One Year

Hola a todos!

Sorry that I’ve fallen out of the blogosphere recently. I figured that my one year post would be good point to get back in. So here I am.

Its sounds incredibly cliché to say that’s it’s gone by “so fast.” But that’s exactly what my one year in country has done. Its soared by me with the velocity of a jet plane, leaving me little time to reflect on all the cargo it has brought with it. How do you reflect on an entire year’s worth of events? If you’re me, you make a list. So here it is: my top ten lessons learned in Nicaragua.  Some of them are silly, some are more serious, but all have been impacting in some way or another.

Be patient and flexible:  This has perhaps been the hardest lesson for me to learn.  I have never been a very patient nor a very flexible person. A lot of that has to do with my own personality, exacerbated by the culture of instant gratification promoted in the United States. Here things work differently and as a result take more time. A project that would take a week in the United States would most likely take two to four weeks here to complete. Sometimes, I have the ability to try and speed things up, but most of the time, I just have to accept that it’s going to take a certain length of time. Working in cross-cultural conditions also gives you a lot of patience in working with other people (you also gain a lot of communication skills).  Because Nicaraguans tend to not put an emphasis on planning, things are always changing and you have to learn to o be flexible and in turn adjust your own plans.

There are certain street foods that you shouldn’t eat, no matter how they it look: We all have that moment. You’re travelling, whether by foot, panga, or bus, and in your hungry state you get tempted to buy a delicious, but slightly sketchy looking street food. For some its sweet bread, others fried food, others still a local alcoholic beverage (which technically isn't street food, but for the sake of this blog post, just roll with it). You know what will probably happen, but you don’t care. So it does happen, and when it happens, it goes a little something like this: nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, repeat.

Failure brings more knowledge than success: One of the few things your Peace Corps service can guarantee is s failure. You will fail all the time here, whether it be a lesson that doesn’t go well, a project that never gets seen through, or an idea that you just can’t communicate in your limited Spanish.  Although they don’t necessarily advertise this fact in their website, this is awesome. It’s not that a service with little or no success is what I dream every night. Rather, I am simply rather learning to appreciate my failures more. As a perfectionist, it’s easy for me to get angry and upset over a failure, wanting to only dwell on it negatively. Through the many failures that have occurred during my service, however, I have gained in return a multitude of knowledge about what does and doesn’t work here, much of which I will be able to apply to future projects in the hopes that they turn out better than the ones before.

Enrique is just better in Spanish: Bailando (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUsoVlDFqZg), Loco (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxJtTPxliis) There. I think I’ve made my point. As much as I admire the fact that he’s been able to break into both the Latin and American music scenes worlds, I think it’s obvious where his heart is. Also I know that I have talked about this to some of you, but how does he not age? Seriously!? A friend posed the vampire theory and I’m starting to think she may be on to something…

There are few things better than clean running water: As a foreigner, Bluefields is strange to me in many ways. The strangest of all is the lack of water. When you live in a rainforest climate that includes a major river, water should be plentiful, and indeed it is, for half of the year.  During rainy season, it rains non-stop, sometimes for so long that a week goes by without being able to see the sun. Rain catchment systems fill and wells are no longer dry. In the dry season, it’s the opposite. You can go weeks without a single rain cloud filling the sky. Rain catchment systems no longer serve to provide water and wells are slowly running dry. Any water that is left is usually contaminated and unfit for drinking. Therefore, many families are forced to buy or beg (depending on your financial situation) water to drink, wash clothes, and bathe. Even despite a relatively “wet” dry season this year, people were running out of water before the rainy season started, my house included. In May, the water was only being turned on for an hour or two every day. For families of lower economic levels who lack the space or money to build wells or rain catchment systems, the situation is more drastic. Even during the rainy season, access to clean safe water is limited, sometimes non-existent. My hope is that even once I return to the states, I will not stop being grateful for the gift of cold, clean, and drinkable water.

On Poverty

 The meaning of poverty is one that I’ve been struggling to figure out during the course of my Peace Corps experience. It is true that in Bluefields most people have no clean running water, insufficient medical care, and the inability to buy the overly expensive fruits and vegetables sold here. However it is also true that here people are more connected. Families stay tend to stay close and support one another. At any minute of the day, there are always more than one person in the house and often there are visitors, most of whom come over unannounced. As a Nicaraguan, it is almost impossible to feel alone here.(This is not to say that I wish to romanticize the way things are here, but rather point out a positive aspect of the culture that I have lately appreciated.)

In contrast, in the United States, we place a premium on individualism. People are seen as successful when they are able to be self-sufficient. This was something that I worked on hard in college and I still work on now. However, it seems as though we can sometimes take it too far. Too often when we need help we are afraid to reach out and ask for it from those we love. This makes us also more reluctant to give help when it is needed from us. While a complete reliance on others may not be healthy, so is the act of trying to remove it. It is this reliance that helps keep people connected.

