Lots of the students rides bikes to school. Many of them double up :)

Vaccine Day atschool- All students that were 13 years old had to get a shot. They stopped class and the two nurses took over. All the students were running around, crying, begging, hoping not to have to get it. Of course, that way my cue to bring out the camera and try to get them to smile a bit.

Some of the bigger boys in class. Uniforms are worn in school, unless the student doesn't have enough money to buy it.

Kinda looks like they have 5 arms. HAHAHA

These little guys were crackin' me up.

This little man was a bit too young to get the shot. But the nurse still gave him a card to be stamped so he could save it for next year.

Local Grafitti in Ocotal- "Ortega= Poverty, Unemployment"

Some students getting ready for a folkloric presentation at the Monday morning assembly at school.

August Regional VAC meeting. This is a mix of volunteers from Nueva Segovia and Madriz. The guy on the bottom right is the son of the Director of Peace Corps (Worldwide)

Steve's such a drunkard. Drinking orange juice with a beer label

I made tajadas for my birthday!

You first have to use this little device to slice the plantains and then you rub them with some salt. Next step is to slip them into some oil, cook, and then blotting them on a paper towel. Not great for you, but GREAT to eat!!

In August I went to a finca (farm) party in Nueva Segovia. It was a beautiful site.

The ride up there was a little bumpy, to say the least.

And then it was just us and the cows... and a few chickens.

Donna at Dinner in Tercer Ojo (such a swanky place!!) in Granada

Chicken Kabobs, salad and mashed potatoes

Steve's Vegetarian Pasta

Cheers to us!!

Steve got a little excited about the place warmers. Yeah, place warmers. Like I said, it was a swanky place.

This is the Honduran side looking into Nicaragua.

Me with my loot! I got an early birthday treat :)

This was the chocolate wall... YUM!

Can we say "Johnny Walker Red"?

The Liquor Wall... I tried not to go too crazy, but I've been stuck with bad rum and beer for a year. Bailey's and Coconut Rum never tasted so good :)

For the past two days we have had Independence Day celebrations. It started yesterday with a parade of the 5 high school bands in Ocotal. They varied from courtesy clap ability to stand up and holler ability. Each of the bands was mostly made up of percussion, but some came with a bit of brass. In addition, there were scantily clad girls in high heels shaking their tooshies to the beat. The girls, of course, got the most attention- not only for their moves, but also their outfits. Each girl was decked out in knee high boots, a little dress-like thingy, a hat, and cane. On average, the costume set back each family a whopping $50-150. Thinking about how much the family had to sacrifice to scrape that together, kinda took some of the joy out of watching… oh well, we were the only ones that seemed to mind. Everyone was having a great time watching, dancing, whistling, and hoopin’ and hollerin’. All in all, it was quite the event. Today we went to the stadium to watch a 20 minute performance of each band. Of course, being where I am, things weren’t that simple. First we had to sing the National Anthem of ALL the Latin American Countries. Then, EVERY band had to elaborately ask permission from the MC to perform. Weren’t they already invited to perform? New vocab word for the day: Permiso considido- permission granted. After all that, the real show began. Much like any good town, we have a rivalry!! It’s between the Instituto where I teach and the semi-private Colegio where Douglas went to school. They both brought their A game, but it was pretty clear that the Colegio snagged it this year. They probably won it with they brought out the big floats… or when they played YMCA! The Instituto did battle back with a great rendition of “This is Africa” by Shakira, and the band’s moves were far superior. While we were at the stadium, a man fell/got pushed/tried to crowd surf. It got the crowd all riled up, and he left the scene amid many people still wondering “Who was that guy? What happened?” I was just wondering who he fell on. This place was packed, and I could just see him hitting a baby. It amazed me that mothers were bringing their newborns to this event. It was an industrial engineers worst nightmare- a stadium that could easily hold 7,000 people… with one entrance/exit. People were pushing and shoving, knocking each other down, babies were being held in the air so they wouldn’t get smushed… really? Why did you bring your baby here? If this country wants an inventive idea for a new business, here it is. DAYCARE PROGRAM! I haven’t been to class in 3 weeks now. Classes were one by one cancelled the week of August 30-September 3, Last week, I did a Tech Exchange in Leon, and this ENTIRE week there are celebrations for Independence Day. By the first week my house was spotless, all the clothes were washed, dried, and ironed, and I had visited all my friends in town. Thank goodness I had the Tech Exchange. Leon is a WONDERFUL city, definitely one of my favorites in Nicaragua. You name it and they have it: colonial architecture, lots of people, two fully stocked grocery stores, a movie theatre, sports bars, FREE INTERNET, ritzy restaurants, night clubs, beautiful parks and churches, great universities. While I was there I saw the Sorcerer’s Apprentice with Nic Cage. It wasn’t the best movie in the world, but the AC and popcorn improved it ten-fold. Did I also mention that I had apple pie in Leon? YUMMY! I went there to start my curriculum project. The first step was to observe the methods of one of the best English programs in the nation, UNAN. Then I talked about my university (MLU) and its curriculum with another PCV that has done a lot of curriculum building work. Next, I will meet with the dean of MLU to see what changes we want to make. Once this happens, I can form a committee to do methods and curriculum research, make a book with our findings, train the students and staff on it, and create a student teaching program. I am definitely at the beginning stages, but I hope to finish the project before I leave in November. We shall see. Did I mention that I have to write a grant in Spanish to get the project funded? EEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!! Another one of my projects is to standardize the local English Department, which spans throughout the 5 high schools in Ocotal. We are well on our way, with all the teachers meeting once a month to choose the standards that we should cover, create the vocabulary lists and plan the activities. With this group of teachers, I’m also doing mini trainings on what makes a good lesson plan, new activities to use in class, and different methods they can implement to teach grammar, speaking and listening. I’m so glad that I see success in at least one area of my work. Well, it’s been raining quite a bit here. So much so that the crops are dying, the roads are flooding, and the bridges are washing away. A friend of mine traveling last week had to get off the bus, cross a river on foot, and then board another bus on the other side. There have been a few mudslides, but nothing too big from what I have seen. The buses just roll over the debris and continue. It seems like no one is very surprised by the rainy season and the mess it causes. A few weeks ago it rained pretty hard while we were out. Walking back to the house, the water was up almost to our knees. Everyone was acting normal except for the shrieking white people.

It seems like forever ago that Mom and Dad left on July 14th. The two weeks they spent here were wonderful. We ended up renting a small Toyota and driving south for about a week. Our first stop was in Masaya to eat pizza with three local volunteers in my group. As we left, we gave each a bag of brownies baked by Mom. You should have seen their eyes… it was like we had handed them pure gold. What are the top two things PCVs miss? Good chocolate and good chocolate baked goods.

We then headed down to Ometepe Island, where we met Hector, an amazing tour guide that helped us piece together our 2 day adventure. The first night on the island, we relaxed, watched the sunset and had a nice fish dinner at the hotel. The next morning we got up raring to go on our “moderate” hike up to the beautiful San Ramon Waterfall. Apparently the fruit drink the previous night didn’t agree with Dad and during the hike he had some difficulties. Fortunately, he was able to get a ride back down from the waterfall. And do you know who gave him that ride? Daniel Ortega’s step-daughter! No matter the politics of her father, she is a very nice young lady. That night we followed a recommendation and went to this little restaurant. As luck will have it, they forgot Dad’s dinner. Are you starting to feel sorry for my Dad? Just wait… his luck with food didn’t improve the rest of the trip. (Including the time I ordered him a plain cheeseburger- just cheese, bread and meat, and they brought him cheese and bread but no meat!)

Coming back from Ometepe, we stopped near San Juan del Sur for the night. The area is known for its beautiful Pacific beaches, great surfing waves and impressive sunsets. We enjoyed the location immensely and had delicious food to boot. When we were getting ready to leave, however, we momentarily thought we might be stuck. The night before it rained ferociously and the hilly, dirt road leading to the hotel was all but impassable. We were expecting the worst and Mom and I had our running shoes in case we had to help push the car. But wouldn’t you know it, SUPERDAD got us out with only a few heart stopping moments, one occurrence of screaming pedestrians, and mud up to the roof of the car. Needless to say he was very proud of himself.

The road from San Juan del Sur took us through Rivas where we stopped for mouth watering pastries and watched the Argentina Semi-Final game in the World Cup. That night we arrived in Granada and stayed in the Intercontinental Hotel. IT WAS OUTRAGOUSLY FECHANTA!! We had a lofted room with three beds, a living room area, a bar, and a bathroom bigger than my bedroom! Throw in the scrumptious breakfast in the morning and dips in the pool at night, and it was hands down the best place we stayed. While in Granada we took a horse-drawn city tour (not quite worth the $10/person it cost), saw the exquisite main cathedral, and found an amazing restaurant. Our family fell in love with “The Zaguan” where we savored quality steaks, ceviche, sangria, and typical Nicaraguan dishes two nights in a row. Dad said that had we been there a third night, we would have gone back. Neither Mom nor I would have complained.

Finally we left the south of Nicaragua and arrived in my site, Ocotal. Our first project we had to accomplish was to get Mom and Dad a bed. I had a few possiblities, but everything fell through. In the end, we ended up moving Douglas' double bed to my house while we held it down on the Toyota roof. Douglas slept on two cots pushed together for about a week. He later told me that one night they had collapsed, waking him up with the air knocked out of him. What a sweetheart. Friday night we went to La Yunta (the first of 4 or 5 visits) and met my site mates for Nikki's going away party. Mom and Dad went home early, but we continued the party til bright and early. The next day they came and watched me teach at the University. They seemed to like it, and I even used them in my lesson (comparisons- Mom is shorter than Dad. Mom is prettier than Dad. hehe). While I taught my last class, they headed back to La Yunta to watch the Germany Semi Final Game.

That night was the end of Cycle celebration for my community class. They all brought over food, and we chatted the night away. I gave out certificates and thanked them for being so diligent. One of my students recited a poem for Mom and Dad (she later learned that they do NOT know Spanish). It was a very successful night and I was my parents go to meet the class.

During the remainder of their visit in Ocotal, we just kinda hung out. We watched the World Cup Final and rooted Spain on. Dad played 3 hours of pool with Douglas while Mom and I painted each others nails and watched the nieghborhood kids color at my house. The night before they left, Mom and Dad met Douglas's parents. It was a nice evening of fried chicken, lots of coffee, a trip up to their restaurant in Dipilto and me translating every sentence. I went home and slept like a baby.

On the last day, my parents, Douglas and I headed back down to Managua. On the way, we stopped by my host family's house from training. It was wonderful to get to see them, and everyone enjoyed chatting. It reminded me house much I miss them, and I vowed to visit more frequently than twice a year. That night, we all said our goodbyes and hugged for a long time.

Internet café guy: You are constantly walking around town, right?

Me: Yeah.

Internet café guy: But you aren’t getting any skinnier.

Me: Hmmm... true. Well, that’s because I like to eat!

So it might be true that I’m not getting any skinnier, but I’m not getting fatter either! And with all the fried food, sugary drinks, and people shoving food at me… that’s a small miracle. I’ve been cooking a lot more at my house. Nothing fancy: beef stir-fry, chicken pesto pasta with broccoli, breakfast burritos, yogurt and granola with pineapple, lots of peanut butter and bananas on toast, pancakes and Aunt Jemima’s syrup (is it bad when you start drinking syrup from the bottle?), beef tacos with homemade guacamole, and tuna Mac & Cheese with vegetables. It’s a lot of rice and pasta, but I’m happy to get so much protein and vegetables. When I’m not cooking at the house, I usually end up at Douglas’s family restaurant (Coma Rico). Sometimes we cook whatever we feel like for ourselves, other times the staff serves us what there is that day. Occasionally, I’ll go to a local bar/restaurant (La Yunta) with other PCVs or Douglas and the group for a beef dish and beer. It’s always a good night at La Yunta, especially when there’s Karaoke! Nicas have no qualms about singing… even if their voice could make a deaf man with newly acquired hearing jam a screw driver in his ear.

This past month I’ve had a few Peace Corps visitors. There’s a new health group that finished training at the end of May and is now in their sites. Nueva Segovia received 5 volunteers, and 3 of them have spent the night at my place. It’s the party house! Actually, it’s usually pretty mellow, but always fun. This past weekend, a volunteer from my group spent the night. He and I are trying to organize some teacher trainings in August and a summer camp in December. We recently (FINALLY) got the go ahead from our superintendants to do some training. Because there are two of us, we are hoping to take advantage of each other and do a traveling show, hitting four different cities. The Summer Camp will be a bit more difficult to plan, but we are considering applying for a SPA grant with Peace Corps. That would take the pressure off getting locally funded, something much like pulling hen’s teeth.

It was nice to discuss the latest and greatest with my buddy over a delicious vegetarian pizza at Julito’s. That night he surprised me with some books: the first Harry Potter book in Spanish and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. The volunteers have an informal system for book exchange. Anytime someone travels, they bring whatever books they have already read or those that they can part with. Everyone fully expects not to see the books again, and in that way multitudes of people get to read “new” books. It’s amazing how delightful it is to get hand-me-downs!

A few good books have come my way lately. First was “Replay” by Ken Grimwood, which I highly recommend to anyone that will listen. Of the 24 books I have read in 10 months here, it is on my top 5 list. Next were “I Heard that Song Before” by Mary Higgins Clark and “The Brethren” by John Grisham. It had been a while since I read either of those authors, so it was nice to fall into their fast paced rhythm again. The most recent book I have read is “The Blind Side” by Michael Lewis. I have to admit, I liked the movie better. Kudos to the screen writer; s/he got the best parts out of the book and put them together well. I did find one quote that I liked in the book though: “Moses stuttered.” Did anyone else know that? My first thought was that in another lifetime he and I could have gone to speech therapy together!

On May 16th, I moved into a new house. And, incredibly, it happened on the planned date! After my stuff was packed up, Douglas and I went out to find a guy he knows with a truck. After driving around for a bit, we found him (that is the truck we are going to put ALL my stuff in!?!). I had my doubts that everything would fit, but silly me, I obviously don’t know how to pack Nica style. It felt like a bad episode of the Beverly Hillbillies. There were four people in the cab (me sitting on Douglas’s lap and falling out the window), the truck bed was stacked dangerously high with my belongings and held down with rope. To add insult to the situation, it was raining. Slowly, we wound our way through the one way streets in town. By the time we made it to the new house, as Douglas said, “everyone in town now knows that you have moved.” That night I slept beautifully with no barking dogs, no wandering cows, and no screeching desks to wake me in the morning.

Before I signed the 6 month lease, I asked the landlord about painting the house and he agreed to paint the walls whatever color I wanted. However, when I was trying to explain the concept of an accent wall, he looked at me like I had two heads (which coincidentally is how many people look at me on a regular basis). After the paint dried, however, he half-heartedly said it didn’t look that bad. I think he was humoring me; he still didn’t look too pleased. Maybe it was the fact that I chose orange, green and yellow for the three main rooms. I still haven’t picked the colors for the bedrooms, but I’m thinking blue, purple and pink. Why not go for the whole rainbow, right?

While I’ve been writing this blog, I thought I would try to multitask (you’re already cringing aren’t you?). Earlier in the week I burnt some rice. You know, it is way harder than you think it is to cook rice well. Anyway, after scrubbing the scorched pot forever, I decided to boil some soap and water in the pot to loosen things up. What better time to do that than while I’m writing my blog? Apparently I was pretty absorbed in what I was doing until it smelled a little funny in the house. Guess I’m going uptown to buy a new pot today. :)

Yesterday I picked up a package that my mom and dad sent down. In the package, I was delighted to find coloring books. Coupled with the crayons that my aunt sent me for Christmas, it is the perfect entertainment for the neighborhood boys. The supplies are now sitting on the “special shelf” and the boys know that anytime my door is open, they can come and color. As soon as they saw the books, they started right away! It was so cute to see their little hands holding the crayons and their tongues stuck out in concentration. We already have a few pirates hanging on the wall, but I fully expect to see soccer players, space ships, airplanes, and sharks to be added pretty soon. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

My house got flooded in April. Everything was fine, after a bit of clean up...

