Wow, I cannot even begin to express how absolutely amazing it was to see family last week!!!!! I sort of feel like I dreamt it all now that we are back to our regular lives…..We saw some amazing sites, swam in the ocean, went to a Mass, ate all kinds of yummy food, went zip lining and had some run ins with the law (-: All in all, it was awesome. Thank you family. Indeed, it was heartbreaking to say goodbye….lots of tears….that part, well, it just sucked.
So re-entry into life in our site has been a little rough, though I am sort of back into the swing of things now. One of my students committed suicide on Monday….I went to her burial on Tuesday….we had some things go missing from our house while we were out of town…..I am having some stressful issues with some folks I “work” with….all these things on top of just saying Good Bye to our families made the beginning of the week a little tough…..but I am feeling surprisingly more optimistic today.
It was awesome to give our host family and counterparts presents from our real families----they loved everything!!!! Our host family here, even though we don’t live with them anymore, really knows how to make us feel good (-: Their house is one of the places I go when I am feeling down, and I am sure to feel better after a visit.
Our adult community class is going well—every time we have to miss a Friday class, they insist we have a makeup class on Weds AND regular class on Friday=More work for us but it is SO AWESOME how motivated they are…..we gave them a list of the 300 most frequently used words in English, and over the holiday one student looked up every single word! We are thinking of adding some more Community Classes since they seem to be one of the things that make us happier (-:
We have a workshop coming up in a few weeks in a nearby (2.5 hour bus ride) town. Really Matt and I are just giving an hour and a half presentation with another volunteer about communicative activities. A volunteer who has been here a year longer than us is really leading the event. All of our counterparts plus all the other English professors from our municipality say they are going to attend. Supposedly, about 40 Nicaraguan teachers have signed up. It is super exciting because they will all be receiving a Teaching English Manual----complete with activity ideas etc. Right now, most English teachers here have no books….they are given a topic to teach, such as Human Rights etc….and they just have to decide what to teach! I also think it will be great for all the teachers to have the same book. They are paying a fraction of the price, thanks to US AID and PC. I am excited about this, even though it means lots more bus time )-:
Ok, sending the biggest hugs you guys can imagine….I really can’t wait to give them in person….please keep the updates, cards, phone calls, emails etc. coming!!!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
gettin somewhere
This title makes me laugh. Mainly because it is actually physically quite difficult for us to “get” anywhere but where we live. Thanks to a dirt road that winds through the mountains kickin up more dust than you can imagine and full of holes and rocks…..Matt likes to say the bus ride is like being on a boat…..and it kind of is….
It feels good though to look back on the past 7 and then some months and see a little progress in SOME areas.
Living situation is great still—in the garage and super happy about it—though it has recently become a stale kind of hot….and living in a garage with a tin roof doesn’t help much-----
We got a new sitemate! Welcome new friend! He is young and full of energy and optimism—it is pretty refreshing (-: He lives with our old host family and must be 6 foot something----but since he is from India originally he blends in a bit more here than us pasty white chelas.
We had a site visit—meaning a supervisor of sorts (an old volunteer who has climbed the chain a bit) came allllllll the way to Quilali to spend some quality time with us and observe some classes. This was really great and gave me a fresh perspective on some things. The class she saw me teach with one of my counterparts went REALLY REALLY well, so that was a definite bonus, although, sadly, it is sort of more the exception than the norm. But at least I know how possible it is to have a class like that now! Work is…..still pretty frustrating at times, but baby steps are being made. Having a great class makes the whole week sort of shine. Despite all other difficulties or frustrations.
We are really REALLY looking forward to vacation with our families in a week!!!! Cannot believe it! Only worry it will make it hard to get back into the swing of things after, but well worth whatever may come!
It feels good though to look back on the past 7 and then some months and see a little progress in SOME areas.
Living situation is great still—in the garage and super happy about it—though it has recently become a stale kind of hot….and living in a garage with a tin roof doesn’t help much-----
We got a new sitemate! Welcome new friend! He is young and full of energy and optimism—it is pretty refreshing (-: He lives with our old host family and must be 6 foot something----but since he is from India originally he blends in a bit more here than us pasty white chelas.
