and LA LOCURA continues...but it's all good (-:

It’s the day after Mother’s Day. Monday…Middle of MAY 2012 Hard to believe we got here in 2010…. Big News I suppose as of late is that we moved—we lived in our old place in this town for just over a year….oddly enough, longer than Matt and I have every lived anywhere together in our 6 + years of knowing each other. The owners wanted to make repairs to the place –like all the holes and leaks where it flooded our house during rainy season last year. They gave us about 3 weeks’ notice, and had another house lined up for us already—so it wasn’t so bad. Plus they helped us move with a truck and found a refrigerator to loan us for the next 6 months. We were really dreading the move for a while, being comfortable where we were and all—knowing the neighborhood and people already etc…. BUT our new house is INFINITELY BETTER, though further from the town center and in what is a somewhat poorer barrio called the “Campo” literally, the country. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The house itself is GORGEOUS with beautiful tiled floors, living room, 3 bedrooms, and a kitchen that looks like one from home (cabinets and drawers!) We have a real toilet versus latrine (rare for our neighborhood where I can see many families from different houses share the same latrine). And shower head; though only seem to get water once or twice a week for a couple hours. Fortunately, we have a big pila—or cement water tank—inside our bathroom and a smaller one for dishes outside that also catches the rain water. The best feature for me is the WINDOW we have in the living room—I realize now how much LIGHT makes such a big difference. In our place before we had no windows---and had to open up the giant garage door we had to let light in—inviting in any passerby from the street. Also, since all the roads are dirt and more like trails in our new neighborhood, there is hardly any traffic—meaning ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sounds have changed. And in a good way. I don’t hear busses and huge trucks blaring music, motorcycles etc., but instead pigs, chickens, moms yelling for their kids, kids laughing, dogs barking etc. We also have a small outside area now (another thing we didn’t have before)—with a mango tree and place to hang our clothes to dry. Perhaps the biggest change of all is the privacy. Sitting in my kitchen right now, backdoor open, light streaming in, slight breeze, quiet except for the pigs---and no one else is here. Recall we shared our last place with a store, and an employee and/or the owner’s family members were always in and out—walking up and down our hallway (guess it’s really theirs’ anyhow), sharing the same water source etc. They had keys to the store and we never knew when someone would be popping in or unloading inventory etc. It is so strange. We couldn’t put our finger on it for a while, but we realized this is the first time in over a year and a half that we have REALLY AND TRULY had our very own space….first 7 or so months spent living with families (incredible and wouldn’t change for the world) and year or so in a house pegado or stuck to a store on the main road. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also, my concern of not knowing the neighbors was silly. Town isn’t that big. Turns out, we already know most of the new hood. And it’s only a couple blocks from the basketball court where I like to play with my kids on Saturdays. I was worried they would be over all the time, but it’s really simple—if I open our window people pass by and call out “Buenas!” or Hello are you in there?—but if I don’t it is an accepted sign that we’re occupied. All in all, WE LOVE our new house and neighborhood, though it is a little further and uphill to center of town. Daily happiness increased tenfold, even though we have to watch where we step a bit more (more animals=more animal droppings) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Project Ahhh the Bottle Classroom. How you have occupied my life. The best news—we have enough bottles full of trash!!!!! Woo HOO!!!! I no longer dream about bottles. The frame is in place—the roof, three layers of bricks, and one row of bottles…everything was going so fast and really well and then BOOM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NADA. CONSTRUCTION AT A STANDSTILL. My foreman says it is bc the welder we had, left, maybe got a better gig (he did already finish the roof)—so we need a new one to finish the window we are putting in…but I’m not sure what’s going on— --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Also, now I dream of sand. We spent an entire day with 10 students shoveling sand from the river banks (the one little machine they have here to do that job has been broken for months and months…apparently needs a part from Germany to work or something….—everything takes longer…) anyhow, we got 2 giant dump truck loads full of sand (to mix with the cement). The mayor loaned us his truck and 2 guys for the day, just as promised. Now our foreman says we need double-another trip—challenge—mayor says can’t loan us the truck anymore. There is only one dump truck. It is used for trash pick-up and right now, to fix the roads before rainy season really hits. He felt bad, but what can he do? 3 or so other people were in line to see him ahead of me, also wanting to use the one and only truck….we all got the same answer…SO now it is time to scour the town searching for someone willing to loan us their dump truck for the day…..wish us luck. All in all, after all we’ve been through during this process, I have faith everything will work out. The Nica community is pretty resilient and will help us come up with something. Other really cool news: Many kids here and in towns further away are using this model of construction as their science fair projects. Also, teachers and the principal from a town about an hour and a half away have requested training on the process. AND apparently, people from a large city 3 hours away are also requesting training on the process. Looks like some seminars could be in our near future, though I would like to finish the project before we start that kind of endeavor (-: And all of the sudden, 6 months almost doesn’t feel like enough….They said it would happen…I just didn’t believe them! That is quite enough rambling for today. Time to pour on a bucket and go teach. And search for that dump truck. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Quick shout out and congrats to Matt’s uncle who recently got married!!!! We are so happy for him and the whole family—looking forward to many a meal and hangout time when we get back (-:

April update...well, it was April...

Where to start? I think a shout out to my Nana who passed away recently is most definitely in order. We had the great fortune to be able and be there during her last week or so and be with my ginormous family (is that a word -ginormous?). She was an incredibly unique and strong willed woman who really always spoke her mind. I believe the family and friends honored her and her life very well…some of the things she was passionate about included TRAVEL and EDUCATION—things I feel blessed to have in common with her, even if we didn’t share all interests or personality traits. And lately, I don’t know, I feel like she has been around in my Nicaraguan daily life—I know it sounds a little odd, but I can’t help but feel it. So thank you Nana, for giving me this amazing life and opportunity—I hope you and all my grandparents are watching from a better place and are proud of the little things we are doing. I have been a small bundle of emotions thinking about my own set of parents and really missing, well, missing THINGS. But there are things to finish here. We have been welcomed back into our little community here with hugs and coffee and meals and sincere condolences. I hope I never forget the amazing folks of Quilali. I don’t think I will or ever could. *today my host uncle who is sometimes pretty drunk and sleeps on the street but is generally a super kind soul, kicked horse in it’s rear and the horse nailed him. Just one of those little moments. Things that struck me when we were home—some people were surprised to learn we don’t have air conditioning in our house—FUNNY! There is only ONE air conditioned room in my entire little town—and it is the mayor’s office (-: Not even the hospital—which we are lucky to have one in our town. Other surprise—I kept commenting on how I sort of miss furniture, you know couches, soft pillows, recliners, chairs that aren’t plastic etc—and someone was pretty surprised about that. They automatically assumed I live with a couch. I assure you, we do not own much in the way of furniture—wayyyyy too expensive. We have a plastic table, two plastic chairs, some buckets, a real bed-thank goodness---and the pocket chair we won at the Christmas party (thanks Lyndsey and Dave). Said person asked me, “well, then where to people eat?” hmmm, they sit on the ground-grab a tortilla and eat with their hands—or on a bucket or stool or whatever box or thing is available. Funny how I didn’t think about the difference until this time around….Also, another person was shocked to learn that we went over one year without riding in a CAR. Um, it’s the Peace Corps folks! But I have to not be a snob bc of course, not everyone knows what exactly that means. My 8 year old brother seems to have a pretty good grasp on it now. He knows that we are given a stipend equal to that of what a teacher earns here—roughly 200 USD a month and expected to live on that—just like EVERYONE else in our community. So, we take the local school busses that were donated from the 70’s or 80’s pretty much every time we need to get anywhere or maybe ride a horse WALK or ride a bike. Peace Corps is not like being in the military at all from what I gather—it is referred to as “service” not “tour” maybe because we don’t earn much moolah and are NOT part of the military or any type of religious or missionary group- we don’t live within a community of other white folks from the states, but instead are completely integrated into a small town where I AM THE ONLY WHITE WOMAN. Our office and bosses and staff are NINE hours away by school bus and visit us ONCE/TWICE a year, more if we ask for or need it. We have no grocery store, bank, or post office—all of these are 3.5 hours away on bus—and bus is the ONLY method of transportation out of town, unless you hitchhike. We don’t live on a base or an enclosed community—but in the same neighborhoods as everyone else—though our house/garage type thing is pretty nice by Nica standards. Many Many of my students, friends and neighbors have dirt floors and tin roofs—and almost no one’s walls connect to their ceilings. Even most other volunteers have pretty basic letrines or outhouses that fill with critters and took some getting used