My clothes on the line drying.

Little Gustavo in the house next door. The boy is two and can already bathe himself!

Douglas, me, and a few others went out for his birthday. He ended up singing a song for me... so sweet.

My visit to the US in March was wonderful! I really enjoyed getting to see my family and friends, eating all the foods I was craving, and ... playing pool with my dad! With my Papaw and Betty

The whole family together... my sister came and surprised me at the airport... such a sweetie!!!

The ladies in our old stompin' grounds. We had a fabulous time eating and chatting and catching up.

My sis and me at her new campus... she recently got a new job teaching.

In this picture I am trying on my sister's roller derby gear. Don't I look fierce?

Monday morning assembly with the 7th and 8th graders. This is when the sing the national anthem and also the educational hymn.

Gas prices by the liter in March 2010.

Donna and me exchanging music at the hotel on Ometepe Island. This is where TEFL 51 reconnect was held in March 2010. It was nice and relaxing and great to see everyone.

Douglas playing with his dog, Cypres.

I finally made my back porch into a real classroom. One of my students brought over the board. Each of the students brought a chair and I had the table made out of a door and scrap wood in the back yard.

One of the hardest things about Peace Corps is that I am here, and my family and friends are in the US. Time doesn’t pass as it does in the US. There are no flowers blooming, snow falling, or leaves changing colors. Seasons are much more subtle (is is raining or not). So I find myself puzzled when I hear that there are only 10 more days of school or that my dad is opening up the pool. It seems like they should be doing the same thing as when I left. I’m still doing the same thing, so why not them?

The hardest news is the life changing kind: engagements, pregnancies, graduations, illnesses (so far no deaths). These are the phone calls where I have to fight the urge to hang up and call the airlines to book the first flight home. It brings me back to what some family friends said after living abroad for 10 years: They didn’t come home because they couldn’t hack it abroad, but because of all the milestones they were missing in their loved ones’ lives. I can see where they are coming from. I always imagined if my sister got deployed again I might come home. One daughter abroad is enough for my parents to worry about.

After 8 solid months in country, the first person in our group is taking some time off to see if Early Termination is the right option. This hit my inner circle of PC friends hard as we tried to advise the person the best way possible. But will this open the flood gates? Is this the beginning of our group breaking up? We try to be there for each other, but let’s be realistic, I see my fellow PCVs (from my group) one weekend every 2 or 3 months. We text each other on a daily basis, but there is a lot you can’t share with texts… like hugs!

Did you know that for good mental health, you need 8 hugs a day? How many does the average PCV get? Remember, I’m not average because I have a boyfriend. But still, there are times when I could really use a day long hug. “I know you need to go to the bathroom, honey, but you can’t let me go.” Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huggy person. I swear I wasn’t born with the US mentality of personal space. It’s not uncommon that I’m holding hands with my sister, linking arms with my girlfriends, tackling my mom for a full body hug, and generally giving everyone I know lots of hugs. I have become even touchier down here. Part of it is not my fault; Nicaraguans are touchy people, too. You see people in the street talking with acquaintances while holding their hand or arm. People kiss and hug each other as greetings and goodbyes. On a bus, a random child might sit on your lap if there is no place to stand. God only knows how I’ll be when I come back to the US.

Speaking of God, he is laughing right now. I, being the touchiest white person in probably the entire country of Nicaragua, have fallen head over heels for probably the LEAST touchy Latino on the entire continent. Don’t laugh… it’s not funny. Actually, I have to be bit more truthful; he is a bit touchy. As we walk down the street, he almost always holds my hand (unless he’s really hungry and in a hurry to get to the restaurant). He kisses and hugs me goodbye. Okay… before we get into too many examples, maybe he is touchier than I give him credit for.

Another thing is that the man eats like an elephant! A pound of rice is NOT okay to eat in one meal. He has been eating at my house a few times a week for the past month or so. Recently he went to the doctor, who told him he has lost 7 pounds during this time. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE? He says it’s my cooking, but no. He always eats seconds, is full and says it’s delicious. My thought is that he has a parasite. Maybe he missed that day at the clinic when they passed out anti-parasite pills to EVERYONE. They also did that at the school. You might be asking yourself how they could do that… are some people not allergic? Not important here. I’m pretty sure there are no laws in Nicaragua, unless you steal someone’s cow.

Well, the favorite cow has not revisited my neck of the woods to scare me at 2am. However, the dog next door has been barking SO MUCH! I don’t know how the thing is still living. It literally did not breathe for an entire 8 hour period one night. I had ear plugs in, a pillow over my head, and still could hear him. Finally, I made a little noise myself and blessed the damn thing up and down. Too bad that didn’t make a difference. Hopefully in my new house there won’t be too many neighborhood dogs.

Supposedly I will be moving this Sunday to a new house. We shall see. It’s pretty pointless to make a plan that involves other people. The whole thing just takes too much energy and then it’s really disappointing when it inevitably falls through. However, if I do move, I will be living in a FOUR bedroom house with a kitchen, bathroom, and backyard with papaya, lime, and nancite trees. This is a big change from my current 2 room house (the bedroom/living room, and the kitchen/ storage room) with the bathroom outside. In Ocotal it is hard to find the perfect sized house. You either get a very small, run down house, or a very large and expensive house. I have tried the first, so I figure it’s time to try to latter of the two.

In my new house, I will be neighbors with my site mates. One leaves in July, but the other should be sticking around for another year or so. It would be kind of neat to be so close to them. Currently we are about a 30 minute walk from each other, but that doesn’t stop us from seeing each other at least once a week. Usually we grab a bite to eat, or help each other with a project. This week I helped move dirt at the Casa Materna, and we got together for a welcoming party for the new Health group. There are 5 newbies in Nueva Segovia. Fun times in Ocotal!

This week I also went to the Mr. Nicaraguan contest. Half naked guys + ladies night = a wonderful time! They first came out in their all white wardrobe, then in their swimming shorts (although I’ll bet not ONE of them can swim), jeans with no t-shirt, and finally formal wear. In between rounds, there was folkloric dance and folk singing. All in all, I felt culturally educated afterward. I would have taken pictures, but we were having a little too much fun keeping score on who we thought should win. I must say, the North has some pretty good “talent”. :)

Since I came back from the US, a couple of interesting things have happened. One, I had an infected cyst and two, my house flooded. The best part is that they happened in the same weekend! I had started to notice that my cyst was really sensitive and then it got big, red, and hot to the touch. Obviously it was infected. I started to take antibiotics, but after 5 days, not much was changing. I decided to go to Managua to see the doctor. They first gave me a local anesthetic and then cut it open to drain it. I’ll spare you the details, but just say it was a big show. Tired and bandaged, I came back to Ocotal the next day… TO FIND MY HOUSE FLOODED! Apparently, it had rained a bit. Before I left for Managua I figured that this might be the case, so I moved everything to a higher spot… except the suitcase that I brought back from the States. I have no clue why I thought it was waterproof, but neglected to move it. All the clothes I had brought back were floating in water. My emergency passport was buried in the bottom. Ha! That makes two passports. I wonder what the max in one year is that they will issue to a person. Anyway, I washed all the clothes and most of them were okay. The passport will work itself out… hopefully.

So why did I agree to do Peace Corps? Quality hair growing time.

If I’m being serious, there were many culminating factors that finally made up my mind. When I first applied, I was sitting at my sister’s going away party. She was being deployed for a year in Iraq to transport supplies and soldiers in Baghdad. I viewed this as her contribution to the United States. We have family members in every branch of the military (the Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force) who have given years of their lives to serve their country. Looking at this sacrifice, I felt compelled to serve. However, I wanted to participate in a service of Peace that would help those most in need. I was naturally drawn to Peace Corps.

Other reasons are more selfish. I love to travel and experience new countries and cultures. To spend two years in a culture, practicing my second language, and truly getting to know the people, customs and traditions, was a dream opportunity. What better way to improve my Spanish, gain some experience teaching, and get to travel!

Did you know that Chips Ahoy cookies and peanut butter are amazing? I love them separately, but I think it might be time to join them together. Hold on… oh, yeah…. That’s heaven on earth!

So, I’ve been without a stove now for a week. It is the second time that my electric one has gone on the blink, so I decided to buy a gas stove. I got it for fairly cheap, and then my bf Douglas was going to give me the gas tank and tube. But bless his heart; he has just been so busy lately (Marcia that was for you). Although it has cut down drastically on the amount of dishes I wash each day, it would be nice to cook up some of the good food I brought back from the States.

I HAD A WONDERFUL TIME IN THE US!!!! It was so nice to see so many of my friends and family. If I didn’t get to see you this time, I’ll try my hardest on the next trip. The 10 days seemed to fly by, but I did get to do some cool stuff. I first visited my aunt and uncle in Atlanta, and then we went to Cracker Barrel (what I was craving most!) on the way to Knoxville. In Knoxville, we watched Alice in Wonderland in 3D IMAX. Pretty snazzy, huh? We ate lots of my favorite foods, played cards, played pool in the amazing new basement and just hung out with the family. I went back up to JC for a few days to meet up with the ladies, give a few presentations, and hang out with some very lovely people.

Finally, I went to Arkansas to visit Katie. It was actually the second time I saw her during the trip because she surprised me in the Atlanta airport. What a sweetie! She, mom and dad were pretty sneaky to keep it a secret for more than a week (even when we “conference” called each other- they were in the same room!). In Arkansas, we went shopping, had pizza, went to church and saw her university. The highlight was going to Hot Springs, Arkansas to do the mineral baths. I never knew there were so many ways to take a bath. The most intriguing must have been the hot butt bath- good for hemorrhoids. Katie and I walked away from there with more than a few funny stories.

So here are a few of my thoughts about my visit:

- The portions were huge! I split most of my meals… thanks Lindsey :)

- Everything was very clean… amazing how we don’t just through our garbage everywhere.

- There is only one person in each car! I’m used to an average of 4 here. Max is 10 in a 4 door.

- Refills? What are those?

- Everything is so easy there… you don’t even have to think about what you are going to say… you just say it and it happens. There is rarely any confusion or repetition of conversations.

- I got to wear WHATEVER I wanted and no one stared at me!

- I could drink the water, but I never did. Why would I when I could down a gallon of chocolate milk?

- It was very quiet. Are there noise laws or something? How do you know what’s happening in town if they don’t announce it by loudspeakers mounted on trucks? (haha, one is going down my street right now) You mean you discipline your dogs if they bark for more than 10 minutes? What?

- It was cold! One night I wore two jackets, gloves, and a scarf while mom and dad chilled in a long sleeve. So maybe I’m just not used to it anymore. Kinda makes me rethink coming back in December. Yikes!

Although I could see so many differences between my current situation and my old home, it felt like I had never left. It was very easy to get used to all the conveniences. So I figured it would be really difficult coming back to Nicaragua, but it wasn’t either. Douglas made it a lot easier by meeting me at the airport. He carried my suitcase (while grunting and joking about its weight) as I carried my big backpack. We made it back up to Ocotal and I settled back into my house. I wasn’t overly happy about sleeping under a mosquito net again, nor seeing that I still have SO MUCH work to do on the house. After a week of running down my landlord, the work is finally beginning. It will take quite a bit of time and effort, but hopefully by the time Mom and Dad come in July it will be done.

Speaking of, I’m going to finish painting my house. I have all the blue done, which covers the top ¾ of the wall. Now, I just have to complete the brown at the bottom. Wish me luck. I hope all is well with you all. Write me some letters if you like (Thank you Tera, Katie and Maher, Pat and Cliff, and Steve and Sherry for the letters!):

Laura Sanders

Apartado Postal 25

Ocotal, Nueva Segovia

Nicaragua

Centroamérica

I also enjoy emails with updates about what YOU are doing: pcnic09@yahoo.com

Do you know what they call pool cues here? Tacos… hahaHAHAhaHAhaha… I love it!

Every Monday morning the students (in their uniforms) start off in an assembly singing the National, educational and school anthems, followed by a speech from the principal about the values expected in each student. Each grade level is divided into sections with which the students attend all classes in their assigned room. They stay put and different teachers come to them to give class. Many classes have up to 50 students with one teacher. The rooms are small, so there is not room for activities and little room even for the teacher to walk around and monitor. With so many students crammed into a room combined with the outside temperature, the situation quickly turns from hot to miserable. Students have to decide whether to write in their notebooks or fan themselves with it.

Due to the lack of space and the absence of books, much of the class is spent copying information from the board or listening to a lecture. Sometimes teachers are asked to teach two or three classrooms at the same time. This happens when another teacher does not come to school and their class is unattended. No money exists to hire substitutes, so either the students have a free period or another teacher has to cover an additional class.

There are two shifts at the school to accommodate the number of students. Students in grades 7-8 come to school from 7am to 12pm, and students in grades 9-11 come from 12:30-5:30pm. There is no lunchroom, only a snack stand that sells chips, sodas, and typical Nicaraguan home-cooked food at break times. Each class is taught twice a week, one 90 minute class and one 45minute class. They have the same classes all year (February through November). If they fail a class, they must take a make-up test at the beginning of the following February. If they pass, they move on to the next grade, but if not they remain in the same grade for all their classes.

To go to public University (which are all free), students must take an entrance exam. In 2008, 2% of Nicaraguan high school seniors passed it. Most students who want to attend a university must pay to enroll in a private one. Oftentimes, the quality of education received here is subpar, because anyone can enter and as long as they pay, they advance.

I have seen some differences between teaching in the U.S. and Nicaragua. In Nicaragua:

•The students are in the habit of sharing information in all activities, including quizzes and test.

•Importance is put on neatness, not correctness. A straight line is never drawn without a ruler and their handwriting is usually remarkable, but oftentimes the information is faulty.

•Students rarely do more than recite and memorize. Problem solving is difficult for them.

There are also similarities among students. They usually:

• Want to be stylish.

• Smile, laugh, and have fun.

• Groan when a quiz or test is mentioned.

• Are eager to please.

Every time I sit down to write a blog I think the same thing: where do I begin… so much has happened!

Let’s see, work- I recently went to the TEFL 51 Reconnect where all 18 volunteers in my group and our bosses got together on Ometepe Island to catch up. It was a wonderful opportunity to see how others are doing and ask how they handled different situations. We also received information on how to apply for grants to fund projects, and general information on our responsibilities and how to solve certain common issues. For example, I have been planning with a group of 8 teachers (4 of which are my counterparts) and had some concerns. Two of the teachers seem to be worlds more advanced in English than the others and are doing most of the work. The others seem to be riding on their coattails and to make matters worse; the sessions are now in SPANISH because not everyone can keep up in English. After talking things through with my boss, we decided that I will have to have two different planning sessions separating the two ability levels. Everyone seems to understand the reasoning for the change, except for my counterpart that is the head of the English department. We’ll see what happens.

The classes with students are going pretty well. We do have issues, like keeping students interested and keeping discipline under control. Currently, the teachers don’t even know the students’ names and tend to punish with a heavy hand. I firmly believe that everything is related. This week I’m proposing that the students make laminated nametags to wear in class that will act as the basis of a positive reinforcement program. First of all, students can be called by name and be given the attention they are seeking. Second, for every good thing they do, they receive a sticker as reinforcement. I wish I could take credit for this idea, but it was presented to us by the older TEFL group during training. I hope it works… keep your fingers crossed.

In addition, I have been getting psyched up about teaching a 3rd year writing class and a 2nd year conversation class at the university. I’ll be teaching alone, so the opportunity is there to really make the class dynamic and beneficial to the students without having to teach methodology to another teacher. The students are English majors wanting to be either teachers or translators. Even though these are two different careers with vastly different abilities, they still lump them into one class. Interesting, huh?