We had a site visit—meaning a supervisor of sorts (an old volunteer who has climbed the chain a bit) came allllllll the way to Quilali to spend some quality time with us and observe some classes. This was really great and gave me a fresh perspective on some things. The class she saw me teach with one of my counterparts went REALLY REALLY well, so that was a definite bonus, although, sadly, it is sort of more the exception than the norm. But at least I know how possible it is to have a class like that now! Work is…..still pretty frustrating at times, but baby steps are being made. Having a great class makes the whole week sort of shine. Despite all other difficulties or frustrations.
We are really REALLY looking forward to vacation with our families in a week!!!! Cannot believe it! Only worry it will make it hard to get back into the swing of things after, but well worth whatever may come!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
adelante
So, among schedule changes and general chaos being part of the first month of school, our community suffered a loss yesterday. We had a professor lose his younger brother---twenty something--in a bicycle accident. I was pulled out of class to visit the house, view the body, and see the mother crying for her lost child. Intense. Yes. Surreal. Yes. All the kids from the high school eventually made their way over to view the body and show support for the family. Is this strange? I am not sure anymore....(i feel this way a lot lately)....I just know it was heartbreaking and it feels odd to be part of something this intimate.
Other news, we moved into our own place, well sort of our own place. I lovingly refer to it as the garage....see pics on FB. My mom says it looks like living in a strip mall...we share it with a little store that is connected, so there are other people about during the day...our giant garage door opens right up to the street, so if we want air we keep it open and the entire world is pretty much at our house...it is also on the same street as one of our high schools, so alllll the kids pass by. but we love it. there is some uncertainty whether or not we will be able to keep it, but we hope so. we are lucky enough to get running water 2xs a day, an hour in the early early morning and an hour in the afternoon. my best day is when i catch the water and i get a cold shower with running water!!!
also, we will be returning to masaya, where we had our training, for a week of intense Spanish classes and an exam at the end, well, an oral interview, to see how our language ability is coming along. I am very excited to take a little break from our site, but at the same time, sad because establishing a school routine and getting to know the kids will be further hindered.
I am tired. and full of thoughts. happy mostly and busy mostly. Miss you guys as always ALLWAYS. please keep the emails, comments, cards, letters, phone calls comin´. every one means more than you know!!!
LOVE
Other news, we moved into our own place, well sort of our own place. I lovingly refer to it as the garage....see pics on FB. My mom says it looks like living in a strip mall...we share it with a little store that is connected, so there are other people about during the day...our giant garage door opens right up to the street, so if we want air we keep it open and the entire world is pretty much at our house...it is also on the same street as one of our high schools, so alllll the kids pass by. but we love it. there is some uncertainty whether or not we will be able to keep it, but we hope so. we are lucky enough to get running water 2xs a day, an hour in the early early morning and an hour in the afternoon. my best day is when i catch the water and i get a cold shower with running water!!!
also, we will be returning to masaya, where we had our training, for a week of intense Spanish classes and an exam at the end, well, an oral interview, to see how our language ability is coming along. I am very excited to take a little break from our site, but at the same time, sad because establishing a school routine and getting to know the kids will be further hindered.
I am tired. and full of thoughts. happy mostly and busy mostly. Miss you guys as always ALLWAYS. please keep the emails, comments, cards, letters, phone calls comin´. every one means more than you know!!!
LOVE
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
aiy senor
The beginning of an era blog…aka beginning of the school year….
Rendida! Or worn out! Even though we don’t put in nearly as many teaching hours as our counterparts, I find myself well worn by the end of most days. Even though school has been “in session” for 2 weeks, the schedule is still changing and classes are still added and dropped….mainly because kids can still enroll until April……it’s fun (-: I have given up on everything making sense or ever staying the same, and am trying to focus on making myself consistent. (The one thing I can control).
In other news, there is a group of students visiting here from the states as part of a church group and tomorrow I will accompany them to a nearby community to look at a latrine project they have out there. Supposedly, I will also get to help translate some. The group is small but fantastic—and they have done a few things here already like paint the Casa Materna, hand out food bags, and play with the neighborhood kids.
My schedule for now is something like this
Monday- take a bus at 10am—arrive in nearby community to teach at 11am…wait an hour for class to start ( unfortunately there is no other bus I can take…) Teach from 12-415 or 445, this is uncertain still. Take bus back at 430 or 5---I am home by around 530. I had my first go at this today and I am super tired.
Tuesday—my one free day!!!! For now….except tomorrow I will be with the church group from 1-530 or so….and maybe will be starting up another English community group in the afternoon…..LAUNDRY day!
Weds—I teach from 7-12 at my other school that is actually in my town. I try to plan for our adult community English class on Weds. afternoon.
