So another week has passed in our training towns. Time is such an interesting contradiction for me here – at the end of ever week, I feel as if our training experience is moving so quickly. But every day feels like an eternity. Not in a bad way, just as if I every minute of my day has been devoted to learning or doing something.
So what has happened in the past week? We had our site fair last weekend – a day when all of the aspirantes/trainees get to hear people talk about how good each potential site is. Current volunteers talked about the work that needs to be done, what the climate of each site is like, which sites have internet or cell phone service, which are in the country and which are more urban.
It was an interesting process for us because, as a married couple, we have little choice in the matter. Peace Corps has known for some time now where we will be living because with two people in the same site, they needed to make sure there were two work opportunities, a host family willing to have two people live with them, etc.. But of course, they can’t tell us where we are going before the other volunteers find out. We‘ll find out this coming Friday.
We also had another language proficiency interview this week to find out how far we have come with Spanish in the last 6 weeks. Both Matt and I entered at ‘Novice High,’ according to the system that Peace Corps uses to evaluate language level. Matt has been doing amazingly well with his language progression, and while I am a bit slower, I think that things have been going well for me too. We’ll see. They tell us on Monday where we are at right now.
Other than that, things have been moving along well. Last weekend we visited the river with other aspirantes from Matt’s town and some host family members. And yesterday we visited Volcan Masaya, near Managua.
Sorry, but our pictures are not uploading right now. We´ll try to post them again soon!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Double Post!!
La Playa La Boquita (from a couple weekends ago)
I learned a few things during my visit. Number one, the Peace Corps experience is open to much interpretation – while there are defined goals for the program, what you do with yourself and your community is very much up to you and your projects are entirely the result of the amount of work that you put in. I also learned that while volunteers can be lonely at times, the volunteer network in country is solid and volunteers can see other frequently if that is the experience that they wish to have (there are currently 162 volunteers in country, in 5 different sectors, including environment, agriculture, teaching English as a foreign language, health and small business development).
I learned how to make soy milk from scratch and I showered for the first time outdoors in very cold mountain water. I experienced first hand what it is like to live in a town where everybody knows who you are. I saw wonderful Nicaragua hospitality. And I had my first real experience with Nicaraguan public transportation, aside from the routine microbuses that we frequently use between training pueblos. My mother, as a recently certified trainer of bus drivers (congrats mom!), would be horrified by the way in which the buses are driven here. And when I say buses, I mean school buses – straight from the school yard to Nicaraguan roads (with a break in the middle for some colorful painting and decals the likes of ‘Jesus vive’). I am not sure how to describe the experience other than to say that as we were climbing the mountain, the only thing between me and immediate death was yellow caution tape along the edge of the road that had washed out during the rainy season. While I feared for my own life, I was more concerned about the 10 guys that had climbed on the top of the bus once they realized that it was full (yes – they still paid for the ride).
All in all, I had a good time and learned a lot. Tomorrow is our ‘site fair’ where we get to hear all about the available sites. Matt spoke today with the director for the health program and he said that because we are a couple, they pretty much know where we will be going, but we won’t find out for a few weeks now.
(Matt)
My visit to San Carlos was great. The bus ride, however, was not so great. The way down was a brisk 12 hours with only 2 stops, none for longer than 20 mins. The way back was “express,” which means that we didn’t stop for nuttin’. People getting on and off the bus had to literally run to catch it or nimbly dismount while we kept moving at about 5 mph. We stopped for about a minute twice to remove cargo from the top of the bus, and that’s when a bunch of salesmen types climb on board. One gives you a story about needing some life-saving surgery, then shows you his humungous tumor. Another shouts over the crowd of passengers about a miracle cure for arthritis. He hands out samples to everyone on board, then recollects them all from people unwilling to pay 25 cordobas to give it a try. Ah…the bus.
San Carlos is talked up in all of the tourist books as the next hotspot for visitors to Nicaragua. I’ll be frank in saying it still has a long way to go. Outside of the 10 most central blocks the roads are dusty dirty ox-cart paths. The city only has water 5 or 6 hours a day, so I had my first experience with a bucket shower. It was actually quite invigorating and by the 4th or 5th time I really had it down to a science.
