Well it's official! I finished my training (AND met the language requirement!!) and I'm officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! YAY NICA 54!! Tons has happened since the last time I blogged, so I'll try to wrap it all up here, but let's just say the last week or two have been the best yet!
Last Monday, we had a closing ceremony with all the youth group members from the different training towns and it was so much fun! Each training town got to bring 5 of their kids to the city and we all presented our recycled materials projects. Our kids were absolutely amazing! They were the first ones to volunteer to answer questions about the projects, and they did such a great job presenting! It was just really fun to get to bring them all into the city on the Peace Corps bus and to get to see how proud they were of their work. I was so proud of them! Then we decided to bring them out for pizza which was even more fun. It was nice getting to just chill with them and not have to worry about meeting Peace Corps objectives for once.
Since we couldn't bring all 25 of our youth group kids to the ceremony, we had our own goodbye party, or “despedida,” with all of them later on in the week. We had one of our kids set up his music system, and we had a dance party on Katie's front porch. We hit pretty much every party game, from limbo to pinata to musical chairs, and then we all just danced and got to hang out. We bought them a cake, only to find out that they bought one for us too! After we thanked them for all their hard work these past three months, a few of them told us how much we meant to them and how much they were going to miss us. They said that even though they have trainees in their town at least once a year, none of them ever clicked with them they way they did with us. A few tears were shed, and we had to say our goodbyes. Luckily, my site is close by, so I'll be able to go back and visit them from time to time. =)
Leaving my training family was so unbelievably hard, and I don't know how I would have been able to do it if I didn't know that I was going back to visit for Christmas. The night before our Swearing-In Ceremony with Peace Corps, we decided to cook for our training families at Jessi's house. The four of us made a huge pot of spaghetti with meatsauce and garlic bread and invited our families over to thank them for making us feel so at home in their homes these past three months. I wish we could have really made them understand what it meant to us that they were willing to spend every second of everyday teaching us everything about life here: from language, to washing clothes by hand, to cooking Nica food, to how to take the bus...I could go on and on. I tried to give a little thank you speech, but of course I started to cry. I think they got the picture though.
This past Monday, we had our Peace Corps Swearing-In Ceremony and became official volunteers. The best part of this? Two members of each family were invited to attend! This meant my host sister, Claudia (26), and my host nephew, Alvaro (17), got to head into Managua to watch me “graduate.” It was so awesome to have them there and to get to see everyone else with their Nica families. After the ceremony, which included some amazingly inspiring words from the US Ambassador, we decided to take our families to get some food in the mall. It was my host sister's and nephew's first time there, and being from the “campo,” or rural part of Nicaragua, it was also their first time on an escalator! It was so much fun getting to be there for that! Of course Alvaro pretended it was no big deal, but Claudia made me hold her hand, and it was the best thing ever! We had such a great time, and I can't wait to head back to visit them in December. I already miss having them around to hang out with all day. That night, all of us volunteers were invited to the director´s house for early Thanksgiving dinner and it was DELICIOUS!
Well, if you're not tired of hearing about my goodbyes yet, I'll continue by saying that my last night in my house was better than anything I could have asked for. My ENTIRE family came over to take pictures and just hang out before I left. That day was also the one year anniversary of my would-be host mom's death, so we all went to the church for a Mass in her memory, and we had over a hundred people pass through the house afterwards to pay their respects. After helping to clean up the church and the house, we all had the evening to just relax and talk and laugh. I gave them a gift bag of little goodies to thank them for all the silly things I needed their help with (ie. soap to represent my failed first attempt at laundry etc), and they gave me a set of bed sheets so I can be comfortable in my new home in Nicaragua! We all cried, even some of my host brothers, but it was a perfect night. I can't wait to go back for Christmas!
