Happy Holidays!

12/27/10

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope everybody had a great Christmas.  Sorry for the long lapse in updates, I had come down with a bronchitis-like lung infection. So I ended up spending two weeks in Managua. There wasn't much to report since I spent most of my time going to see the PC doctors, hanging out in the PC office chatting with all the volunteers who were going back to the States for Christmas and watching A LOT of tv.  I was kind of sad that I missed the Purissma festival which celebrates the virgin Mary on December 7^th  Although I did get to see some cool fireworks from my hotel. It was nice to stay in the hotel I had hot showers, free wifi and was able to watch American TV channels. Just by chance when I was channel surfing I saw that On the Rocks the A Capella group from my university was competing on The Sing Off on NBC. It was pretty cool to see the guys I went to school with and used to listen to every Friday in the student union, on national television. Unfortunately they didn't win, they got eliminated in the semi-finals. I personally believe that they got robbed because there was a group of washed up 60's era soul singers that had a professional career but “fell on hard times” according to them. I don't think they should have allowed them on the show since the rest were college and amateur groups but oh well I'm not a tv producer.

After returning to my site after my extended absence I picked up right were I left off … not doing much.  Everybody is still on vacation but the town is hopping just like back home. Everybody is out shopping and selling everything from coffee beans to clothes and backpacks. I have lately been spending my mornings sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee that I have made myself (big thanks to my dad for coffee filter he sent me!)  reading the newspaper trying to improve my Spanish and watching the world go by. Its really nice way for me to ease to the morning, since Nicaraguans are much more morning people than I am. I don't if this a real common thing for Nicaraguans to do but I think its not that unusual however I usually get a few visitors usually trying to sell me something because I'm a “rich gringo” sometimes I buy their stuff  sometimes I don't.  Another interesting thing I have learned is that  Nicaraguans in general like their coffee super sweet. My host family adds like a cup of sugar to the pot and think its odd that I don't add any sugar to my coffee. But seriously what they are drinking is more coffee flavored sugar than sweeten coffee.

Recently I have met this Nicaraguan guy Milton through Alejando.  He is around my age and has been pretty nice showing town and introducing me to his friends. Unfortunately he is introducing me as “This is Sam his a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English, he doesn't go to church.” By that he means I'm not Evangelical like he and his friends are. I have mention before that my family in the US is Protestant a type of Catholic, but it doesn't seem to matter. I don't want to get into a religious debate with them, (even though Catholicism is a much older and historical religion than Evangelicalism before they split off, that is a bag of worms I don't want to open)  because its pointless and their religious fervor is much stronger than mine.  However in a town that appears appears to be very religious/Evangelical I don't want to be introduced and known as a godless heathen. For two obvious reasons, one I'm not and two it could make the next two years very uncomfortable and difficult to get work done in the community.  So I'm going still hang out with Milton but I think I am also going to go by the Catholic church in town and see if I can meet some other friends who aren't quite as judgmental.

Right now I am spending the Christmas holiday with training host family because my host family in La  Dalia doesn't celebrate Christmas, not sure why but it has something to do with their belief that Santa Claus is a pagan devil. I can accept that but since I don't share that belief I came down south and have really enjoyed my time here. It has been really nice to see them and catch up with. Christmas is celebrated much differently here. The majority of the celebration are done on the evening of 24^th. We had a nice dinner with chicken stuffed with vegetables and other meat, it was really good.  For dessert  we all had rum cake called sopa borracha  drunk soup and couple other delicious things. The rest of the evening we spent hanging out with family and shooting off fireworks and waving sparklers. Unfortunately something I ate did not agree with me and I spent most of Christmas day resting in bed or in the bathroom. I am still recovering I don't want to travel back sick to my stomach but I'm feeling a bit better than before I think in a few more day I'll be good as new.

My host dad's brother and his family came down from California to visit and we went to a quincera a big coming age birthday party for girls when they turn 15. We eat, drank a lot and danced late into the night. It was a lot of fun, the first one I have ever been to.    

Before I came down to Niquinohomo I went to a coffee plantation with my counterpart Luis. This coffee plantation is out in the middle of nowhere about an hour outside of La Dalia. The owner of the plantation has set up a summer camp for the children of the coffee pickers so that they don't have to work in the fields with their parents. I was really impressed that he was so socially conscious avoiding child labor. At the camp I played soccer with the kids in the morning and then in the afternoon, we had an English class were Luis and I taught them some basic introduction phases and a little about family members. It was pretty fun, I am planning on going back with Alison in January.

Well that's all for now I hope everybody back home is having a great holiday season!

First week in Site

So my first week in site has been pretty slow. I have had a lot of free time, a lot of free time! In my daily fight against boredom I have spent the majority of my day reading, listening to music and NPR podcasts and playing solitaire. I haven't been couped up in my room the whole week, today was actually the first day since I have been here that spent at all home. I have been hanging out a lot with my sitemate Alison, she is really cool and I am sure I would go stir crazy during these vacation months if I didn't have her company.

Monday she and I went to the City Hall and met the mayor, city manager and an environment official. They all seem really excited to work with us, which is great. Alison has already worked some with the environment official because she is an environmental education volunteer. Other than the people at City Hall I have had a bit of difficulty getting to know people around town. When I was here during my site visit I met this very nice lady who worked at the library she seems interested in working with me in the future. However when I went back she wasn't there, I have introduced myself to other couple people in the library which I think would be a good place to possibly do some community English classes but they seem kind of apathetic. I told another Peace Corps friend of mine who is on her second tour with Peace Corps, she told it more likely that they don't know much about Peace Corps or what to make me and not take it personal. I think this good advice which I am taking to heart. Right now I'm less concerned with get secondary projects started and more concerned about just meeting people and making friends. Once I make some friends I know won't be so bored.

