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.

Nica News

9/19/10

Welcome back to this installment of Sam's Nicaraguan Adventure!

This week has gone by pretty quickly. Even though I have been here for only two weeks, it seems like I have been here much longer. I guess the orientations in DC and Granada have kind of distorted my concept of time. In any event I have so been super busy that I have hardly had time to stop and think.

New this week I've learn some interesting Nicaraguan body language signals. The two that are most different from the US are the Nicaraguan way indicate someone having some having sex. This is done by making a fist with one and punching the palm of your other hand. This same gesture we make if we are going punch someone. Luckily I haven't made any cultural blunder using this, but another Peace Corps friend of mine here has. The other which I think is hysterical is that Nicaraguans use their lips to point at stuff just like we use our fingers. They make a kind of kiss face with their lips to point to stuff. Sometimes they do it while talking which looks really funny. My host dad was pointing to his daughters lunch while calling her name.

In other exciting news I had my first bout of Nicaraguan food poisoning. I was in the neighboring town Catarina watching a pretty interesting marching band competition with some other Peace Corps friends. Some lady was selling potato chips only made with plantains instead potatoes it came with some fried cheese and cabbage stuff that from now on I will be sure to stay away from. Anyway I asked my friends if they had try them and one of my friends said that she had eaten them a number of times with her family and also bought some from a neighbor lady. She said she never got sick so I took my chances. I was not so lucky, I felt fine the rest of the day ate my standard dinner of rice and red beans with some small side then went to bed. The next morning I when I woke up I had a healthy dump but afterward it when from solid to liquid, not good. I thought it was just a one time thing since I was on the toilet for a good 15 minutes. I don't want to go into too much details but I felt like I had nothing left, so I took some medicine for my upset stomach and went over to regular Friday training session. Luckily there Peace Corps doctors were there giving us another vaccine and chat about Malaria, Dengue and other undesirable bugs the we want to avoid. As I was sitting there listening I was feeling progressively worse and worse. So I got up and told one of the Peace Corps training staff members that I had diarrhea, felt sick to my stomach and was afraid I was going throw up and faint. They took me outside to get some fresh air which helped my light headedness a lot because I was sweating like crazy inside. They then gave me some oral re-hydration salts. This stuff come standard in our big med kits, in little fruit flavored packets however like dentist toothpaste flavors taste absolutely terrible! But I quickly drank a liter of rotten orange mixture and started to feel a lot less weak. It was kinda like an energizer bunny feeling I was surprised how quickly it took effect. The Peace Corps doctors take such good care of us. They were primarily concerned about controlling my dehydration which apparently is a pretty big danger when it comes to diarrhea I found out. After I had drank my stuff I got to poop in a stool sample cup so they could see what I had. Turns out it was just some common bacteria infection but boy did it knock me on my ass. Within a couple hours of pooing in the cup I was back at home taking some antibiotics, more nasty drink and sleeping off the infection. The next day I felt so much better. I'm still talking the last of my drugs to make sure its killed for good.

Other than that everything thing is going well. My youth group is going well out of the 13 that were there 9 came back. We did a anonymous survey of what they wanted to learned and it was almost entirely pronunciation and speaking. Next week we will be having meetings on Tuesday and Friday and will be doing a lot of activities that help them learn to speak. I plan on us some of my favorites that I used in Spain and some others I have learned from others and my PC books.

HAPPY NICARAGUAN INDEPENDENCE DAY!

9/14/10

This week has been action packed! I have successfully made through my first week of training in Niquinohomo. I have Spanish class Monday – Friday 8-4, when we are not in class we are walking around the town getting to know it and how to find our way around. My 2 other classmates and I made a map of the town after walking around and trying to mark a rough sketch down. However in country that doesn't have street names or house numbers making a map is much more challenging. Just giving someone directions to your house can be difficult. We learned that the people here use reference points to the direct people to places, such as 1 block north from the central park and two blocks west. So we all practiced giving directions and picking out two reference point for directions to our houses.

I am still adjusting to the heat here . When I get home I am usually pretty exhausted due to a number of factors first and foremost is the heat. We are in the rainy season right now so I'm told this is the cooler season but It not cold so I guess it all relative. Being from Oregon I am use to the rain but when it rain here it pours, and I mean pours!! It rains so hard that the streets flood and there are small raging rivers going through the middle of town. Last night I was over a friend's house and we could see the water quickly rising, it was even breaking over the top of the sidewalks which are about a foot high. Luckily my host family's house is on a little hill so our street doesn't flood as badly as it does at the bottom of the hill. These thunderstorms can be short or up to two hours long. Then as quickly as they start they stop, the water drain away into spillways and the sun comes out again and I start sweating again. Its not the heat some much that is making me sweat as much as the humidity, I feel like I am in woman is menopause with hot flashes haha Sitting in class I go from comfortable to sweating profusely in a matter of seconds sometimes. I'm told that I will get more used to it once I am here longer so I am anxiously awaiting that moment.

