The Big Move

I guess I’m not that great at making New Year’s resolutions.  No blog in the month of March but here goes April…

I moved!  I wasn’t sure if it was worth it because I only have 7 months left then realized that 7 months is a pretty long time.  A friend was looking for someone to rent one of her houses and gave me the opportunity to rent for the same price I had been paying in my previous spot.  It’s much more space and a little farther away from the center of town, which is exactly what I wanted.  Two Nica friends helped me move in on Saturday after waiting 3 hours for the man with the truck to finally arrive and transport all my things.  $3 (for the truck) and 4 hours later, I was all settled in.  There’s a great breeze (due to actually having windows), high ceilings, a huge gated front porch, space for a hammock, my own indoor bathroom and shower, and no mosquitoes.  I’m not a fan of the chickens that come to visit fairly frequently.  The entire house is cement, including the floors, which is even better because now I don’t have to mop.  I just sweep then throw water on the floor to get rid of the dust.  I already have a great relationship with my neighbor and her family because on day two, I got locked out twice…

I had just woken up at 6:30 am and went outside to fill the lavendero (where I wash clothes and dishes) because we didn’t have water the previous day.  As soon as I walked outside, the wind slammed the back door shut and I was left outside in my pajamas with flip-flops but bra-less.   My neighbor was nice enough to let me borrow a sweater to walk about 5 blocks to my old host family who had the extra key.  At 7:00 am I was back in the house, taking a shower to head to catch the bus leaving for Boaco.  I get back from Boaco, lock the gate, open the front door, and head out the back door to fill up my water bottle.  Wind comes.  Door slams shut.  This time I was in a trickier situation because I now had both sets of keys on my plastic kitchen table.  I went back to the neighbor’s and she just kind of shrugs her shoulders and says, “Now what do we do?”  Luckily a man passed just at that moment.  I explained to him my situation and without thinking, he climbed up the pointy gate that’s supposedly protecting my house and entered the open front door and handed me the key to open the gate’s lock.  (I probably shouldn’t be writing this because I’m sure my mom is now worried about me living in an insecure house.  Don’t worry, the security guy from Peace Corps approved it.)  Each time I tell that story the response is, “You really need to use a rock to keep that back door from slamming shut.”  “Yea, yea, I know.”

Aside from those two mishaps, everything is going really well!  I had an amazing spring vacation on the Atlantic Coast.  The life is so different there mainly because the majority of the people speak Creole (a mix between English, Spanish, and native dialect).  The 12 hour trip out there wasn’t the best (7 hours in a school bus overnight, waiting 2 hours from 4:00-6:00 am, 2 hour motorized canoe ride) but very worth it.  The week after spring vacation, I went to Selva Negra, a beautiful nature reserve up north where it is very cool… I’d even say cold although that doesn’t take much anymore.  I went on Tuesday to give a presentation to the new environment group and had another presentation to give on Wednesday all in Spanish.  On Thursday, my group came for a few presentations and I was back in Teustepe on Friday.

Now, back to class.  I’ve been contemplating a lot about what I want to do after Peace Corps and there are no definite plans yet.  I was seriously considering going to graduate school for social work but I’m pretty sure that I now realize my forte is teaching.  I’m sure I’d love all aspects of social work but do feel really comfortable in the classroom.  I now need to decide on exactly what I want to get a Masters in.  Definitely something that deals with education but also will give me the opportunity to work overseas.  Any suggestions??

My women’s group is still making earrings.  We recently sold 14 pairs and made C$280.  The softball team is on a bit of a standstill.  We try to practice or play on Sundays when no one has class.  I’ve been working with a man from a local organization on my school compost and gardens.  We’re also going to work in two communities to give presentations on patio gardens then give each family seeds to start their own garden.  Class, as a whole, is going very well.  Teaching two days per week at each school with each teacher has made a huge difference.  There is much more continuity in the lessons and I feel that the students are learning more. 

Just a funny anecdote… I was waiting for a bus with another volunteer outside the airport to get back home.  Of course no buses passed so we took a taxi to the bus terminal.  The taxi driver asked where we were from so we said the United States.  His response… “But you’re not the type of gringas with the blue eyes.”  Nope.  As a matter of fact, not all gringas have blonde hair and blue eyes.  

un zoológico

Many people have been asking me how much time I have left in Nicaragua and my answer is “Ooooh, bastante!” or “A ton!”.  In reality, these next 10 months are going to go by way too fast.  School is starting in a couple weeks, which means Monday through Friday will fly.  My friends and I always find something to do in Teustepe and there are plenty of places I’d still like to explore in Nicaragua so weekends will also be full.  The daunting question now is, “What’s next?”  No answer yet.