On Tuesday I went to visit Alison at the school where she and my host dad work they had a little graduation for the students and then a secret Santa party where they give each gifts. I didn't get a gift because I wasn't part of the school but it was fun to watch. Later that night I went to a family gathering with my host family for some family member high school graduation. The power went out shortly after I arrived so the family chatted and ate dinner around a single candle, it was pretty interesting.

Wednesday Alison came up to visit me and we went back and talked with the city manager about renting a house here in town. He said he knew a few places he would check on and get back to me. It really nice to have his help since there is no real estate agent or even classifieds here it all by word of mouth and occasional signs on houses. The rest of the afternoon we spent at the internet cafe. I found another internet cafe which is much faster than the one in library. Its a little more expensive but totally worth it because I can Skype with my family and download podcasts much easier. My counterpart Luis came up from Matagalpa to visit with me and finish up a group essay the he and Alejandro are working on for their university class.

Today I haven't really done much I just hung out some with my host family and watched movies with the little kids. Nothing to exciting. Although this evening another English teacher Ishmael came by to talk about the community English class we talked about during my site visit. Ishmael is a really cool guy. His English is amazing he has almost a native accent which is even more impressive considering that he has never been to the US. He teaches English at the university in Matagalpa and with works with various NGOs around the department. What we are planning on doing is having a English teachers class where we focus more on advanced topics class discussion and other things the teachers want to work on. The second class would be for community members who are not English teachers. I am really looking forward to working together with him. He also might have an house I could rent which would be really nice as well. I won't be moving out until the first week of January so I have some to check out my options and get my final choice approved by the PC Safety and Security officer.

Tomorrow I'm going into Matagalpa to run some errands and meet up with fellow PCVs for lunch it will be a nice break. Sunday Alison and I have been invited to help cut coffee as a fundraiser for my host family church. Its going to be an interesting experience I am sure I'll be sure to report on how it goes.

I'M A REALLL VOLUNTEER!!! (to be said with a Pinocchio voice)

11/26/10

It's official! I am finally a volunteer I finished my 3 months of training and now I am setting off my quest to improve Nicaraguan high school students' knowledge of English. All 43 of us came down to Managua on Sunday to get ready for the swearing ceremony the next day. The ceremony was great very similar setup to college graduation without the gowns. We had two people from our group give valedictorian speech in which they thanks the training staff and our host families for all their hard work and congratulated us for making it through training to become full fledged volunteers. I am really grateful for my host family. Especially after the problems I had with first host family, my second family took me in as own of their own family members. In fact my group of Nica 54 half environment and half TEFL is one of the few groups that made it through the entire training without somebody having to return back the States for medical or behavior reasons. Although I had nothing really to do with that I'm very proud of my group overall, and it was great to see all the same faces at the swearing ceremony that were in Granada.

The ceremony was held a super nice hotel in Managua. In attendance was the American Ambassador, as the keynote speaker, our Peace Corps Country Director, Training Director, and Program Directors. They all gave motivating speeches congratulating us on the progress we had made so far inspiring and motivating us for the challenges and successes we are going to have during our service. I really enjoyed the Ambassador's speech. He is a 30 year career diplomat and has worked around the world and he told us that no matter what projects and aid the US gives to developing countries, the most effective way to facilitate change and serve the people is by doing what we are doing. By living amongst the people we are serving we are showing them another side our American culture. His speech give me chills it was definitely on of my proudest moments. I really hope that I can improve my community stereotype beliefs that American are only good for their money filled wallets. I know there are already a few English teachers in La Dalia who have seen the professional and economic benefits of learning a foreign language, my only hope is that I can plant that seed it my high school students' heads.

After the ceremony I took my host mom out to lunch to thank her for all love and support she has given me, I wish that the rest of the family was able to come but they were busy with school and work. After lunch I returned back to the hotel to get ready for an early Thanksgiving dinner at our Peace Corps Country Director's house. The food was amazing!! I wasn't really expecting much since Nicaraguans don't celebrate thanksgiving and so probably wouldn't have all the traditional supplies. I was just happy to spend it with friends. I was dead wrong this was an amazing Thanksgiving with all the fixings you could possible imagine! Everything from sweet potatoes with marshmallows to cranberry sauce, green beans, and of course lots of mashed potatoes stuffing and turkey. I was very impressed it was so much fun the perfect send off for us all.

I was really excited to get to my site and start getting settled except I ended having to stay in the hotel in Managua for a week and get over my bronchitis that has been with me for about 3 weeks. Its been kinda boring especially after most the volunteers left on Tuesday. Fortunately there were other volunteers who were sick and so we were able to keep each other company. As infirmaries go the hotel the we were put up in was really nice. Wireless internet, cable tv with american channels and a pool I felt kind of spoiled and a little a sad to leave. However I made it back to La Dalia today (on saturday) I am just as glad to be back to my site. Managua is in nice to visit but like any big city its expensive and much more dangerous than my site.

I had hoped to get back before Friday so I could attend the last TEPCE teacher conference of the year, and introduce and establish myself, but it didn't work out. I don't really know what I am going to do over the summer break. I don't start teaching until the end of January. Its kind of a weird feeling having all this free time. During training we were always scheduled to do something, attending charlas, co-teaching and planning and daily Spanish class. There was always something to do and now we are really on our own, I am both excited and nervous about being on my own. As result I don't know how much I will have to write about until school starts but I will try and keep up on the weekly schedule. This week I am going to meet the mayor and police and librarian so I can start reading more in Spanish. I am also going to go visit my site mate who lives down the road. She is and environment volunteer and so has more of a to do list before school starts so maybe I can help her out with that.