Thursday—something like teach from 7-10 30 in town, then I meet and co-plan with a professor for a couple hours for the University class I co-teach
Friday—teach 8-10:30, often there are teacher meetings that take up the last couple hours of class and I go to those to until 12. Then I co-plan with a different professor for 2-4 hours. THEN Matt and I have our adult community English class from 6-8pm. Usually when Friday night rolls around I am beat.
Saturday- Mornings I have free for now! I try to go to the market/stock up on household things we may need/check my email. Then in the afternoon I spend a couple hours co=planning with my third counterpart.
Sunday- Co-teach in the University from 10-12ish….matt has a class from 12-2, sometimes I stay to observe.
So that, for now, is sort of what my week looks like. I try to do my laundry every other day, since things just take a little longer by hand etc (-: and maybe cook some meals in advance when I have a gap in time, since cooking takes awhile too. (the danger there is that the power will go out and all that food will go bad!!!)
Our sitemate leaves soon, and we will miss her dearly!!!! They are going to send a new person in her place, but we won’t meet them until they arrive in the end of March.
I feel like I could go on quite a bit but my mind is already wandering…..feel free to shoot us any questions
SCRATCH THE ABOVE SCHEDULE!!! Today is 2 days later, and EVERYTHING has changed again—ie. classes eliminated, new classes formed, new schedules for everyone---me at school 4 hours early….taking buses places and sitting for hours, not being able to teach etc. I am learning to be more flexible than I ever thought was possible for a human being!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rendida! Or worn out! Even though we don’t put in nearly as many teaching hours as our counterparts, I find myself well worn by the end of most days. Even though school has been “in session” for 2 weeks, the schedule is still changing and classes are still added and dropped….mainly because kids can still enroll until April……it’s fun (-: I have given up on everything making sense or ever staying the same, and am trying to focus on making myself consistent. (The one thing I can control).
In other news, there is a group of students visiting here from the states as part of a church group and tomorrow I will accompany them to a nearby community to look at a latrine project they have out there. Supposedly, I will also get to help translate some. The group is small but fantastic—and they have done a few things here already like paint the Casa Materna, hand out food bags, and play with the neighborhood kids.
My schedule for now is something like this
Monday- take a bus at 10am—arrive in nearby community to teach at 11am…wait an hour for class to start ( unfortunately there is no other bus I can take…) Teach from 12-415 or 445, this is uncertain still. Take bus back at 430 or 5---I am home by around 530. I had my first go at this today and I am super tired.
Tuesday—my one free day!!!! For now….except tomorrow I will be with the church group from 1-530 or so….and maybe will be starting up another English community group in the afternoon…..LAUNDRY day!
Weds—I teach from 7-12 at my other school that is actually in my town. I try to plan for our adult community English class on Weds. afternoon.
Thursday—something like teach from 7-10 30 in town, then I meet and co-plan with a professor for a couple hours for the University class I co-teach
Friday—teach 8-10:30, often there are teacher meetings that take up the last couple hours of class and I go to those to until 12. Then I co-plan with a different professor for 2-4 hours. THEN Matt and I have our adult community English class from 6-8pm. Usually when Friday night rolls around I am beat.
Saturday- Mornings I have free for now! I try to go to the market/stock up on household things we may need/check my email. Then in the afternoon I spend a couple hours co=planning with my third counterpart.
Sunday- Co-teach in the University from 10-12ish….matt has a class from 12-2, sometimes I stay to observe.
So that, for now, is sort of what my week looks like. I try to do my laundry every other day, since things just take a little longer by hand etc (-: and maybe cook some meals in advance when I have a gap in time, since cooking takes awhile too. (the danger there is that the power will go out and all that food will go bad!!!)
Our sitemate leaves soon, and we will miss her dearly!!!! They are going to send a new person in her place, but we won’t meet them until they arrive in the end of March.
I feel like I could go on quite a bit but my mind is already wandering…..feel free to shoot us any questions
SCRATCH THE ABOVE SCHEDULE!!! Today is 2 days later, and EVERYTHING has changed again—ie. classes eliminated, new classes formed, new schedules for everyone---me at school 4 hours early….taking buses places and sitting for hours, not being able to teach etc. I am learning to be more flexible than I ever thought was possible for a human being!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Que Paso? a tiempo??
Hi All!
It's been a bit since a post--i am afraid this will be a little short too! Look for a longer post to come soon--and pics of our soon to be new home on FB.
