School is quite the interesting place. i definitely have my work cut out for me. there are so many things i wish i could change about the educational system but to keep my sanity im going to try and focus on what i actually can change. for example i cant change the fact that dust blows into the rooms all the time. so ill just have to deal with that. i cant change the fact that there are way too many students in classes, etc. what i am hoping to change are some teaching methods and classroom management...i asked one teacher what classroom management techniques he has used and he asked me what classroom management was.... i dont want to make it seem like the teachers here are bad. honestly they're not. i think they do an amazing job with the experieice, preparation and tools that they have. and i am looking forward to learning from them. unfortunately the only teaching style ive seen so far is dictation and copying. not exactly the most conducive for learning. one other thing that drives me nuts is that teachers and students sweep in the middle of class. ok i realize its dusty but seriously the dust can wait. its going to be quite the task of teaching all the routines ill be implementing because routines are definitely not the norm here. but i think it will be a good challenge and thats why im here.
valentines day...somehow hallmark made its holiday spread to nicaragua. there were lots of celebrations...obviously not in my town but in other towns. i went to a dance with a group of friends..an experience i probably wont ever forget. first of all i felt a little like i was back in junior high...going to a valentines day dance at a school. second...transportation...yeah so there arent buses at night but who needs buses when you can put 4 people on a bike. luckily the bike i was on only had 3 people. i got the lucky spot of sitting on the cross bar..not the most comfy position but it works. i give props to those boys who can peddly multiple people down a dirt road in the dark (the town in 4k away fyi). so we get there and its kinda an all ages type thing. it was mostly young people alhtough its impossible to tell peoples ages here but i would say the majority were between 13 and 25. some older people and some younger people... who just happen to be my students...hey profe when you are going to teach again? why hello students im glad you dont find this swkward al all but i sure do! cultural differences...gotta love them. so music...a wide variety. a few bachata, a few reggaeton, a few slow, a few disco, a few random english songs, etc. kept things interesting. overall it was very fun. and we all rode safely back home.
my birthday! wow im getting old! as tradition here goes, my extended family woke me up at 4am singing las mananitas. (btw the 15th is also my host sisters bday...she turned 13). so everyone was singing at my house first, not knowing that i slept with my sister that night. finally they realized that no one was at my house and they figured out i was with my sister. so they came over and we popped our little heads out the window. after the song was over we served them coffee and 'things from the oven' as they are popularly called, that my host mom and i made the day before. i went back to sleep at 5 seeing as i didnt go to bed until 2. i slept until 930 which is by far the latest ive ever slpt in this country! since reception here is bad and i cant charge my phone so its off most of the time, i was super sad when i realized i had missed phone calls from friends in the states and spain. (thanks for trying...love you guys!) so i decided to plop myself down in the 'park' (3 swings) where there is signal for the remainder of the afternoon. i got to talk to some volunteers, my bro, my parents and aunt and uncle. so that was pretty sweet. the day before some friends had talked about having a little dance party for me but then we had some issues finding a place we could have it that had electricity. so i didnt think we would end up doing anything. but as soon as i got off the phone, my friend grabbed me and said lets go its time to dance. she had found a stereo to use and we had it at her house. she also told all the youth and even got my a piñata. i had no idea and was super excited. shes a sweetheart. one of my other friends gave me apples...such an amazing present! so we whacked at the piñata and danced for a few hours. it was great.
im super happy to report that after 3 weeks of no electricity...i now have it again!!!!! wohoo!!! the other day i was with some friends on the highway when the power lines started sparking and cought on fire. another pole fell...but not all the way otherwise it would have landed on someones house. after a few minutes they stopped sparking. we were lucky the trees didnt catch fire. so there went the power for all of my town. the next day people were working on it so that was exciting until i found out that they put the power back on for all of my town except where my family lives. so once again everyone had power except for us. i was super annoyed. however, the next day i came home and as i neared my host familys house, i heard a familiar sound...the music of the soap operas...could it be true? did we finally have power? yes! but not in my house my host dad informed me. i though he was joking..nope he wasnt. but after he spent a few hours in his hammock...meanwhile im dying because all i want is cold water after my 4k walk in the sun at noon...but finally he connected for me. cold water is possibly the best thing ever. and i cant wait to buy milk again. and its watermelon season...which is also pretty darn amazing.
