Sam's Nicaraguan Adventure: I'm in Nicaragua!

9/4/10

Its finally hit me that I am in the Peace Corps! I am lying here under my mosquito net on my first night of my three month training. Listening to the rain fall on the tin roof of my host family's house I can't believe I am actually here. But more on that later.

Let's start at the beginning which was unbelievably just 5 days ago. I said good bye to my Mom and sister on Monday morning at Portland airport, and took the first steps on an adventure that I am sure is going to be life changing. After an uneventful flight to DC I arrived at Peace Corps staging. I went out to dinner with a few of the other west coast trainees. It was great to meet other people like myself and hear their stories. There is one girl in our group who was trying Peace Corps again. She had just finished her training in Guinea when a coup happened and riots ensued. Fortunately she was not hurt and the Peace Corps evacuated her out of the country. I really admire her perseverance to try again. Hopefully that won't happen here. The government is pretty stable so I doubt it will. The next day we had the morning to kill before our orientation started. So we got up early and went out to the National Mall and saw some of the historic sights. It was pretty fun I hadn't been to DC in over 10 years so I really enjoyed it, I only wished we could have stayed longer. We got back to the hotel just in time for our orientation. As orientations go this one was pretty cool. I got to meet the other TEFL and

environment trainees. We did a bunch of ice breakers and activities about our fears and hopes. Everybody was pretty much the same they were afraid of getting sick from bugs of all kinds, and they hoped to make a difference in the town where they were going. The Peace Corps staff did a good job of easing our fears but not sugar coating it. After the orientation we all went out for our last American meal before we flew out the next morning. I along with a small group of trainees chose Old Glory All American Bar and Grill and had some great barbequed beef brisket and a Widmer Hefe! I was very impressed. After dinner we went back to the hotel and pack up our stuff and tried to get a few hours of sleep before getting up at 2:30am. Our flight wasn't until 7:30 but when you are traveling with a group of 43 people you need extra time. Everyone thought it was over kill but it worked out well. We all got checked in and through security with out any problems. Once we were on the plane everyone was out like a light.

As we landed in Nicaragua my first impressions were that it wasn't as rugged as I imagining. I landscape was flat and dotted with trees. Not exactly the lush jungle I was expecting but still very green. After we got through customs we were greeted by Peace Corps Nicaragua staff and current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) It was really nice to see everybody cheer us as we walk out the doors. They gave big bottles of water and we got on a bus for our hotel in Granada. It wasn't as hot as I was expecting but still very humid.

Our three day staging in Granda was wonderful! We stayed at a great old colonial hotel which had marvelous A/C. The food was good but kinda of a blend of american and nicaraguan cuisine. However the juices here are amazing!! There is this on called Pithaya and its a fuchsia color it has a very nice sweet and tangy flavor. After lunch we had short meeting welcoming us to Nicaragua then I went back to my room to catch up on my zzz because I was exhausted. Over the next two days the PC staff just went into more detail about what to expect and logistics of language training, health service and how to be safe here. The PCVs were great because we were able to ask them questions about things they had first hand experience with. Our last night in Granada was great! After we finished our meetings. Our training director had a suprise for us, it was a evening boat ride on big lake next to Granada. It was lots of fun. It was more of the jungle I was expecting. We rode pass lots of little islands some of which had houses of famous people in Nicaragua. Others had Spider monkeys on them as we were stopping next to the island to take pictures, one of the monkeys jumped on to our boat and everybody was laughing had a great time. The monkey wasn't on my boat but I still got some great pictures. When we return to the hotel we had a delicious traditional Nicaraguan meal of corn tortillas chorizo, morcilla shredded beef and different salsas. The chorizo and morcilla wasn't like the kind I had had before in Spain but still just as good! Our last night one of the trainees (who is from Puerto Rico, which I think is very cool) talked to the hotel staff and our training director about having a pool party at the hotel. It was a win-win for everybody and we all had a great time. I tried the Nicaraguan beer Toña and the local rum Flor de Caña which is delicious! It blows every other kind of rum I have had out of the water.

The next day we packed up our things and got on a bus to meet our host families that we will be living with for the next three months that we are in training. It was fun to see everybody name called one by one I don't when the next time the I will see the other trainees who are not in my town but, sure it won't be long. When it was my turn to get off the bus I said goodbye to my friends and met my host family. They are very nice! My family has two little girls and two older girls my age one of which has an adorable 10 month old baby. My room is smaller than my dorm room in college. It was a very interesting putting up my mosquito net with my host sister last night since the wasn't really room for the two of us and chair but we got it up and so far no bites. I couldn't be happier. My host family even has internet at their house which is an unexpected bonus.

Tomorrow I start my classes so I'll let you know how that goes.

Until next time take care

Adios!