Enough negativity, San Carlos is a very beautiful town. It sits at the bottom of Lake Nicaragua, right where two rivers split into Costa Rica (only a 2 hour boat ride). In fact, our first night we had a beer right on the shore of the lake and watched the sunset over 3 of Costa Rica’s largest volcanoes. Picturesque, to say the least.
I shadowed a volunteer named John who is about to be returning to the States in March. In fact, someone from our group is going to be replacing him in his site. It might even be Jess and I. John showed be the ropes of working with the local health center. We also gave a bunch of talks in a local primary school on personal hygiene. Below are a few pictures of our charlas (talks). Overall, the visit was a great experience. We were able to spend some time with current volunteers, see how they live, and begin to plan for our own experience. Perhaps next time I’ll post on what I would like for our site and work, as I’ve now been able to better formulate my aspirations.
On a side note, my English is getting worse and worse. Jess and I have been vigilant in speaking Spanish, which is definitely improving language skills. On the other hand, every time I type to y’all it becomes more and more difficult to come up with the correct word to express myself. Who knows, after two years you might be corresponding with a caveman…
(Jess)
Matt and I just returned to our training towns on Thursday, having spent a few days visiting health volunteers in the field. I visited a volunteer living in the mountains south of Somoto, a city in the department of Madriz, which is in the northern part of Nicaragua, near the Honduran border. Matt traveled 12 hours south of Managua to San Carlos, Rio San Juan. As a result, we hadn’t seen or spoken to each other for a week prior to Valentine’s Day. So it seemed logical that on Valentine’s Day, after class I would hop on a bus and ride the ten minutes to see him in Santa Theresa (I had also heard from PC staff member that he was sick so I thought it would be good to go visit). Again, the inability to communicate in Nicaragua was evident, when I arrived in Theresa only to find that he had the same idea and traveled to Rosario to see me! We finally met up with each other, but it was pretty comical (and not to worry – his stomach was upset, but he is fine now).
My visit with a volunteer was a wonderful break from the structured, at times frustrating, schedule of training. I really enjoyed the town that I visited, and enjoyed seeing first hand what volunteers are doing in the field. It was our first experience outside of our training towns and it was a welcome opportunity to see another part of Nicaragua.
Below are a few pictures from the trip.
Matt and I just returned to our training towns on Thursday, having spent a few days visiting health volunteers in the field. I visited a volunteer living in the mountains south of Somoto, a city in the department of Madriz, which is in the northern part of Nicaragua, near the Honduran border. Matt traveled 12 hours south of Managua to San Carlos, Rio San Juan. As a result, we hadn’t seen or spoken to each other for a week prior to Valentine’s Day. So it seemed logical that on Valentine’s Day, after class I would hop on a bus and ride the ten minutes to see him in Santa Theresa (I had also heard from PC staff member that he was sick so I thought it would be good to go visit). Again, the inability to communicate in Nicaragua was evident, when I arrived in Theresa only to find that he had the same idea and traveled to Rosario to see me! We finally met up with each other, but it was pretty comical (and not to worry – his stomach was upset, but he is fine now).
My visit with a volunteer was a wonderful break from the structured, at times frustrating, schedule of training. I really enjoyed the town that I visited, and enjoyed seeing first hand what volunteers are doing in the field. It was our first experience outside of our training towns and it was a welcome opportunity to see another part of Nicaragua.
Below are a few pictures from the trip.
I learned a few things during my visit. Number one, the Peace Corps experience is open to much interpretation – while there are defined goals for the program, what you do with yourself and your community is very much up to you and your projects are entirely the result of the amount of work that you put in. I also learned that while volunteers can be lonely at times, the volunteer network in country is solid and volunteers can see other frequently if that is the experience that they wish to have (there are currently 162 volunteers in country, in 5 different sectors, including environment, agriculture, teaching English as a foreign language, health and small business development).
