy Moco Loco (loosely translated Booger Crazy). Each day we would lose electricity or water (or both) for hours at a time; the Nicas take this in stride. It rained heavily each day but dried up quickly. Christine and her neighbors swept the yard (hard volcanic-based soil) daily to keep it clean and orderly. But the burning sugar cane ash, road dust, leaves / fruit droppings make it a constant clean up effort. We showered and washed the dishes at her outdoor water station (no water at all on the last day so the neighbors supplied us with buckets of water pumped from their well).

The Nicaraguans (and Christine) struggle each day to accomplish simple tasks that we take for granted. They get by with very little yet they shared generously with us; the host family included us in their daily meals and all their family activities. Matagalpa cafe con leche, quesillo (tortilla with cream, onion, cheese, and hot sauce), gallo pinto (fried beans and rice), olive and cheese empanadas, were just some of our new found culinary delights.

Christine works with four different schools (we visited them all) and we were treated as honored guests. They had presentations that overwhelmed us – the whole school assembly which included native dressed dancers, hand made gifts, class songs (they made us sing as well), demonstrations about the compost heaps, interviewing us for a class project, presenting us with bushels of locally grown fruit, and serving us a lunch of torta de yuca (kind of like a potato pancake) with ensalada (similar to cole slaw) that a family had prepared for us at 5 in the morning.

It was hard for us to not focus on the unimaginable poverty. Few of the students get books (sometimes the teachers don’t either), the lights - some schools don't have any - are kept off (they turned them on when we were there), the smaller students sometimes need to share desks, one class room is partially constructed (ran out of money) and the kids are basically sitting outside (with only a roof, concrete floor, metal desks and nothing else), a pair of teachers shared one dry erase marker for their two classrooms. These shortcomings don't keep the teachers and students from focusing on their educational goals.

And then buckets of tears were shed as we said our goodbyes at the airport. Eight months of Christine’s service has been completed – only 19 more to go---- But who is counting?

Buenas buenas!

Guess what!??! I got a puppy....a itty bitty chiquito perro...that is very scared of me and shakes a lot...but I love it. It is so cute. But I have no idea what to name it...so suggestions have been Dulce, Moco loco (really liking this one so far), escorpian, o perro. Let me know more ideas you have after see its picture :)

Tid-bits

- The other day a little girl asked: “Why do you Americans always smell so good?” I looked at her in confusion and I was like: “Ahhh…I’m not sure. You guys smell good too…” She then responds: “Yea but you guys always smell soooooo good…like flowers or something” I was slightly weirded-out, having images of this little girl smelling Americans as they pass by her. So I responded: “Maybe it is because we use liquid detergent in a washing machine.” She still seemed unsatisfied with my answer...

- I had two little girls approach me yesterday, puzzled and say: “Oh we thought you were the gringa.” I know I looked baffled -I am the only white person that lives in my town. So I respond: “But…I am the gringa”. They then responded “Yea, you are really white”.

- My host family got a peliguey (a sheep/goat) the other day. It is beautiful but that sound makes my skin crawl after hearing it all day. The family pig and dog are jealous of it. Every time that my host family puts out leaves for the peliguey to eat, the two of them run over and all three of them fight over the leaves.

- About three weeks ago, I was riding a bus to hacer compras in the main city, when BUFFFH it broke down. Salado(Salty)(fiesty) me had already paid my bus fare and there was no way the cobredor (man who collects the fare) was ever going to give it back. PINCHE! (Cheap!) Luckily I wasn't alone. One of my favorite teachers was on the bus and the two of us walked for an hour. Finally a friend of hers came and picked us up and took us the rest of the way there. The same bus broke down on me again last week; twice during the same trip! It still made it the rest of the way to my town but taking triple the amount of time to get there. I have now made a point of figuring out when that particular bus runs and will arrive an hour early or later for the next bus so I can avoid the “bad” bus.

- Two weeks ago we had a Language Workshop in Jinotepe, Carazo. It really wasn't so bad. I got to brush up on my subjunctive verbs and learn more modismos (local phrases). While there, I stayed with another host family and was once again taken aback by their immense hospitality. They also showed what the the father had constructed - a huge carretera (highway) for his son made completely out of trash. They told me there was also an airport and something else but it didn’t fit in the space for me to see. lol.

- Three weeks ago, I missed three days of class but not of my own accord. The first day, I was invited on a 6th grade field trip to a local agricultural community’s river. The goal was for the students to study different types of suelo (soil). However, the teachers forgot the containers to collect the soil in, so it became a playing baseball, swimming,and eating event. In the overcrowded bus, I sang a few songs in English and then unsuccessfully tried to teach them the words. The second day, I was invited to celebrate the Day of Women with the teachers. We went to the local piscina (a swimming pool that consists of river water flowing into a carved-out cement structure). We all sat around, sometimes either eating and swimming. For awhile, I also helped look for crabs with the children. The third day school was canceled for elections. The interesting part of all three of these events was that I was not informed about them until the night before. I was then told they all started at 7 when in reality that meant 8:30.

- Semana Santa (Holy Week) was this past week. It was marked by religious celebrations and going to the beach or a piscina to swim as school is canceled and businesses are closed. I opted to stay in my town and chill-out since the thought of packed beaches and extremely full buses didn’t seem very appealing to me. It is also a fairly dangerous time since there are a lot of drownings. Many Nicaraguans don’t ever receive formal swim lessons. Additionally, there are a lot of car accidents and overindulgence of alcohol that seem to plague these fiestas.

- Finally, the pig and I are no longer friends. The reason...the other day it ate my beautiful Chayote plants that were growing up to my shoulder. I am not going to lie.... I may or may not have had a mini -almost complete- crying freak out moment since almost all my gardens have not made it that far. However, the hanging tomato plants are beautiful and we ate our first tomato the other day! We have about 20 others on the way. My goal this week is to construct a better fence and start again with a new, sure to be challenging, garden. Oh and the mice ate a bunch of my seeds! I was not happy about that either.

- My host cousin the other day asked me what "you-who" meant. I flipped my wrist and did an impression of a flirting girl that said “you-whooo, over here” before I explained it. I also tried to explain “Oh boy” but I don’t think it translates that well. She now says the two phrases periodically throughout the day adding a little chuckle.