I’ve also been having lots of fun with my community class. There are 15 professionals between the ages of 22 and 67. They meet on my back porch twice a week for two hours in the evening. The students bought the copies I made of a good English book and one student even brought over a white board to use. Generally everyone is upbeat and it’s a pretty close group. We have now been together since January.

So that’s about it for work. Let’s see, spare time- most of my spare time is spent with my Nica boyfriend. Yep, after much discussion of expectations and motives, we decided that we do indeed like each other for all the right reasons. His name is Douglas and he was introduced to me by my site mate at a soccer game. The night that I went dancing in the blue sequined tank top and then the dog ate my glasses, I was with him (which I still blame him for).  When I had no glasses for a week, he acted as my Seeing Eye dog. Now that we have been dating for over a month, we are slowly introducing each other to all our friends and acquaintances. It’s silly, but I feel butterflies every time he calls me his girlfriend.

Hmmm… what else? The house is looking pretty good. I finally bought two tables and some chairs. One table holds my stovetop, dishes, and 5 gallon tank of purified water. Most of the house is painted sky blue and chocolate brown. I’m considering having someone paint the rest. Every time I come home, painting is the last think I want to do. My porch looks good. We laid a cement floor, built a wooden table and added extra light. All of this was done so that classes would run smoother out there. Tomorrow a guy is coming to close the space between the walls and ceiling. Currently I have a bat issue… eek!

OH YEAH! I’m coming home for an 11 day visit at the end of March! Here’s a list of all the things I’m looking forward to: tackling my mom and hearing her giggle, hugging my dad and having him kiss me on the head, staying up at night to talk with my sister, BOOK CLUB, Bekah’s full body laugh, frappachinos from Panera Bread, sharing wine with Sherb, wearing a sweater, watching a movie at the theater, perusing the book store, margaritas, salmon fresh off the grill, Fajitas from Chili’s, GOOD BEER, visiting my students at school, seeing the Smokey Mountains, driving while singing to the radio, falling asleep on the couch, Cracker Barrel’s country breakfast. This is definitely just to name a few things. The list is pretty long and I’m hoping that I don’t get over there and forget to come back to Nicaragua. I’m not hoping for it, but am fully expecting a few tears to be shed on the flight to Managua.

I’m writing to you from a borrowed bed in MY NEW HOUSE. Yep… just spending my first evening listening to my favorite tunes, sitting on my sole piece of furniture, and eating Ramon Noodles. Sound like your entire college experience? …so I cooked my noodles on my brand new electric stove top that had to be lifted up on a few boxes to reach the outlet. (Thanks Mom and Dad for the package, it’s already coming in use!)

I’m pretty pumped about the new place. I decided to use the bigger of the two rooms as my bedroom, where I’ll put a bookshelf and another shelf for my clothes. I’m still trying to think if I want to put in a hanging chair from the ceiling beams. Any thoughts? The smaller room will be the kitchen with a lovely 70’s model refrigerator, and in the very near future, 4 chairs and a table to eat at. The outside room will probably be used for random storage and trash. I’ll hang a hammock from two of the trees in the back yard and we’ll see what else. Originally, I thought of waiting until next month to paint, but I might bump that up. What do you say about light blue and chocolate brown? There might even be room for a World map on the outside back wall. YAY!

One down, 1 billion more; killing mosquitoes could be my profession. Did you know they can bite through clothing? I’m going to be one big mosquito bite by the end of this! The weather is changing again. In December and January we enjoyed nice breezes and cooler evenings which lowered the amount of mosquitoes. Now we can look forward to a hotter two months coming up. I can’t quite wrap my head around this considering I have been wearing tank tops the past two months.

Speaking of tank tops… I swear it was the tank top’s fault. I bought a really snazzy blue one with sequins the other day. Without it I’m sure I would have never gone out in the first place, but I did. Nikki and I went out for dinner after the soccer game, and met some of her guy friends at the bar down the street later on. After a while, we decided to change scenes and went to one of the local night clubs. I danced, and danced, and danced (the sequins looked so pretty in the lights). We finally left pretty late and got back to the house, where I rummaged around for my pajamas and hit the sack. The next morning I woke up to a huge mess. Apparently I had forgotten to shut the door to my room and the dog entered and had a field day. SHE ATE MY GLASSES! That’s right… chewed them to pieces. I had to go on a two hour bus ride (complete with puking child next to me) to pick out some more, but they won’t be ready for another week. Meanwhile, I am blindly navigating the streets, greeting everyone in hopes of offending no one.

On a brighter note, I have actually done WORK this week. Amazing I know. Thursday was the first in-service meeting, where teachers were updated on changes made to the curriculum. The following day was the first TEPCE, a thrilling meeting when the Minister of Education makes a speech by radio and then we meet within our disciplines, discussing the curriculum for the month. (I actually only attended 2 of the 6 hours because I had to get the H1N1 vaccination **Tangent story) So from the TEPCE my 4 counterparts decided to get together and plan with everyone- they want to STANDARDIZE the department! On Sunday we planned for all 5 levels, which only took us 4 hours. We discussed the importance of rules and consequences, pre-assessments, and doing activities that include multi-intelligences. I’d call it a success! Next week we’ll discuss assigned seating, grades, and our goals for the coming year. I cannot tell you how excited I am.

**So my tangent story: I went to Esteli for my H1N1 vaccine. On the way, I was standing in the aisle because the bus was full. Reading The Giver (great book), I glanced up and saw other white people boarding the bus. It was a bit surprising because generally the only other white people are Peace Corps Volunteers. Everyone was told to scoot back to allow for more passengers, which put one of the hot foreign guys right in front of me. At this moment, the bus gods smiled down upon me. The bus swerved, and I fell into the guy. I said I was sorry, but can I tell you a secret? I wasn’t… not even a little bit. He was tall, blonde with blue eyes, and (from what my lingering hands felt) very nice muscles. :) We ended up talking for the rest of the trip. I didn’t catch he name, but I like the name Luke. I’ll always remember the day I fell on Luke, the Scottish doctor traveling through Nicaragua!

Hope you guys are doing well too. Thank you to Mom, Dad, and Katie for the amazing package of Valentine’s gifts, food, and lots of things to pamper myself. Thank you to Steve and Melissa for their wonderful package filled to the brim with school supplies. I literally sat on my floor opening up everything with tears of gratitude in my eyes. Thank you Suzanne for the package of sweets, hair bands, and good smells. I used the fun dips in class as much sought after prizes. The hair bands were used immediatly. You are all incredibly generous and thoughtful. I love you.

blah, blah, blah.... uh huh... uh huh... nod... yadda yadda yadda

sad face... yak yak blah... no!...

I have no idea what they are saying. It went downhill when they started telling jokes... or maybe it was after the second beer when I lost my attention to pay attention to the whole sentence. The first few words are good, but then I start looking at the street lights, the cars passing, or the drunkard wobbling down the sidewalk. All the words sound familiar; I just can't seem to put them together...

chuckle,chuckle... wah wah wop wah wah... smile and nod...

When did I learn the skill to read someone's body language so well? Somehow I know what they want me to do and when they want me to do it. I watch the body language of everyone else, listen to the rhythm of speech, and look at their faces. Are they expecting a smile, a nod, a frown? Do they want me to laugh, feign fright or shock? Whatever they want to see or hear, I'll do. However, I don't understand a word they say. Do they know I don't understand them? Do they realize that I stopped listening half an hour ago? Does he realize his left eyebrow is lower than his right?

Traveling down the road from Managua to Ocotal is always a thrill. As we are pulling out of the station and building up some speed, someone is beating on the side of the bus. Slowly I hear their shouts fade away. Guess he was too late. We pass various shops. One is selling statues... and thank goodness, because I was starting the wonder where I could by a 20ft. plastic cow. By the way, if you were wondering, yes skunks exist in Nicaragua.

Well, I've never been to Africa, but I would say that Nicaragua could look a bit like it. Near Managua it is flat with mountains in the distance. Cows line the sides of the road protected by fences made of barbed wire and sticks. There are fields on both sides and I would love to tell you what grows there, but I haven't a clue. Ever once in a while you see a small shack made of scrap metal with dirt floors and no windows. Trash litters the gutters near the road, and sometimes someone is burning it, other times it is floating in stagnant water. Thank goodness it is a windy month or the mosquitoes would be everywhere. A volcano just came into view and it looks huge even from way back here.

Now we are getting into the mountains a bit and they are very different from those in the States. They resemble more those in Puerto Rico or Spain. They are covered with grass and have some trees, but it is nothing like the forrested hills back home. These mountains are rugged... like they just ripped themselves from the ground. Closer to the mountains, we drive through a town. The buildings are made of cement, painted neautral colors, and have red clay tile roofs. A few baseball games are being played in the streets.

This time I'm taking a nice express but where I have a seat. On the way down from Ocotal however, I had a completely different experience. I was insistent on taking the same bus as Steve so we could take a taxi together (which we ended up not needing anyway) and because I wanted to be in Managua early for a meeting. Because of this, I stuffed myself into an old US school bus overflowing with at least 200 people for the 5 1/2 hour trip. For the first hour I was standing right next to the driver who had to carefully maneuver the gear shift so as not to hit me. I was balancing in the center of 7 people and trying to touch the ceiling for support. It is no wonder so man people get robbed on the bus: I couldn't tell where my body stopped and the next person's began. Good thing I carry my money in my bra or my shoes. I figure not too many people are going for those two areas. One thing I have to say for sure is I wasn't missing personal touch after that ride. Throughout the less than ideal circumstances I couldn't help laughing at myself and the situation, especially when we got a flat tire.

The bus system here in general is something that you have to stay good humored about. When people push and shove to get on or off the bus, or when people in the aisle are standing so close to you that you can identify instantly by their breath what they ate for lunch... you have to remember that this is a very close culture. When the man beside you carrying a live chicken or the woman in the next seat is sloppily eating something that smells like a foot with gangrene, you have to realize they have a different concept of fast food.

One of my favorite occurances on a public bus is when someone is talking of shall I say shouting into their phone. After months of thinking about this behavior, I finally received a call on a bus. It is IMPOSSIBLE to hear the other person. No wonder they talk as if they are speaking into a can with a string!

Man, I'm thirsty! Since this is an express bus, there aren't any vendors coming onto the bus. Which is a shame because I could really go for some chocolate milk in a bag. Most of the drinks sold on buses or drinks to-go in a restaurant are served that way. Think of a plastic bag thinner than a ziploc and with no zipper. The drink is poured into it and then the top is tied. To drink the chocolate milk, juice, soda, etc. you bite one of the bottom corners and suck the liquid out. It is actually really easy, just be careful when you set it down.

I just woke up to see another landscape change. We are in a bigger town, but only some of the roads are paved. Men riding horses fill the same streets that women dressed in tight jeans and stilettos walk down.

It was nice to take a little nap. After a week long summer camp I was a little tired, but it was so worth it! This camp completely changed my outlook on my service in Nicaragua. Before time was moving by so slowly, it seemed like it was taking forever to integrate, and I felt like I would never integrate, and never have any Nica friends. In this camp, I got to meet so many amazing Nica, American, and German people. Finally I got to show my bubbling personality and be the social butterfly that I am My stomach and face muscles hurt from laughing so hard during the week. Nicaraguans are FUNNY and they love to joke around. They taught me new card games and (away from the coordinator) naughty phrases in Spanish. I made plans to visit many of them soon and as we all said goodbye there were many hugs and kisses.

Well, I'm about 2 hours from Ocotal and I have to admit, it might be a bit of a shock. I haven't been there since before New Year's Eve when I house sat for my sitemate. (By the way their names are Nikki and Jessi) I woke up when I wanted, cooked, read "Sundays at Tiffany's" (a romantic book) and watched a whole season of Friends. I have missed the feeling of independence and freedom. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my host family, but just like with anyone, sometimes you just need some silence and to recharge your batteries.

After I house sat and before the Summer Camp, I spent a few nights in Masaya with Alex, Claire and Donna. For New Year's we all went to a laguna at Catarina. The 10 of us went swimming and played water volleyball. We were only slightly phased by the rescue boats looking for a couple that went missing over Christmas. The water didn't have much of a current, but it had waves and was clear enough to see your toes, warm and not salty. It was just about perfect for me!

Shamus- the owner of Apoyo Camp where we stayed- treated us like royalty. We all shared a big room with cots, but when you walk down the stairs the bar/kitchen is on the right and the water straight ahead. We made brick oven pizza, drank beer and rang in the New Year by watching fireworks over the laguna. It was great to chill with everyone, listening to music, playing war and Apples to Apples. Even when Stephanie had an allergic reaction to the ant hill she sat on, we had fun taking pictures of her swollen face!

The next day we had a banana pancake breakfast, took one last dip in the water... and hung out until dark, when I finally took my first mototaxi. Alex, Donna, and I took the slowest mototaxi known to mankind and then we spent the first night in Alex's new house. All I can say is what a sweet house! Two rooms with two bathrooms, living room, kitchen and dining room and a small garden. Que fachenta!

I'm less than an hour from Ocotal and the scenery has changed again. Now it really looks like east TN. The mountains have more vegetation, although they are still rugged, and the weather is cooler. This country is truly gorgeous!

Ooh... the bus driver just put on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. SCORE!

You never know what to expect here in Nicaragua. Just like this Christmas... it was completely different than any other Christmas I've ever had, but pleasant. Francisco and Isolina were very welcoming and excited when I arrived on the 22nd. Of course, food was ready for me to eat and then I went around to say hi to everyone. The next day all the volunteers that came back to the training towns got together for the traditional lunch at Pizza To Go in Jinotepe. That night Alex, Meg, Liz and I played a game of Boggle for old time sake. Of course I lost, but it was nice to have Alex join us so I wasn't dead last.

The 24th started out with a trip to the meat market where I followed Isolina around, slipping on animal fat, looking for the beef. To check freshness, she stuck her finger in each cut of meat and smelled it I'm not sure how she could tell anything by this because my nostrils were full of smells of the blood, guts, and pigs' heads laying around everywhere. Once we finally escaped the dungeon of death, we went back to the house where a hen was waiting to be plucked and butchered. I did the plucking, but had to stand back in awe as Isoline expertly sliced and diced. The thing really looked just like a plastic chicken!

It was weird to feel a dead, warm animal in my hands. It was my first time handling a dead animal (Tom and Jerry don't count because I fished them out of the pool with a net) and I have to admit, I'm not running back for more. This country laughs in the face of vegetarians, but as you can imagine, many more tofu eaters leave here than come.

So I thought that I was getting whitter as my body's natural rebellion of how Nica I'm becoming. But apparently that's not it at all. When I went to the dermatologist they told me I have an "hongo" (Oh no! I have a mushroom!), which loosely translated means a fungus. The treatment, you may be asking yourself? Besides using a topical cream, I must dry y towel on the clothes line in the sun and boil it once a week. Furthermore, I have to stop taking shortcuts and wash my clothes after EVERY use. Guess I'll be doing my laundry much more frequently. If I come back in March with huge arm muscles you'll know why.

Well, are you asking me on a good day or a bad one? On bad days I think how it has been frustrating, boring, uncomfortable, and extremely lonely. I have thought about returning home on several occasions. I think about what I have left behind in Tennessee and wonder why on Earth did I signed up for this craziness. I think of my cute little apartment, comfy lifestyle of coffee shops and good books, friends to hang out with, and family to visit. My wonderful job and amazing students come to mind and I want to pick up the phone to see if I can have my old job back. I hear about what everyone is doing in the States and my eyes burn with tears and my feet itch to catch the first plane home. I hear that all my family is coming for the holiday and conflicting pangs of happiness and jealousy rip at my heart.

I miss the convenience of everything- like baking brownies. I would have to take the 4 hour bus ride to Managua, get a taxi to the supermarket, buy the brownies and come back to Ocotal. Once here, I could mix up the batch, and then take it down to the bakery to bake since we don't have an oven! IS IT REALLY WORTH IT?

