I visited a volunteer in the department of Chontales, which for the most part is cowboy country. lots of farms, lots of cattle, and lots of men on horseback driving the cattle through the streets. the town i visited has about 5000 people and is located in the mountains. it is absolutely beautiful and it wasn´t too hot. my journey there was pretty uneventful but full of firsts. my frist experience with cabs in Managua. my first trip alone in Nicaragua. my first 5 hour bus ride on a school bus. the bus was very full and i was glad i got a seat. unfortunately it rained almost the ntire 5 hours which meant that all the windows were shut making it pretty hot and stuffy. and normally nicaraguan buses blair music..which is great for me because i love music...but of course this bus didn´t have any music...what are the odds! and let me tell you...i had one sore behind after that trip! when i got off the bus i walked around asking people where the american lived...got lost a few times...asked more people and eventually found the volunteer´s house. it was really nice to see how a volunteer actually lives. she had a very nice house, complete with a small fridge, stove, oven (we made oatmeal raisen cookies) and a blender. her town only gets water twice a week so everyone has to store it in big barrels. electricity is always present although it does go out some in storms. she gets fresh milk twice a week and i learned how to take the cream from the mild and make my own butter. so awesome. i really hope i can buy fresh milk and make my own butter.
My favorite part of the trip was our journey to one of her multigrade schools. the school is 1-6th grade and is out in the middle of nowhere. there is no road or anything close to a road going to the school. so basically we hiked through the brush, through streams of water up to my knees, through fields of mud - i got stuck several times, through farms and cattle grazing, up and down hills - almost fell multiple times, and the best part...crossing a river in a canoe. an hour and a half later, we arrived at the school a muddy mess. it was awesome. and the 1 teacher in that school does that hike everyday - it´s incredible. overall a great experience..and teaching 6 grades at once is a crazy challenge!
Volcano trip! all the trainees went to volcano masaya - one of the 5 or 7 volcanos where you can actually see the lava. so we hiked up the volcano...looked down at the giant hole, took lots of pictures of smoke and what not. then hiked up to an extinct crater which was awesome. and there is a beautiful view of a lagoon, a lake, the volcano and a few different cities. it was beautiful and we got luck because it didn´t rain at all and the sun was out. and the best part - i got to use my hiking shoes and my fanny pack...so cool.
Other updates;
rainy season is frustrating. besides the fact that i don´t really like rain...although i am learning to handle it better..nothing happens when it rains. i can´t teach on days when there is a lot of rain because no one comes to class. we had an activity planned with our youth group that has gotten cancelled twice because of the rain. no one works on the garden because of the rain. it´s like rain = do nothing. so that´s frustrating especially because we only have a few more weeks here.
also, we got the list of possible sites but won´t find out for a week where each one of us will go. must have patience!
i did my patriotic duty the other day and voted...pretty exciting.
i started going to the gym daily...which consists of weights, a stair step and an eliptical. it´s funny because the trainer tells you what to do which is great except i´m out of shape, it´s deathly hot, and he´s trying to kill me. but it´s fun and i definitely work harder when he is constantly pushing me...and he´s a pretty funny guy so we have fun. i feel so much better so that´s exciting.
that´s all right now. love you miss you thanks for the emails, letters, and packages!!!
Elizabeth
ps i´m changing my name here to Elisa because i don´t like the way Elizabeth is pronounced!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
1 month down, 26 to go!
It´s finally been 1 month, although it feels like I´ve been here a lot longer. So some updates...
- our garden is growing quite well...as are the weeds. in the mornings we take off the cover so the plants can get some sun. but we have to cover it before it rains and right now it is raining like crazy. i never knew it could rain so hard and so long. and the thunder and lightning are incredible.
- teaching is going well. i definitely feel like i get more done in my elementary schools than in the high school. and i am more comfortable with the younger kids. i also don´t like that when i leave the high school, my male students tell me they love me (in english) and whistle at me. a funny teaching story...my first lesson at the elementary school, we did a project in groups. after they numbered off i told them to move to their specific group area. in my american thinking, i assumed that they would get up and sit in a desk in their area. well, little did i know that students are assigned a specific seat in school - and that is their seat, they are responsible for that seat. so all 35 of them stood up and carried their desk across the room to make their groups. not exactly the most efficient way nor what i had in mind. but definitely a learning experience for me.
- no more spanish class! our training town won´t have a facilitator anymore - sadness! we are going to do more practical projects and self guided study. also our technical trainer is going to meet with us once a week to discuss readings and assignments that he gives us.
- a feeling i wasn´t expecting to have in Nica...COLD!! now that it rains a lot, the evenings get cold. especially since it has been so hot, it feels cold even though it probably isnt that cold. there have been many evenings when i have to put my jeans on and a jacket. i sleep with a blanket and sometimes am still chilly...which makes my cold shower every morning not feel so great. but, the rain/being chilly/being really hot doesn´t really bother me...at least not yet!