- I think my host family has told me about 25 times that I should really consider buying some crema for my hair to smooth it out into a nice shiny pony-tail that they are always sporting here. As for my gustos, I am not a fan of greasy hair and will not be echar-ing any crema in my already straight and smooth hair. They don’t seem to like the fact that I prefer my hair down, a little messy, and without any bedazzled clip in it. My host family always asks me “did you brush your hair today?” And of course I have. But they insist that I must not have. Therefore, I now say “if you don’t think it looks brushed enough, then brush it for me.” Which they proceed to do and then say “it always looks so much better!”

- I was helping my host brother pack the other day for a trip and had set out an assortment of shirts. I then selected two pants, one dress pair and one pair of jeans. He then asked me “Where are my other pants?” I replied: “You have your dress pants for the baptism and the jeans when you are dressing causal. You are only going to be gone three days.” He goes “Estas loca. I cannot wear the same jeans for three days.” I respond “But why? I do it all the time.” He looks at me and goes “Because I never have. I am packing a pair of jeans for every day!” This conversation just reflects how much Nicaraguans take pride in their appearance. Everything coordinates, is ironed, and is freshly washed regardless of where they are going.

The answers to your questions:

The scorpian bite has passed but since the bite I have already seen 2 in my house!!! I think now they smell me or something. I already have a set of letters that I am sending you guys on Monday from one group of students. I have a few others interested but they havent gotten their act together just yet.

I did not see the Olympics. I am typically in my host family's house at night and they do not have cable only Broadcast. Which means that we only watch telenovelas or soap operas at night. However, the strong winds last night knocked-down the antenna and so we can only watch movies now. However, there are some people in my town that do have cable.It is expensive so there are only a few. I do have a TV that was gifted to me but without an antenna or a DVD so it serves no purpose right now.

As for visitors in my house, I have seen a few cockroaches, geckos (they are tiny, harmless, make funny noises, and eat the bugs), little mice (my host family gets big rats but luckily I haven't), ants, iguanas, spiders, and thats it for now. My neighbors say that they had a snake the other day...that scares me. Oh and I will have a puppy hopefully in a month or so and eventually some hens.

As for the beaches here. The one I was at when I was biten was far from my house. About 5 hours by bus. It was covered in beautiful rocks, had hermit crabs, a few large fish, and very blue water. It was beautiful. I would have to say that it doesn't compare to Gilson beach (which sometimes smells bad lol). There is a beach close to my house called Paso Caballo in an area called Corinto. It costs about 2 dollars to get there those are two bus rides that total about an hour an a half. It has a few areas to sit and order food and a couple of wooden benchs to sit. It has about 3 little huts made of wood to change in. Otherwise it is not very populated and covered in white sand a bit different than Gilson beach. The water is also salt water which means it has a bad taste if it enters your mouth.

hmmmm if there is more that comes to me I will let you know.

The weather right now is dry since we are in the summer time. That mean it doesnt hardly rain, it is windy and lots of dust. It is also hot. Usually about 95 degrees but about a month ago it was a little cooler. Everyday is gets hotter as we are entering into winter. That means we will enter the wet season where it rains all the time. The rain does help to cool down though. As well, there are mosquitos that can be horrible at times and other times just disappear (Yea! we dont have any right now)

As well as for the pen pals, my parents are leaving on the 21st of April to visit me here. If you would like to send letter with them you can send them through any of the neighbor kids.

Please ask me more questions!!!

Buenas! Today I am on my way back from a lovely stay at a beach called San Juan del Sur. I stayed at this beautiful house that a friend of a friend owns. It was nice to just sit around, swim in a pool overlooking the ocean, eat healthy, and hang-out with a few other volunteers. However, as I was packing my bag today, I had a little visitor hanging out on my towel, a scorpion! and it stung my belly! It felt like a bee sting and was a bit swollen. The strange thing is that my tongue is still numb,and it happened this morning. I took some meds and put on some topical cream, no worries mom! But ek! I will be shaking my things out from now on!

Buenas tardes a todas y todos!

Again I would like to apoligize for not writing as often as I would like. School has finally started and I also have moved into my own house!

To begin with, I live in my own house, around the corner from my host family and directly in front of the Instituto (highschool). It is a good size with a bedroom, kitchen, and sala (living room). I also have a large patio (backyard). It has an avocado tree (still blooming), lemon tree, chile bush, and a cashew tree. The cashew nut hangs off a fruit. You toast it and it tastes amazing. We are currently approaching mango season but I sadly don’t have one of those in my back yard. I shower outside but with a shower head in an enclosed area. I also use a latrine. Every day or so I have to sweep my patio to get rid of the leaves, fallen fruit, and garbage (the Nicaragua’s are meticulous about the cleanliness of their patios). I also have to sweep inside my house everyday because the amount of dust here is tremendous, as well as ash from the burning of cana (sugarcane). I have also set-up a chicken coop so that I can eventual have hens lay eggs for me. As for company, I always have it. There are always little kids coming in and out, as well as the boys from my youth group. The high school students often come in as well asking English questions and reading the magazines that I have on my table. I am also waiting for a little perrito (little dog) that my host family from Niquinohomo has promised me. I am getting it just because my dad wouldn’t let me have one in the U.S. The thing that is interesting here is that unlike the U.S., people generally don’t live on their own, almost never. People are constantly asking me if I am scared or lonely. Independence away from your family doesn’t really exist here. Privacy is very limited. Often children will get married and still live with their family until it gets too crowed. (Too crowed is also not by U.S. standards. It means that when there is about 15 plus in the house that maybe eventually they will move out.) The one problem I do have with my house is the constant presence of mice that scurry about. YUCK. I have also seen a few cockroaches and spiders. When I was moving in, I saw a dead tarantula on the street. YIKES.

School seems to occupy most of my time now. I am currently observing 6 teachers and next week I will start to give charlas (lessons). I also ride my bike. My furthest school is about 30 minutes away in the middle of the farm land. The other day I arrived late to school because I got stuck behind a herd of cows. The classes all are without books. Often the teacher is also missing the information to teach and has to go on the internet to reach the topics. One of my school is missing a classroom so they have class outside under a structure with a roof. I hope eventually to get a grant to have a classroom made. In general, the schools have seen less students attending this year. They think it is due to the difficult economic situation keeping which has kept children at home to work or too embarrassed to come because they can’t afford the uniform or the notebooks. Two of my three schools are what is called multigrado (mixed grades). For example, I am working with one teacher that teaching to first and fourth grade at the same time. It is very interesting to watch her juggle between topics and try to maintain discipline. In Nicaragua, I have seen a general trend of less structure in the aulas (classrooms). Generally, the students don’t raise their hand, can leave the room when they want, arrive late, and at times it can be challenging to the teachers to maintain control. However, I have noticed that the teachers seem to have very strong relationships with their students as well as their parents. There are no boundaries in that sense. Since there are generally no books for the students to read from, the teacher is often reading the lecture out loud or the students have to copy in down from a large piece of paper in front of the class. In general, the more rural schools are lacking in a lot of materials. For example, some are missing desks or their markers don’t work.

