tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12679629850489483882024-03-13T10:45:27.615-06:00A Broad AbroadAmandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-12350295199622484122010-04-15T00:35:00.006-05:002010-04-15T00:40:42.735-05:00You Live, You Learn.A lot to fill you in on.. so let's get started. <br />These are lyrics to Carrie Underwood, Change:<br /><strong>CHANGE</strong><br />The smallest thing can make all the difference.<br />Love is alive, don’t listen to them when they say, ‘you’re just a fool to believe you can change the world’<br />The world’s so big, it can break your heart<br />And you just wanna help, not sure where to start<br />So close your eyes and send up a prayer into the dark<br /><strong><br />WELCOME BACK</strong><br />After arriving to Managua, I awaited my friend Elizabeth and we stayed at the hotel across from the airport. I believe that always when going back and forth between these two lives of mine, a baby step is needed to reduce the intensity of the culture shock. Elizabeth and I talked about our trips home and eased our way back into our Nicaraguan lives with a Nica-brunch and morning by the pool. We then got a ride for $10.00 to our respective homes from a friend of Elizabeth’s. Another baby step. Air conditioning and almost 200 pounds of donations safely secured in the back of a truck as opposed to on top of an old school bus was definitely comforting. <br />As we got closer to Posoltega, I grew more and more anxious to see my friends and start working again. As I opened the door to my house, at least 20 bats scurried around my room. Welcome home. I spent the rest of the day catching up with my best friend, Wendy and neighbors. <br />Side note: in a town where things and people rarely leave – every little thing is perceived as a big deal. The fact that I cut my hair – was the hot topic in town for at least a month. For them cutting my hair signified rebellion. Also, my first day back to work, in span of 5 minutes I was told that I was fatter than before my trip and also skinner than ever. For the record: I ate whatever I wanted in the states and never thought about exercising – way too much to do and too much to eat. <br />I was thrown a little welcome back party by the teenagers on my block and overall felt more motivated than ever to be in Posoltega and truly begin my work.<br /><strong><br />NEW HOUSE</strong><br />Somehow my house became a community project shortly after returning to Posoltega. The first three days were dedicated to re-vamping my house. In a way it was like Extreme Makeover: 3rd world edition. A peeling teel colored make-shirt wall was put in the middle of my house as a division between my ‘sala’ or foyer area and bedroom (to offer me more privacy). A lot of photos from my home visit were also put up around my house. It was a great fresh start and the house started feeling much more like a room. <br /><strong><br />PHYSICAL AILMENTS SINCE JAN.5th </strong>- Lice<br />- Bee Sting<br />- Kidney Infection<br />- Virus<br />- Allergies<br /><br /><strong>TOILET PAPER</strong><br /><br />Just a quick little story to demonstrate the extent of poverty in Nicaragua. Since getting back, I had begun to notice more and more that on the back of latrines or toilet seats were small children’s notebooks. After dismissing the thought that we were grooming young Shakespeare’s in the bathroom, I quickly realized there was no toilet paper. Oh. Here in Nicaragua it is commonly accepted to use notebook paper in place of toilet paper. Ouch. (think paper cuts)<br />DONATIONS AND HEALTH CENTER <br />With the help and generosity of family, friends and complete strangers I received hundreds of toothbrushes, toothpaste and bags of used clothing for my town, Posoltega. The clothing was utilized as incentive for pregnant women to take the HIV test in the health center. The toothbrushes were given to the children of the community and utilized as an opportunity to give information about dental hygiene. The health center was more than happy about the donations (they love free stuff) and it seemed to be a good starting to point the new year.<br /><br /><strong>BEACH</strong><br />Also due to overwhelming support from you all at home – from the sales of the bracelets made by my youth groups, I was able to take 24 (youth and chaperones) people to the beach (in 2 groups). I posted most of the photos on facebook – and I hope the faces of the children spoke for themselves, as to how grateful they were. For most of them this was the first time they had seen a beach. I felt like a mother with 11 children to look after, but I was generally able to enjoy myself as I watched them playing in the ocean, collecting shells and eating fried fish. Even for just day, they were able to just be kids. It was a beautiful day and we cannot thank you enough (in total over $150 was raised). <br /><strong>BzZzZzZ</strong><br />The only hiccup in the second beach trip was that on the way back, I was stung by a pee in my left hand in the bus terminal. The reaction was thankfully minimal – but obviously it was a very scary experience (fyi: I am allergic to bee stings). Wendy went with me to the hospital after I injected myself in the thigh with my Epi-pen. The reaction of this drug is that it speeds up the heart and causes your body to tremor. This was scarier than anything I believe. Wendy dealt with everything perfectly – at the hospital, on the phone with the PC doctor, in the can, etc. They put an IV of more Epi in my wrist. As I watched birds flying in and out of the hospital room, ants crawling near used needles and cockroaches inching towards sleeping patients, I longed for my parents and Christiana Hospital. They wanted me to stay the night, but because of the conditions of the hospital and the fact that I was with Wendy, I insisted they release me. So with the IV needle still in my wrist, Wendy and I headed back to Posoltega on the last possible bus headed that way (aka jam-packed). We eventually made it back after dodging my wrist from being bumped while standing for 45 minutes. Only in Nicaragua.<br /><br /><strong>BIKE</strong><br />Life. Changing. Not only am I exercising more since buying a bike, I am now working much more in the rural communities. At first it was intimidating because it had been 10 years or so since I had rode a bike. I am now riding, ‘sin manos’ or without hands. So true the saying – ‘just like riding a bike’. The community I am working most in is called ‘el Bosque’ and the bike ride is about 3.5 miles each way. Sometimes I have to kick myself to go at 1:00 with the sun blazing down, but it is always worth it. I feel so welcome and comfortable in this community – and thanks to my bike, I can go there several times a week. <br /><br /><strong>VAPUES</strong><br />Peace Corps Nicaragua used to have a magazine in print, but due to budget costs, it was cut about 3 years ago. Thanks for President Obama and technology, we are starting it back up again electronically. I instantly knew I wanted to be a part of this project and have since started as a photographer and writer. It feels great to be a part of something create and feel challenged and involved in something I am passionate about. I will fill you in on how to read the magazine after it is all finalized this month.<br /><br /><strong>TRABAJADORAS</strong><br />Another volunteer in Chinandega began a project with an NGO, working with sex workers within our department and is now attempting to start a network within the department. He has asked me to be part of it, representing Chichigalpa. I have never felt more motivated to be part of a project. I have experience with this population and fully support women’s rights to their bodies and the choices they make with them. I have already gone out into the community and introduced myself to the workers at their place of work (bars). It was slightly intimidating, but I was not alone. I was with three professionals of the community who already have experience with the previous project with Craig.<br />These women are often discriminated against in many aspects of their lives, but at the end of the day, they are women, mothers, daughters, human beings – trying to survive and provide for themselves and more than often – their children. I plan on applying for a grant to do a ‘day of beauty’ with them and an HIV charla. Meanwhile I will be meeting with them once a month, giving workshops on self-esteem, human rights, domestic violence, etc. I see this project becoming a big part of my life and spiraling into other projects as well, for example: anti-discrimination workshops with police, health centers, etc. <br />During the visit I distributed about 5 condoms to each worker. The cost of one sexual relation is about 100-150 cordobas (between $5-$7). I view sex workers in a similar way as my youth groups – they could be promoters of healthy sexual behaviors, perhaps better than anyone else. I will keep you updated on this exciting project! FYI: Yes, I was asked how much and videotaped. Normal. <br /><br /><strong>FIESTAS</strong><br />So every town in Nicaragua celebrated a different saint for one week, or better explained it is one week of no work – all play. The week of Valentine’s Day is Posoltega’s ‘fiestas patronales’. It included a mechanical bull that undoubtedly has take lives, more rejected carnival rides, cotton candy, dance parties and an Hipico (the point to point like horse show). I did not ride the bull (wanted to), I did ride the ‘rides’ (one was named Titanic), danced the week away, and mounted a horse while wearing a cowgirl hat. The week was a ton of fun and I even won some theatre contest in front of 100s of people in my town (my Spanish has definitely increased). <br />After the part Saturday night, one of my supposed good gay guy friends stole 500 cordobas and a cell phone that belonged to Elizabeth. Long and boring story short – I filed a police report and got the $ back from PC and opted to not have an investigation because I feared it would just bring me more problems. There is an update to this as well. Last week I saw this ‘friend’ using the phone at a funeral. After the funeral (out of respect of the family) I told he had one and only one chance to give me the phone or I would go to the police. He continued to deny that it was the phone and did eventually give it back. More than anything, I am saddened by the feeling that I can’t trust people in my house. Prior to this incident, this guy came to my house daily – helped me clean, chatted with me, used my computer and it appears, only to take advantage of me in the end. No matter what, I refuse to believe that people in general have bad intentions. A lot of people in my town encourage me not to trust anyone, but I don’t think I will ever get to that point – and don’t want to. For every ‘Carmen’ that is in my town, there are 100s of kind-hearted, genuine people. And that is what I will continue to focus on. <br /><br /><strong>KEVIN</strong><br />In the beginning of February, I met a guy named Kevin who has family in Posoltega, but lives in Costa Rica. I don’t think I can truly explain what happened between us – but I fell head over heels for him. Neither of us was looking for anything serious, but it happened. He left for Costa Rica Feb. 12th and we have talked every day since. He treats me like a princess with so much respect and love. It is something I doubted existed, or that I would find, or that I deserved even at one point. He does not speak English, and obviously there are a lot of cultural differences – but we are going to see where this goes. I am welcoming this incredible relationship into my life and trying not to become preoccupied with the future. All we have is right now and I know that I want to be with him. <br /><br /><strong>HIVERS</strong><br />Waaaay back in July, Paula (the PCV closest in proximity to me) and I applied for a small grant to do a workshop with 90 adolescents of Posoltega on HIV/AIDS. We finally received the money right before I left for Christmas and planned the event for the 22nd and 23rd of February. We intentionally planned it during the week that I would have a trainee visiting me. The taller (workshop) was a great success and everything came together. The workshop lasted from 9-2pm and as always in PC we were forced to be flexible and expect the unexpected (like arriving and only having 11 chairs for 50 people). We stayed cool during all the little bumps and the workshop turned out to be very successful. During a game where teams race to break condom balloons while doing sex positions, a plastic chair was broken, but other than that – it was smooth sailing (p.s. I almost peed myself laughing). <br />Working with other PCVs is amazing! It only increases motivation and production level. More than ever I feel fortunate to be close to another volunteer who has interest in doing health projects and working together. <br /><br /><strong>THAYER</strong><br />The new group of health volunteers (trainees) arrived in January and we are no longer the babies! Thayer is from Las Vegas and could not have been a better match to come visit me. Just like I visited Ian when I was a trainee, she came to see me for four days and see what life as a volunteer is like. It was an amazing experience and gave me a lot of perspective on my life and work in Posoltega. It is very difficult to believe that just a little over a year ago I was arriving to Nicaragua, hating gallo into (rice and beans), being constipated, stuttering my way through Spanish class and feeling that I was from such a different culture. A year later, I have since gained 25 pounds, lost 35 pounds, had countless illnesses, rashes and parasites, gone from feeling useless to feeling overbooked, crave gallo pinto and sometimes feel more Nica than American. I have gone from feeling two years was an eternity to feeling as though I am running out of time. Thayer just received her site assignment and she will be serving in Chinandega, but very north – close to Honduras (about 4.5 hours north). Overall it was an amazing experience that I will never forget. <br /><br /><strong>WENDY & FAM</strong><br />= Amazing. I have truly been blessed with a best friend in Nicaragua and a family that takes care of me. They feed me, take care of me when I’m sick, make fun of me and are such a big part of my life. The only thing I don’t do is shower and sleep in their house, and they would let me. <br /><br /><strong>TEMBLOR</strong><br />A few weeks ago I felt my first earthquake tremor while in a rural community. Scared the beans out of me. Literally. <br /><br /><strong>WORLD VISION</strong><br />An NGO in my town, called World Vision (that is funded by the US), started a project with the goal of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in Posoltega. They heard about the workshop that Paula and I did and we were invited to team up with them and form/identify youth promoters of the community to continue these workshops, as facilitators. We have since replicated the same charla again with 50 new adolescents – the biggest difference is THEY HAVE MONEY. They provide all of the materials and (most costly) the FOOD. Everything went incredibly smooth with them and the most exciting part of everything is that organization, people within the community are coming together for a common cause! Together we truly are so much more powerful and can make such a bigger impact. <br />The part that most inspires me about this project is that it will continue when I am gone. With one year left in my service I am already starting to think about sustainability of my projects and how little time I have left to secure this. The teens that are capacitated to give pass this information along to other classmates; this passing of information will continue, long after I am gone. With sustainability also comes having less and less control over the workshops and management of this project. But that be essential (even for former control freaks, ahem). <br />We will continue to give this workshop in all of the schools throughout Posoltega. In 1998 there were 2 cases of HIV in all of Nicaragua. Currently we have 9 cases just in tiny Posoltega. The department of Chinandega reports the most cases of HIV in Nicaragua – at more than 600. I believe that Nicaragua generally has a huge problem of under-reporting. Honduras and Costa Rica have rates almost double that of Nicaragua. I believe this is result of lack of testing. In all of Nicaragua, last month, there was such a shortage of HIV tests that they were only offering them to pregnant women. I hope to continue to fight this battle against HIV that we are all up against. <br /><br /><strong>Bye, Pues.</strong><br />Wellll that’s all folks. I just got back from a long vacation visiting my boyfriend in Costa Rica and obviously have a lot more to fill you in on. I will get to work on this next week – but the rest of April is quite full, so I am not going to promise anything. I hope everyone is doing well and happy that the weather has started to be a little more pleasant for you all. I love you all so very much and would love to hear little updates on your busy lives up in civilized-land. Fall will be here before we know it and I will get to see all of your beautiful faces again, until then – take care of yourselves, each other and remember someone in Nicaragua loves you. <br /><strong></strong>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-77661968550246646522010-02-03T12:50:00.000-06:002010-02-03T12:51:18.777-06:00Two WorldsWell, it has been a while. I have been to the states and back. This is going to be a doozy of a blog – so sit back and enjoy! I will start with a quote from a fabulous song ‘Happy’ by Leona Lewis. <br />“someone once told me<br />that you have to choose<br />what you win or lose<br />you cant have everything<br />dont you take chances<br />you might feel the pain<br />dont you love in vain<br />cause love wont set you free<br />i could stand by the side<br />and watch this life pass me by<br />so unhappy but safe as could be<br />so what if it hurts me<br />so what if i break down<br />so what if this world just throws me off the edge<br />my feet run out of ground<br />i gotta find my place<br />i wanna hear my sound”<br />Quistes?<br />Translation: Cysts of parasites on your intestinal line. Yeah, that is what I had about a month ago and also Girardeau. Apparently this is contracted through feces. Sooo I ate poop at some point. Check that off the list of things to do before I die. So it was actually quite different than a bacterial infection (much less violent), but basically parasites eat the nutrition in the food that you eat and also kill your appetite. Was not the diet plan I had in mind – but I have lost some weight here lately. The medication was equally as intense to get rid of these cysts of parasites in my stomach. Shortly after finishing the medication for this I had a sinus infection with a fever, cough and stuffy nose. Promptly after finishing the medication for my sinus infection I contracted some kind of virus with a fever and serious bowel movement (which was originally diagnosed as a kidney infection in my health center). Needless to say this month (October) has not been the best health-wise. I sometimes wonder whether my body will have any long-term side-effects from living here. I definitely have my fair share of scars already (most recently from a motorcycle muffler. Ouch.), so no matter what I will have reminders of Nicaragua for the rest of my life (when I look at my legs). <br />Anniversario<br />October 30th was the anniversary of Hurricane Mitch (11 years ago – 1998) and there was an event held at the memorial site/park where President Clinton visited and a tree is planted for each life that was lost that day. The only way to really explain what it’s like – for a small town of 15,000 to lose 4,000 people – is to compare it to 9/11 in the States. A week rarely goes by when I do not hear a story about this horrific event; someone’s life that was lost, property that was lost, family separated. It is the 2nd largest natural disaster to occur in Nicaragua’s history. A lot of effort has been made to avoid another disaster like this through organizations such as, World Vision (a lot of reforestation, etc.). <br />It was a beautiful day and I got to take some photos of the event (see Facebook). I also hitched a ride on the back of a tractor. I was sore the next day from this less than smooth ride, but it was quite an adventure. <br />Hana!<br />Hana came to visit me in Posoltega after Halloween for a few days. It was sooo nice to spend some quality time with her – it had literally been since training that we really had any one-on-one time to catch up. We did a little cooking, shopping in Chinandega and a lot of talking and laughing. It was interesting to hear her take on my town and also just the accessibility to my town. She is so isolated from other volunteers, where as I live in the department with the most volunteers. There are benefits and challenges to each site, but I am definitely thankful for the location of my site above all else. We then headed to Managua where a cocktail party was being held by the business sector of Peace Corps as a fundraiser. I lost my cell phone in the bus on the way to Managua – which was definitely a bummer. Called the number several times only to find out that it had been sold to a woman in the north department of Jinotega. Going, going, gone. <br />Cocktail.<br />The party was a blassssst. It was so nice to see so many people from my group and also from others. We all had an excuse for the first since swearing-in to get all pretty and dressed up. It is amazing what that can do for someone’s self-esteem…just to look beautiful. I do not even have a mirror in my house, so most of the time I have no idea what I look like (quite a change from the USA aka vanity world). I really enjoy meeting new volunteers especially one in particular… from DELAWARE. His name is Jeffery and he went to Brandywine HS and UD. We are both representing Delaware to the fullest. He is super funny and played in a band at East End café. And now here we both are in … Nicaragua. Small World. <br />AVC/T-day<br />Peace Corps holds a conference every two years for all of the volunteers in Nicaragua. This year it was held in Managua and all 180 volunteers participated. It was the first time during my service that I got to meet everyone from all the different work sectors and different areas of Nicaragua. We were given information on different work opportunities after Peace Corps and Grad School options. It was very informative and also fun!<br /> Right afterwards we were all taken to Embassy families houses for a Thanksgiving dinner. It was the best food I had eaten in a very, very long time. I literally think I rolled out of their house. It was very interesting to observe the lives that these Foreign Service families live as compared to the rest of Nicaragua. They are in a beautiful house, gated in with security, fully-furnished. Not to say that these families have it easy in all aspects. They move from country-to-country to work as ambassadors to our country and move their families around with them. It takes special people to endure this kind of ‘instablity’. The family that Erin, Elizabeth and I ate with was incredible. We had a Wii-Bowling tournament, and of course… I won.. Ha. I was with two fabulous friends, a beautiful family – and although it was hard to be away from my own family– I did not feel alone. <br />All three of their children attend an American-Credentialed school where the teaching language is English. I actually attended an informational session during the Conference about teaching at this school. It was a very interesting dynamic that the school holds. The majority of the children are of the 1% population of the upper-class (ironically also politically aligned) here in Nicaragua. Although this school does not represent the majority of this country – it holds an incredible amount of power. The teachers at this school literally have in their classrooms the future of this country. If they are able to break-through to them and help to achieve a different perspective, who knows the ways this country could change. <br />Nica49 is down 5. <br />We have now lost 5 people from my orginal group of 21. 3 due to medical reasons and two for personal choices. As times goes by, it gets harder to lose another member of our group. The latest to go was one of my very closest friends here, Erin. I definitely cried – but I have faith that God has something greater in store for her. She is a special person and has become one of my best friends through this experience. I am so proud of her and even prouder to call her a friend. I know we will see each other again <br />Despedida/Arrival<br />My town through me a going away party right before I left for the USA (as if I was never coming back) haha. They just love to celebrate anything here. Anyway, it was a blast (with disco and everything) and my friend Ely came to visit right before and then we traveled to Carazo together (where we completed our first three months of training). I got to spend a few days with my host-family and then headed off to Managua to get ready to go home! I left the 15th, and got a ride to the airport from my friend in Managua. The entire day could not have gone any smoother. On my flight from Managua to Miami a flight attendant fell in love with me and I received a glass of wine and a bracelet (what!?!?) I completed my 4-month report for my boss here in Nicaragua on this flight. Then on my flight from Miami to Philadelphia another guy flight attendant fell in love with me (two more glasses of wine) and I met a sweet freshman girl from Univ. of Miami and we bonded the whole way back to Miami. As we got closer to landing in Miami - I got more and more anxious (despite the 3 glasses of wine). I wasn’t sure how I would react to seeing my mom, dad and dog – but I knew it was going to be emotional. <br />As I was waiting for my luggage impatiently, I saw one of the cutest little boys walking in through the sliding glass doors of the airport. When I looked up, I instantly realized it was my NEPHEW!!! My brother, nephew and sister surprised me by coming with my parents. I sprinted to my family and collapsed in the arms of my brother and my little baby (not-so baby anymore) nephew. After I stopped embracing my family – we gathered my belongings and headed to the car, where I got to see my dad (who was driving around in circles waiting for us). I then cried again and never wanted to leave my dad’s arms again in that moment. The whole ride home I was completely entertained by Ethan and how big he was! He was a little man already with a BIG, beautiful personality. <br />When we got back to the house I ate an assortment of things, including a sandwich, tasty-cakes and more wine. I somehow convinced (and easily) my parents to come to Iron Hill to meet some of my friends out. It was very surreal to be driving down Kirkwood Highway and see how so much has changed and some is just as I left it January 2003. We went out to Iron Hill that evening (where I worked for 5 years) and ended up on a little tour of Main Street. It was a BLAST and I was overwhelmed by love and joy (and alcohol) haha. The night ended in me sleeping on the couch and waking up to my dad leaving for work at 6am. I then climbed into bed with my mom and slept a little more.<br />It was amazing to just be in my house. I missed that house so much – and all the comfort it represents to me. <br />Buddy the Elf goes to DC<br />I was pretty amazed with things in Delaware, how beautiful it was – the buildings, the landscape, etc. But when I got to DC on the 17th I was more than amazed I was … borderline overwhelmed. First of all, I was using my grandmother’s friend’s cell phone for this trip (since I obviously didn’t have my own). I made another friend on the train to DC and as I was entering DC the phone was dying. As I exited the metro station, I realized I had no idea where I was going. With a text message and ½ a bar of battery I ventured out to find Jillian’s office building. DC is … HUGE. And beautiful. I was walking around amazed at the beautiful buildings and beautiful mix of different cultures, when I realized I had no idea where I was going. The only way to fully describe how I felt is… like buddy the elf. I was almost hit by three taxis, ate some chewing gum off the subway and perhaps drank the world’s worst cup of coffee but thought it was the best thing ever invented. The best way to describe how I was the entire trip home was like an infant slash stoner. Everything was beautiful, everything was interesting, everything was … new. It was such an overwhelming and beautiful experience in my life. <br />After asking a group of people who were asking for directions, I finally asked my buddy Lester on the corner for directions to Pennsylvania Avenue. Somewhat well-known. I finally made my way to the Vice-Presidential building, past secret-service to my absolutely amazing sister/best friend/soul mate…Jillian. Long story short – her life is incredible. Although we sometimes say she is living in Peace Corps Washington DC, she is having the experience of a lifetime. Her building is beautiful; she works with the most important people in our country and looks fabulous while doing it all. All in all, she in my hero. I went on a tour of the West and East Wing with my personal tour guide slash Jillian. We then went later to the Kennedy Center to see a play in the … presidential box. Far cry from my cockroach, rat, bat infested little house. I was sometimes worried about some of the cultural differences between Nicaragua and USA and how well I would be able to switch in between the two of them. But as I told my good PC friend Elizabeth, ‘At first I felt like an alien, but then I put on my knee-high boots and fell right back into it (the American culture).’ DC is incredible – it is undoubtedly one of my favorite cities in America and I can definitely see myself living there somewhere down the road (more than likely with Jillian. Ha). <br />Relationships<br />We all have to admit that time can change a lot of things. But the relationships that are the strongest, the relationships that strengthen with time and distance – those are what make it all worth while. That is exactly how I felt about so many people that I saw while I was home. My parents. My rocks. I say time and time again – and it is more true than anyone could ever imagine. Without my parents’ love and support – I could not be doing this. A lot of people ask me if I am crazy or if I am running away from something – but I am doing the exact opposite. I feel like I am flying… towards something greater. And on the wings of the love of my parents. Right before Thanksgiving I had a long talk with one of the girls from my youth group. I had just received a package from my parents in the mail and she asked me if my parents send me a lot of things (materials, money). And my response was ‘yes, they support me however they can. But if I did not have their love – I would not still be here right now. The love that they give me is more than anything of material value.’<br />As I looked up at this 15 year old girl, I realized she was crying hysterically. I then realized in that moment that she, in her 15 years of life, has never felt this kind of love. It was then, when I started to cry. For several reasons; for her because she has never known this kind of love and for me, a moment of gratitude beyond explanation, that I have parents that have unconditionally loved me. No matter what I have done – no matter what mistakes I have made – my parents’ love has gotten me through it all. The bad moments, the great moments – would be nothing without them. No matter where I have been, no matter what I have done, no matter who was around me, I have never, ever felt alone. <br />My friends. Wow, what greater gift is there in this world than true friends? It is so easy to get caught up in our own lives – and forget about people that are far away or not involved in our daily lives. It is work – the work that it takes to nurture the relationships that mean the most to us that really count. People will always change – friendships will come and go. But going home this past December only made me appreciate the real friendships that I have been fortunate enough to find in this world. I am truly, truly blessed with the best friends in the world. It is the friends that you pick up with after 11 months, like you did not even miss a second, that give girl strength. <br />Techonology<br />This was something I hadn’t really thought about prior to my visit to the states. I felt like I still had a decent amount of connection to technology with internet and a cell phone here in Nicaragua. I was … wrong. I completely forgot how technology advanced the US is and how incredibly far behind Nicaragua is. The more I learn about different cultures other than my own – I realize there is no ‘right’ way no ‘right’ culture. There are some things about the Nicaraguan culture that I absolutely love (the generosity) and some things that I cannot stand (someone calling you fat while blowing their nose into thin air). Equally standing is US culture, I appreciate so much the laws of our country, the level of comfort and the mix of cultures, but I also found myself annoyed at the individualism of the culture and obsession with time, money and responsibilities. Instead of becoming bitter about either faults of each country – I made the decision to try and be appreciative. I now know a different way of living. And although questionable at times, I can now say for sure that this has done me no harm, only good. I can now say that I appreciate both cultures for what they are – and have learned an immense from both of them. I can only hope that from this experience I will carry with me the positive components of each culture and create one of my own, perhaps. <br />Technology is obviously something that has contributed to the great power that the United States holds, but I also feel that countries that lack all of these advances carry with them a sense of innocence. Prior to entering Peace Corps, I remember writing an essay about how I would react to the withdrawal of technology. I now think I will have a harder time getting back into the US culture of advancement. The lack of technology advancement here can also be looked at as an advantage. No one is connected to their cell phone – no one is constantly text messaging, checking their facebook, email, etc. Therefore what remains is … conversation. I feel that through this experience I have become more and more appreciative of just … talking, face-to-face, listening. I enjoyed not having a cell phone most of my trip. It also proved to me the people who really wanted to see me and make an effort. We will see how technologically messed up I am when I get home – but I definitely see challenges in the horizon. <br /><br />Climate Control<br />So, I thought I would buried like an Eskimo during one of the worst snow storms in 100 years, but I was actually Okay! Ha. I loved the snow, more than likely because I knew it was the only time I would be dealing with it for the next two years. I guess the grass is always greener… ha. The snow was gorgeous and I took some photos and videos for the people here that asked me to ‘bring them back snow.’ This snow storm happened to land on the wedding day of one of my closest friends. But she handled it beautifully – and the wedding could not have been any more perfect. It was by far the nicest wedding I have ever been too – and my closest friends and family were all there. It was a beautiful, snow-filled day. <br />I will say that I think my body temperature has begun to change a bit here. December to February is definitely the best climate that I will get on the Pacific Coast. It is still hot, around 90-95 degrees, but a really nice breeze (perfect time for visitorsssssss). I am not using my fan at night anymore and can honestly say that I have been chilly a few times in the morning when it is about 75. Wow. <br />Other Buddy the Elf Moments<br />My appreciation for small things was quite apparent during my trip home. Here are some moments when I felt like an alien and/or was called one. <br />• When I spent 20 minutes in WaWa amazed at the selection and came out with a reese’s cup, vanilla cappuccino and fruit salad.<br />• When I spent 20 minutes in WaWa getting explained how to use the self-serve credit-card swiper.<br />• When I asked for assistance from my grandmother for text messaging (ok maybe not her.. but everyone else).<br />• When I tried to save…everything (tubes of toothpaste, plastic spoons, etc.)<br />• When I was in awe of two-story buildings<br />• When I re-discovered wireless internet and that songs can download in less than 30 seconds.<br />• When I tried to kiss everyone that I met for the first time (sorry Jillian).<br />• When I did not want to leave an open bag of SunChips on Liz’s floor because the “rats would get it.”<br />• When I laid on carpet floor just…because. <br />• When I was so appreciative when I mistakenly thought Jillian was giving me a travel-size toothpaste.<br />• When I constantly went to bed in the wee-hours of the morning, but woke up by 6am because I didn’t want to miss anything. <br />• Avoiding driving for the first 7 days I was in country (eventually drove and … loved it)<br />Several more moments such as this, but you get the idea. The whole time I felt like I had ADD and my dad finally diagnosed me. The minimal amount of stimulation that I receive in Nicaragua was a far cry from over-stimulated America. I wanted to do EVERYTHING. Went to the movies, roller-skating, tried to go bowling – and was just overwhelmed with how many options there are in America. In Nicaragua there are three malls in the entire country, 4 movie theatres and one bowling alley (for 5 million people!!!). In an impoverished country, they just do not have options for entertainment. Correction: they do, but they get very, very creative. Plastic bottles, puppet shows, freeze-tag, etc.