Well that's all for now

Hasta pronto!

A rainbow of Peace Corp Polos

The new Matagalpans!

Ambassador Callhan and I 

The New TEFL volunteers with the Ambassador

For more pictures check out my facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2397380&id=11521764&l=c56394a9cc 

Site visit update

11/12/10

I wanted to post this update earlier but I have been battling a cold and just haven't had the energy to do much. It seems that even in the tropics I can't get away from the winter cold.  However I talked to the Peace Corps doctors and they are giving me some medicine that will hopefully help kick this cold to the curb. So while I'm feeling ok right now I wanted to update everybody on how my trip to La Dalia went. The bus ride is not particularly long. The longest leg is only two hours but it its in an Amtrak style charter but to Matagalapa. It´s from Niquinohomo there are 3 legs making the whole journey just under 5 hours. I also had the company of my site mate Alison so having someone to talk made the time go by faster. Alison is in the Environment Education sector and is living in the neighboring town just down the road from me.  I imagine that we will be collaborating a bit on projects together over the next two years.  Overall the trip is very scenic especially once you get to Matagalpa you start to get in to coffee country and are able to see the many different stages of the coffee harvest, it’s very interesting.

I really like La Dalia overall as I said before.  Upon my arrival I was met by my counterpart Luis he is very nice and seems anxious to work with me. He is 25 and speaks English very well. My other counterpart is Marlon he also speaks great English and is in his early 30's. Both of my counterparts live in Matagalpa which is just over 90 minutes south of La Dalia. The both teach all week and then take English class at the university in Matagalpa on Saturday. I don't know how that is going to affect my co-planning relationship with them, but I imagine I am going to be making weekly trips in to Matagalpa for shopping and banking purposes so I'm sure I can work out some schedule with them.I observed some their classes and unfortunately neither one speak much English in class. Also noteworthy Luis has won a scholarship placement to an international teacher conference that will be for 6 weeks in Washington DC. He is very excited because this will be his first time in the United States. He wants to see some of the sights and ride a subway which I clarified for him that he won't be able to see anything from because it’s underground. This is a great experience for him because I'm sure he will come back with a lot of great ideas, however I am a little nervous because his conference will take place during the first 6 weeks of school.  This means I will be working with a substitute for my first 6 weeks teaching at the school. It’s going to be interesting – that's for sure.  My school has a sister school partnership with a high school in Boden Sweden. So my counterpart Marlon has been working with them a lot both in Sweden and in La Dalia. There is a good chance that I will be involve in part of this sister school relationship however I doubt my Peace Corps bosses will let me take trip to Sweden if the opportunity arises, but you never know ….right?

On Friday I was invited to a workshop on classroom discipline held at the school, a very important topic in my line of work so I went along. It was actually pretty interesting. The school principal was talking about the importance of proper behavior especially when the graduating students go to university. He introduce me and shared what my role would be, then after some more talking the students broke up into groups to work on a survey. During the break I went to join some students and teachers who were getting some refreshments. I was sitting with my counterpart when some girls came up asked him for some pronunciation help for their final group project, and he referred them to me. I was happy to help in any way I could. The girls' project was to sing a song in English, the song they had chosen was “Down” by Jay Sean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUbpGmR1-QM So we listened to the song on one of the girls' cell phones while reading the lyrics and practicing the pronunciation of some of the words. Afterwards the principal came around and called us all back to the classroom for the rest of the workshop. At the end the principal said “to close Sam and some girls are going to sing for use”. I was caught by surprised, but anybody who knows me knows I have never been a shy karaoke singer. I was not nearly quite embarrassed as the girls were but with some coaxing they finally came up and we sang together, it was pretty hilarious. A lot of students took videos so I'm going to see if I can get a copy.

 My new host family is a nice young couple. The dad Alejandro is 26 years old and is a high school English teacher in a nearly by town and the mom Diana is 23 years old, she is a stay at home mom who looks after their 4 year old daughter Michelle. She is very cute and like most children that age very curious she told me on a nearly constant basis that I was very tall.  There is also a large extended family that is over at the house on a daily basis so there is a never dull moment. My host family here in Niquinohomo is young but a little older than me, however in La Dalia my host family and one counterpart are all around the same age as me so it’s a different relationship. On Sunday Alison and I went out with my whole family to the river for the day. It was a lot of fun we drove out to this spot then hiked down to the swimming hole. There were rock cliffs that were around 20 feet high that we climbed up and jumped off.  Alejando and his friend were climbing up as high as they could to do flips off the rocks and nearby trees. There were also other less dangerous places to play around where I spent more time, I did not want to fall and break some and have to spend a long uncomfortable ride to the hospital. We took a picnic out there and had a great time. I am anxious to explore the rest of the Peñas Blancas and Piedra Luna area.

However due to some unforeseen circumstances I planning to move out as soon as my first 6 weeks are up. As of now I haven't really done much in depth investigation of other housing options but I have some a few leads that I am going to investigate when I get back.   One of which is a subdivision like neighborhood called Barrios de los Maestros it’s a neighborhood of about 50 identical houses that were built by a Spanish NGO so that the teachers of La Dalia could have adequate housing. In my opinion they are far more than adequate. My counterpart Luis showed them to me and said that a lot of the teachers from my school live there, and that they were subsidize so the teachers could afford them. So I hopefully I can afford to rent one on my budget.