My second world map is finally complete!  Well just the names of the bodies of water are missing.  I had started in it July with two Amigos de las Americas volunteers and continued working with the school secretary.  My site mate came to help me one day and after all of collaborative efforts, it looks great.  Although it’s a very frustrating project (gridding, drawing, labeling, mixing colors, outlining, etc) it is definitely well worth the work.  As I was finishing up last week, four boys were sitting on a log observing the work.  One thought it was a map of Nicaragua.  A sixth grader said, “Wow!  There’s a lot of water in the world!”  The best was when a fourth grader started quizzing his friends… “Find Chile.  Find Sudáfrica.  Find las Islas Solomán…”  We know how important it is to know world geography but I think this gigantic world map is also a small spark of hope for these kids.  The majority of Nicaraguan children are only familiar with Nicaragua, Miami, Costa Rica, and Spain because there’s a good chance a relative is working in one of the latter 3.  This map shows the kids there is so much more to discover.  Different cultures.  An incredible variety of animals.  Other climates.  New foods.  More opportunities.  And these opportunities can only come about if they continue studying.  In fact, that very day I was working on the map I had a conversation with a 15-year-old fifth grader… such a nice boy.  He told me that he was in danger of failing and was inclined to drop out of school to work with his dad in the fields.  He decided to receive extra help from a teacher before school started so he could move on to sixth grade.  Half laughing, he said, “Yea, I should be in my fourth year in high school by now.”  I learned the other day that in Boaco, Nicaragua, roughly 50% of youth ages 15-19 and roughly 80% of youth ages 20-24 do not attend school.

My house has officially become a zoo.  There are no more mice.  The poison I put out took care of them and I was lucky enough for them to eat it then die in somewhere else.  The cat still hangs around the kitchen.  My neighbor killed the opossum that had been hanging out in my roof.  I guess I had complained about it enough so he took it upon himself to find the beast and bring a machete to its neck.  I heard a rustling as I was lying down in my bed in the afternoon and sure enough, a 1 ½- 2 foot iguana came skittering out from where my suitcases are to find a warm spot under the bed.  The solution is to now take down the “drop ceiling” so I’ll be left with just a zinc roof thus nowhere for the animals to walk around in the space between the drop ceiling and the zinc.  The risk of them falling into my actual house will is then nonexistent.  Thank God.

Feliz Año Nuevo!

I have quite a few resolutions in 2012, one of them being more consistent with my blogging.  I'd say at least once a month.  I can't believe the last post was in September.. yikes.  

Anyway, I'm sitting on a pretty comfortable couch right now because I'm house sitting for an American couple who live in my town.  This really couldn't come at a better time even though I just got back to Teustepe a few days ago.  It does feel great to be back (I was welcomed with very many open arms) but the animal situation in my house is becoming a problem.  The first day back I was awakened in the middle of the night because a little mouse crawled on top of my mosquito net and me which was really scary.  The second day back I couldn't fall asleep because I saw a huge opossum hanging out in my roof.  I threw down some venom so hopefully within the next few days I'll be flinging mice far into the backyard.

As for more upbeat news, the end of the school year went well.  The month of October was pretty brutal because of the endless rain but once November rolled around, I was able to cross all creeks and return to work in all schools.  We did some fun projects (model of the Solar System, string bracelets, puzzles out of cardboard and National Geographic pictures) and the sixth graders in their cap and gowns made me proud to be their teacher.  I attended my fair share of graduation masses and parties and am definitely looking forward to the upcoming year.  A few changes have been made in the Environmental Education sector.  Instead of working with six teachers, each one day a week, I will now be working with four teachers twice a week.  It will be a more rigorous schedule but much more productive in the classroom and school gardens.  As much as I loved the students and one of the teachers I worked with in the school I’m dropping, I’m looking forward to not making that 6-mile journey each Tuesday.  The straw that broke the camels back happened the day of the sixth graders’ graduation at this school.  It was 1:45 and the teacher and I had to catch the 2:00 bus back to Teustepe.  I asked how I could help clean up so was given a gigantic tub, half full of rice, to bring back to the woman who made it.  Little did I know, she lived on the other side of the creek so with bag, umbrella, and tub in hands, I carefully stepped across the 25 large, wet stones and arrived safely on the other side but not after a few scares of twisting my ankle and falling into the water.

This week I stopped at the librarian’s house with a friend (and fellow earring maker) to discuss what we will do with our earnings and to see her 2-month-old baby boy.  After buying 20 bottles of paint, pliers, and new paintbrushes, our group gained $260.  The girls were astounded and we are all thrilled to begin our work on the library.  As you know, the initial goal was to buy one bookshelf but it looks as if we will be able to do so much more.  Unfortunately the town does not feel it is necessary to put money into the library but this is where we come in!  We’ll be able to buy bookshelves, paint, and hopefully new chairs to make the library a more welcoming and comfortable place for the kids.  I also think I’ll be solicited to paint something large on the front of the library… we’ll see how this goes.  January 21 will be “sweep, mop, dust the library day” and we’re going to work from there.  Muchissimas gracias to everyone who supported our project!!