The students seem very excited to work with me, as well as the teachers. I have already given charlas about composting and organic garbage. We have almost finished creating compost pits. We will use the compost to give more nutrients to the soil and help with water retention when we are doing our garden and tree nursery. The students brought in huge bags of kitchen scraps, cow poop, ash, leaves, etc. It was inspiring to see their enthusiasm about bringing in the different items.

I wanted to let Senorita Schroeder and her Spanish class know, that I received the little lamb and it has been traveling with me to all the schools and I have had the children take pictures with it. The students have loved taking pictures with it. I hope to take it to a volcano or two. The students here were also thinking about writing all of you letters like pen pals so they can learn all about Wilmette and you can learn about their town.

Talk to you all soon. Nos vemos. Adios. :)

My host family and I on Christmas. We sat in the street and lit off fireworks.

My host sisters and I on our way to a promotion dance

The sweet 18 bday we went to with our homemade costumes while everyone else had nice store-bought ones. we felt a bit out of place.

Milking some cows...yes I did it and it was gross!

The products we made during training with our youth group.

The amount of bags they collected, washed, and cut within two days

The cutting and the washing of the chip bags

The cucumbers or Pepinos.

My host cousin displaying the purse and belt made of chip bags

My host sister and cousin shoveling-out the compost pile.

The youth group boys making the fence for the garden. (Didn't work too well)

One of the areas we are growing some plants. The plants hanging are tomatoes and some flowers. We are also trying to grow Chayote which will hopefully grow on the tressel.

I will add more soon

The boys in the youth group after the scavenger hunt

An example of the bracelets we have made.

Three LARGE pigs along side my house in the garbage pit

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año

I wouldn’t say my X mas this year was much like any other that I have experienced in the U.S. We traveled to the city of Chinandega and celebrated there. However, there was no snow or Santa Claus this year, rather a humid, dust covered holiday. Here they give only the children presents and this usually occurs on the 24th rather than the 25th of December. For the New Year I headed back to my training town and celebrated with my host family there and got to know their new little addition to their family.

In my new (permanent)site, I haven’t been able to do a whole lot. School vacation started the end of November and continues until the start of February; it doesn’t look like things are really going to pick-up until then. I have still been working with the young boys on an assortment of things. We recently had a scavenger hunt and I taught them how to make friendship bracelets. I can’t say that the boys are as great at art projects as I would imagine the girls are but despite that, their enthusiasm makes up for whatever lack in artistic ability that they may have. They have also taken it upon themselves to water and weed the garden every day. The garden fence is still a disaster, despite my every effort to improve it. Something is still eating some of the plants. I am not sure if it is a worm/plague or the chickens and hens. I have been putting a special solution on the leaves to discourage whatever but it doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference. Even so, they are still growing!

The next project I hope to take on is concerning the contamination of the drinking water here (don’t worry I purify my water). I was visited by a water engineer who voiced his concern with the water. He believes it is the source of many health problems of the people. The sources seem to be the chemicals on the sugar cane and the burning of it, the improper disposal of garbage, the inadequete cleaning of the water tank, and the use of latrines without sufficient lining for the waste.

During New Year'sweek, I went back to my old host town and celebrated with my family there. The events were the festival the day before New Years. The people dressed as scary grim reapers and clowns. They then threw up a bunch of fireworks and such. It was pretty awesome.

Some tidbits:

• They love Tweety Bird here (just for you mom). You can find stickers of her on everything!

• They say people with green eyes here have CAT EYES

• Sometimes they say “Está salado” You are feeling salty…I like that one

• The women here are almost always wearing knee-length skirts with heels

• Telenovelas or soap operas are HUGE here…I have a few favorites

• The movie burning industry is also popular here. You can buy a CD with 4 movies on it, sometimes dubbed, sometimes not, sometimes good quality, sometimes not, for just C$15-20 or about a $1

• We have a little pig living at the house that likes to follow my host sister all day.

• Most people don’t have cars and use bicycles instead. They are almost always traveling with more than one person on their bike. I have seen up to 6 at times rolling on by.

• To eat oranges, they peel them with a knife, cut them in half and then suck-out the juice and usually discard the actual fruit. They also sometimes peel grapes to eat them.

****I am presently in Leon for a reunion with a few volunteers to celebrate their birthdays. We are going to stay in a hostel for $5 on the beach!

So I have been busy busy busy.

To begin, I created a garden in my host family´s house with the help of all the little boys around the area. Basically they took charge and repeatidly told me...see how creative Nicaraguans are! It was awesome. Today I looked and we already have some plants showing. However, not without a struggle. I have been chasing pigs, hens, chickens, dogs, etc. out of that garden. The fence made out of bags has been little help! But I have my fingers crossed.

With the same group of boys I have created a youth group. They are amazing and have been loving every minute of it. We did a wall sit competition the other day and they were screaming and yelling in pain but they would NOT give up! It was great. We all made Christmas cards. I showed them my purse made out of bag wrappers and for the next two days all I hard was "CHRISTEEEEN! Tenemos mas bolsas!!! Mire!" They were so excited to find bags off the street so we could get started. The next day we washed them and hung them out to dry. We made bracelets and on Monday we are making belts! I love the enthusiasm!

As well, we had Purisima on Monday. It is a holiday where they walk around to different, personal, decorated alters and sing different hyms to them to celebrate the mother Mary. Then the owners of the alters give little gifts: jewelery, plate houseware, or gofio (a cookie like thing made from pinolo) I loved it! I got a ton of the food!

Thats all for now...Heading to another baile tonight for a promocion!

Week one almost down in my site! It has been an interesting week as I have gotten to know better my new home. It is bigger than I thought (6,000 people, not sure if I have mentioned that) and everyday I find a new bridge leading to a new section. The people are very kind and have dynamic personalities. I have been approached by many people showing interest in personal, community, and school gardens, which is very exciting! There is little knowledge of proper land use, garbage disposal, composting, etc. However, even with the lack of knowledge, the people are aware of an issue and are enthusiastic to learn possible solutions.

