Today I found out my site and Im going to the Dept of Matagalpa!!! I got my first choice site which I am absolutely PSYCHED about!!! Matagalpa is the center of coffee and chocolate growing, as well as some ecotourism and BEAUTIFUL mountains. I will be visiting the site all of next week with my counterpart, who is the person with whom I will be working for the next 2 years. The site is a larger site, with regular access to water and electricity, as well as internet cafes, a food market, small restaurants, and places to dance! I am absolutely thrilled to be going there, and would hopefully like to do some of my secondary projects in the areas of sustainable coffee and ecotourism. Here is a picture of where in the country I will be:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/NicaraguaMatagalpa.png
If youd like more information, send me an email and I can tell you more! Also, Ive posted all of my pics on Kodak Gallery so if youd like to see those as well, let me know and Ill hook you up!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
New Update
So La Fiesta de la Finca Dos Mil Ocho was a success! The family and family friends of my fellow trainee planned all of these crazy games for us including potato sack races and water balloon tosses in rice sacks. Also included was a game where you had to pull a banana out of a string hanging from another string in the air using only your mouth haha. It was pretty awesome. We also made tons of shishkabobs, fried plantains, pasta salad, salsa, and french fries. There wasnt too much of an intercultural exchange as far as the food was concerned, I think just because Kendalls family doesnt really eat vegetables haha. So they made their own rice and beans. But her host father gave a big speech at the end about how hed always remember this time with us and it was really heartfelt. Yay.
I gave my second environmental class this week to a 5th grade class on the topic of natural resources and it went well! Only one left coming up in a few weeks! Now that my Spanish is much better, these classes are (almost) a breeze.
We find out our sites on Monday!!! I havent really been thinking about it though, trying to hold my composure and remain tranquilo. Very exciting stuff though!!
Other than that, everything is pretty much the same. We have a new Spanish facilitator (our third and last). Shes pretty cool. We have another talk to give to our youth group tomorrow about communication. Last week we made bracelets with them, which worked well since both the guys and girls were really into it and it was an idea they came up with on their own.
More to come! Keep commenting!!
I gave my second environmental class this week to a 5th grade class on the topic of natural resources and it went well! Only one left coming up in a few weeks! Now that my Spanish is much better, these classes are (almost) a breeze.
We find out our sites on Monday!!! I havent really been thinking about it though, trying to hold my composure and remain tranquilo. Very exciting stuff though!!
Other than that, everything is pretty much the same. We have a new Spanish facilitator (our third and last). Shes pretty cool. We have another talk to give to our youth group tomorrow about communication. Last week we made bracelets with them, which worked well since both the guys and girls were really into it and it was an idea they came up with on their own.
More to come! Keep commenting!!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Future sites
Yesterday we got a packet of information on all 18 of our future sites. Of course we haven´t been matched up to them yet, and the information is incredibly broad (whether or not theres regular water access, electricity, distance to closest city, etc), but it has given me a general idea of what´s available. It´s nice to know that we have a lot more options than I initially thought. We have an interview with the director of the environmental ed program and we get to tell her our site preferences. There´s a good number of medium-large sized sites, which is what I´m looking for, with regular access to water, electricity, and a market. I´m hoping not to get placed in what´s basically known as ¨cowboy country¨where the ¨fun¨activities listed in the packet are ¨walking, running, and milking cows¨ (not joking). But I need to keep an open mind because not everyone´s preferences can be met. I´m sure I´d adapt to wherever my site will be, as most volunteers do, because Peace Corps takes weeks and weeks to analyze all of your strengths and where you would be most successful and happiest. So I trust their judgement. But the sites generally all have the same projects - teaching environmental ed in elementary schools (most of which are multigrade), working on community garden, compost, and tree nursery projects - with some additional site-specific activities or projects to continue from previous volunteers (some sites are first-generation sites for volunteers, others have had up to 5 prior). Tomorrow we have a site fair so I´ll be able to learn a little bit more about each of the 5 departments (regions).
Sunday we are having a ¨Fiesta de la Finca Dos Mil Ocho¨(Farm Party 2008) haha. A bunch of the trainees and Nica family and friends will be getting together at one of my fellow site-mate´s family´s farm and having a big bbq and fiesta. I anticipate it will be lots of fun, but I´m sure there will be plenty of rain to put a damper on our party. Perhaps we´ll throw in some mud wrestling just to spice things up ;). Stay tuned.