I miss walking around without having to make a thousand decisions... however small they are. I honestly have to decide who to greet (men between 11-60 are no-nos. You think they would respond normally, but they don't. They cat call you, they call you affectionate names or make grotesque noises with their mouth.) and what side of the street to walk on (to avoid above mentioned people or the sun- it's hot here!). I hate that I'm afraid of dogs here. In the States, it's a preference, but here, I don't want to get bitten or chased.

I miss feeling normal. I don't fit in here. My clothes either aren't tight enough to be fashionable or are too fancy to be worn on a daily basis. My shoes will never match what everyone else is wearing. They all wear 3-4 inch heels, just to buy tortillas down the block! No one has acne here, but me. No one understands why the white girl has bumps on her face. Can someone please tell everyone here that staring is NOT nice. I would love to walk around without everyone holding their hand out for money. (I went to the market the other day and bought bananas. I gave them out instead of money. The other day I splurged and went out and ate some soup. A homeless woman came up and I let her finish it. I don't mind doing these things... but it never happens to a Nica. I just want equality.)

Can people please stop calling me little fatty! I know it is supposed to be an affectionate term, but really! Back off or I'll hit you with my big butt!

I want my host family to understand what I'm going through. They ask questions like "are you sad?", "why don't you go out?", "do you miss the U.S?", or comments like "you just have to go out and meet people", "it's really not that hard to become part of the community", and "you just need to try harder". I finally made them understand a bit when I phrased it this way: Imagine that you have just left all your family and friends, your home and everything that is known and comfortable in your life to be dropped off in the middle of a foreign land. You don't know anyone, you have no job, not much money, and you don't know where anything is located. On top of that, sometimes you understand what people are saying, and sometimes you don't. How do you feel? What do you do?

So on a good day it is a bit different. I wake up and know that I'm not where I once was. I'm learning, I'm adjusting. It amazes me that it now feels normal to boil my water on the stove to wash my face, to take a bucket bath, to say "adios" to everyone that passes me by on the street. It feels normal now to NOT flush the toilet paper and to give directions in numbers of blocks and cardinal directions. I'm finding my way around pretty well and starting to meet people. I make sure that I leave the house at least once a day and put some activity on my calendar even if it is just watching a good movie.

I know that I am making advances in my Spanish when I can sit down with a stranger and have an hour long conversation about random things without confusion. I can read in Spanish and can speak (if people will let me).

I look for opportunities in the community to stay busy, and I have found some really cool things to get involved in and places to go. There's a cute little coffee shop (it doesn't serve coffee, but they have good chocolate milk) and good restaurant for tacos and grilled beef (which I refuse to cook here). Many types of classes are offered: crafts, dance, cooking, sewing. I'm trying to get involved in some that I can afford. There's also a promising gym right down the block, and some women work out at night, so if I get up enough courage, maybe I can join their group.

I watch the people interact here and see that they are happy. There are good relationships and I hope that one day, I will be the person standing on the corner chatting with a friend or hugging in the park, or walking hand in hand (common between two females). I have hope that I will receive invitations for outings, or even to stay in and have dinner and play cards. Maybe one day I will have a friend that is not white, but rather we are friends because we connect on a personal level and enjoy each other's company not just because we can speak English.

It gives me hope when my Mom tells me how proud she is of me. When my Dad tells me how brave I am, that he could never do what I have set out to do; it gives me goosebumps. I look at my life here and think that it isn't too bad, that things are coming together after two weeks, just imagine after two years!

I know that I miss my family and friends, but I talk with them on skype. My Spring visit isn't that far off. I just have to give it time... I will not give up on the bad days. There are more good times than bad. I can do this. I WANT to do this. This is just as much for me as it is for the people I help here. I want to know that I had a choice to stay in my comfortable life where I led a fortunate life, but I DECIDED to sacrifice these two years. And hopefully, when I look back at it, it won't be a sacrifice. It will have been an adventure, a time when I learned about myself and learned about something bigger than myself. I learned to get out of my own head, and live in the real world, where people suffer everyday as they try to do nothing else but survive. When I return, I know that my view of everything will be different, but I can't help to think that it will be such a good change and my life will only be richer for it.

I hope that I can be strong enough to complete my two years here. More than that though, I hope that I let myself live during those two years and experience Nicaragua and all it's potential.

Tomorrow marks two weeks in Ocotal. The first week seemed so short, more like three days or so. The days were full with meeting my new host family, arranging my room, and taking in the new city. My host sister Carolina and I went to Mozonte, a nearby town, to visit her friend and climb the 187 steps to the highest church. From there we had a great view of the entire valley. The views here are breathtaking, with rugged green mountains and beautiful rolling hills.That night I met up with some other volunteers in Ocotal at a bar for some chow and live music. Both of my site mates, a volunteer from Canada, and one from Wisconsin all met at La Yunta. We got to chat a bit and then some people danced bachata. There's a fairly decent sized expat population here with all the NGOs and private volunteer programs. The first few days I was here I met Don Roger, a retired PCV who served in Ocotal in 2003-2005. He had a girlfriend and was already retired from the states, so he decided to stay here. He's an interesting bird to talk to, and he always has cold drinks... a big plus.The next day we took another trip to Jalapa, where Steve lives. Carolina had to pack up a room she had been renting and move the stuff back to Ocotal. While she was doing that, I got to hang out with Steve and see what his site is like. We had fun walking around trying to find his site mate’s house. As we were wondering around, I saw a guy standing next to a scale in his little shop. Apparently he weighs big sacks of grain or whatever that the farmers bring in. Since I hadn't seen a scale in over three months, I couldn't help but ask him if I could use it. However, you know it couldn't be that easy...I don't know the word for scale. So the request came out more like "Hi! How are you? I see that you have the thing that can tell me if I'm fat or not. Can I use it please?" As he was laughing and moving aside to let me us it, I chided him for trying to look at the number. "No looking!" My new favorite Nica word is CHUNCHE, meaning thing. In Jalapa we also went to a nice restaurant with a pool. Apparently up here in the north, pools are very popular. You know what I'll be doing this summer! Right now it's a bit cold... the first thing I do when I wake up is put on my fleece.After the 3.5 hour ride back from Jalapa, I quickly got ready in time to meet a woman who's trying to get an English group ready for me to teach. She had given me a list of about 30 interested students. Getting my first wiff of real work, I decided to go ahead and meet the students. Well, two showed up! Looks like I'll be waiting a bit to start a class.On Saturday, I was invited to the end of the year party for a few teachers. In true Nica fashion, my Nica sis Tania and I showed up 30mins- hour. It was a bit awkward, and I felt way out of my element, but they had good food! Even though I felt a bit strange, I'm glad that my counterparts invited me. It has been the only interaction with them apart from the TEPCE that was required. They are all on vacation, resting up a bit from a long year, which is probably only fair. I would probably want to hibernate in my house for a few weeks without any contact, too. On Monday, Steve came and visted me for the day! Because he doesn't have the PC bank in his town, we hit that up first. After little discussion, we decided on pizza for lunch... which seems like a staple in our diet when we get together. However much we love pizza, we are sometimes a bit surprised with what we get served. This time we got mushroom, onion, CORN toppings. This in combination with the fact that the tomatoe sauce here is more like ketchup made for a thrilling ride for our taste buds. I guess it is better than the green bean and lima bean pizza that Steve had the other day. Pobrecito... it must be so hard to be vegetarian... at least in Nicaragua. After lunch, we walked to the fancy supermarket where Steve had dreams of buying peanut butter, wheat bread, and all sorts of goodies. He ended up walking out with three different types of soap. Apparently Nicaragua is not up to his cleanliness standards. Tehe. We also went by the park, one of the coffee shops, the cyber that I frequent, and finally the library where we checked out a few books. It was so fun to host a Steve in my town... it made me look at the place with a new set of eyes, and it was great to have some company!The other day was Tania's birthday. My Nica sis finally turned 21 years old. The day before we were talking about what was going to happen. Her mom bought a cake and make the pineapple filling to put between the layers, and I did the icing. It was nice to share the cake with the family and I learned a bit about the cultural difference. In this house, at least, it is custom for the birthday girl to not do anything as a rule. This seemed odd to me because that was always the fun part for me. I enjoy getting in the kitchen and helping the family out with my birthday dinner because that means I get to spend time with them. However, I guess it is different when you live with your family til you are 30. You might want a day's break from them!I finally decided that I have to meet some new people in town. Mostly I have been hanging out with my host family, which is nice, but they keep asking me why I DON'T go out, if I'm sad, and what I SHOULD be doing. After trying to describe how I felt and my situation, I finally gave them the scenario that they got dropped off in the middle of the United States, where they only knew 5 people, they had no job, but they didn't know exactly what there was to do in town nor could they spend much money. In addition, they weren't completely confident in the language and they couldn't leave town for more than a few hours. What would they do? That finally got their attention and they stopped asking me why I wasn't "doing anything". However, these conversations did spur me to call up Karissa. She's a volunteer with Travel Alive who has lived here and taught English the past 6 months and is about to leave next week. Karissa has made my time here so much better by introducing me to as many people as she can and just hanging out. Yesterday we met up and walked around her neighborhood, watched some soccer practice, ate ice cream, and then I tagged along to her English and dance classes. We are thinking that I might continue class with some of her students in January. In addition, the dance teacher has dubbed me as the gringa replacement, and apparently I start dance class today at 4. It is a folkloric/latin dance class. I was joking with her that I wasn't meaning to, but it looks like I am stealing her life. I'll really miss her when she leaves on the 18th.Yesterday I also signed up for an art class. We will be making Christmas decorations and who knows what else. It was about a dollar to sign up and $2.50 each month for the class. The expensive part will be all the materials I have to buy. Although I'm trying to live within my budget that PC gives me, right now I am valuing being in the community more than living humbly.Well, I think that about covers it... besides the Christmas cards. We'll see when you finally get them, maybe by Valentine's Day. By the way, packages to my new address may not be a great idea (cards are fine). I'm not sure how it is going to work, but give me some time and I'll update you on the best way to do it. Talk with you soon!

The living room has a couch, two armchairs and a TV.

There is also the table that gets used mostly as a place to put things down. Kinda reminds me of my apartment.

This is my room ...With all the chaos, I definitely wanted some order in here. I made the two calendars and lamenated them using packing tape.

I searched around the back yard and found the board and pepsi crates to make the shelf and the bedside table.

My beautiful friends and family. I look at you everyday!

Can´t sleep without the mosquito net!

Do you like my clothes closet. I´ve moved up from a chair to a whole table!

The breakfast of champions. I alternate between yogurt and granola with a banana, and double fiber toast with peanut butter and a banana. Coffee is a staple.

I´m finally giving in and boiling my water after I heard that Ocotal has the worst water in all of Nicaragua. This will last me about 2-3 days.

I definitely need these at night. We live right next to the Panamerican Highway, so trucks roll by blowing their horns at all hours. In addition, we have roosters. They are the vain of my existance.

So it has been more than 2 ½ weeks since I wrote, and I can’t believe. Time really flies when you are busy. The last time I wrote I had just been on my site visit to Ocotal; and I’m now living in Ocotal. However, let’s back up just a little bit. Steve and my youth group did a fantastic job on their final project. All four of the groups performed their songs and I will put those up for you to see when I can. The videos were presented by two of our students to the rest of the volunteers, their groups, and all other PC people. All but one of the TEFL groups sang (one sang Bon Jovi live for us), and the Environment groups did different projects with recycled materials and they all started gardens. Some of their projects included plastic bottle planters and jewelry made from the tops of glass coke bottles.

After the final project, we got our last dose of charlas in Diriamba. I think I can speak for most when I say that we were not too sad to see the end come near. In fact, training ended just in time. I was getting a bit jaded from all the intake of information and starting to feel overwhelmed because we weren’t really doing anything with it. One big thing with PC is that we cater to the needs of our community. Well, we don’t really know our community yet, so it was hard to figure out how to use all the information they were giving us. Anyway... I’m glad that we are finally able to put some of the charlas to good use. My training mates and I celebrated the occasion with a Boggle night (our favorite game)! Of course, I lost miserably.

On November 22, I left my family and house in Dolores. It was sad to pack up and say my goodbyes. Isolina kept walking by my room and shaking her head. The kids came to give me a million hugs, and to be honest, I’ll miss them a lot. They have been such a good family to be in training with. When I was sick, Isolina was sure to make me light food that wouldn’t hurt my stomach. We always had lunch and dinner together, and Isolina would make me breakfast and sit with me even if it was 5am. They always knew when I was upset and didn’t want to talk or when I was excited and did want to. The kids were good (for the most part) and always wanted me to play with them. It was a great atmosphere and I’m so glad that I’m going back for Christmas!

Before I left the house, I made spaghetti for my family. I bought the noodles, and regular spaghetti sauce (most of the sauce down here is like ketchup). I then mixed in garlic, black pepper, carrots, and soy meat. Unfortunately I forgot about the onions and peppers, but everyone still liked it. By the way… do you know how healthy soy meat is? It is so much lower in fat, high in protein, and REALLY cheap. It might replace meat in my diet.

I just about forgot to mention that as I was packing up, Isolina, Alex and I were glued to the TV and radio. That weekend there were two major demonstrations in Managua less than a mile apart. The government had given permission to two opposing sides to protest at the same time. We were all expecting major mahem and many people were leaving Managua so as not to get caught up in the crossfire. All PCV were told not to travel that day and to stay out of Managua and not to get involved in any political matters. In my host family, there were 5 active participants in Managua. Luckily nothing happened and everyone came home safely (although a little sunburnt).

So getting on a bit... I begrudgingly left my host family in Dolores, Carazo and arrived in Managua, where I immediately began to sweat. Monday morning everyone was dressed up for the 10am swear-in ceremony. The dress that Isolina made me (the last of many versions) finally made its debut. Tons of photos were taken and everyone greeted their families as they arrived.

Both Isolina and Chico came for the host family ceremony. Isolina and I accepted her certificate and after everyone had been presented, there was a traditional Nicaragua dance. There was, however, a twist. One of the Environment volunteers performed it with his host sister! We energetically and whole heartedly voiced our praise as they twirled around in traditional outfits. After a short break of coffee (with real milk!) we went back in for the swear-in ceremony. Each volunteer introduced themselves and told where they were from in the States and their new sites. As the microphone came to me, my hands were shaking and I forgot what my site was. Guess my public speaking isn't too good. It was the icing on the cake when we had to sing the Nicaraguan and US national anthems. We finally got called up individually to shake the hands of the country director, ministor of education, program director and specialist, etc., and receive our pins. Everyone had to sign their contract, but mine was mysteriously missing. Do you think that since I didn't sign it that I'm really a volunteer? If not, I just wasted a long three months!

After hugs and kisses to all and one more cup of coffee for the road, we piled back in the buses to go to the hotel. There was one last round of awards as Claire presented the groups superlatives. I was voted most likely to make my own alcohol... well, I did just buy a manual of how to make soy milk, tofu, peanut butter, preservatives, and WINE. Guess my group noticed how excited I got about this little book of fun. HEHE.

That night we celebrated... a lot. Everyone kick back for one last night together before we all had to leave for our sites. It is amazing how close I have gotten to this group of people. I wouldn't point out one and say that they are my new best friend, but there is a strong bond between all of us. It probably formed sometime while talking about our bodily functions- does anyone else burp fruity pebbles? Is it normal to have horrible stomach cramps each time after eating? What does the water taste like in your house?. Or maybe it was as we comforted each other through all the changes in the past three months, where moods can change by the hour and each day brings something new. All the movie nights, trips to the beach, and chats in the park are worth their weight in gold to me.