<br />My typical night of entertainment includes sitting outside of my house, talking with my neighbors, chasing around my little 4 year old boy, perhaps playing soccer or volleyball and … going to bed. <br />Needless to say I feel that this experience has opened my eyes (even slightly) to what it must be like for someone from another country coming to America. I have only lived in Nicaragua for one year – and the culture shock that I experienced was overwhelming at times, I cannot imagine someone that has lived in another country for 15+ years and then comes to … land of the free. The culture shock can be incredibly scary at times and overwhelmingly exciting at other times – but none the less, people from other countries, immigrating to the US, deserve our welcoming and support. Just as I have experienced here in Nicaragua. <br />The meaning of Christmas<br />So, this was an odd Christmas for me considering I (as mother says), ‘took an oath of poverty’ when I signed up for Peace Corps. It was an interesting collision of words coming home during the Christmas slash shopping season. After a trip to King of Prussia, I found myself equally disgusted with the money-driven society of the US and also indulging in it. It boggled my mind how stressed out people were about gift giving and if this person was going to by them a gift, they had to buy them one, and so on. People in my town make an average of $1.50 per day and work daily to make it through that same day. This was a hard transition to go from straight into main-stream, consumer-driven America during the Christmas shopping season. Coach, LV, Armani – actually made me sick to think about some of the people in my town that do not have enough money to buy beans to go with their rice and tortilla. I was reminded of the feelings of guilt that I felt when my parents came to visit me in Nicaragua. <br />Whether someone was given a life of poverty or a life of prosperity – it is due neither to fault nor fortune. We cannot blame someone for having certain opportunities, nor guilty for the person whom lacks these options. Life is a mix of what is given to us and what we chose. Feeling guilty is as useless as hate. In that same breath, Gratitude is as powerful as Love. <br />So much of my life has been put into perspective from this experience. A type of perspective that cannot be gained from going on a two week vacation to Jamaica or reading a book on the Rwanda genocide(which both offer glimpses of a different life). I am actually getting to experience a different way of living. <br />For the first time in my life, I sat around the Christmas tree with my family – with no anticipation of gift opening, no greediness, and no self-righteousness. Just content, full of gratitude. Being there with my family – that was Christmas to me. I felt a sense that my whole family felt this way – as we all watched my nephew opening his presents. <br />The true meaning of Christmas to me was not King of Prussia, Christmas songs, endless lines and money. To me it was the family that my dad’s school adopted and gave clothing and toys to a single-mom who could not afford a winter coat for her children. It was the message that she left for my dad, unable to explain her gratitude in between sobs for the Christmas that had been given to her family out of the generosity of people’s hearts. It was the 150 toothbrushes and 50 tubes of toothpaste that were donated to my town in Nicaragua on Christmas Eve.. It was the boxes and boxes of used clothing donated by my dad’s colleagues, my friends and complete strangers. It was raising money for my youth groups by selling their bracelets and receiving open donations so they could see the beach for the first time. It was spending time with the people I love most in the world. It was holding my nephew. All of that was my Christmas. <br />Cambio<br />So I obviously have changed in several ways through this experience. I would be lying if I didn’t tell you I doubted myself at several points throughout this experience and may have even lost myself a little in this new life of mine. Going home grounded me in a lot of ways – helped me remember where I come from and even more so, who I am. <br />One way I certainly have not changed was in ‘over-booking’. I wanted to do everything and see everyone while I was home. Before I knew it, New Years Eve had passed – and I once again found myself with a few of my best friends, some vacuum packing bags and packing to go back to Nicaragua.<br />I had a mix of emotions saying goodbye to the people I love, yet also feeling re-energized and motivated to go back to Nicaragua. No one was harder to say goodbye to than my nephew – who has already changed so much in only 11 months. <br />As I held onto my dad and hugged him for the 17th time in the Philadelphia Airport, knowing I would not see him for another 9 months – my heart actually hurt. I have decided that I will be coming home around September/October in 2010, for several reasons. I missed the season fall, baseball, crabs and I will be spending Christmas down here to see how they celebrate it. <br />Back to Reality<br />Well. Here I am, in Posoltega. I have to say that I am in an incredibly great place right now. I feel like all of the stars are aligning and I have gotten over the curve of cultural adaptation. Obviously there will always be hard days- no matter where I am, but I feel incredibly thankful to be here and more motivated than ever to work with and for the people of Posoltega. One month has already passed – and it has been full of new experiences, adventures and lessons learned. I am going to end this blog here – because I am already 8 pages deep and will start off a new blog about the past month here. I love you all SO much and truly believe that no experience is truly appreciated until it is shared. I love that I am able to share this experience and my life with you.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-22856069278086186182009-10-20T14:06:00.002-05:002009-10-20T14:10:24.861-05:00I got a feeling..."At any given time, we are what we are. We must accept the consequences of being ourselves; only through this acceptance can we begin to evolve further. Though we may select the battleground, we cannot avoid the battle..."<br /><br /><br />k. I am gonna pick up where I left off in the last blog.<br /><br /><strong>Jaws.<br /></strong>So my friend from college came down, John in August. It was not a vacation that went as planned – by any means. But I have to say he was supportive and incredibly patient during his visit. The timing may not have been perfect – with everything that was going on with my house, etc – but none the less, I appreciated it more than he will ever know. We ended up going to San Juan del Sur – one of the biggest tourist attractions in Nicaragua – because of the surf. It is a beautiful little surf town and we stayed at an Irish Pub/Hotel (the owners were a Nicaraguan man and an Irish woman). The town was crawling with surfers and backpackers. We had some great seafood at a restaurant on the beach and some serious sun. We went to one of the beaches a little further away in the back of the hotel owner’s pick-up truck. It was incredibly beautiful. Undoubtedly the most beautiful beach I have ever been to.<br />When John and I went for a dip in the beautiful Pacific Ocean, we had quite an adventure. First of all, the waves were just a little bit larger than…Bethany Beach. Haha. They were gigantic and crystal clear water. When John and I were about to go under one of this beautiful five-foot wave, as it was crashing we both saw a 4-5 foot…what was assumed to be a shark. I screamed like I was in Jaws…8. We both end up getting knocked out by the wave because neither of us wanted to go under it after seeing the shark. After exiting the washing-machine tumbling of the wave, I proceed to start to run for the shore. John then gets knocked down by another wave – and crashes into me. He then grabs by hand and we start running for the shore. My heart may have reached an all-time high rate. We then proceeded to ask locals if there were sharks or extremely large fish. Both of which they said no. For purposes of saving face – we will stick with the fact that it was a shark (which I truly believe). It was quite an adventure!<br /><br /><strong>Pura Vida</strong><br />Literally the day that John went to the airport at 4:30am was the day I was leaving for Costa Rica. After speaking with one of my friends in Managua, I realized that I had brought the wrong passport for my trip. We have our normal passports and Peace Corps passports. I brought the normal one (which doesn’t even show that I entered Nicaragua). Long story short, I had to reschedule my bus from 6:00am to 12:00pm and run back to Posoltega to get the right passport (high five Amanda). The company that I went with Tica Bus made the trip very easy (taking care of everything with customs, etc). Without any way of communicating with the girls I was quite nervous if they would be at the bus station as we had originally planned. I arrived in San Jose around 10pm and as I was getting off the bus I saw three very beautiful, yet tired looking muchachas otherwise known as my girlsssssssss. J It was so amazing to see them. They quickly informed me that none of their luggage had arrived with them to Costa Rica. We had to be pretty flexible the next day and went to the airport to retrieve all of their luggage. Afterwards we decided to head off to Zulu-land. Dave aka Zulu is one of our friends from Delaware that is living and working in Costa Rica. He lives in a little surf town on the Pacific Coast, called MalPais. After 4 taxis, 3 buses and a ferry – we arrived in his town. I was pretty impressed with our getting there safe and soundly. Without knowing anything about where he works, how to get there or where we were going to stay – we made it. It ended up working out better than we could have imagined. Dave works at a ‘hotel’ that was actually closing for the rainy season- so we were able to stay there for free for 3 nights. I say hotel, but what I really mean is … paradise. It is basically an exclusive resort tucked away in the hills and overlooking the Pacific ocean. There are only three rooms in this hotel and the only people that stay here are honeymooners and/or celebrities. We could actually see Mel Gibson’s house being built in the distance. It was undoubtedly the nicest place I have ever stayed.<br />To best explain the relationship between Nicaragua and Costa Rica is to compare it to that of the United States and Mexico. A large number of Nicaraguans go to Costa Rica to work, because Costa Rica is much more advanced (not 3rd world) and offers a lot more opportunities. Also, Nicaraguans work for lower wages. The entire time I was there people were criticizing Nicaraguans, it was difficult for me not to take offense to these comments. It was obvious that I am starting to identify myself with Nicaragua. Costa Rica is beautiful and although poverty still exists there, it felt like I was in America in comparison to the devastating poverty of Nicaragua. Although part of me wanted to show Nicaragua to my three close friends, I was ultimately thankful that we went to Costa Rica. There was a lot less responsibility on me – I was able to actually relax and get a break from translating and feeling like I had to take care of my guests. Unlike Nicaragua – a large number of people in Costa Rica speak English.<br />We fell in love with this little surf town and … never left. We ended up staying the entire time in MalPais. A lot of memories were made – we laughed a LOT, saw monkeys, had a bachelorette party for Liz, went to the beach, ate some great food, missed a few taxis and a canopy tour, hiked up the ‘mountain’ and drank a lot of beer. In the end we were all broke, a little bit tanner and had managed to fit 6 months of missed girls’ nights into a single week. The last night we had one last dinner in the hostel in San Jose and then I headed out the next morning around 4:30am to head back to Nicaragua. With tears and sleepiness in my eyes, I hugged three of my best friends goodbye – holding onto the fact that I would be seeing them in less than 4 months.<br />The first half of the trip back to Nicaragua was relatively smooth. I had the furthest back two seats to myself and slept the majority of the ride to the border. I awoke to a less than optimal sight (and smell). These buses have bathrooms – but it is a rule on the bus that you are not allowed to ‘go number two’ because the bus ride is 12 hours or so and they don’t want the bus to smell. In cases of emergencies we were told they would stop for someone. Well, apparently someone had an emergency and did not inform any of the bus staff. I woke up to a man practically falling on my head and then into the aisle. As I wiped my eyes to see more clearly – I realized that this man with pants at his ankles had fallen out of the bathroom, off the toilet and … practically on my lap. And by ankles I mean ankle, because I then soon realized that this poor soul only had one leg. Myself and others helped the man up and let’s just say that the rest of the ride was anything but roses. I held one of my head wraps over my face for the remaining 6 hours. Welcome back to Nicaragua. Ha.<br /><br /><strong>Decided to make a little list of things that I have learned, whether in general or about myself since I have been here in Nicaragua:<br /></strong>1. Silverware is not necessary (forks and knives do not exist here and spoons are luxury)<br />2. I like cats (they are cleaner than dogs here and eat mice)<br />3. Microwave popcorn can be emptied out of the bag and put on your two-burner stove and come out just as yummy.<br />4. Scorpions in the shower are normal<br />5. Blowing your nose into the air is widely accepted<br />6. I love Harry Potter<br />7. Anything can be served in a small plastic baggie (dinner, soda, snack)<br />8. People will try and sell you anything (lizards on the side of the road)<br />9. You can fit a 30 minute conversation into 60 seconds when in Nicaragua (minutes expire)<br />10. Clouds and rain are gifts of God<br />11. You can celebrate anything (Oct. 10th National Mental Health Day)<br />12. You are not Nicaraguan if you do not have: plastic chairs in your house, a super-imposed picture of you in Thailand or somewhere outrageous, rocking chairs and/or a hideous metallic mirror.<br />13. There is no maximum capacity for means of transport (families of 4 on a bicycle or motorcycle, 28 people in the back of a pick-up truck, etc)<br />14. Privacy is not a part of the culture here (ex: my neighbor asked me today if I was sick – because she heard my fan on at 1pm when I took a little cat nap).<br />15. Today is all there is – people’s daily activities are surrounded around survival of today.<br />16. I am having withdrawal from the season Fall. Please take photos. Posoltega weather yesterday: 94 degrees, feels like 104. I thought it was chilly. What.<br /><br /><strong>Dificil</strong><br />So I would be lying to all of you if I did not address one simple thing about my experience so far here in Nicaragua. This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Sometimes I feel like I need to sugar coat things for you all back home – so that you don’t worry about me or maybe for selfish reasons also. But the reality is that this experience has challenged me in ways that I never imagined. Coming into this I anticipated the hardest part being homesick during these two years. Of course I am missing you all more than words can explain – but the real challenges have been much more personal. Challenging the very person I am – the strengths I thought I had – learning new things about myself daily. Before coming to Nicaragua – I felt like I had a good understanding of who I was and where I came from. That is easy to say when you are in your comfort zone because you are … well, comfortable. But being in another culture – away from everything you know – challenges everything you thought you knew. Obviously within these discoveries – are both good and bad findings. Strengths you thought you had, or very well may have had – may be identified as a weakness in another culture or just completely not accepted. This re-discovering of ‘you’ in a new culture causes a lot of questioning and also calls for me to suppress some of my feelings. If I were to stand up for myself every time I was harassed – I would have no time for my project. Where as in the States, it is such an unaccepted part of the culture – the harasser would have charges brought against him within days if I pursued it. That is just a blatant example of what I am trying to explain – but there are countless.<br />I try to deter from sounding bitter or upset in my blogs – because I chose this experience and I am so lucky to live in a country that has given me this amazing opportunity. In the end of these two years – I know that the personal insight that I will have gained will far outweigh any challenges that I am currently facing. But I also felt I owed it to you all, to also tell you that some days I cry, some days I shut the world out – and some days all I want in the world is to be in Delaware eating some of my Dad’s home-cooking watching an Eagles game with the people that mean most to me in the world.<br />I am going to end this section with a little excerpt from one of the essays I had to write to get into Peace Corps:<br />“There is no way to predict what challenges will present during these twenty-seven months of service. The one thing that is certain, however, is that challenges will exist. While the possibility of these challenges and life-changing experiences initially attracted me to apply for the Peace Corps, it is the knowledge that I can overcome adversity and persevere that continues to inspire and compel me. “<br /><br /><strong>Let me Work It.</strong><br />So. Speaking of challenges. Back in August my boss from Peace Corps called me to ask how things were going in Posoltega. I said ‘pretty well’. And she continued by saying ‘well the Health Center director called me to say that you have not been to the health center in a month.’<br />Silence… Cricket, Cricket.<br />The truth is that between my parents visit, John’s visit and Costa Rica – I had been pretty ‘vaga’ that month. And all the work that I had done had been in the schools. My motivation to go to the health center was practically non-existent, for a lot of reasons. I felt like I had no one working with my directly and no real direction or role when I did show up. Long story short – I went with my two bosses to the health center and had a meeting with the director. It ended up going really well – and we all agreed that it was not too late to mend this working relationship. It is important to my PC bosses that I keep an open relationship with the health center for several reasons. They are our main counterpart on a national level – and also I am the first volunteer in my site. My PC boss was very supportive and assured me that being in a new site – this was a typical challenge and that the main source of the problem has been lack of communication (which both the health center director and I took fault for).<br />The next week was my group’s 5-month in-service training. It is obligatory to take a counterpart from the health center – and I was able to take a nurse named Myra (who I had never worked with prior to the training). It turned out to be great – Myra is a huge sweetheart and I hope to work with her in the future. More than anything – being back with my group was incredibly comforting. We have all faced challenges during our first five months – some similar and some different; but it was incredibly comforting to be with people who knew what I had been going through the last five months. In general, I felt dissatisfied with the amount of work I had done during my first five months – but the training also served as a re-booster and motivated me to get back to my site and start working more.<br />The last day of IST I got incredibly sick with a bacterial infection and was in Managua for a few days after that during the Nicaraguan holiday. But had some great company in the hotel – Lorna and Ely (two girls from Rio San Juan). <br />Current update on my work situation: Health Center relationships have only gotten better – I go the health center daily – and the communication has improved tremendously as well. I have not worked in the schools since the meeting with my PC boss because I have been focusing on the health center and mending this relationship. The schools are not very happy – but I cannot make everyone happy, alas.<br />The health center requested that I ‘reforzar’ or re-form youth groups at the health center and posts (by re-form they mean 5 years ago there were adolescent clubs). Well with a lot of hard work, determination and help from some of the friends here – I have successfully formed two clubs already! One is about 16 adolescents (boys and girls) and we meet Tuesdays and Thursdays. The other is 11 adolescent girls between the ages of 13-19 and we meet Wednesdays and Fridays. I still need to work on planning with someone in the health center to help me with the charlas – but I have already given 2 hour workshops on each topic: Drugs and Alcohol, STDs and Reproductive Health. I am really proud of these two groups and plan on going out into the rural communities now to form more. The goal for me is to have them be self-sustainable groups and help train and form other groups with me (and without me after my service).<br />(Side note: I asked one of the nursing students to help me with the STD charla and we were discussing what signs of peligro (or warning) were and what normal characteristics were. Some of the kids asked what masturbation was – and I let the nurse take that question. She went on to explain that it was a way for men (exclusively) to relieve their urge to have sex and that it can be addictive. I wish my face could have been video-taped. I obviously went on to explain that this was actually something very natural – that both men and women practice, yada yada. But… seriously!?! That is just an example of what I am up against here.<br /><br /><strong>Quarter.</strong><br />Turned 25. What? How did that happen. My closest friend here in Nicaragua, Elizabeth’s birthday was the 25th of September and she invited me to Managua to celebrate it with her. We stayed at the nicest hotel in Nicaragua – the bed felt like I was lying on clouds, the brunch was to die for (hashbrowns, real cheese!), a bathtub and much more. We went out to a really nice club called Moods in Managua – and I actually forgot I was in Nicaragua for a night. We had an amazing time – and did not want it to end. So we got extended check-out and stayed in bed a little longer.<br />The next day I met up with 5 or 6 girls from my group for the Daddy Yankee concert. I know, I paid 30 dollars to see Daddy Yankee. But it was my birthday weekend and choices were limited. Because of whom I was with – I had an amazing time. A girl named Erin from Cincinnati has become one of my favorite people here and we had a ball.<br />I came back to Posoltega Sunday afternoon and celebrated my birthday Monday by going to the health center and working. I then later had a Piñata party at my house for my favorite kids in the community. It was hilarious – coca-cola, candy and reggaeton. Who could ask for a better birthday?<br />I also received from some fabulous packages, cards for my birthday from my parents, Aunt Linda and Aunt Gale. Thank you so much for making my birthday so special – even from a distance <3<br /><br /><strong>Platanos & Policia</strong><br />What started out at 7am as a great day, ended pretty badly on the 3rd of October. I went with the coach of my soccer team and another player to a finca aka farm to cut-down some platanos or bananas with machetes. I was picked up around 7am in a horse drawn carriage (those things are dangerous). The view of the volcanoes from the farm was amazing – and I took a mountain of photos and also fell in love with the daughter of the girl I play with on the soccer team, Mayleng. They also invited me to stay the night at their house in El Bosque, one of the rural communities of my town, because our soccer team was throwing a party to fundraise money for our team. Several girls on our team do not have shoes and play barefoot or in their school shoes – and the league is now enforcing that they wear sneakers or cleats. Well this innocently started evening ended horribly. My camera was stolen and 5 or so platos or fights broke out at the end of the party. For the first time in my life, I witnessed someone get stabbed. Needless to say, I was hiding under a table and frightened as hell as I saw blood pouring through this guy’s shirt.<br />So. I now do not have a small digital camera (just my larger Nikon) and lost a bunch of photos. There has been a lot of talk about who took the camera – but I obviously cannot be certain. I filed a report with the police – but I know the chances of me finding my camera again are about equal to the odds of winning the Powerball. The owners of my house had a long talk with me after this incident and told me I need to be more careful with who I trust here – and that a lot of people will try and take advantage of me simply because I am not from here. They then went on to tell me things about my soccer coach and that I should not trust her, etc. Well, I really appreciate all of this advice and information – but before the fact would have been nice. Live to learn, Learn to live.<br />Funny story about the police: the guy that I filed the report with came to my house one night the next week at around 8:30pm. My door was already closed and I was getting ready for bed (I know), but I figured he wanted to talk about the case so I let him in. Only to quickly realize while he was looking at the photos on my wall and calling me ‘simpatica and Hermosa (sweet and beautiful)’ that he was not there to talk about the case. He then proceeded to ask me (in uniform) if he could go buy us some beer. I declined politely and told him I would be going to bed. Sometimes this thought does go through my mind: what is my life?<br /><br />Last little story: I learned how to milk a cow! I have a video of it but cannot figure out how to upload it on facebook. It was amazing and not as difficult as I anticipated! I then drank the milk – which I do not recommend. Didn’t get sick – but almost gagged while drinking the warm, occasionally hairy whole milk. And then I rode a donkey at 6 in the morning. Normal.<br /><br />Wellll, I have gotten you all up to date on my life!!! Finally! I hope you all are well. I will be home December 15th – January 3rd and look forward to seeing all of you.<br />Xoxo AmandaAmandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-19894456911212691642009-10-01T09:55:00.001-05:002009-10-01T09:57:23.989-05:00Well, it has been months since my last blog – and hopefully my little summary in the last entry explains why that is. I have been quite busy here in Nicaragua (and Costa Rica).<br />But here I am … in Posoltega. Nicaragua. My Saturday night is going to consist of finally writing this blog to you all. I know – my life is quite exciting. I am going to try and be as brief as possible – while still giving you all a picture of my last 6 weeks or so in Nicaragua. Here we goo…<br /><br /><strong>PADRES</strong><br />My parents’ visit was quite an experience. I have to admit that I (and my parents) was quite naive about the entire trip. But in the end – I am so, so lucky and thankful to have parents that are adventurous, crazy, loving, devoted and a little naïve enough to come see me in … Nicaragua. To start off, they brought an INSANE amount of things. Which I have no culpability for. Haha. They brought an entire suitcase of toys, books and arts & crafts for the kids of my community. They brought me chocolate, wine, George Foreman grill, Tupperware, books, cereal, cliff bars… the list goes on and on and on. It literally felt like Christmas.<br />It was obligatory that we rented a car – because we were not about to go on public transportation (aka old school buses from the 1980s) with the 7 or so suitcases they brought. This was an adventure all itself – before we even got into the car. There are some things that you really take for granted in the United States (or any developed country for that matter). For example: car insurance. Does not really exist here. You all should have seen my dad’s face when the guy at the Alamo counter told him this. I think they bought actually contemplated getting back on the plane. It went something like this:<br />Alamo Guy: ‘okay sir .. this is how insurance works here. If the police report says it’s your fault – you pay…everything.’<br />Dad: (even though the guy was speaking English) I’m sorry… I must have misunderstood you.<br />Alamo Guy: ‘you will have to pay $10,000 if it is your fault.’<br />Dad (thinking):” How can I get a flight back to Philadelphia…today.”<br />The Alamo guy continued to give my dad suggestions about driving in Nicaragua – such as: ‘don’t let anyone wash your car windows.. they will steal the lights on the windshield wipers’, etc. My dad was overwhelmed with enthusiasm to start this trip.<br />So that was that. We proceeded by getting lost for about 4 hours trying to find our way to the only all-inclusive resort in Nicaragua. More than 90 percent of the population of Nicaragua is considered impoverished, so asking for directions proved to be more difficult than one can imagine. In the Nicaraguan culture, a lot of times if one does not know the answer – they don’t admit this, they just give some form of an answer (incorrect). As you can imagine – I was incredibly worried about my dad driving in this country. I had only been in public transportation or in a Peace Corps vehicle. So naturally, I had no idea where we were going either. Here there are no road signs, road maps, and sometimes there aren’t even roads.<br />But there are … policia. Or Police. A motorcycle pulled out in front of my dad and he swerved to not him into the other lane. The police then proceeded to pull us over. My parents speak no Spanish. The police don’t speak English. Hi. The cop was a complete jerk and was not interested in anything that I had to say. He was actually a perfect depiction of what machismo man is like. They ask us to get out of the car and start searching it – I am pretty sure he wanted to find a pound of cocaine or something. I end up getting out of the car – my Spanish is flying out of my mouth faster than I know what I am saying. They tell me they are going to take my dad’s license. I end up crying – pretty sure I was on a soap opera. I end up asking to talk to the supervisor that is there. It went something like this, “I am here working for two years for your country – for free…and this is the first view that you are going to give my parents of your country.” Guess I struck some kind of cord with the supervisor – and he ended up letting us go. Pretty sure the machismo cop was running after the car after we were let go. Needless to say my dad drove incredibly cautious the rest of the way – and I am almost positive my mom asked for an IV of xanax.<br />We finally made it to the resort around 5pm or so. To get to his incredibly beautiful resort you have to drive through several of the poorest communities in Nicaragua. It gave a glimpse of the real Nicaragua to my parents. But I am pretty sure at this time we were all just interested in the getting the hell out of the car.<br />The resort was beautiful – but still Nicaragua. There were bugs in the rooms, the A/C was shafty and when you tried to call the front desk – no one picked up. Typical. We decided to stay two nights longer than anticipated after the driving fiasco.<br />The food was pretty amazing – I consumed things that I hadn’t had in 6 plus months (i.e. mushrooms, pasta, bacon, vodka, multi-grain bread). My parents got sick the 3rd day and were pretty incapacitated for the more than 24 hours. My mom liked to call it ‘Sandanista Soupy Poopy.’ Let us go ahead and say it was not cute.<br />We headed to Leon (one of the major cities in Nicaragua about 30 minutes from my town) to stay for the next 3 nights. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called La Perla – and the owner was from Green Bay and became my father’s new best friend. One of the things that were most difficult during this trip was that my parents are very much used to being in control and independent– but being that the majority of Nicaragua does not speak English – they were pretty dependent upon me for most of the trip. This was frustrating on both sides of the fence. I had become pretty well-adjusted to some things, such as: the insane heat, walking for miles, the traffic, the bugs, getting lost. Naturally, my parents were experiencing all of these things for the first time – so this created a sort of clash. The best way I can describe it is kind of a reverse culture shock. My two lives colliding.<br />The best day that we had during our trip was when they came to my town, Posoltega. I was able to introduce them to all of families that I have gotten to know here – and my friends. I think this was a really comforting (yet exhausting) day for my parents. Hopefully at the end of this day they realized I had a lot of people that cared about me in my town. We also went to one of the schools that I had been working at – and they gave out the toys, books, etc. that they had brought. The kids were overwhelmed. As expected, word got out that gringa had presents to give out and before I knew it – there was a line of 20 people outside of my door asking for presents. This was very unwanted attention – but it actually allowed me to meet even more kids within the community. I had to do some damage control for the next few weeks in explaining that my purpose here was not to give them gifts and that this was a special occasion.<br />In the end – my parents could not have been more supportive and understanding of what I was going through. I am incredibly proud that my parents came to see me – and even more so that we all three made it out alive and still loving each other. Hopefully they were able to get a glimpse of what my life is like here. Somewhere along the way – my parents became my best friends. I am so, so lucky.<br />I was able to stay strong most of the time that they were here – but after seeing them to the airport – I did not even make it back across the street before completely breaking down. Part of me wanted them to take me with them; part of me didn’t want them to leave. It was a complete mix of emotions – it was even difficult to decipher how I was feeling.<br />I almost immediately got onto a bus back to Posoltega – only to be in a car accident while en route. No one was hurt thank goodness- but it just seemed I had used up all my good luck for while my dad was driving. The next few days were very difficult (as I was warned by other Peace Corps Volunteers), but I eventually got it together. Especially since I had two more special events coming up. My parents left the 26th of July and my friend John was coming to see me on the 8th of August.<br /><br /><strong>BALLS</strong><br />My parents brought me an assortment of balls (volleyball, basketball, soccer) and this actually changed my life. I started playing in the street with the kids the day after my parents left. Being with the kids and being active was a great help in dealing with missing my parents. I would say I play at least 3-4 days a week with the kids of my town. I have only had one ball stolen so far – the volleyball. I know who it was – and will never play with those kids again. Obvi. I have already had two injuries while playing in sandals or barefoot in the street. But I feel so guilty wearing my big sneakers – against a 9 year old without shoes. Alas, my feet are suffering the raff of this.<br /><br /><strong>GOLLLLL!!!</strong><br />I started playing in a girl’s soccer league here in Posoltega. There were of course fights over potential trades of the gringa. Ultimately, I ended up staying with my original team and having a great time. We are in first place out of approximately 20 teams and I am in 3rd place for goals made. I play every Sunday and love it (minus the drunken guys that are yelling to me the entire time I am playing).<br />Last weekend I joined a volleyball league in Chichigalpa (the town next to me) – and it was super intense. A level much higher than the one in Posoltega. They were wearing knee pads. Serious business. I was not quite as fabulous at volleyball as I am with soccer. I am not sure if I am going to continue playing with them because it is a little far and difficult to leave town at least 4 times a week. We’ll see – I heard rumors there is a team of volleyball here in Posoltega.<br /><br />BOYS, BOYS, BOYS<br />So. This is an interesting topic for me here. For a while I anticipated not having a boyfriend here for the entirety of the two years. Then reality set in and I realized two years is a really long time and I got pretty lonely. The other female volunteers and myself have been supporting each other through all of this. Sometimes it is hard to decipher whether Nicaraguan guys are getting cuter – or if my taste is declining. Well regardless of the truth – I decided to accept someone’s request to be their girlfriend. Here there is no casual dating. No friends first. It is kinda like ‘Hi. Nice to meet you – will you be my girlfriend?’ I have been ‘andaring’ with a guy named John since July. He does not have a high school education and works on a bus. I know, I know… I saw my mother’s face when I told her this over skype.