The Nica-side of Life by Barbara Veres, PCV Guatemala

It's pretty cool to think that Carolyn and I have never lived too close to one another, but have still maintained a strong friendship based on visits and common travel adventures to ten countries, including our Peace Corps time that just so happened to begin within three weeks of each other's with a geographical distance that is not too much further than our geographical distance was back in the states (of course you're looking at an eight hour leisurely drive through the Adirondacks in the great state of New York versus a grueling sixteen hour bus ride through three Central American border crossings).

After spending a few days kicking it back on the beach with my two friends Robin and Marisha, I headed to my next destination: Nicaragua, to get a mere peek into what has been Carolyn's Nicaraguan life for almost two years.

After arriving almost three hours late from Tegucigalpa and spending the night in an over-priced (but Peace Corps-approved hotel), I was happy to finally see a familiar face after two grueling days of solo travel on bus. Carolyn had been waiting at the bus station for about two hours, since I was still able to text her to let her know I would be arriving a little late (originally just one hour, and of course leave it to Murphy's Law to have me arrive even later and not be able to text her since I no longer had service once we entered Nicaragua).

We spent the next day in the Peace Corps office in Managua for Carolyn to run some errands, and to kill the rest of the day. We had a very fachenta (fancy) lunch at a nice vegetarian restaurant, did a little bit of shopping in the nearby shopping center and even watched a movie in English, Kick-Ass, which, despite having Nicholas Cage in it, was surprisingly good. Posh Corps, anyone? Although that was my first impression of Nicaragua, it was not surprising in the least bit to see the wealth of a capital city in a developing country. Sometimes you feel like you're in a developed country until you see a cow in someone's front yard, which could be just a block or two away from a shopping center nicer than I have ever seen in the States or even Europe.

The next morning we finally started our trip: first stop, to visit Carolyn's host family from training, and then spend the night in the city of Masaya, a small city known for its artisan crafts. Unfortunately we got as far as the micro bus stop until we were left in the middle of nowhere after our "incident." I won't lie- my initial reaction was to return back to the US the following week. Carolyn and I both reacted very differently to the situation. She tried fighting back initially, I somehow remained calm, and it wasn't until after the incident that I "lost it" after arriving back to the Peace Corps office. I obviously made the decision to stay in Nicaragua, which is the best thing I could have done. I didn't want that to be my sole experience and memory of Nicaragua, because that would have just been stupid. Bad things happen everywhere- some places more than others, and if anything, this experience taught the both of us to trust our gut instincts, and that some people are just plain manipulative - but it shouldn't ruin what could be a wonderful experience.

We spent the next few days in Managua, mainly at the Peace Corps office. We had some useless trips to the police station, only to have them tell us that they would not be able to meet us again until Wednesday, since Monday was a revolutionary holiday, and Tuesday was a rest day from the holiday on Monday. Not surprising. We decided to get out of the city and go to Carolyn's town, about a four hour bus ride from Managua.

We spent the next four days in her town relaxing, processing everything that had happened and just tried to keep ourselves busy by meeting her friends, teachers that she works with, and of course her Nicaraguan boyfriend, Norvin. I really enjoyed spending time there, not only because it gave us a safe atmosphere to relax and unwind in, but also because it has been where Carolyn has been tirelessly working for almost two years with teachers in many different schools to try to alter the way people think about the environment. As an Environmental Education volunteer, Carolyn has worked relentlessly to train teachers to teach more of an environment-based curricula in the classroom, and of course trying to make it fun for the students.





It was very apparent in the concern expressed and hospitality shown by Carolyn's colleagues that she has built close relationships with them during her time in site- earning confianza, or trust, is a very important thing to get things going in Latin America, and beyond building confianza, Carolyn has also built strong friendships with her teachers.

On Wednesday morning we headed back to the Peace Corps office in Managua- neither of us slept very well that night, but luckily we didn't have any problems, as we were now being extra cautious with everything. We had originally went in to Managua to continue with the police report, but unsurprisingly, the investigator who was handling our case was not ready.