thats pretty much it...going to the beach tomorrow to celebrate my bday. so thats exciting. thanks for all the birthday wishes...wish i could have spent it with all of you! lots of love!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
top ten lists
so one day i sat down and wrote some top ten lists...the first 10 things that came to my mind in no particular order...here they are:
Top Ten Things I Like in Nicaragua
1. sunshine
2. mountains and volcanos
3. people - super friendly, welcoming, helpful, hospitable
4. hammocks
5. being outside all the time
6. open houses
7. people singing loudly at all times of the day
8. boys playing soccer barefoot
9. markets
10. tortillas
Top Ten Things I Don´t Like So Much
1. mosquitos
2. dust
3. mold/rain
4. infidelity
5. scorpians
6. superstitions - everything is harmful
7. burning trash
8. dark by 6pm
9. standing on crowded buses for hours
10. gender roles
Top Ten Things I Miss
1. family/friends
2. hugs
3. diversity
4. mexican food
5. sports
6. dancing
7. coaching gymnastics
8. movies
9. internet
10. chocolate
So in other news...i don´t remember if i already said this but i can now carry a giant bucket of water on my head...very exciting. workshops are over... school starts on tuesday - im super pumped. My garden is growing nicely...my youth group is still talking about a tree nursery...im hoping one day soon...
the community attempted to have 2 meetings to pick new council members and only me and my host mom showed up both times. so thats a little frustrating. but we thought of people for each position, are going to ask them and hope they all accept and meet again next week. there is an environment coordinator so im hoping to work with that person on projects. but the community doesn´t seem too pumped about meeting so far...hopefully that will change.
im really enjoying my house and garden. im making more friends and enjoying myself. and i really can´t wait to get into the schools and working with the teachers. i guess that´s it. love you and miss you all!
Top Ten Things I Like in Nicaragua
1. sunshine
2. mountains and volcanos
3. people - super friendly, welcoming, helpful, hospitable
4. hammocks
5. being outside all the time
6. open houses
7. people singing loudly at all times of the day
8. boys playing soccer barefoot
9. markets
10. tortillas
Top Ten Things I Don´t Like So Much
1. mosquitos
2. dust
3. mold/rain
4. infidelity
5. scorpians
6. superstitions - everything is harmful
7. burning trash
8. dark by 6pm
9. standing on crowded buses for hours
10. gender roles
Top Ten Things I Miss
1. family/friends
2. hugs
3. diversity
4. mexican food
5. sports
6. dancing
7. coaching gymnastics
8. movies
9. internet
10. chocolate
So in other news...i don´t remember if i already said this but i can now carry a giant bucket of water on my head...very exciting. workshops are over... school starts on tuesday - im super pumped. My garden is growing nicely...my youth group is still talking about a tree nursery...im hoping one day soon...
the community attempted to have 2 meetings to pick new council members and only me and my host mom showed up both times. so thats a little frustrating. but we thought of people for each position, are going to ask them and hope they all accept and meet again next week. there is an environment coordinator so im hoping to work with that person on projects. but the community doesn´t seem too pumped about meeting so far...hopefully that will change.
im really enjoying my house and garden. im making more friends and enjoying myself. and i really can´t wait to get into the schools and working with the teachers. i guess that´s it. love you and miss you all!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Feeling Nica and New House
i finally had my ...wow i´m totally Nica...moment the other day. i bought rice and beans, watered my floor and relaxed in my hammock. pretty exciting. i moved into my own house...here´s a little description. the house is 1 room...about 12 paces by 7.5 paces. i have a window on each short wall, 2 doors on 1 long wall and 1 door on the back long wall. the windows and doors are wood and the windows have metal bars on the outside. it has a zinc roof - which is going to be sweet in the rainy season. it´s made of cement blocks and concrete with a concrete floor. so the main doors in on the left on the long wall. you walk into the kitchen part. to the left on the short wall is the fridge, then a small table with my stove (under the window). then i have a wooden bar aka tree branch hanging from the farters with hooks and rope hanging from it to hang things. against the back wall is another table with my water, dishes, and where i wash dishes. in the middle of the wall is the door. in the back right corner is my bed. on the right side wall is my bookshelf - made of wook on top of cinder blocks. on the front wall is another table with cothes and tolietries. going lengthwise through the middle is some rope. near my bed i have some of my clothes hanging from the string with a piece of fabric over them so they don´t get dirty. in the middly of the house is my hammock. I have fabric covering my stove, dishes, clothes, and bookshelf to protect them. i like it because they are all different materials and they are all different colors. i needed some color - too much gray! i put some pictures on the fridge, hung a drawing one of my students gave me in training and put some of the articles people have sent on the walls so it feels like home.
