Jenn and I had quite a week! It really feels like we did a LOT. I picked her up at the airport last weekend in the evening, and we just walked across the street to the hotel to make it easy. I peeked at a bunch of the goodies my parents sent and packed for me. It’s so nice to have my old jeans, teaching supplies, some treats, and I think the greatest thing of all, my electric toothbrush!
The next day we headed up to LPC to drop off a bunch of stuff and see my town. I think Jenn was a little surprised to see the bus terminal in Managua, and the realities of traveling around this country. There’s a plethora of food sitting out in the sun ready to spoil, chickens being held upside down by their feet, kids running around in the malaria water (what I call any stagnant water) without shoes, open cuts of hanging meat, and people yelling their prices. She also got a kick out of the fact that our bus driver, the same one that drove me there the day before and stopped on the side of the highway to buy an iguana, was hanging out in the market while our bus was about to leave. We made it up to LPC and she was again shocked when I turned on the faucet to get a drink, and there was….no…..water. I’m pretty much used to that here, (though I still get pretty pissed and feel like we’re all going to die because what if it NEVER comes back?!) but Jenn seemed pretty horrified. Aside from that, we had a nice little visit to my school, bought some beans, and bought some bottled water from a neighbor. Then it was on to Leon and to Poneloya beach. The next day we went volcano boarding (surprise! Jenn didn’t know until the day before) with a very colorful group of people that could best be described as the 3rd world travelers Breakfast Club. The trek up the volcano was relatively short and easy, but once I saw the drop down that we would be boarding, I started getting nervous. This was a SERIOUS hill. Before we went down we dug into the volcano just a couple inches to feel how hot the active hill was, it was almost too hot to touch! It was wild to feel that kind of natural heat radiating from underneath us. According to it’s history, we’re due for an eruption! Before going down the hill, Jenn and I noted vultures circling down below, not a good omen. I took off down the hill pretty cautiously, trying to go faster towards the end as I felt more in control. If I had a chance to do it again, I’d try and go all out from the beginning.
After 2 days at the beach, we got a bus from Leon to Matagalpa to go up to Selva Negra. We had many different opinions of travel availability since Holy Week usually has limited availability. Because of this, we actually got stuck in Leon for a few hours and had to kill some time. Once we got on the bus, everything was easy. It was an Express, so we hardly stopped and got there in good time, and once we got there, we got a good cab price to take us straight up up up the mountain to Selva Negra. It was actually almost cold up there! What a relief! It even rained that first night, which is something I’ve only seen 2 brief times since November 14th. We had 2 days of hikes with beautiful views, a coffee farm tour, and great organic food fresh from the farm that was a part of the grounds.
Taking various buses to Masaya was very taxing and exhausting, but we safely made it to La Laguna de Apoyo. We had a few days of great swimming, and one day of walking the Artesian market in Masaya. The day in the market allowed Jenn to see the nicer side of Nicaraguan shopping. She bought a bunch of gifts to bring home, and even bought as matching handcrafted wooden cutting boards. I love mine so much, it’s such a beautiful piece of work. It’s too beautiful to use, so it’s sitting pretty in my kitchen. Another day, we took a long kayak ride out on the laguna, took a nap, then later went for a swim. That’s my kind of day! The destination of the swim was to a party on another side of the laguna. We washed up on shore, and people obviously thought we were Olympians, because we could swim. And we obviously did not deny any of those claims. As Daniel Tosh (a comedian) would say “You want to make your life more interesting? Start lying…” It’s just a joke, but seriously. We had a really fun conversation with a family who owns a bakery in Matagalpa. I was really impressed with Jenn’s Spanish skills, she was able to keep up with the conversation so well! We also dispelled the belief that the laguna has a “pull” that swallows people up. If you ask anyone, they’ll say that because the laguna is shaped in a deep “V” form, people will wade out into the water and then drop down and get sucked in. Really, people drop down because of the steep dropoff, and they can’t swim so they get “sucked down”.
