Its July!!! how did that happen?? I hope everyone has a very fun 4th. I'm not sure what we are going to do here but we are going to try and celebrate...maybe a trip to the pool and some pizza...that sounds like an american thing to do. and yes we actually have a pizza place in somotillo....just opened about 2 months ago...not the same but its still really good...and they actually give you parmesean (spellling?).
so here are the regular updates...
GARDENS!!!
the school gardens are beautiful! at one school we have around 170 tomato plants, 70 green pepper plants and about 10 squash plants. we still need to plant cucumbers but we are on vacation now until the 12 so it will have to wait. I also worked with a girl who is studying agriculture to put on a small workshop on family patio gardens. We made invitations and invited all the women in town....which is close to 50. we had 16 come to the meeting which I was pleased about. that was 2 weeks ago and later today we are going to walk around to all their houses checking up on them. hopefully that goes well.
CHICAS PAVANICAS!!!
the girls are still working hard on their jewelry!! they have made a lot of money and are starting to thing about where they want to go on their excursion. they may have to wait until after the rainy season because no one wants to go in the rain! a few of the girls seem to have lost interest which i don't really understand since they are doing so well so i need to figure out whats really going on....i have a feeling they dont have permission anymore. but i'm going to figure out some ways to reinterest them.
RAIN!!!!
it's rather rainy here! and a tropical storm just went by which means it was really really rainy. there is this really wierd thing that should happen in 2 weeks where it stops raining. supossedly it shouldnt rain from july 15 – aug 15. we'll see if that actually happens!! it would be a nice break! and i wouldnt have to worry about my clothes drying.
FRIEND VISIT!!!
I had a friend here visiting and it was great! fortunately or unfortunately it was cloudy and rainy most of the time she was here...which was nice because it wasnt nearly as hot as it normally is but not nice because sun is so much prettier than rain. but we still had a good time. we went to this really awesome art museum and found this place with an amazing breakfast. she had frozen chocolate milk (fantastic) and the biggest pinneapple pancakes i've ever seen. i have to go back to try the chocolate banana pancakes. i'll let you know how they are...
SCHOOL CRAZINESS!!!
ok so i realize it's the world cup and that's really important here...but seriously...i was at the teacher's monthly meeting and someone had a radio on the whole time listening to the game. in another classroom the guy that was leading the planning for 5th grade had headphones in and was listening to the game while writing on the board. crazy! also, this past tuesday was national teacher day so we all went to somotillo for the acto. after lunch we had a special guest...gustavo leyton...he's a famous singer whose music vidoes consist of him singing on a beach or near a pool with a bunch of girls dancing in bikinis. so not only did he come and sing but he brought his dancers. now like in the states, the majority of teachers here are female. watching girls in thongs shake the butt is not exactly how i would like to celebrate being a teacher.
MEDICAL STUFF!!!
disclaimer...if you get grossed out easily you may not want to read this part.... so this isnt the bad part yet. i'm generally a very healthy person. i never have to go to managua to see the doctors and i don't really ever have problems...until recently! a friend of mine noticed white spots on my face...finally i got the chinandega fungus! on my face! it's some sort of skin fungus that is really prevelant in leon and chinandega because it has something to do with the sun. so thats cool. so i have some cream i have to put on it every night. then one day someone asked what was wrong with my eye...no idea i cant see my eye. well when i found a mirror...yikes! my eye was totally red...looked a little creepy! next morning i woke up fine...in the afternoon it turned to the devil eye again. then it was in both eyes. so i had to call the docs and i got some medicine that cleared that right up. and lastly...this is the semi disgusting part. so last week i got sick...stomach pain and diarrhea and what not. so after 2 days i started taking meds and then i was with my friends and went to the bathroom...in a real toliet not a letrine...and i found a little surprise! a worm. i finally had a parasite. so that was pretty cool. and after almost 2 years here...i finally have to get my first stool test.
i guess that's about all i have. love from nicaragua!!
