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...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Carolyn!! I'm so thankful for this blog, I can't imagine strange it would be to not have these updates. I would have been pissed about being woken up at 5, tradition or not. Lol. In response to your facebook wall post, I did not keep the job at Starbucks, in fact I quit after my first day. Awkward. I'm still looking for a job and a way out of my parents house. Cross your fingers for me! Obama is ahead by many points in the polls, John McCain is trying to make up lost ground. The economy bounced back a bit today, stocks went way up after last week's disastrous fall. We'll soon see how the government will continue to fix their mess ups. If you get a chance, you should look up Tina Fey's impersonations of Sarah Palin. They're brilliant and will give you perfect insight into how things are shaping up, lol. Love you, can't wait for the next update!!
photos! photos! sorry, i'm just curious. remember our volcano trip in italy? the same trip where you were obsessed with the eau potable?? miss you!
be patient with the photos. my computer is dying so i may have to upload them at the cyber directly from my camera, which will prob take a while. next week is super busy so just be patient and i will post them as soon as i have time!
Post a Comment