Like I said, I'm enjoying being back and am loving the weather.  Probably a sunny 85 during the day and low 70s at night.  It's perfect.  But, I had such a wonderful two-week vacation at home.  It was freezing cold a couple days but I know I'll be trying to turn back time to experience that weather come March.  Christmas and New Years were both fantastic.  Lots, probably too much, food was consumed.  A comfy couch and the need for a down blanket while watching Weeds and Californication were heaven.  I'm so lucky to have been able to spend time with family and friends, even making it up to Boston!  I love and miss you already  ......  now come to Nicaragua :)

pictures :)

How could you not love this country?

  

      Battle of the Barrios - muy orgullosa

Shucking corn to make güirila
with friends on Sunday afternoon

My biggest fans

Fellow PC volunteer came to Teustepe so
we could plan a presentation we
needed to give to the new group
of trainees... lights went out...
candles and headlamp it is!

Host nephew and director's daughter dancing folklore on Independence Day

San Juan del Sur  :)

the second list

Below is a list of a handful (or 2) of the things I have learned since living in Nicaragua for 1 year.

1.     Converse sneakers are not meant for unpaved roads, particularly paths where it’s difficult to distinguish mud and cow poop.

2.     Mosquito nets are invaluable.

3.     How to take a bucket bath and actually feel clean afterwards

4.     Spanish!

5.     There are countless crafts you can make using “trash”.

6.     Spiders really aren’t that scary, but snakes are.

7.     How to ride a horse

8.     Knowing when it’s going to rain and, therefore, not a good time to do laundry.  Oh, and hand-washing laundry.

9.     The importance of asking at least 2 people if the bus I am about to take is going to my destination

10. How to grow a garden J

11. Why people walk with an umbrella in NYC when it’s not raining

12. Nicaraguans are so incredibly welcoming.

13. Rocking chairs are essential to relaxing (although a comfortable couch would be nice once in a while)

14. 2:00 means 3:00

15. Money definitely does not buy happiness.

The list after 2 years of living here hopefully will begin with “learning how to dance”.

Mochilas!

Third grade students creating a poster of their community
using the donated school supplies after a class on what
makes up our environment.

After lots of supply shifting in my parents' basement before I came back to Nicaragua in July, we filled two suitcases... one with 33 backpacks and one with pencils galore.  Well, I can't tell you how incredibly happy these kids are to receive backpacks.  Below is a picture from students in Aguas Calientes, proudly sporting their new look.  The first grade boy, Jesús Alberto, hadn't been coming to school for the past month and a half because he didn't have a book bag.  His teacher delivered him his backpack and the very next day he started studying again.

The pencils, are just as much of a hit.  Today, I brought about 75 pencils to the school in Las Limas.  The teacher handed out one pencil to each student at the beginning of the day.  While watering the garden, one boy showed me his tuani (cool) pencil that had "Happy Halloween"written on it with pumpkins.  That sparked the conversation of what Halloween is and how it is celebrated in the US.  The group of students were amazed that on this day we go from house to house asking for candy.  (It is a pretty great tradition.)  Something as small as a pencil can be the perfect way to share American culture.

Jesús Alberto, Maryuris, Kenia, Luvy, and Mariana
1st-3rd multi-grade students

Some other updates... I am now co-planning with my teachers, which means I go to each of their houses weekly to plan the lesson for the following day.  Although it's much more time consuming, it's been a good way to personally get to know each teacher and have conversation outside of the classroom.

My women's group and I are sewing shoulder bags using material from used clothing.  Well, I haven't exactly made one yet but I did learn how to sew on a foot pedal sewing machine after 2 weeks of trying.  So far we've sold 5 at $2.50 each.  If we sell 40, we'll be able to buy another bookstand for the library to hold the mountains of books that are currently in cardboard boxes and on a folding table.

Last weekend, I went to the Miss Nicaragua pageant at the Ruben Dario Theatre in Managua because a girl from my town represented the region of Boaco.  16 other people from Teustepe and I fit in one pick-up truck to support her.  I was squeezed semi-comfortably in the back of the truck with 10 others on the way there, even though there was a ton of wind and a slight drizzle.  It was a hilarious ride on the way home with 13 of us in the back, holding the banner we had made over our heads to protect us from the 20 minutes of pouring down rain.  I can't wait to do it again.

14 more days until it will be one year in Nicaragua!

One of the cutest boys I've ever seen wrapping a trompo, 
the huge fad right now in Nicaragua.