my first 24 hours...first threw water on the floor so when i swept i didn´t die from the dust. then i organized my books, hung clothes, put clothes in a plastic container, went through the beans to pick out the bad ones, put them in water to soad all day. basically i cleaned and organized all day, hung my mosquitero and hammock, watered my plants. i ate lunch with my host family and made my beans with onions and green peppers for dinner. watered and swept the floor again, did dishes and went to my family´s house to watch my tv show...which ended last week :(, read and went to bed after seeing a giant hairy horse killer spider. next morning...got up, watered plants, watered/swept floor, made breakfast, did the dishes, took my bucket bath and cleaned the rice. pretty exciting! everyone is so proud that i can cook and clean like a nica - well maybe not the cooking like a nica but proud that i can cook at least.
so the volunteer before me left a temp guage - not sure how accurate it is but during the day its in the 90s and it was 85 at 6am and that is in the house...can´t wait for march!
thoughts on tortillas...everything here is done by hang. it´s incredible. if i want rice and beans in the us i just dump them out of the box or can and they´re ready to cook. here they ahve to be thoroughly washed and gone through bit by bit to pick ou the dirt, bugs, and bad ones before they are ready to cook. tortilla pretatation blows my mind. right now the men are bringing in the corn and dumping it in piles in everyone´s houses. after that the women will take all the kernals off by hand. next the corn has to be treated and placed in the sun. then it is celaned and sotred. each night the women cook the corn in a huge pot of water. in the morning they clean the corn again and take it to a guy in town that has an electric machine to crush the corn - unless the power is out and then they ahve to do that by hand too. next the corn is mixed with water and made into dough whcih is kneaded. take a chunk, made a ball, flatten a little, pound it out into a thin circle and put it over the fire on a thin piece of metal, flip and wala you have a tortilla. repeat over and over agina. now how many tortillas do you need? well my host family is super small...only parents, 2 kids and me. my mom makes about 60-70 tortillas a day. my aunt next door - 10 people live there - that´s a lot of tortillas. think about that the next time you eat a burrito.
yesterday was a great day..spent the morning on the roof of a new house painting and played football all afternoon. so great. teachers go back to school next week which is exciting. and school starts the beginning of feb. thats about it from here. thanks for all the emails!! love and miss you all!
my first 24 hours...first threw water on the floor so when i swept i didn´t die from the dust. then i organized my books, hung clothes, put clothes in a plastic container, went through the beans to pick out the bad ones, put them in water to soad all day. basically i cleaned and organized all day, hung my mosquitero and hammock, watered my plants. i ate lunch with my host family and made my beans with onions and green peppers for dinner. watered and swept the floor again, did dishes and went to my family´s house to watch my tv show...which ended last week :(, read and went to bed after seeing a giant hairy horse killer spider. next morning...got up, watered plants, watered/swept floor, made breakfast, did the dishes, took my bucket bath and cleaned the rice. pretty exciting! everyone is so proud that i can cook and clean like a nica - well maybe not the cooking like a nica but proud that i can cook at least.
so the volunteer before me left a temp guage - not sure how accurate it is but during the day its in the 90s and it was 85 at 6am and that is in the house...can´t wait for march!