My host sister was explaining to me that a lot of people here were fortunate to receive land when the new government was instated. However, as many of them were unable to manage it properly and were falling into extreme poverty because the draught, they have almost all rented their land to sugar growing companies. The issue with this is that these companies use slash and burn agriculture to produce their crop. Thus these people, are not making much of an income from the renting and afterwards their land will be unusable and their poverty situation will be worse. Hopefully, with more environmental education, some of them can find a way to help their situations.

Despite their economic situation, the people still seem to cherish their family and community events. I was invited to a promotion (a graduation) of preschoolers the other day. I was invited to sit on stage and proceeded to kiss about 200 little kids cheeks. Afterwards, la directora (my counterpart), two other sub-directoras, and myself went to one of their graduation parties. It was filled with regeatton, a piñata, soda, a dinner plate, and a goody bag.

I have another promotion on Friday of those graduating to high school and my host mother´s birthday is on Sunday. I have already made a compost pile with my host sister and cousin and I hope to start a garden soon. On Monday I look forward to the start a youth group.

(Thank you all for your support thus far in my journey)

Hello all. I only have a moment to catch-up. In a few moments I leave for my site and start the beginning of my service. I stomach is in complete knots but I think I am ready to begin. My site visit was amazing and I really got a feel for my town and some possible projects that I could begin. However, it rained the majority of the visit, which meant the schools were closed, and I met only a few teachers. My town is small with only a few small stores. There are however, quite a few Billiard halls, a large field to play soccer and one or two bars that only really men seem to frequent. The women seemed to express to me how there is no real form of entertainment for them besides watching television. That is something I hope to work on with things such as women’s groups where we could do art with garbage and such. As well as personal gardens and compost piles in their backyards since there isn’t a market with a large variety of vegetables. Another goal of mine is to work with the deaf-mute population of the town since they have never been taught any form of communication.

Leave my training town was difficult. They were an amazing family that really helped me integrate into the culture. On my last night they threw me a despedida where we broke a piñata, drank pop and cookies and ended the night with a scary movie. I was sworn in as a volunteer on Monday in a beautiful ceremony. The rest of the week I spent in an all volunteer conference. We learned all about food security and our role in it, in this country. Last night was thanksgiving. I was privileged to be invited, along with 6 other volunteers, to the United States ambassador’s house. (My mom hooked-up me up with that connection) The house was beautiful, his family was down to earth and the food was delish! I am not going to lie between the conference and the turkey dinner (minus turkey for me); I don’t feel like I am in a third world country! But it is back to reality! Sorry for the vagueness of this entry but I am in a rush!

Tomorrow I leave for my site visit in Tonalá, Chinandega, Nicaragua. I will visit the site for one week and get to know the important people (scary). Then I will return to my training for another 3 weeks of trainng. After the completion of my training, a volunteer conference, and Thanksgiving, I will return to Tonalá, my home for the next two years. It is a medium-sized town in a very hot area of Nicaragua. It fairly close to the beach which is a bonus, minus the threat of hurricane season lol.

More to come...I have to go pack!

Why pure beans? Because myself and this country eat so much gallo pinto that are bodies are puro frijoles. It’s great for a vegetarian trying to get protein. But for those who don’t agree with beans, they may struggle a bit with the frequency of them.

¡Como el tiempo vuelva! (How the time flies) I am currently at the end of week 7 of my 11 week training period. It has been full of activities and thus provides my explanation for my absence from my blog. However, here is a summary of what’s been going on. During week 5 I went on a site visit with a fellow trainee to a town called El Coral, Chontales. We visited a volunteer, Jenny, who is approaching the end of her Peace Corps experience. (Someone from our group will replace her in her site.) Her site is considered medium sized. Jenny is a “star” volunteer and has a long list of accomplishments in her town. She is currently working to provoke interest in a water filtration project. We were fortunate to see her give charlas about it to different groups and try to convey the importance of purified water versus their fairly contaminated water. The main issue is that it is fairly costly and they will have to save for a bit in order to buy the system/apparatus. It was exciting to see how all that we have been learning had come into play in her site. There was also a delicious food we had a few times their called quesillos. They consist of a tortilla with cheese (the taste and consistency reminds me of mozzarella cheese), a cream mixture, a bit of hot sauce, and onions. This town is also out in cowboy campo (country) so there were a ton of men walking around in cowboy hats and boots. We got up one morning about 5:30am to go milk cows. I was a bit scawormish as I wet my hands with the warm milk and then tried to milk the utters. It was unexpectedly challenging to try to get the same quantity of milk that the farmers were rapidly getting. I also learned that the majority of volunteers live on their own in their communities after 6 weeks and consequently my dream campo house has graced my daydreams and doodles in my notebook every since. I am also aspiring to make and maintain a chicken coop out of recycled material. (Any suggestions gladly accepted) We will see how that one plays out.

Second issue of importance: I was extremely saddened to discover that our garden that we had nurtured to adolescence was unfortunately ripped from the ground. (Culprits are unknown. Suspects: young school boys messing with the gringos.)Therefore, we no longer have a garden, quite disheartening, I am not going to lie. At our houses, we are trying to grow a few plants in cut pop bottles in order to still get the experience of harvesting and such.

Otherwise, I am adjusting to cultural differences while enjoying learning about a new culture. Our youth group has been fairly successful, despite their disappointment with the garden mishap. The other day we made pulseras (bracelets) using bottle caps. We made holes with nails and braided strips of plastic bags to make the string. The amount of things you can do with garbage stuns me. I am working on a few projects for my future site. (Updates to come). The issue we have been adapting to concerning our group is that if it rains here, most likely no one will come. This is true of all events with all Nicaraguas. I have even seen school being canceled because of rain. I find it a bit peculiar considering they have a whole season of rain. However, I can understand that their building structures don’t allow for the best noise control during storms, they believe that if you get wet you may get sick, the drainage of the streets is poor etc. I also taught on my own to fourth graders the other day. It was challenging since it was about energy and that is difficult for me to explain in English. Tomorrow I will teach about sound. (Figures crossed.) On Sunday, all of the other trainees and myself got together for a finca (farm) party thrown by a trainee’s family. It was very entertaining as they provided very creative games for us to compete against each other. One being a sack race and peel the banana with your mouth. Each town was in charge of a part of the meal. We brought the desert: Nica style S’mores. It consisted of marshmallows and cookies with a chocolate side (We couldn’t find chocolate bars or graham crackers.) Depite the changes they still tasted awesome. Last night, I went to a super 18 birthday party. It was costume themed so three other trainees and myself home-made our Ninja Turtle costumes. Conversely, the other party goers showed us up with their expensive or just in general, more creative costumes. I loved it since they don’t really celebrate Halloween here so I still felt like I got to celebrate it. The best part of the night was the red carpet that all of us had to strut down as everyone took pictures. The living room was changed into a discoteca with a DJ and strobe light. I never know what to expect here. There are events in my town or around it almost every 3 days and they never cease to impress me.

