BUCKETS annnnnd Site Placement!!!!!

Buckets, and Barrels, and Pans
Amazing how much of my life here revolves around these things….The barrels are a standard at every house I have been in here---we keep them full of water all the time (5-7 huge ones at my house) in case of a water outage and just for daily tasks in general. You use smaller buckets to get water out of the big barrels to put water in the medium size bucket that sits in the shower room. You then use a small plastic pan/bucket thing to pour the water from the shower bucket onto your body. The big barrels also come in handy if the water is out and you reallllly need to wash something. Also, to flush the toilet at my house anyways (‘member Matt has a latrine), you also use a small bucket to get water from one of the large barrels to pour into/flush the toilet. I also use a small pan/bucket to wash my face at night and to get water from the deep sink that we try to always keep full in order to wash the dishes. I know you may be thinking, all this standing water, what about mosquitoes? There is a powder here, which I can’t think of right now (but will likely be buying frequently) that you can sprinkle in said water that keeps the little buggers at bay and is non-toxic. Brilliant! We also keep the barrels covered with lids or big wooden boards. I don’t know if this will be exciting to you all or not, but I thought I would share my love and appreciation for Barrels, Buckets, and Pans with everyone at home!


Now, THE BIG NEWS!!!
We had site placement yesterday and Matt and I will be living in DRUM ROLLLLLLLLLL PLEASE
Quilali, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua
For the next 2 years!!!!!
That is in the Department of Nueva Segovia and it is waaaaayyyy up north near the border of Honduras and Nicaragua. You pronounce it KEY-LAH-LEE (or something close to this, with the accent on the last “i”. It looks pretty tranquilo—it is a town of about 13,000 peeps, is surrounded my mts., there is a look out point we can hike to—as well as a spot on the river where people go to swim and relax that is supposedly clean and well maintained. Matt has taken to saying that we are going to be “hillbillies in Nicaragua”. There are men’s baseball and soccer leagues---none for ladies yet, something which if there is any interest at all I will be working to change (-: and a few high schools, elementary schools and a university nearby. There is cell phone service and internet cafes so it should be easy to stay in touch. It should take us between 5-7 hours to get there by bus from Managua—The closest “big” town is called Ocotal. This part of the country also has a cooler climate than other parts. It is suppose to be very safe, but if it rains a lot the roads may become tricky.
I will be working in the public high school with 2 lady counterparts and matt will be working in a semi privado (yes that is semi private) high school with a male counterpart—and we are both expected to reach out to other area teachers and the University to plan workshops etc. We are living with a woman and her grandson and a couple nieces ??? (we aren’t really sure), but one of our bosses told us yesterday that she is crazy---so that is exciting (-: So she told us she is really nice actually and pretty liberal especially by Nica standards. We will have one volunteer in our site from the Health Sector and there are a bunch in the Department but a few hours away…
We will know OH SO MUCH more about our site after next week when we actually go to visit for 7 or so days!!!! I hope to have some pics and more details. On Wednesday morning Matt and I will be on a bus on our merry way---we only have to take 2 buses to get there, and then find a taxi to take us to the high school where supposedly our counterparts or someone?? will be waiting for us. Yes, this is sort of intimidating, but I just keep thinking of all the others in my group who are doing this alone! You guys rock! There is only girl from our group going further north than us, and I don’t think she will be toooo far away so it will be nice to have someone to visit (-:
Matt and I are pretty happy with the site—it seems like it will be a good fit for us even though it feels so crazy to be starting over after getting comfortable where we are….onwards and upwards! (literally)

PS I am sorry I never put pics on here, it takes too long! I am using FB to post pics (-:
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