I learned how to make soy milk from scratch and I showered for the first time outdoors in very cold mountain water. I experienced first hand what it is like to live in a town where everybody knows who you are. I saw wonderful Nicaragua hospitality. And I had my first real experience with Nicaraguan public transportation, aside from the routine microbuses that we frequently use between training pueblos. My mother, as a recently certified trainer of bus drivers (congrats mom!), would be horrified by the way in which the buses are driven here. And when I say buses, I mean school buses – straight from the school yard to Nicaraguan roads (with a break in the middle for some colorful painting and decals the likes of ‘Jesus vive’). I am not sure how to describe the experience other than to say that as we were climbing the mountain, the only thing between me and immediate death was yellow caution tape along the edge of the road that had washed out during the rainy season. While I feared for my own life, I was more concerned about the 10 guys that had climbed on the top of the bus once they realized that it was full (yes – they still paid for the ride).
All in all, I had a good time and learned a lot. Tomorrow is our ‘site fair’ where we get to hear all about the available sites. Matt spoke today with the director for the health program and he said that because we are a couple, they pretty much know where we will be going, but we won’t find out for a few weeks now.
(Matt)
My visit to San Carlos was great. The bus ride, however, was not so great. The way down was a brisk 12 hours with only 2 stops, none for longer than 20 mins. The way back was “express,” which means that we didn’t stop for nuttin’. People getting on and off the bus had to literally run to catch it or nimbly dismount while we kept moving at about 5 mph. We stopped for about a minute twice to remove cargo from the top of the bus, and that’s when a bunch of salesmen types climb on board. One gives you a story about needing some life-saving surgery, then shows you his humungous tumor. Another shouts over the crowd of passengers about a miracle cure for arthritis. He hands out samples to everyone on board, then recollects them all from people unwilling to pay 25 cordobas to give it a try. Ah…the bus.
San Carlos is talked up in all of the tourist books as the next hotspot for visitors to Nicaragua. I’ll be frank in saying it still has a long way to go. Outside of the 10 most central blocks the roads are dusty dirty ox-cart paths. The city only has water 5 or 6 hours a day, so I had my first experience with a bucket shower. It was actually quite invigorating and by the 4th or 5th time I really had it down to a science.
Enough negativity, San Carlos is a very beautiful town. It sits at the bottom of Lake Nicaragua, right where two rivers split into Costa Rica (only a 2 hour boat ride). In fact, our first night we had a beer right on the shore of the lake and watched the sunset over 3 of Costa Rica’s largest volcanoes. Picturesque, to say the least.
I shadowed a volunteer named John who is about to be returning to the States in March. In fact, someone from our group is going to be replacing him in his site. It might even be Jess and I. John showed be the ropes of working with the local health center. We also gave a bunch of talks in a local primary school on personal hygiene. Below are a few pictures of our charlas (talks). Overall, the visit was a great experience. We were able to spend some time with current volunteers, see how they live, and begin to plan for our own experience. Perhaps next time I’ll post on what I would like for our site and work, as I’ve now been able to better formulate my aspirations.
On a side note, my English is getting worse and worse. Jess and I have been vigilant in speaking Spanish, which is definitely improving language skills. On the other hand, every time I type to y’all it becomes more and more difficult to come up with the correct word to express myself. Who knows, after two years you might be corresponding with a caveman…
Photos of Rio San Juan!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Week 4 Frustrations
So for me, week four has been a bit of a trial. First of all - I haven´t been feeling well. My stomach has been upset for about a week and I was worried that I might have a parasite. It looks like that isn´t the case - its probably just adjusting to a completely different style of cooking. And my ear has been bothering me - the doctor thinks that it is likely alergies, but at times I have a hard time hearing, and when you are speaking a new language, that makes things difficult.