Veggies

Deserving of its very own post…. We have fruit!  Lots of cucumber and a few pipian (squash-type veggie) are growing in three school gardens.  Having students run up to me on the road to recount this thrilling news has made the torn shirts from barbed wire, buckets of sweat, and countless ant bites completely worth it.

And my 3 favorite answers to the questions, “How were the two weeks of vacation?  What did you do?”

1.     Great.  I ate a lot of boiled corn!

2.     Fun!  I got to take showers in the rain.

3.     Excellent.  Nothing.

1-2

2 months without a post… oops!  I’ll try to stick to just explaining the exciting things that have happened.

First, thank you SO much to everyone who donated school supplies and backpacks, especially those at Bloomingdale School and the Scotch Plains Brownie Troop.  During my one week, wonderful vacation at home in July, I was able to meet some of the Brownies and see the incredible effort everyone has been putting forth to help out my students.  My parents’ basement is chock-full with supplies so now we’re trying to figure out how to get all of it to Teustepe.  I was able to carry two suitcases back to Nicaragua, one full of 30 backpacks and the other with pencils, crayons, and markers.  Can’t wait to give them to the kids!  (There’s still probably about 450 pounds of supplies waiting to get transported.)

I’m currently taking advantage of the excellent Amigos de las Americas volunteers to create another world map on the outside wall of the school in El Crucero.  These four high school students/graduates have been living in Nicaragua for the past month, working with the youth in their community to create media projects.  In their spare time, they’ve been helping me draw and paint what is soon to be an amazing, huge world map. 

After months of practice, the high school softball team I’m am the assistant coach for finally had its first game.  What better way to start the season than at Nationals?  We were instructed to meet at the high school at 7:00 AM on Wednesday morning to arrive in Managua at 9:00.  I should have known that 7:00 Nica time really meant 8:30, which was when we hit the road.  Representing the department of Boaco, we played our first game that afternoon against the department of Carazo and won 17-4!  All of the softball teams stayed at IND (Instituto Nacional de Deportes) in dorm style rooms.  We had the bad luck of getting placed in the building without running water.  Solution?  Wake up at 3:00 AM when it was pitch black outside to bathe ourselves by filling and dumping bottles of water over our bodies from washbasins in the open air.  I first nixed the idea of getting up at 3 in the morning but after some raised eyebrows from the girls, I, too, stripped down in the dark to get clean before the construction workers started their day next door.  Talk about adapting to the situation…  Unfortunately on day two, we lost 2 consecutive games versus the departments of Chinandega and Rivas and were sent home.  Season record: 1-2.

Next week, my regular schedule will start up again which I’m looking forward to (although I wouldn’t have minded to have the lovely company and delicious food in NJ for a few more days).  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the school gardens are still green and growing.  My women’s group just bought a sewing machine with the money we earned from selling our earrings and our next project is making shoulder bags and purses from fabric scraps and chip bags.  My next feat is to learn how to use a sewing machine with a foot pedal.  It’s not as easy as it looks.

Tomorrow is the party that my Nica friends organized to celebrate my 24^th birthday!

With the rain comes...

Scary flying ants.  I apologize for not updating in a long time but I was preoccupied killing the hundreds of flying ants that decided to invade my room after the first rain fall.  Okay, I guess I'm exaggerating a little bit by saying that I didn't have time to write.  The part about there being hundreds of flying ants is not an exaggeration.  After one hour of using about half a roll of toilet paper, large amounts of Baygon (the equivalent of Raid), and a few sturdy flip flops, I killed almost all of the buggers.  A dozen or so made a classy reappearance a couple weeks later but I think the situation is now under control.

Jillian!!  Jill came to visit the second week in May and it was so much fun.  She posted a lot of pictures if you want to take a look.  I took her to school with me on Wednesday and Thursday.  She helped paint the school map in Las Limas and got to play some baseball at recess.  She also got to speak a little Spanish during my lessons in El Crucero.  On the weekend, we took a trip to Granada where we went kayaking and zip-lining.  We stopped in Masaya on the way home to look at the crafts... I bought a mini hammock!  We couldn't have asked for better weather except for some rain on the bus ride home on Saturday which was, hands down, the most crowded bus I've been on so far in Nicaragua.  Sorry, Jill.  On Sunday, we experienced the "Hipico" which is also celebrated the Sunday before a town's patron saint's day (Teustepe's is May 22).  This basically entails lots of cowboys showing off their horses, mariachi bands, and fiestas.  Overall, a fantastic visit!!

         

                                                                          

     

More water (sometimes).  So now that the rainy season is just starting up, we've been getting more water during the day.  Hooray, showers!  (Unfortunately, Jillian didn't really experience this too much when she was here.)

