El Gran Viaje al Gran Cañon

This past weekend Jess, Astro, and I all went to the Canyon on what we like to call “the Gringo Train.” We had along with us three Peace Corps trainees, two travel writers, two Grand Canyon river guides, and two other volunteers. It’s volunteer visit weekend, which explains the trainees and the volunteers. The two travel writers are re-writing a book about Northern Nicaragua and the canyon river guides met the travel writers at a hotel in Somoto and both had their hearts set on visiting the Canyon. Being that I knew the travel writers and we were already planning on visiting the Canyon with our trainees, our group quickly doubled in size, with also cut our taxi costs in half. Therefore, we were all happy. Off we went on Sunday afternoon.

Jess and I made egg salad, tuna salad, and PB&J sandwiches for the Peace Corps side of the group, and the others brought ham and cheese sandwiches that they picked up at Palí, the Somoto grocery store. We also brought some cut up veggies, cheese puffs, and Ranchitas, the Nicaraguan version of Doritos. One of our fellow volunteers was kind enough to share a gigantic bar of chocolate that she had recently received in a package from the States. On top of all that we carried about 10 liters of water. We didn’t eat until we made it to the boat launch, which is about a 40 minute walk from where the taxis let us off. You can imagine the feast we had – the chocolate hadn’t even melted!

From the boat launch it’s either a 5 minute boat ride or a 20 minute scramble across the canyon walls. While the majority of us went for the scramble, Leanne, another Peace Corps Volunteer, chose the boat ride. As you can see in the picture, she had her own private float up the river with a very handsome Nicaraguan boatman.

At the other boat launch further up stream the scramblers waded back across the river. Leanne, of course, was able to stay dry the entire visit. The rest of us, weren’t as lucky, but went for the swimming. After the second boat launch it’s either more rock scrambling or a leisurely swim. At this point everybody went off on their own to find their own little piece of the canyon.

We made our way back about 4 o’clock and huffed our way out of the canyon by 4:30. Our goal was to get the two travel writers and the two river guides on the 5 o’clock bus out of Somoto. We pulled up to our house at 5:02, and the four travelers ran in, grabbed their bags, and jumped in a taxi. Even though the bus had already left, their taxi driver agreed to speed his way down the Panamerican Highway to catch the bus. We ran into the driver the next day, and sure enough, they caught the bus about 10 minutes further down the road.

Those of us who ended up in Somoto for the evening celebrated a successful canyon visit with tacos and Spanish rice. Delicious.

This being Volunteer Visit Week, Jess and I are being visited by Hannah and Jessie, two Peace Corps Trainees currently living in Carazo, where we lived last year at this time. We’re just supposed to show them a slice of our life, but it’s turning into a very busy week – so they might be getting more than they bargained for. Jess and I are both neck deep in several projects, which is also why we haven’t been blogging nearly as frequently as normal. We will get it back by to once a week soon, though.

Another exciting note, last week some Peace Corps volunteers came across The Travel Channels Andrew Zimmern filming in Nicaragua. They were invited to help out with the show and ended up joining Andrew and his crew for a feast of grilled boa constrictor and armadillo. Look for the show airing on The Travel Channel in June!

More to come, soon!

Here we are on our way into the Canyon. Gringo Parade!


Leanne taking the "easy" way into the canyon. How romantic!
First timers to the canyon.

Wading across the river.

Matt and Astro after a swim.

Here's Jess explaining the finer geological intricacies of the canyon.

On our way back.

Astro took the easy way as we left.

Back up the river.

Home in time for a beautiful sunset.

Welcome NICA 49!

On Thursday of last week Peace Corps Nicaragua received its next wave of volunteers. 21 people came in from Miami to begin their training as Health Volunteers. They will be training in the same towns that Jess and I were in for our first three months in Nicaragua. In April, they will swear in as volunteers and be sent all over the country to do the same work that Jess and I are doing. We´re hoping to get at least a couple in our Department of Madriz.