School "started" a couple weeks ago, my classes have already been changed once (one completely removed) and I have been told this will happen at least two more times....but all in all, I feel it's going pretty well. There were a lot of changes BEFORE the school year even began, I am now working in 2 different high schools and the University on Sundays and we still have our adult group on Fridays. I plan with 3 different professors--and this is really what takes the most time and leaves my head dizzy and mind exhausted.
We are also approached every day still by new people looking for English class--all willing to pay and us not being able to accept! I invite them to our already existing group and always advise them about the organization here that already offers free classes......we are thinkingn of adding one or two more community classes but want to get a handle on our current "schedules" before we do that....
Soon I will post a copy of my weekly schedule---it's fun!
We are going to our 2nd Nica wedding tonight--the owners of the place we are moving into are getting married--should be fun but nothing like our host sister's wedding in which we were the official witnesses!
Be on the look out for more to come, and family who is visiting soon---I Cant wait to see you all~
LOVE LOVE LOVE
Julie & Matt
It's been a bit since a post--i am afraid this will be a little short too! Look for a longer post to come soon--and pics of our soon to be new home on FB.
School "started" a couple weeks ago, my classes have already been changed once (one completely removed) and I have been told this will happen at least two more times....but all in all, I feel it's going pretty well. There were a lot of changes BEFORE the school year even began, I am now working in 2 different high schools and the University on Sundays and we still have our adult group on Fridays. I plan with 3 different professors--and this is really what takes the most time and leaves my head dizzy and mind exhausted.
We are also approached every day still by new people looking for English class--all willing to pay and us not being able to accept! I invite them to our already existing group and always advise them about the organization here that already offers free classes......we are thinkingn of adding one or two more community classes but want to get a handle on our current "schedules" before we do that....
Soon I will post a copy of my weekly schedule---it's fun!
We are going to our 2nd Nica wedding tonight--the owners of the place we are moving into are getting married--should be fun but nothing like our host sister's wedding in which we were the official witnesses!
Be on the look out for more to come, and family who is visiting soon---I Cant wait to see you all~
LOVE LOVE LOVE
Julie & Matt
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Bat Man
A ver…
I feel like we have gone from 0 to 60 in about 2 seconds. But this is good because school is about to start and then we will be even busier!
What we have going on right now: We are co-teaching some summer school classes M-F for the students that failed their English class last year. This has been great because it is giving us a chance to see how our counterparts function and to practice some ideas with small class sizes. (Before we start teaching rooms of 45-50 kids….)
We are each co-teaching one University level English class on Sundays. This has also been really good, though Matt has had some tough lessons---ie. the future perfect and the future perfect progressive----I will have eaten gallo pinto every day for 5 months by next week./ I will have been studying Spanish for 4 years by 2012. Now, explain that to a class of non-native speakers (-: Matt did a great job.
We gave a couple free community classes to the kiddos in our community---in an abandoned Casino----the sign is still up—it says “Casino Atlantic City” but really it is now just an abandoned building. The owner lets us use it for free. These classes were really fun, and the kids took it pretty seriously---they left during a break on the second day to buy notebooks (we were not going to make them take notes). And it was fun to see the shocked look on people’s faces when we told them it was free and all they had to do was show up. One of my counterparts helped out with this and that is great, because maybe she will continue the class next summer and the summer after even after we are gone (ie. SUSTAINABLE).
Annnnd tonight we are meeting with a group of adults that already speak some English who are interested in forming a possible conversation group. But we still do not know exactly what levels they all have or where or when we will meet…..
****Ok so it is later and that meeting was SUPER!!! Matt and I show up not knowing what to expect and the guy who organized it has chairs set up out back on his patio—about 8 people are there in the chairs quiet and waiting for us---there were all there BEFORE 6pm. (This is sort of insane for a Nica function). He had a whiteboard already set up facing the class and whiteboard markers. He also had a jug of water, some coca cola and crackers for everyone. Ummm wow! We introduced ourselves and then met the group---most of whom are related somehow---mostly adults between 29-40 years old. The guy who organized the group lived in the States for over a year and took an English course there---he speaks really well already---the others don’t have the same experience but they are all SUPER motivated. They seemed sort of disappointed that we don’t have any books or anything to like that to guide the course, but we told them we would come up with a program based on their specific interests=some more work!
Annnnd Matt’s counterpart has started his community English classes on Tues and Thurs nights from 5-8pm again---we are thinking of supporting these groups too.