School gardens and tree nurseries :)   All of you green thumbs out there know it's a little difficult to plant just about anything without access to water.  Now that it's been raining for at least 30 minutes about every other day, we've been able to transplant trees at the schools and have started the school gardens.  We're already seeing lots of green.  Each environmental Peace Corps volunteer received fencing, tools, and seeds from USAID so I decided to use these resources to work with the kids and parents of Las Limas.  The wonderful parents worked hard the other day to cut down huge posts and put a fence around a 12 x 12 meter space at the school where we'll be planting peppers, tomotoes, cucumber, and squash.  I really didn't think we'd be able to achieve a garden at this school because there is no water access and a ton of pigs, but I think the kids will soon with adding lots of veggies to their diet!

Bipolar weather.  It's great that things are starting to turn green again but the incredible heat in the morning that brings on the rain in the afternoon has made me realize just how much I am able to sweat.  Not pretty.

A sad farewell to the bridge.  You definitely are familiar with the log bridge I'd been crossing to take the short route to 3 of my schools.  My heart palpitations had finally stopped after about 2 months of getting used to crossing the bridge and my balance could now be compared to that of a pro gymnast.  I'm very, very sad to say that the river is growing and the wading is returning.  Take a look at the beautiful pictures below....

 

Things are continuing to go very well.  I received a training last week with a community member and other volunteers and counterparts on how to build  biodigestors and improved ovens... so cool.  I think we are going to build a demonstration oven at a local NGO who works with youth in the communities.  I'm still involved with softball and the games should begin on June 3.  My cousin, Danny, gave us t-shirts from his high school and the girls and me are really excited to be outfitted in Saint Anthony's gear for the game.  Thanks, Dan!

Gringas in Teustepe

April has been a great month so far mainly because it started off with Jeanine and Alison here.  They experienced my life in 1 1/2 days which I think was a little overkill but very necessary to get the whole Teustepenian feel.  It was incredible for them to be able to bring three full suitcases of school supplies to my schools (although it may not have seemed that way as we were walking for hours in the 100 degrees).  Thank you so so much to everyone who donated!!  They partook in making organic fertilizer for one school's garden, showed off their dancing skills with fifth graders, played baseball with a bat carved by a third grader, co-taught my English classes, drank a Toña, and took a few swings at my homemade piñata.  It was an extremely exhausting day and a half in my town, but it was wonderful to have them live my life with me here.

The days spent at the beach were very relaxing, filled with an abundance of watermelon, french fries, picture taking, pool swimming, and massages.  After driving through some unidentified smells with a cabbie from my town, we arrived at Montelimar, a beach resort outside of Managua, which was just what I needed after 7 months of cold showers.  Come back!!

The week after the visit was a pretty busy one.  On Tuesday, I gave a presentation to the delegates of 8 towns in the region of Boaco about my job as an environmental education volunteer.  Wednesday, I went to the city with a professor to buy all the materials to bring electricity to her one room school house.  (Thanks Al, for the awesome donation!  The light is already installed!)  Thursday was a fun-filled day of selling the earrings, bracelets, and flower vases I've been making with my women's group.  Although we didn't sell as much as expected, it was great to get the word out of what we've been doing for the past three months using recycled materials.

On Saturday, I helped another volunteer build an improved oven in her town.  I hope to get the funds to build one in my town in May.

This past week I was in Matagalpa, a region north of Boaco, for a three day training with other PC volunteers... the first two days were spent with our Nicaraguan counterparts.  It was at a beautiful nature reserve in the mountains called Selva Negra.  I then stayed in the city of Matagalpa for two nights where I indulged in delicious Italian food, wine, and iced coffee.... two things definitely not available in Boaco.  From Matagalpa, I went about 2 hours north to the city of Esteli which is known for it's cigars and cowboy boots.  

There are no classes this week because of Easter, but today I went to one of my schools to continue on the world map.  It's really coming along!!  From Thursday-Saturday, I'll be going to the Laguna de Apoyo in Masaya to swim and kayak with two other volunteers.  Other exciting news... I'll be coming home for a week in July!

amenities

Back in December while I was still living with my host family, I woke up a little after 5:00 one morning, really having to use the bathroom.  I couldn't hold it so I quickly slipped on my flip flops, grabbed my roll of toilet paper, and walked outside to the latrine.  All the while, I had the intention of jumping back in bed and falling back to sleep after peeing.  Well, instead of falling back to sleep after peeing, I ended up falling down the stairs of the latrine, ripping my pajama pants and gushing blood from both legs.  Within 6 seconds, my host mom (who was hanging up laundry) came scrambling over, squeezing my hands to make sure they weren't broken... obviously they weren't but the squeeze could have been the cause of a broken hand.  Within 5 minutes, the whole house was woken up to "Meghan fell!".  Within 10 minutes, all 10 member of the family had come into my room to see how I was doing as I cleaned out the cuts.  Notice that I didn't say, within minutes, I was back asleep.