My work schedule at school is going about 16 hours a week I believe so I imagine that it will be split up between morning and afternoon sessions with both counterparts. When I wasn't at school I was walking around town trying to meet as many of the important people as possible. I met my local Ministry of Education delegate and Sub delegate they are in charge of the school’s curriculum so they were very interested to learn what my role as Peace Corp Volunteer would be as well as my role in the classroom. I also meet the librarian and some other local English teachers who are interested in starting an English conversation group as well as a constructing an English audio lab in the school. I'm excited that I already have some projects to work on before over the summer break. Although I know the audio lab project is going to take a long time. I wasn't able meet the mayor or the police chief but I am planning to meet them with my site mate Alison when I get back. 

I am swearing in just about a week I can't believe how fast training has gone by. I am really going to miss my Niquinohomo host family but I am anxious to get back to La Dalia and get started on some of my projects. When I get the school will just be getting out for the summer/Christmas vacation, although I will have a chance to meet and greet some of the other teachers in the area at the last TEPCE of the year.

Tomorrow my Niquinohomo group is finally giving our presentation of communicative speaking activities at the Regional English Teacher workshop. So I have to go meet with my group to put the final touches on our presentation.

Hasta Pronto

See this link for my pictures from La Dalia

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394688&id=11521764&l=b16e236861

Site Visit in La Dalia

Hola Todos!

To all my loyal followers I haven't really had time to write a full post I have been doing a lot of meeting and greeting. I like my site I'm up in the mountains and its really nice and warm (Oregon warm, not Nicaragua warm). I met my teachers and students at my school and everybody seem really excited to work with the new gringo!

More soon!

I got my site!!

10/30/10

I finally got my site placement! I'm going to be going to be living in La Dalia in the department of Matagalpa. I am a little disappointed that I didn't get any of my preferences because I had my heart set on of a department capital. However it does have some of the important aspects that I told my boss that I was looking for in a site It is up in the mountains, it not a one horse town and there is going to be several NGO's and an environment Peace Corps volunteer that I can collaborate on projects so that will be nice. The only thing I wish is that it wasn't 2 hours away from Matagalpa my department capital where I will have to go for the bank, post office any big shopping that I want to do. Oh well I sure it will all work out fine. I have this weekend to pack up half my stuff and take it with me. I am planning on taking the majority of my clothes and Peace Corps books in my rolling suitcase then I take up the rest of my stuff when I go up after my swearing ceremony. I leave Tuesday morning for Managua spent the night there then get up the next morning and make the trip up north. I think the trip is about 4 hours long, a little longer than I would have preferred but as long as I don't have to standing the whole trip it should be fine. If I am lucky I can get an express bus to Matagalpa then catch another regular bus to La Dalia from there .

Yesterday was pretty fun though we got up early and were picked up by the Peace Corps bus and taken on a secret cultural field trip. I think our Peace Corps bosses have an obsession with secrecy because almost everything we do is shrouded in secrecy up until we do are on the way there. Anyway we are on our way down the highway when we are finally told we're we are going to go see the historical battlefield at Hacienda San Jaciento. This is where one of the most important battles in Nicaragua's history took place. Back it the mid 1800's this crazy American named William Walker invaded Nicaragua with about 60 other mercenaries and tried to take over the country. He burnt down the city of Granada and declared himself president of the country. It didn't end well Walker he and his men lost at San Jaciento and Walker was later executed. This day is celebrated on September 14^th along with the 15^th of September during their independence festivals.

After we left San Jaciento when went to the Peace Corp office. which is in a nice neighborhood of Managua surrounded by nice houses and hotels. From the street the office though seems kind of out of place. It just a high light blue wall gate with just a simple sign Cuerpo de Paz sign outside. There's no flag or Peace Corps symbol visible anywhere from the street, all for security reason    I imagine. The way we found out our site a was fun but a little stressful. We all filed into this conference room to see a map of Nicaragua one side of the room and a bulletin board with a bunch of balloons taped to it on the other side. We had to throw a dart a balloon which had a name and site in it then read it off. It was a lot better than just reading off a list I thought.

Well that's all for now I let you know how La Daria is when I get back from my site visit

Hasta Pronto!

War Memorial

Hanging out in Giant Tree

At San Jaciento Hacienda

:La Dalia Here I come!

All of our sites! This is the first year the TEFL has gone to the Atlantic coast

Practicum Week!

10/24/10

Practicum Week was incredible! I loved Jinotega and didn't want to leave. Last Sunday I headed to Managua with the rest of my Niquinohomo crew. We met up with the rest of the TEFL group at the bus station where a Peace Corps bus picked us up and took us to a nice hotel. We were super spoiled there we had wireless internet, hot showers and AIR CONDITIONING! It was so nice and to top it all off we had pizza from Pizza Hut which tasted amazing after eating mainly rice and beans for the past several weeks.

We left bright and early the next morning for Matagalpa and Jinotega. We dropped of half the group in Matagalpa and continues up to Jinotega. The drive up was very scenic as we climbed up into the mountains. It reminded me a lot of Oregon with all the greenery and rolling hills. The city of Jinotega is really nice for a department capital. It had all the big city things likes supermarkets and banks and a variety of other things but not the chaotic big city feeling, which I feel my current department capital Masaya definitely has. The weather was heavenly not too hot and not to cold. It rained a little the first night we were there but afterward I was sunny and warm. It was really nice to give my sweat glands a break since the have been working over time since I arrived in Nicaragua.