Sunday we are having a ¨Fiesta de la Finca Dos Mil Ocho¨(Farm Party 2008) haha. A bunch of the trainees and Nica family and friends will be getting together at one of my fellow site-mate´s family´s farm and having a big bbq and fiesta. I anticipate it will be lots of fun, but I´m sure there will be plenty of rain to put a damper on our party. Perhaps we´ll throw in some mud wrestling just to spice things up ;). Stay tuned.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Mas sobre la vida de Carolina
Yesterday morning I was awoken at 5 am to the sound of live music in my living room. If it hadnt been for a fellow trainee´s birthday last week, and an explanation of what a ¨typical¨birthday is like here, I wouldve been completely confused and not known what was going on (and angry that I was awoken at 5 am)!! So it was my host mother´s birthday and on the morning of someone´s birthday, there is a group who comes to the house and plays on the guitar some birthday-themed songs. I think its sweet, although I dont know how happy I would be to be woken up before the sun even rises on my birthday! They played for probably an hour, but I stayed in bed trying to fall asleep, since I wasnt really sure if this was supposed to be a private event or a family gathering. I think I chose right...
On Saturday night, I was invited to attend a traditional folkloric dance concert in Managua. My sister and her husband both perform in the dance and they wanted to treat my mom for her birthday. The dance was at this beautiful theater in Managua - very fancy...we even got dressed up and everything. So that was a nice treat! I wasn´t able to get any pictures bc it wasn´t permitted, but at some point in my 2 years here I´m sure I´ll catch a shot of some folkloric dance attire.
On Saturday morning and day, Peace Corps took us to Masaya Volcano (my second visit there since I went while studying abroad). I am still convinced that this volcano and the surrounding landscape is the most beautiful place in the world. The pictures I have from both of my visits are gorgeous. After the volcano visit and a short class, we went into the town of Masaya and walked around one of the markets (which I had also previously been to). There´s so much to see and visit and I´m really appreciating all that Nicaragua has to offer.
Other than that, things have been pretty tranquilo here. This week I have my mid-training interview in Spanish to assess my progress. Last week I was definitely feeling weaker in the language because of all the English I was speaking between the site visit and only 1 day of Spanish classes. But hopefully this week things will pick up again. On Thursday we will have another youth group meeting and will be making bracelets (on their request). We also have a survey to do in the community on the topic of waste water and water contamination, soon to be analyzed and presented to Peace Corps. Next week will be a little more hectic with another big ¨life skills¨talk with our youth group and teaching a class in Spanish at the elementary school. Until then, stay tuned...
On Saturday night, I was invited to attend a traditional folkloric dance concert in Managua. My sister and her husband both perform in the dance and they wanted to treat my mom for her birthday. The dance was at this beautiful theater in Managua - very fancy...we even got dressed up and everything. So that was a nice treat! I wasn´t able to get any pictures bc it wasn´t permitted, but at some point in my 2 years here I´m sure I´ll catch a shot of some folkloric dance attire.
On Saturday morning and day, Peace Corps took us to Masaya Volcano (my second visit there since I went while studying abroad). I am still convinced that this volcano and the surrounding landscape is the most beautiful place in the world. The pictures I have from both of my visits are gorgeous. After the volcano visit and a short class, we went into the town of Masaya and walked around one of the markets (which I had also previously been to). There´s so much to see and visit and I´m really appreciating all that Nicaragua has to offer.
Other than that, things have been pretty tranquilo here. This week I have my mid-training interview in Spanish to assess my progress. Last week I was definitely feeling weaker in the language because of all the English I was speaking between the site visit and only 1 day of Spanish classes. But hopefully this week things will pick up again. On Thursday we will have another youth group meeting and will be making bracelets (on their request). We also have a survey to do in the community on the topic of waste water and water contamination, soon to be analyzed and presented to Peace Corps. Next week will be a little more hectic with another big ¨life skills¨talk with our youth group and teaching a class in Spanish at the elementary school. Until then, stay tuned...
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Volunteer Site Visit
I just got back from my volunteer site visit and it was fun! Im not gonna lie, Im happy to be back ¨home¨here in Masatepe but it was nice to get out and see a different part of the country and what volunteers do on a day-to-day basis.
On Sunday we arrived to the department of Leon (northwest of the country). All of the trainees visiting volunteers in Leon and Chinandega met up and went to the beach. The beach was beautiful, but although it was raining part of the time, we managed to stay dry by relaxing at this beachside restaurant all day. I like the Nica45ers (the previous environmental ed group - have already been in Nicaragua for 13 months)...the group is very different from ours but theyre fun people!