I have about a month left and then I will be off on my own (YIKES). No more Spanish class for 8 hours a day. No more English breaks with the other trainees. No more hand-holding. On Wednesday we are revealed our site assignments and basically our home for the next two years. The following Monday I will spend a week in this site and meet my counterpart. I am very excited but also nervous about it all.

Some Nica VOCABulary :

- I learned the hard way that there is a verb in the Spanish language called: PLATICAR. It sounds VERY similar to the verb PRACTICAR which means to practice. However, platicar does NoT mean to practice. The other day I was soliciting the help of my older nica cousin with the construction of our huerto (vegetable garden). My Nica Papa told me: “my cousin was coming over to PLATICAR about the huerto.” I was confused and ask “ what are we going to practice?” With a puzzeled look on his face, he repeated: “About the huerto. Don’t you want his help?” I replied: “Yes we really need it.” He replied: “Well he is going to come over to PLATICAR with you about it.” And I replied: “Okay, but I don’t have anything we can practice. It is just digging and stuff.” Later when I again had a similar nonsensical conversation with my nica mom, I decided to look through the dictionary for possibly another meaning for PRACTICAR. It all made sense when I found the word PLATICAR which basically means to chat or reason-out.

- A scorpion is called an ALACRÁN and for the little lizards that cover Nica houses, they use the word ESCORPIÓN. A little confusing no cierto!

- I love this one: A thong is called HILO DENTAL. Lightly translated as dental floss lol.

- For ladies’ panties they use the word: BLÚMERES (bloomers)

- The word ADIOS (bye) can be used to say hello and goodbye in passing, no hi necessary.

- Arroz con leche is rice mixed with milk and sugar, served hot. Surprisingly delish!

“Un poco” más:

• Our garden has been a continuing struggle as some school children have been using it as a second playground. However, some determined plants have been sprouting and we are all very excited. One of the other volunteers said: “It’s like we are having a baby!”

• INSECT HATERS, I have dealt with two LARGE cockroaches in my room but I have successfully swept them from my room without screaming 

• I taught my first environmental CHARLA (lesson/talk) on deforestation and conservation of trees. It was a learning experience but I think a good start.

• Some jóvenes (Young adults. Surprisingly this term can refer to those anywhere from 12 – 30 years!) in the town put on a few skits and dances for their youth groups in the street. I was so impressed by their creativity and respect for eachother considering there was no adult supervision. Skits are a highly successful means to convey messages to youth here.

• Nicaraguans consider “No gracias, estoy bien…” to be a light form of “yes please” and thus I have received “solo un poco” of many glasses of pop and desserts despite my efforts of avoiding them. As well, un poco (a little) is not exactly what I would call a small quantity, especially with sugar in my coffee.

• My Nica family and I made chocolate Rice Krispies the other night. My host sister kept calling it my experiment... They turned-out very dulce, maybe a little too much butter. But they loved them and called it: LA TORTA DE CHRISTINE

• Very few people can speak English here. Nonetheless, many people find the need to share with me the few words they may know when I pass them on the street. For example the other day: “I luuve you Ma-der. Ma-der! Ma-der!”

• Final note: I am having a “sagging” issue. All the nice new undies I bought for my trip…are two, three, four times too large for my body.

Monday will be the 3 week mark of my Peace Corps experience. Since I left my “quarantine” situation I have been so busy. These 3 months of training are going to be intense and filled with charlas (talks) on health/ safety/ technical skills, many reading assignments, 6 hours of Spanish class each day, and shadowing at school classes. Then we will put it all into practice in our own charlas presented in a school class. We will be forming a youth group and developing our own gardens. The purpose is to prepare us to enter our community of 2 years and be completely ready to do it all on our own.

Last week was the celebration of their Independence, and as such they had no school for the week. On our bus ride home from one of our charlas last Saturday, we were privileged to see the running of La Antorcha (the torch). It is run through Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and usually Honduras (but it was deemed unstable and skipped this year because of their present war). The torch is a symbol of the independence of these Latin American countries from their colonizers. It is also shown on their money with the 5 mountains placed in the center of the bill. During the short parade, there was a boy holding the torch, other children surrounding him along with police cars and trucks full of people (honking their horns both before and after he passed). It was almost like we were just as much a spectacle as they were. When they noticed a bus full of Americans they were pointing and yelling “HELLO” and “BYE” at us. Then on Monday, the actual day of independence, they had a long parade with all the schools. Every grade of each school of my town had their own outfit and flag. Some of the schools had their own band and special dances that they preformed. They all filed into the outdoor stadium and sang songs about independence, the importance of anafetabismo (reading and writing literacy), and lit off a few fireworks. Then they filed-out again and did more coordinated dances.

This past week I have been attending my daily Spanish class and my Wednesday / Friday charlas. The most exciting and challenging tasks of the week have been forming our youth group and developing our garden. I missed last week (quarantine) when they went into the school library and asked for participation from the students. I was present for the planning of it all. We held our first youth group meeting in the local library with about 18 participants (ages 7 – 18) and it went off without a hitch. We started with a general introduction and played a dinámica (a group game). We threw the ball and they had to answer with their name, age, favorite singer, and a fact they knew about the United States (that proved to be a bit challenging for them). Then we showed them the map we made of their town and asked them to show us where they lived and what important spots we were missing. They said we were missing the ice cream shops and internet cafes! Then we shared the plans to make a group garden that would start the following day (Thursday and again Saturday). We played another dinámica where we made noises with our bodies leading up to a tormenta (storm). We talked about what to bring to help with the gardening. It was great and they all seemed so excited. The next day we met at our meeting site, the yard of a local school. The space had been evaluated by Peace Corps, a specialists said there were a few challenges ahead of us. The site we have chosen (really the only one available) has drainage issues and it is infested with beetle larva and leaf-cutter ants (both of which will eat our crops). There was a large mass of weeds to clear in sweltering heat. Thursday, we cleared the large majority with machetes (I am horrible at using them), shovels, and our hands. Sweat poured down our faces and my energy was drained. I was surrounded by such energetic and hard working kids who were so excited about their garden. On Saturday we worked for 4 hours clearing the rest of the land. To make our seed bed, we had to break-up the soil, take-out the larva (ekk), rip out the shrubs, and then turn the soil to make it softer and easier for the plants to root. We also added cal (a chemical that will kill the insects and helps the plants) and also some of the soil of the leaf cutting ants which is a natural fertilizer. Then we built up our seed bed, put black bags over it so the sun will heat it and kill all inside. In three days we will plant our seeds in this area. With the remaining area we added rows for cucumbers. We planted the seeds, the cucumbers don’t require a seed bed because they will not be transplanted and the soil didn’t have to be turned because the seeds are stronger (which means it took about ½ the time of the little seed bed). We also planted 6 small circular beds above the ground. They have two types of plants that will not be transplanted. To protect the garden from pooling rain water we dug a ditch around the garden. It was very tiring and HARD, by the end of the day I was a red tomato (I wore sunscreen but I think I sweated most of it off). We still have to build a fence and water the garden every day. We need to pour a small mixture on the leaves to kills the ants. In a month we will transplant the seed bed plants into two permanent rows that still needs to be developed.