<br />The truth is that I decided to break up with him last week because of a few moments of clarity. He is truly a sweet person and treated me well – but I just need something more. It was very clear to me that I was settling – because of where I am… because I am alone. It is weird to be at an age where you feel like you are ready for something serious – but in a country where you do not see yourself with anyone long-term. Very conflicting. I thought there would be a lot cuter guy volunteers – and this proved to be false. Ha. Anyway, right now I am officially single and constantly telling people that are persuing me that I would like to be alone and that I will not be dating anyone from Posoltega. Privacy does not exist here – it is as though I am always being watched. I may actually be on a reality television show without knowing it. Hermano Grande aka Big Brother does Nicaragua. At the end of the day it is nice to have someone there (obviously) – but the benefits of being by myself right now incredibly outweigh this plus.<br /><br /><strong>MI CASA ES…</strong><br />So. I got asked to leave the house that I was staying in (with Alba) for several reasons. One being that I had a Nicaraguan boyfriend. Two, being that after I became the neighborhood gym teacher and playing with the kids every day – a lot of kids of the town were in my room (aka Alba’s house). Both of these factors bothered her a lot – and it ended in her telling me that my friend John that was coming to visit could not stay in my house (which was the complete original plan) and later asking me to find another place to live. It is odd how some people open their houses completely willingly to me (the white girl) but are skeptical of their own people. Anyway, I ended up going to Costa Rica and finding a place to move within two days of coming back. It was quite stressful – but I had several options and was helped by my community and also by the Safety and Security guy from Peace Corps. I moved…across the street. Literally. One of the teachers I had been working with lives in a fairly large house with a section that was not being used (previously had been used for an NGO years ago). I have my own bathroom with a toilet (no running water, so I bucket flush), more privacy and they lent me a bed and a desk. They are incredibly sweet and really look after me, but from a distance. It has been quite an adjustment – because what I do not have there is a … sink or a kitchen of any kind. I bought a little two burner counter-top stove but still have no kitchen. I pay a women about $2 to wash my clothes and iron them. I wash my food and my dishes in the shower (or if it’s raining I just step outside). Not quite sanitary – but I am working on it. Oh! And this house has a real roof, which means it is so, so much cooler. My friend actually said it felt like air conditioning the other day – haha.<br /><br />Okay, I am not done writing – but I am going to post this part to give you all something before I leave Managua today. I love and miss you all! I cannot believe I am 25 years old. I think it is going to be a fabulous year. And I will be home in less than 75 days! (Not counting at all). I will keep writing and hope to hear little updates on your all as well.<br />Love,<br />AmandaAmandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-68272914933978175052009-08-26T12:15:00.002-05:002009-08-26T12:18:19.231-05:00still truckin!So. I just wanted to apologize and let everyone know I am alive and well here in Nicaragua still. The next blog is in the makings... and it will be a doozy. Since my last blog my parents visited, my good friend John from college visited, I went to Costa Rica with the girls, moved to a new house, got a boyfriend and joined a soccer league. phew. I will obviouslly elaborate on all of these in the blog. But there is a snapshot.<br />I miss you all like crazy and look forward to hearing how you are doing.<br />With all the love I possess,<br />AmandaAmandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-51595603476601044272009-07-11T13:21:00.000-05:002009-07-11T13:24:24.743-05:00Beautiful Day<strong>July 11th, 2009</strong><br />Helloooo United States. I hope this blog finds everyone well and you are all enjoying your summer. Happy belated 4th of July! I think being here has made me even more patriotic and thankful to be an American! I wanted to write a quick blog this weekend because basically the next two weeks I will be pretty occupied. Monday I go to a Spanish workshop for a week in Masaya with the other volunteers in my group who did not test out at Advanced at the end of training. In my town will be … Hana! So clearly, I am pretty excited. Then on the 17th…my parents will be here! Ah. What an exciting two weeks I have coming up here.<br /> I just got done eating half of a watermelon sitting in my hammock. It is actually the coolest morning since I have been here – the wind has kicked up – must be a storm coming. It is only about 65 degrees and it feels like a spring morning – it is beautiful! Okay, here we go…<br /> <br /><strong>Break it down…</strong><br />So a combination of factors caused me to have a slight breakdown in the health center two Mondays ago. Two people approached me in the health center (the sub-director and the woman I used to live with) to talk about the lack of work I had been doing. Also, the woman I used to be living with wanted to know if I had been spreading rumors about her daughters – saying that they stole from me when I was living with them and this was why I moved. Ahem. What. These little girls are 10 years old and are nothing but the sweetest kids – wish I could say the same for their mother. I rally disregarded this and told her that if this had happened that I would have said something directly to her. She then went on to tell me that the family that I spend a lot of time with probably invented the rumor because they like to start gossip. Blah blah blah. Anyway, the sub-director and Guadalupe told me that I am spending too much time in the schools and that I need to be doing more with the health center. It is hard enough to explain feelings in your own native language – but try it in another one. Difficult. I tried my best to explain that I did not feel utilized and this was why I was working outside of the health center. My former counterpart, who retired, Sozima, was incredibly supportive along with another doctor.<br />I ended up speaking directly to the health center director that morning after I got myself together. I explained that I was not away from my family and friends, the people I love most in the world – to ‘pasear’ or just vacation here in Nicaragua. That my objective is to work and form projects but that I have felt incredibly lost and without a role in the health center for a combination of factors. The reality is, that we are all learning. It is the first time I am a Peace Corps volunteer and the first time this health center has had one. Being a first-generation volunteer was part of what attracted me to Posoltega. Ha. I do believe in the long-run it will still turn out to be a good decision – but right now I am facing many obstacles and barriers to just finding a role at the health center. There are several volunteers in the group before me that do not work with the health center at all because of the disorganization and lack of work – but I am not ready to give up quite yet. The conversation went well with the director and we agreed to speak directly from now on to avoid chisme or gossip/rumors. She went on to explain that this is a part of the Nicaraguan culture and that people love to make up rumors, especially in the health center. And, naturally – who better to talk about then the random white-girl in your place of employment. I get it, I do. A lot of what I need to do is internal work – and accept that people are going to talk about me – no matter what. What matters most – is at the end of the day I can say that I am doing my best – wherever that may be – and be proud of the work I am doing.<br />It is pretty amazing – coming into this experience I felt like I was a pretty confident person – confident in my abilities on many levels. Being in another culture, being different from everyone else – really challenges everything you know about yourself. Especially your confidence. Everyone really is always talking about you; you really are different.<br />One of the best conversations I have had over the past week of processing my life here in Nicaragua was last weekend with another volunteer Jill (who unfortunately is about 20 hours away from me). The topic of the conversation was adaptation in your community. Peace Corps drills this into our heads that this is a huge part of your work – and that it is essential to sustainability of any projects or work you do throughout your two years. Although I do agree with this mentality – it is a double-sided coin. Although it is essential to be open to adapting to certain things within your community – it is equally if not more important to hold on to what you know and even more so who you are. If I made my service solely about adapting to this culture (and essentially becoming Nicaraguan) – I am completely missing the boat. Jill gave an example of when she was talking with one of the men from her community who boasts about the dozen children he has from different women. The fully ‘adapted’ person would either laugh along with the man or say nothing – as this is an accepted behavior in this culture. Jill, being Jill, said that it was ridiculous and went on to ask him how he supported them. This is not necessarily imposing another culture on this man, it is simply showing him that some people in the world do not accept this – and are actually appalled by it. I think over the past month or so I have been focusing so much on ‘adapting’ that I was forgetting about the other side of it – and staying true to myself. Although I have not condoned any pimp-daddy Nicaraguans – I have not been staying true to myself. I have not been relying on the very things that I know make me happy. Like playing sports, photography, etc. I have been focusing so much on not standing out, that I have not been fair to myself – and therefore only contributing to the feelings of lost and lonely. People are going to talk about me anyway – I might as well be doing things that I love and make me happy in the meantime. This all might so quite simple and mundane to all of you – but I cannot really explain how vital this revelation is to me completing these two years of service. I will continue to take it day-to-day but I am currently feeling so grateful for the place I am in right now. It’s as though I can feel the tides turning – except that I control this tide. I control my happiness. We are all essentially products of our own cultures, but underneath it all – we are… who we are, no matter where we are. So simple and equally so difficult to grasp.<br /><strong>Chichigalpa</strong><br />The closest ‘big’ town in proximity to me in Posoltgea. I had always passed through it to go to Chinandgea but never actually explored the town until two weeks ago. It is … amazing! I met two nursing students the day of my ‘breakdown’ in the health center – and they immediately invited me to their town and house, etc. One of the most beautiful parts of this culture. I actually ended up having a ‘sleepover’ with them two days later and they showed me around Chichigalpa. I should have known I would like this town – it produced all of the Flor de Caña or rum in the country. Ha. It is a really cute town but more than anything I was excited that they have 5 gyms! And women were in these gyms – so crazy! It is a 25 cent bus ride to this town and about 15 minutes. We also observed a ballet class going on with approximately 20 young boys in it. This shocked and thrilled me beyond words. Talk about a serious example contra this machismo culture. We also had some of the best pizza I have had here in Nicaragua and then went to watch a basketball game in a covered court that is nicer than my high schools. The family of Juniette, the nursing student, has already asked me to move there. It would be pretty sweet – but don’t think I can pull it off. I just feel lucky it is so close! I am going there later today and will be spending the night again because tomorrow hopefully I will be joining a softball team over there! Ah! So exciting.<br /><strong>4th</strong><br />Some other girls from my group and I went to Granada last weekend to celebrate the 4th of July. The weekend in general was the most money I have spent since being in Nicaragua – without a doubt. Granada is one of the touristiest towns in Nicaragua – and caters to gringos. Although this was a nice treat to be around some people from the U.S. and eat some fabulous food – I could not do it for more than a weekend. Granada is actually the site assignment for three volunteers. Friday I had some HUMMUS (holy heck I miss that), nachos and margaritas. Later that night we went out to a club – and it really was a club. Ha. But in true Nica-fashion it took 35 minutes to get a drink. Saturday we all went to an all you can eat barbeque to celebrate the 4th. Had a hot dog, hamburger, potato salad and green bean casserole – didn’t quite compare to my dad’s barbequing – but it was a nice way to celebrate the 4th. No fireworks – but Nicaraguans use them on a weekly basis – so I did not feel without. Sunday was the best day of all – Jill and I went to the Laguna de Apoyo which is a volcanic crater. This might be my favorite place in Nicaragua so far – it was incredibly relaxing and gave me a chance to really just reflect and have great conversations with Jill. On the ride back to Granada we met two RPVC, or returned Peace Corps volunteers. One from 2007 in the Dominican Republic and one from Brazil who served during the years 1964-1966. Seriously. We talked the entire ride back to Granada about his experience and his life currently in Raleigh, NC. He said he chose to do the Peace Corps as an alternative option to going to war. Wow. And I thought I was lucky for missing part of the recession.<br /><strong> Medical</strong><br />So I had a few medical things that I had been avoiding taking care of – so I went to the medical office for the first time on Monday. I really will never have better healthcare than I have right now – so I might as well take advantage of it. As everything in this country – things took way longer than they should have – so I was put up in a hotel in Managua for the night. I was initially annoyed – but then realized having a night of air condition, cable and internet was not a punishment. Ha. I met some other volunteers staying in the hotel and two volunteers from group and we all went out to dinner for burritos, nachos and beers. It was a good finale to my long American weekend. I was able to skype my parents, John and Kimmy – and it was fabulous to see all of their faces. It was hard to force myself to head back to Posoltega – but it has to be done. On the micro-bus to Leon I met two girls from San Francisco who were here vacationing on their summer vacation (teachers). One of the girls will be here until August – and I will hopefully meet up with her at some point. I love meeting fun people that love to travel!<br /><strong>Bat cave<br /></strong>So my house is still going pretty well – I was without a door for almost two weeks, but I now have the most beautiful door and my own access to the house/my room from the street. The only drawback is that when it rains – water runs under the door and creates a sort of river in my room. Nothing in this world is free. Ha. I think I really like it – because when I am here I leave it open and get to be more visible to the community. Pretty much any kid from the community stops in and likes to look at my stuff and photos. Actually, Kimmy – there is a guy here that is only 15 … but he tried to make out with you via picture two nights ago. True story.<br />Last night I got up to go the bathroom – as always – in the middle of the night. There were a swarm of bats in the middle of the house (which is an open patio) and I am pretty sure I was starring in a Batman movie. Was ducking, screaming and maybe even did a tuck and roll. Bats are scary! Anyway, made it to the bathroom without any harm.<br />The only real hiccup since I have been in this house – was a few weeks ago when my good friend Abel told me that the landlady was upset about the electricity bill. I imagined that it was 100s of cordobas higher and started to feel awful. I went to her directly to talk about it (part of this custom I do not like … they are not very direct) and sort it all out before it got out of hand. She was at first defensive and showed me a copy of the bill when I did not live there to compare it to the new one. It was a whopping… 40 cordobas higher. That is two dollars. I pay her 50 dollars a month. I tried to be sensitive to the fact that every cordoba counts here – and explained that I would not be in the house two weeks out of July – but that I would also try to use less electricity. I mean I hope if nothing this story helps give you a little perspective of what a different world this is. 2 dollars more!!! To save 8 cordobas I have been walking 25 minutes to the health center since I have lived here – until now! Now I have been riding a bike and it is sooo much faster and more fun. Ha. I was going to buy one – but Abel has offered to let me use it whenever I want – so I am gonna let this play out and see how it goes. So far so good. Anyway. The conversation ended well – and she said she understands how hard it is to be away from everyone you love –and I encouraged her to talk to me directly about any problems she has. Because Abel is always trying to speak in English to me – I think she got the impression that I do not understand a lick of Spanish. I assured her that I can understand what she is saying – and it would be better to speak directly. Hopefully we nipped that in the butt before anything serious occurred. Like me having to find a new place to live. Ha.<br /><br />Yesterday I played softball and soccer for a total of 3 hours – and my entire body is hurting this morning, and I … love it! Ha. It feels great. We played right next to a river with the volcano in the backdrop of our game. Oh, and I may be out of shape but I can still got it. Hit a double with the wooden bat made with a machete right before the game.<br />I love you all so much and I hope you all know how much I think about you and how THANKFUL I am to have all this love and support pushing me forward and holding me up. Miss you all more than you know <3 December will be here before we even know it. Cannot believe I have been here for 6 months already. Days go by slow but weeks truly do fly by. Love you all.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-64590662674367689562009-06-24T20:14:00.001-05:002009-06-24T20:18:13.601-05:00My So-Called LifeHello everyone! I know this is incredibly overdue but to be honest my motivation level for writing has been nil these past few weeks. I would be lying to you all if I did not admit that these past few weeks have been the most difficult of my journey so far. Nothing particular happened and this is … the problem. Ha. Never have I ever…had so much free time in my life. It really makes a person question their motivation level. Anyway, I feel that I am in a really good place right now, but still taking it day-to-day. I am going to try and get you all up to date in my life.<br /><strong>Mi Casa…<br /></strong>…Is fabulous. I posted some photos on facebook of my new room. It is now even cuter. More vibrant colors and more photos and cards of the people I love the most! The first impression I had of the woman, Alba, that I am living with was dead-on. She is so tranquila or chill. She is a really sweet woman and I think we both respect each other’s privacy. So far it really is working out perfectly. A lot of times when I come home after a day full of being culturally sensitive and speaking Spanish, I only want to be in my room, reading or watching Slumdog Millionaire for the 17th time. And she is okay with that. She has just recently started giving me lunch pretty regularly – which is super.<br />I have realized since moving here that I really don’t know how to cook. Ha. When I lived by myself in Wilmington, I somehow concocted the idea that I was cooking for myself. When in reality I was going out to eat a lot, living off Kashi pre-made meals, left-overs from Sunday family dinners and the occasional peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I am slowly learning here with my limited access to fruits and veggies. Breakfast I pretty much eat some fruit and cook myself some eggs. Just recently mastered hard-boiling eggs. Ha. I know…I am basically freakin Rachael Ray. I rarely have to worry about lunch. People at the health center love to feed me (see next section), Alba or basically anyone’s house I go to around midday will give me lunch. Pretty sweet. Dinner…depends. I typically go to this one family’s house and eat with them – but sometimes I just cannot hack it. I love them, but they are pretty high-maintenance and sometimes I just need a break.<br />The conditions of my house really are probably one of the nicest in Posoltega. The following sentences will probably shock you. Ha The rain has commenced and the roof is made out of techo which is …hard to explain. Basically a lot of wooden rectangle looking pieces of wood. Anyway, there are several places throughout the house that leak tremendously during the rain. I only have one in my room – it just happens to be right near my only … light bulb. Haha. I am not really that concerned about it – I just put a bucket under it and stay away from sockets.<br />Just saw my first rat since I moved in over a month ago. Cockroaches are a regular thing at night – but rarely in my room, just in the bathroom. But it is hilarious how someone’s perception can change so quickly. If I had come to this house directly when I arrived in Posoltega I would likely be complaining about these things. Now… in comparison –no biggie. Haven’t had too many problems with electricity and water. Two weeks ago we were without water for almost 24 hours which was the longest we have gone. I have some tea-lite candles which come in handy when the electricity goes out due to the most insane lightning and thunder I have ever heard.<br />I am really happy here and feel very comfortable with my living conditions. There are some volunteers here that are washing their clothes in the river, bringing water miles to their house to bathe, etc. Therefore… I am very aware of how lucky I am. Even in my town, there are several people whose only source of water is a well. Me = happy I am not on Little House on the Prairie.<br /><strong>Gordita</strong><br />So. The running joke with anyone that knows me is how … curvy or Hermosa I am getting. This is actually said in a professional setting almost daily. Ha. I forced myself to step on a scale last week in the Health Center. Confirmation? Ahem. Yes. I am only about 6 pounds heavier than when I got here. But it is definitely more about the way I feel. Oh, and the fact that my pants are insanely tight. I am working on a way to rectify this situation. Searching for a gym in the nearby town. And if that fails I have empty big yoghurt bottles that I am going fill with sand/dirt and use as weights. Yeah, that’s my life. Going to buy a bike in the beginning of July, which will be necessary for my work starting in the rural communities. The most difficult thing by far is... people LOVE TO FEED ME. Ha. And it is really a culturally sensitive topic if you refuse someone offering you comida. I know, I know … I need to take care of myself first. I am working on balancing that with keeping good relations within the community. Food is such a big part of the culture here.<br />It is weird to have one of your favorite ‘outlets’ for frustration or hobby taken away. No one exercises here. Or at least how Americans do. There workout is the incredibly duro or hard work of their lives. Whether it is on the farm, walking 5km to high school, or carrying 12 pieces of fire wood on your head – they are always working off those rice and beans. Although I do not want to do any of the previous mentioned activities – I have to figure out some kind of outlet. My parents are planning on bringing me some balls (of sports…of course), volleyball, basketball, etc. I believe that if I show up at the park – I could get some good games started, and in return be getting some exercise. Vamos haber (new fav saying)…we’ll see. Just need to find some kind of routine that is still culturally acceptable.<br /><strong>Aklecia!</strong> <br />So my friend Aklecia came to visit May 31st for a week and it was so refreshing. It was really great timing because it was right in the middle of this rut that I had been in. Aklecia and I met in Mexico during study abroad and she is also studied in Costa Rica. For this reason, I had no doubts of worries about the conditions of my house for Aklecia. Again, how time can change someone’s perception. She admittedly said to me that she was pretty shocked at the conditions of my house and Posoltega itself. Again, something that would seemingly make me upset – comforted me. She said the most shocking part of it all was how adjusted I was to it all. I am almost positive this is a good thing. Ha. Little things like the bugs, sleeping in a mosquito net, not wasting anything, using a flashlight to go the bathroom or how I wash my dishes – all are quite normal to me now.<br />The people of Posoltgea embraced Aklecia just as they did me. We went to the beach for two days – and it was so wonderful. The beach really is a haven for me – I cannot help but feel at ease and happy when I am there. The week went incredibly fast – but I was so thankful for her presence. I could not have asked for a better first visit.<br />Also, have to mention that she brought me a crap load of stuff from my parents. Como… Peanut Butter, my rain boots, my straightner and most importantly…. EVOLUTION aka my favorite wine. 6 months without wine. Not. Normal.<br /><strong>Work it Out</strong><br />Sooo . The best way to describe how I have felt for the past three weeks is…lost, useless, lacking in motivation (I could go on .. but I think this is sufficient). It has all been a pretty viscous cycle. My counterpart at the Health Center retired from her position as the Community Educator (which was never happening anyway). I really get along with her a lot (she is not the woman I was living with … do not even speak with her), but we were doing … no work. O sea..(or in other wards) we were just working on the Influenza, or Swine Flu. There are now cases in Nicaragua (around 50 or so) and they are putting even more resources into preventing the spread of this flu. I have continued to feel lost at the health center – (with or without a counterpart), but also felt incredibly hesitant about forming my own projects and working with other NGOs or the schools. Mainly because when I am not there they assume that I am at the beach. As much as I wish this was true – it is not.<br />Anyway, just this week I have decided to let go of everything that has or has not happened in the past three weeks. With or without a counterpart, I am going to work in this community. My project director came to my site on the 11th. To be completely honest, I cried during the first 30 minutes of the interview. I just could not talk about my lack of work without getting choked up. It was sort of like the levy broke, and I could not stop the flow of emotions of the frustrations of the past three weeks of my life. The project director handled it all so well – she was compassionate and understanding but at the same time but some of the blame on me. I have all of these great ideas for projects – but have been hesitating on doing anything. A lot of that has been due to the lack of the role at the health center – and my hesitancy to step outside of their and do things on my own (without offending anyone).<br />It took a few days after my boss left to really process everything and get myself together. To compare how I am feeling today to last week – is pretty much in a different universe. I have decided to take more control of what I do on a daily basis. Instead of just sitting in the health center waiting for someone to tell me to make a poster or mural (they think I am really artistic.. haha), I have been going to NGOs and schools to form projects by myself. It is really intimidating – but the more I do it, I know the more comfortable I will feel. Monday I start at the high school here in Posoltega and today I met someone I pretty much already consider a counterpart. She is the counselor at the high school and is so excited to work with me and is actually going to give the charlas with me at the high school (which is the whole idea of having a counterpart). I am excited and nervous to start at the high school – but more than anything, I am just excited to be having more things to do. I love being in schools – I just feel incredibly comfortable.<br />Feeling highly motivated after my visit to the high school and meeting the school counselor (might be fate, right dad?), I went to the health center and decided to give my first charla there. There was a group of about 10 mothers whose children have been identified as underweight or having malnutrition. I gave them a charla on … nutrition. Ha. It went incredibly well – they all participated and were so sweet to me. It was a great first charla in the health center. I gave the same charla to my 5th grade class on Wednesday and it went well also. Besides the fact that when I asked who drank coffee in the class – the entire class raised their hands in glee. They seriously give coffee to children at the age of two or less.<br />I can already see in the near future that I am going to be so incredibly busy that I will wish I had as much free time that I did these past three weeks. I just deal much better with a jam-packed schedule, rather than an empty one. It’s in my blood. Ha. I have been getting a lot of support from Paula (the volunteer closest to me), Elizabeth (a TEFL volunteer in Chinandagea) and Hana. Hana has actually been having a really difficult time at her site and was considering leaving me … but she is getting a new site assignment which is so amazing. As always, I feel incredibly support by home…aka my heart. I 100% could not do this without you.<br /><strong>Mis padres van a venir en un mes!!!</strong><br />So my parents will be here in less than a month now! I cannot believe it (and I don’t think they can either) Haha. I am so proud of them and honored that they love me so much that they would come here so quickly – without hesitation. We are going to go to the only resort in Nicaragua for the first few days and then I will introduce them to the ‘real’ Nicaragua – aka my life. I will likely cry the first 24 hours they are here. Ha. No really, I cannot explain how I excited I am – I am so lucky, blessed, loved. Who could ask for more?<br /><br /><strong>I love you all so much</strong> – and thank you for your strength and support that you continue to give me. To explain what the means to me is impossible. You are the strength that gets me through the most difficult of days.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-81143805809202714192009-05-22T20:48:00.001-05:002009-05-22T20:48:49.284-05:00Dreaming...Preface: I have had a pretty difficult week – and although this short little entry is completely biased, I think it became a really good outlet for my frustration this week. I am going to write more in a blog-style format this weekend about my new house, work, etc. This was just me venting and reflecting on some things I have observed here in Nicaragua. Frankly, I am going through some culture shock for truly the first time. It seems quite delayed – but maybe it is because I am finally really settling in to this new life of mine.<br />Although this country’s majority in numbers belongs to the mujeres (women), men here certainly have taken the wheel, and have been for centuries in this machismo society (machismo: a society, culture predominantly run by men in every aspect). Maybe I should clarify. Women here do all of the caretaking, cleaning, washing clothes, yard work, etc. This may not sound like a lot to women of my generation – but here it is duro. It is hard, it is daily and everything takes three times as long as it should.<br />In reality the typical Nicaraguan family (both that I have observed and read factually) starts with a barely out of puberty 15 year old girl and usually a slightly older male at the age of 20. The 15 year old girl, now-turned ‘woman’, is pregnant within months. She stops going to school if she hasn’t already – and prepares for the lifelong job of motherhood. The hombre, typically cannot find work in or around his pueblo – so he searches elsewhere. Most commonly I have found that the husbands are in Costa Rica working on farms, or fincas, or in the United States. They periodically send money back to the family for rice, beans and other essential items (you should see how busy Western Union is here). In my fairytale mind I would like to romanticize this idea of a father sacrificing everything for his family. The realistic part of me knows this is just that, a fairytale.<br />Although I have never directly asked any of these women I have come into contact with – I cannot help but beg the question: how faithful are these men, in a society that openly acknowledges and even accepts infidelity? Truth be told, these men likely have other families in one – if not multiple parts of the world. There is a sole two-story house in my town of 4,000 habitants. It has been told to me that this man has over twenty-five children just here in Posoltega. One of the families that has ‘adopted’ me, openly discussed that the father had lived in one of the rural communities for over a year and had another child with his mistress some years ago. Normal topic of conversation over my tortilla and cheese with the fam. In this same family – the 15 year old boasts about his four girlfriends – of which two are close friends.<br />So in reality, the typical Nicaraguan family is a single-mom, with at least four children. Running the household, bills, etc. until her husband comes home for a week every six months or so. When he returns she just has more laundry and more mouths to feed. Condoms here are seriously taboo and largely in part to the machismo attitude – few women demand such a thing, let alone from their husbands. They would quickly be chastised and accused themselves of cheating. Therefore, whenever the husband comes home – he likely impregnates the woman again, at best. One can only imagine how many STDs and HIV is transmitted through this dark corner of Nicaraguan culture. Women are often referred to here as ‘mi mujer’ or my woman. To be referred to as similarly as a motorcycle, a machete – someone’s property. A man’s property.<br />I must note that I am speaking in large, vast generalizations – and todos los hombres no son iguales. Just as in the United States, all men truly are not the same. I remember that every time I think of my own father.<br />Over the past week I had met a man at my regular lunch spot – and we instantly starting planning charlas and projects together. He works for the mayor’s office and presented as a very well educated and well-intentioned colleague. I would guess he is 37 years old or so – has two children and is married. All was going well until around 5pm today – when I received a text message from him telling me that I should dream of him tonight. First impressions aren’t everything.<br />I wouldn’t say I am bitter per say right now, just coming out of the fog of excitement when everything was new and rose-colored. This is probably a good thing – because if I went through these next two years doing that I would be in denial-land. I didn’t sign up for the Peace Corps to go to a 3rd world country and pretend that everything was pretty and perfect. This country has serious problems, infiltrated into the very depths of its existence and the problems they face daily.<br />It is all relevant to my life here and even more so my work. I can only hope that my work with some of the youth will help to improve some of these young women’s self-esteem – and thus avoid the vicious cycle of young motherhood, poverty and the limitations they both manufacture. The problem with poverty that has been prevalent for centuries – is that it is hard to demonstrate or encourage people to think of a future different than the one that was handed to them. When one does not see a possibility of change, why would they attempt to do anything different? This is the real problem. I suppose it is really no different than the work I was doing with heroin addicts in Delaware. If my client did not see the possibility of change – of something better – he/she had no incentive to change their behavior. Hope is such a beautiful thing – life is so dark without it. Even without knowing with certainty, hoping for something better may actually be more powerful than the change itself. It gives you the opportunity to dream.<br /><br />I never thought dreaming was a luxury until now.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-90786337556057154902009-05-07T12:43:00.001-05:002009-05-07T12:48:05.501-05:00One Step at a TimeHello friends and family – I hope this entry finds you well and healthy! I first want to thank you again for your continued support; I know that it is very easy to get caught up in our own busy lives, but the continuation of your enthusiasm and encouraging words do more for me than you can imagine.<br />I decided to go back to writing about general topics as opposed to day-by-day blog entries. I think it is more focused and generally more interesting than a detailed description of my daily life.<br /><strong>Mitch.