To be fair, I’m not trying to say that any culture is better than the other or state that poverty in terms of material items is any less critical, but rather that maybe we’ve been defining poverty too narrowly. In living here, it is impossible to doubt that there is material poverty. However, it is also impossible to miss how richly connected people are. Mother Theresa used to speak of a spiritual poverty, which makes me think that poverty could also be expanded to include a social and emotional component. Being social creatures, humans need to feel loved and accepted just as much as they need food and clean water. Looking at poverty in this way would not only give a more complex and holistic approach to addressing global issues, but it can also change the way we view development work in general.

Project Update

Hola a todos!

I’m back in the blog world again! I’ve decided to cut back posts to once a month as I have actually started to get busy here and have less time to spend online. As seems to be the pattern, this next blog post is going to get all of you up to speed on what I’ve been up to here in terms of projects. I also have included some pictures, of my site curtsey of my camera which traveled through several states, countries, and across all of Nicaragua to arrive here in Bluefields. A big shout out goes to Kelsey Guziak, a current Peace Corps trainee here in Nicaragua who brought my camera all the way from the states to Nicaragua.

I currently am working on co-teaching in both the primary schools that I have been assigned (Ruben Dario and Santa Rosa). For each school, I am required to co-plan and co-teach one to two natural science classes every week with two teachers. The idea behind this is to facilitate an ideas-exchange between the Peace Corps volunteer and teacher so that the volunteer is able to capacitate (as the creoles say) their teachers to integrate more dynamic learning techniques and classroom management into their lesson and in turn the teacher is able to help the volunteer navigate the challenges of a Nicaraguan classroom (of which there are many). So currently I am co-planning and co-teaching with two fourth grade teachers in Ruben Dario, as well as two fifth grade teachers and a fourth grade teacher in Santa Rosa. Co-planning is….challenging. Imagine the usual challenge of working closely with another teacher and then add in language and cultural barriers. In other words, like anything worth doing, it’s a process.

In addition, I am also collaborating with two local organizations to do urban gardening projects in both my schools. One is a local government organization that is somewhat akin to a ministry of the environment. The other is a local NGO called FUNDCO. Although they normally work on promoting organic gardening practices in more rural areas of the RAAS, they have agreed to collaborate on this project and provide some of the materials and technical training. Already, both schools have realized the compost portion of this project. The next step is building raised garden beds and then planting the seeds. Raised garden beds require more planning and effort, but seem to make the most sense here since 1) we are in a more urban setting and space is therefore more limited and 2) the soil here is mostly clay and rocks so it’s almost impossible to plant seeds directly in the soil without first mixing it with a significant amount of sand and compost. More pictures and updates of the project to come as it unfolds!

The last big project that I am currently working on is co-teaching a class at the local university. My last blog update seems to have caused a lot of confusion about whether I am actually teaching the class or not. I am glad to say that I am not principally teaching the class. Instead I am focusing more on preparing the practical classes (aka: lab classes) than giving lectures. The experience I’ve had working with the university has been an invaluable lesson in making clear your objectives, as well as being assertive. Like all new volunteers, I still am getting the feel for what projects I should be working on and how I should collaborate with community members to plan for and achieve the project’s objectives. As I said before…it’s a process.

Well, that’s all I have to report on the project front. Now all of you actually know what I do here. Now for some pictures. Enjoy getting to know my site! I hope to see all of you here in the next two years J

The apartment complex where I live

Where I wash my clothes (aka: the pila)

Kitchen

View from the kitchen which is located in a seperate building behind the house.

The second floor, where my room is.

Hanging out on the porch

View from the second floor

My room

Cuando Estoy En Nicaragua

Hola a todos! It’s been a while since I’ve done this segment of my blogs, and I thought that it would be a great way to show my progress of becoming more like a Nicaraguan (for better and for worse as you soon shall see). So enjoy! Hopefully this will help to explain some of the weird things I do when I come back home.

Nica Facial Expressions: As much as it pains me to admit this, I have picked up the very Nica habit of using my lips to point to things while I’m talking. When I was in training this used to drive me crazy because it made it even harder to understand Nicaraguans. Now I do it when I can’t/don’t feel like using my hands to point. To my American readers: please help me stop when I come back home.

Nica Cooking: I now willing cook Nicaraguan foods for the majority of my meals. This includes: gallo pinto (of course….), a whole multitude of fried food (fish, plantains, breadfruit…), and all kinds of food that contains coconut milk. I also have started putting ketchup on EVERYTHING. It’s terrible…and delicious. Don’t worry mom, I still manage to squeeze some fruits and vegetables in there J

Nica Beauty: Contrary to the stereotypes surrounding Peace Corps volunteers, I actually spend more time on my appearance than I did in the states. This is mainly due to the fact that Nicaraguans put a lot pride on their appearance. Therefore, in order to not blend in with the more touristy white people who usually come in tevas and khaki pants (not that this is a bad thing, I just have to integrate, and they don’t), I have to put in an extra effort with my appearance. This includes: using hair accessories, regularly having my nails painted with elaborate designs, and actually wearing makeup.