The day after swear-in, we attended the All Volunteer Conference (AVC). Much like the name might suggest, all 180 Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua from the five sectors (small business, teaching English, environment, health, and agriculture) came together for two days to talk about Food Security. Being in the TEFL program, we had some trouble finding a connection with this, but we finally decided to teach the bums how to beg in English... JOKE. Just making sure you were paying attention. We did learn some cool tricks, though: like how to make purses from potato chip bags or earrings from the tops of glass coke bottles. Besides getting to learn about that, the AVC was good for networking. At night, there was lots of entertainment. The first night Liz, Steve, Ellie and I formed a trivia team, with the name "House of Representin'" (from the movie Idiocracy). I answered two questions: one about bull riding, and the other about the movie Wayne's World. I shudder to think what this says about me. We lost horribly, but I throughly enjoyed the free popcorn and games of MASH. The last night there was a talent contest and I participated in a TEFL skit. It is a must see... I´ll try to attach it later.

AVC ended on Thanksgiving. It was such a treat to use the hotel's free wi-fi to skype my family in Knoxville. Everyone was so fun to talk with, despite the long enough to demand that we end each sentence with "over." Katie even took me on a tour of the house and showed me what was cooking in the oven. Glimpses of the turkey filled the screen making we wish for smell-a-vision. It was also fun to see eveyone playing pool in the basement and their smiling faces. Skype is an amazing invention and I cannot possible describe how indebted I am to its creators. It has allowed me to keep up with the Jones back in the US. Its also let me see the beautiful faces of my fam and receive their air kisses- which they give me plenty of. In truth, I am so thankful for my family and their support of me here. I can't imagine my life without them... I love you guys! By the way, if you would like to skype, look me up at the screen name laura.sanders6

After talking for more than an hour with them, about 25 volunteers and I went to the Country Director's house for a traditional dinner. George Baldino and his wife Susie were wonderful hosts as they dished out two beautifully golden turkeys, roasted potatoes, Italian stuffing, gravy, vegetables of all sorts, and delicious French bread. To boot, they even offered wine! As I basked in the warm, fuzzy feelings of my favorite holiday, I talked with some volunteers I didn't yet know. It was seredipidous to meet a fellow Knoxvillian named Joanna, who I used to play soccer against. What a small world it is! The night continued with chats on the porch with the breeze cooling us off from the Managuan heat, card games, and of course cat napping on the couches. I was definitely ready to hit the sack by 8:30.

Friday was the day that all the trainees had been dwelling over for months. Our first day in site. I rode on the bus with Steve until Ocotal, where we deboarded and quickly got seperated in the madness. I caught a cab and arrived at my new house in less than 10 minutes. Because I didn't know if I was actually at the right house (street addresses don't exist here), the taxi driver was kind enough to inquire for me. My new host sister, Carolina (28 y.o), greeted me with a warm smile and helped me with my luggage after a quick hug and kiss. She guided me through the living room and showed me my HUGE room! Eventually I also met my host mom Maria Teresa, host sisters Claudia (25 y.o) and Tania (21 y.o). The house has running water (even though water comes every 2-3 days), a refrigerator, stove, and even an exercise machine! However, the best part is how bubbly and including the girls are with me and the fact that there is fresh brewed coffee all day long. One quick negative would be the darn rooster that starts crowing around 4am. Good thing I brought down my earplugs.

Since I have been in Ocotal, I attended the end of the year TEPCE (Teacher in-service) this past Monday. My main goal was simply to remind everyone that I was in town and meet any teachers yet unknown. It was pretty uneventful and very quickly I got lost in the quick conversation between multiple people in the meetings. Other than the TEPCE, I've been relaxing in the house, getting to know my new family, reading, watching a bit of TV and going on any errands that the family makes. My site mates, Nikki and Jessi, were nice enough to invite me over the other night to put up Christmas decorations and eat dinner. It certainly is a different pace of life after the gruelingly long days of training.

I've been eager to catch you guys up for so long. In the future, I hope that it won't be so long between blogs. The months of December and January are depressingly empty on my schedule, but I'll be sure to fill you in when something does happen. Hope everyone is well and enjoying the cold weather up in the States. I'm a little jealous thinking of rich hot chocolate, cute scarfs, and blazing fires in the fireplace. Maybe you are a bit jealous that I'm running around in short sleeves and having to wake up early to run before the heat is unbearable. The grass is always greener on the other side- except if you are looking at the dirt yards of Nicaragua. Much love and talk with you soon!

Whew, so much has happened the last week! I met my three counterparts (Henry, Xiomara, and Enrique) and they all seem very nice. Henry has intermediate mid/high language skills (from my observations) and already has some great classroom practices. His students are motivated and excited to learn. This is the hardest part, so we are well on our way! His big goal is to incorporate more games and materials in the class, which I can definitely help with. Xiomara has basic mid language skills and her big goal is to work on her own language ability. She is about my age and has already told me that she wants to be great friends. Also she’s the lead English teacher for all of Ocotal, so this could be a great resource. Enrique has Basic low language skills and his big goal is to be able to read the Bible in English. I’m not sure if I’m the right person for that, but we’ll see. I wasn’t able to observe either Xiomara nor Enrique in the class, but from what they have told me, we will also focus on teaching methodologies.

In addition to these three counterparts, there are two other English teachers at the school. The one I met has FANTASTIC English skills (she lived in the States as a youngster) and currently works in the nearby university. We were both excited by the idea of me beginning to teach there with her. She said I could even start during December and January. Also, the idea of getting all the English teachers together to plan came up. This would be really exciting because then everyone would be teaching the same vocab and grammar at about the same time. If we can pull this off, it would be an amazing accomplishment.

The school itself is gorgeous, clean, and inviting. It’s very well organized and doesn’t seem like there are many major issues. The classes begin and end with a school wide bell, and of course, everyone wears uniforms. The students are respectful and seem excited by the prospect of having me in the classroom. I was able to talk with both the principal and the vice principal and they too are excited and seem very supportive. There are three different shifts of students (7-12, 12-5, 6-9pm), but still only 45-50 teachers. This means that many have to teach two shifts to fulfill the mandated 30 hour work week. At least one of my counterparts teaches each shift, so we’ll see what my schedule turns out to be.

In addition to my school responsibilities I will be working on secondary projects. Right now I have two possible groups for informal English classes in the community. One came about when I was reading in the park and Sarahí came up to talk to me. She is a tour guide in Ocotal and is highly motivated to learn better English. After asking for lessons, I asked her to get a group together (which currently has 17 interested people) and we would work something out. The other group is being put together by one of my site mates, Nikki. While she has been living in Ocotal, many random people have asked her for lessons. She’s giving me the list and we’ll see what works out. Speaking of site mates, I have two super nice ones. Nikki is from Small Business and has less than a year left of service. Jessie works with the Health sector and has about a year and a half left. I meet up with Jessie for ice cream and a chat one day which was a lot of fun. I got to meet Nikki also, and she was nice enough to store my bags while I’m finishing up training. While I was at her house, I got a peek at her amazing library of books and DVDs. From seeing our similar tastes in entertainment, I think we will be great friends.

I didn’t leave my things in my host family’s house because it was less than an ideal situation. It was a rough four days with them. The first two days I really tried to integrate into the family, but other than the youngest girl, it was super hard. To top things off, their dog was guarding the house against intruders very well (aka against me). He bit my clothes, trapped me in my room, and basically scared me throughout my time there. When I asked the owner of the house (crying and shaking uncontrollably) about tying him up, she told me that I was basically overreacting, needed to chill out. Needless to say, I will not be returning to the house. When I go back in three weeks, I’ll be staying in a boarding house.

While I was out of the house from 10am-8pm each day escaping my family, I walked around the pleasant city of Ocotal. It’s pretty diverse with packed streets towards the center of town, but off the main streets a bit, the roads stop being paved and the houses are rustic. Although at times it seemed that I was the first white person some of these people have ever seen, everyone was welcoming and spoke clearly (YAY!).

For lunch and dinner I ate street food or from a restaurant since I did not have good access to a kitchen. This actually was kinda neat because now I’ve tried a lot of different traditional Nica food. My favorite is the taquitos (which are called tacos here), chicken or shredded beef rolled in a corn tortilla and then fried and served with cole slaw. It’s definitely not the healthiest thing, but really yummy to eat while reading a book in the park. Right next to the park is a community library with lots of good books in English and Spanish which I intend to raid as soon as I get bored. My overall feelings of Ocotal are that it will be a good city to do my two year service, but I know it will be a challenge at the beginning. It will be lonely and difficult to make my community of friends and start fresh. I have gotten so used to Dolores: its people that greet me on the streets, the kids I play with at night, my host family that I love and adore, and the high school where everyone knows me. I just have to remember that I developed all this in two months. In Ocotal I can do the same, I just have to be patient and talk to as many people as possible. This time however, I will have the added challenge of being the only TEFL volunteer and coming to the town during a two month vacation from class. WISH ME LUCK!

So the kids on my block did sack races last night, after doing three legged races and playing tag. We also played a version of Monopoly (the version where you have lost of the pieces and have made your own money) and Jacks.

So I’m going to Ocotal, Nueva Segovia! I’ll be visiting the town this upcoming week. When I get back, I will for sure put some pictures up of my new stomping grounds. But for right now, let me share some of the literature I was given about the area.

General: Ocotal is surrounded on all sides by the highest mountain range in Nicaragua covered with green Ocote pines (hence the name). It is the last major settlement before the Honduran border at Las Manos, 21 km away, and the vast nothingness that stretches eastward to the Carribean. It is the department head of Nueva Segovia, which contains mountains (the Dipilto range), rivers (Coco, Macuelizo and Dipilto Rivers), and valleys. It sits 605.59 meters above sea level.

History: Established in 1780 by Spanish, there were frequent attacks by the Xicaques indigenous group and English PIRATES (yes! Pirates… arrrr!) that came up the Coco River. Now the river doesn’t have enough water to support transit, so I guess we are safe.

During the 1920’s, Ocotal was an important setting in General Augusto Sandino’s revolt against US occupation. Being occupied by Marine forces for most of the 20’s and early 30’s, Ocotal was chosen by Sandino as his first major attack against the Marines. Staging attacks from their barracks in the center of town, he had many successes against the Marines. Frustrated by the setbacks, the Marines called in their air forces from Managua and bombed the city in 1927, giving Ocotal the distinction of being the first city to be aerially bombarded in the Western Hemisphere. Sandino’s forces fled to the surrounding hills and began long-term guerrilla campaign that eventually proved successful.

Population: Ocotal had a population of 37,000 in 2005, of which 99% is urban, making Ocotal the most densely populated city in the country by some estimates. It is estimated that the population will hit 50,000 by 2010. Half of the townspeople are younger than 19, and 54% are women. Hopefully the youth of the city there will be some interested in forming an informal group to learn English, health issues, or talk about gender roles.

Weather: There are two seasons: dry season from mid-November to mid-May, and the wet season for the remainder of the year. Usually there is a month break from the rain July 15- August 15 (good time for a visit…). The annual rainfall is between 800 mm and 1 meter. Weather can be hot during the day and cool at night, so maybe I’ll get use out of my fleece I brought. December and January have highs of 80, lows of 65. April and May have highs of 90+, lows of 75. The surrounding mountains have a much cooler climate.

Water/Electricity: Some months Ocotal has short electrical outages, and at times there are 7am-5pm planned outages for maintenance. During the dry season, water service is almost always scheduled, functioning a few hours early each morning. I might be waking up at 4 am just to save up some bath water. Water can also go out for DAYS at a time during the rainy season. Purified drinking water is delivered in 5-gallon bottles to your door by several companies which generally charge $1.50 per bottle, including delivery. This might be my best bet.

Economy: Due to its heavy dependence on agriculture as well as having been affected by the war and Hurricane Mitch, Nueva Segovia is one of the poorest departments in Nicaragua. The main source of income is coffee, but other crops include beans, corn, and tobacco. Ocotal is the financial and trading center for the region.

Transportation: I will be able to get a bus to just about every other part of the country. Within the city, there are taxis that run until 8pm. The Pan American Highway goes through the city “straight” to Managua and is in excellent condition. Supposedly, all roads in the city are paved, but the incoming country roads are not. (This can make for a dusty atmosphere during the dry months.)

Communication: I’ll have cell phone and internet service on a daily basis, if I want it. There is even talk that wi-fi and fax machines exist. A post office is right around the corner in town and I’m hoping to share a p.o. box with the other PCVs.

Recreation: I’m movin’ to the big town! There are five supermarkets, variety stores, a farmers market, a dancing club with live music, 2 gyms, swimming pools, a museum, 3 libraries, plenty of hotels and restaurants and a private Spanish language school. There are apparently men and women’s basketball, soccer, football and baseball leagues that play in the multiple stadiums/ fields in the area. Just outside of Ocotal there are great places for hiking and biking, as long as you have a guide.

Health: There is a hospital and Red Cross in Ocotal. Pharmacies are abundant, as are Health centers.

Central Park: Parque Las Madras, as it is called, was reconstructed to be a tropical garden with more than 100 species of plants. There are magnolias, more than 8 species of roses, orchids, begonias, heliotrope, wild ginger, Jupiter, birds of paradise, gardenias, and pearl of the orient. The cypress and pine trees are more than 100 years old. The park has many benches for sitting, a drink stand, and two pretty water fountains (that don’t work). The park is closed and guarded starting at 10pm (yeah… no gang activity!).

Work: I’ll be working with three counterparts (of 5 English teachers) that work in the same high school. It is said that I have good support from the vice principal and teachers. The principal is new, so I might have to explain my role with Peace Corps a bit. My counterparts haven’t worked directly on methodologies except in recent workshops led by a PCV from a close by community. I’ll have opportunities to collaborate with this PCV to present workshops for the region. There is also a possibility I can work in the university in Ocotal after I make some connections.

Host Family: For the first 6 weeks, I will be living with a woman, her 3 kids (20, 19, 14), and her niece (24). It is supposed to be a two story house with my room upstairs apart from the rest of the house a bit. They have offered to cook my food or let me do that. Depending on how things go, they are willing to have me stay for the two years. If it doesn’t work out, there are other options like an apartment, boarding house, or the computer teacher has offered to let me rent a room in her house.

Other PCVs: Ocotal has never had a TEFL PCV, but there is a Health PCV and Small Business PCV (both female) in the city. The closest TEFL PCV is a 15 minute bus ride away in Mozonte , and Steve is about an hour away in Jalapa. Clara is close by in San Nicolas, Esteli and Jaime is in Esteli, Esteli. These last three people are in my current group of TEFL trainees and we all get along really well. All of us have a high/superior level of Spanish and some teaching experience. We are hoping to do some good collaboration during the two years of service.

Thank you for all your attention and desire to read the above information. Since I’ve read through everything, I’ve been really excited. I think the community holds a lot of great opportunities and plenty of activities for me to get involved with. It might be hard to integrate in, but I’m expecting to get some help from my host family, counterparts, and fellow PCVs. This upcoming week I’ll be able to see what its really like with my own two eyes.

Whew! We are finally done with the teacher conference. It really wasn’t hard (all the work was done for us), but it’s nice to have it off our plate. Apparently the first two days we were in country filling out tons of papers, they slipped in a question about what we would like to teach. It turns out that I wanted to teach pronunciation. So anyway, Liz and I did a great job considering how much we worked on it (minimally) and practiced it (none). We worked really well as a team and got our point across. Mission Accomplished.

Other groups presented grammar, vocabulary and Lesson Plan topics. All presentations were in English and called for a bit of audience participation. Some teachers here have good comprehension and speaking skills, but then there are others that looked completely lost. Hopefully they at least got something from the artistically drawn posters that so many groups had. Peace Corps had invited around 60 teachers and a bit more than half participated. I’m pretty sure the main draw was Tip-Top, the Bojangles/Church’s/Popeye’s like place that catered the fried chicken, roll, and soda.

Oh yeah... I forgot to mention these guys. In the middle of a presentation I went to use the restroom and encountered this bunch. They kindly stopped to pose for the pic. Gotta love culture!