On Monday I went to this rural multigrade school with my volunteer, Katelyn. The school is basically one classroom in the middle of a field (a 30-45 min walk through fields after getting off of the closest bus stop). Since there arent too many kids in the area, the students range from 1st to 6th grade. Because the kids have to help their parents work in the fields, attendance is poor and its difficult to know when to hold natural science classes for them (or what age students will attend). When we went, 4 1st graders and 2 4th graders came. Technically, we´re only supposed to work with 3rd-6th graders, so it was hard for Katelyn to gear the class towards all of the students. School only lasted a few hours, which is typical school day. Its clear that there are many challenges faced by the Nicaraguan education system and what we can accomplish is only a miniscule change. Its easy to get discouraged but staying patient and positive has been effective for most.
On Tuesday, classes were cancelled (not a huge shocker) so we didnt get to observe another class with a different school. However, I was able to go to volleyball practice with Katelyns volleyball team that she started. By working with a local NGO called ¨Norwalk¨, based in CT I believe, she was able to get a group of young women together and a paid volleyball coach and the team is looking good! This is just one of the many secondary projects she and her husband are working on. This morning, we attended a meeting to plan an HIV&AIDS fair in the town. The meeting was a success since many key people made it to the meeting and truly expressed interest. The meeting was also held with the help of another local NGO. Nagarote, Leon has many advantages for Peace Corps Volunteers because there are so many resources available, but it also has its limitations because many projects are already in effect. All sites have their upsides and downsides and this is just one example of a site where I could potentially be located.
Overall, the visit was good. I got to learn a little bit more about what a typical day for a volunteer is like (aka there is no typical day - you make the best of each situation and take things one step at a time). Ive realized that many projects take TIME because you have to spend time with the people in your community and community leaders to gain their trust before you can begin to assess areas for improvement and change. It all comes down to what the community wants to accomplish and as a volunteer, you pretty much just have to act as a facilitator to ensure that THEY are getting active in the projects to ensure its sustainability. All of this is incredibly complicated and thats why we´re getting 3 months of training but I think Im beginning to understand how I need to approach my service.
Im finally going to buy a memory card so I can update more pictures. I have some fun ones to post from the beach and my trip to the lagoon. Thanks for your patience!
On Sunday we arrived to the department of Leon (northwest of the country). All of the trainees visiting volunteers in Leon and Chinandega met up and went to the beach. The beach was beautiful, but although it was raining part of the time, we managed to stay dry by relaxing at this beachside restaurant all day. I like the Nica45ers (the previous environmental ed group - have already been in Nicaragua for 13 months)...the group is very different from ours but theyre fun people!
On Monday I went to this rural multigrade school with my volunteer, Katelyn. The school is basically one classroom in the middle of a field (a 30-45 min walk through fields after getting off of the closest bus stop). Since there arent too many kids in the area, the students range from 1st to 6th grade. Because the kids have to help their parents work in the fields, attendance is poor and its difficult to know when to hold natural science classes for them (or what age students will attend). When we went, 4 1st graders and 2 4th graders came. Technically, we´re only supposed to work with 3rd-6th graders, so it was hard for Katelyn to gear the class towards all of the students. School only lasted a few hours, which is typical school day. Its clear that there are many challenges faced by the Nicaraguan education system and what we can accomplish is only a miniscule change. Its easy to get discouraged but staying patient and positive has been effective for most.
On Tuesday, classes were cancelled (not a huge shocker) so we didnt get to observe another class with a different school. However, I was able to go to volleyball practice with Katelyns volleyball team that she started. By working with a local NGO called ¨Norwalk¨, based in CT I believe, she was able to get a group of young women together and a paid volleyball coach and the team is looking good! This is just one of the many secondary projects she and her husband are working on. This morning, we attended a meeting to plan an HIV&AIDS fair in the town. The meeting was a success since many key people made it to the meeting and truly expressed interest. The meeting was also held with the help of another local NGO. Nagarote, Leon has many advantages for Peace Corps Volunteers because there are so many resources available, but it also has its limitations because many projects are already in effect. All sites have their upsides and downsides and this is just one example of a site where I could potentially be located.
Overall, the visit was good. I got to learn a little bit more about what a typical day for a volunteer is like (aka there is no typical day - you make the best of each situation and take things one step at a time). Ive realized that many projects take TIME because you have to spend time with the people in your community and community leaders to gain their trust before you can begin to assess areas for improvement and change. It all comes down to what the community wants to accomplish and as a volunteer, you pretty much just have to act as a facilitator to ensure that THEY are getting active in the projects to ensure its sustainability. All of this is incredibly complicated and thats why we´re getting 3 months of training but I think Im beginning to understand how I need to approach my service.