thoughts on tortillas...everything here is done by hang. it´s incredible. if i want rice and beans in the us i just dump them out of the box or can and they´re ready to cook. here they ahve to be thoroughly washed and gone through bit by bit to pick ou the dirt, bugs, and bad ones before they are ready to cook. tortilla pretatation blows my mind. right now the men are bringing in the corn and dumping it in piles in everyone´s houses. after that the women will take all the kernals off by hand. next the corn has to be treated and placed in the sun. then it is celaned and sotred. each night the women cook the corn in a huge pot of water. in the morning they clean the corn again and take it to a guy in town that has an electric machine to crush the corn - unless the power is out and then they ahve to do that by hand too. next the corn is mixed with water and made into dough whcih is kneaded. take a chunk, made a ball, flatten a little, pound it out into a thin circle and put it over the fire on a thin piece of metal, flip and wala you have a tortilla. repeat over and over agina. now how many tortillas do you need? well my host family is super small...only parents, 2 kids and me. my mom makes about 60-70 tortillas a day. my aunt next door - 10 people live there - that´s a lot of tortillas. think about that the next time you eat a burrito.
yesterday was a great day..spent the morning on the roof of a new house painting and played football all afternoon. so great. teachers go back to school next week which is exciting. and school starts the beginning of feb. thats about it from here. thanks for all the emails!! love and miss you all!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Just call me cowgirl...yeehaw!
A friend of mine took me horseback riding - spurs and all...which i didn't use. it was quite fun - lerned a lot about his family's land, the crops they grow, where the cattle graze, where they stay when it rains and they can't get back to town, etc. very interesting, very nice horse, only thought i was going to fally once - it's very hilly where we went and 1. i'm not used to being on a horse and 2. i'm not used to going down hills/through bushes and trees on a horse. but it was fine. the best/most scary part - when my friend made the horse run. I don't think i've ever been on a horse running before. so sweet. kinda wish horses came with seatbelts though. :)
It's raining scorpians and cockroaches...and all other insects!!
So I came home one day to the houses being fumigates...and spent the rest of the afternoon sneezing. it's incredible the amount of creey crawlies living in the housese that end up dead on the floor from the fumes. mostly spiders and other insects in my house, cockroaches in the latrine, and my friend had quite a few scorpians - pregnant ones too - so gross! but I thought i'd be spider free for a while...um no, maybe 2 days and they're back!! I just think of them as cheap wall decorations.
Other site news...
I bought a mini fridge- pretty exciting. Cold water is amazing. so are frozen chocolate bananas which my friend and i made when she came to visit. I move into my own house next week - exciting and odd at the same time...living alone, cooking without a pound of oil and salt...definitely different. My garden is growing nicely - soon it will be time to transplant the tomatoes. My youth group is still going. it's nice to see a few of them take charge of the group. we are still thinking of doing a tree nursery...trying to get seeds and bags. also, I started an English class - mostly girls as the boys are stilll way too shy around me. but they are really interested and work hard - very impressive. they all showed up the first day with their notebooks and pens and worked very diligently on spelling and pronunciation. although I don't really like teaching English, I think with this group it will be fun since they are so enthusiastic and truly want to learn. so that's really exciting. supossedly teachers go back to school on Jan. 5th...so hopefully i'll be a bit more busy then..i guess cleaning the school is first on the agenda. oh and i possible am going to teach PE since none of the teachers every do. Sweet!
I went to an evangelical wedding yesterday. vows pretty similar. no groomsmen but a few really young firls up front. we all went back to the bride's house for food and cake after. All the women were dressed up and all the men wore jeans.
New years plans...apparently we are cooking a ram...should be interesting. That's about it from here. I hope you all have a very safe and fun new years!! lots of love!
It's raining scorpians and cockroaches...and all other insects!!
So I came home one day to the houses being fumigates...and spent the rest of the afternoon sneezing. it's incredible the amount of creey crawlies living in the housese that end up dead on the floor from the fumes. mostly spiders and other insects in my house, cockroaches in the latrine, and my friend had quite a few scorpians - pregnant ones too - so gross! but I thought i'd be spider free for a while...um no, maybe 2 days and they're back!! I just think of them as cheap wall decorations.
Other site news...