Nica Music: Although I was already in love with all kinds of latin music, I was not with reggae. Thanks to my neighbors who blast the reggae remix of almost every song you can think of, I’ve slowly come to not only appreciate, but actually like reggae music. If any of you readers need convincing to get on the reggae train, check out Lucky Duube. He’s a South African reggae artist who is the Bob Marely of the musical world here. In addition to having super smooth melodies, his songs also cover a lot of complex and relevant issues. As country music is really popular with the creoles here, I also have developed an appreciation for this genre as well.

Nica House Calls: Another wonderful part of f Nica culture is the impromptu house calls. People here rarely like to make solid plans unless pressed. Therefore, most visits are unannounced and can occur at all hours of the day. After being here for over seven months, this no longer perplexes me. Rather, I have started embracing this tradition. Instead of calling someone to try and set up a visit, I’ll usually get up and walk to their house (barring that they live close by) to call on them. To my American readers: when I show up to your house unannounced and am perplexed at why you may be upset/caught off guard, this is why.

Well, that’s all I can think of right now. I’m sure that there are a multitude more, but you’ll have to wait until the next post in this segment to hear about it.

Vacation Pictures

More pictures! This is from vacation to the north part of Nicaragua that I referenced in the last blog post. Sorry I can't post more pictures of my site and the projects I am working on. (aka: the real reason why I'm here). Once my camera comes next week, I promise to post more of these types of photos. For now, courtesy of Geri Mezzoni who graciously let me raid her camera, enjoy the north of Nicaragua.

First view of Jalapa, Nueva Guinea

They grow a lot of tobacco here. (And corn.)

Downtown Ocotal. This place is famous for its Sandino History.

The Ocotal Gardens. Hands down the most beautiful park I've seen in this country. Apparently the mayor who had this park built was a botanist. . 

The group after a hike to Sandino's old look out spot, which he would use to survey the entire city and plan his counter attacks on US Marine Troops.

Our first glimpse of the Somoto Canyon

Nature is awesome. These spikes are used as a defense mechanism to prevent animals from eating the tree bark. 

Me on the highest jumping point.

Floating through the canyon.

Welcome to Boaco. Aka: Cowboy country.

                                                      Tom's site: San Jose de los Remates, Boaco.

View after a hike up to a Cascada (waterfall) at Tom's site.

Naturally, we all decided to do a little climbing to celebrate out reunion.

Viajando y Preparando

Hola a todos!

Sorry that it’s been such a long time in between blog posts. Between travelling, getting ready for school to start, and having a lot more limited internet I haven’t been able to do as much writing as I would like to.

In the last month, I have moved, travelled back to Carazo for a week of grammatically intensive language classes, visited the north of Nicaragua, and have been told that I will be teaching an environmental chemistry class at the  local university (what?!?!).

For those of you who haven’t been in the loop about my living situation, I recently moved from a house where I was staying with a Mestizo family to an apartment complex. They family I was staying with wasn’t terrible, I just felt more like a tenant staying there than a member of the family. So I figured that I may as well live on my own since it was cheaper and I could have more control over my living situation. Elvira, one of the other volunteers living in Bluefields, helped me to find a room in the apartment complex that she was living in. I live on the second floor, so I get a shared balcony that has a wonderful breeze during the day.My neighbors have been really great and I already feel closer to some of them than I did to my family. I also have started cooking for myself and am experimenting with cooking Nicaraguan food. My last meal featured tajadas (fried plantains), which actually came out ok.

At the end of January, all the volunteers who hadn’t reached an advanced level of Spanish when they finished training (aka: me and everyone in my training town) had to return to our training towns for a week-long grammar intensive class.  It was really great to be back in my training town with two of my closest Peace Corps friends, but it was also exhausting. On top of eight hours of class with only a short break for lunch, we also had about two hours of homework every night. Plus, we had Nicaraguan friends and host families to spend time with. Needless to say, by the end of the week, I feeling exhausted but content with how helpful the classes had been. I’ve always been the kind of person who likes to know the reasoning behind things and receiving classes on Spanish grammar really helped to clarify some things that I was confused about.