</strong><br />Well I don’t mean to start with such a grave topic, but it is the first on the list. Two weeks ago I went to a community that was very affected by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 (it is also might be the highest elevation I will get here in Posoltega). It was a very interesting community and sort of exists on its own. The community is completed isolated from the rest of the municipality due to no public transportation daring to make the track up the mountain. We went up to this community for the vaccination campaign and they vaccinated hundreds of children. I quickly learned while in the community that there is no school. Can you imagine? I also observed that over half of the children were not ‘registered’. In other words, it was never reported that they were born – there is absolutely no record of them. One mother had four children without registry and also did not know their birth dates. Several children did not have names. I cannot even find words to describe what it is like to witness that. Many things were running through my mind – but I obviously said nothing. I was with Guadalupe (aka my counterpart and host-mother) and she lectured the women about how these children deserve names and registry. She went on to explain to them that it was as if the children were animals if they did not have registry.<br />When I first arrived in Posoltega they told me there had not been a child or maternal death in this municipality in some odd number of years. After witnessing the number of children that are not registered, there are undoubtedly deaths not being reported – because they are never registered in the first place. There was a woman from the mayor’s (Alcade) office with us who was registering some of the children (some as old as 12 years old). This problem is so large and clearly a product of poverty. I know this is so much bigger than one person – but I hope to incorporate this into my work over the next two years.<br />Side note: the ride up to this site, I was in the back of the Health Center truck (did I mention how the roads were?). I would like to compare it directly to the Safari ride at Disney World, but much, much more intense.<br /><strong>Nica-Time</strong><br />So. I am beginning to think every Latin American country uses this as an excuse. ‘Tica-Time’ is what Costa Ricans say. ‘Nica-time’ is what Nicaraguans say. Basically what it all means, is that no one is one time here. I am not sure if I already told you this in a previous blog, but people actually say ‘American-time’ if they want people to be on time (although, the result will still be the same). My first experience with this was in Leon when I went to visit my friend Kenya. I got there around 2:30pm ready for a day of walking the city as we had discussed. Instead, I sat in front of a television, drinking coca-cola (we’ll talk about that later) until around 5:30pm. We went and walked around for about two hours and then I repeated the previously mentioned activities while she was getting ready for the discoteca, or club. Patience or paciencia is something that is going to continue to be a learning process here.<br /><strong>Regalos (gifts)</strong><br />Now after mentioning one of the less attractive qualities of Nicaraguans, I feel it necessary to tell you about one of the best ones. They are so incredibly NICE. I know I already mentioned some about how people have been taking care of me here – but it really has only been increasing as days go on. I go from house to house to say hello to my friends/neighbors and end up bringing home four cucumbers, two avocados and a stomach full of two dinners. I rarely spend money on food here, because everyone wants to feed me! Hence, I am going to start exercising next week. Holy Rice!<br />Also, while at these people’s houses they either offer me a ‘fresca’ (juice made from Posoltega’s finest) or ‘gaseosa’(the biggest addiction here in Nicaragua…Coca-Cola). Due to several warnings about the water here in Posoltega, I am trying to limit the amount of home-made juices I am drinking and you cannot refuse a drink…therefore I have had more Coca-Cola in the past three weeks than my parents let me combined throughout my entire childhood (I don’t think they know what Diet, Caffeine-Free even is). Yuck. I have got to find a polite way to limit this consumption.<br />Another fun fact is that they love sopa, soup here. Every. Day. It doesn’t matter that it is 110 degrees out. Was literally sweating into my soup last week.<br /><strong>Time Management</strong><br />Definitely need to work on that. They did tell us that our work the first three months is to integrate into our town, but I feel like people here are really quite demanding! They want to spend every single second with me (I think it is cultural – not just because I am fabulous…ha)! If I do not show up to someone’s house within two days – they think I moved back to the United States or was sick. I am seriously thinking about setting up a night with each family to avoid feeling pulled in a million directions by these families. I do not feel bad for myself at all – considering I have talked to some people in my group who are having quite the opposite problem in their towns. But for my sanity, I definitely need to work on not letting people suck hours and days out of me.<br /><strong>Role @Health Center, School</strong><br />The health program of PC Nicaragua is very…open-ended, which has its benefits and drawbacks. The other programs, such as business and environment have a specific schedule and are assigned a specific teacher to work with. The first three weeks here at the Health Center has taught me a little something about myself: I really do enjoy some structure in my life. Especially in my work. I am struggling to find a role at the health center and do not feel an incredible amount of support from the staff. I suppose there is probably fault on both ends. I definitely need to take more initiative and just start doing things. I just finished my ‘Plan de Trabajo’ or work plan for the first three months – and I am already feeling better. I am sure nothing will pan out as planned, but at least I have a plan. Ha.<br />I feel so comfortable at the schools here and will start giving charlas in two classes within the next two weeks. I do not know if it is less intimidating – but I remember what I observed in Los Limones on my trip to the mountains. The way into any community is through their children. Even after visiting the schools a few times – random children yell my name in the streets. I am working on preparing my materials (with my fabulous markers and scissors) this week and I am really looking forward to working in the schools.<br />I won’t bore you with a long entry about the Virus that I am sure you see on the news daily. But basically, all of the PCVs were given Tamiflu in case of any occurrence here in Nicaragua – currently we do not have one case. We had a meeting at the health center about it and 45 out of the 50 people fell asleep during the three hours. Fascinating. Oh, and I did not fall asleep! Ha. They are just having emergency action plans in place, yada yada. If a case is found in Nicaragua – all PCVs will be put on ‘StandFast’ which means we will not be allowed to leave our sites until further notice. Hopefully it will not come to this! The health center is so frantic they are actually looking for patients now and finding out who has left the country in the last month and going to their house to test them. Nuts.<br /><strong>Highlight of the last two weeks….<br /></strong>MY PACKAGE CAME FROM MY PARENTS!!!! They sent it on February 25th and I received it one the 27th of April. It had Hershey kisses, peanut butter eggs, Girl Scout cookies, my favorite pair of pants, magazines and much more! I never knew how great melted peanut butter eggs were for breakfast. Ha. I have the best parents in the world!<br />I also received a package from Kimmers. Thanks for your ‘support.’ It is much appreciated girrrrl. I miss you more than you know.<br />Also, Aklecia is coming to see me!!!! She will be my first visitor and I am super excited to catch up with her and show her my new life here in Nicaragua.<br />In addition, I started using my Nikon camera! I feel comfortable using it here – especially when I am with someone from the town. I have started a little project for my friend Abel – who needs photos of the youth of Posoltega for the website for his project. I will post the address when I get it!<br /><strong>Mountains<br /></strong>I randomly decided to go to Esetli this past weekend to meet up with some other volunteers without really knowing how long it would take or how to get there. Weird. After a long yet beautiful ride up there, I arrived in Esteli about five hours after leaving Posoltega. I love the mountains so much, their beauty really astonishes me. I was mesmerized most of the ride. That is, until the drunk guy in the first seat got a little too drunk. He randomly got off the bus and quickly got more beer when it stopped. Twice the bus stopped for him to use the bathroom. Only in Nicaragua. We were less than five minutes from my destination when he began vomiting. Ironically, this man had a Phillies baseball hat on (which is really common here!). <br />A few of us treated ourselves to a wonderful Italian dinner with WINE!!! It was fabulous. Or it was just fabulous because I have been deprived of both of those. Ha. We’ll never know. It was really nice to talk to the other volunteers and see how their first few weeks have gone in their sites.<br />Jessie, Brad and I also went to a used clothing store that was having a big sale. I got a Rampage bathing suit, two black shirts and a t-shirt that says ‘East End’ for a total of $6.00 U.S. dollars. Annnnd I felt guilty for spending that much. Seriously. Who have I become?<br />When I got back on Saturday – I made the rounds to the families that have adopted me and went to bed early due to an intense headache.<br /><strong>Seafood Festival</strong><br />In true Amanda fashion – although I was not feeling very well, I went to the beach on Sunday. They were having a Seafood Festival (which proved to be a bust anyhow...I had a cold fish patty that compared to 9th grade cafeteria food) in Corinto, the nearby beach. I went with my friend Craig from our group and had a great time. The ocean is so healing…or so I thought. When I got back home, I had a little bit of a cough – and felt feverish. But it was hard to decipher whether it was sunburn or a fever. I decided to take some Tylenol and go to bed. <br /><strong>So who guessed it??</strong><br />I was pretty sick Monday morning. Felt like an intense sinus infection plus a nagging cough. My sinuses have not been top-shape since I moved here due to the intense amount of burning trash and dust I am exposed to daily. I also have not been sleeping incredibly well – and surprisingly not because of the rats. Since I got my fan I think it drowns out the sound of them. But a sound it cannot conquer is that of the two puppies that my family has now decided to tie up in the kitchen (or right on the other side of my wall). I will not even go into my thoughts on this sanitation issue. They puppies fight and whelp all throughout the night and it is impossible to ignore. I have been utilizing my ipod a lot more, but nonetheless I have been sleeping much menos.<br /> I called the Medical Office on Monday and told my doctor my symptoms. She told me to take a regimen of medication and drink lots of fluids and that it was likely a sinus infection. I have been living out of my suitcases because I don’t have any furniture, so I could not find a thermometer, but I was pretty certain that I was burning up. Abel, my new best friend, went and got the medication for me and also brought me some chicken soup and dinner later on Monday evening. I slept on and off all day Monday and felt a little better in the evening. I slept on and off because the kids of the house I am staying in did not have school. The 15 year old boy is in the stage of ‘blaring music loud enough to make a person deaf’ stage. I was unfortunate enough to be sick during two days that he did not go to school. Needless to say it did not help with my headache and fever. I asked him several times to turn it down, but I don’t think he truly understood how sick I was. During the night, my fever broke again and I did not sleep much during our first thunderstorm of the ‘winter’ or rainy season.<br /> I woke up Tuesday feeling worse and did not go to work again. I continued to take the medications and hoped that after 24 hours of taking it I would start to feel better. Instead I was feeling worse and was sweating through my clothes due to having this fever in 105 degree weather. Never have I ever…had to deal with a fever without air conditioning at my disposal. Wow. Needed it. My head no longer felt like a sinus infection, my entire head was pounding and hurt to lift from my pillow. Today’s selection of pounding music was: Reggae. At least it was decent music. I physically turned it down twice throughout the day because I could not hear who was speaking on the telephone, two rooms away. This music can be heard for blocks.<br />After using Abel’s thermometer and confirming that my fever was still over 100, I called the medical office twice to find out what I should do. While I was waiting for the doctor to call back, the sub-director of our health center came to see me (provoked by my host-mom, I believe). She did a consultation and said that I undoubtedly had an infection in my lungs. As I sat there sweating through my Old Navy t-shirt like it was paper, I tried to understand everything that she was saying. I could tell she was concerned that I had the ‘influenza humana’, or human virus, as she wore a mask to cover her mouth during the consult. I had doubts about letting them treat me, but all I knew was that I wanted to feel better and likely could not travel to Managua in the state I was in. They ended up putting an IV in my hand for rehydration and antibiotics. They said that if my fever and cough were not better by the next day, I would be tested for the human virus. Fabulous.<br /> I felt like I was on a scene from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman or Little House on the Prairie. The IV bag was tied to a rope that was strung across the tin roof my dirt-floor room. Seriously? I almost immediately fell asleep after they put in the IV and didn’t wake up until around 6:00pm when my host-mom/colleague brought me a fried egg, cube of cheese and bread. I devoured it and went back to sleep until my next round of antibiotics at 11:00pm. They told me to turn off my fan because it was likely blowing dust from dirt floor into my face. I was not happy about this. I woke up on and off throughout the night but was feeling a thousand times better. <br /> I woke up feeling incredibly better and the IV was taken out around 7:00am. I showered and immediately began cleaning my room (aka putting all of my things back into my suitcases). I also was washing clothes and my sheets, excited to have the energy to do so. I spoke with the PC doctor on in the morning and she was concerned about getting treatment outside of Peace Corps. She spoke with the doctor here that treated me on the telephone. She thought it would be best to come to Managua to have x-rays of my chest if the coughing and fever continued. I assured her that my fever and headache was much, much better and that the coughing had subsided. I have to be in contact with her twice a day until the end of the week, but I truly do feel so much better. I understand that she needs to know about the treatment I am receiving, but I also feel like I should have been brought into Managua on Monday when I called talking about tightness in my chest. End result, I am alive and feeling much better.<br />Throughout this whole mess these last two days, Abel found it necessary to tell me that he is in love with me. It went something like this:<br /><br />Abel: ‘Amanda – do you believe in love at first sight?’<br />Amanda: ‘Definitely not.’<br />Abel: ‘Seriously?’<br />Amanda: ‘Yes seriously. You have to get to know someone before you can have those feelings.’<br />Abel: ‘I didn’t believe it either until the first time I saw you. I felt something so deep within my heart and was overcome with emotions.’ (Meanwhile I am lying on bed, sweating through my sheets and pretending to pass out)<br /><br />So. I was not really able to respond to this yesterday – but I did address that whole conversation today. I told him that that was very nice and flattering but that I was not interested in anything with anyone right now and I that I wanted to focus on my work here. He is very respectful and I do not think for a moment that he has any mal-intention, but it is better that I told him directly what was up. He is very helpful (almost to the point of annoyance) and a good friend; I do feel lucky to have met him despite this little love confession.<br /><br />Well…that about brings you up to date! Ha. I really am feeling much, much better – so no worries (Aunt Raine!) I only have 8 more days until I get to move and I am super-ready and excited. I love you all so much and would love to hear updates on what is going on in your lives.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-84971671779504657512009-04-25T13:36:00.003-05:002009-04-25T13:43:42.321-05:00Boys II Men is Back!Hellloooo United States! Maybe boys to men isn´t back, but they finally made it big here in Nicaragua. 10 years later!<br />The swearing-in ceremony was very exciting and I took some videos that I will be posting shortly. It was a great honor to be there representing the U.S. and even more so… Dela…where! I am one week into my service here in Posoltega and it has been a doozy. I hope that everyone is well in body, mind and spirit. I miss you all terribly, but I can already tell that two years here is going to fllllyyy by. This blog I am going to divide into days, because that is how I took notes this week. But first I will tell you a little about the swearing-in ceremony.<br /><strong><em>Por Paz</em></strong><br />Ironically, as the days got closer to swearing-in I got closer to certain girls in the group. We definitely enjoyed the last few days together before we were all spread out around the country (my closest in proximity good friend is about 3.5 hours away and the furthest 16 hours). I did cry once during the course of the day when I was saying goodbye to my gordita (little chubby girl). I knew I would miss that comfort of seeing her after a long day and nearly breaking my back to pick her up. Ha. I know I will definitely return to see them soon (possibly when my parents come to visit!). For the remainder of the day I enjoyed air conditioning and good company until happy hour. It was definitely a great time, but I was incredibly exhausted after a long week of saying goodbye to Hana. We spent an insaaane amount of time together and definitely enjoyed some Flor de Caña (the rum they make here… and it is amazing) the last few days in El Rosario. I am going to miss her incredibly, but I am glad that we were in the same training towns and we’re able to become so close.<br /><em><strong>Day One –</strong></em><br />Prior to leaving for Posoltega, I went to the PC office with my fellow Chinandegaens. I was surprisingly not nervous, and more just ready to start the two years. I arrived around 2:00pm to my new home and immediately went to the comedor, or the semi-restaurant to eat. I then promptly took a nap/slept in my sweat for about an hour and a half. I then decided to walk around for a little and perfectly planned I ran into Hilda (the 18 year old girl I had become friends with during my site visit) and her aunt. We went for a short walk and then I ended up at a bible study. Do not ask me how this happened, but basically they are all Evangelical, which is a very strict and popular religion here, and she was having a bible study at her house. I thought, ‘whatever…I will probably learn some new words in the book of God.’ It was pretty interesting and tranquila (chill) until they asked me, “Have you accepted God into your heart?” I was confused and pressured by talk of heaven and hell and ultimately all of these hands ended up on my head and people were praying for my sins. I did drink a decent amount of Flor de Caña a few days before, but Jesus. It was awkward for sure and I may or may not now be…Evangelical. I returned home pondering how religion is going to affect my service here and also my personal life considering they had already planned out my Thursday night and Friday night activities. It is a fine line to get to know people’s culture or religion without offending them by refusing it. You will hear a few more examples of this throughout this blog.<br />After returning to my home for the first two weeks, I entered my room and saw something out of the corner of my eye. As I got a closer look at this large crab-looking creature on my wall (about 4 inches long), I decided to ask one of the little girls what it was. She entered my room and then screamed something like ‘alacran’ and started running for her mother. I then realized I should probably be worried. The mom/my colleague came into the room and killed the creature with the pole that is used as my security system at night to secure the door. As I looked across the room I saw another, but this one was about 6 inches long. As liquid substances stained my brick wall from the dead animals, she then explained to me what the world in English, scorpions. Fab-u-loso. I never thought this would ever be a decision that would enter my life, but if faced with the choice of rats or scorpions – I would chose rats. Apparently here in Nicaragua scorpions are very large and scary – but not deadly. Occasionally people have allergic reactions to the stings (yea, I know) and if someone is pregnant it supposedly makes them have a miscarriage. Just because a doctor told me that here in Nicaragua does not mean that it is true – there are plenty of mitos here, or myths. So even though I had been saved by God that night, I did not sleep very well. I do have a mosquitera, which is a mosquito net that goes around my bed – but it was left in El Rosario by accident (don’t worry it is being brought to me). I woke up constantly throughout the night checking for my little spider/crab friends. Welcome back to Posoltga! Ha.<br /><strong><em>Day Two – Jornada</em></strong><br />This was officially my first day of work and currently we are doing a Vaccination Campaign (nation-wide, or Jornada de Vacunaciones. Basically the point of this campaign is to vaccinate, provide vitamins and anti-parasite medication to all children in the entire municipality. Directly in the casco urbano or main part of town there are about 3000 people, but in the entire municipality there are over 17,000. So each day for over two weeks, teams go out to different communities and walk house-to-house. I was definitely not prepared for this on my first day, as my perception was that we would go to one place and everyone in the community would come to get vaccinated (this is how it is in 95% of the country). Due to this mal-perception I brought one pequanita (very small) bottle of water. We were out in the community until around 3:00pm. Needless to say I ended up drinking some tap water and a large quantity of Pepsi due to lack of resources.<br /> It overall was a very good day and I learned a lot about the difference between where I will be living and the more rural communities. Several of the houses were made out of trash bags or other plastic material and held up by nailing in the tops of beer bottle tops. I also began to understand why they go house to house to vaccinate. One of the families told us there was a pregnant teenager a few houses down (and by a few houses I mean about a half mile, they are all so spread out!). When we arrived the girl would not come out of her house and said that there were no children in the house and no one was pregnant. Somehow my counterpart hoaxed her into coming out, and sure enough the 15 year old girl was about four months pregnant. I do not know whether it is fear of the injection or fear of judgment, but she did not want anyone to know. We returned around 4:00pm to the health center and I walked the mile and a half back to my host-house, exhaaausted. Still, I somehow ended up at bible study again – and I sat there made at myself for not being able to effectively communicate that this was not what I wanted to be doing. Ha. Language level or just me? Who knows.<br />After I returned home to go to sleep, I went to use the latrine quickly – and as I opened the door I saw at least 5 cockroaches on or in the latrine. I jumped back and closed the door. These four weeks in this house are going to teach me to hold my bladder like I never have.<br /><strong><em>Day Three – Meeting<br /></em></strong>My Program Manager, Pilar, scheduled a meeting this day with my counterparts, the director of the health center and also encouraged them to invite other key people in the community. Due to this meeting, I did not go out on the jornada and was able to wash some of my clothes. This is such a physical activity, I cannot even explain it – but I kind of enjoy it. Needless to say I took two showers before 9:30am due to the amount of sweating I did during my clothes washing session. Normal.<br />I went to the high school before the meeting to talk with the director of the school to see if he could come to the meeting, but he wasn’t there. I waited for almost an hour while I was hit on a guy that I thought was a student. He is at least 4 inches shorter than me – and I opened the conversation by asking him what grade he was in. His reply was, “I am a teacher here.” Smooth Amanda, real smooth. He proceeded to recite poems about my eyes and told me I look like Angelina Jolie as I waited for the director. I finally gave up/wasn’t entertained by my short friend – so I returned for some lunch prior to my meeting with Pilar. The meeting was jam packed with people interested in working with me…and by jam-packed I mean it was the director of the health center, Pilar and me. I definitely did not feel like the health center director made any effort to have anyone else come – but I also understood that it was bad timing with the joranda going on and everything. The health center director kind of reminds me of Ursula from the Little Mermaid. Anyway, I guess it went well – it is still very vague what my role will be in the health center. My main counterpart is the community educator – but it appears that she is bogged down with working with TB clients in other communities. There is no presence in the schools and I have yet to see one charla given. The good thing about this – is that it does give me a wide-open opportunity to do anything.<br />So my first few days in town, I was doing a very sub-par job at feeding myself. But I quickly learned that this town is going to take care of me. There are already two families who will feed me at the drop of a hat – unprovoked. I just show up to say hello and they invite me in and immediately start feeding me. This is such a comfort and I am so thankful for both families. One family is that of the driver of the Health Center vehicle, Will. It all started by them asking me if I was getting fed by my host-mom and I explained that it was not part of our deal. Then they started realizing how often I was buying eggs – and became concerned. That is all I have cooked so far here – Ha. This night they gave me gallo pinto, cheese, tortilla and tomato. This is something I would have cringed at in my training town to see for dinner; I literally had to stop myself to breathe a little while eating because it was so amazing. Just like my mom says, it’s all relative.<br />I got to talk to Paula, the volunteer closest to me, and she invited me to Chinandega the next day. I was super excited to go to Chinandega and spend some time with her. I ended the night by going to a ‘cult’ or an Evangelical service/celebration. It was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. I went because I had been watching the little kids practicing their dance for it all week and wanted to support them (this is their only opportunity to dance – as it is forbidden in this religion). It was almost two hours long and the kids dance was less than 5 minutes. The majority of the service was a pastor yelling into a microphone which was followed by asking anyone to come forward who would like to accept God into their heart. I felt like he and everyone else was staring at me during this ‘call’ for a new disciple. Needless to say I had already made up my mind that this would be my first and last Evangelical service. After no one was willing to go to the front to accept God for the first time – they had anyone come forward who needed God at this time. There were about eight people of the church who would put their hands on the people and rock them back and forth, until eventually they fell to the ground. This was supposed to represent that God had entered his/her heart. People were crying and falling. It was madness. I am surprised no one got hurt. Somehow I stuck it out and waited for the service to be over – mainly because the guy playing the keyboard and singing was the hottest Nicaraguan I have seen to date.<br /><strong><em>Day Four – the Dega</em></strong><br />Off to Chinandega! I traveled by myself the 45 minute bus ride there and it was fabulous after traveling in a group of twenty for three full months. The guy who thought I was Angelina Jolie ended up sitting with me until the first stop, Chichigalpa. Shortly after, a young woman moved back one seat to sit with me. She immediately started asking me questions about where I was from, what I was doing in Posoltega, the usual. She is a 28 year old, essentially single mom of a 11 year old boy because her husband is in the U.S. She was super excited about me being in Posoltega and immediately invited me to her home and pointed out her favorite discoteca that we should go to. I love meeting new people! Ha. She wrote down her address and phone number prior to getting off the bus. I met Paula and another volunteer at the Gas Station right near the bus stop. The Gas Station is ‘On the Run’ there are only five in the entire country – one in Chinandega and four in Managua. Gas stations here are … golden. It is so opposite of our culture. The bathrooms are amazing – it is air conditioned, has great food. I could have stayed in there forever. Ha. Both of these girls are Environment volunteers – Paula is from Virginia and Olenka from California. I found out that Olenka was actually going to my training town house to stay during a language taller this week! Small world. I told her to give my fam a hug for me in El Rosario. We spent all day walking all through the town and they were showing me the important places (bank, post office, grocery stores, etc.). It was really helpful to have someone show me all of these places for the first time. Both of them have only been into service four months – but already were very familiar with the city of Chinandega. My new mailing address is:<br />Amanda Levering<br />A.P. 115<br />Chinandega, Chinandega<br />Nicaragua, Central America<br /><br />It will be so much easier to get mail and packages now – I am super excited. Three volunteers from my group ended up being in Chinandega too and we hung out for a little as well. It became really clear to me how key my location is in Posoltega. I am so close to two of the biggest cities in Nicaragua and Chinandega has the most volunteers as well. The ease of transportation is something that I will definitely continue to appreciate throughout these two years. I spoke with one of my friends in Quiali aka the mountains – and she is having the opposite experience with transportation and isolation. We all will have our own barriers and obstacles throughout this experience, for sure. But I am already thankful for these two things.<br />After returning to Posoltega, I showered and got ready for the Hilda’s little sister’s birthday party. En route to the party, I was stopped by a guy who kindly asked in Spanish, “Are you with Peace Corps?”We ended up chatting for nearly a half hour on the street (it was mainly him talking frantically) about how he had worked with a previous PCV and what a great experience it was. He also went into some detail about a project he is working on to get funding to better the water in Posoltega (apparently a great number of people have died due to kidney failure). I briefly told him that I was currently looking for a house and where I was living for the next three weeks. We exchanged numbers and he promised to start looking for a house for me.<br />I finally arrived at the birthday party and it was…bumpin. Ha. The father of Hilda was visiting from Leon and he and some other men were drinking heavily some Flor de Caña in the backyard. I played a serious game of freeze tag with the kids – and ended up covered in sweat. Apparently this meant that I needed a drink…a real drink. Ha. One of the men (whose house I was at) kept insisting that I have just one drink. I eventually accepted and sipped on it for about an hour. It was essentially rum on the rocks. It was incredibly awkward as I sipped this drink and a dozen kids and my evangelical women friends were watching. I am probably not shunned from the bible study group. No – they love me, but it was my first weird drinking experience. They tried to give me more drinks and I declined – insisting that I didn’t really like to drink (lies). I just will probably never be comfortable drinking here – because I need to be seen as a professional. Plus – my location permits me to drink in neighboring towns if need be. Ha.<br />I returned home, slightly buzzed from my small cocktail – expecting to have a fabulous sleep. To my dismay, I woke up around 2:00am to evenly paced scratching sound above my bed. I ran and turned on the lights, and through my still sleeping eyes, I am pretty sure I saw two rats ‘haciendo amor’ or making love. Ha. I made a lot of noise and broke up their love fest (I think they were teenagers), if for no other reason than I do not want any more rats. I am strangely getting used to things like this and went back to bed quite easily.<br /><strong><em>April 19th – Corinto</em></strong><br />I met Craig and Paula at the ‘On the Run’ in Chinandega to head off to Corinto a.k.a. the beach. I was super excited to have a relaxing day on the beach. We got there around 11am and packed some peanut butter and jelly and cucumber and tomato sandwiches. I had been in Corinto once before during HIV/AIDS week, but the heat was nothing like it was this day. You literally could not walk on the sand; you had to run as fast as you could. I literally thought my feet were going to blister up on the bottom. I took a little walk by myself and checked out some of Corinto and took some photos. I am hoping more and more that I will be able to take more photos. If I haven’t used my good camera by the time my parents get here in July, I decided I will have them take it home. In the mean time I am just trying to be as creative as I can be with my little camera. We did not get back home late from Corinto – around 4:30-5:00pm.<br /> I went to Kenya’s house immediately (the family and 24 year old girl I met on my site visit a month ago) because I heard that she was back for the weekend. We both yelped a little when we saw each other and I spent the rest of the night at her house. She wanted to file my nails and toes – so I gladly let her as I am going through pedicure withdrawal. She told me that she was now going to be living in Leon during the week because there are more opportunities for her there and she is provided with housing by her grandmother. Although I was disappointed she would not be in Posoltega, I also was happy for her that she had this opportunity to study and find work in Leon. It is so interesting to think about how she is choosing to leave this place and I am choosing to live here. It is much different to accept it as two years of your life – and actually living it. I still hope to maintain this relationship with Kenya and we made plans for Saturday that I would come to Leon with her little sister, Amanda.<br />Quickly before going home – Kenya accompanied me to talk to the owner of the room for rent that I had fallen in love with at first site. When I had first gone – the rest of the family was talking as if I was already living there saying, “This patio is your patio too,” etc. But when I talked to the Doña, or mother of the house, this night she said that the room was not available for rent because she and her husband were sleeping there currently. It was a very bizarre ending to the situation – but I had hope that something better was to come and my parents reassured me that it was not meant to be. After returning home slightly disappointed, I changed into my pajamas when the little girl told me two people were looking for me. I went to the door and it was Kenya and her little brother. We walked to the side of the house and they said they had talked to their mom and that I should not be worried about housing because I can stay with them. Kenya went on to say that I could sleep in her bed and use her things – because she has other things in Leon. She shares a room with her sister and brother. I was almost brought to tears when I thought about how this family – who is not rich by any means – is so willing to take me and take care of me. Whatever they have – they are willing to share it with me. It is moments like this, that I am reminded that humanity can be so beautiful. I went to sleep that night without a care in the world.