So why tell this story?  My feeling towards that latrine got exponentially worse after this experience (piggy-backed onto the huge spider I already told you about) but ironically enough, I miss it.  Now that I'm in my new house, which I love, I wish we also had a latrine.  The regular bathroom is great, don't get me wrong.  But, when there isn't water for an entire day, it's a pain in the neck to "bucket flush" or even impossible when I haven't stored enough water.  So do I prefer the latrine over the toilet?  I'm going to take the leap and say, maybe.

This past week I went back to my training town to have 4 days of spanish class.  It was great staying with my old host family especially since now my language ability actually let me have decent conversations with them.  I forgot how uncomfortably hard my bed was, though, and think I have some bruises on my hip bones.  Most importantly, I learned how to correctly form a "would you rather" question which had been a huge concern of mine for months.  

I was going to spend the following weekend in Matagalpa but decided to return to site because I have a lot of planning to do for the upcoming week.  I stopped by the school on Friday to speak with the sixth grade teacher and she informed me I'd be introducing the reproductive system to the class of 35 students.  Funny how the week I return it just so happens that they're beginning this unit that will undoubtedly be extremely awkward as I try to pronounce, and teach, all the female body parts in spanish.  

I'm counting the days til my 7 month mark in Nicaragua because it's when I get to see family!!!  Hopefully the current water situation gets better by the time they come.  There's water from about 9:00 pm to 6:00 am which clearly is not the ideal time to do, well, anything requiring an abundance of water.. wash clothes, dishes, or bathe.  

home run hitter

Happy March!  

On Monday, I gave my first official classes in second and sixth grade.  Both were very successful aside from a few Spanish slip ups but that's all part of the process.  Next week I'll be giving class in all four schools.  I'm a little anxious about planning for the 1st-5th grade class but I have high hopes.  Today I observed in that school and during recess, I played baseball with the kids behind the school.  I  thought I was going to trip over the gigantic roots and branches while running around the "bases" (big rocks) but luckily that didn't happen.  I even earned the name "home run hitter" by the 14 year old third grader.  The thing about baseball in Nicaragua is that all of the terminology is in English (said with a heavy accent) so it was a lot easier to participate than that day at the basketball court.

This past weekend I took a trip to Leon with 12 other volunteers from my group.  And I thought it was hot in Teustepe!  We did some sightseeing the first day at the biggest cathedral in Central America (where Ruben Dario is buried) and in the markets.  Day two was spent at the beach which was very relaxing.  The four hour trip cost $5 and the stay at the hostel for each night was another $5 adding up to a total of about a $30 weekend including food and drinks... not too bad.  

As for not so good news, at the end of February, there was a fire in the high school due to a short circuit and the entire computer lab (25 computers) and library burned down.  The town is completely devastated.  The high school teachers are writing letters to wealthy Nicaraguan families to ask for support.  I'm writing a letter to Microsoft so now you need to keep your fingers crossed to see if we can either raise money or donate computers to the high school.  Vamos a ver.

And here's a picture of me with some visitors..

things I'm grateful for in Nicaragua

1.  Having a microwave.  I know this should not be number one but it's 7:00 pm and I realized I was hungry while I was working on my two-month report for Peace Corps.    So, I looked at my "kitchen" and realized than my only option was an egg and feeling exceptionally lazy, I didn't want to dirty the frying pan so I made a scrambled egg in the microwave... genius!  The fresh tomatoes definitely added to my dinner.

2.  My neighbors.  I'm invited to eat lunch almost every day at a neighbor's house who cooks delicious Nica food.  I also live next door to a high school teacher who just stopped by to show me the folder she made out of old chip/cookie/milk bags after being inspired by the one I made.  And without fail, there are at least 10 different children who come into my house for a certain period of time during the day.  Sometimes I'd like some peace and quiet but it's nice feeling so loved.

3.  The Sun.  In April, this will probably be on the list of things I am not grateful for in Nicaragua but right now, I love that my clothes dry in about 2 hours.  (However, washing clothes by hand will NEVER been seen on this list.  Jeans were made to be washed in a machine.)

4.  The fact that it's okay to walk around with an umbrella when it's not raining.  This appropriately follows number 3 because although the sun is extremely strong, an umbrella does wonders!

5.  Learning Spanish for free

6.  Picturesque landscapes wherever I go

7.  Wonderfully positive people who see the beauty in everything, even a house made of tarp

8.  The person who takes it upon himself to build a bridge out of rocks and logs so other people can cross the river without getting soaked.  I'll admit, though, that sometimes I take the wading option because the bridge is slippery and I fell in the other day.