I bought a mini fridge- pretty exciting. Cold water is amazing. so are frozen chocolate bananas which my friend and i made when she came to visit. I move into my own house next week - exciting and odd at the same time...living alone, cooking without a pound of oil and salt...definitely different. My garden is growing nicely - soon it will be time to transplant the tomatoes. My youth group is still going. it's nice to see a few of them take charge of the group. we are still thinking of doing a tree nursery...trying to get seeds and bags. also, I started an English class - mostly girls as the boys are stilll way too shy around me. but they are really interested and work hard - very impressive. they all showed up the first day with their notebooks and pens and worked very diligently on spelling and pronunciation. although I don't really like teaching English, I think with this group it will be fun since they are so enthusiastic and truly want to learn. so that's really exciting. supossedly teachers go back to school on Jan. 5th...so hopefully i'll be a bit more busy then..i guess cleaning the school is first on the agenda. oh and i possible am going to teach PE since none of the teachers every do. Sweet!
I went to an evangelical wedding yesterday. vows pretty similar. no groomsmen but a few really young firls up front. we all went back to the bride's house for food and cake after. All the women were dressed up and all the men wore jeans.
New years plans...apparently we are cooking a ram...should be interesting. That's about it from here. I hope you all have a very safe and fun new years!! lots of love!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Take that chickens!!! and yes i went a day without bathing...
So I finally got my fence up around my garden with the help of my host dad and uncle. I was looking forward to doing something myself but that didn't happen - heaven forbid a girl with a hammer so I got the job of puttin gthe staples in place for them to hammer. I really do appreciate all their help - they are wonderful and although I'm not comfortable with a machete yet, a hammer I can handle. A friend helped me make a gate so I'm all set up! No more chickens, pigs, or dogs!!! so awesome. so far I've planted tomatoes, green peppers, cucumber, and watermelon. I still have to plant the squash..ran out of time the other day. Here's hoping it all grows!!
Youth group meeting attempts 1 and 2 = crash and burn! I invited a bunch of youth to a meeting planned for wed mid morning. well, at 7 am I was watering my plants when my director showed up and told me I had to go to Somotillo for a workshop and that the bus would be there any minute. great. I ran home, changed clothes and go to the highway just in time. my sister was nice enough to tell some people that the meeting was postponed but of course many did not know. so I tried to have it Friday but lots of people weren't around and not many showed up so we all decided it would be better to try again next week. so we'll see...i hope next week turns out better. oh and on the walk home from the meeting that didn't happen, I got stung by a bee - twice- once on each butt check...not cool.
so last week i went to chinandega and left at 530 and didn't really feel like taking my bath in the dark. I had every intention of bathing when I got home around 4. well, I was informed by many townspeople that I couldn't shower right away because my body was agitated from my journey and that I needed to rest and let my body relax first. so I sat and chatted with them for a while and by the time they let me leave it was dark and time for dinner. well of course I couldn't bathe right after eating because that's bad too so I rested again. and at that point I decided I didn't care and would bathe the next morning. well, the next day all these kids kept asking me if it was true that I didn't bathe the day before and whay not. so that was the talk of the town...how the gringa didn't bathe. highly entertaining. even if I shower later than normal people ask me about it. normally I bathe at 6 but if I decided to work out or water the garden or something before bathing everyone says...eliza...it's 8am and you are just now bathing? why so late? (even though i'm still the first one with the few exceptions that work in somotillo) :) yeah fishbowl effect!
stars...I would just like to say how beautiful and bright the stars and moon are. the sky is always clear at night and the stars are so so bright. and the moon lights up everything so much. there is a huge difference in how light it is depending on what type of moon it is. it's absolutely beautiful.
I'm slowly getting to know people which is fun - lots of life stories and interesting facts. i've also met with a man who works for INTA which is the agriculture government sector who will be a great technical resource for my school gardens and tree nurseries. so everything is going really well I think. I still feel like a 5 year old sometimes but the other day I decided whatever, I'm an adult and I'm going for a run and I don't care what people say. so I did. of course a bunch of people said that I should run around this little area (less than half a soccer field) right across from their house...um no thanks. I told them I would be fine and that I would be back in a half hour. So off I went - it felt so good to run...although breathing in dust is never fun, especially when exercising but oh well. I definitely was stared at by everyone I passed but other than that it was perfectly fine and I felt very safe. so I get back, red as a tomato and sweating profusely....some scolded me for it being dangerous and for me working too hard...others saying it's good to exercise. all definitely laughing at how red and sweaty i was. the next day my director was still going on about how i shoudn't run. my host dad told her it was fine but that i should go at 430 am instead of 5pm because the "thugs" would be asleep at that time. I told him I also enjoy sleeping at 430, that I prefer 5pm and that he should just go with me. they both enjoyed that.