<br /><br /><strong><em>4/20<br /></em></strong>My sinuses have not bothered me at all here in Nicaragua – that is until I moved to the desert. It has not been too bad, but I have been sneezing and having sinus headaches. It is just so dry and SO dusty. The jornada was pretty boring this day and we went to one of the pre-schools. It was a lot less physically tiring and shorter as well. We got back to the health center around 12:30pm and I walked back to the house. I think this day was the hottest since I arrived here in Posoltega, and the walk was nearly unbearable. When I finally arrived at the house, Abel (the guy I met on the street who is in love with PC) was waiting for me. He invited me to go to Chinandega and also said that he had found a potential house for me. I was overwhelmed/dehydrated and all I wanted to do was shower. I told him to come back in about an hour and I would let him know if I could go. After taking a refreshing shower, within ten minutes I could not tell whether I was wet from my shower or soaked again in sweat. I decided I should go because I should be ‘integrating’ into my culture and also I felt like he could potentially be a project partner in the future. I got myself together after calling my sister and headed off to Chinandega with Abel. He has a base knowledge of English and is really excited to use it. This is borderline annoying for me – as much as I don’t want to admit it. I should be flattered that people want to learn my language, but… I’m not. It is really difficult to be switching back and forth from English to Spanish when I am trying very hard to improve my Spanish.<br />We went to his godfather or padrino’s house in Chinandega. His godfather had wireless internet and within five minutes of getting there he asked me if I wanted to call anyone in the United States. What a silly question – umm yes, please. Apparently he has a landline that is listed to Florida and he can call the US for free. Weird. So I called my parents and talked for a little while for free, which was beautiful. His godfather then made me some fabulously strong black coffee and told me to come by whenever I was in Chinandega. Yes and yes. Abel and I headed back around 5:00pm and went on to look at the house he had found for me.<br />Her name is Alba (they like A names in the family apparently) and she lives by herself right near the Catholic Church (I know…my evangelical friends will not like this). The outside of her house is quite attractive and has beautiful mahogany like doors. The inside has a huge sala or living room area. The room that I would be renting is a decent size and has two doors, one to the sala and the other to the patio area. Which brings me to my favorite part – her patio is … zen-like. It is so gorgeous an filled with every type of tree you can imagine. There was avocado, mango and many other fruits/veggies unique to Nicaragua. She also has a little garden with tomatoes and onions. She is a very chill woman and I immediately could tell I would like her. She has a lot of things that are not that common to Nicaragua homes, such as: a microwave, a toilet, and a fridge. Oh. And a washing machine. What is that. Although a washing machine saves a lot of time- I really do enjoy washing by hand – it is just more gratifying. Needless to say, I was very happy with the house. I asked questions about when I have friends visit from the states and she said “I will stay in my room – we can put up hammocks here in the sala and you guys can have your privacy.” Love. Her. My only concerns were that the roof in my ceiling was very old and possibly may leak and also that there were not electrical outlets in my room. She immediately said that she would get two outlets in there. I also asked about rats and she said that she fumigates every 6 months or so. Loving her more. She also has a bed that I will be able to use. I would just have to buy a mattress and something for my clothes. The rent is 1000 cordobas a month, which sounds like a LOT but it is only 50 dollars, and it includes water and electric. I also am sure that she will share the veggies and fruit with me – as she gave me some gifts before I left that night. The amount of money it would save me to not to buy a stove or a fridge is unbelievable – and this was beginning to look like a great option for me.<br />I returned back to my side of town and went over to my pulperia or store to grab some eggs to cook for dinner –but when I got there, the little girl said, “Come in!” So I went on through and ended up having the most fabulous meal I have had since I have been in Posoltega and watched my favorite telenovela. I know you are going to judge me – and its okay – because I am judging myself about watching it. It is all about drugs and sex and it is the worst television show I have ever seen. I find myself laughing at times when someone dies. These prostitutes smuggle drugs into other countries through their fake breasts. Ha. Go ahead, laugh. After spending a few hours with the fam, I headed back to my house. ]<br />The way that people are so welcoming and giving here reminds me a lot of my parents – and how they were always willing to take someone in and help them. I am so lucky to have grown up in a house like that.<br />Shortly after, the guy I had been communicating with about another house came over to invite me to talk to the owner of the house (I had already seen the house earlier in the week). It is two large rooms, completely private and my own bathroom and shower. She said that the price would be 1000 cordobas as well, but not including water and electric. Also, she would throw in a bed, a dresser, a desk and two rocking chairs.<br />That night I made a list of positives and negatives between the two houses (blame my parents for this nerdy trait).<br /><br /><strong><em>Hump-Day</em></strong><br />I was exhausted after such a long day on Tuesday, but headed off to walk to work at 7:30am. We went to a community called Santa Maria for the jornada and it turned out to be an even longer day. We did not return back to the health center until around 6:00pm. Did I mention we were walking the entire day? I did make it clear to my counterpart that I needed a responsibility during the jornada as opposed to just observing like I had on the previous outings. I was assigned giving out the pills for parasites – it was invigorating. No really, it was nice to have an actual role instead of just standing there; I was glad that I spoke up. At the end of the day I ended up speaking with a bunch of the nursing students who had previously just stared and laughed at me. They were really sweet and interested in what I was doing there. One thing I am having a difficult time with in this culture is that they hate silence. They will continually ask you if you are bored, sad, tired, etc. if you are not chatting it up with them. This is difficult when sometimes all I want is a break from speaking/thinking in Spanish. Needless to say, I made another friend, Bia (Kimmy you know I thought of you when she told me this), and she invited me to come to her house on Sunday and also to live with her and her family. Ha.<br />I called my parents that night for some advice about making a decision about the house. In the end, I came to decision that the house with Alba is definitely a better option for me, even if it is less privacy, etc. I will be able to make my little room ‘my own’ and spend a lot less money on things for the house.<br /><strong><em><br />22nd April</em></strong><br />This day we went to a school and it was generally pretty easy besides restraining some kids so they could take their shots. Reminded me of how my parents met – at the Terry Center restraining juvenile delinquents. I started walking back from the health center, when one of the drivers of another health center truck asked if I wanted a ride. It was much appreciated on another particularly hot day. We both were going to the same comedor and ate lunch with each other. I had a difficult time getting it down – because it was more oil than I could stomach. When I went to go pay – the nice older gentleman actually paid for me and offered to drive me the following two blocks back to my house. I declined because I had recently seen a pulperia that sold ‘Coca-Cola Lite’ and wanted to treat myself to my first one in Posoltega. Kindness is such a good feeling – whether it is being received or given.<br />I decided I needed to wash some clothes because I wear at least two outfits per day (14 outfits per week!!). It was an intense session of washing clothes and I was out there for over two hours. One of the little girls came to tell me that one of the disgusting men across the street was watching me. When I looked over he was blowing me a kiss, while sitting shirtless on the curb. I yelled ‘ew’ and quickly finished my laundry.<br />That night I went over to talk to Hilda and it happened to be the time of another ‘cult’. I had already made up my mind and quite explicitly explained that I would not be attending. They were disappointed but I knew it was time…to break away from the church. I had a nice talk with Hilda that night about Peace Corps and what exactly I would be doing for the two years. She talked a lot about how she wished she had an opportunity to do something like this and go be a lawyer in another area. I have made a decision to not ever feel guilty or sorry for where I come from or the opportunities I have. I have decided to only be thankful and also sensitive to the fact that these opportunities are far and few between for people in this country.<br /><br /><strong><em>23rd – broke as a joke<br /></em></strong>Oops. So I had budgeted the week pretty well – but then the host mom that I am living with me told me that she could not feed her kids and that she needed the rent immediately. Therefore, I was broke by Thursday. I had about 20 cordobas to my name- which would have gotten me one bottle of water for the day and no money. I decided that I would not be going to work this day and that I had to go to Chinandega to go to the bank. It is a weird feeling to not have immediate access to the money that you have – and to plan well in advance since the nearest bank is about an hour away (some people in northern Chinandega are more than 4 hours from the closest bank).<br />I took the morning to do some reading and headed to Chinandega around 10am. The taxi driver that was my first driver when I got into town last week has been giving me free rides whenever he sees me walking. Which is nice except that he is a creepy, old, fat man. He gave me a ride to the front of town to catch a bus on the main road. En route he asked if he could kiss my hand and take me to his finca or farm. I decided this was the last free ride I would be taking.<br />Roaming around Chinandega by myself was a lot of fun, the best way to get to know a place is to get lost in it. I bought a market bag to put all of my fruits and veggie in and more importantly I bought…a FAN!!!! My first big purchase was very worth it. Putting it together was a different story…it took over an hour and I was drenched in sweat. In the end there is still something not quite right with it and if you knock into it – it will fall. But I am sleeping so fabulously now and it works! That’s all that matters.<br />I returned back around 2:00pm to Posoltega, put together the fan and read in front of it for the remainder of the day. I finished my first book – A Long Way Gone – Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. I finished it in less than 36 hours and it was excellent. I also attempted to straighten my room, aka but everything back into suitcases. Also, up until this point I thought it was very strange when I saw people sweeping their dirt floors. But after living in a dirt floor environment, I understand why they do it! Dirt floors really can get dirty. Ha.<br />Yesterday I went to a community that was very affected by Hurricaine Mitch and even went to the park that former President Clinton and former first lady Hilary Clinton funded, there is one tree for each person lost in the landslide. I will write more about that in the next blog because this is way too long!<br /><br />But in closing – I have decieded to go with the house with the older woman, Alba. The security officer should be coming out next week to check it out and make sure it is suitable and passes all the regulations and what not. Wish me luck!<br />Also, I organized superlatives for the group and was voted Group Mom. Ha.<br />I hope everyone is well… I miss you all so much! I am headed off to Leon for the day.<br />LOVE YOU ALL <3<br />p.s. there are tornado´s here... of dirt. what.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-6640940905144763762009-04-12T15:42:00.002-05:002009-04-12T15:47:04.758-05:00En mis ojos son Estrellas.Hello everyone and Happy Easter/vacation! It is hard to believe that it has been three months since I have been here in Nicaragua. It feels like just yesterday I was drinking that fabulous champagne with Robin, packing with the girls and Des and watching our President be inaugurated. I hope that everyone is doing well and is holding those memories I was fortunate enough to share with you as close to your heart as I am. This will be my last blog as a Peace Corps trainee…because I will attending our swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday the 14th and officially be a Peace Corps Volunteer!<br /><br /><strong><em>Pulgas.</em></strong><br />So. Pulgas are … fleas. Seriously. Who has fleas? Oh wait…me. I discovered them last week and like any other illness here – it is difficult to tell where I got them from. The countless number of stray dogs here in Nicaragua carry them and they can easily be transferred to humans. I am not the first person in our group to get them – which somehow made me feel a little better. They look similar to the ‘allergic reaction’ I had after my volunteer visit to the mountains, but far, far less in numbers. The problem with this – is after you get them, they are very difficult to get rid of. They can live in clothes and especially in mattresses. It is sort of a snowball effect. My family here has helped a lot and put my mattress in the sun twice and also all of my clothes in effort to kill these little guys.<br />I had a little bit of a difficult time dealing with this ailment for the sole reason that I am sick of dealing with one after another. It is incredibly emotionally draining. You would think physically it would be the most challenging to deal with illness after illness, but it truly is the emotional aspect. The lack of control that I have over all of it – is very frustrating. I am just going to have to find ways to deal with this during my service – because it is clearly not an isolated incident.<br /><br /><strong><em>Mail</em></strong><br />I got a package each from Aunt Linda and Aunt Gail! Thank you so much! Funny story about that – in the package from Aunt Gail there was a trail mix which included Pistachios. I got a fair warning via e-mail to not eat the pistachios from the mix. I told my host-mom about it, salmonella and all, but she quickly said ‘Well they are bad for you Americans … but we have stronger stomachs. I am sure we will be fine!’ So throughout the week, my entire host family was eating these pistachios. Yesterday, everyone – including the three year old girl had serious stomach issues. I tried to warn them! Ha. Guess their stomachs aren’t that strong. <br />I also got a letter from Cathy Drew! That was so sweet and a lovely surprise! Number one mailers… Kimmy for her ridiculous cards and of course my parents! We are still missing one package that was sent in February, but I have faith that it is going to get here within the next week. I have to admit that the Girl Scout cookies that you sent are almost gone Mom. Ha. They almost lasted two days. All of the clothes and materials for my posters are perfect! Thank you again <3 you are the bestest.<br /><br /><strong><em>Grupo de jovenes<br /></em></strong>Forming and running a youth group with three other leaders was definitely an interesting experience. In the end I learned a LOT both in general and on a more personal level. There were times throughout the experience when I dreaded going to our meetings (twice a week). More than anything I recognized things that I would different with my own group, such as; make rules in the beginning about respecting each other. Ultimately, we ended up completing two mini-projects within the community (we were required to do one). Our group of six gave charlas in the high school on HIV, STDs and Adolescent pregnancy. Then we got funds from the mayor (alcade) to paint a mural on the dirtiest building known to man. This building, glorietta, is in the middle of the park, in the center of town. Until this point, it had solely been used for any man to urinate in and draw obscene pictures on the outside (please see pictures posted on facebook to get image). The smell is only describable to those who had the misfortune to witness it.<br />Cleaning it was without a doubt the worst part of the process. It ended up only being a three day process, in total. And we completed a beautiful mural about… contraceptive methods. My life here is hilarious. Ha. I had huge doubts about how long this would last, but so far so good – people have urinated in the building – but other than that, no one has defaced the mural. We felt a great sense of accomplishment after finishing these two projects and the six teenagers came and presented to the rest of the group what they had done. I am not going to lie, I am glad it is over! But I do feel optimistic about forming my own youth group in Posoltega.<br /><br /><strong><em>Español</em></strong><br />So I received the same level of Spanish as my second interview in country (about one month ago). I think that is complete…BS, but oh well. We had the interviews Monday and received the results on Tuesday – which I thought was incredibly shady. The feedback did not consist of any specific examples of my errors and I feel that this level may have been determined by our teacher prior to the interview (which stinks because my interview was pretty fabulous). Well that is just all the more room to improve during these next two years. Also, without a doubt I feel confident in my ability to communicate in my community, which I did not feel when I walked off that plane January 22nd. I guess that is all I can ask for!<br /><br /><strong><em>Ambassador<br /></em></strong>This past Wednesday we had the honor of meeting the U.S. Ambassador of Nicaragua, Robert Callahan. He was …amazing, fascinating and even more so…inspiring! As training has continued on, I feel that our group has become more and more negative. I have tried to separate myself from it – because I recognize it accomplishes nothing, but it has been difficult. Meeting Ambassador Callahan was so refreshing. He had such an incredible story and has lived an incredible life, traveling from country to country. In reality, we, as Peace Corps volunteers, are United States Ambassadors (on the grassroots level). He said that in the first paragraph of any letter from the President, is the reminder that the first job of a U.S. Ambassador is to get to know the community and culture of that you are living in.<br />He spoke quite frankly about the last eight years, regarding the United States, including: the government’s reaction to 9/11. His honesty and frankness was much appreciated when talking about his previous ‘boss’ and president of our country. He also spoke about the current political situation between Nicaragua and the United States. I am going to refrain from talking about this in a public forum, but it is getting very interesting. If you would like to hear more about what he said regarding this – just shoot me an e-mail and I would be happy to explain more.<br /><br /><strong><em>Alcoholismo</em></strong><br />When I first read that the alcoholism rate in Nicaragua was higher than in the United States, I had my doubts. Well… this has proved to be truer than I ever imagined. I never thought that walking by a man completely passed out in the road, with a bottle of the cheapest rum available in his hand, would be normal. There have been many times that I thought the man was actually not breathing that I passed by. I have seen pre-teen boys move a passed out 50+man out of the sun so that he does not burn to death in the park. Beyond upsetting. Hana’s host-uncle was a ‘recovering alcoholic’ for the first two months that we were here, and is now one of the men that I walk by, pondering if he is alive. She often finds him passed out on her porch as she walks into her house. He has been wearing the same shirt for over three weeks. Once a deep navy color, his shirt is now the palest of blues.<br />I have not decided if the rate of alcoholism truly is higher here, or whether it is just more visible. There is technically a law about drinking in public here, just as there is in the U.S. The difference is that it is not enforced. What good is a law if it is not enforced? This is a common theme here in Nicaragua. But just because America is able to send many alcoholics to jail and/or treatment, does it mean there is less of an incidence? This has caused me to think a lot about my job at Brandywine Counseling and I have talked about it many times with Hana and people of this community. What is more bothering here than anything is that it is an accepted part of their culture. It does not really affect anyone to pass someone barely breathing on the street. This is more foreign to me than the language.<br /><br /><strong><em>taxing</em></strong><br />I just wanted to make a quick mention of the neighbor of Brad (my fellow PCV). He is a very well-traveled man, I consider him incredibly worldly having lived in Israel, Africa and many other countries. While talking to Brad, he mentioned that he had visited Posoltega, and said to Brad, “I hope that Amanda is able to adapt there… it is one of the poorest towns I have seen and it will be very difficult.” Instead of bursting into tears, this actually comforted me. I thought maybe just the sheltered girl from Delaware was being too sensitive and dramatic – and that this site was not that bad. His statement was confirmation that this indeed is a very poor site, even for Nicaraguan standards. I had begun to question whether it was just me, but his comments actually comforted me and validated my feelings.<br />These two years are going to be difficult, but I am feeling more and more optimistic as the day approaches that I begin my two years of service in Posoltega. There is so much work to be done… and I am so ready to start! I don’t think I mentioned in the last blog that ten years ago, in 1998, Posoltega fell victim to a landslide provoked by the torrential downpours of Hurricane Mitch. Somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 people died during this event (they were never really able to get an exact number, some predict more than 5,000). Members of the community have described it as ‘the world ending’ as this natural disaster swallowed two entire towns of my municipality. Needless to say, ten years later in the impoverished country – they are still very much affected by this event. At one of the NGOs in town, there are pictures of former president Bill Clinton directly after this event visiting the sites of destruction. This is the greatest natural disaster to occur in Nicaragua and is undoubtedly still affecting my community greatly.<br />Just a side note: we received a charla from US AID, and I found out that more than 75 percent of the birth control and condoms provided to Nicaraguans are through US AID aka… our tax money. So you all are actually helping fight the problems I am facing here in my work, HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy. So assuming that you pay your taxes, thank you!<br /><br /><strong><em>I’m not a playa…</em></strong><br />No that is not a quote from a Notorious B.I.G. song; playa is beach in Spanish. Which is where everyone goes during this week before Easter, otherwise known as Semana Santa here. Essentially the entire country shuts down and people flock to the beach. Ironically, it is also the most dangerous week to swim in a body of water in Nicaragua. Apparently, every year hundreds of people die of drowning during this week’s festivities. Other interesting facts about this week: for weeks now, people have been carrying around a somewhat Disco-Jesus. They call it ‘the procession’ of which they carry around Jesus and there is usually a fabulous band to accompany the procession. And by fabulous I mean... on the same level as Mr. Byerly’s intermediate band in 6th grade. This could actually be cute, minus the fact that they do it at all hours of the night. The first was literally at 4:00 in the morning. AM. En serio? There is one going on right now outside of my window, which is quite impressive considering they were up until 1:00am last night carrying disco-Jesus around.<br />I somehow convinced my host-mom (who hates the beach) to go to the beach for the day on Thursday. I was allowed to invite Hana and also the ama de casa or ‘maid’ came along with her two children. This woman, Almpuro, has proved to be my favorite person here in El Rosario. The conversations that she and I had when no one else was around – were my favorites throughout training. Also, whenever I was ill – she was incredibly more caring than my host-mom.<br />Anyway, this ‘playa’ was about 3 miles off the main road. After making it through all of the dust from the road, we made it to the playa. We then parked in someone’s yard (which oddly reminded me of the Delaware State Fair) and headed to the beach. Well I ran…because the amount of gnats and bugs was disgusting. Down by the beach, the bugs were far and few between. My entire family sat up in the shade and Hana and I baked down by the water. The water was not particularly clean and it was difficult not to run into a piece of trash while entering the water. It was way too hot to be concerned with that and I swam anyway. This ‘beach’ was actually on Lake Nicaragua. Nicaraguans don’t really differentiate between bodies of water.<br />Hana and I decided to go for a walk down to the more happening part of the beach. The true picture of Samana Santa was about to be viewed. A lot of drunk people (I think this observation combined with the fact that most Nicaraguans I have met cannot swim may something to do with the amount of drownings that occur). We went into one of the little cabana bars and it was quite entertaining. Only the drunkest people were dancing to the DJ music, which clearly was my favorite part. Hana and I were harassed, per usual, by all of the men. I think one actually got down on his knee begging me to dance with him. Normal. Right outside of the bar, there was a man passed out – and his friends were trying to perform drunken CPR on him. I did see that he was breathing, which made me feel a little bit better. Later, they would throw him into the water to wake him up. Fabulous. After a few beers (oh my GOD I miss good beer and ANY wine), Hana and I went to another bar. Within five seconds of entering, at least 7 guys swarmed our table like hungry bees and were asking us to dance. Within ten seconds of entering the bar….we left. Ha.<br />I knew that I was getting sun throughout the day and applied lotion several times throughout the day. Apparently…not enough. I think I technically could have been diagnosed with 1st degree burns. My lips are burnt, which is by far the worst part. Ouch! Hana and I have gone through an entire bottle of lotion (that we have been putting in the freezer), to help ease the pain. Hopefully it will fade by Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony or I will look like a tomato!<br /><br /><strong><em>Next phase..</em></strong><br />So now the real work begins. Or at least the real part of my experience. These past three months have been amazing, but the reality is that these next two years are going to be very, very different. Everything is so micro-managed and scheduled during training and the volunteer experience is the complete opposite. I do not think I will have any problem keeping myself busy in my site. If you know me well, it will be more difficult to allow myself not to do anything. I do not know whether this is something I inherited from my parents or whether it is a cultural thing – but I am going to have to work on just letting myself sit and talk – because that is work here. I know the hardest part will be being far away from the people I have become closest to, particularly Hana.<br />So as I prepare to leave El Rosario, I have a strange mix of emotions. I am excited to be more independent, but I know I will miss my host-family here in some aspects. I am ready to start working and having more freedom, but I know I will miss some of the structure and support of being a trainee. I am anxious about living in Posoltega (the living conditions) but excited to start developing relationships within my community. I am SO ready to cook my own (more nutritious) food, but I know after a long day – I will miss someone having a plate ready for me. It is all so exciting and unknown – this experience really is about to start now! And I feel even more prepared than when I arrived in country about 90 days ago. When I am able to step back for a moment, I remember how incredibly lucky I am to be having this experience. Not only because getting into the Peace Corps is a ridiculous application process, but in other countries – many people do not get this opportunity. I am so lucky to live in a country that believes in serving humanity not just themselves. If I were to have gone with a different program or just gone abroad by myself, there is no way I could have possibly afforded it or really had been successful in giving anything sustainable to a community. I do have that opportunity here, within this organization. I am so blessed to have this opportunity – and with all my power, will try not to ever forget that.<br />In closing, I wanted to share with you the Promesa de Servicio, or Promise of Service, that I will be reciting during my swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday (in English).<br /><em>In the name of God and for the understanding and friendship among people and Nations, I solemnly promise to work with dedication and enthusiasm in the tasks that are assigned to me, during two years, or during the time that I may stay in the country.<br />I promise to strive to secure bonds of affection and solidarity with the Nicaraguan people through mutual respect and sincere vocation of service.<br />For God, for Country, for Peace.<br /></em><strong>I am here representing all of YOU with honor…because you all are a part of me.</strong><br />Happy Easter everyone. Love you all so much <3<br />I will leave you with this fun fact: I brought these amazing vacuum-sealed bags for my clothes to pack and save space. Obstacle I did not foresee: there are no carpets here… and therefore also an absence of vacuums. I just packed all of my things to move to my site and had to get creative. I sucked all of the air out of the bag with my… mouth. Still feeling a little lightheaded. Ha. So resourceful.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-18632710072971170732009-03-29T16:52:00.002-06:002009-03-29T16:56:02.024-06:00These Boots Are Made For Walkin'...Greetings loves of my life. I hope all is well and that everyone had a good St. Patrick’s Day. I received my site assignment and I will be living in Posoltega, Chinandega for the next two years. This site was definitely one of my top choices and I was elated to receive the news of this site assignment. It is the only site of our group that is brand new – and part of my interest in this site was the opportunity to develop my own projects and introduce the Peace Corps to a new community. Everyone went immediately on a site visit with their colegas (counterparts) and I just returned from my visit to Posoltega and after a long week I have a LOT to tell you all.<br /><strong>Counterpart Day</strong><br />Friday the 20th we had a ‘Dia de Colegas’ in Managua to meet our ‘counterparts’ that we will be working with for the next two years. As I looked through the crowd of people for the name tag(s) that said ‘Posoltega’, I eventually found the two women that would become my colleagues. It was a very exciting moment and we had about four group hugs to start our union. The rest of the day was filled with group work and explanations of Peace Corps, etc. My two counterparts were very funny and it seemed to be a great start to a professional relationship.<br />After a full day we all parted for the bus station with the other four volunteers that will be serving in the department of Chinandega. One of the colegas from the city of Chinandega was smitten and decided to practically lick my face and told me I had to visit Chinandega. Fab. Anyway, I have two volunteers from my group fairly close to me – one in the city of Chinandega and the other in Corinto. Craig and Evan. They are both about an hour or so away. Posoltega happens to be the closest site to Managua (where any of my fabulous visitors will be flying into!!!). It takes approximately 3.5 hours (others, such as; a few of my favorite people in the group in Rio San Juan, are 12-15 hours away) to get to from Managua. It is also close to the large cities of Leon and Chinandega (30 minutes each). Anyway, I arrived in Posoltega about 8:00pm on Friday evening.<br />While entering the town, it appeared pretty similar to my training town in the dim light that was available at the late hour. Roads were pretty horrible right around my house, but the taxi made it finally to the destination, a.k.a. my home for the first 6 weeks in my site (and also the home of my colega). My program director had already told me that the ‘psychologist’ that I would be living with was ‘very nice..but lived in a very humble home.’ With this sentence echoing in my mind, I entered the house. It was a generally nice living room area, with a television and a stereo. As we continued through the living room, we exited the house to the part with the rooms (it is actually separate from the house). Upon entering my room the host mom/colega told me that the only thing the room didn’t have was ….a floor. As I looked at my floor of dirt/mud I tried to keep a straight face. I vaguely remembered reading in the Peace Corps Handbook that we were not allowed to have a dirt floor – and for that reason among others, it was a little shocking. There were two twin size wooden beds in the room and… nothing else. I placed my things in the room and immediately returned to the living room area. We ate a modest dinner of platanos and rice at their table as the family asked me questions about my life in the States.<br />The family has a pair of twin girls, Guadalupe and Marisela and a fifteen year old boy, Jesus. The family was very welcoming and incredibly sweet. The two 9 year old girls and I ended up having a little dance party for my welcoming. I have discovered here that dancing really is without limits of language, culture, etc. Dance is a culture in its own and it is… universal. I love it. Just dance… my philosophy on life (no credit to Lady GaGa). After an intense dance sesh, I went to my room to grab my bottle of water. As I entered and turned on the light, I saw the largest rodent I have ever seen in my life. Literally. A rat or ‘raton’ was crawling right along the top part of the walls of my room. I somehow contained myself not to scream or make any dramatic responses to this finding. I simply grabbed my bottle of water and returned to my dance session. Not long after, I went to bed on the mattress thinner than a good sandwich. My parents called me quite late this night, and I have to say that it was the highlight of my day. Even if I was upset about rats and dirt floor – getting a drunk dial from my mother made everything okay. Due to this phone call and exhaustion I did not have that difficult of a time sleeping this night (for the record, I just saw a mouse in my room here in El Rosario – and simply let it out the door like a guest. Funny how perceptions change).<br /><strong>Hot in Herrr</strong><br />So. I awoke around 7am, which apparently is considered late in this household. Everyone else was up at 6am. On a Saturday. Seriously? Anyway, I made it a productive morning and ended up cooking. I expressed that I needed to learn to cook since I will be living by myself for the majority of the two years. Guadalupe, the mother/colega, took me to the ‘meat shop’ to purchase ‘rez’ or cow. It was beyond disgusting and I saw parts of a cow that I never wanted to see in my life. Beyond that, the amount of flies and bugs surrounded all of this exposed meat, blood and bones was astonishing. Yummy. Anyway, I cooked sopa de rez (soup with cow meat) and it turned out pretty nice. I am confident in my ability to figure out cooking for myself when I move out. Everything just might be vegetarian.<br />My host family asked if I wanted to go to the pool and I was all for it because it is blazing hot there. After our hot, meat filled soup for breakfast we suited up for the ‘pool’. They told me we would be going by bike and I was all for it. Something about riding a bike really makes me feel like a kid again. That is, until you are walking awkwardly the next day because your backside hurts so badly. Why doesn’t that happen when you are a kid? Anyway, we went on this fabulous ‘path’ to the ‘pool’, during which I screamed a few times due to feeling like I was on X-games. We finally made it to the ‘pool’ a.k.a….a river. A cement foundation had been put in at the bottom of this river to contain the water and create a pool like atmosphere. As we were walking down these cement stairs to the river/pool, my flip-flop got stuck on one of the steps and I…fell. Got some pretty sweet scrapes on both of my feet and one of my shins and quickly learned that gnats/bugs like blood. Luckily, the river kind of helped that healing process along pretty quickly. Other than the fall, the river was great – not all that dirty, and very refreshing. There were approximately 10 boys there drinking and smoking, but I tried to ignore them and fascinated my family with my handstand abilities. After about three hours in the pool (straight.. I didn’t get out once), we headed back to the house. They asked me if I wanted to take the longer way back, to get to know a different path. After getting over the fact that, a) they called that a path and b) there was a longer path, I told them that I would prefer to take the shorter one back. Ha.