Now I'm here in my new site in Rivas, and I'm slowly realizing this is really it. Hoping to integrate as quickly and successfully as possible, and hoping more than ever that I'll eventually feel as at home here as I did in Guisquiliapa.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Make New Friends, But Keep the Old
So I'm officially down to just over a week left in my training town, and I've already hit the point where certain moments I'm close to tears about it. I would never have guessed that it would be possible to reach this level of comfort in a world that was so foreign to me only two months ago. My family and I have reached the point where we're all completely comfortable enough around each other to be ourselves. We're sarcastic, we have inside jokes, we can comfortably sit in the sala with nothing but music on in the background and pass hours at a time just talking, laughing, dancing or watching the people outside pass by. I never thought it would be possible to feel “at home” in someone else's house like this. And it's not just in my house that I feel “at home.” Walking through my town, I may not know every single person, but I never make it all the way down the block without seeing at least 3 familiar smiling faces. I never used to buy it when I read people´s PC blogs about making real friends during their service, but that doubt just seems ridiculous now. I´ve only been here two and a half months, and I really do have people in my family and town that I would consider my friends. When I returned from my site visit, the bus driver asked me where I'd been, and the kids from my block ran up the street to give me hugs and ask when the next youth group meeting would be. Then, when Jessi and Katie, my fellow trainees, got home the three of us got to spill every single story/emotion/thought about our visits – in ENGLISH and it was amazing. I can't even describe how good it felt to “come home” after such a challenging and trying week away. Now we're down to pretty much one week, and I can't picture leaving at all. I hope with all of me that I'll eventually feel this way about Belén. Luckily, we still have a few fun events planned with our youth group, and we were told there's going to be a DJ-ed party in the “cancha,” or basketball court in our town this Saturday! Other towns have these kinds of parties all the time, but they never have them here! I'm so excited to get to go and dance!
Well, here's to soaking up every single second I have left!
PS My host cousin just rode past the cyber on his horse. Figured I´d share.
Well, here's to soaking up every single second I have left!
PS My host cousin just rode past the cyber on his horse. Figured I´d share.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Challenging, To Say the Least
So I know it´s been a while since I´ve posted on here, but I´ve been super super busy. Last time I posted, I said I was waiting to hear about my site placement. Well I got it and I spent the last week visiting my new site, in.....drumroll pleaseeee......BELÉN, RIVAS!!! I was so excited when I found out where I got placed! It was my first choice and the Department of Rivas has so many positives, I can´t even list them all. Well maybe I can lol...
1. Super close to San Juan del Sur, an awesome beach on the Pacific Coast.
2. Perfect view of the island of Ometepe, which is composed of two volcanoes.
3. Fellow volunteers to visit on the island!
4. Just about an hour from my training town, so I can visit without too much trouble. =)
5. Less than 2.5 hours from Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.
6. Known for it´s 6 (or more?) different types of mangos!
Even with all of these positives, spending a week in my new pueblo, Belén, was way harder than I could have ever imagined. Training these past two months has been great for getting me accustomed to life in Nicaragua, and for improving my Spanish; however, it has meant I´ve lived in a small town with three other trainees in my exact same situation. In Guisquiliapa, my perfect bubble of a training town, everyone knows us and understands that we´re in training. They´ve had other trainees before, and therefore expect our Spanish to be disgraceful. They have tons of patience with our questions and with our funny American tendencies. Living within walking distance of other trainees has also meant that we had our own little support network for days when we wanted to just chill and speak English, or for when we wanted to escape to the ¨city¨ for pizza (or anything other than rice and beans.)
My site visit however, was unbelievably different and extremely challenging. To start with, Peace Corps gave us each two sentences worth of directions to our sites and left it at that. We all had to find our own ways to our sites, which was luckily for me, not too hard. I was told to get off the bus at the ¨entrada¨ or entrance to my town. So, when we got to the entrance, I got off with my huge suitcase, backpack, and sack of books from Peace Corps and proceeded to walk the 300 meter stretch to the school, rolling my suitcase behind me, and sweating more than I´ve ever sweat in my life. Rivas is way hotter than Carazo, and the fact that I was more nervous than I ever have been didn´t help things. I must´ve looked so ridiculous to the people passing me on their bikes, and to the people sitting on their porches, especially when I stopped to ask them how to get to the school.