Finally, I just wanted to mention some other Nicaragüense (Nicaraguan) habits that I have noticed:

 They scrunch up their noses and point them forward to show confusion or to direct you towards something they want you to do.

 They stick-out their hand, drop the wrist down and wave the fingers back and forth in unity to tell you to come to them (I had a hard time with this one at first because I thought it meant they were “shushing” me away)

 They also use a hissing through their teeth noise to get someone’s attention. Sometimes this is in a nice way, such as from within your house. Other times, it is like a catcall to a girl/me on the street followed by “Mi amor” (my love) or “Que bonita” (how beautiful).

 They mention God a lot in their sayings to others. They usually ask how you slept, if you slept well they may say " well, thanks to God" (Bien, gracias a Dios). Or when you are leaving the house and you are saying goodbye to your host mom, she will most likely tell you “that you go with God” (Que te vaya con Dios).

 Some families have children that appear like the stereotypical American with blond, red, or light brown hair, freckles, and light complexion. The funny thing is that their parents don’t look like them but rather a stereotypical Nicaraguan with dark, Latin features. My host mom explained to me that this is generally because one of their grandparents was white and that the traits usually skip a generation.



This sweltering heat and humidity is difficult for all of us, even the people that live here.

 Also, here el Niño is a phenomenon that causes less rain than usual (it is the opposite in the U.S.) and la Niña is when there is a ton of rain. Right now we are having el Niño, which means the rain never cools us off.

I also wanted to give a shout-out to Highcrest Middle School's Spanish classes (Wilmette, Illinois) and my former Spanish Teacher! Thanks for following my blog!

As I sit in Quarantine, yes I am in quarantine (I’ll get to that in a second), I can’t help but think...I better update my blog!I am currently in Managua,the capital of Nicaragua, an air conditioned room with room service and cable television. Last night my roommate/cellmate and I ordered Pizza Hut. Seem a little bit strange? Well it should. On Sunday night, I was feeling very sick. I felt dizzy, nauseous, cold chills, etc. However, I had taken my malaria pill in the morning and I read in our

medical packet that the reactions that I was having are normal for some people. So the next day I went to my 8am Spanish class and asked my teacher to call the medical office and request the other option of pills for me. Since it was Labor Day though, the Peace Corps office was closed and so we were going to call the next day. Then after the first half of class, I went home to eat lunch. (I am feeling great btw.) I was in the middle of lunch when I hear my host parents and the host mom of another trainee (the mom at the house where we have Spanish class)telling my parents that I need to go with her b/c I have a phone call from the medical office. However, my parents are arguing with her telling her that I will come after lunch b/c I am in the middle of it. After I while I intervened and was like no, no it's ok I will go with her and eat my lunch later after Spanish class. So I get into a taxi and ride over to their house where I have to wait for a phone call back from the Peace Corps Medical Office. At this point I think they must just be calling me back about the phone call my Spanish teacher made earlier. So they eventually call back and ask me how I am feeling and I let them know, Great! But last night was sick with this,this and this. So then they proceed to tell me that I needed to come to Managua to be quarantined and observed for 5 days because the volunteer that I had shared my room with the first 2 days of training was sick with something and b/c the swine flu they have to be careful!! So of course I started to cry b/c I was scared, I didn’t want to fall behind, and I didn’t want to scare my family which has a daughter who is pregnant. But the host mom there and my teacher were like no don’t worry it is normal. They are just taking a precaution. I told my family I was going to be observed and packed up my stuff. While waiting for my ride I actually had the best conversation I have had while I have been in Nicaragua with my host mom. All in Spanish, we talked for about 2 hours about her life, problems of the town, marriage, etc. Then my teacher came and the three of us continued the conversation. So, despite the current issue at hand, I was proud of myself for holding such a long conversation in Spanish and understanding 80% of it. Haha. But then my ride came in a Peace Corps truck, wearing a paper mask. Great! I was handed one and my new roommate, not the volunteer diagnosed with being sick, but another trainee who was with me in the old room and therefore was also being quarantined. We rode to the city, went to the medical office, and each were handed preventative medicine, a box of masks, and antibacterial medicine. Also, I will be receiving a different type of Malaria medicine! We were taken to our hotel room and found-out that there were 2 other trainees being quarantined with us. They have also assured us that they will figure-out a way to catch us up and so we shouldn’t worry about that.We have to wear paper masks when we leave the room. We get a lot of stares. Luckily, we have been here for four days and none of us have been feeling sick in the least and so they called us to let us know that tonight we can leave. Thank goodness because otherwise I may go a bit STIR CRAZY here!