Time is flying by here and I really don’t know where it has gone. The day goes by kinda slowly, but then all of a sudden it is the weekend again. It seems like forever that I took my language interview, which by the way was a flop. Apparently I have not improved my language since I have been here. Personally, I don’t buy it, but it wasn’t pleasant to hear from the Language Director who took a special trip to tell me that I suck. A bit frustrating to say the least. With wise words from the parental unit, I am moving on and enjoying my time left in training.

Speaking of training, we are currently in week 8 of 11. WOO-HOO!!! On October 28 we find out the site where we will be living for the next two years. Everyone is on pins and needles and secretly hoping that they get their preferred site at all costs. Crying and cat fights are sure to erupt. I’ll be sure to take pictures. J On Thursday, Peace Corps will lead a language conference for Nica English teachers. For a reason I’m still not sure of, I signed up to present pronunciation methods. Liz and I will basically copy word for word a charla that another PCV presented to us. The most exciting part of the conference will definitely be the food, Tip-Top (the Nica version of KFC/Chick-fil-a). In week 9 we visit our site and meet our counterparts. YIKES! Week 10 is basically wrapping up and presenting our youth group project. In our last week, we will be staying in hotels in Managua with the entire PC Nica 51 group to attend meetings and swear in (Nov. 23). I’m way pumped about the hotels!

This past week I got to spend the night in Managua with another trainee, Clara from Argentina. After our doctor’s appointments (no worries), we went to the PC office to check out books from the library. I grabbed the Moon guide to Nicaragua- which was written by a Returned PC Volunteer who served in Nicaragua, The Zookeeper’s wife, and The Shack. Already excited with our finds, we then went to a swanky restaurant and got salad and empanadas. Just as we were about to leave, it started to pour down the rain. We made a bad situation good by ordering a bit of mango and coconut ice cream drizzled with chocolate. What a treat! To top the night off, I had my first hot shower in two months and watched Shrek on cable. Is that a good night or what? I’m gonna have to start making up illnesses to go to Managua more often. J

This week I also went to a few birthday parties. Mallerlys- the four year old in my house- had a chill birthday party with family and food (yuca with salad and soda) and the little kids dancing to a video. You wanna know why all Latinos know how to dance? Because they literally start when they are four shaking their butt and droppin it like it’s hot. This four year old has WAY more moves than I do… and she knows it… and laughs at me. Katie and Bekah will be happy to know that I do share my dancing skills with my family here. They laugh just as much as you two do.

Then I went to a neighbor’s party that included all her family and really good taquitos and cake. We entertained ourselves with a piñata. One at a time the adults were blind folded, given a long stick and then turned around to lose their sense of direction. Luckily we didn’t have an America’s Funniest Home Video moment. But the person did have to dance meringue between each hit. Best part of the night: they got the token gringa to do it too, accompanied by hoots and hollers by all the party goers. I’m pretty sure my face was beet red, but luckily I didn’t hit anyone or fall on my face. That is what I call a success.

What did I learn from all these parties?, you might be saying. Well, I’m glad you asked: 1) Gifts are definitely not expected here. If you do give a gift, it will most likely not be opened in front of you unless it is a child. 2) If the family doesn’t have a lot of money, there will be no celebration. Many times there will not even be a small celebration with the family with no-cost presents. They simply do not celebrate. 3) Parties consist of the host family serving a meal with soda and cake. During this time, the music is blaring and people can barely talk. If they do talk, they are actually screaming at their neighbor. Although there is music, this does not necessarily mean there is dancing. 4) Cake is served on napkins with no forks. The taste is pretty bland and the texture can be dry. I’ve never had seconds, except when we ordered one from a bakery with dulce de leche. It was fantastic!

Hilarious, smiling Claire from West Virginia turned 23 this week. On Friday, about ten of us went out to the Green House, aka the Gringo House, to have a few drinks. A few drinks turned into more than a few drinks and the next thing I know, we had to order a bit of food so we didn’t float out of the place. The cheeseburgers were served with cucumbers but we enjoyed them just the same. We ended up staggering home around 9:30. Don’t think badly of us early drinkers, we have a 10pm curfew… if you want to party, you have to make sacrifices!

Sucking up our hangovers from the night before, we decided to go to the beach. Liz, Steve, Alex and I had fun swim in the surf, chat, and eat bananas with peanut butter and Ritz crackers. We paint faces with rock paint (we meaning that Steve made the paint and the girls made the designs). The designs started off as animals, but slowly just turned into Indian Warrior paint. I was surprised that no one had ever heard of rock painting… must be a river thing. Yay river rats!!

Well, I think this might wrap up the majority of my last two weeks or so. Oh yeah, I also joined Facebook and erased Myspace. I plan to eventually add all my pictures to Facebook so I have a good back up in case my computer gets stolen. If you’d like to see these photos, just add me as a friend. Have a great week!

“Good Mornin’, darlin’” is the most beautiful thing to hear. This week I got to hang out with a fellow Tennessean who is a current TEFL volunteer. You could hear both of our accents getting stronger the longer we talked to each other. It was fabulous! People just walked by and stared at us. Did I mention that there are NO other southerners in my group? The longer I stay here, the more I appreciate Tennessee, the people there, and the life I lived there. My dad was right; I will probably come back to Johnson City and think it is perfect.

Speaking of a place to live… we received a packet of the sites to choose from. We have the weekend to look it over and then on Wednesday we’ll be attending a site fair. At the fair, a volunteer representative comes from each department of Nicaragua to tell us a bit more about the different projects, the living conditions, any problems, etc. On Thursday we have an interview with the Program Director, Joaynne, to tell her our preferences. Right now many of the sites interest me. I’m kinda looking for a mid sized site where I am not an anomaly, but also not anonymous. I would like to stay busy with many counterparts or by working in a nearby university. That being said, I would still like to see other volunteers at least twice a month, so my site would have to be relatively close to others. I guess we’ll see what I get.

This past week has been pretty chill. I had my language interview on Thursday and I’ll receive the results on Monday. I think I did pretty well, but you never know. The last time I was a Strong Intermediate High, but they said I would have done better if I talked more. Sometimes it is hard to get enthused about the topics they bring up and you don’t feel creative. This time however, I talked her freakin’ ear off! If they are looking for rapid fire Spanish, I gave it to them. Not so sure about the grammar though. J

Other than my interview, I have taught a few classes and youth groups. My counterpart and I only have 3 more classes to teach before the end of school. I’m teaching seniors (who are fantastic!), so the last month is always busy and therefore we miss a lot of class. The official end of the school year is the second week of November and then my seniors will be “promoted”. It is supposed to be a fancy ceremony and I’m really looking forward to being there. I hear there are even corsages!

Many people are really looking forward to the break, especially my youth group. They had an unfortunate situation where their English teacher got a scholarship to the U.S. and left ALL her classes at the beginning of October. The Ministry of Education failed to get a substitute and the school didn’t have enough money to pay for one. That is when PC stepped in and offered us as a good alternative. We are substitutes, but not allowed to call ourselves that because we aren’t going along with the MINED curriculum. It has been a challenging group because they were told they are “lucky” to have this opportunity when three other classes don’t get it. (AKA- you get to work when the others get to play soccer and eat ice cream in the courtyard with their friends.) Needless to say, it has been hard to motivate them. We will see if we accomplish our final project of singing 2 Michael Jackson songs, 1 of Celine Dion and 1 of Nick Cannon. This past class we translated them from English to Spanish. Anyone wanna translate “Beat it” for me?

So tonight started out really fun. I came home from Jinotepe after going to the cheap phone and calling the U.S. for 2.5 cents a minute (compared to 25 cents a minute to make a domestic call within Nicaragua). I dropped by Steve’s house, talked with his family, and played with the little 4 year old, Ferani. They are great to hang out with and I will definitely come back to visit them. After that I stopped off at the bakery and got some cookies to share with Isolina and Francisco (my host parents) and on the way back home I was invited to play. This may not seem like a lot, but the neighborhood kids are so much fun. We play baseball, tag, kickball, around the world, cups, some kind of patti-cake thing… and lots of others that they teach me. I quite often feel like I am taking Tom Hank’s place in the movie “Big.”

So, yeah… it started out fun, but now the windows are vibrating from the music playing at the basketball courts- a block and a half away! Apparently they have a school sponsored dance every other weekend. The students are charged admission to gain entrance, and they blare music all night. At first I thought this was a great fundraiser, but then was told that the school simply keeps the money and doesn’t do anything with it. I secretly wonder if this is how the principal is paid. The music is very alluring and I thought about joining the fun, but then realized that grinding on the students may be frowned upon here. Flashes of newspaper articles and movie clips went through my mind that Mom and Dad forced me to view during my student teaching. Thanks guys… you knew it would pay off.

Well, I guess that is all for now. We have a birthday coming up in my family (Mallerllys is turning 4) and I am going to go to a PCT party tomorrow at a farm. Thank you to everyone who is taking the time to read this blog. I hope that you are getting something out of it, because I really enjoy sharing my experiences with you. Also, thank you to everyone who is writing me emails. I do get to read them once a week and it is always a treat to hear what is going on in the States. Have a great week!

If someone was to come visit you down there and you could only take them to three places where would they be?

Right now I haven´t visited too many places in Nicaragua. But the first place I would take you is Dolores, Carazo. This is where I am currently living and it´s essential to see for anyone who comes down. You have to meet my host family and play with the little kids.... they are amazing! Secondly, I would take you to the beaches. Depending how far you wanted to travel, we could go to the Pacific Coast nearby or we could travel to Ometepe Island. Both are beautiful. Finally I would take you to Leon or Granada where you could see a big city with gorgeous architecture. We would try not to spend anytime in Managua except to pick you up from the airport and bring you back. :)

You say you live in a "city" there, but in comparison to the states would you rank it as a Mayberry, a Fourway in (strawberry plains), or a Knoxville type "city".

Does Mayberry have a restaurant? Because if so then it is a little too fancy for lil´ol´Dolores. Dolores is a "town" more than a "city". It has two internet cafes (don´t get confused, no coffee is served), a bakery next door, a few corner stores, a park in the center, a basketball court down the block and.... yeah that´s it. It is four streets by 6 and I would call it... petite. Some people own cars here which they use to go to church (by the way, Dolores has 12 churches), but not too many cars go up and down the streets. There are more bicycles and motorcycles. However, if I need to go to the post office, grocery store, restaurant or bar, or to make a cheap phone call, I just go to Jinotepe which is about a 20 minute walk down the highway.

If you were to give someone advice for packing to come to Niceragua for a month what would you tell them to bring?

I am hoping that this is a HUGE hint that I am getting visitors. This question could have so many responses depending on where you wanted to go. But for a general answer I would say bring a lot of T-shirts and jeans. They should be nice, but don´t bring anything fancy. If you are female, you could bring some nicer shirts and no tennis shoes. All the girls wear nice sandals here (not flip flops). Bring a sweat rag, because you will definitely use it and don´t forget your bathing suit. You will look like an American, though, for two reasons: first of all you can swim, secondly you aren´t wearing regular clothes to flop around in the one foot water. Because you CAN swim and ARE wearing a swim suit, I´ll take you into the waves, which is unheard of for a Nica. Don´t worry about bringing toothpaste, shampoo, and all that jazz; we can go to the supermarket when you get here and pick that up. You will want the extra space in your suitcase to bring back all the super cool crafts that you will buy while you are here!

These pictures posted backwards, so you might want to go to the bottom of the entry and scroll up. Hope you enjoy them!

It was snack time for everyone. My host mom, brother and his wife. and four little ones from the family went to the beach on Sunday. We had a really fun time and I didn´t even get burnt (However I look a little more Nica now). The beach was amazing and the water was a perfect temperature.

These beautiful girls are the twins on the left and then Hazel´s sister to the direct left of me. The twins are 8 and Daniella is in 7th grade.

Yours truly... This was before I lost my lovely prescription sunglasses to the sea. Serves me right... I was looking way too cool for Nica standards with those babies on!

This is one of the beautiful sights at the beach looking out at the Pacific coast. We were one of two families that we saw all day. This is a wonderful beach and I would love to take anyone that comes down here.

After I was eaten alive by mosquitos the first night (go figure), I covered up a bit more the next night.

Alexis and her friends from the states. She is part of a NGO down here.

A sunset on Lake Nicaragua in the National Reserve.

The boat ride on Lake Nicaragua. It cost about $1.50

Joe (?), Clara (Argentina), and Steve (Michigan) enjoying a charla in Diriamba. This is where we usually have class on Wednesday afternoons, all day Friday, and Saturday morning.

Jaime (California/Mexico), Donna (Chicago) and Dave (California)

Julie (Arizona), Jocelyn (?), Allison in green (Chicago), and Liz (Virginia)

Megan and Claire (both from West Virginia), Alex (Panama), and Emily (Illinois)

Isolina and Mallerli in the hammock. The day before the hammock fell with Isolina in it and she scrapped her elbow and leg. She is braving it in this picture.This is Raul stepping up to bat. He works when there is work at some buisness close by. I haven´t figured out completly what that is.

This is Alexander playing baseball in the backyard. He is in high school, but only goes to school on Saturdays. They have to study independently and then go to class all day once a week.

Here are a few questions that were sent to me. I thought they were really great and wanted to share some of the responses.

So what are the sanitary conditions in comparision to the states? I know you bucket shower, but does everyone stay somewhat clean?

The people take pride in being clean down here. Backpackers completely disgust the Nicas because they look dirty and oily. Most people here bathe in the morning and wear pressed jeans and tshirts (for the guys) and jeans and nice, tight shirt (for the girls). Professionals will wear nicer pants and a dress shirt and students wear uniforms. As far as washing hands, its pretty uncommon and there is a lot of trash in the street. They litter all the time and it does not phase them.

As ambition goals go, what does the primary professional ambition of people who are 20-25 years old ?

Sadly, most females have had a baby already and most guys have two kids running around. If someone is lucky, they will be in the university by their early twenties. Some high school seniors are twenty because they don´t have a maximum age in school. If someone is not in the university, they are looking for a job, or caring for their kids.

Would you classify the majority of the locals you have met as a) very proud and not accepting of handouts, b) working hard to get by but is appreciative of the help, or c) as our stereotypical bumb and is waiting for the handout and blames others for their situation?

Nicas would love for anyone to give them anything at anytime. Some people are proud and wouldn´t accept something, but this is a very sharing culture. Cheating is a hard thing to stop because it is viewed that if someone knows the answer then they should help their friend.

What is the likely hood of a person who grew up poor and without much family support to have the opportunities to advance and better their life?

Most kids from poor families don´t move up socially. They would probably make it through a few grades, but then they would have to drop out of school to help support the family. If they did make it through high school, it would be almost impossible for them to go to university. Although public university is free, it is really hard to get into because of the test to enter. Most public high school students cannot pass the test. Private Universities are expensive, but do give a few scholarships.

If I were to roll into town with $20,000 would I be viewed the same way that we look at millionares rolling into vegas, or would I be looked at as just an upper middle class?

You would be a freaking rock star! It is unbelievable to them that someone is able to save money, period. Here the salaries are barely enough to cover food, electricity, and water and then all the school uniforms, etc. Most people don´t have a bank account and they don´t neccesarily want to hoard money around the house in case they get robbed. But then again, that is assuming they have money to hoard. Someone with $20,000 is unheard of. The average professional salary is $200 a month.

Thank you for the questions! If you would like me to answer anything specific, please feel free to email me something to write about. I love any suggestions.

We are officially half way through our training here and we are all feeling a bit down. It feels like we aren’t doing much here right now. However, just as I was thinking that, I had the following conversation today with my host family over lunch. If nothing else, I can say that I am TRYING to educated the Nicas about the true United States, and trying to learn about the REAL Nicaragua.