Once inside the school with all my luggage, I was greeted by the sub-director, who told me that my host mom, (the director) was at home because she had taken a fall and was on crutches. She then cheerfully elected 4 kids to walk me to her house. The kids were so sweet and took turns carrying my things, and when we arrived at the house, I was warmly welcomed by my new host father and mother. They were as nice as I could have asked for, but after the quick hellos, it became insanely akward. What do you say to someone when you´re moving into their house? During training, there wasn´t much time for akwardness because we were always quickly shuffled into Spanish class and we therefore got to integrate into our families little by little. During the site visit though, I was on my own for creating a schedule for myself, which meant hours of time that couldn´t be filled due to the fact that it is literally impossible to fill 6 complete days with activities, especially when one is dropped into a new world, only half speaks the language, and is not the most outgoing person in the world.
So, to sum things up, this was by far the most challenging week of my life. I ended up having to present myself in front of a community meeting, on stage, with a microphone, in front of the mayor and all the teachers I´ll be working with - and no, I wasn´t given a warning about it ahead of time! I had to present myself to every single class in my 3 schools, to the police, to the people in the Mayor´s Office, to a million and one new family members...I could go on and on.
Luckily, my town seems great! It´s much bigger than my training town, which worries me a bit, but I know I´m going to eventually love it there. One of the teachers invited me to her house my third night, and her daughter gave me my first pedicure ever. Then her 5 year old son and I danced for at least half an hour on her compact dirt floor. Things like that make me realize that I´m going to eventually love it there. I just hope when I get back, the level of akwardness will quickly be replaced by comfort. In the mean time, please hope/pray/petition the universe for my ability to stop being so damn shy and akward. I need to tap into the outgoingness Peace Corps Volunteers are supposed to have.
Today though, I´m back in Carazo and couldn´t be happier to be ¨home.¨ I plan to soak up every second of these next two weeks, and hope they go as slowly as possible.
1. Super close to San Juan del Sur, an awesome beach on the Pacific Coast.
2. Perfect view of the island of Ometepe, which is composed of two volcanoes.
3. Fellow volunteers to visit on the island!
4. Just about an hour from my training town, so I can visit without too much trouble. =)
5. Less than 2.5 hours from Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.
6. Known for it´s 6 (or more?) different types of mangos!
Even with all of these positives, spending a week in my new pueblo, Belén, was way harder than I could have ever imagined. Training these past two months has been great for getting me accustomed to life in Nicaragua, and for improving my Spanish; however, it has meant I´ve lived in a small town with three other trainees in my exact same situation. In Guisquiliapa, my perfect bubble of a training town, everyone knows us and understands that we´re in training. They´ve had other trainees before, and therefore expect our Spanish to be disgraceful. They have tons of patience with our questions and with our funny American tendencies. Living within walking distance of other trainees has also meant that we had our own little support network for days when we wanted to just chill and speak English, or for when we wanted to escape to the ¨city¨ for pizza (or anything other than rice and beans.)
My site visit however, was unbelievably different and extremely challenging. To start with, Peace Corps gave us each two sentences worth of directions to our sites and left it at that. We all had to find our own ways to our sites, which was luckily for me, not too hard. I was told to get off the bus at the ¨entrada¨ or entrance to my town. So, when we got to the entrance, I got off with my huge suitcase, backpack, and sack of books from Peace Corps and proceeded to walk the 300 meter stretch to the school, rolling my suitcase behind me, and sweating more than I´ve ever sweat in my life. Rivas is way hotter than Carazo, and the fact that I was more nervous than I ever have been didn´t help things. I must´ve looked so ridiculous to the people passing me on their bikes, and to the people sitting on their porches, especially when I stopped to ask them how to get to the school.