Second, I experienced my first frustration this week with the communication options in Nicaragua. Up until now, I have lived a pretty routine life in Rosario, with little need or desire to reach the outside world. But on Wednesday, I was supposed to meet with another aspirante in the nearby town of Jinotepe to travel with her to Managua. She only lives about 10 minutes from me by bus. On Thursday night, she tried to call me to coordinate travel. The cell phone died. I tried to call back, but the house phone can´t call a cell phone. My mom has a cell phone, but she has a movistar phone, not claro - the company that the other aspirante´s family has. So, I had to guess about what time she might be going to Jinotepe. It worked out and we made it to the University bus stop in Managua. But there was a bit of a miscommunication with Peace Corps and we thought we were being picked up, but ended up walking to the office (not far, but an interesting experience in Managua, a city infamous for residents who give bad directions when questioned about nearby sites).
And I am a bit sad. Because Matt is going so far away for his volunteer visit, he has to leave early and we can´t spend any time together this weekend. I suppose that it is not a big deal - we do have two years to become sick of each other. But having had a fairly trying week, I wish that I had a bit of time to process it with someone.
But, that said, I think that this is all part of the Peace Corps process - adjusting, adjusting, adjusting - learning, learning, learning. And I am still really happy that we are here.
I´m sorry that I am not posting any pictures. Matt has our computer in Santa Teresa and the pictures are on my camera. I thought that I could download them directly from the camera, but the person operating the cyber cafe in our town didn´t know what the password was to use new hardware on the computer. So, sorry, there won´t be any pictures of the beach until at least next weekend (we won´t be back from volunteer visits until next week).
I recieved a nice letter in the mail from my parents last week - also sealed by the Nicaraguan post office when found ópen´ - very kind of them. Thats all for now!
Second, I experienced my first frustration this week with the communication options in Nicaragua. Up until now, I have lived a pretty routine life in Rosario, with little need or desire to reach the outside world. But on Wednesday, I was supposed to meet with another aspirante in the nearby town of Jinotepe to travel with her to Managua. She only lives about 10 minutes from me by bus. On Thursday night, she tried to call me to coordinate travel. The cell phone died. I tried to call back, but the house phone can´t call a cell phone. My mom has a cell phone, but she has a movistar phone, not claro - the company that the other aspirante´s family has. So, I had to guess about what time she might be going to Jinotepe. It worked out and we made it to the University bus stop in Managua. But there was a bit of a miscommunication with Peace Corps and we thought we were being picked up, but ended up walking to the office (not far, but an interesting experience in Managua, a city infamous for residents who give bad directions when questioned about nearby sites).
And I am a bit sad. Because Matt is going so far away for his volunteer visit, he has to leave early and we can´t spend any time together this weekend. I suppose that it is not a big deal - we do have two years to become sick of each other. But having had a fairly trying week, I wish that I had a bit of time to process it with someone.
But, that said, I think that this is all part of the Peace Corps process - adjusting, adjusting, adjusting - learning, learning, learning. And I am still really happy that we are here.
I´m sorry that I am not posting any pictures. Matt has our computer in Santa Teresa and the pictures are on my camera. I thought that I could download them directly from the camera, but the person operating the cyber cafe in our town didn´t know what the password was to use new hardware on the computer. So, sorry, there won´t be any pictures of the beach until at least next weekend (we won´t be back from volunteer visits until next week).
I recieved a nice letter in the mail from my parents last week - also sealed by the Nicaraguan post office when found ópen´ - very kind of them. Thats all for now!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Off to see the Volunteers!
Santa Teresa and it´s church at dusk.
This picture brings a whole new meaning to good parenting, doesn´t it? By the way, that was the biggest bull I´ve ever seen, and I don´t think he was happy about having painted horns. Would you be?
It has been quite a crazy few weeks. Jess and I have been very busy and internet availability has been spotty, but it looks like we’re back on track now. A lot of people have been asking about our daily schedule here in Nicaragua. Well, here it is!
3 days a week we have Spanish class in the morning in our training towns. Each town has 3 or 4 people living in it, so the classes are small and discussion based. During the afternoon we have “applied Spanish,” which gets us out and about Santa Teresa meeting local people and practicing our lessons from the morning. About once a week we’ve been learning a Nicaraguan recipe and cooking it in one of our host families’ houses. Last week we made “bunuelos” which are kind of like fried dough, although the main ingredient is yucca root and cheese. They are fried and coated in honey. Quite delicious. This week we made “Sopa de Queso” or Cheese Soup. Interesting, but I probably won’t make it again.