This is us in our masks. I am the one in the brown and my roommate for the last couple of days is the one in the blue :)

Buenos dias! On Friday, we had one more day of pre-training in our training camp and by the evening we were all setting into the houses of our new host families.In the morning we went over general environment topics (TEFL went into another room),were given about 15 different books covering a range of topics (and reading assignments in each…it’s like I’m in a college course again!), and then we were split into different test Spanish groups. The groups were split into three levels, novice (beginning), intermediate (middle to high level Spanish) and advanced/superior (fluency). I was put into the intermediate level and for an hour we did different interactive Spanish games to see which people worked best together. Later these groups were further broken down to groups of 3-4 trainees (out of the original 8) and then we were assigned to towns where we will be trained for 3 months. I was assigned to a small-medium sized town with another girl and two boys. My family that I live with is fairly large. I live with my host mom and dad who have three daughters, 10, 20 and 25 years of age. The 25 year old is married, 5 months pregnant and has a 7 year old daughter. Besides for these family members that live in my house, the entire block consists of other brothers and sisters of my host father. My understanding is that typically the father of the family buys a plot of land and eventually leaves the land for his children to split up amongst themselves which leads to them generally living in close proximity. However, the land is usually given to the sons and the daughters typically go to live with their husband. Sometimes the parents may not have enough land to pass onto their children. This was the case for my host mother whose family didn’t have land to pass on, so her family is more spread-out. Nevertheless, family is very important to Nicaraguans. I have a lot of respect for the way that people in Latin American have shown me how much they value their familiesIt is rare for family members to live far from each other or even in another town. My host mom was saying that is one of the big differences between the U.S. and them. Independence is almost sought after in the U.S. with some people going as far as they can for things like college where in Latin American you don't leave your home for college. In my host house the women seem to have a system for how things work. My host mom cooks during the week,the older daughter cooks on the weekends because during the week she is a teacher, while the other daughter cleans when she is not at school. My host father is a truck driver for a construction business and as I mentioned my host sister is in school, studying engineering in Managua, the capital. She has class from 3 to 8 pm but has a two hour bus ride to get there every day. DEDICATION! I have my own room with a bed, a dresser and a lamp. I flush the toilet and shower in the morning with a bucket of water! They have a huge vat of water, which they then pour a portion into a smaller painter’s bucket. I then use a small bowl to pour the water over my head. It was a bit difficult at first but now I have the hang of it and I think it is a quite effective way to manage the amount of water each person uses every day. Al Gore should take note. I also found the structure of the houses interesting (Thank you dad. I notice the structure of houses). They build the house with as much “openness” as possible. I believe it is to deal with the humidity, heat and provide more air flow. They use bricks /stone blocks with holes (or rather designs punched-out of the brick), have openings between the walls and the roof, large walls, and big doorways. They generally use big cuts of stone instead of smaller bricks because of the cost of the bricks and the cement is high. I have also found that they love Michael Jackson (and are very taken back by his death :( ) and almost every home has a few rocking chairs (abuelitas). Also, they love baseball. The first three questions I was asked by my host family was: What music do you listen to? What is your favorite comedy tv show? And who is your favorite baseball team? The best part was during my first hour of being at my host house, my host dad had the Chicago SOX game on!!! I was like OMG my family would love this house! That is the other thing. The house I am in, does have cable and the young girls love the Jonas Brothers, Dora the Explorer, The Fairy God Parents, and Jimmy Neutron. Also, I taught my host sisters some card games and since then we have played cards every second that we have had together. They love UNO, KEMPS, and SPOONS.

The young girls also took myself and two of the other trainees on a tour of the town showing us the park, their school, the mayor’s office, the church, etc. I have also started my Spanish class which is 4 hours of general interactive vocabulary and grammar lessons and the second two hours are going into the town and learning more technical terms and how to start things like a youth group. I also went to church on Sunday with my host mom and there were big firework noises that kept going off that made me jump each time. It was Mother Mary’s Birthday so I am not sure if that noise is a normal occurrence or not (for my sanity I hope not). Also, I am a vegetarian for those that do not know, so I was somewhat concerned about that. However, my family has been amazingly accommodating and everyday they introduce me to new meals that are not always the most flavorful but are still very tasty. In the morning I am typically given a piece of bread that sometimes has cheese in it, maybe eggs or a potato and vegetable mixture with sweet coffee or fresh squeezed juice. Lunch and dinner may be pinto gallo (rice and red beans) with a vegetable soup or some sort of maiz tamale with a salty cheese. Or maybe cooked bananas. There are four types and all are used in an assortment of ways: guinea, banana, platano, and I can’t remember at the moment the name of the small, sweet one. I also was given a maiz (corn) drink the other day that looked liked iced coffee but had more the flavor of a sweet juice with an interesting kick. The town seems a bit run down but still beautiful and full of history which is displayed with different propaganda painted onto the walls running through-out the town. There isn’t a huge amount of pollution in the streets. My host mom explained to me that this is a recent development and that the town has really been working hard to not liter and is doing different restoration projects with the money they do have. I also feel very safe here. The people are all friendly and you greet everyone on the street that you pass with Buenos Dias, Buenas tardes, Y Buenas Noches. As well, even though it is considered the winter (invierno) and the end of the rain season, it has only rained about twice here and is very hot! This is just a general overview of what I have seen so far in my short time being in my town. That’s all for now! Hasta Pronto!

My weekly allowance of Cordobas (The rate is 20 Cordobas to 1 dollar bill)and

The TEFL (english teaching group)

Hola from NICARAGUA (finally!)

So I only have a few minutes but I thought I would update you on my adventure. I arrived safe and sound!! Our flight from DC to Miami was delayed. So we were stranded in Miami forever and I had only had about 1 hour of sleep, not even and was feeling pretty drowsy. About 3 hours after our original take-off time, we got on the plane. (We being myself and 38 other environmental and english teaching volunteers from an assortment of other states). The flight was uneventful with a bumpy landing and a few gulps to go with it. We were greeted by cheering Peace Corps staff and after 10 minutes of standing at the baggage claim area, found-out that our luggage was in Haiti! So apparently it had traveled more than we had! However, they assured us that it would be arriving the next night and would be delivered by the airport to our resort. Bad omen? Let’s hope not. Then, we all pilled into a van,chugged down the provided chilled bottled water and traveled to our training center. We were fed a lunch, a scrumptious mixture of rice, veggies, French fries and a small salad. Nothing out of the ordinary and besides the ride to the resort which displayed a desolate setting, nothing has seemed like we were in a 3rd world country. After that we were taken to a room, introduced to our training crew, filled-out a few forms, and then informed that tomorrow ,(which is today) we would be having medical interviews and our Spanish interviews/conversations, YIKES. After that , we talked with a few current volunteers who showed us their pictures of their current experience in Nicaragua. When my eyelids could hardly be held open, I knew I needed to go pass-out, which I did and slept like a baby!