Once inside the school with all my luggage, I was greeted by the sub-director, who told me that my host mom, (the director) was at home because she had taken a fall and was on crutches. She then cheerfully elected 4 kids to walk me to her house. The kids were so sweet and took turns carrying my things, and when we arrived at the house, I was warmly welcomed by my new host father and mother. They were as nice as I could have asked for, but after the quick hellos, it became insanely akward. What do you say to someone when you´re moving into their house? During training, there wasn´t much time for akwardness because we were always quickly shuffled into Spanish class and we therefore got to integrate into our families little by little. During the site visit though, I was on my own for creating a schedule for myself, which meant hours of time that couldn´t be filled due to the fact that it is literally impossible to fill 6 complete days with activities, especially when one is dropped into a new world, only half speaks the language, and is not the most outgoing person in the world.
So, to sum things up, this was by far the most challenging week of my life. I ended up having to present myself in front of a community meeting, on stage, with a microphone, in front of the mayor and all the teachers I´ll be working with - and no, I wasn´t given a warning about it ahead of time! I had to present myself to every single class in my 3 schools, to the police, to the people in the Mayor´s Office, to a million and one new family members...I could go on and on.
Luckily, my town seems great! It´s much bigger than my training town, which worries me a bit, but I know I´m going to eventually love it there. One of the teachers invited me to her house my third night, and her daughter gave me my first pedicure ever. Then her 5 year old son and I danced for at least half an hour on her compact dirt floor. Things like that make me realize that I´m going to eventually love it there. I just hope when I get back, the level of akwardness will quickly be replaced by comfort. In the mean time, please hope/pray/petition the universe for my ability to stop being so damn shy and akward. I need to tap into the outgoingness Peace Corps Volunteers are supposed to have.
Today though, I´m back in Carazo and couldn´t be happier to be ¨home.¨ I plan to soak up every second of these next two weeks, and hope they go as slowly as possible.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Exhausted, but Accomplished
So this past week has been all-around pretty awesome. I taught my second out of three classes in the primary school and my training group presented our survey results successfully to all the other trainees this past Wednesday. (I realize this feat would be much less impressive in English, but presenting 30 minutes worth of information and analysis in Spanish made us feel very accomplished!). We also had two youth group meetings, as always, and are preparing to give our last charla (lesson) to the older ones this Sunday about STD and HIV prevention. So, overall, this week was extremely productive! (Which unfortunately means I had absolutely no free time, and am therefore wayyyy behind on responding to letters and facebook messages =( Sorry guys!)
We did have a little time for fun this past weekend though. Saturday was El Dia de Santa Teresa, the patron saint of a town near mine, so they had a huge party weekend. Katie and I went to the club there with some of the guys from our families and it was soooo much fun getting to finally relax and get out of our houses! We danced for hours and then got to cram 8 people into a taxi smaller than my Corola to get home. The guys were so much fun and really looked out for us all night. The club was packedddddd and the dj played almost all reggaeton, which = perfect dance music! Needless to say, we had an amazing night.
On Sunday, I went with my host family to visit their farmland. The property is a little more then 4.5 kilometers from my house, and the once compact dirt road to get there has been completely destroyed by the rains. I have no idea how my host father and brothers get the cows down there and back every single day. It was nice getting to walk there with my host sisters though. It was so peaceful and I got to see a completely new part of “town” even farther off the beaten track. At one point we had an amazing view of a volcano in the distance, framed by the palm and mango trees we were standing near. It was absolutely gorgeous.
To end our week, we had our interviews yesterday about what sites we'd like to get placed in! I said I'd love to be placed in a small site, relatively close to a bigger city. I'm trying very hard not to fall in love with any particular department, because I really only know what I was told about them in the site fair, but based on that information, I think I'd love to get placed in Rivas (beachy and close to my training town), Boaco, or Matagalpa, (both of which are mountainous and have slightly cooler climates); but I'm sure I'd be just as happy in Leon or Chinandega (the other two departments where Environmental volunteers are being sent). Really, what's more important to me is that I feel comfortable and at home in my site. I wish I could just stay here in my training town since I've completely fallen in love with the people here. The kids in our youth group impress me every single day, and the people in my family have been so much more than hospitable. They've really made me feel at home here and it's going to be hard leaving my comfort zone behind. By this time next week though, I'll know where I'm headed at the end of November! Our project directors now have all of the information about our aspirations, skills, and preferences, and all that's left to do isimpatiently wait while they match us to the sites' needs!