<br />After showering in our fabulous outside shower (with warm water, ironically) I attempted to do some reading, but quickly found myself passed out in the face of this overwhelming heat. I took a little nap and then went to the Internet café that strangely exists in this town. It has about 6 computers and decent speed. I then returned to eat dinner, which consisted of…rice. I was actually craving frijoles/beans by the end of this trip. After dinner, my host mom decided to tell me her love-life story. I will save you the details, but basically – she admitted that she was bulimic, alcoholic and depressed about a year ago when one of her boyfriends left her. She is currently ‘better’ and seriously dating a…married man. It was at that moment I wished I knew less Spanish and could have pretended I didn’t understand what she was saying. She also went on to warm me about various neighbors in the community. Sweet dreams. I went to bed incredibly early almost every night in Posoltega because of sheer exhaustion. As I snuggled into my crispy thin mattress on my wooden bench-like bed frame, I saw some more ‘friends’. This time though…they were ratas or mice. Smaller, yet almost equally as upsetting because they were crawling up the wall right near my head. I slept on and off this night randomly using the flash light on my cell phone to search for mice in the middle of the night. I actually felt a little crazy.<br /><strong>Thank GOD it’s Sunday…literally.<br /></strong>So it quickly was apparent to me that this town is quite religious. Whenever anyone asks ‘how are you’ the response is, ‘I am good thank the lord.’ Furthermore, anything good that happens is given the same response. The majority of my town is Evangelical, which is more strict that Catholicism here. Gracias a Dios. I was already invited to church and will probably go just for the experience, but it will be interesting to see how this plays a role in my service.<br />My family invited me to go to a neighboring town to see ‘abuelita’ or their grandmother. We went by taxi, but then had to walk over 2 miles to get to her house because the roads are not passable by car. This town was equally as humble and impoverished, but much smaller. The family business of my host family is a candy they make from the sugar canes that grow on their farms. So for the next five hours I watched them make this candy. The process of making this candy was very similar to that of making fudge. If anyone has ever been to that fudge place in Baltimore where they make it right in front of you – it was a 3rd world country version of it. Meaning that they were using large wooden planks to pour the hot caramel-like substance on to and sticks to stir it while it was heating. Oh, and also – there were hundreds of flies all over the candy. Vom-it. It looked so good, but it was impossible to ignore the amount of bacteria that was more than likely on each piece. None the less it was a nice experience in terms of observing how it is made (it is literally the major/ sole source of economy for this community). We were there for far, far too long. I ended up taking a nap on a hammock mid-day (this is going to be a common theme for me).<br />We eventually left and started the two mile walk back to the main road. On the way there, my counterpart told me that a Peace Corps volunteer lived in this community. We found out where and I was able to stop and talk to her for a while. Her name is Paula and she is an environmental volunteer from the state of Virginia. She has a cute little house in one of the rural communities of Posoltega. Basically my town has about 3,500 people in the urban center and then another 22 communities surrounding it. In total in the municipality there are about 17,000 people. Paula has a sweet little garden in her yard and I am definitely looking forward to some mentoring in eventually starting my own garden. We also talked about possibly working together on potential projects, because she has a lot of interest in HIV/AIDS education/prevention as well. After my host mom/colega asked her to borrow her deodorant I thought it was time to leave. It was definitely nice to speak to someone in English, even if for a few minutes and I definitely look forward to getting to know her better and working together.<br />I cannot say for sure how I was feeling on Sunday. Lack of independence. ‘Stuck’. Slightly disappointed about my living conditions. Scared of rats. Exhausted from only speaking Spanish. Mal-nourished. Not working. Well the combination of factors started to pile up throughout the day and I started speaking less and less to my host family. As I got ready for bed around 9:00pm, I looked at my phone and realized I had a missed call from my parents. I called them back immediately and we got to speak for about 20 minutes or so. Within minutes of starting the conversation with them, I saw a mouse crawl up the wall near the head of my bed. I was so overwhelmed with feelings that I burst into tears, trying to explain to my parents how I felt. It was the first time in this experience the thought ran through my head ‘What the hell am I doing here??’ It’s not as though I had incredibly high expectations of Posoltega, I just had no idea what I was getting myself into. Our training towns, although very different from the United States, are catered to aiding us through the ‘transition period’ and it became more and more clear to me that our training towns do not represent what the reality of life is here in Nicaragua. After speaking to my parents, I cried myself to sleep…but still holding on the hope that tomorrow would be better when I started work.<br /><strong>Walk it out…<br /></strong>Monday morning I went to a comedor (basically this is someone’s house that serves as restaurant as well) for breakfast and had the best food I had gotten since I had been there. More than anything, it was just nice to be by myself for a few minutes, eat and read the newspaper. Something so simple, yet sacred. My host mom/counterpart and I arrive at the Health Center around 7:45am. (I will primarily be working with MINSA (the ministry of health) here in Nicaragua). My primary counterpart is the one that I am not going to be living with,Sozima, who is the Community Educator in the health center. There was an awkward moment when Guadalupe (host mom) wanted Sozima (primary counterpart) to introduce me to everyone, and she…wouldn’t. Ha. Guadalupe went on to tell me that Sozima is apparently very lazy. Fabulous. Still trying to stay positive. The Director of the health center ended up calling a ‘staff meeting’ to introduce me. About 25 nurses and doctors crowded into their auditorium (I must say, that their health center is gorgeous). Before starting, my host mother led everyone in a prayer (did I mention it was religious here?). Each person introduced themselves, and I pretended to write down some names (names are really difficult here). They then asked me if I wanted to say anything, somehow I whip something up and sounded pretty damn good. Just that I was excited to work with all of them and to serve Posoltega.<br />The morning went better than expected, and then Sozima asked me to come along to salida (to a rural community) to visit one of her patients. Nurses and Doctors piled into the MINSA truck and we began to set out to the more rural communities. These roads looked like scenes out of an Indiana Jones movie. It was incredible that these were the only paths reaching some of these communities. We went to various communities to drop off the medical staff at the health posts (smaller health centers in more rural communities). Eventually, we made it to the patient that my counterpart was going to check on. Apparently TB is a really big problem here and a lot of her work is working with these patients. My counterpart was incredibly confused at times, forgetting what Peace Corps was, and introducing me as a nurse to everyone we met. Licensing here is quite funny. If you have a degree in psychology, you are a psychologist. If you worked as tutor, you are a teacher. Needless to say, I am qualified for many things here – criminologist, nurse, lawyer, teacher. The most interesting side trip we took was to ‘Radio Emanuel’ the only local radio station in Posoltega. It is..religious, of course. But it was incredibly interesting; it is run by an American and his Nica-wife. This American Emanuel, was apparently in a plane accident and is now confined to a wheelchair. His wife was incredibly sweet, and her beauty reminded me of Frida Kahlo. I will definitely be returning to this house and it could potentially be part of a future project.<br />So I quickly learned that everyone works at the health center from 8-11:30ish. That’s it. I figured we would go home from lunch and … return. Nope. That’s it. I ate lunch at the comedor again and happened to be sitting next to a meeting going on about a ‘taller’ or workshop happening tomorrow. As I sat their eating my chicken and listening I heard random works of interest. Eventually I got into their conversation and they asked me what I would be doing here in Posoltega and for how long, etc. They explained to me they were part of a NGO called ‘Programma Amor’ which worked to improve the development of children and women’s rights. They invited me to the workshop the next day and even asked me for ideas for games or ‘dynamicas’ to use during the taller. It was very exciting – and I was looking forward to attending the workshop. After lunch, I went home and changed my clothes to walk around by myself and try to get to know the community. Also, Peace Corps has us fill out several forms (emergency form locater, etc.) and one of them included a map of our community. It was really nice to walk alone and say hi to everyone that walked by me. I attempted to make a map of the community and eventually ran into two people I had met at the pool on Saturday. A boy and his older sister, Kenya, who is the same age as me. They invited me into their home I spoke with their entire family. They gave me a beverage and some bread as they asked me questions about my job and the United States. We then walked around the community for another hour or so and they helped me correct some errors on my map. They were incredibly sweet. Kenya taught herself English and loves trying to speak it to me. My only request was that she can speak English to me, but I can only speak Spanish to her. She got a degree in ‘Computacion’ at a University in Leon, but has not been able to find a job. We made plans to cook the next day after the workshop/taller and I returned to my host house feeling worlds better than the night before. To top it off, I got the opportunity to watch the epic film of… Daddy Yankee. It was sad how much I enjoyed this movie, seriously. If this isn’t an example of the limited entertainment I have been exposed to here, I don’t know what is.<br /><strong>Integrating…</strong><br />I went to the workshop at 8am by myself, because my counterpart said she wasn’t able to go. As soon as I got there, the three people I had met the day before came up to me and asked me to start the workshop off with a dynamica. As I stood there like a deer in headlights, I decided I did not feel comfortable in doing this. There were going to be approximately 75 women of Posoltega and surrounding communities in this workshop – I wanted to first observe before I dove into something far over my head. As the workshop was getting started, Jonathon, the guy in charge, came up to me to tell me that my counterpart/host-mom was on the phone for me. She told me to go to the health center because the director wanted me to go out to a very rural community to get to know it. I was incredibly pissed off, because I had already talked to my host-mom and she made it seem that it was fine that I was going to the workshop. I walked about a half mile to the health center only to see my other counterpart, who told me to go back to the workshop and that it was important that I get that experience. En serio? (this is my favorite Spanish saying which means..seriously). I walked back to the workshop and stayed for the remainder of the day.<br />Did I mention I thought a ‘taller’ was about three hours or a half day? It was 8 hours. The bulk of the day was about child development and an hour or less was on family planning methods. Whether the whole day was relevant or not to my future work – I think it was relevant to my integration into the community. I participated in the group work with the educators and volunteers. During the lunch hour, I walked back to the health center to talk to the director. Due to frustration, I felt it necessary to explain to her that I would not be in the health center every day (especially if there is no work), and that my job the first three months was to integrate into the community and get to know all parts of the community. She seemed to respond well and I followed it up by asking what role she saw me filling at the Health Center. She said that it was up to me, but that forming youth groups and pregnancy groups were a goal of hers as well. I felt better after speaking to the director about the miscommunication (lesson #8 observed on this trip).<br />The women in the taller were simply amazing and inspiring. After returning from lunch hour (which consisted of Ritz crackers), several women started asking me questions and they happened to be the women of the urban center of Posoltega. After the taller, we walked back together into town. An 18 year old girl, Hilda, offered to walk me around later to get to know the town better. I said later was perfect, because it was already after the time I said I would be at Kenya’s house to cook! I practically ran to her house and apologized for my tardiness. I explained my misunderstanding of how long a taller was and that I did not intend to keep her waiting. It was a non-issue for them and their main concern was whether I was hungry or not. I figured they were asking because we were about to cook, but no – she ran down the street to buy me taquitos and a little salad (which here consists of coleslaw and ketchup). I inhaled the taquitos and gave the salad to the little brother. It is amazing how much people love cream, mayo, salt, sugar and oil here. We ended up scratching the cooking idea, and just sat and talked for about two hours. Kenya, her sister Amanda and I talked about politics, my job at Brandywine counseling, drug problems in Posoltega, Amanda shared that she has a tumor in her head and had to stop going to school (she is only 16 years old), Kenya talked about feeling different than everyone else her age because she is not married nor does she have children, and much much more. It was the best conversation I have had in Nicaragua. I learned so much throughout the conversation, about Posoltega, and even more so about Kenya and Amanda. During such a difficult time economically in the United States, it is difficult to think about the suffering of other countries. As poor as our economy is in the United States right now, as high as unemployment is – we will never be on the same level of disparity as other countries. The U.S. economy affects the entire world’s economy. Just because other countries don’t have as far to fall – doesn’t mean they aren’t hurting equally or more as us. The pure lack of opportunities here is astonishing. Something I never fathomed before. I left this conversation feeling both inspired and humbled. Also, when I left they gave me two packets of delisoya (aka the only source of milk I will drink here), bread and raisons from their pulperia. I tried to offer them money for their kindness, but they refused. Their welcoming was so comforting at a time when nothing was familiar.<br />I went on a walk with Hilda right afterwards and we walked the entire community several times (I am going to get in shape quickly here). Although younger, she carries very similar characteristics of Kenya. She is in her second year of studying law in Leon, is not married nor does she have children. Her dream is to go to the United States. She and I talked for hours during our walk – and she is very sweet and intelligent. She introduced me to some of her friends and made sure I knew which each building was in town. She also shared with me that she feels ‘different’ from everyone else her age and in the community because she is not married with children. She talked about how she identified these as obstacles to achieving her goal of being a lawyer. It was incredibly inspiring to hear from another young woman in the community who dared to take a different path than the majority of her peers. I can definitely already see beautiful friendships forming with both Hilda and Kenya.<br />I already have made it a point to express my interest in finding my own house after the first six weeks in my community (it is a requirement of Peace Corps). I feel that even though I have returned to my training town, there are several people in my town helping me find more comfortable housing. Oh yea, because I also made it very clear that I need to have some type of floor in my room/living area.<br />I ended the day with a 46 cordoba (over two dollars!!) conversation with Nico, my friend from Minnesota. He and I talked about the already identified obstacles in our communities and with our counterparts. It was nice to be able to talk to someone going through the same experience. I told him of my mice and rat friends, and right before my minutes ran out on my cell phone – the last thing he said to me was ‘mice are very mobile.’ Night night. Having minutes on my phone will definitely be essential to my service and sanity throughout these two years. It is bizarre how their cell phone system works – it works out to be more expensive to call within Nicaragua than the United States.<br /><strong>Yo Soy…</strong><br />Wednesday was dedicated to introducing me to the important people of the community. Sozima went around with me this day and the first stop was the high school to speak to the director. I spoke with Sozima prior to leaving that it was important that she not introduce me as a nurse or a lawyer anymore. The first stop was … less than perfect. The school itself was incredibly beautiful and clean. As we entered the director/principal’s office, the radio was blaring. I wrongfully assumed that the radio would be turned down during this conversation. Despite the immense background noise, the director seemed excited and welcomed me into the school to help with health education. Then it got a little messy. He went on to explain the foundation of the buildings and the lack of activities for the kids to do on the campus and several ideas he had for projects with my ‘american money’. Ha. Rewind. Apparently Sozima’s explanation of what Peace Corps is was not sufficient for him. I explained a little further that we were not an organization of money and that I certainly did not have mula. I guess I can’t blame him for trying. Another lesson learned. The remaining introductions were all prefaced with a detailed explanation of what Peace Corps is, human and technical assistance – not financial. The remainder of the introductions went very, very well. So many of the woman hugged me so tightly and clearly incredibly excited to have another person on their team – trying to better their children’s future. My favorite organization was definitely movimiento de las mujeres, a women’s rights organization. They gave me a substantial amount of information about their organization and were more than ready to let me be part of it. They do workshops on Domestic Violence, Family Planning and many more things that are right up my alley. There are countless opportunities for project partners in Posoltega and I am very excited to see how they all develop.<br />The remainder of the afternoon was used to wash (by hand!) all of my clothes. I worked very hard to wring out my sopping wet clothes – reopening blisters from my bike outing; only to see that in less than one hour even my heaviest clothes were bone-dry. That is how hot it is there. I took my second shower of the day and decided to go to the Internet Café. I was so fortunate to get to speak with John, Kimmy, Liz, Megan and several more of my favorites via g-chat or facebook chat. It was exactly what I needed. Hilda and I went on another walk, even further outside of the main part of town. As I told her I would be leaving the next day to return to my training town – she told me that she could not wait until I would be returning. I assured her that I was and that there would be two years for countless walks. That night we had a random, heavy rainstorm. On a tin roof this sounded… less than soothing. I was up for the majority of that hour or so.<br />Thursday I went to the health center only to do… nothing. So I decided to head back to my training town a little earlier than planned. I was told that I could get a bus to Leon right in town on every hour. This proved to be very false – as I waiting from 9:45-12:00pm for a bus. At noon it finally arrived and I went on to Leon. Leon has been talked about as a very touristy place, but I did not get that feeling as I wandered the streets. It takes about 45 minutes or less to get there, and it has all the fruits and veggies I could ever want. Now I just have to buy a fridge at some point to keep these fruits and veggies. After wandering around for a while, I got on a bus to Managua and then from Managua to Jinotepe. I was incredibly excited to return to something somewhat familiar and to my little three year old host-sister. Missed all fifty pounds of her.<br /><strong>Random thoughts…</strong><br />After returning and being able to reflect both within myself and with others in my group – it is clear to me that everyone is going to have challenges in their sites. I am the only person in our group that has a dirt floor in their room. This will prove to be a challenge – if for nothing else than staying clean. It is not possible. I would get out of the shower and then immediately end up dirty just from trying to get dressed in my room. I did speak with my Program Manager about this and she said that she and a PC Doctor went out to the house to make sure it was okay – and they found it fit to live in. I told her that she probably didn’t see the rats and mice. Nonetheless, it is something that I am going to have to deal with – and I did not sign up for the Peace Corps expecting to live in a high-class apartment. She did tell me that she is going to talk to the Program Director to see if I can move out after four weeks in my host family, as opposed to the rule of six weeks.<br />So, one of the biggest ‘culture shock’ moments during the trip wasn’t even the dirt floor. In actuality, it was viewing one of the neighbor’s children. There was a little boy about a year and a half, maybe two years old. 75 percent of the time I saw him, he was completely naked. He is also a paraplegic and only has the use of his arms. Therefore he used his arms to hoist himself around the dirt floor and roads, completely naked. No one was watching this child – no one was looking out for his safety. Needless to say, there are not many cars in my town – but just the lack of concern for this poor child made me so, so sad.<br />So three things that will be essential to my two years in Posoltega will be: a fan, a bike, and a … cloth. Due to the amount of dust and random things flying through the air – everyone carries a cloth around. To brush off their seats, cover their face, wipe their sweat. Multi-purpose cloth. I am debating on whether to buy a new or used bike. There is only about a 200 cordoba difference – we’ll see. Fan. Beyond essential. Kinda want one of those water sprayer pumps that my parents used at the beach. I would use it every day. Make-up will likely not be used once during these two years. Ha.<br />For some reason everyone in the town thinks that I am from Spain when they meet me. I guess I will take that as a compliment since it can't be a bad thing about my spanish skills! :)<br />Latrines are going to take a little bit of time to get used to (my impression is that there are not toilets in any homes in Posoltega). The smell is just … indescribable. I try and hold my nose, but you don’t want to taste what’s going on in there either.<br />Probably my favorite thing about my host family’s house is the shower. It is three walls, with no ceiling. But there is something empowering and exciting about showering outside. Ha. Looking up and seeing the sky, maybe even getting a tan during your shower. Eureka! Why didn’t I think about this?<br /><strong>Sick Girl…</strong><br />So today is Sunday the 28th and I have been violently ill all weekend. Fever, vomiting and diarrhea…again. Vomiting was the worst part of this one. I kinda just diagnosed myself and started taking an antibiotic Friday night before I even started vomming. I feel incredibly weak right now, but other than that I am much, much better. It is beyond annoying to be that ‘sick girl’ and my host-mom here is so less than supportive. An example of this would be her saying to Hana last night, “Can you imagine Amanda living by herself in her site?” Thanks for that. The ironic part is – that I am likely getting sick from her cooking. Oh well, I just feel bad for my stomach – it is going to be a long two years if this continues at a once a month rate. Just keep on truckin... I know I can!<br />Well I love you all! I am getting two packages on Wednesday!!! Can’t wait to see what they are. I Am praying they are my girl scout cookies!Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-63457367933193840022009-03-25T14:14:00.002-06:002009-03-25T14:19:29.555-06:00Estoy viviendoHola loved ones. It is 2:15pm on Wednesday. I just wanted to write and let you all know that I am doing okay after a couple rough days in the beginning of my visit to Posoltega. Nothing major, just a dirt floor and some rats (all of this is about my room). I will definitely go into more detail when I get back to my training town, but I just wanted to update you and let you know that I am okay and I am feeling very optomistic about my life here in Posoltega for the next two years. I have already established two friendships with girls in the community, made a community map, introduced myself to every important person in the town and much much more. This town is incredibly poor and there definitely is a lot of work to be done - and I am looking forward to getting started!<br />I hope everyone is well and that you had a fabuloso birthday kimmy. wish i could have been with you!<br />will post a longer blog about my visit this weekend.<br />lots and lots of love,<br />amandaAmandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-16986187747901339032009-03-04T16:49:00.000-06:002009-03-04T16:50:53.617-06:00Get 'Er DoneIt is very difficult to believe that it has been over one month since I have seen you all. In some ways it feels light-years longer, and in others-like it was just yesterday. I miss you all so much… and I hope you know how often I think of you. This has been a very exciting week and I have a lot to share with you regarding my visit to Cusmapa…sooo let’s get started!<br /><strong>Transportation</strong><br />Wow. What an experience this was. On Sunday morning, I and five other volunteers boarded a mini-bus to Managua (the capital city) around 7:00am. It took a little bit longer than anticipated and stopped frequently throughout the 1.5 hour ride. Right before our stop, the micro-bus pulled to the side. At first, I thought that someone had dropped something in the front seat – because they were all leaning down towards the floor. Turns out - they had retrieved a screwdriver and were trying to fix some type of mechanical dysfunction. Needless to say, we got out – and got into a taxi for the bus station. All six of us fit into the taxi, which was quite impressive. Within minutes of the bus station – our taxi was… pulled over. Didn’t even know they had ‘radar’ or any type of traffic police in Nicaragua – it was shocking. Apparently the policeman saw he had more than the ‘allowed capacity’ in the taxi and solely wanted to pull the poor guy over to solicit a pay-off. 40 cordobas – or 2 dollars…not too bad for corrupt police action.<br />We finally made it to the bus station – and ended up making the 8:45am bus to Somoto. The bus ride was generally smooth – only a few moments of terror during the three hours. I was actually able to sleep most of the ride and was sitting with Nico (one of the other volunteers) the whole ride up. After arriving in Somoto – I broke off from the rest of the group and waited about an hour and a half for the next bus up the mountain to Cusmapa. Words of advice from current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) included: being very aggressive when getting on the bus. Boy, were they right. At 1:15pm the colorful school bus from the 80’s pulled up with a significant amount of people already on it. Before the bus was even in park, people were climbing in the emergency exit, shoving people out of their way, frantically trying to get on the bus. I may or may not have elbowed an old man and a little kid to get on the bus.<br />None the less, I made it on – but there was already standing room only. There was a teenager ‘saving a seat’ for someone – or just not trying to sit with anyone right next to me, and he eventually allowed me to sit down next to him. It was so crammed that I could barely reach into my purse – because of the lack of elbow room. Before heading up the mountain we stopped in various spots to pick up more people and more cargo. To fully explain what that bus ride is like – is impossible to anyone who has not experienced it. Blazing hot. Zero personal space (a woman (who was holding her child) had her butt leaning on my shoulder two out of the three hours). Animals were on board. Approximately 15-20 people on top of the bus. A LOT of bags/cargo. People that live up this mountain, especially in Cusmapa, are completely isolated from stores, food, etc. and therefore come to Somoto for all of these needs. Completely unpaved roads. And straight up that mountain.<br />The scenery was unbelievable and it was impossible to be bored during this right. Also, impossible to sleep. Bump. City. I made small talk with my seat buddy until his stop – and then spoke with a really nice guy my age that lives in Cusmapa and is studying Anthropolopy. Before I knew it – I had arrived in Cusmapa. I somehow got off the right bus stop in Cusmapa and Ian was there waiting for me! (They blow the horn for about 60 seconds straight to signify its arrival in town). The next part of my transportation began the next morning (Monday), but I feel that it needs its own section.<br /><strong>Save a Horse…</strong><br />So. For the remainder of Sunday evening – Ian and I chatted about Peace Corps, his experience (challenges, etc.), and he attempted to prepare me for our adventure in the morning. He said that he, I, one doctor and two nurses would be venturing out to two rural communities. By horseback. I shared with him that I had never ridden a horse and that my resume consisted of Newark Labor Day and riding a mechanical bull in Orlando, Florida. He definitely seemed concerned and told me that the trails were very rough and that every time he had gone out to these communities, someone had fallen off their horse. Fabulous pep talk. I am not going to lie – I was scared as all hell and excited at the same time. Well we packed up the medicine – and I headed off into the unknown. Just getting on the horse was intimidating – but apparently watching ‘Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken” dozens of times throughout my life really prepared me for this moment of my life. I mounted perfectly. Ha.<br />My first real event of horse riding would be winding through the mountains of Nicaragua – on paths that are impassible by anything but horse or walking, crossing a river, and staring over cliffs with nothing standing between me, my burro and the bottomless pits. I quickly bonded with my ‘burro’ (I am pretty sure it was a mule – hard to say for sure though) and he became my best friend for the next 36 hours. I am pretty positive that I had full-out conversations with him – encouraging him, thanking him for not killing me, the norm. He was incredibly sturdy – and enjoyed going at a slower pace. Match made in heaven. They put a lot of weight on my horse – to weigh him down of sorts. Believe it or not – my experience riding a mechanical bull in Orlando, Florida – proved to be very, very useful. It was sort of a crash course in horse-back riding. It’s all in the hips. So, thanks for making me do that Nicole. May have saved my life. Ha.<br />The paths were treacherous. Several times, we had to get off and walk the horses because it was so steep and dangerous. In total on Monday, I rode a horse for about 8 hours to get to Los Limones. Seriously – 8 hours. Just imagine for a moment how that feels on your tracero (bum). I would have to say that the scariest moment occurred when I looked behind me, to see one of the nurse’s horse fall. She fell off the horse and then the horse fell and landed on her leg. At first, they thought that the horse’s leg was broken – but he was able to get up and keep on truckin’. These trails were not legit by any means. In total between Monday and Tuesday, I rode my burro for over 13 hours. I am almost positive that is more time than I slept during those three days, combined. It is amazing how you find ways to adjust your body to alleviate the pressure on your backside. Nonetheless, I made it to our destination without any major incidents. I was actually quite impressed with myself considering the conditions of these paths. These ‘paths’ including passing over the Rio Negro (Black River), which was actually more rocks than water (it is the dry season here). During the rainy season (winter) this river is completely impassable and various towns are cut off from all resources for 5-6 months. Resources include any medical attention, at all. It was so difficult for me to fathom the fact that these towns had access to medical attention/medicine only three, maybe four times per year. Can you imagine? They live with parasites and diseases; use their own methods to heal cuts and scrapes.<br />The main reason for going out to these communities is to provide consults and weigh babies. The idea is that there are volunteers or “brigadistias” within the community that keep up with the baby weighing monthly – but this does not always prove to be effective. The point of weighing the babies is obviously to monitor their growth and provide information to the mothers about how to improve the nutrition of their children (most of them are underweight and breastfeeding is sometimes forgone for coffee). It is unbelievable the need for ‘basic’ knowledge about growth/nutrition in these communities. A lot has to do with how isolated they are and just cut off from all resources and a lot of knowledge. They have been living like this for generations and more importantly, they are seemingly very happy/content.<br /><strong>Los Limones</strong><br />Los Limones is one of those isolated communities that I don’t think us as American’s can really even imagine. In total, there were 18 families living in this isolated, rural, rural community. No stores. No banks. No running water. No electricity. No school. Nada. Upon arriving in Los Limones – I was overwhelmed with pain in my backside and nervousness in speaking with a lot of people with my ‘intermediate-low’ Spanish skills. For the first half hour or so I quietly observed my second viewing of baby-weighing and smiled when people were obviously staring. I sat down next to a girl that looked about 16 years old and eventually introduced myself. Within minutes I was surrounded by at least 25 children. It was as though I was a fresh flower filled with nectar – and was being swarmed by bees. They asked me dozens of questions, including: what is your mom’s name, what is your dad’s name and where are you from? After playing twenty questions – it was then time for a talent show apparently. They asked me to sing, dance, and say really difficult words in Spanish so they could laugh at me. I don’t think they had ever seen a camera or photographs before, and therefore we took countless photos. They invited me to play kickball – and of course I jumped right in. The background to the game was a mountain range in Honduras. The view was unbelievable…I could have stared out there forever.<br />I forgot for a while that there was no electricity, no water, and that I had not eaten in hours. It was one of those moments in your life when you are completely carefree. I suppose it was a taste of the innocence that childhood beholds. So sweet. I eventually ate a few bites of a freshly made tortilla and utilized my flashlight (thanks Aunt Linda and Uncle Joe!), fire and the most beautiful stars I have ever seen for guides in the blackest of nights. In general, Nicaragua has the clearest, most beautiful skies I have observed in my twenty-four years. Essentially, I had formed a youth group in Los Limones within 45 minutes of arriving. It became very clear to me that to segue into any community is going to be through the youth. Prior to this trip I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to work with youth – but it is very evident that I have to work with youth. Even the volunteer that I went to go see mentioned something about it. I feel lucky to have that capacity to connect to children and will definitely utilize this when I get to my community in April.