Miss You Already

Welp, my time with Omi, Steven, and Amanda has come and quickly gone…

Being able to laugh, and reminisce, and relax among family was the most amazing gift I could have ever asked for.  Recalling inside jokes and “good times” from “back in the day” was so refreshing.  I had really been missing that since all the people I live around on a daily basis have histories together that I'm just not a part of.  Sure, I have friends here now, and we have good times together, but you don't realize how many times a day people bring up stories/memories from the past, until you're the only one who's not included in them.  Therefore I treasured every single belly laugh, movie quote reference, and “remember that time...”  Not to mention the intellectual stimulation and the ability to speak in a language that I can fully manipulate.

It was also just amazing in general to have them here with me in Nicaragua, especially when none of them would have ever considered coming here, or to any other country like this anytime in the near future.  Getting to show them where I live and introducing them to my friends and family here was absolutely priceless for me.  Watching my students/counterparts/host families interact with them, and seeing the connections made even across the language barrier was beautiful. 

On the flip side, having them here made me realize that I really have changed a lot since I've arrived.  I forgot how disarming it was to walk through the bustling marketplace when I first got here.  I forgot how nervous I used to be every time I had to approach the bus station and navigate my way through the yelling “cobras” to find the bus I needed.  It's normal for me now, to assume things will be running behind schedule, to understand that I'll be sweating through any activity I take part in, to expect conversations with people on the street to slow me down a little, to have a stranger's child sit on my lap on an overcrowded bus.  If I'm headed on a long trip, I just pack a few extra cords so I can buy some street food or a fresco (both of which are served in plastic baggies on any bus I might be on) so it doesn't occur to me to pack snacks anymore.  Cold water showers are normal for me – as a matter of fact, a running water shower is a treat!  Supposedly, none of these things were a problem for my visitors (because they're awesome), but I guess I forgot about the culture shock they were all bound to experience here.  I had 7 months to gradually “acostombrarme” (get used) to the differences here, and they had 4 days to experience it all at once – not to mention the fact that it was one of the two hottest months of the year!

Conclusions?

1. Sure we ran around a lot, but the memories we made were unforgettable. =)

2. My family is the best in the world and I couldn't have asked for anything more than just having you all guys with me. <3 

3. Hiking a volcano is wayyyyy harder than it sounds.  That's right folks, we scaled Volcan Maderas! (All but Omi of course.) Check out this view from the side of one volcano to the other!

It´s been a while...

20/3/11

So it's been a while since I've blogged.  Let's just say I was in no mood to blog these past two weeks.  The amount of stress/self doubt/sadness that can be brought on by “host house issues” is unbelievable, especially when on top of those issues, bike tires want to go flat, and immune systems want to stop working for weeks at a time. Buttttt I refuse to dwell on, let alone write about, what happened. Now that all such things have passed, it's time to reflect on the good!

This past week, I had an extra Spanish workshop provided by Peace Corps for those of us (all but two) who do not have an advanced level of Spanish.  For the majority of my training group, this meant that they got to hang with their training families all week long.  I on the other hand was sent to Diriamba – a city just outside of where my training town is located.  Even though I was sad (and initially really mad) to not get to spend the week with my training family, I learned so much during the workshop! It was really intense and tiring, but now I have tons of material I can study and I plan to continue improving.  =) Of course I'm at the point now where I've been communicating without a problem for months, but I want to move towards communicating correctly.  I want to be able to say things like, “It's possible that I would've been better off if I had lessons in my host town, but if that were the case, I would have had less time to study since I'd have been distracted by my friends and family” in Spanish without stuttering and deciding to quit halfway through because of too many verbs in the subjunctive mixed with the complex conditional.  (It's harder than you'd think.) 