Upon our arrival Jinotega we went directly to meet our counterparts at the house of a 3^rd year volunteer who had helped to organized this week for us. My partner Megan and I were introduced to our counterpart Edgar who taught at the biggest high school in town, Instituto Benjamin Zeledon. In Nicaragua because there usually more students than there are schools, there are morning and afternoon sessions. Megan I and I were were assigned to the afternoon session, which was nice because it meant we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to be at school by 7am. Having the afternoon session which started at 12:30pm, also meant we were able to do any finalizing to our lesson plans which was also nice. After talking with Edgar about his classes and what he had taught already Megan and I split up the class schedule. Edgar only teaches 9^th,- 11^th grade, I was eager to get as much teaching experience I could so I took his 10^th and 11^th grade classes and Megan took his 9^th grade classes. I was a little worried that I had bitten off more than I could chew but in the end it all worked out well and not a single class got canceled. Rather than co-teaching the classes,as is the norm for the PC Nicaragua TEFL program, our role for the week was to ‘take over’ the various classes of our counterpart teacher and teach them individually. The non-teaching PC trainee Edgar were to observe each class and at the end of the day a reflection session was held so as to provide feedback and suggestions for improvement before the next day’s classes.

On Tuesday I went to give my first class, the topic was natural disasters. I had been told by Edgar that they had been given the vocabulary and that he wanted me to review that and help them write a small description of each natural disaster. It would have been nice to be able to start the class from the beginning of the lesson instead of dropping in, in the middle but, it all worked out in the end. I started the class with a warm up. I had the students stand up with me and sing the first two lines of “I feel the earth move under my feet, I feel the sky a tumbling down, a tumbling down.” I did a little dance that mimed the lyrics so I was moving my feet and shaking my hands. Some of the students did the dance with me but most just stood and laugh at me wondering what this crazy gringo was doing. After that I ask if anybody knew what natural disaster this song was about, and one of the student answered correctly with earthquake, so I accomplished my objective. The rest of the class went pretty well first I give them an example of how I wanted them to describe the natural disaster. After I was pretty sure they understood the instructions, I broke them up into groups where they worked on an assigned natural disaster then they presented to the class. I was pretty happy how it went but need to improve my instruction giving and clarity.

On Wednesday, I had two back to back classes of 11^th grade. The topic was comparing American and Nicaraguan children and households. We talked about things like how American children usually move out after they graduate high school and go to live on their own. While in Nicaragua students that go to college usually go to a college near to home so that they can come home at night, or if its far away they stay with family members. Or how they usually stay at home until they are married working to support their parents while Americans don't. After working together we had a handful of comparisons, I then assigned each group one and they had to come up with pros and cons. I helped translate things into English that they didn't know. The class went surprisingly well the students were engaged and participated in the class and group activities. I was very impressed because I was afraid it wasn't going to be an interesting topic. I was very excited for the second class because it was the same grade and same topic and one of my teaching directors was coming to observe me. So I wanted to repeat the success I had had in my earlier class. Unfortunately the second class BOMBED! I don't know exactly what happened but it was like I was speaking Chinese to them. They were stone walling me. Unlike the earlier class where there was a lot of participation, in this class only two students out of a class of nearly 50 were answering my questions. Needless to say my planned discussion activity did not go well and I still had 80 minutes of my 90 minute class to kill. Instead of having them discuss the differences between the two countries like I did in the earlier class I just had them talk in their group about the pros and cons of having a lot of freedom. After we broke up into groups things seem to pick up a little while they were working together and by the end I was surprised how many ideas they had come up with. In the end it wasn't a complete failure and I did a lot of things well my director told me but he said the student were like zombies. The moral to this story is even though the classes sections are the same grade and same topic taught by the same teacher don't have preconceived notions that they will be the same.

In addition to all of the other things going on this week, we also had our second round of site selection interviews. In our second weeks of training all of the TEFL trainee had preliminary interviews with the director of TEFL program in Nicaragua . Among other questions about our professional and educational backgrounds, she asked us about our preferences in terms of our permanent sites. I know I have talk a lot about my preferences before so I won't go into depth about that again. We just talked about my climate and site size preferences. I told her the I prefer cooler climates and bigger cities and why. I felt the interview when pretty well, its different than a job interview where you may or may not get the job. I know I'll be placed somewhere and my director understood that the reasons for my preferences were more that superficial, so we'll see. I find out my site this Friday I can't wait, this shroud of secrecy has been killing me!!

All in all, I really enjoyed practicum week and the experience was extremely rewarding. Having missed the opportunity to teach in Niquinohomo, I appreciated both the opportunity to manage a classroom of my own, not having to mind stepping on the toes of a co-teacher, and also the insight, and critiques of my colleagues. I am going to try and improve the clarity of my instructions. Edgar it turns out is the president of the Jinotega English teachers association, so if I end up getting placed there ( which would be amazing! fingers crossed!) I hope to would work with him on that.

Lastly because it worth mentioning Jinotega has amazing coffee! They produce they majority of Nicaraguan coffee. Unfortunately the export their best stuff out of the country because the Nicaraguans don't drink it mainly because of the cost it think.. Unfortunately the drink mainly instant coffee that you just stir into you cup. Good coffee is one the thing I really miss from back home and especially from Spain. So I bought myself and my host family a bag of the best kind made. It was great I went to a cooperative where they made it and sold it in the coffee shop next door. Just one of the many reasons I loved Jinotega.

Central Park in Jinotega

View of from my hotel room

Mountains view 

More pictures to come!

