Last days in San Juan

This weekend has been a little sad because it was my last weekend in San Juan de Oriente. Of course I plan on visiting, but it’s still sad. Friday we had meetings in Managua and then headed back to our training towns for the last couple days before leaving. Our youth group decided to throw us a despedida (going away party). It was really sweet because our youth group was kinda falling apart, but they were so kind to do that for us. They played music, did some dances for us (they have a dance group), and then shared kind words of appreciation. We then gave them “diplomas” for their participation in the group—they really liked the diplomas so that was cute. We took a picture together as well. Then they served us a traditional Nicaraguan meal—gallo pinto, tostones, and cheese. I had already eaten dinner, but I couldn’t pass this up :)



(Back) Pablo, Yahoska, Me, WAlter, Catalina, Paola, Alvin, Kellie, (front) Gerson, Eddie, Emir

Saturday was a full day as well. In the morning, Kellie and I went to Masaya to run some errands and pick up some last minute things. I bought some rice, beans, and sugar (in bulk) for my family as a gift. Beans are really expensive nowadays so I thought that would be a good gift. These three things are staples here. I also got a new phone because Peace Corps gave us new Claro chips which allow us to call and text all PC volunteers and staff for FREE! Yay :) This is nice because I had been spending a lot of money trying to keep my saldo from running out. No more of that!

We got back from Masaya around 12:30pm and after lunch, Caridad and I went to Masatepe because some PCVs were hosting a taller (workshop) on call centers. Caridad had expressed interest in working in a call center and I was so excited when I found out that some of my friends were doing a taller on this. They had two people who work at call centers share about their experiences, the benefits, and requirements for working there. It was really interesting and I felt that I learned a lot of stuff too, especially with the whole taller being in Spanish :) Caridad seemed excited and we found out that there are free English classes available in Masatepe, which is only about a 15 minute bus ride from San Juan. I hope she pursues this.

We got back a little late, but I had some time to do a little packing. I ate dinner and took a shower because we had water haha Then, something terrible happened! I was walking through the kitchen and oh my gosh there was a tarantula heading right toward my room. AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First of all, I HATE spiders! Second of all, this was a tarantula! Are you kidding me!?!?!? All I could do was squeal and I couldn’t even say spider. My host mom kinda giggled and came over. She told me that they don’t hurt and they aren’t poisonous and I told her I was scared haha She through her flip flop on it which stopped it, but it’s legs were still quivering. Ugh :( Gross! Gross! Gross! It started moving again, but then she brought the broom and dust pan and took it outside. Oh, gross! I’m so glad this happened on my last night here, and not the first! Phew! As you can imagine, this was a very traumatic experience for me.

As I was still a little shaky, my friend came over to say goodbye and gave me my “favorite things”: fresco de cacao and chocolates :) So sweet! Fresco de cacao is chocolate milk made from grounded cocoa beans, so it is awesome! And, it’s cold, so that’s why it’s “fresco”. This made me feel better :)

I then gave out some small gifts to the kids because as they came home—my mom had sent some little packs of Disney playing cards and they loved them. Of course the little girls fought a little about which Disney princess cards they would get, but it all worked out in the end.

Since pretty much everybody was home, we decided to take our family picture—yay! Rene, my host brother who lives next door, didn’t want to be in the picture and his wife was working. Anyway, my friend took the picture and it was so fun being with everybody. We all hung out in the family room after that for awhile—it was crazy and loud because of all the kids and there was a jump rope in the mix, but I loved it and it was so nice to spend time with everybody.

(Back row) Sara, Caridad, Jennie, Dolores, Sara, (Front row) Luis Angel, Wendy Sofia, Me with Alice, Maria Eduarda, Giselle

Today I hung out with my family in the morning and then had to say goodbye to everyone. It was really sad saying goodbye because all of the little kids were hugging me and I got a little teary-eyed. Then as I walked down the street I got a little more teary and had to put on my sunglasses haha

I met up with Kellie and Jess and we walked to the empalme to meet up with the Catarina peeps. We caught a bus to Managua and then realized it was going the very long way to get there…bummer! It took about 2 hours to get there and then we had to take a taxi over to our hotel. After checking into our rooms and then getting some food, we got our PC polo shirts that we ordered. We are pretty excited about these—tip to future PCV’s—ask about shirts early (talk to Roger) and get the color palette to make the order with your group. It’s up to the volunteers to put the order in, not the PC staff. Anyway, we got the shirts and everything if good now :)

Me, Julia Elena, Janelle

Our swearing-in ceremony is tomorrow so I’m really excited about that!