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!!