<br />I slept in one of the ‘beds’ in this adobe building that Ian, one nurse and I were offered to sleep in. The boys both slept in hammocks and graciously I was given the ‘bed’. It was the frame of a typical bed – but only had roped intertwined between each the boards to hold me up. I slept with three shirts, a fleece and a sleeping bag due to the temperature. As people go to bed as the sun goes down when there is an absence of electricity – they also awake as the sun rises. Also, the adobe that I was sleeping in also served as the school for all of the children of the community. So as I awoke, children were entering for ‘class.’ For breakfast, I was served frijoles, tortillas and some sort of meat. I later discovered that it was chopped up pig. Skin, bones – everything. Oh, and hair. Apparently when they kill the pig they are supposed to singe off all of the hair – but essentially I ate hairy pig (while a live pig was less than 5 feet from me staring at me eat his sister). Bon Appétit! Shortly after, I decided I had been waiting too long – it was time to use the bathroom. Did I mention there are no bathrooms in Los Limones? Yea. So basically for the first time I found an arbole (tree) somewhat hidden in the forest and ‘bonded.’ Thankfully I had brought tissues – but it was an experience nonetheless.<br />After eating, I helped the children with some of their math work and then played one more game of kickball. Upon taking the last sip of one of the liter size bottles of water I had brought – a few of the girls were staring at me (or so I thought). Upon inquiring what they were looking at – I realized they were admiring the empty plastic bottle. One of the girls told me that it was incredibly beautiful – and I asked her if she would like to have it? She acted as though it was too nice of a gift, but I insisted and she eventually accepted. As she held onto it tightly and all of the other children gathered around to look at this recyclable– I had to take a moment to really take it all in. What different worlds we had been given – and yet we were so alike; the beauty of humanity. This to me is why I did the Peace Corps. It is quite different to read about these kinds of communities in Time magazine or view specials on Oprah – than to actually experience it firsthand. To sum it up in one word – humbling.<br />As I began to pack up my belongings and load up our horses – I started to fill with emotions regarding leaving these children, this town. It was hard to differentiate whether these feelings were due to saying goodbye or getting back on a horse. Probably both. The children all asked if I would ever return – and all I was able to say was maybe. In my heart – I would love to, but I did not want to make an empty promise. Several of them hugged me and then it was mount time again. The ride back was very hot – but I decided that I might as well get a tan while I was riding a horse for 5-6 hours. So while everyone else covered every inch of their skin and wore hats – I rolled up my sleeves and baked. Oh. Also – one way to prove to you all that I am still the Amanda you know and love: I took several pictures of myself while riding through these mountains (just like I would while driving/using the bathroom at a bar, etc.). As we got closer and closer to returning to Cusmapa , I became more and more proud of myself. This trip was so incredibly physically draining – but also emotionally draining. I imagine it is a lot like a marathon run – moments when you don’t feel your body at all, moments when you don’t think you can go any further, and a moment of triumph when completing something so much bigger than yourself.<br />After paying the renter’s fee for the horses – I took my first shower of the trip, and by far 10 times colder than my host family’s shower. The remainder of the night, Ian and I just talked about Peace Corps, past jobs, and life in general. I feel very fortunate to have been sent to him. For several reasons, including that he is genuinely a really good person, passionate and had a lot of advice for me regarding service. I definitely hope to keep in contact with him.<br />Now I must point out that what Ian and I did, was not a typical day in a volunteer’s life. Some people go their entire two years without riding a horse – much less for 8 hours in one day. This was only the 4th time that Ian had gone out to this community – but it is the site for his primary project. His project was focused on bettering their water system. Just a quick description: a very, very small trickle of water that goes into a natural trough. This is the only source of water for the entire community. As a result, they use it for everything. To bathe, to wash clothes, to cook, for the animals, etc. His project includes bettering this system to reduce contamination. I think his project is very ambitious (in terms of funding, etc.) but that he will get it done! It was very interesting to see how each volunteer will create and develop his/her own project. When he got to Los Limones he immediately saw the need for a water infiltration system. I immediately saw an opportunity to educate those children. This is such a great example of the different skills and knowledge that each volunteer has to offer a community.<br />After all was said and done, and we made it back to Cusmapa, I would have jumped right back on that horse the next day to see those children. This experience was one of the most challenging and rewarding ‘field trips’ of my life. On my way back home to El Rosario, I held back tears as I reflected on the enormity of this experience. I was overcome with almost a feeling of guilty, because of how much I have taken for granted in my life.<br />The next day Ian and I met up with a few other volunteers in Somoto (the capital of Madriz). We went to the cutest little brunch place with whole wheat bread, hummus, Swiss cheese, brie cheese, yoghurt and REAL coffee. That black coffee was heavenly. Here in Nicaragua, even if it is real coffee – they do equal parts sugar and coffee. It actually makes my teeth hurt. The food here was amazing and so cheap. It was a great way to end the entire trip. When we made it back to Managua – I actually had to go to the medical office, so I separated from the rest of the group; hence, the title of the next section.<br /><strong>Don’t let the bed bugs bite…<br /></strong>So I woke up in the middle of the night Tuesday to feel a few bumps on my stomach. I thought they were just random bug bites – and tried to go back to sleep. When I awoke at 4:30am the next morning to catch the bus with Ian, I soon realized many more than just a few bites/bumps on my body. They were now all over my stomach, forearms and back. I put some hydro-cortisone cream on it and tried to stay calm knowing I had a day of at least 7-10 hours of traveling ahead of me. Upon arriving in Esetli, I called the medical office in Managua to tell them what was going on. They suggested coming in for an appointment once I got to Managua. I really did not want to go, but figured this was not…normal. Got to the office around 3pm, meanwhile my rash had spread to my lower legs, neck and butt. More than one doctor came in to look at my Dalmatian looking body and they eventually said they didn’t know what it was and sent me to the hospital. Fabulous. I was well taken care of though- and ‘Don-Douglas’ aka the guy that does everything for the Peace Corps took me to the hospital where I saw a dermatologist. She said that it was allergic reaction to flea/insect bites. I determined that it was Ian’s bed – but it is a possibility that it was from the ‘bed’ in Los Limones also. I was very skeptical of this ‘allergy’ diagnosis, because they all looked like bites. PC booked me a hotel in Managua and told me to stay overnight. I said, “No.” I was out of clean clothes and all I wanted to do was shower and get back to my host-house. Anyway, I got two pills to take and one cream. I did feel well taken care of and I think that the medical care here is amazing. Anyway, today is Wednesday March 4th, 2009 and I am definitely a lot better. There are still a decent amount of bumps on my arms and hands. I am going to give it until Monday and if it is not completely better, I am going to return to the dermatologist. I think rashes are pretty difficult to diagnosis – and it really could have been anything. I guess I just want to make sure that there aren’t any bugs under my skin. Ha. I will keep you all up to date on that. I have been dealing pretty well with just accepting that medical conditions are just going to happen while I am here in Nicaragua.<br />Please see photos posted on facebook to get a visual of this ‘rash’. Ha<br />It is very difficult to believe that it has been over one month since I have seen you all. In some ways it feels light-years longer, and in others-like it was just yesterday. I miss you all so much… and I hope you know how often I think of you. This has been a very exciting week and I have a lot to share with you regarding my visit to Cusmapa…sooo let’s get started!<br />Transportation<br />Wow. What an experience this was. On Sunday morning, I and five other volunteers boarded a mini-bus to Managua (the capital city) around 7:00am. It took a little bit longer than anticipated and stopped frequently throughout the 1.5 hour ride. Right before our stop, the micro-bus pulled to the side. At first, I thought that someone had dropped something in the front seat – because they were all leaning down towards the floor. Turns out - they had retrieved a screwdriver and were trying to fix some type of mechanical dysfunction. Needless to say, we got out – and got into a taxi for the bus station. All six of us fit into the taxi, which was quite impressive. Within minutes of the bus station – our taxi was… pulled over. Didn’t even know they had ‘radar’ or any type of traffic police in Nicaragua – it was shocking. Apparently the policeman saw he had more than the ‘allowed capacity’ in the taxi and solely wanted to pull the poor guy over to solicit a pay-off. 40 cordobas – or 2 dollars…not too bad for corrupt police action.<br />We finally made it to the bus station – and ended up making the 8:45am bus to Somoto. The bus ride was generally smooth – only a few moments of terror during the three hours. I was actually able to sleep most of the ride and was sitting with Nico (one of the other volunteers) the whole ride up. After arriving in Somoto – I broke off from the rest of the group and waited about an hour and a half for the next bus up the mountain to Cusmapa. Words of advice from current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) included: being very aggressive when getting on the bus. Boy, were they right. At 1:15pm the colorful school bus from the 80’s pulled up with a significant amount of people already on it. Before the bus was even in park, people were climbing in the emergency exit, shoving people out of their way, frantically trying to get on the bus. I may or may not have elbowed an old man and a little kid to get on the bus.<br />None the less, I made it on – but there was already standing room only. There was a teenager ‘saving a seat’ for someone – or just not trying to sit with anyone right next to me, and he eventually allowed me to sit down next to him. It was so crammed that I could barely reach into my purse – because of the lack of elbow room. Before heading up the mountain we stopped in various spots to pick up more people and more cargo. To fully explain what that bus ride is like – is impossible to anyone who has not experienced it. Blazing hot. Zero personal space (a woman (who was holding her child) had her butt leaning on my shoulder two out of the three hours). Animals were on board. Approximately 15-20 people on top of the bus. A LOT of bags/cargo. People that live up this mountain, especially in Cusmapa, are completely isolated from stores, food, etc. and therefore come to Somoto for all of these needs. Completely unpaved roads. And straight up that mountain.<br />The scenery was unbelievable and it was impossible to be bored during this right. Also, impossible to sleep. Bump. City. I made small talk with my seat buddy until his stop – and then spoke with a really nice guy my age that lives in Cusmapa and is studying Anthropolopy. Before I knew it – I had arrived in Cusmapa. I somehow got off the right bus stop in Cusmapa and Ian was there waiting for me! (They blow the horn for about 60 seconds straight to signify its arrival in town). The next part of my transportation began the next morning (Monday), but I feel that it needs its own section.<br />Save a Horse…<br />So. For the remainder of Sunday evening – Ian and I chatted about Peace Corps, his experience (challenges, etc.), and he attempted to prepare me for our adventure in the morning. He said that he, I, one doctor and two nurses would be venturing out to two rural communities. By horseback. I shared with him that I had never ridden a horse and that my resume consisted of Newark Labor Day and riding a mechanical bull in Orlando, Florida. He definitely seemed concerned and told me that the trails were very rough and that every time he had gone out to these communities, someone had fallen off their horse. Fabulous pep talk. I am not going to lie – I was scared as all hell and excited at the same time. Well we packed up the medicine – and I headed off into the unknown. Just getting on the horse was intimidating – but apparently watching ‘Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken” dozens of times throughout my life really prepared me for this moment of my life. I mounted perfectly. Ha.<br />My first real event of horse riding would be winding through the mountains of Nicaragua – on paths that are impassible by anything but horse or walking, crossing a river, and staring over cliffs with nothing standing between me, my burro and the bottomless pits. I quickly bonded with my ‘burro’ (I am pretty sure it was a mule – hard to say for sure though) and he became my best friend for the next 36 hours. I am pretty positive that I had full-out conversations with him – encouraging him, thanking him for not killing me, the norm. He was incredibly sturdy – and enjoyed going at a slower pace. Match made in heaven. They put a lot of weight on my horse – to weigh him down of sorts. Believe it or not – my experience riding a mechanical bull in Orlando, Florida – proved to be very, very useful. It was sort of a crash course in horse-back riding. It’s all in the hips. So, thanks for making me do that Nicole. May have saved my life. Ha.<br />The paths were treacherous. Several times, we had to get off and walk the horses because it was so steep and dangerous. In total on Monday, I rode a horse for about 8 hours to get to Los Limones. Seriously – 8 hours. Just imagine for a moment how that feels on your tracero (bum). I would have to say that the scariest moment occurred when I looked behind me, to see one of the nurse’s horse fall. She fell off the horse and then the horse fell and landed on her leg. At first, they thought that the horse’s leg was broken – but he was able to get up and keep on truckin’. These trails were not legit by any means. In total between Monday and Tuesday, I rode my burro for over 13 hours. I am almost positive that is more time than I slept during those three days, combined. It is amazing how you find ways to adjust your body to alleviate the pressure on your backside. Nonetheless, I made it to our destination without any major incidents. I was actually quite impressed with myself considering the conditions of these paths. These ‘paths’ including passing over the Rio Negro (Black River), which was actually more rocks than water (it is the dry season here). During the rainy season (winter) this river is completely impassable and various towns are cut off from all resources for 5-6 months. Resources include any medical attention, at all. It was so difficult for me to fathom the fact that these towns had access to medical attention/medicine only three, maybe four times per year. Can you imagine? They live with parasites and diseases; use their own methods to heal cuts and scrapes.<br />The main reason for going out to these communities is to provide consults and weigh babies. The idea is that there are volunteers or “brigadistias” within the community that keep up with the baby weighing monthly – but this does not always prove to be effective. The point of weighing the babies is obviously to monitor their growth and provide information to the mothers about how to improve the nutrition of their children (most of them are underweight and breastfeeding is sometimes forgone for coffee). It is unbelievable the need for ‘basic’ knowledge about growth/nutrition in these communities. A lot has to do with how isolated they are and just cut off from all resources and a lot of knowledge. They have been living like this for generations and more importantly, they are seemingly very happy/content.<br />Los Limones<br />Los Limones is one of those isolated communities that I don’t think us as American’s can really even imagine. In total, there were 18 families living in this isolated, rural, rural community. No stores. No banks. No running water. No electricity. No school. Nada. Upon arriving in Los Limones – I was overwhelmed with pain in my backside and nervousness in speaking with a lot of people with my ‘intermediate-low’ Spanish skills. For the first half hour or so I quietly observed my second viewing of baby-weighing and smiled when people were obviously staring. I sat down next to a girl that looked about 16 years old and eventually introduced myself. Within minutes I was surrounded by at least 25 children. It was as though I was a fresh flower filled with nectar – and was being swarmed by bees. They asked me dozens of questions, including: what is your mom’s name, what is your dad’s name and where are you from? After playing twenty questions – it was then time for a talent show apparently. They asked me to sing, dance, and say really difficult words in Spanish so they could laugh at me. I don’t think they had ever seen a camera or photographs before, and therefore we took countless photos. They invited me to play kickball – and of course I jumped right in. The background to the game was a mountain range in Honduras. The view was unbelievable…I could have stared out there forever.<br />I forgot for a while that there was no electricity, no water, and that I had not eaten in hours. It was one of those moments in your life when you are completely carefree. I suppose it was a taste of the innocence that childhood beholds. So sweet. I eventually ate a few bites of a freshly made tortilla and utilized my flashlight (thanks Aunt Linda and Uncle Joe!), fire and the most beautiful stars I have ever seen for guides in the blackest of nights. In general, Nicaragua has the clearest, most beautiful skies I have observed in my twenty-four years. Essentially, I had formed a youth group in Los Limones within 45 minutes of arriving. It became very clear to me that to segue into any community is going to be through the youth. Prior to this trip I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to work with youth – but it is very evident that I have to work with youth. Even the volunteer that I went to go see mentioned something about it. I feel lucky to have that capacity to connect to children and will definitely utilize this when I get to my community in April.<br />I slept in one of the ‘beds’ in this adobe building that Ian, one nurse and I were offered to sleep in. The boys both slept in hammocks and graciously I was given the ‘bed’. It was the frame of a typical bed – but only had roped intertwined between each the boards to hold me up. I slept with three shirts, a fleece and a sleeping bag due to the temperature. As people go to bed as the sun goes down when there is an absence of electricity – they also awake as the sun rises. Also, the adobe that I was sleeping in also served as the school for all of the children of the community. So as I awoke, children were entering for ‘class.’ For breakfast, I was served frijoles, tortillas and some sort of meat. I later discovered that it was chopped up pig. Skin, bones – everything. Oh, and hair. Apparently when they kill the pig they are supposed to singe off all of the hair – but essentially I ate hairy pig (while a live pig was less than 5 feet from me staring at me eat his sister). Bon Appétit! Shortly after, I decided I had been waiting too long – it was time to use the bathroom. Did I mention there are no bathrooms in Los Limones? Yea. So basically for the first time I found an arbole (tree) somewhat hidden in the forest and ‘bonded.’ Thankfully I had brought tissues – but it was an experience nonetheless.<br />After eating, I helped the children with some of their math work and then played one more game of kickball. Upon taking the last sip of one of the liter size bottles of water I had brought – a few of the girls were staring at me (or so I thought). Upon inquiring what they were looking at – I realized they were admiring the empty plastic bottle. One of the girls told me that it was incredibly beautiful – and I asked her if she would like to have it? She acted as though it was too nice of a gift, but I insisted and she eventually accepted. As she held onto it tightly and all of the other children gathered around to look at this recyclable– I had to take a moment to really take it all in. What different worlds we had been given – and yet we were so alike; the beauty of humanity. This to me is why I did the Peace Corps. It is quite different to read about these kinds of communities in Time magazine or view specials on Oprah – than to actually experience it firsthand. To sum it up in one word – humbling.<br />As I began to pack up my belongings and load up our horses – I started to fill with emotions regarding leaving these children, this town. It was hard to differentiate whether these feelings were due to saying goodbye or getting back on a horse. Probably both. The children all asked if I would ever return – and all I was able to say was maybe. In my heart – I would love to, but I did not want to make an empty promise. Several of them hugged me and then it was mount time again. The ride back was very hot – but I decided that I might as well get a tan while I was riding a horse for 5-6 hours. So while everyone else covered every inch of their skin and wore hats – I rolled up my sleeves and baked. Oh. Also – one way to prove to you all that I am still the Amanda you know and love: I took several pictures of myself while riding through these mountains (just like I would while driving/using the bathroom at a bar, etc.). As we got closer and closer to returning to Cusmapa , I became more and more proud of myself. This trip was so incredibly physically draining – but also emotionally draining. I imagine it is a lot like a marathon run – moments when you don’t feel your body at all, moments when you don’t think you can go any further, and a moment of triumph when completing something so much bigger than yourself.<br />After paying the renter’s fee for the horses – I took my first shower of the trip, and by far 10 times colder than my host family’s shower. The remainder of the night, Ian and I just talked about Peace Corps, past jobs, and life in general. I feel very fortunate to have been sent to him. For several reasons, including that he is genuinely a really good person, passionate and had a lot of advice for me regarding service. I definitely hope to keep in contact with him.<br />Now I must point out that what Ian and I did, was not a typical day in a volunteer’s life. Some people go their entire two years without riding a horse – much less for 8 hours in one day. This was only the 4th time that Ian had gone out to this community – but it is the site for his primary project. His project was focused on bettering their water system. Just a quick description: a very, very small trickle of water that goes into a natural trough. This is the only source of water for the entire community. As a result, they use it for everything. To bathe, to wash clothes, to cook, for the animals, etc. His project includes bettering this system to reduce contamination. I think his project is very ambitious (in terms of funding, etc.) but that he will get it done! It was very interesting to see how each volunteer will create and develop his/her own project. When he got to Los Limones he immediately saw the need for a water infiltration system. I immediately saw an opportunity to educate those children. This is such a great example of the different skills and knowledge that each volunteer has to offer a community.<br />After all was said and done, and we made it back to Cusmapa, I would have jumped right back on that horse the next day to see those children. This experience was one of the most challenging and rewarding ‘field trips’ of my life. On my way back home to El Rosario, I held back tears as I reflected on the enormity of this experience. I was overcome with almost a feeling of guilty, because of how much I have taken for granted in my life.<br />The next day Ian and I met up with a few other volunteers in Somoto (the capital of Madriz). We went to the cutest little brunch place with whole wheat bread, hummus, Swiss cheese, brie cheese, yoghurt and REAL coffee. That black coffee was heavenly. Here in Nicaragua, even if it is real coffee – they do equal parts sugar and coffee. It actually makes my teeth hurt. The food here was amazing and so cheap. It was a great way to end the entire trip. When we made it back to Managua – I actually had to go to the medical office, so I separated from the rest of the group; hence, the title of the next section.<br />Don’t let the bed bugs bite…<br />So I woke up in the middle of the night Tuesday to feel a few bumps on my stomach. I thought they were just random bug bites – and tried to go back to sleep. When I awoke at 4:30am the next morning to catch the bus with Ian, I soon realized many more than just a few bites/bumps on my body. They were now all over my stomach, forearms and back. I put some hydro-cortisone cream on it and tried to stay calm knowing I had a day of at least 7-10 hours of traveling ahead of me. Upon arriving in Esetli, I called the medical office in Managua to tell them what was going on. They suggested coming in for an appointment once I got to Managua. I really did not want to go, but figured this was not…normal. Got to the office around 3pm, meanwhile my rash had spread to my lower legs, neck and butt. More than one doctor came in to look at my Dalmatian looking body and they eventually said they didn’t know what it was and sent me to the hospital. Fabulous. I was well taken care of though- and ‘Don-Douglas’ aka the guy that does everything for the Peace Corps took me to the hospital where I saw a dermatologist. She said that it was allergic reaction to flea/insect bites. I determined that it was Ian’s bed – but it is a possibility that it was from the ‘bed’ in Los Limones also. I was very skeptical of this ‘allergy’ diagnosis, because they all looked like bites. PC booked me a hotel in Managua and told me to stay overnight. I said, “No.” I was out of clean clothes and all I wanted to do was shower and get back to my host-house. Anyway, I got two pills to take and one cream. I did feel well taken care of and I think that the medical care here is amazing. Anyway, today is Wednesday March 4th, 2009 and I am definitely a lot better. There are still a decent amount of bumps on my arms and hands. I am going to give it until Monday and if it is not completely better, I am going to return to the dermatologist. I think rashes are pretty difficult to diagnosis – and it really could have been anything. I guess I just want to make sure that there aren’t any bugs under my skin. Ha. I will keep you all up to date on that. I have been dealing pretty well with just accepting that medical conditions are just going to happen while I am here in Nicaragua.<br />Please see photos posted on facebook to get a visual of this ‘rash’. Ha<br /><strong>And much more</strong><br />I have a lot more to tell you all, but I want to finish this blog up so I can post something new for you all today. In 12 days we will be receiving our site placements!!! I am so, so very excited to find out where I will be living for the next two years. I decided my ‘ideal’ site is a medium to small sized town, with access to rural communities, focus on HIV/Youth, in the mountains and access to fruits and veggies. Ha. I could get the total opposite – but we shall see! I am feeling pretty flexible and open regarding my site – with the only exception being that I do not want a huge site (one site has over 300,000 people)! Tomorrow I have my last interview with the woman, Pilar, who decides which site we go to and also my language interview so determine if I have improved at all. Here’s hoping…<br />To say that I miss my parents is the biggest understatement possible. I MISS YOU SO MUCH!!! I feel so lucky that I was able to spend so much time with you before I left, but at the same time – it makes it a little harder now without you. You two truly are my motivation, my strength…my heroes. Your selfless acts throughout my life have been the best examples I will ever witness of service, commitment and kindness. You embody the Peace Corps values and raised me to accept everyone in this world as a human, a person before any race, religion or ethnicity. I am so lucky and so thankful to have you behind me during these two years – I hope you know how much I appreciate you.<br />Thank you to everyone who has continued to support me during this transition time into my new life here in Nicaragua. Your e-mails, letters and messages mean 100 times more than you can even imagine!<br />I will write more about the possible sites in my next blog! I love you all so much <3Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-61618379001411769432009-02-20T17:02:00.004-06:002009-02-20T17:06:46.303-06:00End of the Honeymoon Phase.Hi everyone and Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day! It has been an….eventful week for me here in Nicaragua and I have a lot to catch you up on. Most of this week I would like to forget, but I feel it necessary that you all know the good things and the not-so good things about this new life of mine. So I am going to just jump right into it.<br />(Before I forget: if I have not called you yet and/or you want to hear from me -> e-mail me your phone numbers).<br /><br /><strong>Principals Office, Vaccines and No Mula</strong><br />So as I told you in the last blog, I went to Catarina two weekends ago with five other volunteers. What I may or may not have mentioned about this trip was that we were in the back of Braden’s Dad’s pick-up truck (for the record: I did not know this was the travel arraignment until we were already getting into the truck). Anyway, this is beyond common here – and although it is clearly not safe, I felt it was no less safe than riding in one of the micro-buses that has a window being held up by a hair tie.<br />At our tech charla/meeting this past Friday the entire group received a ‘lecture’ regarding spending time in your training towns, not riding in the back of trucks and not leaving your department. Although it had been explicitly outlined that we are not permitted to ride ‘motos’/motorcycles, it has not been clear about the truck rule. Also, blame it on lack of geography – but none of us had any idea that we had left our department. It was only about 30 minutes and seemed harmless. Obviously, no one got into trouble and it was more of a ‘general announcement’, but none the less – it happened. After I received a TB Booster and Rabies vaccine, I went and talked to the ‘Master Trainer’ about the situation and apologized. Lesson Learned. Their biggest concern was obviously our safety and also that we should not be hanging out with other volunteers on the weekend (and speaking English)– we should be spending time with our host families (which I do more than enough of).<br />Our banking was set up by Peace Corps and we received a debit card to retrieve our weekly ‘salary’ (which varies from 350-450 cordobas depending on travel needs, or about $20 U.S. dollars). When I left the charla on Friday, I took 300 cordobas out of the ATM and Hana and I took a micro-bus to Jinotepe to use the internet. When I went to pay for the cyber, I realized I did not have any money and my change purse was nowhere to be found. Now to say what exactly happened is impossible. I have heard stories of people getting pick-pocketed or robbed without even knowing it – and yes, it is a possibility. It is also a possibility that I just dropped the change purse – who knows. Regardless, it was very upsetting when combined with other factors of the day (me STILL not receiving my packages from my parents that have been in Nicaragua for over a week, the internet not working while I was trying to talk to my parents, group frustration, etc.). Hana handled the situation very well and was incredibly supportive and spotted me some cords (cordobas) to pay for my internet and get home.<br />In the big spectrum, not that big of a deal – I was safe, it really wasn’t that much money (less than 20 american dollars), etc. But when you combine a bunch of little things with homesickness, they seem bigger. Anyway, I called one of the training people and they were very supportive and the next day one of them gave me 300 cordobas. They originally told me I had to go the police station and file a report in Jinotepe to get reimbursement from the Peace Corps – but I found out today that I just had to fill out a form – which is awesome. Ironically, in the package my parents had sent me was a purse with zipper and such – which I would have been using instead of my Nike (open) back-pack. Such is life.<br /><strong>V-Day in Nica</strong><br />Although I do love Valentine’s Day – it was basically just another day here. I did just receive your card today Stacey!! (2/18) It was such a sweet surprise and I am so proud of you! I did receive two gifts – including a bottle of wine from Hana and a teddy bear from my host brother! Both were so thoughtful and sweet. It was our first Saturday that we had a PC charla – and it was on cultural adaptation. Very ironically, we were asked to rate our moods that day for the past three weeks (mine was in the negative range of the chart at that moment). The charla was nice though and had ample timing considering my crappy week – because it talked about the highs and lows of culture shock/adaptation. Some people went through their ‘low’ during week one – so at least I made it to week 3 – 4! Things will only get better…(so I thought)….<br />After the charla, a bunch of us went to the pool and that was very nice to just bask in the sun. Later that day I had a slight temperature and was feeling pretty nauseas, but after a dance session with my three-year old Nica sister, Ruby – I decided to accept the invitation to go out with Hana and her uncle. We went to the restaurant he owns in our town, El Rosario. We hung out with some people in the restaurant and drank some Toña, Nica-Beer.<br /> Later, they all decided we should go out dancing – so at about 10:30 we went to the pool, which is also restaurant/discoteca (very few buildings here serve only one purpose). It was packed with lovers and couples – which was fine by me, I love watching people dance traditional Nica/Hispanic dances. I did have my first dance with a Nicaraguan – it was less than exciting. Ha. He was a worse dancer than me! Oh, and the whole time he was asking me if I had a boyfriend in the United States. Blah. I really did not want to stay out very late, but everyone else did. I got home at 2:30am (and don’t have a key to my house – so I had to call my mom to let me in), when in reality I was ready for bed by midnight. All in all it was an interesting Dia de San Valentin.<br /><strong>Perros</strong><br />So dogs here are quite … frequent. Bob Barker should definitely consider doing an outreach here to have dogs neutered and spade. It is not abnormal to witness a street fight of 10-15 dogs. It is incredibly scary but I seem to be the only one concerned. The same way I am incredibly offended when I see two dogs ‘getting busy’ on the street corner in front of the park – it seems that everyone else doesn’t even notice. Dogs here are not seen as pets. Most decide to have a dog in order for protection, a ‘security-system’ more or less. Basically here I am not a fan of dogs, which is so opposite of me in Estados Unidos (the US).<br />Which brings me to the point that OMG I MISS WESTY, my perrito. During the days before I left and I was trying not to spend money – and getting in as much television and movies as I could (p.s. How is Lost!?! Miss it), I spent soooo much time with her. My parents tell me that she still looks for me in the house. I would pay some serious cordobas to just hug my little puppy. Ah. December.<br /><strong>Class</strong><br />The dynamics of the group are getting much, much better and all of the problemas have been addressed. Every three weeks our language facilitator changes and it was actually quite sad to have our first one leave us – Nidia, she was incredible. FYI: I taught her ‘That’s what she said’ in Spanish. It was fabuloso. Our new language facilitator is quite ‘different’ from Nidia – but I am trying to remain open to different teaching styles. This week due to all of my crap happening – I do feel that my language has not improved great lengths. I hope to reverse that this next week hopefully. The entire set up of training is very reminiscent of Study Abroad: six hours of class a day, host family, with 20 other Americans throughout the week, etc. Everything is very structured and planned out – which I feel is the opposite of a volunteer’s experience. Training is very necessary – but I do much look forward to my actual service.