oh the heat is coming! I swear everyday it is getting a little hotter. and it's going to continue to get hotter until it rains in may. but I'm getting used to the mixture of sweat and dirt on my skin at all times. makes me look tanner.
that's all I know at this point. stay safe in the snow and with holiday traveling. it's hard to believe it's almost christmas - but I was at a house the other day with a little christmas tree so that made me smile. Happy Holidays and best wishes from Nicaragua!!!
miss you all...lots of love
Youth group meeting attempts 1 and 2 = crash and burn! I invited a bunch of youth to a meeting planned for wed mid morning. well, at 7 am I was watering my plants when my director showed up and told me I had to go to Somotillo for a workshop and that the bus would be there any minute. great. I ran home, changed clothes and go to the highway just in time. my sister was nice enough to tell some people that the meeting was postponed but of course many did not know. so I tried to have it Friday but lots of people weren't around and not many showed up so we all decided it would be better to try again next week. so we'll see...i hope next week turns out better. oh and on the walk home from the meeting that didn't happen, I got stung by a bee - twice- once on each butt check...not cool.
so last week i went to chinandega and left at 530 and didn't really feel like taking my bath in the dark. I had every intention of bathing when I got home around 4. well, I was informed by many townspeople that I couldn't shower right away because my body was agitated from my journey and that I needed to rest and let my body relax first. so I sat and chatted with them for a while and by the time they let me leave it was dark and time for dinner. well of course I couldn't bathe right after eating because that's bad too so I rested again. and at that point I decided I didn't care and would bathe the next morning. well, the next day all these kids kept asking me if it was true that I didn't bathe the day before and whay not. so that was the talk of the town...how the gringa didn't bathe. highly entertaining. even if I shower later than normal people ask me about it. normally I bathe at 6 but if I decided to work out or water the garden or something before bathing everyone says...eliza...it's 8am and you are just now bathing? why so late? (even though i'm still the first one with the few exceptions that work in somotillo) :) yeah fishbowl effect!
stars...I would just like to say how beautiful and bright the stars and moon are. the sky is always clear at night and the stars are so so bright. and the moon lights up everything so much. there is a huge difference in how light it is depending on what type of moon it is. it's absolutely beautiful.
I'm slowly getting to know people which is fun - lots of life stories and interesting facts. i've also met with a man who works for INTA which is the agriculture government sector who will be a great technical resource for my school gardens and tree nurseries. so everything is going really well I think. I still feel like a 5 year old sometimes but the other day I decided whatever, I'm an adult and I'm going for a run and I don't care what people say. so I did. of course a bunch of people said that I should run around this little area (less than half a soccer field) right across from their house...um no thanks. I told them I would be fine and that I would be back in a half hour. So off I went - it felt so good to run...although breathing in dust is never fun, especially when exercising but oh well. I definitely was stared at by everyone I passed but other than that it was perfectly fine and I felt very safe. so I get back, red as a tomato and sweating profusely....some scolded me for it being dangerous and for me working too hard...others saying it's good to exercise. all definitely laughing at how red and sweaty i was. the next day my director was still going on about how i shoudn't run. my host dad told her it was fine but that i should go at 430 am instead of 5pm because the "thugs" would be asleep at that time. I told him I also enjoy sleeping at 430, that I prefer 5pm and that he should just go with me. they both enjoyed that.
oh the heat is coming! I swear everyday it is getting a little hotter. and it's going to continue to get hotter until it rains in may. but I'm getting used to the mixture of sweat and dirt on my skin at all times. makes me look tanner.
that's all I know at this point. stay safe in the snow and with holiday traveling. it's hard to believe it's almost christmas - but I was at a house the other day with a little christmas tree so that made me smile. Happy Holidays and best wishes from Nicaragua!!!
miss you all...lots of love
Monday, December 1, 2008
first week at site/happy thanksgiving!