2 days a week we travel to a central location where we meet up with our entire training class and have technical sessions, where we learn about Health Promotion here in Nicaragua. Right now the sessions are focused on learning how to work with specific populations we’ll encounter in our service (youth, pregnant women, macho men). These sessions get kind of long, but they are taught by volunteers currently serving, so we’re able to get a good sense of what life will be like after we swear in.
That’s been the schedule for the past 4 weeks. Week 5 is about to change all that, however. We’ll be visiting currently serving volunteers for about 4 days. I’ll be heading south to San Carlos, at the southern tip of Lake Nicaragua. It’s about a 10 hour bus ride from Managua. That’s a school bus, not a charter bus. It will be interesting, for us. Jess is headed in the exact opposite direction, almost to the border with Honduras. Her ride is about 4 hours. She’s heading into the cool mountains, and I’m heading into the rain forest. It will be an interesting 4 days, for sure. Hopefully there will be plenty of pictures to follow!
OK, here are a few pictures from last week’s Fiestas Patronales. We’ll be sure to follow them up with our trip to the beach as soon as Jess has internet access!
By the way, we received two letters today. One from the Bunnells, and one from Jeff and Marie Lyttle (and even a drawing from Megan). Thanks for all of your thoughts. It’s a great feeling to know so many people are keeping up with these posts. Gracias y Adios!
3 days a week we have Spanish class in the morning in our training towns. Each town has 3 or 4 people living in it, so the classes are small and discussion based. During the afternoon we have “applied Spanish,” which gets us out and about Santa Teresa meeting local people and practicing our lessons from the morning. About once a week we’ve been learning a Nicaraguan recipe and cooking it in one of our host families’ houses. Last week we made “bunuelos” which are kind of like fried dough, although the main ingredient is yucca root and cheese. They are fried and coated in honey. Quite delicious. This week we made “Sopa de Queso” or Cheese Soup. Interesting, but I probably won’t make it again.
2 days a week we travel to a central location where we meet up with our entire training class and have technical sessions, where we learn about Health Promotion here in Nicaragua. Right now the sessions are focused on learning how to work with specific populations we’ll encounter in our service (youth, pregnant women, macho men). These sessions get kind of long, but they are taught by volunteers currently serving, so we’re able to get a good sense of what life will be like after we swear in.
That’s been the schedule for the past 4 weeks. Week 5 is about to change all that, however. We’ll be visiting currently serving volunteers for about 4 days. I’ll be heading south to San Carlos, at the southern tip of Lake Nicaragua. It’s about a 10 hour bus ride from Managua. That’s a school bus, not a charter bus. It will be interesting, for us. Jess is headed in the exact opposite direction, almost to the border with Honduras. Her ride is about 4 hours. She’s heading into the cool mountains, and I’m heading into the rain forest. It will be an interesting 4 days, for sure. Hopefully there will be plenty of pictures to follow!
OK, here are a few pictures from last week’s Fiestas Patronales. We’ll be sure to follow them up with our trip to the beach as soon as Jess has internet access!
By the way, we received two letters today. One from the Bunnells, and one from Jeff and Marie Lyttle (and even a drawing from Megan). Thanks for all of your thoughts. It’s a great feeling to know so many people are keeping up with these posts. Gracias y Adios!
Un hombre at the Hipico (the big horse parade)
This picture brings a whole new meaning to good parenting, doesn´t it? By the way, that was the biggest bull I´ve ever seen, and I don´t think he was happy about having painted horns. Would you be?
Cute little girl on her first pony. I like this picture because of the smooch she´s getting from the giant man in a donkey cart.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Week 4 of Training
Today marks the 4th week we´ve been in Nicaragua. 1 whole month. Jess and I are having a spectular time, but this last week was insanely busy. It looks like the next two are going to be just as ¨loco.¨ I´ve got a bunch of pictures to show you all, but unfortunately don´t have the time right now.
We´ll be sure to post a very detailed update by the end of the week!
We´ll be sure to post a very detailed update by the end of the week!
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