Im finally going to buy a memory card so I can update more pictures. I have some fun ones to post from the beach and my trip to the lagoon. Thanks for your patience!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Im one month in!
Im officially one month in! Its amazing how quickly time passes here. This week was INSANE with the amount of work we had - had to give a class, organize a new youth group (bc our previous group fell thru), give a talk to our youth group on decision making, decide on a secondary project to do with them (they decided on arts and crafts), and make a survey for the community on the topic of gray water and water contamination. But, the insanity is finally over and I can now look forward to my volunteer shadowing visit for half of next week. I will be going to the department of Leon up north. The volunteer is actually a married couple in their 20s so I will be staying with them with another trainee, Steph, who is also in my training town. Apparently their site is relatively big and they have a nice home so I look forward to relaxing and getting to check out what a day and a life of a current volunteer is like! Sunday, a bunch of them are taking us trainees to the beach so that should be really fun!
The language barrier here has become pretty apparent when last week instead of going to what I thought was the beach, we hiked for over an hour down to the lagoon, took some pictures, and walked back up. The Spanish word for beach, ¨playa,¨only actually refers to what we think of as the beach if its the ¨playa del mar¨or of the sea. Ha, oh well. Even though I had some beautiful views on the walk down, the lagoon was actually a pretty sad sight. It was really polluted and there were people bathing, washing their clothes, and fishing there. The poverty here is a major issue. Will try to post pictures on my next post.
Last weekend we never did end up going to Managua to go dancing because plans fell through, as Ive sort of come to expect here, but I ended up going to a birthday party of my host sisters friend instead, which was fun. She had a pinata at her house and when I played, it reminded me of how much fun it was as a kid! Good times. I also went to Catarina with my host brother where there is a lookout over a (different) lagoon and you can see the city of Granada. It was pretty dark so I dont have pictures but I have plans to go again tomorrow, pending the weather cooperates (fingers crossed).
So things overall have been going well! Ive been having some pretty unpleasant gastrointestinal issues (ill spare you all the details) but hopefully thatll pass ha. Its pretty common here among the trainees so at least we all have something to bond over!
This week we switched Spanish teachers (to get a chance to learn from somebody with a different way of speaking, teaching style, etc) and I really like our new one, Gloria, as well. Shes probably in her 70s and has been doing this for 11 years. So the teachers are very patient and incredibly helpful and warm people.
I enjoy getting news and political updates from you all back in the states. I dont have much access to US news on a daily basis, but Ive been hearing about all the economic problems, political debates, etc. Keep the updates coming - I like to stay informed.
Hope all is well with you all! Thanks for reading!
The language barrier here has become pretty apparent when last week instead of going to what I thought was the beach, we hiked for over an hour down to the lagoon, took some pictures, and walked back up. The Spanish word for beach, ¨playa,¨only actually refers to what we think of as the beach if its the ¨playa del mar¨or of the sea. Ha, oh well. Even though I had some beautiful views on the walk down, the lagoon was actually a pretty sad sight. It was really polluted and there were people bathing, washing their clothes, and fishing there. The poverty here is a major issue. Will try to post pictures on my next post.
Last weekend we never did end up going to Managua to go dancing because plans fell through, as Ive sort of come to expect here, but I ended up going to a birthday party of my host sisters friend instead, which was fun. She had a pinata at her house and when I played, it reminded me of how much fun it was as a kid! Good times. I also went to Catarina with my host brother where there is a lookout over a (different) lagoon and you can see the city of Granada. It was pretty dark so I dont have pictures but I have plans to go again tomorrow, pending the weather cooperates (fingers crossed).
So things overall have been going well! Ive been having some pretty unpleasant gastrointestinal issues (ill spare you all the details) but hopefully thatll pass ha. Its pretty common here among the trainees so at least we all have something to bond over!
This week we switched Spanish teachers (to get a chance to learn from somebody with a different way of speaking, teaching style, etc) and I really like our new one, Gloria, as well. Shes probably in her 70s and has been doing this for 11 years. So the teachers are very patient and incredibly helpful and warm people.
I enjoy getting news and political updates from you all back in the states. I dont have much access to US news on a daily basis, but Ive been hearing about all the economic problems, political debates, etc. Keep the updates coming - I like to stay informed.
Hope all is well with you all! Thanks for reading!
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