Right after the  language class, Geri and I decided to aprovechar (or “take advantage”) of our time on the Pacific Coast, so together with Tom (the other volunteer that was in our training town) we decided to travel to the furthest city north in Nicaragua, Jalapa and do a half marathon that one of the health volunteers was putting on. Now just to clarify, Geri was the only one who did the half marathon. Tom did the 10-km and I helped out with the race. Since the half-marathon started at the Nicaraguan-Honduras border, we really did go as far north as we could. Since Jalapa is in a mountain valley, the course was stunningly beautiful, although poorly marked. Most of the Peace Corps volunteers participating got lost (Tom did a 17 km instead of a 10 km), but regardless, everyone seemed to have a great time.  From there, we stayed the night in Ocotal, another city in the department of Nueva Segovia that is chalk full of Sandino history (Sandino is a revolutionary that fought against the US invasion of Nicaragua). The next day, we travelled down to Madriz to do a tour of the Somoto Canyon. Pictures will be coming soon, so I won’t try and explain too much. Basically, it’s a smaller version of the Grand Canyon here in Nicaragua, but with water. The tour was really relaxed and slow paced. Most of the time we floated down the river and stopped to do a little cliff jumping. Don’t worry mom, the jumps weren’t that high!

The last place we stopped was Tom’s site in San Jose de los Remates in the department of Boaco (aka: cowboy country). It’s a really beautiful, clean city right in the heart of the mountains. We finished the visit with a hike up to a waterfall with a gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains and cups of locally grown and roasted organic coffee. It was awesome to see Tom in his element. From there, I travelled to El Rama by bus, got stuck there for two days because all the Pangas going to Bluefields were filled, and eventually arrived back home ready to get back to work.

Since then, I have been busy getting ready for school to start: meeting with my counterparts, talking to my contacts at the local university about the possibility about helping out there, and trying to contact some of the local NGO’s in Bluefields. After meeting with the Dean of the College of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, I was informed that I had been signed up to teach the course “Environmental Chemistry,” a course which, mind you, I have never even taken. I guess I should have been more specific when I agreed to help out with the more advanced environmental studies classes in November. I then had to calmly explain to him that while I wasn’t allowed or qualified to teach this course, I would be happy to help out with making lesson plans and facilitating classes. Now I’ve learned my lesson and in the future plan to be VERY specific about what I am able and not able to do as a volunteer. It was a good learning experience to have in the first few months.

Well, that’s all for now. Sorry that this was such a long post. I hopefully won’t wait this long to write another blog post. Next post I promise pictures of my vacation! Miss you all! 

Best New Years Ever

Hola a todos! So I decided to switch things up and instead of writing a long blog post, I'm going to put up some pictures of my trip to the Pearl Keys (an island chain near Pearl Lagoon). It was an amazing time, and quite possibly my best birthday/new years yet.

Lime Key










Fresh Coconut Water






Geri learning how to climb a coconut tree


Me trying to climb a coconut tree but instead clinging on for dear life after climbing two feet.

Grape Key




The biggest attraction on grape key? This monkey




The monkey loved him.


What realizing a life-long dream looks like





Crawl Island

Mangroves


The perfect ending to the perfect day


HAPPY 2014! I hope that it brings you joy, peace, and lots of beef soup.

A Very Coastal Christmas

Hola a todos!

Sorry for the lack of photos in my blog lately. I know that you are all eager to see some photo evidence of my time spent in Nicaragua so far. The good news is that I should be getting a camera in March which will help remedy this problem.

And....on to the blog post. 

I spent both Christmas and New Years on the Atlantic Coast. Much to my surprise I found out that Christmas is not a big holiday down here. Usually people go to service either the day before Christmas or Christmas day. Then people will generally have a big Christmas dinner sometime during the day, and that's about it. Gifts are occasionally given to small children, but rarely between adults. It’s really the week of semana santa (aka: Holy Week) that is the really big Christian holiday here.

For New Years, I got to visit a Peace Corps friend living in Pearl Lagoon (a Creole community north of Bluefields). New Years is by far the bigger holiday this time of year. On Christmas Eve, everyone goes out to party after church.  On New Years Eve, people tend to want to stay with their family and return home after church to eat soup. This is probably one of my new favorite holiday traditions. On New Years Eve, its tradition to make soup (generally it’s a beef soup) to share with your family and with other members of the community. After church, you go around and visit friends and family and eat their soup. I can’t tell you how many bowls I ate that night, but I stopped counting after 4 or 5.

Another less pleasant holiday tradition is the moscos. They are a group of people who will dress up as bad spirits and walk around town hitting people with sticks or rope until they've give them an offering such as money or food. The nicer ones tend to forfeit the hitting in exchange for preforming dances for money. Since people dressing up as the moscos are supposed to be representing spirits, they aren't allowed to speak between themselves or other people. The most they can do is make unintelligible sounds such as high pitch yelps or hisses.

So in short: If you come to the Costa Caribe for New Years, be sure to bring a little extra cas.

Until next post! I promise to post some picture of my New Years/Birthday trip to the Pearl Keys!