Instead of waiting around for more disappointment, we decided to try out our plan once again- and so we headed to Carolyn's training town and spent the afternoon with her awesome host family. She has spoken so much to me about them, and how she really feels that they are her second family, and after spending just an afternoon with them, I could easily see why. If Olympic-style seed-spitting wasn't good enough, I don't know what would be.







During my visit, my mom called and we spoke for a few minutes (my mom is Hungarian). Afterwards, Carolyn told me that she had told her host family that I was speaking in Hungarian to my mom, and her host grandmother said that she could understand some of what I was saying! It turns out that Carolyn's host grandmother had worked for a Hungarian family in Managua back in the 1930s and had learnt some Hungarian from them. I have traveled to nearly thirty countries and have met at least one Hungarian in almost every country- not an easy feat. Her host grandmother may have not been Hungarian, but hey... that was much cooler than actually meeting just a regular old Hungarian!

After a wonderful afternoon with her host family, it was hard to leave their endless hospitality after spending such a good afternoon with them, but Masaya awaited us. We arrived there after a thirty minute bus ride and easily found our hostel and went out for a cheap, but delicious meal of gallo pinto (red beans and rice), tacos and some other goodies. The next day we took a short trip to the artisan market where we made rounds and I picked up some pretty cool artisan pieces without going overboard (not as easy as it may sound). That afternoon we headed to Leon, through Managua, but we managed to get a bus that took us directly to the bus station that left to Leon, so we avoided having to taxi through Managua, easing our anxiety and stress.

After arriving in Leon, we set out to find the volcano boarding place we had heard so much about, only to find out that it had been booked for the next day. I didn't feel overly disappointed at first, as I wasn't sure if uncontrollably hurling myself down an active volcano was what I needed in a time of uneasiness and anxiety. Well, it turned out to be exactly what we both needed, because we ended up finding a smaller, non-profit organization, Quetzaltrekkers (www.quetzaltrekkers.com), (originally based out of Guatemala, but now with a location and tours from Leon, Nicaragua. I highly recommend this organization since the profits go to children in Nicaragua, and the staff work there on a volunteer-basis).

During the hour-long truck ride to the base of Cerro Negro, the active volcano we were to climb, we overheard the guy sitting next to me talking about being an editor for Survivor: Nicaragua that was being filmed in San Juan del Sur, one of Nicaragua's finest tourist venues. Carolyn had already been bashing it the night before, and continued to do so until two other guys, who had been intently listening, mentioned that they also worked for the show, one of whom was a producer. That shut Carolyn up for the rest of hike. ;-)




Little did they know that we did in fact have very tough nuts (see hat)...


A walk down into the crater.

The volcano boarding was nothing short of exactly what I needed. It really comes to show that being physically active reduces stress and anxiety in ways I never understood before now, and it was a good self-esteem booster in terms of getting ourselves out there and not locking ourselves in our hotel room for the remainder of our vacation, not to mention it was incredible - so incredible that we did it twice.









Despite experiencing an awful situation just days after my arrival, I could not be happier that I decided to stay and enjoy Nicaragua and get to know some important and wonderful people who have been such a big part of Carolyn's life. I would also like to thank the Peace Corps Nicaragua staff for being extremely supportive and helpful, especially to another volunteer from a different country. It really put things into perspective in terms of how supportive Peace Corps is, no matter where you are (so long as you are in the States or another Peace Corps country :-) ).

If you are interested in visiting Nicaragua, doing it with Carolyn is pretty much impossible at this point, since she is ending her service in three months - but our experience in Managua should in no way deter anyone from visiting. Nicaraguans are extremely hospitable and wonderful people, but just like anywhere, always have your guard up- even at home, where we often feel a false sense of comfort, that nothing can happen to us, whether that be your home town, or a place you have learnt to call home.