We did have a little time for fun this past weekend though. Saturday was El Dia de Santa Teresa, the patron saint of a town near mine, so they had a huge party weekend. Katie and I went to the club there with some of the guys from our families and it was soooo much fun getting to finally relax and get out of our houses! We danced for hours and then got to cram 8 people into a taxi smaller than my Corola to get home. The guys were so much fun and really looked out for us all night. The club was packedddddd and the dj played almost all reggaeton, which = perfect dance music! Needless to say, we had an amazing night.
On Sunday, I went with my host family to visit their farmland. The property is a little more then 4.5 kilometers from my house, and the once compact dirt road to get there has been completely destroyed by the rains. I have no idea how my host father and brothers get the cows down there and back every single day. It was nice getting to walk there with my host sisters though. It was so peaceful and I got to see a completely new part of “town” even farther off the beaten track. At one point we had an amazing view of a volcano in the distance, framed by the palm and mango trees we were standing near. It was absolutely gorgeous.
To end our week, we had our interviews yesterday about what sites we'd like to get placed in! I said I'd love to be placed in a small site, relatively close to a bigger city. I'm trying very hard not to fall in love with any particular department, because I really only know what I was told about them in the site fair, but based on that information, I think I'd love to get placed in Rivas (beachy and close to my training town), Boaco, or Matagalpa, (both of which are mountainous and have slightly cooler climates); but I'm sure I'd be just as happy in Leon or Chinandega (the other two departments where Environmental volunteers are being sent). Really, what's more important to me is that I feel comfortable and at home in my site. I wish I could just stay here in my training town since I've completely fallen in love with the people here. The kids in our youth group impress me every single day, and the people in my family have been so much more than hospitable. They've really made me feel at home here and it's going to be hard leaving my comfort zone behind. By this time next week though, I'll know where I'm headed at the end of November! Our project directors now have all of the information about our aspirations, skills, and preferences, and all that's left to do is
Friday, October 15, 2010
Nuestros Jóvenes
I don't care what any of the other trainees say; we have the BEST youth group in Nicaragua. Our jóvenes range in age from 12 (shh..they're all supposed to be 15 or older) to 21 and we always have a showing of at least 20 of them at every meeting. Regardless of the huge age range, everyone gets along and looks out for each other. The older ones all participate in all the ice breakers and games, no matter how embarassing they might be. The younger ones impress me daily with their abilities to make amazinggg bracelets and they all have such a genuine commitment to a group that formed so recently. At almost every meeting, we have someone that comes in with a new project he or she made from recycled materials. There's always someone who has an idea for a new game we can all play, and when we introduce new ideas to them, they jump on board with no need for promting whatsoever!
By far though, the best meeting for me was last week when these 4 guys (in their 20s) showed up drunk. Well that part was really uncomfortable at first because they tried to crash the meeting, and came in whistling and cat-calling at our girls. I immediately told them that unless they were there to participate, they'd have to leave. I said it wasn't ok to treat our girls like that. (In Spanish - picture that!) After that, three of them left with no problem. One though, refused to leave. So my host nephew (Alvaro, 17) and my next door neighbor (Jose, 21) helped us right away. They were so calm about it and told the guy he had to go because this was a meeting for the kids. They told him to look at all the kids and to not embarass himself and the town. They stood up for us (since none of us are comfortable enough to be assertive in Spanish) and for their fellow group members right away and it was sooo touching. Then two more of the teenage guys helped to walk him outside. They were all so good about staying calm and not letting it escalate. Once he was outside the gate, Alvaro walked with him for a while to make sure he wasn't going to come back in. I heard him saying how the group was doing really well and asking him not to cause problems.