Perhaps my most exciting realization during the week, came during my second night in my third Nicaraguan host house.  (Yes, I got to live with a third host family for my workshop.)  I realized that I'm now at the point where you can pretty much drop me anywhere and I'll be able to make myself right at home.  I am comfortable enough with my Spanish to strike up a conversation with whoever I'm in a room with, and there was a time not so long ago when I had trouble doing that in English.  I get more and more self confident everyday here, so much so that I was able to completely bounce back after realizing that one person's nasty opinion of me is not enough to tarnish the reputation I'm building for myself here in my site – even if they happen to be trying to spread it like wildfire.  Oops, I said I wasn't going to touch on the issues from the past two weeks right? Well luckily, my third host family was amazingly chill and awesome.  I might even stop by and visit them sometime. Most amazing part of their house? Check out these sheets!!

Rugrats and Aladdin?! Hello childhood, fancy meeting you here!

Oh...but what did I not pack for my week there? My mosquito net...ahhh!!

Final note: A MILLION thanks to those of you who have been hoping, praying, petitioning the universe, sending good karma my way as far as my housing situation! I finally got clearance from Peace Corps and was able to pay the owner of the house on Friday.  This means that work on putting in the floor, the doorknob, and fixing the roof is scheduled to start tomorrow and hopefully I'll be moving in ASAP!! Keep the prayers coming please!!

Oh and today's Monday which means IN 48 HOURS OMI, STEVEN, AND AMANDA  WILL BE HERE!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Soooooooo unbelievably excited to see you guys!!

Proud Owner of a Bicicleta!

So I spent the last month and some change trying my best to be a good, frugal Peace Corps volunteer - refusing to buy a brand new bike because of the cost. Sure I have enough money to buy a shiny new bike, and sure I have family members back home who would have loved to “sponsor” my purchase, but I wanted to accomplish this using only the money from my Peace Corps “salary” without leaving myself starving for my next paycheck. (That's generally been my rule here because I'm really trying to live at the level of the people around me. Peace Corps pays us the same salary that teachers here receive, and I figure since I'm not supporting a family like all the other teachers are, I have more than enough money to get by on each month, as long as I'm willing to budget.)

Entonces (therefore) I spent weeks visiting used bike shops and asking everyone I knew if they had any friends with bikes they wanted to sell. What did I learn from this?

1. Pretty much anyone that has a bike that still functions has no reason to sell it.

2. The bikes that are halfway decent in a used bike shop cost almost as much as the new ones!

Of course I could have settled for one of those bikes with the super skinny tires and curved handle bars (like the one my dad still rides), but I already stick out enough here, and didn't want to draw anymore attention to myself by riding around on an ancient artifact. (Hehe, just kidding Dad)

So just as I was about to give up hope and settle for spending the money I've been saving for my future house purchases (yes I'm still hopeful that I will soon be living “sola” and will therefore need money to furnish a completely empty house), a friend came to the rescue! Josue, a volunteer from my PC group in the town over from mine, found someone willing to sell a halfway decent bike!! After getting new gears and a new seat, the grand total came to 700 cords!! That's just about $35! Sure, it's a tiny bit small for me, and it might not be shiny and new; but it serves it's purpose! Also, I figure if there are nicer bikes “parked” near mine, they'll get stolen first bwahaha.

Upon purchasing my hot new ride, I began fantasizing about how beautifully peaceful it would be to ride it to my school out in Chacalapa the next day. It's only 4km after all. Surely the birds would sing to me as they accompanied me out of town...the wind would be at my back, refreshing me with cool scents of banana trees and ripening mangoes...my students would be waving and smiling as I passed their houses.

Reality Check:  My fantasy excluded the fact that I'd be riding uphill all the way to class at high noon when the sun is at it's strongest, right smack in the middle of dry season when the dirt roads turn into sandstorms at the slightest hint of a breeze. Did my students call my name and wave at me as I rode out of town towards the other school? Sure they did, and I loved every second of it. As for the harmonizing birds and refreshing breeze, I was too busy gasping for air, cursing my bag that kept getting in the way of my labored pedaling, and choking on the dust kicked up by the bus I could have been on, to notice anything else that was going on around me. Yeah...I showed up to school a sweaty mess, out of breath, with my face “bien roja,” and the whole world proceeded to ask me sarcastically how I liked the hills. Maybe I'll wait for the bus next time...


...Nah! It's downhill all the way home! =)