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!