The younger kids were so good and just continued to work on their projects throughout all the "action." Long story short, I absolutely love our jóvenes and I so don't want to leave my training town!
By far though, the best meeting for me was last week when these 4 guys (in their 20s) showed up drunk. Well that part was really uncomfortable at first because they tried to crash the meeting, and came in whistling and cat-calling at our girls. I immediately told them that unless they were there to participate, they'd have to leave. I said it wasn't ok to treat our girls like that. (In Spanish - picture that!) After that, three of them left with no problem. One though, refused to leave. So my host nephew (Alvaro, 17) and my next door neighbor (Jose, 21) helped us right away. They were so calm about it and told the guy he had to go because this was a meeting for the kids. They told him to look at all the kids and to not embarass himself and the town. They stood up for us (since none of us are comfortable enough to be assertive in Spanish) and for their fellow group members right away and it was sooo touching. Then two more of the teenage guys helped to walk him outside. They were all so good about staying calm and not letting it escalate. Once he was outside the gate, Alvaro walked with him for a while to make sure he wasn't going to come back in. I heard him saying how the group was doing really well and asking him not to cause problems.
The younger kids were so good and just continued to work on their projects throughout all the "action." Long story short, I absolutely love our jóvenes and I so don't want to leave my training town!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Just About Halfway Through Training!!
My tech trainer wasn't lying when he said the weeks are going to get busier and busier as training continues. These past two weeks have been so packed with Peace Corps Training requirements that I've barely had time to process everything, let alone write about everything. I guess I'll try to sum up the important things for now...
Last week, we gave our first “charla,” or lesson, to our youth group. (During the meetings before that, we had been solely focused on getting our recycled materials project going with them.) PCT requires us to give two charlas to our youth groups though, and our kids voted for one on drugs and alcohol. Overall I'd say it went pretty well! Our youth group kids are amazing, as I've said before, so we had some of them act out a socio-drama about what could happen to a kid that gets caught up in drugs and alcohol. Then we discussed the causes and consequences associated with such problems. I think it was much more effective to get their input, than to spew a bunch of “don't drink or you'll die” propaganda.
This past week, we also had to give the surveys we designed to the people in our communities. In our training town, we decided to survey the kids in 4th and 5th grade to determine what they have already learned as far as environmental education (since that's what we're all here to teach.) Again, I'd say it went really well. We each had to interview 5 kids and this coming week, we'll be analyzing our results and preparing a plan of action to present to our peer trainees from the other training towns. The kicker? Our presentation must be completely in Spanish, just like everything else.
I also taught in my first Nicaraguan classroom this week! I had to teach the fourth grade about the causes and consequences of pollution. I can't believe how well it went! The kids were awesome and they actually got a lot out of the lesson! We played a game at the end to let them show off what they learned and I was so pleased to see that I was able to get my point across!
To top things off, ALL of our seeds have germinated and are sprouting! We now have baby tomate, chiltoma (pepper), pepino (cucumber), pipian (squash), and ayote (bigger squash/pumpkin like thing) plants growing! Hopefully our barrier continues to keep out the school kids, chickens and dogs!
To finish off our week, all 42 trainees got to visit Volcan Masaya yesterday! It's an active volcano located in Masaya, Nicaragua, and was really cool to see! Unfortunately, we happened to be there during a “high alert” day, which meant we weren't allowed to hike anywhere around it because we had to stay close enough to the vehicles to get away if something were to happen! Crazy!! We did get to see the smoking crater though. So cool!
Last week, we gave our first “charla,” or lesson, to our youth group. (During the meetings before that, we had been solely focused on getting our recycled materials project going with them.) PCT requires us to give two charlas to our youth groups though, and our kids voted for one on drugs and alcohol. Overall I'd say it went pretty well! Our youth group kids are amazing, as I've said before, so we had some of them act out a socio-drama about what could happen to a kid that gets caught up in drugs and alcohol. Then we discussed the causes and consequences associated with such problems. I think it was much more effective to get their input, than to spew a bunch of “don't drink or you'll die” propaganda.