My host dad starts the conversation out with the topic of suicide. Apparently hanging oneself is one of the more popular methods here. Other methods include drug or alcohol use, or using a gun. (as I type this, I’m seeing that I have unusual conversations) So I naturally ask what some of the reasons for suicide are and if it is very common. It seems that poverty is the number one reason for suicide according to my host dad. Then he asked me about suicide in the States. Whenever I am asked about a topic/scenario for all of the US, I feel a huge obligation to be diplomatic and try not to stereotype. I told him that like any society there are many reasons and methods of suicide. We got into drug/alcohol use, stress of jobs, unhappiness with relationships, feeling that there is no other option, etc.

This conversation segued into one about poverty in the United States. My host dad is convinced that there is no poverty in the States and that everyone who wants a job has one. He thinks that if you don’t have a job and a house, then you are basically lazy. (Just for the record, I’m pretty sure my host mom doesn’t feel the same way) I tried to explain that there are many wealthy people, but that the U.S. also has poor people. Some people have lost their job to the economy, some can’t get jobs because they are untrained or others will work for less, some are over trained and no one wants to hire a college grad because they have to pay them too much, etc.

My host dad says that many people from Nicaragua have gone and they have jobs. So of course this got us on the topic of illegal aliens in the States. He doesn’t understand how his friends have jobs in the states, but I know people that don’t. He says he knows people that work and make $300 a week (!!!!) and he doesn’t know how anyone couldn’t work for that amount. My host family was talking about all the things they could do with $300 a week.

So then we talked about the standard of living in the States versus here in Nicaragua and what all we have to pay for apart from food, electricity and water. They are amazed that we have to pay so much to the government and have to pay so much for insurance.

This went on to talk about inflation, minimum wage, worker unions, and lots of other stuff. It is amazing how everything ties in together and I am so happy that my family is curious. I just hope they believe me when I say that the US has its own set of problems!

Wow! Time has really been flying down here. It has been about two weeks since I have posted anything and I swear it is with good reason.

This past week, all the trainees went to visit different TEFL volunteers currently in their service. I went to Ometepe Island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America. The lake is so big that it forms waves and takes about an hour by boat to get to the island. (You can take a look at the map on my first blog entry if you are curious) So I left Saturday, Oct. 3 around 10am. After taking a taxi, microbus, another taxi, boat, and a bus I arrived at my volunteer’s house around 4pm. Her name was Joanna, she had 3 counterparts, and was about an hour from the closest volunteer. Her secondary project was teaching basic English skills at “the project”, a house that helps adolescent boys who committed crimes in Managua to get integrated back into society. During their stay at the house, they learn life skills and a technical skill and in return they have to behave and stay legit.

I was able to see how she co-plans and co-teaches with the Nica counterparts during the week. She works 25 hours in the classroom, which is a bit more than the 16 hour minimum because she doesn’t work with “the project” that much. I also saw how she interacts with the people in her community and how she lives her daily life. Hers is unique because she is isolated on the island and still lives with a host family. Both of these characteristics are much different than the majority of volunteers. Because of this, I’m thinking of asking to visit some other volunteers so that I can see a different view of PCV life.

While I was on the island we did lots of fun stuff. The first night we painted toe nails (mine are purple with little hand painted white flowers with a rhinestone center). One night we rode bicycles through really rough terrain to the dock and watched the gorgeous sunset behind the volcano. I would love to show you, but I forgot my camera of course. One day our counterpart didn’t show up (meaning we couldn’t teach) so we had the afternoon off. Luckily one of Joanna’s friends from the island was going to the beach with two visitors from the states, so we tagged along. I went swimming for the first time in Nicaragua and then we hiked a bit in the National Reserve. It wasn’t grueling, but rather a nice walk with a beautiful finish!

This is a sign on the way to Jinotepe picturing Daniel Ortega. It is praising the fact that it has been 30 years since the Sandanistas took control from Somoza. The graffiti says ¨moclin¨, meaning dirty old man that touches little boys inappropriately. Ortega is definitely not loved by all.

This is our street with the pulperia (small store) on the corner. The guy in the Titan´s jersey is Raul, my host brother.

My host mom, Isolina and her granddaughter Mallerli (she´s four).

Our backyard is huge and contains tons of plants like peppers, bananas, yuca, oranges, etc. There are also medicinal plants. (try to ignore the undies on the line)

What I look at while brushing my teeth each morning and night.

We have two sinks outside and four washing areas. The one of the far left is where clothes are washed and I brush my face and teeth. The one with the red bucket is where the dishes are washed. The one you see on the far right is where shoes are washed. The one not pictured is for mops and other house cleaning uses.

My closet

My bed is covered with the mustard colored mosquito net. It takes up practically the entire room and I leave it up all the time. Before I go to bed and tuck it under my matress, I check to make sure nothing is in it. The net has been great for keeping the bugs away (I get bit less here than in TN).

The kitchen- we wash the dishes outside in the sink. You see the big jug of water... that´s for the gringa in the house. All my food and drink must be made with purified water.

My spot at the dining room table is the head spot. At first I felt REALLY weird about this, but now view it a bit differently. It is nice to be between the two people talking so that I can hear better and understand more conversation.

The front door and wall that seperates the dining room from the living room. My host dad built this house.

This is my host family´s house. Here we have the living room with tv, sofa, armchair, coffee table and 4 rocking chairs.

Behind and to the left of the people is a mototaxi. These go up and down the Panamerican Highway between Dolores and Jinotepe transporting people, people with sacks of potatoes or whatever, pigs, chickens, etc.

This is somewhat normal to see here- cart pulled by oxen or horses. Sometimes you´ll see a man pulling the cart.

My life rocks for so many reasons. Please let me share a list with you.

-We got our medical kits from Peace Corps. They contain just about anything you could want and they are refillable. Including the following. (I hope you can read the fine print)

I understood a joke my host dad told me and was even able to comment appropriately on it! This is huge considering he is really hard for most people to understand.

I have a fantastic counterpart, Tania, and we had a very productive planning session. (Even while she was breast feeding her 1 ½ year old son)

I’m done with my Rabies shots and don’t have to get any other vaccinations.

Our second youth group was 100% better than the 1st. We sang Hokey Pokey and decided that we will sing in English for our final project. One group wants to do a rap song with a didactic message and one groups wants to do “We are the World” by Michael Jackson. He’s REALLY big down here.

I learned a valuable lesson about attitude, frustration, and approach with the youth group.

I’m healthy and able to run, eat and sleep well.

I can finally understand the twins more than 70% of the time. The other day we talked about their favorite Barbie movie. Elementary, but definitely a start.

My host family and I get along and they give me hugs.

The other PCTs are amazing and fun to be with.

Spanish classes are less frequent so I have more time for independent study. On one of our last days we played a game in the park. It was definitely "Watch the gringos" hour.

I’ve stopped sweating so much and the weather has changed a bit. The other day I actually wore a long sleeved t-shirt. It kinda feels like October weather in TN.

We just finished our first three weeks here! On one hand it seems like I got here yesterday and on the other it feels like I’ve been here months. I am beginning to feel much more comfortable.

I talk with my family in TN consistently and even call some friends.

Katie’s package is in Nicaragua. Peace Corps will deliver it to me on Wednesday. I’m so excited to get my first package and am dying for Wednesday to come!

My hair is currently in a ponytail. Granted it looks a bit like a dog's butt, but it´s out of my face.

My host mom now lets me help in the kitchen. Today I cut and washed the vegetables for beef stew (everyone in the family had a task) and she showed me how to make coffee.

I learned how to wash clothes the Nica way.

I had a great conversation with my host mom about wedding customs. We flipped through a 2004 issue of Weddings and we were both amazed by the extravagance. She was showing me the types of dresses she can make. She’s phenomenal on the sewing machine and says she’ll make my Swearing In dress.

When I go running or walking in the streets, I recognize people and am able to greet them and talk for a bit. Everyone is very friendly in Dolores.

I played a street game with the neighborhood kids last night. I was thinking of the movie Wayne’s World. “Game on!”

We watched the Sandlot (“FOREVER”) and The Ugly Truth (we bought it for $1 on the street) this week. You know how much I love a good romantic comedy.

I’m starting to know my way around Jinotepe- the larger city close to mine. Dolores is no problem; it’s only 4 blocks by 6 blocks big.

People here wear lots of shirts in English, but don’t necessarily know what they mean. Here are some examples:

-Nica girl wearing “Blondes are the life of the party”

-Grandma Nica wearing “Tap Dance” with a picture of a beer tap and a pint of brew with tap shoes.

-Young Nica guy wearing “I’m pro-choice for the Heisman”

I’ve been able to live comfortably on the PC budget of $20/week.

I can understand the radio announcements. However, I’m not sure if this is an accomplishment considering I hear the same ones at all hours of the day and night blaring from huge speakers in the back of trucks driving in the street. I dream about them… maybe this goes on the negative list.

I feel so fortunate that my first few weeks here have been so great, successful, and fun. Not everyone is having the same experience. One of our 19 trainees is being sent home on Tuesday. We are getting two different stories from him and from PC, but the issue revolves around the fact that he cannot hear well. We all hope that he can stay, but it doesn’t look promising.

My Spanish has also been improving a bit. Here is one example of a learning opportunity I recently had. The four Dolores trainees were in class with Damaris and we were talking about University in the States, how expensive it is, and how people pay for it. This is how the convo went:

Me- “Yo tuvo una vaca” (I had a scholarship*)

Steve- “Qué hiciste con la vaca?” (What did you do with the scholarship*?)

Me- “hmmmm…. No entiendo” (I don’t understand.)

Steve- “Vendió la leche or la vaca?” (Did you sell the milk or the cow?)

Me- “O… Yo tuvo una VECA.” ( Oh, I had a scholarship)

Note to self: VECA= scholarship, VACA= cow

I hope you all had a great week!

BTW: If you would like to read Elizabeth’s blog, it is http://lizinnicaragua.blogspot.com/

Steve’s is http://stevenmcarpenter.blogspot.com/

I’m sitting here with my belly full listening to the church karaoke across the street. It’s the third time this week and I’m catching myself singing along. They are really loud with lots of clapping and they have the same clapping issues as we whitties do. Today was a good food day. Isolina fixed chicken on the bone with vegetables and soy tortillas for dinner and an oatmeal drink. For lunch the four PCTs in Dolores went with our Spanish teacher, Damaris, to Liz’s house. Her host mom, Doña Cristina, cooked yuca topped with pork rinds, shaved cabbage, tomato and beets. It was random and the pork rinds weren’t my favorite, but I absolutely love yuca. Breakfast was my usual: cherry jello with bananas and coffee. I like to start my day off light after a nice jog.

I have a chance to write tonight because both Isolina and Francisco are at church, and for once I don’t have Spanish homework. Tomorrow is our last day of daily class and I am wicked pumped. It will be so nice to have time to go to the market with Isolina and help her around the house, read the newspaper and discuss it with Francisco, watch a movie with Alexander in Spanish, and work out a bit more in the mornings. Don’t get me wrong, it has been great to ease into life here with my gringo safety net. But I feel like I am ready to dive in to my family. This comes at a time when I’m really starting to get into the classroom for co-teaching and co-planning. Steve and I also just started our youth group- which is story within itself… for another day.

When I first started this blog tonight I heard a little thunder. Now it is coming down so hard it sounds like the roof will collapse. That is one thing out Nicaragua, when it rains it pours!

So I wanted to take a moment to tell what I am thankful that I brought to Nicaragua:

· Wrist watch- I use it every morning when I run to know when to turn around and run back.

· Computer- it saves me a ton at the internet café (which we call the Cyber)

· Microfiber towel- Thank you Katie! It dries me off well and then dries itself well too.

· Flashlight- At night I have to get out of bed to turn off my light and then use my flashlight to get into the mosquito net. Also helpful to find the bathroom.

· Bag of perfume samples- I never sweat in the US unless I’m exercising. Here I sweat way more frequently. This little magic bag makes me smell better. Why, you may ask, do I not just take a shower? Because it is viewed as extravagant to take more than one shower a day.

· Individual drink mixes and Nalgene bottle- We drink a lot of water here (because we never have milk, I don’t want to buy coke, and we need to stay hydrated). These help vary it up a bit.

· Alarm clock- I usually wake up around 6am. Sometimes I don’t need the clock because the chickens and other birds wake me up.

· Prescription Sunglasses- It is really sunny and these have been phenomenal.

· 3” x 5” Mirror- It is the only time I see my reflection. The other day I saw myself in a full length mirror and actually stopped in my tracks. I didn’t recognize the other person because I hadn’t seen myself in three weeks.

Things I could have done without:

· So many dressy clothes- their “dressy” doesn’t even reach our “dressy casual”

· So many socks- I only wear them when I run

· Dictionary- They gave me a better one the third day we were here. And I have only cracked it once when we had homework. I usually figure out words by describing the object or concept and asking what it is.

If I could pack again, I’d bring:

· Dressy open toed sandals (everyone here wears them)

· More pictures

· Art materials for the classroom (tape, scissors, markers, crayons, colored paper, paper clips, etc)

· Books with ideas of teaching activities

BTW: I haven’t had any really strong food cravings since I have been here. We’ve had pizza twice and I have to admit, it was fantastic! Vegetarian pizza rocks!

This whole week has been one big celebration, meaning that there was no school and nobody worked… except the gringos. We still had class Tuesday thru Saturday. However, on Monday we did get to observe the parades. They really go all out. It started around 5am with fireworks coming from the park (1/2 a block away) every thirty minutes. I finally threw in the towel and got up around 7 and watched my little host nieces get ready. They marched behind the band because they made such good grades. In Dolores, we had two separate school bands about 45-60 people strong. As you can see in the pictures, the bands consist of almost exclusively percussion. But the truly amazing thing is that they learn to play by ear; it is rare that someone can read music here. There was one little guy who was deaf and mute and was right up front, playing his little heart out. He is related to my host mom, of course.

After watching in Dolores, my host brother Raul and his wife Hazel took me to Jinotepe and we watched another 5-7 schools. It was hot as hell and all these little kids were dressed in heavy uniforms probably intended for use in Michigan during late fall. They were sweating and people were bringing them drinks in the street. They would just stop playing and chug some bottled water or bagged cola. The girls were amazing, shakin’ what their mama gave ‘em and looking like they were ready to pass out. But they put on a show and there were massive amounts of people there to watch. They were pushing and hanging from trees, climbing on anything they could to get a look at the spectacle.

This is Steve drinking cola from a bag. If you´d like to hear about his adventures, check out http://stevenmcarpenter.blogspot.com/

So other than the independence celebration I have been to a lot of technical PC training sessions. We spent half of Wednesday in Diriamba, all day on Friday in Managua and then half of Saturday back in Diriamba. Each time we have 2-3 sessions where current PCVs present topics such as: working with your counterpart, making materials, methods for the classroom, activities to incorporate, etc. They contain good info, but I can speak for most when I say it’s a lot of information. I’m counteracting that by not doing any of the assigned readings.J Instead, I have been reading The Time Traveler’s Wife, which is nice, especially when it rains really hard on the tin roof.

It has been wonderful hanging out with my training site mates (Megan from West Virginia, Elizabeth from outside of DC and Steve from Michigan) everyday and then getting to see all of the TEFL trainees three times a week. We are getting tighter as a group with basically no topics off limits anymore. I’ve been visiting others in their sites to see how they are living. The differences in the houses are sometimes astonishing.

This week I have been able to run twice and look forward to running tomorrow. I finally feel well enough to attempt it and it has made a great difference. It gives me the energy I need to get through class (sometimes this in itself is a feat) and gets me in a better mood. While I’m running, I’m also laughing at all the random things. For example, I had to pass a road full of oxen and really thought I would spook them and they would trample me, but I was good. My host dad, Francisco says that when I’m in a bad mood next time he is going to kick me out of the house and throw me my tennis shoes. He’s right on!

BTW: We were coming back from Managua on Friday in a PC vehicle and we saw that others were swerving into the other lane ahead. When we got up to the spot, we realized why they were doing this. There was a guy passed out cold in the road and no one would go out and get him. Can we say random?