<br /><strong>24…<em>not the show</em></strong><br />So, this section is not for people with weak stomachs – although it will be censored. Monday night I went to bed around 9:30pm (which is late for my standards here in Nica), when I was awoken at 11:00pm from a loud rumble. No. It wasn’t an earthquake. It was my stomach. By 6:00am the next morning I had had diarrhea 8 times. I spoke with my host-mom when she woke up to tell her what was going on. I didn’t have any minutes (“saldo” see telephone section) and neither did my mom. So she went to buy some at 7:00 when the closest pulperia opened. The medical officer told me to go to the nearest town, Jinotepe, and give a stool sample (seriously) and for blood work. One positive out of this entire situation that I will say about Nicaragua is – damn their medical stuff is fast. I was in and out of the lab within 5 minutes. Stool sample and all. In the U.S. that would have been half of my day.<br />So we wait to hear back from the medical officers with the results as I continue to worsen. My fever is around 101 degrees and the frequency of bathroom visits is increasing. Even more than that – the amount of pain in my stomach was truly indescribable. I may have had a conversation with my stomach it was so loud. Pretty sure. One word that I would not use to describe my host mom here is...nurturing. She was shouting things at me throughout the day – things that consisted of “don’t drink anymore water” “chug this weird potion-looking, milky, thick drink” “eat oranges and pineapples” and “don’t eat bread.” All of which were the opposite of what I needed. Long story short, I understand why people die of Diarrhea here. It is incredibly difficult to explain to someone, while you feel like you are dying, that you are not going to drink or eat what they feel is right in the situation.<br />Back to the story, around 12:00pm I begin vomiting as well (even better, huh?). The Medical Officer finally calls back and tells me I have a bacterial infection in my GI track and that I need antibiotics. My host-mom went and got them for me and I began taking them around 1:30pm. I was in and out of sleep throughout the rest of the day in between bathroom breaks. I stopped counting after 24 (yes, twenty-four..in less than 24 hours) times – because I thought it just wasn’t necessary. I had moments of comic-relief – like when my mind flashed to a scene of Dumb and Dumber, my domestica (maid) asked me if I was pregnant and I responded Immaculate Conception in Spanish, when I was sitting in the taxi next to a rather large woman with a bag of my stool sample. I also had moments of breakdowns, like when we didn’t have running water, when I was vomiting and having diarrhea at the same time, when there was no toilet paper, when I threw up gallopinto (rice and beans a.k.a the thing that they eat at EVERY MEAL, literally) in their shower, when the toilet seat was blanketed in ants in the middle of the night, and when all I wanted in the world was to be with my parents and have my mom rub my head. Remember: this was the censored version.<br />Well, I am alive. I made it to the other side. Today is Wednesday and I did shower this morning and made it to class. But I ended up leaving around 9:30 because I was just so weak and still having some diarrhea. I was super bummed because I was supposed to give my first charla at the local school here to 6th graders – but I was basically a walking charla on diarrhea these past 48 hours. I rested a little and ate some crackers before going to Jinotepe for our afternoon charlas. The main reason I made myself go was because we got to find out where our Volunteer Visits are (see next section!!!). I made it through both charlas without using the bathroom. I have not eaten anything except crackers – but I will try and conquer some type of real food tomorrow. Baby steps… Still having some ‘movement’ every time I go the bathroom – and occasional conversations with my stomach –but overall SO, so much better.<br />The doctor said it was from something I ate or drank – and there is no real way to know what it is from. Last week I did not have ‘agua pura’ or purified water –and was drinking tap water during and after that whole water shortage. It is a possibility it could have been this – I don’t really know how long bacterial infections take to form, yada yada. It could have been the cantaloupe – it could have been the rice and beans. I will never really know. But I do know that I have a serious guard up now. I should have been more assertive with my host-mom about having agua pura (it is the first time this family has hosted an aspirante (trainee). She has now gone the other direction as well and I have three containers of agua pura in my room and some in the kitchen. Ha.<br /> I felt a little anorexic this evening – because she was forcing me to eat dinner after not eating for almost 48 straight hours. It was carne (meat), a tortilla and some tomatoes. I am still having issues at this time and am seriously weary of eating anything – let alone a piece of meat that looks like it was from various types of animals. When she left the room I put the piece of meat back into the pan, ate a few bites of the tortilla and threw the rest out. Felt like I was on a bad Lifetime movie. Ha. For those of you that are worried – I will eat again. I am just taking very small steps back to Nica-food due to PTSD. Did get my packages today from my parents, finally – but sadly I do not think I will be eating the FiberOne bars anytime pronto. Ah, irony. (Side note: those of you that were in Mexico with me when I had Salmonella (Cara – Bueno!)– this tops it. And then some). But I better get better ASAP because I have a Volunteer Visit this Sundayyy!!!...<br /><strong>...Take Me Higher…</strong><br />We are all assigned to different Volunteer Visits to get a glimpse of the life of a volunteer and how all of these things we have been learning get put into place – oh, and to see a different part of the country – FINALLY! The charla that was receive today was from this guy Ian (from Tennessee) and the whole time he was talking – I was thinking how awesome he was and that he was really passionate, yada yada. Turns out I am the lucky person that is going to see him!!! At that moment, all the bathroom issues – money stuff – faded away. I am so excited! He lives in San Jose Casmupa, Madriz – which is very, very northern part of Nicaragua. On the map it looks like you could throw a stone into Honduras. It also happens to be the town with the highest elevation in Nicaragua – woah! This volunteer visit was definitely not foreseen – as they told us we are normally matched girls-with-girls and I thought it would be a larger site. So this whole time I was thinking that I will definitely get placed in a larger site – but who knows! If they feel comfortable sending me to one of the most rural sites for a visit – it is very unclear where I will end up. The location of your volunteer visit could mean nothing – or it could. Only ‘they’ know. Ha. I did express in my interview that I would like to focus on HIV/AIDS prevention/outreach – and apparently he is focusing a lot on that.<br />One of the first questions he asked me was, “do you ride horses or mules?” And of course I responded, “I do now.” Ha. This place has got to be insanely rural. He also told me that it gets really, really cold at night and suggested bring any warm clothes I have and a sleeping bag. I did not bring a sleeping bag. But luckily, my friend that is getting sent to a warmer visit – not in the tip-top of the mountains – is letting me borrow his. He already told me about some things we will be doing – and I am so hyped to see all that we have been learning in action. Apparently on Monday we will be riding a mule/horse and hiking a very long distance to another rural community – for baby weighing and to give nutritional charlas. Then he said we will be staying the night in that town and sleeping in hammocks. Wow.<br />He said he was the same language level as me when he began his service, which was comforting. I will be staying with his host family because his house is not done being built apparently? So he will be staying in his half-built house and I will be staying with the host family very close by. I am super-excited and can’t wait to learn how to ride a mule. Ha. I never thought that would be an aspiration of mine. I will have so much to tell you all when I get back (and lots of photos!). He said it is incredibly gorgeous up there – and I am excited to see a different part of Nicaragua. These areas we are in now aren’t horrible – but there is trash and poop everywhere. It will be nice to just see some green scenery. So things always could be worse – I could have gotten sick while learning how to ride a mule. Not. Cute. Just to give you an idea of how mountainous this apparently is – I am taking a bus with 4 other PC trainees to Somoto (which is actually North of where I will be staying). Ian’s site is only 30km South-East from Somoto – but it takes about 3.5 hours because of how mountainous it is. Wow. In total it will take about 12 hours to get to his site. Wish me luck!<br /><br />I love you all SO much. Please e-mail me little updates on your lives – I would love to hear how you are doing. I will try to respond if it at all possible – but my time on the internet is very limited (I write these blogs at home). I am thinking of making this blog private because of horror stories I have heard about people’s personal blogs being used against them or Peace Corps in general. If I do change that – you will receive an e-mail from me inviting you – if I already have your e-mail. If not please shoot me an e-mail if you would like to continue reading!<br />My next blog will be all about my visit to Casmupa!<br />You are all are amazing people and I miss you more than I can describe. Keep striving for all that you desire – and remember that you are loved <3.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-86390713824898689952009-02-10T16:16:00.000-06:002009-02-10T16:18:08.595-06:00Nica-What.Buenas dias mi amores. I hope everyone is well. Again I just want to thank everyone who has taken time out of their busy schedule to read this blog – I appreciate all of your support more than you can imagine. So I survived this week despite not having electricity and water three of the six days. It was interesting to say the least. I have tried to make this blog a bit more organized for the pleasure of my readers – here it goes.<br /><br /><strong>Language</strong><br />So I like to think that I am improving greatly in this area and hopefully most others would agree. Despite this advancement it is incredibly difficult to walk into a waiting room of strangers in the Centro de Salud (health center) and give a presentation on HIV/AIDS, including a condom demonstration. These topics are difficult to talk about in your own culture/language - imagine giving information about sex in another language. I can get frustrated with myself at times, when I am unable to pronounce a word and explain myself. But it is becoming more and more apparent to me that I need to let go of my perfectionist characteristics in order to be successful here. With time, I am gaining more patience with others – and even more so with myself (thanks mom!). (side note: Nicaragua is not the place to come to if you are self-conscious. They refer to people by describing their body or origin. Entonces, gorda (fat), ojos de un gato (eyes of a cat) and cringa are not words that you can be offended by)<br /> It is amazing though how much I rely on non-verbal communication. Nica’s love to use their hands to explain – and it just so happens I do as well. Ha. There are also a lot of common grounds between this culture and my own. Love for music. Love for sports. Love for writing. Love for photography. It is amazing how all of these things do not require that much communication and they instantaneously create a common bond between two people. I am definitely thinking of doing a photography project with my youth group when I get to my site. Cameras are not all that common here and youth are fascinated with taking photos. My Nica-brother, Randall, is even beginning to understand the style of abstract. When I get to my site (the place I will be for two years by myself) I will have a lot more freedom to start projects of my own with my community.<br /><strong>Class</strong><br />We have six hours a day of language training – both formal and non-formal education. It can definitely be tedious at times, but it is nothing like a language class in the states. There is very little focus on grammatical lessons – and more practical exercises. Today we practices giving directions by playing pin the tale on the donkey. Somehow I ended up outside in the street –and they were trying to get me to kiss Brad (a guy in my group). I may or may not trust my group.<br />This morning I gave a charla on how HIV is transmitted at the health center and I am incredibly pleased with how it went. I was paired with Evan (the guy with zero personality) to give charlas this week and next. Either the teacher thinks that I can help him become more extroverted, or she hates me. Either one. This morning did go incredibly well though – and I was impressed with how he performed (insert: that’s what she said joke).<br /><strong><br />Caterina</strong><br /> This past Saturday I went to Catarina, a nearby town, with Brad’s family. (cultural fact: when you invite someone to go somewhere – you are offering to pay for them here. If you do not intend to pay for them – you say during the invitation that if they want to come they have to do it “the american way”..aka pay for themselves). Catarina was the most beautiful place I have seen in Nicaragua yet. It is a lagoon at the base of a nearby mountain, about 25 minutes away. ‘Fresca’ or ‘Frio’ are terms I don’t really pay attention to here – because they think it is cold when it is 75 degrees and a little windy. Well, the warnings about Catarina were correct. It sure was cold. Probably about 60 degrees and 30mph winds off the water.<br /><strong>Security/Seguridad<br /></strong>On Wednesday we had a security briefing with Julio (who is a kinda attractive) and it was quite intense. Apparently kidnapping is kinda a big deal in Managua, where the Peace Corps office is located. Our directions when using a taxi in Managua include: check the license plate, take a picture of license plate, call the Peace Corps office and give the name of the cab driver and our location, also call every ten minutes until we arrive at our location. Intense? A little bit. It is not very common among volunteers but apparently it happened about two weeks ago to one. Also, during this presentation, four current volunteers shared experiences when they were victims of theft. It is the most common crime among PC volunteers. I am not accepting that it is going to happen, but it is likely that something will happen during these two year. I will do everything in my power to prevent it (I have only used my nice camera, Nikon, twice since I have been here – because it attracts so much attention. Hopefully when I get to my own sight and develop more of a relationship with the community, I will be able to use it more).<br /><strong>Site Location</strong><br />During our first interview with the Program Director, Pilar, I told her about my allergic reactions to bees and that my doctor requested I be within thirty minutes from a hospital. She didn’t seem concerned, but did say that I will not be in a very, very rural area. There are some sites that are fourteen hours from Managua or another volunteer of their sector (I am in the Health Sector, other sectors include: environment, agriculture, teaching English and small business). I think I would be okay in that area – but there are countless benefits to being in a more urban area. There will be more opportunities to work with more groups, NGOs, kids, etc, more resources, closer access to internet, closer to other volunteers and easier for people to come visit me!!! J hint, hint. I have come to accept that I am limited in terms of my site locations and I am just thankful to have been accepted into the PC. The work that I will be doing here is much, much more important than the location. I did express to Pilar that I would love to continue to work on HIV/AIDS. No matter where I end up I will be working within three aspects of health, but I am able to focus on one area more than another. The three areas are: HIV/AIDS, Prenatal/Maternal Care, Sex Education. I am also mandated to start a youth group in my town which will involve health topics as well.<br /><br />So currently I am giving charlas in the Health Center and we are running two youth groups (one that we formed on our own – and one that was already formed at the health center). Next week we start giving charlas at the School (4th-6th grade). These topics will be much less intense and include topics such as: self-esteem, washing hands, smoking cigarettes, nutrition (OMG THEY NEED THIS) and others. Perhaps the most exciting part about living in a medium to large size town will be having access to fruits and vegetables (as I stare at my cold tortilla and queso fresco aka the saltiest cheese alive).<br /><strong>Ruby</strong><br />Is amazing. She is my three-year old littler Nica-sister. No matter how I am feeling, when she yells “Amaaaanda” and run up to me (sometimes I pick her up for exercise purposes…she is 49lbs. 3 years old) everything is all good. She definitely is helping me deal with being away from Ethan. After viewing a video of him smiling and laughing – I had my first little cry since I have been here. I want to be there SOO badly for those moments… I hope Justin and Erin know I am there in heart.<br />Random facts about my life in Nicaragua:<br />1. I clean my own underwear on a cement block washing board.<br />2. I don’t poop. Ever.<br />3. I am no longer scared of any bugs/insects (besides bees)<br />4. My mom thinks I don’t know how to look sexy – so she has made it her purpose to help me (ex. She ironed my hair a few nights ago. With an Iron. A legit Iron. Not be confused with a straightening iron)<br />5. I had my first dream in Spanish last night<br />6. I am constantly going to be talking about fluid exchange, condoms, and penis’ these next two years. Daily.<br />7. People drink Coca-Cola here like it is agua.<br />8. Nicaraguans are missing the middle of the food/nutrition pyramid (fruits, veggies)<br />9. It is normal to pass a pig, a chicken, a dog that looks dead and an immense amount of poop while walking down the street.<br />10. The most English I have heard here has been “I love you forever” or “Beautiful” while passing by Nica-men.<br />11. It is very common to have a ‘pulperia’ or store attached to your house. They do mix business with pleasure.<br />12. ‘Boots with Fur’ is currently at the top of the music charts here in Nicaragua.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-27045918821828828932009-02-03T17:11:00.001-06:002009-02-03T17:14:44.590-06:001st real post to get you all up to date!Greetings my loved ones!!! I hope you all are well…I miss you all terribly – but I truly am enjoying every second of this great adventure. It has only been a little over a week, but it feels like so, so, so much longer. It has been jam-packed with charlas (meetings), vaccinations, classes and much more. But this first blog is my attempt at catching you all up on my new life here in Nicaragua. I wish I had time to call and write all of you – but it is just very difficult. Entonces…(There will be a lot of ‘Spanglish’ in my blog) I thought this would be a great way for you all to keep up with what is going on with me. I am going to attempt to go in the ‘Cyber’ or Internet café once every week or so to keep you all posted.<br />(side note: My Spanish has improved immensely over the past eight days. Unfortunately, my English skills have seriously taken a blow. So people (ahem..mamma) do not bash me for serious grammer/spelling issues).<br />Where to start? I guess from the beginning. After all the partying, dining and packing was finished…the enormity of what I was about to do hit me. I cried myself to sleep (for two hours) after Desmond and Megan left my house around 1:30 in the morning. After a quick little siesta, I woke up at 3:30 to shower and finished tidying up my parents ‘guest room’ (which served as my room for the last three months). My parents and Westy took me to the airport and we arrived around 5:00am. As my mother walked me into the check-in counter I began to shake. Was it nerves? Was it just flipping freezing? Probably both. I somehow get by check-in with my enormous amount of luggage (which surely was overweight despite everyone’s effort) likely because I was crying..haha. Saying goodbye to my parents was just as hard as I expected maybe even more so. As I stood in an insane line for security, I wore my sunglasses as I continued to cry. As soon as I saw this insane line my first instinct was to text message my parents to tell them about it. Cue the withdrawal from communication systems.<br />My flight to Miami was fine. Cried a little. Slept a little. Then realized there was a dog in the person’s bag next to me. Normal. Upon arriving in Miami, I received both of my bags quickly (which for anyone that knows of my past travels, knows this is miracle). My taxi driver was named Jose and he had the Titanic soundtrack playing when I entered the taxi. For some odd reason this comforted me. I began speaking with him in Spanish because … never too early to start practicing, right? The DoubleTree Hotel we stayed in was beautiful. Better than beautiful, it was delicious! After checking in (500 hours early) they gave me a warm chocolate chip cookie. It was as if they knew me all my life. Despite the lack of appetite, I ate the cookie in less than 60 seconds. Next, I called my parents, Liz and my grandmother and cried a little more. Then it was time for a very serious siesta. After sleeping approximately three hours I met my roommate, Danielle, from Austin, Texas. Again. Fate. We chatted for awhile and then went to our Peace Corps (from here on out PC will be Peace Corps) orientation. I will save you from the details of the next six hours. In a nutshell, we talked a lot about policies, anxieties and aspirations of our PC experience, policies and…rules. Ha. Cicely, a former PC volunteer in Nicaragua, was phenomenal. She spoke a little about how amazing it is that on the first day of Barack Obama’s administration, we were doing exactly what he asks of all of us… to serve others. The inauguration definitely made everything a little more emotional. The PC Mission Statement mentions the term “international peace” – something that seems so far away, so foreign after enduring these past eight years. Yet I remain hopeful, that our efforts individually and collectively, will help to take one small step towards this amazing concept. International Peace. At first I was definitely sad to leave the United States at such an exciting time, but I now see it in a completely different light. I think the timing is perfect. I have never been prouder to be an American than right now – what better time is there to go to another country and represent America?<br />Holy hell, I am writing a LOT. I haven’t even gotten you up to date with me landing in Nicaragua. DIOS MIO. Okay. I wanted to tell you a little about my group. There are twenty-one of us from all over America. Seriously…all over. Maine, Connecticut, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Minnesota, Utah, Washington, California, Alaska!!!, Ohio and of course… DELAWARE. Represent the first state (p.s. no one knows this fun fact). One girl from Florida went to school in Pennsylvania and was born in Christiana Hospital – (go ahead… ‘it’s a small world after all – Nicole! Cheapest vacay everrrr).The group is full of funny, intelligent, passionate people – who all are coming together for a common purpose: to improve the health situation in Nicaragua. Ages range from 22 to 31. Most people are between 22-25. That night in Miami we went to a restaurant called Los Rancheros and our server was from.. Nicaragua. He actually gave us his mother’s address in Nicaragua, in case we want to go visit her. The plane ride to Nicaragua was delayed over an hour – but it wasn’t noticed that much due to everyone talking and getting to know one another.<br />Okay. So the next three days were kind of like summer camp. We were separated between boys and girls and I am pretty sure I took the coldest shower of life. I screamed when I got in and woke up everyone else in the ‘compound’. It was kind of like baby-steps when we got to Nicaragua. The first three days we were not permitted to leave the campus besides one short fieldtrip to downtown Managua. During this short field trip we were able to see the beautiful lake Managua. And by beautiful I mean biologically considered dead (meaning that there is no living organism in the Lake because of all of the garbage). People literally just throw their trash anywhere. And apparently there was a hospital at the top of this hill that put all of their waste into this lake. Yummy. Cannot wait to go….water-skiing? Entonces, there were a lot of meetings and overviews of the next three months of our lives. We also had a language interview in which I forgot the word for church (iglesia – in case you were wondering). Somehow I tested into the “intermediate-low” group, which is pretty damn good. We are all very similar in levels of Spanish. They require that we test-out at the end of training at the intermediate-middle level. No hay problema. Getting dropped off at our host families was definitely intimidating. We had spent three straight days with all of the other volunteers and had been speaking English. As we were about to be dropped off to a family that was picked because they knew no English – it was …intimidating, to say the least.<br />As the van full of people dropped me off to my host family, my eyes filled with tears. As I somehow held back the feeling in my stomach, I proceeded to my room. It is very modest – and actually a lot better accommodations than I expected. I have a full-size bed and a small mesa (table) with two chairs. I also have a sort of cubby-like dresser for my things (which fit everything). I have a three year old little Nica-sister named Ruby, who is the cutest thing of life, a pistol, but so cute. I also have a brother, Randall, who is 12 years old. My mother, Karla, speaks incredibly fast but is so cute and sweet and only 34 years old. They all sleep in one of the other bedrooms and the abueltio (grandfather) sleep in the other (apparently it is his house .. I am still trying to figure out the dynamics of my familia). My only real complaint about my room is the paper-thin mattress. But we do have running water during the day and electricity in the early morning and evening hours – so I cannot complain really.<br />After sleeping pretty well Saturday evening, I wake up around 9:00am on Sunday. I pretty much spent all day unpacking and spending time with my family. My brother is fascinated with me – and we have spent a lot of time together. He took me to the park during the day and we also played X-Box. Seriously. Even though we sometimes do not have electricity, this little guy has a business. He sells time for kids in the pueblo (neighborhood) to play his Playstation, X-Box, etc. It’s all about the Benjamins Baby. Orrrr cordobas (the local currency here. It is 20 cordobas to one American dollar). Either one. *FYI: I will be making 35 cordobas a day here, which is equivalent to $1.75 US. Ballinnn. I have not had any trouble though and mostly go through the days without spending any money. To get to the town over that has internet, it is only 5 cordobas and then 12 cordobas per hour to use the internet. So round trip and one hour of internet is equivalent to about $1 U.S. dollar a.k.a. a days work.<br />Monday we began our language lessons bright and early at 8:00am. In my group is Evan (from Connecticut), Hana (CT), and Braden (Georgia). Braden is muy muy serio (serious), but I think I balance him out. He has moments of greatness. Evan is…always late, and wears timberlands and pajama pants to class. I really am gonna pass on commenting on this one. I am sure you can all gather how I feel about it. I get along really well with Hana and I am glad that she is in my group. We update each other daily on our bathroom activities (she is acting as a substitute since I cannot talk with you Kimmy!). For the record, I know you care, I am so not ‘regular’ while using the bathroom. Three times. Since I have been here. For me = not normal. I am eating a lot less, but seriously? Three times. Okay I will stop, but I could go on.<br />Which brings me to my food. Is there a name of an anti-atkins diet? Because I am on it. A few examples for you: rice and beans… with EVERY meal. For breakfast one morning I was served two slices of white bread, a slice of bologna, tomato, mayonnaise and ketchup. No joke. The other day for lunch I had five different types of carbs on my plate (potato, rice, spaghetti, bread and beans). My family thinks that I don’t eat, because I only eat three of the carbs they give me. Although I really do love living with a family, I cannot wait to cook my own food and try and be nutritious. Because Lord knows I was not healthy before I left for Nicaragua. Still savoring that taste of ice cream cake and nachos in my mouth. Variety is not necessarily Nicaragua’s forte. Their idea of variety is having two types of rice with a tortilla. En serio..just ate it.<br />Class is going well and I think I will just continue to improve in Spanish. I have had to let go some of my perfectionist tendencies and concentrate more on maintaining energy while talking, even if it is all wrong. Ha. One of our projects while we are here is to form a youth group in our town. Sounds great, but it is very difficult. There are plennnnty of young people (60 percent of Nicaragua’s population is youth), but it is difficult to form a group so quickly. We walked around on Tuesday and handed out 40 invitations to the youth of this small pueblo. I felt confident in how it went..and was excited to see the turn out. My brother has been a huge help with this project and invited all of his cousins (which is everyone I meet. My madre has 11 brothers and sisters). So when the big day came on Thursday, there were…(drum roll please) three people, including my brother. Haha. But you know me, I was determined to find more people. I walked the streets with my brother and his friends searching for more people for our group. Braden did the same and we ended up with 10 youth for our first meeting. It took a lot of walking, persuading, candy and time – but we did it! It went really well . My part of the presentation was about PC (el Cuerpo de Paz) and one of the little boys knew JFK began the PC..I was very impressed.<br />We just had our second meeting (Saturday) and only five of people showed up – but it was beyond inspiring. We are responsible for choosing a mini-project within the community (el Rosario is the name of my town). The amount of trash is very concerning and apparently it is one of the most advanced towns in trash-disposal. It is truly shocking. Anyway, these girls were between the ages of 12 and 18 and are so incredibly insightful and intelligent. We asked them to discuss what one thing they could change about el Rosario and it turned into a beautiful conversation. They talked about the problem of trash everywhere, the lack of activities for young people, the condition of the only park in town, ‘gangs’, drugs, domestic violence, teen pregnancy and sex education. I actually got chills at one point and swelled up with tears. I somehow explained to these kids in my limited Spanish capacity, that they are the future and that they are where change is going to start. Isn’t it true everywhere in the world? Young people have the capacity to observe what is given to them and instead of just accepting it – making positive changes. It is so inspiring. I cannot wait to start working with them. We are meeting twice a week to complete this project over the next two and a half months. This is sort of a ‘trial run’ for when we are placed in our site for two years. Right now we are working with a teacher and each other to conduct surveys, give charlas, and form youth groups. But when we are placed in our site – we will be doing all of these things and more on our own. Basically these three months are a mini-preview of what our next two years will be like. It has been and will continue to be very intense – but I know it will be worth it.<br />This coming Tuesday is our first charla. It will be given to people at the Centro de Salud (the health center where we will be working) who are waiting to have an HIV test. We will be giving information on prevention, doing a condom demonstration (get excited), types of contraceptives and much much more. It is exciting and scary at the same time. Our first charla will be about a very serious topic, with very minimal Spanish skills. I do feel a bit more confident because I have had experience in working with HIV education – but I will let you know how it goes!<br />Went to the pool today and now I am going to be that crazy ‘red’ cringa. I am burnt to a crisp. Only went for two hours – and even my legs burnt. My legs never get sun. Guess I am kinda on the …Ecuador. Weird. Was just letting my little sister listen to my i-tunes, she really liked ‘So What’ by Pink. Taught her the rockstar sign (love you Jillian <3). She is a natural.<br />So I found out yesterday that there is already someone going home from our group. And it is honestly the last person I would have thought, his name is Tim. He apparently had a very difficult time adjusting to the culture. A lot of people have a hard time with identity, because it is very difficult to stay true to yourself and express yourself when you are learning another language. He also has a serious girlfriend who is studying in Mexico – I am sure that is difficult as well. Undoubtedly more people will go home from our group, I just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. I know I will face barriers and times of difficulty, but I am still feeling very confident in my decision to take-on this experience. I think it helps tremendously that I have so much support from you all, especially my parents – don’t know what I would do without you. Also, this family here has taken me in as one of their own – and I feel very fortunate. It is the first time they have hosted a PC volunteer – which definitely could have gone either way.<br />I have not had any problems with bugs/bees (knock on wood). I haven’t even put up my mosquito net in my room that the PC gave me, because I have not been bit once. I hope it stays this way. Also, I have decided to buy a cell phone here. They are only about $20 American dollars and it will be worth it. They suggest waiting until you get your site location to make sure it has service. But “claro” is very popular and is available throughout Nicaragua. It will just be better for having my parents call me on that and keeping in contact with Karla, my Nica madre. If you all want to call me on that number, I will have my parents post it on this blog site or facebook. You dial (011)+(505)+ 847-1380. I know my parents are getting a pretty decent plan with Verizon and also calling from skype is very cheap as well.<br />Okay, one funny story for you before I end this incredibly long blog. I like to call it the ‘Coca-Cola’ fiasco. There is not a lot of light near the bathroom and I was very tired a few nights ago when I went to go brush my teeth. My family prepares for no water in the evening, by filling empty Coca-Cola bottles with water during the day. I grabbed one of the coca-cola bottles and commenced a very invigorating tooth-brushing session. After finishing, I tasted a very serious ill taste in my mouth. As I placed the Coca-Cola bottle back to where I got it… I caught a flash of blue-tint from the bottle’s contents. Oh wait, I just brushed my teeth with a cleaning supply. Turns out, it with ‘chloro’ or what they use to clean the incredibly dirty floors. Needless to say, my teeth are a little whiter – and I will be a little more careful when using our multi-purpose coca-cola bottles. <br />I truly hope all of you are doing well. And I would love to hear updates on what is going on in your lives. I know it is an exciting time for many of you (Kimmy – are you so excited for Florida? Megan – how is ING? Tell your family hellooo – I miss you muchooo. Paul – harass any babies lately?).<br /> I miss you all so much. You enrich my life more than you could imagine. And even though we cannot talk as often or see each other – you continue to enrich my life and affect everything I do.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-41802564258772803352009-01-30T08:10:00.002-06:002009-01-30T08:14:01.029-06:00I MISS YOU ALL <3Hi everyone! I am at the Peace Corps office in Nicaragua. I have a lot to telll you but not a lot of time right now. We have quite a few charlas (meetings) today. I just got my typhoid vaccination. How exciting. Ha.<br />Thanks mom and dad for setting this up for me :)<br />I will write more tomorrow. But just know that I am doing very well - and loving every second of this exciting time in my life. I hope all is well.<br />You are all with me in my heart. You all are a part of everything I do..everything I touch. Love you all so much.<br />LIZ - I cannot wait to see your dresssss. Send me an e-mail. I am sure you are going to be the most gorgeous bride ever.<br />JILLIAN - How is white house/homelessness.<br />Okay love you!Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1267962985048948388.post-70211203758520357352009-01-28T17:45:00.000-06:002009-01-28T17:47:59.355-06:00A Broad AbroadAmanda Levering arrived in Nicaragua on Thursday January 22nd, 2009Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04641297787307054322noreply@blogger.com3