This past week, we also had to give the surveys we designed to the people in our communities. In our training town, we decided to survey the kids in 4th and 5th grade to determine what they have already learned as far as environmental education (since that's what we're all here to teach.) Again, I'd say it went really well. We each had to interview 5 kids and this coming week, we'll be analyzing our results and preparing a plan of action to present to our peer trainees from the other training towns. The kicker? Our presentation must be completely in Spanish, just like everything else.
I also taught in my first Nicaraguan classroom this week! I had to teach the fourth grade about the causes and consequences of pollution. I can't believe how well it went! The kids were awesome and they actually got a lot out of the lesson! We played a game at the end to let them show off what they learned and I was so pleased to see that I was able to get my point across!
To top things off, ALL of our seeds have germinated and are sprouting! We now have baby tomate, chiltoma (pepper), pepino (cucumber), pipian (squash), and ayote (bigger squash/pumpkin like thing) plants growing! Hopefully our barrier continues to keep out the school kids, chickens and dogs!
To finish off our week, all 42 trainees got to visit Volcan Masaya yesterday! It's an active volcano located in Masaya, Nicaragua, and was really cool to see! Unfortunately, we happened to be there during a “high alert” day, which meant we weren't allowed to hike anywhere around it because we had to stay close enough to the vehicles to get away if something were to happen! Crazy!! We did get to see the smoking crater though. So cool!
¡Hay MUCHO Lluvia!
(Written during the last week of September - Feels silly to post it now that it´s been sunny for over a week, but oh well lol. Sidenote...sun for a whole week in October is unheard of here, and is a huge problem for the farmers that are counting on their last month of rainy season. More to come on that topic in a later blog.)
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Well it´s true what they say...when it rains, it pourssss!! So Tropical Storm (or Hurricane? idk) Matthew has been wreaking havock here in Central America. Luckily, I'm currently in a region that´s only receiving tons of rain for now. Closer to Managua, and farther North, they're not so lucky. There are already many regions there that have been severely flooded and it's only just beginning.
Living here has allowed me to see how much of an effect rain really has on the everyday lives of these people. Since I've been here, I haven't ever left the house without an umbrella or rain jacket, no matter how sunny it might seem. The rains had generally only been in the afternoons or evenings during most of September; now though, with all the hurricanes in the area, we've had rain for 6 straight days! And I'm not just talking about little showers...I mean deafening rain that's enough to completely halt conversations when one is living in a house with a zinc roof.
The effects of such rain? Well obviously there is mud EVERYWHERE, but that's bearable. Walking back from class the other day with my raincoat and umbrella was a joke because I was literally soaked through and through by the time I got home for lunch. Needless to say, my jeans have still not dried. Again, inconvenient, yet bearable. The real inconveniences become apparent when you look a little deeper. Laundry, for example, is done by hand here. Therefore, one must have two necessities to wash ones clothes...available water (we havfe running water about 40% of the time in my house, the rest is saved in buckets for when the water is turned off), and sun. One without the other is not enough to get the job done. My idea of “dirty” clothes has greatly changed since I've been here. At home I always re-wore jeans a few times before washing them, but here I re-wear everything! There's just no need to go through the agony of washing and waiting days for things to dry, if one doesn't have to. Now though, aside from having an increasing pile of ropa sucia, I also have a room full of damp everything! Bedding, clothes, walls, books, papers for class. My cloth purse and the hat that I have hanging up are both beginning to grow visible mildew! GROSS!
My sisters can't wash clothes because there is no sun to dry them, but what makes things even more complicated is that my little niece is only 8 months old. She wears cloth diapers which need to get washed daily, regardless of the water and sun situation. Therefore, there are always cloth diapers hanging on the rope in my living room, and since they can´t dry in this rain, my sisters have to iron them to dry them enough for her to wear.
