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!