to at first. Power outages are frequent and running water used to be consistent—well one hour in the morning and one in the evening, but has become a bit more sporadic as of late (recall the month and a half we had with NO running water ever) Bathrooms with sinks and mirrors and storage are pretty much non-existent—except in hotels---people just have a small square room with a big bucket of water and keep a mirror in their room or they have four wooden posts with big black plastic sheets nailed to them in their backyard where they put their bucket of water or shower. I appreciated doing the dishes every time when we were home---sinks with running HOT water—and DISH WASHERS. Doing my laundry brought small tears to my eyes, ok not really, but it was awesome not washing by hand. In short, I realized how little many of my friends and family understand what the daily life of a Peace Corps volunteer entails….maybe I have been doing a bad job of communicating? I hate to mention that Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after HAITI, because it seems to be a sensitive fact to many of my friends and colleagues here and they are professional hard working folks—but that’s what the numbers say. I just have a hard time swallowing it I guess when folks try to compare living here to a study abroad experience in Europe or Asia—um, not quite the same, actually not the same at all, but living outside one’s own comfort zone whether it be here or somewhere a bit more developed is still something to be respected for sure. Just as being an accountant in an office is something I don’t think is or will ever be for me, being a PC Volunteer is probably not for everyone either. I get that. Heck, sometimes I wonder what the heck we signed ourselves up for myself! All that being said, only 7 months left to go, and feeling pretty attached all the sudden to many people and my town (even though sometimes I feel totally insane and want to run away…) One of my bosses says it is sort of masochistic what we do---we move in, become close like family in these really small communities and then up and leave after two years…it’s gonna be harder than I thought. Even with my recent trip home, and how I am growing tired of missing family and friends back home….home…I think we will feel like we have a few by the time we go….. In work related news—funding for our bottle classroom came through !!!! It’s go time—demolition and initial preparation scheduled to start MONDAY! And today we bought 90 bags of cement---though it was WAY more complicated than you can possibly imagine as is every task that would be so simple at home. (there is currently NO, AS IN 0, Bags of cement in our entire town at any hardware store –but we were fortunate enough to meet an owner of one who has a truck on the way and sold to us before it even arrived—even gave us a discount and had it dropped off at the school!) It is been one heck of a rollercoaster ride trying to coordinate with the mayor’s people and the PTA like organization of said community to begin the whole process---and I imagine we will only encounter more and more and more hiccups—like there being NO cement anywhere, along the way….but I think I’m ready. I also spent about 6 hours recruiting guys we know around town and going house to house asking to borrow shovels in order to dig out 15 meters CUBED of sand that we will need for the project—we almost left 2 times to do the job, but each time the representative from the Mayor’s office said we didn’t have enough helpers…..yup, that was my day. It ended up working out well, because, well, oddly enough, after we decided not to go the SECOND time, it POURED rain for an hour and a half…..very odd for this time of year….SIGH. Miss my parents, brothers, sister, B, Bug and so so so many people. Love my big beautiful family as nuts as we may be (hey, who’s family isn’t?) Wish us luck, and let’s hope we can stay flexible and finish this crazy thing! BOTTLE CLASSROOM WELL UNDERWAY NOW! I COULDN’T BE HAPPIER OR MORE IMPRESSED WITH THE PARENTS FROM THE COMMUNITY THAT SHOW UP EVERY DAY TO WORK A FULL DAY FOR FREE. IT’S BEEN A BIT CRAZY AT TIMES AND WE HAVENT STARTED ATTACHING THE BOTTLES, BUT OVERALL, JUST AWESOME. MORE LATER.