9.  Reliability of public transportation

10.  The abundance of cow manure.  It really comes in handy when you need fertile soil to plant a garden.

11.  Mango and avocado trees

12.  Buying 4 tomatoes for 25 cents

13.  Mosquito nets & headlamps

14.  Frescos - fresh homemade juice sold in a bag

15.  Tranquility 

earrings

A quick post to show you the bottle cap earrings we are making.  We're still in the process of putting the hooks on but we're well on our way.

  

Other tidbits of news...  I was assigned to a fourth school, a one room school house for first through sixth grade (ages 7-13).  I also just realized that two of my schools don't have access to water so it will be a little difficult starting a garden.  The kids will grow some muscles carrying buckets from the river.  Also, my parents are beginning to collect used backpacks to donate to my students when they come to visit after the NJ school year.  If you come across a backpack you won't be using anymore, please drop it off at my house and they'll be happy to bring it with them to Nicaragua.  Oh, and Alison and Jeanine are coming on March 30.. yay!

cow country

It's Sunday night at 9:00 and I just finished cleaning a mountain of dishes after making enchiladas with a few neighbors.  We started cooking at 6:00 and just finished... Don't get me wrong, the food was absolutely delicious but I don't know if the amount of prepping and cleaning is worth the effort.  Next time I just might walk 6 blocks and buy an enchilada for 10 cordobas.  

It's unbelievable that we're already in the middle of January.  The youth groups have started back up so I've surprisingly been busy.  I also started making earrings out of glass bottle caps with a few 18 and 19 year olds and they look pretty great.   The younger kids in the neighborhood learned how to make string bracelets today at my house.  One boy actually just stopped by a few minutes ago to show me his finished project and to tell me how much fun he had today.  Those comments make all the mayhem (bouncing basketballs in my house, nailpolish paint spilled on my table/"meghan" said about 2,000 times) during the day 110% worth it.  We're planning to have a fair in February or March to sell all of our crafts and with the money made, we're going to buy more materials, throw a party, and hopefully start planning the second fair.

English class is up and running.  I decided to have it in my house (still not sure if that's a good idea).  I'm borrowing a white board from a neighbor and one of my walls is covered in English phrases and dialogues.  On Thursdays, the younger kids who don't know any English come and on Mondays and Fridays, the older kids (well, and my host nephew) who learned English in high school come.  It's a first-come-first-serve when it comes to seats because I only have 4.  I didn't have chairs for the first couple weeks so here's a picture of some neighbor's eating rice krispie treats we made, sitting on the floor.  It's pretty clean but I do still need to buy a mop.

So, the first day of school was supposed to be on February 1 but because this is Nicaragua, it won't be starting until February 15.  No surprise there.  I had dinner the other night with a teacher I would love to work with but don't know if I'll be able to.  She still doesn't know what grade she will be teaching and won't find out until next week.  What's a few more days of vacation (that I've now had since June)?

For the silly stories.. One: there's a frog living in my toilet.  It's about the size of a quarter and every time I flush, I actually feel bad as it battles its way toward the top of the bowl.  Two: on Friday with two of my host sisters, I went to a community of Teustepe.  We took a 10 minute bus ride then walked 25 minutes to get to the community that has about 75 houses.  We went to visit the principal of the high school who was in a terrible accident in December.  He was riding home from the school at midnight on his motorcycle on a dark, dirt road and crashed into a cow.  Of course the fact that he had an accident is no laughing matter, but a cow?  Really?  Three: I ate peliguey meat today (animals that's a sheep & goat hybrid) and it was yummy.  Four: I'm helping a neighbor make a tree nursery and spent 4 hours of last Monday filling recycled plastic water bags (water can be bought by the bag) with dried cow poop.  I even went as far to ask if I could take some with me to start a fertilizer in my backyard.

I hope those anecdotes will make you laugh while your sitting under a bundle of blankets and keeping warm with all the snow!  

holiday festivities

I wish I could say I’ve been bogged down with things to do which is why I haven’t written in a while but that would be a gigantic lie.  A week and a half ago the library closed until after the new year so I haven’t had youth group meetings.  But, the last meeting of 2010 was a huge success.  We read the Spanish version of “A Bear for Maddie” and the kids drew pictures of Santa and pasted cotton on his beard, hat, and coat.  They loved it. 

My one-on-one English lessons have been pretty consistent, meeting twice a week.  I’ll admit it’s pretty exhausting teaching English so I’m glad I’ve started out with just one student.  I’m going to try to arrange to borrow a classroom in the elementary school to hold bi-weekly night class starting in a couple weeks.  There’s definitely a lot of interest so I’m sure I won’t be lacking students.