NIca Update

Practicum week is here!! I am going to be spending a week in the mountain city of Jinotega! I couldn't be more excited, from everything I have read in my guidebook it sounds amazing. Plus it will nice to give my sweat glands the week off. With the help of a 3^rd year TEFL volunteer we will be shadowing a Nicaraguan teacher for a week. We will be teaching at least 3 of our counterpart's classes (hopefully more) while our counterpart and TEFL partner observe us and give us feedback. When we aren't teaching we are observing or planning with our partner for the next class.

Other than the cooler climate and amazing coffee that I have heard so much about, what I am really looking forward to is the opportunity to teach. I don't know if I have mention briefly before but I have not had the best of luck teaching here. I have not taught a single class here, which is frustrating to say the least. I have gone to school like 5 times with my lesson in hand and struck out every single time. The causes vary from rain storms and school being canceled. Band practice in which all the students are practicing for some important parade during school hours and class being canceled. Surveys and census taking for my grades and so student are not in class. Unfortunately the last day I went some student from the class I was going to teach had committed suicide and so understandably class was canceled.

There is an interesting phase that I have heard a lot since I have been here and that's Sí Dios Quiere which in English is literally “if god wills it” but I think we say more god willing. This is a very strange concept for your typical American myself included. I am not a church going person but I know a lot people who are and I have never heard anyone say anything like I'll come to that meeting or we'll have class at this time god willing. Maybe that is just because of the importance of time in the American culture, but those are things I hear often here. However I think its so much more than time conflicts happen which everywhere, but the number of times and reasons my classes have been canceled is astonishing. It really makes you think that the phrase is true and maybe the big man upstairs is just not on your side. It's disappointing but I don't let it get me down I just shine it on and look forward to the next opportunity. Apparently god has a lot more power in this neck of woods. So sí Dios quiere I will teach class in Jinotega and I will teach 3 days at my instituto when I get back back to Niquinohomo.

I'll let you know how everything goes when I get back.

Amazing coffee cooperative!

My Counterpart Edgar Fellow Trainee Megan and I

Jinotega Practicum Week with counterparts

Halfway Mark of PST!

10/9/10

So we have reached the halfway point of training YAY!! Sorry for the delay of last week's entry I don't have the luxury of having internet in my new host family's house. Its not a huge inconvenience since during the week I walk past two internet cafes on my way to Spanish class. Its just means I have to be more organized and plan my trips out better.

Week five has flown by just like every week is now. The new host family is great! They are actually having conversations with me which is nice. In addition to that I am having to turn away food because it too much as opposed to having to ask for more.

On Friday we received the list of sites where we'll be placed for the next two years. The site list has about 20 different sites in almost every region of the country. This year they are even putting a couple brave volunteers on the Atlantic coast in Bluefields which is a first for TEFL. That should be exciting its apparently like a whole different country and culture over there. Unfortunately its also takes an all day journey to get there from Managua, because you have to take a combination of buses and boats. Sounds like a cool place to visit but definitely not the place for me. Being the native Oregonian that I am, I don't think I have ever sweated as profusely as I have here with little to no physical effort. Sometimes I'll just be sitting in class, but by judging how sweaty I am, you'd think I just finished running a marathon. So when I read about sites up in the mountains where the climate is a little cooler I knew that was the place for me. Ideally I'd love to be in Matagalpa or the immediate surrounding area. My main priorities are climate and distance from Managua both which a favorable. Our site descriptions don't actually mention the sites by name but give enough descriptive clues that its pretty easy to figure where the are. Matagalpa seems nice because its up in the mountains surrounded by trees and coffee plantations. Ideally I would like a site that is close enough to Managua that I don't have to spend long journeys on small cramped buses in order to get to meetings and doctor appointments. In addition to that the big city sites all say that the ideal person would be ready to hit the ground running, which I feel fits me well because I am anxious to put all my training knowledge to work.

Today we went to the Masaya volcano which was amazing! Also really cool was that we were able to meet up with the Environment half of our group which is always fun because we don't get to see our friends from that group often. This volcano is active so you see lots smoke billowing out from below, I looked over the ledge hoping to see the bottom and some molten rock but wasn't able to . The funniest thing about the volcano was the safety precautions, they had everybody park their cars facing the exit in the event of an eruption. Given the fact that you are allow to drive up to the top of the volcano and park within a few yards of the ledge. In the event of an eruption did happen I seriously doubt the direction car was parked would really matter. Another contradicting warning said that in the event of an eruption hide under your cars to protect yourself from flying debris. I personally believe you're chancing of living are not high in either situation.

That all the news I have for right now. Monday we have a site fair where we will talk to current volunteers about what their sites are like and then turn in our top 3 preferences. After that we have to wait another two weeks while our program directors make their final decisions. In a week from now we will be traveling north to Matagalpa or Jinotega to shadow a Nicaraguan English teacher for a week. This is going to be a great opportunity for us a trainees to see what a day in the life as a real English teacher is like. I am really hoping for Matagalpa so I can check out the city before I make my final decision about preferences.

So I will have lots to report on soon!

Nicaraguan landscape looking out from the volcano veiwpoint

Looking into the fiery pit 

My Environment Amiga Sara and I 

Funny curbs alterating in English and Spanish

TEFL 54 minus 3 girls who were sick so we wrote their names on the papers so they'd be still with us

Big Changes

10/4/10

This is my one month anniversary of being in Nicaragua now only 26 more to go haha. Said like that it sounds like a prison sentence which is not what I intended. My fourth week of training went pretty well nothing really exciting to report on that front. We had some interesting technical classes about needs assessment in the community another about gender roles and stereotypes. It was very enlightening because we talked about cultural norms in the US versus Nicaragua. We as one month old trainees have come that point in our culture shock/adjustment that we are more surprised by things that don't fit the Nicaraguan cultural norm more than the American norm. For example seeing the packed buses with people hanging the back is still remarkable but now its just a way of life. What is more surprising is seeing a husband cooking or cleaning around the house. I found that to be an interesting change in perception of culture.