BOTTLES BOTTLES BOTTLES and more, always more

did i already write about the awesome nica family we met a few weeks ago when we were doing our bank run? well , they stayed at the same hotel and bought me a birthday cake and treated us to a really nice night and made us feel part of the family,,,, a group of people we met that day and shared the evening with, you really have to love Nica Hospitality.

Things have been crazy busy wonderful lately,,,,Craig, our friend from Alaska and his friend April randomly came to visit over my birthday weekend, they are riding bicycles through central america. So that was great! We hadnt seen him in about 3 years!

I received dozen or so cards from family and friends! You guys are amazing!

Our small grant proposal was approved!!!! YES! I rode about 20 hours on a bus to have a one hour meeting to obtain funding to build the classroom out of bottles! A huge thank you to my Nica counterpart, the principal of the school, who made the big trip with me! We got to see Matts old host family and spend the night with them in Catarina the night before the big meeting. So that was a huge plus!

Our boss , one of them, came to see us last week, and we had a great visit. It was neat to see him in Quilali.

AND the first recycling contest ended, and I couldnt be more proud of our community, the kids made about 1500 bottles full of inorganic trash, or eco-bricks, to help build the classroom in a different community! We are half way there!

School is FLYING by, as is time.

oh oh oh! AND OUR WATER CAME BACK ON! After 2 months w no water ever arriving to our house, it is back! Does life get any better=?

Now, to do a second round of contests and get started with some construction in about a month!

LOVE TO EVERYONE! Must ride out Peace Corps High!!!!

School? Projects, madness and more

Ok, so February 2012 is FLYING BY! The second year really is going to fly by-- I believe it now...I was suspicious about this rumor at first, you know, back when we had 27 months to go...

School "started" this week, but there is still no class schedule at either of my schools..hmmm Well, I can most certainly say at any job interview a skill I have is FLEXIBILITY and give 19 million plus examples from my time as a high school English Teacher here....The teachers look for a room with no teacher in it, and they just go in to teach class....and no one really seemed to be dismissing students at the same time...it's an interesting plan of sorts...I am hoping to have a schedule during week 2 of school, but am fully aware this year that even if I do--it is probably going to change again in week 3. As a person who secretly needs routine, this is making me a little crazy, but not like year one.

In other news--one of my high school principals and I turned in our small grant proposal to build a classroom out of plastic bottles (google pura vida from Guatemala)--and we are headed to Managua on March 2nd to present it to a commitee of people who will decide whether or not to hand over the money to carry out the project. I think it may just actually happen....NOW, just to get those 3 thousand bottles stuffed with plastic....Let's just say there has been (literally) blood, sweat, and a whole lot of tears involved in the process---and we haven't even been officially approved or started construction! Besides writing the darn proposal, making the budget which required 2 quotes for everything (walking long distances to find the guy who makes the concrete blocks or the guy that makes rebar for the windows here), there were a MOUNTAIN of letters to get signed--by the mayor, principals, teachers, the minister of education, etc. Hours and hours and hours and hours spent WAITING (surprise) along with hours and hours and hours of meeting with a construction foreman to come up with the budget and make a tentative work plan/contract...Along with planning and coordinating a 5 school-wide recycling contest to get our hands on *GULP* 3 thousand plastic bottles of a specific size--and speaking with all the teachers/principals from all those schools about the contest...which happens to start this week...

Let's just say....it's been a strange sort of madness...I don't think I would have ever had this experience if it wasn't for PC...

In other random news: still no running water/water at all coming to our house, matt and I have been riding bikes to or from our schools out in the country sides, and I am tired of pasta and rice and beans...and would really like to hold my baby neice again soon (-:

No hay Agua--There is no water and More

Welllll! It is January of 2012! I remember thinking at this time last year how super FAR AWAY this felt and now it's here! YES!

Ok, so I have been back to the USA, met my AMAZING new baby niece, Amelia, spent lots of time with family, enjoyed hot showers and good food and drink and am now back in Nicaragua and have been for about a month (guess I got pretty lazy in regards to my blog as of late...) The trip home was more amazing than I even thought it would be and while it was super hard to leave and indeed more tears were shed, it has been pretty good being back in Nicaragua.