- friends! i´m starting to make good friends here. there is a family who is absolutely amazing - 3 kids, a 17 year old girl in college, a 15 year old boy and a 7 year old girl. they all act a lot older than they are and they are a ton of fun to be with. and we have a joke that i´m taking the little girl with me for 2 years...seriously the most precious girl ever. so i spend a lot of time in the evenings with them along with my sister, cousin and another friend. AND they have cable which means i get to watch football on sundays which makes me extremely happy. i just wish i actually had a football with me.
-spanish skills...slowly progressing although it is hard for me to notice. ive been trying to read more in spanish. what helps me the most is when people correct me when i speak..the problem is that people here don´t want to correct me! but it is coming...
- food...so far i´m not really sick of the food...which is pretty amazing since i eat rice and beans multiple times a day. the amoungçt of carbs however is pretty incredible and that is one thing i plan on changing when i´m on my own. my town is known for it´s bread...the cheese and sugar bread is divine.
- malaria meds = crazy dreams!!! seriously i have the strangest dreams....for example....i dreamed that i was married and wanted a kid but didn´t want to deal with being pregnant so i used some new way where the baby grows in a bright red balloon. the balloon grew until one day it started bouncing around and then all of a sudden it popped and out dropped a 3 year old child. yeah...so there´s the future of childbirth.
- other feelings...hmm...people here are super friendly and are ready to chat at any time. the hissing and what not from the males definitely gets very annoying and although i try and tell myself it is their culture, it is still hard to ignore sometimes. i´ve talked to some of my nica friends about it and they say that they don´t do it to be offensive or annoying but that is hard to believe sometimes. but so far i´ve just ignored it and i pretty much accept the fact that it isn´t going to change.
- volunteer visit!! so exciting...this sunday i´m going to visit a volunteer who has been here for 2 years. i´m really looking forward to seeing how volunteers actually live and work. and of course i can´t wait for the 6 hour trip by myself... :)
- that´s pretty much it...love and miss you all!!
- our garden is growing quite well...as are the weeds. in the mornings we take off the cover so the plants can get some sun. but we have to cover it before it rains and right now it is raining like crazy. i never knew it could rain so hard and so long. and the thunder and lightning are incredible.
- teaching is going well. i definitely feel like i get more done in my elementary schools than in the high school. and i am more comfortable with the younger kids. i also don´t like that when i leave the high school, my male students tell me they love me (in english) and whistle at me. a funny teaching story...my first lesson at the elementary school, we did a project in groups. after they numbered off i told them to move to their specific group area. in my american thinking, i assumed that they would get up and sit in a desk in their area. well, little did i know that students are assigned a specific seat in school - and that is their seat, they are responsible for that seat. so all 35 of them stood up and carried their desk across the room to make their groups. not exactly the most efficient way nor what i had in mind. but definitely a learning experience for me.
- no more spanish class! our training town won´t have a facilitator anymore - sadness! we are going to do more practical projects and self guided study. also our technical trainer is going to meet with us once a week to discuss readings and assignments that he gives us.
- a feeling i wasn´t expecting to have in Nica...COLD!! now that it rains a lot, the evenings get cold. especially since it has been so hot, it feels cold even though it probably isnt that cold. there have been many evenings when i have to put my jeans on and a jacket. i sleep with a blanket and sometimes am still chilly...which makes my cold shower every morning not feel so great. but, the rain/being chilly/being really hot doesn´t really bother me...at least not yet!
- friends! i´m starting to make good friends here. there is a family who is absolutely amazing - 3 kids, a 17 year old girl in college, a 15 year old boy and a 7 year old girl. they all act a lot older than they are and they are a ton of fun to be with. and we have a joke that i´m taking the little girl with me for 2 years...seriously the most precious girl ever. so i spend a lot of time in the evenings with them along with my sister, cousin and another friend. AND they have cable which means i get to watch football on sundays which makes me extremely happy. i just wish i actually had a football with me.
-spanish skills...slowly progressing although it is hard for me to notice. ive been trying to read more in spanish. what helps me the most is when people correct me when i speak..the problem is that people here don´t want to correct me! but it is coming...
- food...so far i´m not really sick of the food...which is pretty amazing since i eat rice and beans multiple times a day. the amoungçt of carbs however is pretty incredible and that is one thing i plan on changing when i´m on my own. my town is known for it´s bread...the cheese and sugar bread is divine.
- malaria meds = crazy dreams!!! seriously i have the strangest dreams....for example....i dreamed that i was married and wanted a kid but didn´t want to deal with being pregnant so i used some new way where the baby grows in a bright red balloon. the balloon grew until one day it started bouncing around and then all of a sudden it popped and out dropped a 3 year old child. yeah...so there´s the future of childbirth.
- other feelings...hmm...people here are super friendly and are ready to chat at any time. the hissing and what not from the males definitely gets very annoying and although i try and tell myself it is their culture, it is still hard to ignore sometimes. i´ve talked to some of my nica friends about it and they say that they don´t do it to be offensive or annoying but that is hard to believe sometimes. but so far i´ve just ignored it and i pretty much accept the fact that it isn´t going to change.
- volunteer visit!! so exciting...this sunday i´m going to visit a volunteer who has been here for 2 years. i´m really looking forward to seeing how volunteers actually live and work. and of course i can´t wait for the 6 hour trip by myself... :)
- that´s pretty much it...love and miss you all!!
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