I admit, I am a little overwhelmed at the thought of keeping all this up when actual school starts next week, but we’ll just have to see what happens and take it a day at a time. We may have to make some choices and say no to a few things….
STORY OF THE MONTH time
NIGHT OF THE BATS
We recently spent the night out in a communidad—more like out on the farm—with my counterpart and one of her friends/family. It takes us about an hour to get there. Their house sits off the road and right on the river, making it an ideal place to go for a swim (- : Plus the family is super kind hearted and easy to talk to---We had a normal day of eating rice and beans and tortillas and coffee, swimming in the river, eating more rice and beans and tortillas and coffee, and then we watched a baseball game on TV—It is the championship series. Ok, nothing too out of the ordinary---we go to bed and about 20 minutes after laying down this sound starts----I am thinking “what in the world is that?” It sounded like a wind turbine or an industrial fan. I could feel movements of air over my face and see shadows dancing all over the room. Finally it hits—the house is full of bats! Ohhhhh. I spent most of the night thinking how I needed to get up and use the latrine but was too afraid of crashing with the bats!
Funny thing is, no one else seemed to think this was the slightest bit abnormal and no one mentioned it to us before we went to bed. But when I later asked my counterpart if she heard the bats at night, she said “well yeah, of course”. (silly gringos).
I will leave it there. For now, we are waiting for the electricity to come back on and thinking of going down to the river to do our laundry…..
Sending lots of love to everyone!
I feel like we have gone from 0 to 60 in about 2 seconds. But this is good because school is about to start and then we will be even busier!
What we have going on right now: We are co-teaching some summer school classes M-F for the students that failed their English class last year. This has been great because it is giving us a chance to see how our counterparts function and to practice some ideas with small class sizes. (Before we start teaching rooms of 45-50 kids….)
We are each co-teaching one University level English class on Sundays. This has also been really good, though Matt has had some tough lessons---ie. the future perfect and the future perfect progressive----I will have eaten gallo pinto every day for 5 months by next week./ I will have been studying Spanish for 4 years by 2012. Now, explain that to a class of non-native speakers (-: Matt did a great job.
We gave a couple free community classes to the kiddos in our community---in an abandoned Casino----the sign is still up—it says “Casino Atlantic City” but really it is now just an abandoned building. The owner lets us use it for free. These classes were really fun, and the kids took it pretty seriously---they left during a break on the second day to buy notebooks (we were not going to make them take notes). And it was fun to see the shocked look on people’s faces when we told them it was free and all they had to do was show up. One of my counterparts helped out with this and that is great, because maybe she will continue the class next summer and the summer after even after we are gone (ie. SUSTAINABLE).
Annnnd tonight we are meeting with a group of adults that already speak some English who are interested in forming a possible conversation group. But we still do not know exactly what levels they all have or where or when we will meet…..
****Ok so it is later and that meeting was SUPER!!! Matt and I show up not knowing what to expect and the guy who organized it has chairs set up out back on his patio—about 8 people are there in the chairs quiet and waiting for us---there were all there BEFORE 6pm. (This is sort of insane for a Nica function). He had a whiteboard already set up facing the class and whiteboard markers. He also had a jug of water, some coca cola and crackers for everyone. Ummm wow! We introduced ourselves and then met the group---most of whom are related somehow---mostly adults between 29-40 years old. The guy who organized the group lived in the States for over a year and took an English course there---he speaks really well already---the others don’t have the same experience but they are all SUPER motivated. They seemed sort of disappointed that we don’t have any books or anything to like that to guide the course, but we told them we would come up with a program based on their specific interests=some more work!
Annnnd Matt’s counterpart has started his community English classes on Tues and Thurs nights from 5-8pm again---we are thinking of supporting these groups too.
I admit, I am a little overwhelmed at the thought of keeping all this up when actual school starts next week, but we’ll just have to see what happens and take it a day at a time. We may have to make some choices and say no to a few things….
STORY OF THE MONTH time
NIGHT OF THE BATS
We recently spent the night out in a communidad—more like out on the farm—with my counterpart and one of her friends/family. It takes us about an hour to get there. Their house sits off the road and right on the river, making it an ideal place to go for a swim (- : Plus the family is super kind hearted and easy to talk to---We had a normal day of eating rice and beans and tortillas and coffee, swimming in the river, eating more rice and beans and tortillas and coffee, and then we watched a baseball game on TV—It is the championship series. Ok, nothing too out of the ordinary---we go to bed and about 20 minutes after laying down this sound starts----I am thinking “what in the world is that?” It sounded like a wind turbine or an industrial fan. I could feel movements of air over my face and see shadows dancing all over the room. Finally it hits—the house is full of bats! Ohhhhh. I spent most of the night thinking how I needed to get up and use the latrine but was too afraid of crashing with the bats!