On the other hand, NICA 43 is preparing to head back to the States. This is the group that came in January of 2007 (a year before us). They will be finishing up their 2 years of service at the end of March and will be heading their separate ways. Jess and I live near 4 NICA 43ers right now, and we´ll be sad to see them go!

We, of course, are almost exactly at the middle point of our service in Nicaragua. We´ve got one more full year in Somoto before we are replaced by…who? If you guessed NICA 52, then you are correct!

Now, you might be asking yourself, “what happened to NICA 47 and 48?” You might also be asking, “who decides what sites these volunteers will live in?” Lastly, you might be asking, “What kind of interaction is there between Peace Corps volunteers during their service?” Luckily for you, this is the blog post that answers them all! Jess and I haven´t really talked about the structure of Peace Corps, and I think now is as good a time as any.

So, let’s start with country numbers. As trainees come into each Peace Corps country, their group is assigned a number. Here in Nicaragua we’re into the 40’s right now. In Honduras, they are only in the teens. Peace Corps has been in Honduras just as long as it’s been in Nicaragua, but their training style is different than ours, hence the big difference in numbers. In Honduras, all of the new volunteers are brought in once a year. They live together in a camp-like compound for their first three months. It is there that they have language and technical training. They don’t finally live with a Honduran family until they are sworn in as volunteers three months later.

Here in Nicaragua trainees are brought in every four months. We are divided into sectors, which determines when we come into the country. For instance, Health volunteers come in to Nicaragua every January and finish their service every March. Agriculture and Environment volunteers come in every August and finish their service every November. Small Business and English come in together at some other point during the year. Therefore, in a normal year three different groups come into Nicaragua and each of the three groups is assigned the next available number. In Honduras, there is only one new group number per year. And that explains the difference.

Another difference is in the training style. Our training is “community based,” which means we actually learn Spanish and technical skills while living with Nicaraguan families. I obviously can’t say our system is better than the Honduran one, but it was perfect for Jess and I. Nicaragua is also considered one of the best countries to train in. Pretty great, huh?

Now, on to site placement. Right now the two main people in charge of Health in Nicaragua are travelling around the country taking care of a process called “site development.” Every site that would like to have a Peace Corps volunteer must submit an application. Next, the Safety and Security Coordinator makes a visit to be sure the location fits Peace Corp’s standards for…well…safety and security. Once that’s been cleared, the Health staff make a visit to meet with the colleagues with whom the volunteers will be working for two years. If everything is in order, that community gets put on a list of potential sites. Because they staff know in advance how many trainees are coming into the country, they develop that amount of sites, and a few extra just in case. Therefore, every volunteer has a community and every community has a volunteer. A few weeks before the trainee becomes a volunteer, they are assigned a site based on their personal needs and interests. They are able to visit the site and meet their colleagues before officially moving there, which ensures a smooth start. A lot of thoughtful planning goes into site development and very few volunteers are disappointed in the site they are assigned.

Now, volunteer interaction. As you’ve seen throughout this blog, Jess and I are constantly seeing other Peace Corps volunteers. We are lucky enough to live in a central city that is a stopping point for many volunteers travelling to more rural sites. That being the case, we’re constantly having people over for lunch and dinner, and a few overnight stays as well. Those more rural volunteers, however, rarely see another gringo, as they tend to live at the last community at the end of a dirt road. Volunteers are encouraged to stay in their site as much as possible, but most leave for a weekend every once and a while to hang out with other Americans. This month’s meeting revolved around the Superbowl. It was a great game, but the commercials shown were all in Spanish, and none of the new ones highlighted in the States made it down here. That’s the part of the game I love the most, too! Oh well.

Sorry for the delay in blogs - we’ll try to get back up to weekly postings in the near future. Please keep reading!

Here's Astro on his first birthday. This is the little store in front of our house. He's been moonlighting as a security guard over there on the weekends...