Spending Christmas in Nicaragua was really nice, but I did miss acting out the 12 Days of Christmas at home.  Santa came to Nicaragua at midnight and brought two gifts (well 3, thanks to mom and dad) to each of the two little boys in the family.  The basketball sent from NJ to the 6 year old was a big hit as well as the PJs sent to the 1 year old.  He’s worn them every night since and has even adopted the new name of “Raya McQueen” due to the Cars theme on one set.  Neighbors came by to set off lots of mini fireworks and play the makeshift band out of tin cans, plastic containers, and a hose (serving the function of a tuba).  Let me tell you, creativity is at its max here.  Oh, and you might be jealous, but the 6 year old got a “Fun Station”… similar to Nintendo but I’d argue better because it has old-school Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt on the same disk, along with 44 other games.  My host brother and I were in charge of installing it because the gringa knows all about technology apparently.  I gained some serious credibility after explaining all the ins and outs of Mario… the mushroom makes you big, the shiny mushroom gives you powers, the tunnels lead you to cool places… all the good stuff.  I also think I impressed them a little with my Duck Hunt skills.  Thanks, Al, for the practice.

Slightly off topic, but well worth mentioning--  I was on the bus going to visit a friend in Santa Lucia.  The 20 km ride from the city of Boaco takes about 1 hour due to the unpaved, hilly roads.  After two attempts to get up a hill, people started unloading to get rid of some weight.  Another try, more people got off.  One more try, more people off.  Finally, on the sixth attempt, we made it up the hill.  I didn’t get off because, quite frankly, I had no idea if I’d get picked up again.  The woman in front of me, however, had another reason for staying on the bus.  The rest of her family (who was standing) unloaded but she didn’t because she had a garbage bag full of baby chicks.  Later on during the ride, some escaped so her 5 or 6 year old son went fishing around the bus driver’s ankles to recollect them all.  I think they all made it safely back into the bag and we made it safely to Santa Lucia.

On the subject of chickens, my host brother rode up to the house the other day on his bike with a bag which I assumed had groceries or food.  But nope.  He pulled out a rooster he just picked up from the man who lives close to the highway.  Supposedly he’ll be a fighter in the ring. 

I won’t bore you anymore with the bird talk but I just might warn my host family that they shouldn’t be surprised if their parrots get sick.  I don’t think I can take too much more of the squalling at 4:00 in the morning.  No need to worry, though.  I’ll be moving to my own place as soon as we ring in 2011!  I’m really excited about it and now need to scrounge some furniture for the living room/kitchen.  

Happy New Year!!

activities and terms of endearment

I’m writing this blog in the internet café, waiting for the internet to come back.  In the past two weeks, I had a few youth group meetings and we collected hundreds of chip bags off the street, cleaned them, then started making change purses and folders.  The kids, ages 9-14, absolutely love working with the trash, especially the boys.  I think a hidden incentive for them, though, is that they know I’ll play basketball with them after our meetings.  The first day, we played a game similar to knockout called sacarin and the next day they wanted to play a game.  I quickly realized it’s tough to teach 16 kids how to play organized basketball without knowing how to say “foul”, “guard your man”, and “you can’t punch another kid in the face when he’s shooting or dribbling” in Spanish.  Phrases to look up and memorize tomorrow… 

I went to the last graduation this week for the sixth graders in Aguas Calientes (the school about 5 km away).  I walked there with the vice principal and we arrived at about 10:00.  The mass started at 10:45 and because there were only 9 students graduating, everything was over at 12:00.  Of course we were fed afterwards so at about 12:30, I thought we’d be heading home but no, I didn’t get home until 5:30.  With the vice principal and one of the sixth grade teachers, we stopped at 5 houses on the way which meant a 30 minute pit stop at each.  Remember how I talked about Nicas being hospitable?  Well, at 3 of the 5 houses, we were each given a huge plate of food, sitting on plastic chairs or wooden benches in houses with dirt floors and tin walls.  They may not have much but they sure know how to warmly welcome guests.

This past week was the celebration of the Virgin Mary, called the Purisima.  It’s best described as trick-o-treating and Christmas caroling during summer.  Different houses put altars of the Virgin Mary in front of or in their house and after either a mass or a few songs, the house hands out candies, fruit, tupperware, etc.  Just like Halloween, there are the good houses and the not so good houses.  The good houses get swarms of people… pushing, shoving, flailing hands… while the not so good houses get civilized groups of people singing church songs then calmly walking to the front door to get their small gift.  In all seriousness, it’s a wonderful tradition because the kids from the small communities receive food they normally wouldn’t get in their homes.  As my neighbor so beautifully put it… Nicaragua es pobre pero bonito. 

A few days ago, I brought a touch of home to Teustepe when my two gringo friends came to visit and we made oatmeal raisin cookies.  Despite the burnt bottom (due to cooking them on a wood fire with help from my host sister), they were delicious and are requested for Christmas.  The highlight of these 2 weeks, though, was when my host nephew called me Meghancita.  There’s a good chance I’ll be mistaken for a true Nica after these two years.