Also of interest, last Friday some other PC trainees and I went to observe and occasionally offer our opinion at the monthly TEPCE teacher conference. TEPCEs are when all the high school teachers in your school district come and talk about the past months' topics and plan for the upcoming month. The Nicaraguan English teachers were all very happy to have us participating in the conference and sharing ideas. One of the main debates among the teachers was about the topics they are learning, such as climate change, which is a very important topic but is English class the right place to learn about it? They asked would class time be more beneficial for the students to instead focus on building a stronger base with the most important verb tenses and grammatical structure? On the other hand is it better to teach advanced topics to improve vocabulary, despite whether or not they understand the grammatical structure? We were able to come to an agreement that they are both important. Having a large vocabulary doesn't do you any good if you can't express your ideas, and put them into sentences. However English grammar like grammar in general is boring, so it important to introduce new topics so that the students stayed interested. I have really enjoyed learning about how someone learns a foreign language. Its completely different from how we learned English as children.

The big news events of the past week are first my volunteer visit got canceled. Curse you Hurricane Matthew!! Because of the excess amount of rain that fell during the week the hurricane was here a lot of the roads, highways and bridges around the country got flooded and or washed away as a result. The Peace Corps didn't not want to send us out to different parts of the country, and take the risk that some of us would be stranded in route or at site and not be able to get back. In fact one of the current volunteers that came and talked at one of our technical sessions last week had been stranded from her site for close to a week because the only bridge the goes into her town was under water. Fortunately the Peace Corps office paid for her to stay in a hotel in Managua until she was able to return. That being said I completely understand and agree with their judgment call, but I was still disappointed. Ironically now today was very sunny and there isn't a cloud in the sky. Although I don't have any how conditions outside of Niquinohomo, because were told not to leave are training town except for training classes which we were picked up and driven to.

My other big new of this week is that I have changed host families. I am still in Niquinohomo just on the other side of town and much closer to the high school which is nice. Early Saturday morning a Peace Corps driver came by in the standard PC big white land rover and picked me up and took me over to my new family. It was kinda of weird because got to my new house quickly shook hands with my host family members, dropped of my bags. Then got back in the car to catch up with the PC bus that was taking everybody to the neighboring department for a training session with the environment half of Nica 54.

The back story on why I changed host families is this, it all boiled down to 3 main issues. Firstly , before me my host family had only hosted girls trainees which is not bad thing, but some Nicaraguan women and girls as a result of their cultural up bringing are very quiet around men. This isn't the same across the country or even towns as I found out talking with other trainees' host families. However in my host family which was comprised of 5 females and 2 two males the only person who really talked to at any length was my host mom. The rest of the family was kinda apathetic that I was there. Most conversation I had with them was small chat that stopped shortly after “How was your day?” I found this to be very odd because I meet the girl who lived with my host family before me at the training orientation in Granada. She told me that they were a great family, very sociable and that she still goes by and visits when she is in the area. I unfortunately did not have the same relationship with them I believe that it mostly has to do with the cultural issue, that being said I don't know why the husband of the oldest daughter or my host dad rarely talked to me. The second and third issue was about food quantity and variety. One of principle expectations of Peace Corps is flexibility, so I knew when I came to Nicaragua that things would be different, and I was OK with that. A normal breakfast for me included two pieces of semi-stale bread and a glass of juice. For lunch and dinner it was usually a variation of a meager portion of Gallo Pinto( fried rice and beans) or regular rice and beans with boiled plantains and super salty cheese for lunch and dinner. Not the greatest but I was adapting to the Nicaraguan cuisine and trying to be as flexible as possible. I knew there was more to the Nicaraguan cuisine because I had seen people selling it around town. After hearing stories from other volunteers and seeing in person the big disparity between what they were eating and what I was eating, I knew there was a problem. I knew it wasn't a financial problem because they had internet and satellite TV in addition to getting a relatively large bi-monthly stipend to host me. So I talked to my Spanish teacher and he gave me some tips about how to change my meal situation.

An interesting side note here in Nicaragua if you are trying to change something indirect communication is the key. For example a lot of the volunteers here myself included don't like the boiled plantains they are very starchy and have a texture similar to an undercooked baked potato but worse taste. Instead of saying I don't like these boiled plantains I said when I was eating fried plantains one night that fried plantains were much better than boiled plantains. It worked wonders and I stopped being served boiled plantains. It took a little longer to get the message across that I didn't like the salty cheese but after 3 or 4 attempts I was able to get my point across more directly than indirectly. Saving face is very important in Nicaraguan culture so anything critical is said indirectly.