Travel in Masaya and to the airport was incredibly stress free thatnks to the greatest cab driver, Felix. He gave us amazing prices and was even early to the Hostal to take us to the airport. Punctuality is not a strong suit of Nicas, so I was so impressed that he was so reliable, on Easter no less! Jenn and I gave him treats, he saw us laugh, he saw me cry after saying goodbye to Jenn; we totally bonded. He’ll be the one to take my parents and I around that area when they come to visit in May.
8/April/2010
Last night, I was again awoken by the mouse in my house. We’ve met face to face before, but he was just too quick for me to do anything about it. Last night, he knocked over a plate that way laying to dry. It fell into the sink with a loud crash, and scared me half to death. The trouble with living alone is that you’re the one that always has to check for the boogey man even when you’re scared. I got out my trusty headlamp, and made my way through the kitchen checking things out. I realized that little bugger had eaten trough the bread bad on the counter and eaten some of my bread. I need to finally go buy the poison and set it out for this little guy. Enough is enough!
I witnessed the darker side of La Paz Centro today. After I had gotten back from giving classes in Momotombo, I went to go buy some food for the day. I heard a kid screaming in the street, but I thought “What else is new”. Kids here are always running around screaming their heads off and roughhousing in the street. Then I saw this guy riding a bike, with his free hand leading another bike alongside him. Again, I didn’t think anything of it, until he took the corner of the dirt road too fast, and the bike he was leading with his free hand spun out of control. He didn’t stop to pick up the bike, which I thought was weird. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw this hefty mother barreling down the street with all her might, with her kid still wailing in the background. That dude on the bike had stolen that poor kids bike! I mean what the heck. The neighborhood isn’t safe even in the broad daylight of 1 in the afternoon.
10/April/2010
My youth group has resumed after almost a month of traveling for Peace Corps trainings and a week of vacation for Holy Week. I feel like I’ve had a Super Nanny Intervention or something. We’ve got structure now! What a beautiful thing. We all made name tags, which are their responsibility to bring to class every week. They can earn stickers to decorate their name tags by good behavior or going beyond expectations, etc. And after this weeks 2 classes, no one else may join the class, and no one can miss more than 3 classes, or they’re out. I was amazed at how much fun we all had learning. I taught them the ABC song, because it is atrocious to me that seniors in high school here still don’t know how to pronounce their ABC’s. Along with the song, I included some material my Aunt Agatha sent me from the states. She’s a teacher as well, and it’s easily recognizable that she was born to teach. She’s uber organized, full of ideas, and just enthusiastic in general about teaching. I used her “Spelling Aerobics” in class yesterday, and we had a blast with it. Tall letters have a neck (as I describe it) such as b, d, k etc. Medium letters are a,c,e,I, etc. Low letters have a tail (as I describe it) such as j, g, q etc. With tall letters, students touch their head. With medium, they touch their belly, and with low they touch their toes. This also helps differentiate the sounds between v and b for example, which is really tough for them. Everyone participated and had a good time learning, and it reminded me that I really do like teaching, which I sometimes forget when things, well, look completely hopeless.
I’ve decided my first project is going to be a school map. We have a “paint by numbers” design to use to paint a world map on the outside of the schools. It’s a great first baby step to bigger projects. It’s something that’ll last a long time, it’s pretty easy, and volunteers have had a lot of success with it in the past. So I’ll ask those of you that have been so faithful in your care package sending, to hold that love, and instead donate to my project fund once I get it approved on the Peace Corps website. You’ll be able to donate at peacecorps.gov once I get it set up (I’m not eligible for 6 more weeks when I complete 6 months post-training service). There’s already great projects on there available to view. Not to mention the mail system has been failing me lately, and I have 2 packages that have taken over 2 months to get here, and it’s looking more and more likely they won’t come. So I think project donations are way cooler, because you know your money will go to good use, instead of someone that likes to steal international mail. Shame on them.
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