Funny thing is, no one else seemed to think this was the slightest bit abnormal and no one mentioned it to us before we went to bed. But when I later asked my counterpart if she heard the bats at night, she said “well yeah, of course”. (silly gringos).
I will leave it there. For now, we are waiting for the electricity to come back on and thinking of going down to the river to do our laundry…..
Sending lots of love to everyone!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
The Peace Corps Difference
Hola a todo. I have been reflecting on the PC Difference lately, and it is really something special.
I am referring to the following types of situations:
You are on the infamous “chicken bus” mentioned in all the travel guidebooks—but whereas it would be a novelty during vacation to ride one and check out the locals carrying their livestock onboard, this is a normal occurrence for you. And you may also find yourself personally holding the chicken in your lap.
Passerby’s may look down from their shuttle bus at the kids washing their clothes or dishes in the river---we are swimming with them after playing soccer or basketball in their neighborhood---we know many of their names and they all know us.
People again may look from a window at the gorgeous mountain ranges and the occasional uniquely formed tree or other object—we are starting to be able to tell beginnings and endings of towns by these landmarks.
You find yourself agreeing with your Nicaraguan Counterpart while you are at a professional conference that, “Yes, a dollar for that souvenir bracelet or trinket is WAY too much”.
While one may fear for the life of the man hanging off the side of the bus, hopping on top between stops to load and unload cargo---we share the sugar cane branches with him that were gifted to us at the family’s house we just visited.
The invitations to personal events are obvious---that invite to The Sweet 15, graduations, weddings, birthday parties, farms, religious festivals and parties in general.
Instead of being in town to watch a famous Fiestas Patronales from the balcony of a hotel or restaurant, you are in the middle of the parade—dancing amid fireworks with your host family.
Recently when the electricity was a bit iffy for a few days, we also cooked and shared dinner by candlelight with our host family—really enjoying the ambience.
I don’t flinch when people call out “Eh gringa or “Chela” as I am walking down the street—I understand it as a greeting not an insult. And sometimes I hear “Adios Julia” or “Adios Profe” instead.
So, for as many times as I crave some of the little things for home---or to walk with some anonymity every once in awhile, I have to say that these are just a few of the things that make me appreciate my life on a different level.
Feeling thankful.
I am referring to the following types of situations:
You are on the infamous “chicken bus” mentioned in all the travel guidebooks—but whereas it would be a novelty during vacation to ride one and check out the locals carrying their livestock onboard, this is a normal occurrence for you. And you may also find yourself personally holding the chicken in your lap.
Passerby’s may look down from their shuttle bus at the kids washing their clothes or dishes in the river---we are swimming with them after playing soccer or basketball in their neighborhood---we know many of their names and they all know us.
People again may look from a window at the gorgeous mountain ranges and the occasional uniquely formed tree or other object—we are starting to be able to tell beginnings and endings of towns by these landmarks.
You find yourself agreeing with your Nicaraguan Counterpart while you are at a professional conference that, “Yes, a dollar for that souvenir bracelet or trinket is WAY too much”.
While one may fear for the life of the man hanging off the side of the bus, hopping on top between stops to load and unload cargo---we share the sugar cane branches with him that were gifted to us at the family’s house we just visited.
The invitations to personal events are obvious---that invite to The Sweet 15, graduations, weddings, birthday parties, farms, religious festivals and parties in general.
Instead of being in town to watch a famous Fiestas Patronales from the balcony of a hotel or restaurant, you are in the middle of the parade—dancing amid fireworks with your host family.
Recently when the electricity was a bit iffy for a few days, we also cooked and shared dinner by candlelight with our host family—really enjoying the ambience.
I don’t flinch when people call out “Eh gringa or “Chela” as I am walking down the street—I understand it as a greeting not an insult. And sometimes I hear “Adios Julia” or “Adios Profe” instead.
So, for as many times as I crave some of the little things for home---or to walk with some anonymity every once in awhile, I have to say that these are just a few of the things that make me appreciate my life on a different level.
Feeling thankful.
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