Anyways so after I talked them my meal situation improved slightly the biggest improvement came after I mention something to one of my PC trainers not only about my small portions and lack of variety but about that lack of conversation. They agreed with me that was odd and went to talked to them in more of a direct manner than I was expecting. After my host mom talked with the Peace Corps suddenly I started to receiving more food and more fruits and vegetables. I was much happier. A week later I received a call from my training director asking how things were going. I told her that the food situation and had improve and my host mom was really making an effort to talk to me more but the family conversation level had not improved. That is when she decide to move me because she wanted me to have a family where I could talk and improve my Spanish skills. I was hesitant at first because I wanted to avoid any awkward situations that involve the question “Why don't like our family” as I have experienced before. My director say that Peace Corps would take the bullet, so to speak and leave me out of it. However I was inevitably asked by my host mom and dad at separate time “Peace Corps says you are moving why don't you like our family?” I started with the excuse that I wanted to stay but they were making me moved, but at the end of the night I finally had an honest direct conversation with my host mom about the issues at stake. It felt good to get off my chest that it wasn't personal she had made a great effort to improve my food situation and that I really appreciated that however the rest of the family wasn't talking to me and Peace Corps felt that it was really important that I was in a more talkative family. I understand the importance of indirect communication and saving face but sometimes its just easier to put your cards on the table and say what you need to say, instead beating around the bush.

It has been almost a week now since I moved and I am very happy I took Peace Corps advice and moved. My new host family is much more open and talkative. Meals are great I have much greater variety of food and quantity so much that I had to tell my host mom to serve me less because I can't eat some much. They are in their mid 30's and have to young daughters and so far everything is going great. My host dad just got home from work so I am going to sign off and go talk with him and the family.

Until next time stay classy!!

My First Hurricane

9/25

Bienviendos

Just to let everyone know in case you were worried Hurricane Matthew has made landfall in Nicaragua but it came a shore on the northeastern coast, and I'm living on the other side of the country. So this weekend Niquinohomo has just received a lot of rain and a little wind, sometimes it comes down in buckets sometimes in a little mist but its almost always raining. Saturday I walked out in my raincoat, rubber boots and shorts that stopped short of the top of my boots, (I know what your thinking, and yes I looked pretty amazing I'm sure the fashion trend will catch on soon.) I wanted to take some pictures of the flooded streets and to document my first hurricane. While I was out despite what I had heard from there were still quite a number of people out. There were people on bikes people in moto taxis, a group of soccer players trudging their way in the torrential rain up the small river that was flowing down the street. I have noticed that games here don't really get call here on account of rain like back home but maybe they made an exception just this once. Its kinda funny with all the cooler weather and rain. I feel like I'm back home in Oregon for the start of fall. Its been really pleasant in the high 70's I'm still in shorts and a t-shirt and not constantly sweating which is nice for a change. My host family on the other hand is bundled in long pants and layered sweaters and walk around the house and constantly talking about how cold is. They are quite surprised I am not cold even though I have told them that being from Oregon I'm use to this weather, they however are certain I am going to get a fever and a cold. The Peace Corps has been giving all volunteers daily updates about flood dangers but luckily Niquinohomo is in hills so there isn't a big danger of flood or landslides from what I can tell. I don't want anybody back to worry the Peace Corps is talking very good care of us.

Other than the recent weather excitement three weeks into pre-service training (PST) is going pretty well. This week has just flown by it seems. I have started to observe classes at the high school in Niquinohomo which has been really interesting. I also have been able to start co-planning English with my Nicaraguan counterpart Juan, and from what I have seen he seem like a great teacher very full of energy. In the class that I observed Juan was teaching his students about the greenhouse effect and it's harmful effects on the environment all in English. I was very impressed both with his vocabulary level and that his students were able to understand such an advanced topic taught in a foreign language. I never did anything close to that in my high school Spanish class. The only time Juan spoke in Spanish was to give a translation of vocab or a concept check, otherwise it was all in English. So I am looking forward to working with him next week. We planned to incorporate more activities that get the students talking instead of just copy down notes from the board. I had scheduled to teach with hm on Thursday but I just found out at my weekly Friday TEFL training class, that next week's class has been moved to Thursday. I'm going to have to work out that wrinkle because I'm required to co-teach at least 4 classes, by a certain week. The only problem is PST is so full with Spanish class, training classes plus working around Juan's schedule makes scheduling a little difficult. If I am unable to fit in a class this coming week then I just have to do it next Thursday or in week 6. I am confident it will all work out.

During week 5 I get to go visit another TEFL volunteer in their site for few days. All the trainees will be out visiting current volunteers Sunday 10/3 – Wednesday 10/6. I'll find out where I'm going this Wednesday during my TEFL training class. I am really looking forward to that! I will be really cool to get out of my training town and see how life as a real Peace Corps Volunteer is.

In other news I went to Masaya (the departmental capital) on Thursday with my Spanish class to check out the city. Masaya is a old Spanish colonial town similar to Granada where I had my training orientation. Granada's colonial building have been kept up in a little better condition for the tourists though. However the main attraction in Masaya is the Artisan Market it was built during colonial times and is still running. At the market there are lot of vendors selling sells a lot of tourist nick-naks but a lot of other cool stuff as well I'd like to get when I get to my site. Number one on that list is a hammock, two is a rocking chair or silla abuelita grandma chair as they are called in Spanish I have been told that Masaya is that artisan craft capital of Nicaragua and that Masaya is particularly famous for its hammocks. That being said when I get to my permanent site in late November, school will have just gotten out so I'm looking for to spending to quality time laying in it and relaxing some after 3 months of intense training. We'll see if that actually happens. I also got a cell phone which is really nice for obvious reasons. I can receive calls and texts from the US at no cost to me and little cost to you. I have been told that its cheaper to call the US and to call another Nicaraguan cell phone that uses the other service provider. I'm not quite sure why that is but whatever. Anyway please feel free to call or text me its always nice to hear a familiar voice on the other side of the line. I put my number up on the side panel by my address.

Until next time!  

Outside of Market in Masaya

Inside of Market

Fruit stand with the amazingly delicious pitaya!

My backyard during the Hurricane

Intersection at the bottom of my hill. As you can see much more water.