Thursday we had our first Peace Corps mandated youth group. We were all pretty nervous about organizing it and if anybody would come. We were unable and go to the school to invited the students in person, due to bureaucratic reasons. So we made a big sign advertising it, and talked to a local church group and we ended up having 13 students show up. The girls and I were very pleased. We told the kids who we were and what the Peace Corp was all about. Afterward we did a icebreaker, talked some about what the students wanted out the group and what our goals were and then played a couple more games to judge their level of English. I was very impressed. We are having another this Friday and I hope it goes just as well.

Friday we got up at the ass crack of dawn at 4:30am for and all-day training session in Managua. My biggest qualm about the mornings here is all the noise. My host family has so many freaking birds you'd think it was a bird sanctuary!! The ones I hate the most are the roosters and the parakeets! They are always make an ungodly squawking noises at ungodly early hours of the morning. This morning was no different. The sun wasn't even up and the birds were already crowing. The funny thing is that my host family seems obvious to this racket the penetrates even through my earplugs.

Anyway I got up and walk to the bus stop to catch the bus with the girls and our Spanish teacher. In Nicaragua there are 3 main types of public transportation and I have had the pleasure to ride all them in my short time here. Public transportation here is really cheap comparable to other things here. For example a trip to Managua depending what kind of bus you take ranges from 15-23 Cordobas ( $1 = almost 22 cords). While a 20 oz coke is 10 cordobas I find that very interesting that or about the price of two cokes you can take a 90min bus ride. As for the types first you have the the moto taxi, identical to the Thai tuk-tuk the moto taxi is a 3 wheel golf cart like vehicle on steroids. They are good for getting around town and visiting nearby towns. They are quick and cheap and not bad as long as you hold on tight so that you don't fall out while you are weaving through traffic. The second is the Expresso mini-bus, which is basically a large mini van packed with 4 rows of car bench seats, there is even fold down seats in the aisle so that no spot is wasted. Not bad though not the most comfortable ride but much better that the last option, which is the school bus. These brightly painted buses are old school buses that have mostly like been donated or sold super cheaply from American schools districts because they were old, unsafe for school children or some other reason. At 6'3” I have never enjoyed riding in school buses under the best conditions. Here in Nicaragua they take bus riding to the extreme. Similar to the Expresso buses the goal is cram as many people as possible into the bus. The only modification made to the bus other than in the bright exterior colors is two bars that run down the length of the ceiling. Unlike the expresso bus there is no limit to how many people can get on, if you can find a place to stand or hang on you can ride. When we left the Managua bus station the bus was full and there were a few people standing, as we made our way out of town the bus got fuller and fuller. I was amazed how many people they crammed in just on the way out town. When we finally made it out of town the bus was stuffed to the rafters and I was sure they would not be able to fit anyone else in.....I was wrong. Between Managua and Niquinohomo at least another 15 squeezed on. I had the pleasure of not only experiencing how cattle must feel, but riding and hour and a half with some guys ass cheeks just centimeters from my face. When I got home and told my host mom she sympathized with me and said that farm animals in this country travel better than people and I believe her! The most amusing part about the journey is the ayudantes they are the bus driver's helpers they collect fares and shout off their destinations like auctioneers in both expresso buses and school buses. While we were walking through the bus stations the ayudantes were shouting off their destinations over the tops of their competitors, as if we choose are destination depending on their sales pitch haha, When we were on the road the guy would hang out the door and shout the destination if someone rose the their hang then bus would slow down enough to make a rolling stop, the person would jump on and the bus would continue on its way. Safety and traffic laws in this country are truly just suggestions, its always interesting to see if the person is going to make it on the bus. Other the cramped bus ride the trip to Managua was pretty fun I got to catch up with the other PC trainees. I got the first of my many shots this one was rabies the next is typhoid fever as well as learn about was is in store for technical TEFL training.

As the title says today is Nicaragua's Independence Day. In celebration of today I walked down to the center of town with my older host sister and watch the parades of elementary and high school students march, dance and play instruments, it was pretty fun. The school children have school off all week but I only have today off Thursday – Saturday are going to be full of TEFL training and I get to get another shot. Fortunately I don't have to go all the way to Managua this time.

That's all for now until next time.

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!

Old Colonial Cathedral in Granada

This tree looks like is floating

With my Peace Corps Issued Medical Kit and Emergency Diarrhea bag I can take on the world