Day 2 started early with a pancake breakfast at 7am followed by an ice breaker on the basketball court. The game, which I hear is fairly popular here, is where we sit in chairs in a circle and someone in the middle says something about themselves. Everyone that it applies to, then has to run to a new seat and the person who couldn't find a seat has begin the process again. It was fun and SWEATY!! Then we went in the meeting room and met the new DIRECTOR OF PEACE CORPS, Director Williams. He explained how he is hoping to receive more funding from the government to expand Peace Corps since “we have the wind in our sails from Obama.” Pretty cool to have a president gung-hoe for the cause that I am currently enduring! Following that we had our medical interviews, rabies shots, and an informal Spanish interview to determine our spanish levels and thus those who are considered at your level will train with you during training. Following that we had more lectures on health and safety, money, project overviews, and sang happy birthday to a fellow trainee. Now we are sitting around about to eat dinner and luckily my luggage just arrived and I hope to finally shower my stinkiness away!!! Tonight we are also having a movie night of a special on Nicaragua cuisine that featured some Peace Corps members and was shown on the Food Network Channel. Yeah! Besos…

Answer: You stuff as much as you can into a hikers backpack, a rolling backpack, and a large carry-on.

Result: EXTREME regret as you get bruises and strange marks on your body from the bags cutting off your circulation.

....HOWEVER... It is 27 months and I do feel fairly well prepared. Hmmmm

As I get my blog up and running, I thought it would be practical to clarify a little background surrounding my experience thus far and share that of what I learned of my further endeavor. I have always been interested in service and in high school my two month volunteer trip to Panama sprouted my passion for the Latin American community. Recently, I graduated from the University of Illinois Champaign – Urbana with a double major in Spanish and International Studies with a concentration in Latin America and their development. During my college experience I was also privileged to study abroad in Ecuador for 5 months and expand my first-hand knowledge of the communities that I had been studying. Upon my return from Ecuador I knew that my desire was to continue to strengthen my Spanish skills and further serve these people. As of August 2008 I had begun my Peace Corps application full of skepticism that I would be accepted. By the end of November I had turned in my completed application and by February 2009 I was nominated after completing more paperwork and an interview. In March I was medically and legally qualified, but I still had to complete 30 hours of environmental education volunteering. Impatiently awaiting, I was contacted on June 13, 2009 to officially join the Peace Corps, leaving August 31 for Nicaragua. Since then I have been in constant contact with the Peace Corps learning more and more about my upcoming duties. They give each volunteer the chance to prepare their language skills using the Rosetta Stone program if you dedicate at least 40 hours to it before your departure. Below I included an FAQ about the general questions that I have been asked that I tweaked from another person’s blog (Thank you Jason Azzo’s Blog): How long will you be there?

- 27 months. 3 months of training around Jinotepe and 24 months "in-site." Where my “in-site” location will be isn’t determined until the end of my training. Where is the location of your stay? - I can not answer this question fully at this time. I know that I was generally be on the west coast of the country. For the three month training period I am around Jinotepe. Following that period of time, my location is still to be determined. What is the climate like? - “The climate varies with the region, but Nicaragua generally is hot and tropical, with cool, comfortable nights and a very short dry or cool season.” (Peace Corps Welcome Book) How much do you get to pack? - “The Peace Corps’ allowance is two checked pieces of luggage with combined dimensions of both pieces not to exceed 107 inches (length + width + height) and a carry-on bag with dimensions of no more than 45 inches. Checked baggage should not exceed 80 pounds total with a maximum weight of 50 pounds for any one bag.” (Peace Corps Welcome Book) What will you be doing in Nicaragua?

- Preparing for and holding environmental education classes at elementary schools regarding areas such as trash management, composting, and tree nursery and vegetable garden establishment; aiding local community organizations to increase their capacity to lead community-level sustainable environmental activities, such as reforestation projects in public areas and establishing family gardens. Where will you be living? Do you get a house or apartment?

- All volunteers must live with a host family during the 3 month training period. Once a volunteer is "in-site" he/she must live with a host family for a month or so and then is free to choose whether he wants to get an apartment/house/ or continue a homestay.

Are you getting paid for all this?

- Sorta. We are volunteers but we do get paid a stipend each month to cover living, food, travel, and other expenses. At the end of the experience I am also paid a stipend as a “resettlement” fee.

Can you come home or travel outside of the host country?

-Yes. After the training period volunteers accrue 2 days vacation per month and can use them as they wish.

How will you get around?

-In bigger cities you can get around in local buses or taxis and smaller cities you can walk. Public transportation in Nicaragua is surprisingly efficient and cheap. However, I believe that I will most likely be walking a lot or using a bicycle depending on my placement. How can we contact you in Nicaragua?

-Through mail, internet, cell phones. Nicaragua does have the internet in case you where wondering. Most cities are internet accessible but more remote villages and pueblos will not be. You can mail a parcel or package but expect it to take a while. Peace Corps says that mail between the U.S. and Nicaragua is dependable yet not timely. They recommend sending padded envelopes or small packages not exceeding two pounds. According to their website "airmail takes about two weeks." They also suggest not sending valuables since the package will probably be opened at customs. You can send something through DHL or UPS as well. Lastly, they suggest putting a religious symbol or saying something like "Que Dios te bendiga" (God Bless You) on the package to sway the handlers of stealing anything. Can we come visit you?

-Of course! Visitors are welcome and encouraged. Just let me know way in advance so we can work out the logistics. Nicaragua is an up and coming tourist destination. It's a Costa Rica in the making...

What happens if you get sick?

- The health care coverage is very good. If I need medicine or to come back to the U.S. to see a doctor then the government will pay for everything.

Is Nicaragua safe?

-Latin America is safer than a lot of people think and there are thousands and thousands of foreigners, expats, and tourists in the region. Some places are safer there than here in the U.S. Also, Nicaragua has the reputation of being the poorest yet safest.

What happens if you want to quit and come back to the states?

-As we are volunteers nobody can make us stay but seeing as though we made a commitment to the Peace Corps and the host country for two years, early termination (ET) is the last resort.

I finally did it and set-up my blog(blaaaaaaaaaaaag)! Wahoo!

Today is August 7th and I leave August 31st for my Peace Corps service in Nicaragua where I will be teaching environmental education. Which means I have 24 days left before my 27 month challenge. It seems like a long time right now but I'm know time will fly while I'm there. I can't wait to get started! Surprisingly I'm not nervous yet, just overwhelmed with the millions of things that I need to do before I leave for 2 years, no big deal. However, I'm sure the nerves will be creeping up on me as the days dwindle down. I can't say the same for my family and friends who are all so inquisitive about the details but usually at least one of them ends in tears. My mom just told me she cried while in Sam's club when she went down the dried fruit aisle (my weakness and definitely will be missed). Yet, everyone has been very supportive and eager to hear the details even through their tears.

My goal with this blog is to tell the tales of my journey to those interested at home. I can't guarantee perfect grammar or comical posts but I'm sure there will be some interesting tales.