Our host family has been spoiling us rotten, as usual, and school is still out for break. So what have we been up to if school isnt in session? Well matt taught another week long English camp--a tough one this time with high school kids in Managua--one of those start at 7 am dont finish til 10pm kind of camps....but they did some cool things like take the kids to an actual movie theater---a first for many of them in their lives...We taught a one week summer camp of Basic English to the kids in our town, and I have been running around like an insane person working on the classroom project that still may or may not happen....talking to construction workers and going to hardware stores, creating budgets and recycling contests... etc. Then we just had an IST or inservice training event in a cloudforest called Selva Negra. It was great to see the other volunteers and staff--and was jam packed as always with sessions but we had a little down time to stroll the forest and check out the place which is almost completely self sustainable....

We just got back to our town a couple days ago to discover that there has been no water for the past week and a half or so and it may be off for another month or two....no one seems to know...
So we hauled all our laundry down to the river today---luckily we got a ride with a truck because it is actually a pretty decent hike and then we washed all our clothes and took our "showers" in the river. It;s too bad this is so bad for the water/river because i actually really enjoyed it---we made some new friends and saw lots of our other ones at the river (everyone is down there!) However after a few more weeks of it, and especially when school starts, I may not like it as much (-:

We have also been enjoying catching up with our sitemate, Nishant, who Matt hasnt seen in almost 2 months due to vacation and different work related events! que loco!

I am still missing my friends and family so very much especially Amelia Bug, but we only have 10 months to go! And lots to do/accomplish!

One Year Down

Wow. 15 months later. 2 weeks away from a USA visit and still really wanting it. I must say, time has been flying by lately, except for waiting for the arrival of my new baby niece!!!

A friend recently posted this article on facebook and it explains how I feel a lot of the time here in regards to sometimes feeling like a failure
What The Peace Corp Taught Me About Failure
www.huffingtonpost.com

So elections went off with no disruption in our town, except we lost a few days-week of class....currently the kids are still in school for another week, though the teachers are all gathered in the office, adding the grades which are due soon....so the kids just run around free and keep asking if they can leave, and no one seems to know the answer....eerily similar to the beginning of the school year.

I am off in a few short days to do a tech exchange and meet the volunteer who made her house out of bottles and is currently working on another project using the same method. I am struggling to cope with the fact that I have to let go of control and depend on many different people here for this project to work....and I am scared out of my mind at times it won´t. But then in other moments feel so sure that it will....only time will tell.

I am still tired. But busy. And generally happy. Matt is currently in Managua working at a camp for University English Teachers through the US Embassy, so I am experiencey the Q as a solo girl volunteer would....so far so good though it is only day 2 (-:

Really thinking about lots of people at home etc lately....Probably bc that is where we are headed so soon for a little break....

Much love to everyone!

Truth be Told

I am tired, and a little burnt out. October went by really fast. We colloborated with our sitemate on his big health project---teaching people that work for various coop´s/farms about HIV/AID´s...then giving them a pre-made mini-charla, or mini-presentation- that they in turn promise to take out to their fincas and give to all their workers....pretty cool.
Then we had a big fancy dinner at a fancy hotel in Managua in order to fundraise money for the small business volunteers who are working with kids here to start their own small businesses.
Then we had a wedding in our old host town of Catarina, it was really beautiful and fun....except we got robbed on the bus on the way home...nothing crazy...lost the computer and the camera...on an almost empty very nice bus...very strange indeed...

I have been playing catch up on the small grant proposal we had started and had saved on that computer, also lost my memory stick, and it is going ok.

we WERE hoping to present the project to the committee that has final say over the project in December before we go home, but our boss just recently came to visit us, and readjusted my expectations...which is a good thing because i was running around like a crazy insane woman trying to get done QUICK, which in this culture, can be pretty close to impossible.....we are thinking now we will be presenting the project proposal closer to my birthday in March of next year....

I´m not gonna lie, pretty much all i can think about right now, besides the project, is going home for a break, and taking a real break...and seeing all our family and friends and especially my new little niece!!!!!!!

I am mentally and physically exhausted.....but i hope you guys are all great!!! oh yeah, small detail, presidential elections are here this wknd....could be pretty interesting....but no worries, we are all safe!