me and all my stuff sucessfully made it to my site! my little brother really wanted to help me with my stuff but honestly my hiking pack is bigger thank he is. but a cousin did carry my very heavy suitcase so that was helpful. ive been a little sick since ive been here but im sure its due to the changes in food and what not...getting better. but everything is good. last week school was pretty much over. students came a few days to clean and receive their final grades. this past sat was the preschool and 6th grade graduation ceremony. so i went to that and sat at the table of honor at the front of the room with the principal, minestry of ed. delegate and the teachers handing out awards. each studnet walked in with their escort and was announced. after that each one came up individually to get their diploma. and then they came up again to get a flower. it was a few hour affair but very interesting to take part in. oh and during all of this they played the same song over and over again. after the ceremony started the food. i ate at the school with my principal and then again at home snce my brother graduatioed from 6th grade. all day eating and talking - good spanish practice and it gave me a chance to put more names and faces together. sunday was hs graduation...more food as one of my cousins graduated.
Thanksgiving!!! so a bunch of colunteers met at a beach in leon for thanksgiving. the beach is absolutely beautiful and the water was perfect. unfortunately it was a bit of a journey - left my town at 6am and got to the beach at 1pm but it was great. and luckily there are beaches way closer than that to me. the owners of the hostel we stayed at are american and they made us a thanksgiving dinner - not as good as grandmas but definitely good and unexpected. then we had a big fire and dance party on the beach. although it wasnt the same without my wonderful family and football- i cnat complain too much about a thanksgiving on the beach. i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and are enjoying the leftovers!!
more about my town...im already used to my bucket bath in my public bathing stall. still a little odd that a guy is always there as well bathing next to the well (not in a stall thing) but at least i get serenaded while i bathe every morning. still havent seen any scorpians, terantulas or snakes. cockroaches, spiders, and other creepy crawles, yes, but nothing too discusting. ive already made friends with a girl in my town - shes been super helpful and im sure will continue to be throughout my service. im getting to know others at a slower pace but im working on it. ive started discussing project ideas with some people and in the next few weeks im going to finalize some plans for my youth groups and start working on forming them. i also am going to start my garden and compost pile in the next few weeks. those, working on spanish, and talking a lot with people to gain trust are my main goals until school starts. so thats whats going on with me. hoppe you are all doing well! miss you and love you!
cell service is pretty bad at my site but you can try!! and i have received mail so the new address works!
Thanksgiving!!! so a bunch of colunteers met at a beach in leon for thanksgiving. the beach is absolutely beautiful and the water was perfect. unfortunately it was a bit of a journey - left my town at 6am and got to the beach at 1pm but it was great. and luckily there are beaches way closer than that to me. the owners of the hostel we stayed at are american and they made us a thanksgiving dinner - not as good as grandmas but definitely good and unexpected. then we had a big fire and dance party on the beach. although it wasnt the same without my wonderful family and football- i cnat complain too much about a thanksgiving on the beach. i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and are enjoying the leftovers!!
more about my town...im already used to my bucket bath in my public bathing stall. still a little odd that a guy is always there as well bathing next to the well (not in a stall thing) but at least i get serenaded while i bathe every morning. still havent seen any scorpians, terantulas or snakes. cockroaches, spiders, and other creepy crawles, yes, but nothing too discusting. ive already made friends with a girl in my town - shes been super helpful and im sure will continue to be throughout my service. im getting to know others at a slower pace but im working on it. ive started discussing project ideas with some people and in the next few weeks im going to finalize some plans for my youth groups and start working on forming them. i also am going to start my garden and compost pile in the next few weeks. those, working on spanish, and talking a lot with people to gain trust are my main goals until school starts. so thats whats going on with me. hoppe you are all doing well! miss you and love you!
cell service is pretty bad at my site but you can try!! and i have received mail so the new address works!
Friday, November 21, 2008
more pics
dorky picture but a close up of my short hair
me and kendall
me and paula before swearing in...didn't she do a great job on my hair!
irma, stefany, me and jader...good friends from my training town
walking on my hands again...decent form
my and my parents
me and my sister...great cook
me and my nephews!! so cute
my family!
my cousin on the left...me...and my sis
me and my bro
the cake i helped make for my family
me and paula ready to go dancing!
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