Sam's Nicaraguan Adventure: 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!