This week we met up with the Project Director, Joayne. She interviewed everyone to learn what their experiences and preferences are. While we were talking, she mentioned that those with teaching degrees will be put in a site that is centrally located in a region so that we can help all the teachers in the region. I will probably be traveling to help observe/evaluate other TEFL volunteers during the first year or so, as well as getting conferences and workshops together for all the English teachers in the area. Who knows, I might be in a big place and possibly even with a site mate. It is way too early to know anything, but you never know.

Well, I hope all is well on the home front and the fall colors are about the change. I’ll really miss seeing it, so if anyone wants to send me some pictures, that would be great. Thank you to everyone who has written me emails in the past week or so (pcnic09@yahoo.com). They really make my day!

PCT Laura SandersCuerpo de PazApartado Postal 3256Managua, NicaraguaCentro America

Above is my host mom, Isolina. She is about 55 and a very nice woman. She makes clothes, including the outfit she is wearing here. This picture was taken on our way out the door to go to the Quinceanera.

Our bus of gringos leaving the training retreat to meet our host families. If we look a little tired and disgusting it is because we are wearing the same clothes we arrived in 3 days earlier.

These are my host nieces. The twins are 8 and the little one is 3. They are adorable, but I can hardly understand them.

This is me leaving the Knoxville airport with all my luggage. It looks like a lot, but it actually wasn´t too bad.

Well, I am at the end of my second weekend with my host family. It sure has been an interesting week. I’ve had Spanish class 6 hours each day, and can proudly say that I have now improved my proficiency to Advanced. This means that after two more weeks I won’t have class everyday, but only once weekly to discuss Nicaraguan culture.

Wednesday- The whole TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) group got together today to discuss a health issue in Peace Corps. This past weekend, someone was tested positive on a test that could indicate the H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu). That girl and 6 others that she was in close contact were brought from their training sites to Managua to be in quarantine. They received Tamaflu and were put up in a hotel. Peace Corps got our training group together just to let us know they have medicine for all of us and give a talk on symptoms to look for.

Thursday- Today and tomorrow we have a National Conference for English Teachers. There are over 1000 in attendance including all the TEFL Peace Corps Volunteers. Different presenters give sessions on various topics. As I have mentioned before, the English teachers here are in need of our assistance. The Ministry of Education (MinEd) quoted to us that 60% are not certified teachers and the other 40% have a low English proficiency level. It was good to talk with MinEd and sit in on the session to see exactly where these teachers are coming from. It gives me an idea of why I’m here… and now I know I do have a place here.

Friday- My first medical testing was today. I haven’t been feeling too great for the past two weeks, and finally decided to see what was actually going on with my body. The results say I have a bacterial infection from something I ate down here (yeah, that narrows it down) and my body reacts to any fat or dairy. Limiting dairy is not an issue, because I can think of two times I’ve eaten it. One morning I drank a bit of milk in my coffee which is a treat down here. The other was a dish called “atol,” which is milk cooked with corn starch and cinnamon. Afterwards, I was up every hour that night being sick… fun times. The grease in the diet is a bit harder to control considering that the main ingredients for food here are oil and salt. To get feeling better I have to take an antibiotic and limit my diet to fruits, vegetables, and liters and liters of rehydration salts. Finally I have an excuse to ask for no bread or gallo pinto!!

The gringos had a movie night at my host brother’s house, with his wife and friends. Steve and I made a special trip to Pali, the local supermarket in Jinotepe (1 km away) to get Oreos, chocolate milk, snickers, popcorn, Diet Coke, spicy yuca chips, and more cookies. It cost us a whopping 180 cordobas ($9). We finally settled down to watch Nacho Libre, where a Mexican monk played by Jack Black becomes a wrestler with his atheist street rat side kick to help out the orphanage where he works. The gringos thought it was pretty funny, but it wasn’t as funny to the Nicas. Can we say awkward? I guess it was the world balancing out after the experience we had at the conference today.

The conference’s closing ceremony started off mundane with the president giving 30 minutes worth of “special” thanks to a laundry list of people. I think it even included the guy that changed the light bulbs that morning in the auditorium. Afterwards the Nicaraguan version of Adam Sandler came out, acting like an old man walking slowly with his guitar. Because he was speaking with a forced old guy accent, no one but the native speakers in our group could understand him. He started singing a comedic song about gringos and all heads in the auditorium whipped around to stare at us. Do the gringos understand? Are they going to laugh? Can we laugh? I understood enough to know he was making fun of the way we dress, eat, dance, and use protection not to have 15 children. I’m sure there was more, but I stopped listening and started to play MASH with another chick (Ashten Kutcher and I are going to live in an apartment near a trash dump in Kasas where we have 7 kids and drive a horse-drawn cart and I’m a professional meat slicer.) . After the ceremony, multiple people stopped to take pictures with the gringos. I couldn’t help but feel these pictures were going to become something of a trophy. “Look, I got a picture with the gringo that only drinks bottled water and nothing with grease!”

Did I also mention that the closing ceremony included a rap performed by one of the English teachers? Language conference and rap concert all rolled into one!

Saturday- I went to a Quinceanera, a party celebrating a girl’s 15th birthday. It started with a processional from the girl’s house to the church. First came the court, made up of 10 or so couples that the quinceanera picked out to support her on this day. At the church, they had a brief 10 minute ceremony talking about how she was now a woman and had responsibilities, and the procession went to the restaurant. The girl and her father had their first dance and then the court performed a choreographed dance. Afterwards, the Christian band started playing their ear splitting set (seriously, my ears are still ringing) and the people were served their FIRST dish of food. **The US is not the only ones with an obesity problem** No one was able to talk because the music was so loud, and it was a Christian celebration so no one could dance. The best part was the 40 year old chick next to me that kept asking if I knew any gringo that she could marry. She emphasized that it didn’t matter if he was ugly. Any takers?

When I got back home, my host dad was kind enough to kill the mouse I found climbing on the wall above my bed. Thanks, host dad! All of you should be proud… I was not girly… no screams, no running away, nothing!

Did I tell you that during training they showed us Nicaragua Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer? The best part was where he ate iguana eggs. They are soft boiled so the yolk is still runny. You pop the whole thing in your mouth, suck out all the insides and then you have to pull out the shell. Zimmer just about puked! One of my site mates, Steve (who happens to be vegetarian) was served iguana eggs by his family. He tried them… and to see his face as he recounts it is fantastic! I don’t think he ralphed, but he was pretty close. It might have been a dine and dash… to the bathroom.

A few things I’ve seen on the street:

- Dead dog

- Men completely passed out on the sidewalk

- Ox drawn cart

- Horse drawn bicycle

- 23 people packed in a microbus

So I am quickly learning here that my successes will have to be measured a bit differently here than they were in the US. For example, navigating a taxi is usually not a big thing, BUT today I really did a good job. My friends and I were traveling here to Jinotepe to go to the Cyber (internet cafe) and we had to go by the post office first. I was able to get the correct cab, tell them where we wanted to go AND get the nica price. He tried to charge us 6 cordobas, but I knew better... it should only be 5! :)

We have also made it a game to try to figure out what all the advertisments mean and why stores are named certain things. So far I´m in the lead.

Another way that success here is different is how I spend my day. Yesterday was very good. Here´s how it went:

7 am- I got up and was planning on taking a shower. However, there was no running water at the time so I had to take my first bucket shower. My host mom was very nice because she boiled some water to mix it with the reserve water so it wouldn´t be a cold. When I was done, she commented on how I bathed like a nica- without using much water. I had breakfast with my host mom (watermelon, crackers and coffee) and then headed out to school.

8am-12 pm- We attend class in another volunteers host house and talk about family, cultural aspects we don´t understand, or special topics the teacher brings up. We really don´t have to write anything besides new words or grammar words we don´t know. Like I said before, I´m the dumb kid in class, so my notebook is quickly filling up.

12 pm- After morning class I return to my house, which is about a five minute walk. Lunch is usually soup of some kind. Now, I love soup, but I find it hard not to sweat to death while eating it here. I wash my face before I go back to class so the others don´t think I´m about to fall over from heat stroke.

1-3pm- More class, but this time in the park. Class is always more fun outside. Today for example we played Simon Says, aka Laugh at the Gringos Hour

3-6pm- This is the time that I hang out with the other volunteers in my town. We went to the Cyber and picked up a chocolate doughnut at the bakery. It was heaven!

Around 6 or 7- I eat dinner with my family each night. Usually it is my host parents, and their son and his wife. We eat gallo pinto (rice and beans), some type of meat, and vegetables. One night I got a quesadilla type of thing but the tortillas were of corn, fried and filled with a typical salty cheese made here in Nicaragua. Not exactly like Applebee´s. Dinner is a good time for me to practice my Spanish because I am finally warmed up a bit and can speak freely. I am finding that I am not nearly as funny in Spanish as in English- at least not when I mean to be. Trust me, I am their source of entertaiment currently. They definitely get their fair share of laughs at all my mistakes.

8-10pm- After dinner I go to my room to study. For the first time in 3 years I have mandatory reading that I will be tested on. It feels nice to be a student again, but it´s hard to stay awake with such dry material.

10pm- Finally I brush my teeth with my bottled water at the outside sink and wash my face. Did I mention that I sweat quite a bit here? When I return to my room, my alarm has to be set for tomorrow and the mesquito net has to be arranged just so before I can crawl into bed. Once there, don´t forget the ear plugs!

Hello everyone! This is my first week in Nicaragua and it has been a fun and interesting 7 days since I left Tennessee. Last Tuesday all the Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) going to Nicaragua met in Washington D.C. It was wild to walk into a room and almost everyone be extroverted. They had set up an ice breaker for us, but none of us needed it. Within thirty minutes, the game was forgotten and we were all just having a great time! We went through a few training hours which was the typical coma-inducing class you find at any seminar. The best part was meeting everyone… there are two groups: TEFL (19 people) and Environmental Education (18 people) and we come from all parts of the country. Many people are from California and the Mid-west. I am one of 2 southerners. I guess I’ll have to call ya’ll to hear the Appalachian drawl.

After class ended around 7pm a group of us went out, where my last U.S. dinner consisted of a buffalo chicken sandwich and a nice pint of Stoney’s amber ale. Our group decided that there was no point in going to sleep since we had to check out of the hotel at 1:30am, so we stayed out and got back just in time to make sure we had everything.

The airports were a big blurr. It was 3am by the time we got to the DC airport. Apparently I was sleeping on my bag in line, because the random businessman behind me had to wake me up occasionally. We finally reached Miami around 8am where we were supposed to meet the PC Director Aaron Williams. However, since there was bad weather, our plane was delayed for HOURS and he had to move on. We finally did see him a few days later at the training center.

The training retreat was like one big summer camp. We bunked three to a room, ate in the cafeteria, and had class for the majority of the day. What really made it feel like camp was that we were all stinky. You see, nobody received their bags when we reached Managua. One lucky group received half of their bags on the 2nd night and the rest of us got them the day we left the retreat (Friday). I met my host family in the same clothing that I left Knoxville in. But no worries, I still gave them a big hug but then quickly excused myself for a long, COLD shower!

A few nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night. This is not an uncommon thing, because even though I wear earplugs to sleep, I can still hear the music, chickens and roosters, dogs, and something that sounds like a whistle. I woke up because I had to pee. I’ve been drinking tons of water so as not to get dehydrated, but I didn’t want to get out of bed to go. Let me explain the process: I sleep under a mosquito net to prevent dengue and malaria, so I have to untuck that from the bed and find your way out, put on my shoes (you can’t walk barefoot or you might get worms), and then find my way to the bathroom. All this kept going through my mind as I lay there covered in a sticky layer of sweat and bug spray, asking myself if it was worth it. Finally, I just had to go. But then do you flush the toilet and make noise, or just leave?

Sunday morning, my host mom and I went to the market in Jinotepe. I currently live in Dolores, the smallest “town” in Nicaragua, which is about a kilometer from Jinotepe. We were in search of some flip flops for me and chicken and vegetables to make soup for lunch. It was quite the experience, which there is no way I can do justice. (Go to youtube and search Nicaraguan market. Look for the outdoor one.) There are people selling anything and everything you can think of. To name a few things being sold: granny panties, vegetables, pirated DVDs, spices, little pigs, lottery tickets, home-made sweets, 4 inch wedged shoes, and a tube top that stated the wearer was “hot stuff”. They have stalls on the streets and you just look around for the person who is selling what you need for the best price. I’m so glad that I went with my host mom or it would have been very overwhelming. She always goes to the same people each time because she has known them since she was a girl.

It was also helpful to have her to navigate the taxi. My town, Dolores, is right on the Panamerican Highway (all my students should know what that is) so it is very easy to get to other towns. But apparently they have taxis that only go to certain places. Now, there is no marker or indicator of that; you just have to know. If you get into the wrong cab, it can cost you much more than the real price. So we got into the correct cab, and along the way we picked up two other people. Yes, that’s right. It’s like splitting a cab, but you never know how many they will try to pile in. We were lucky there were just 5 of us going there. On the way back there were 6. The good thing is it only takes 5 cordobas per person to take the cab… that’s roughly 25 cents.

There are 3 other “aspirantes” (aspiring PC volunteers) in my town. We all have Spanish class together 6 days a week for three hours in the morning and then again in the afternoon for as long as they want to keep us. I tested in as a strong Intermediate high speaker and the others in my group as Advanced Medium speakers. That makes me the dumb kid in class. So I am really going to have to put in the effort to keep up. To do that, I’m currently reading Charlotte’s Web in Spanish that I borrowed from my 8 year old host nieces. She keeps asking when I’m going to return in… but I’m only on the fifth chapter! I am excited about the 200 hours of language class that I will receive in the next 3 months. Apparently the PC language program is one of the best in the world for the results it gets.

Many different people will (hopefully) be following this blog, including previous Spanish students, book club ladies, coworkers, family and friends as I set out for this amazing 27 month adventure. On Sept.1 I will be meeting with other Pre-Service Peace Corps Volunteers from all over the states in Washington D.C. We will have a short orientation and then the following morning jump on a plane for Nicaragua. Once there, current PCVs and trainers will pick us up and we will begin a 3-4 day Orientation Retreat (mainly to evaluate our language ability). Once we have broken into our Language Groups, we will be dropped off at our perspective locations in Masaya to begin our three month training. Training includes classes 5-6 days a week in language, health and safety, cultural awareness, and technical training. Throughout this we will be living with a family and completing individual and group projects for class. Towards the end of training, we will be able to give our preferences on the community in which we are placed for the 2 years. Here is some general information on Nicaragua.

Geography and Climate

Nicaragua, with a land area of 57,000 square miles (about the size of Iowa), is the largest of the Central American Republics. The population is roughly 5 million people and approximately 200 PC volunteers are currently there. It is bordered on the north by Honduras, on the south by Costa Rica, on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the east by the Caribbean Sea.

Geographically, Nicaragua can be divided into four areas: the coastal block, the Great Rift, the central highlands, and the Caribbean lowlands. The Great Rift lies between Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua; a chain of more than 20 volcanoes, some still active, dominates the area. Economy and Government

Agriculture is fundamental to the Nicaraguan economy. The principal domestic crops are corn, beans, sorghum and rice. Cotton, coffee, sugar, bananas, and tobacco are the main export crops. Additional export products are beef and shrimp. Unemployment and underemployment remain a central concern and poverty is endemic. Since the decade-long rule of the Sandinistas, Nicaragua has seen successful democratic elections.

Culture

The majority of Nicaraguans can be best classified as Mestizo (European and Indian mix) in which neither the European descendants nor the Indian predominate. Indians account for approximately 5 percent and Africans for about 9 percent of the population. They are located in the Caribbean lowlands. The Mestizo population dominates all other areas of the country.

The official and predominant language of the country is Spanish, although some of the Sumo and Miskito Indians have maintained their indigenous languages and blacks along the east coast speak Creole English.

Eighty-five percent of the population is Roman Catholic; the rest are Protestant. The literacy rate is estimated at 67 percent.