On top of the laundry situation, most of the men in my family here are farmers. Therefore, they work outside all day, regardless of the weather, and they have animals to drive through the deep mud. Their crops are constantly in danger of being flooded out during the rainy season. Even just in the case of our school garden, we were scared to plant our seeds because the rain has been SO strong that we thought they'd wash away. We ended up having to make seed beds in tires under a roof on the school property so that we'd guarantee not losing them.
It's just interesting to me how much I used to complain about rain back home in the States. One day of rain, and we'd all be depressed and complaining about how we just want to sleep and be all cozy. In reality though, we're not actually effected by it at all. We all have insulated houses where the walls touch the ceilings and cars/trains to get us pretty close to where we need to be without getting soaked. Even when we do get soaked, all we have to do is throw our clothes in the dryer, and we're back to being warm and cozy and dry. Here, that's just not possible. Of course people complain about the rain here too, but it's because there are real inconveniences that come with it. Here´s hoping for sun!
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Well it´s true what they say...when it rains, it pourssss!! So Tropical Storm (or Hurricane? idk) Matthew has been wreaking havock here in Central America. Luckily, I'm currently in a region that´s only receiving tons of rain for now. Closer to Managua, and farther North, they're not so lucky. There are already many regions there that have been severely flooded and it's only just beginning.
Living here has allowed me to see how much of an effect rain really has on the everyday lives of these people. Since I've been here, I haven't ever left the house without an umbrella or rain jacket, no matter how sunny it might seem. The rains had generally only been in the afternoons or evenings during most of September; now though, with all the hurricanes in the area, we've had rain for 6 straight days! And I'm not just talking about little showers...I mean deafening rain that's enough to completely halt conversations when one is living in a house with a zinc roof.
The effects of such rain? Well obviously there is mud EVERYWHERE, but that's bearable. Walking back from class the other day with my raincoat and umbrella was a joke because I was literally soaked through and through by the time I got home for lunch. Needless to say, my jeans have still not dried. Again, inconvenient, yet bearable. The real inconveniences become apparent when you look a little deeper. Laundry, for example, is done by hand here. Therefore, one must have two necessities to wash ones clothes...available water (we havfe running water about 40% of the time in my house, the rest is saved in buckets for when the water is turned off), and sun. One without the other is not enough to get the job done. My idea of “dirty” clothes has greatly changed since I've been here. At home I always re-wore jeans a few times before washing them, but here I re-wear everything! There's just no need to go through the agony of washing and waiting days for things to dry, if one doesn't have to. Now though, aside from having an increasing pile of ropa sucia, I also have a room full of damp everything! Bedding, clothes, walls, books, papers for class. My cloth purse and the hat that I have hanging up are both beginning to grow visible mildew! GROSS!
My sisters can't wash clothes because there is no sun to dry them, but what makes things even more complicated is that my little niece is only 8 months old. She wears cloth diapers which need to get washed daily, regardless of the water and sun situation. Therefore, there are always cloth diapers hanging on the rope in my living room, and since they can´t dry in this rain, my sisters have to iron them to dry them enough for her to wear.
On top of the laundry situation, most of the men in my family here are farmers. Therefore, they work outside all day, regardless of the weather, and they have animals to drive through the deep mud. Their crops are constantly in danger of being flooded out during the rainy season. Even just in the case of our school garden, we were scared to plant our seeds because the rain has been SO strong that we thought they'd wash away. We ended up having to make seed beds in tires under a roof on the school property so that we'd guarantee not losing them.
It's just interesting to me how much I used to complain about rain back home in the States. One day of rain, and we'd all be depressed and complaining about how we just want to sleep and be all cozy. In reality though, we're not actually effected by it at all. We all have insulated houses where the walls touch the ceilings and cars/trains to get us pretty close to where we need to be without getting soaked. Even when we do get soaked, all we have to do is throw our clothes in the dryer, and we're back to being warm and cozy and dry. Here, that's just not possible. Of course people complain about the rain here too, but it's because there are real inconveniences that come with it. Here´s hoping for sun!
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