Friday, December 31, 2010

Goodbye 2010!

This year feels like it went by so fast—I can easily picture what I was doing last New Years’ eve. I was in Disneyworld with my family and my aunt, uncle, and cousin from Tampa. So much has happened this year: I traveled to Boston with classmates to present at the national TESOL conference, completed my first year of grad school at Gonzaga, taught a Spanish camp for kids, left the country for Peace Corps, completed my training, and survived 4 months in Nicaragua experiencing new and extraordinary things. This year was full of things I will remember forever. I had to say goodbye to my family and friends, but I’ve met so many great people here to share my adventures. I’m thankful for the many opportunities I have had to share what I’m doing here with family and friends back home. Technology is great and I’m very fortunate to have access to the internet, especially being able to contact my parents, other family, and friends.


Praise God for the many blessings we all have received!

Teaching/Learning Opportunities

Since my family is at the finca (their farm) and my host brother and I are stuck at home, we’ve been learning some things about each other. I’m very clean and like to keep things that way. I’ve been trying to help him learn some things about that too haha He can’t really cook either. I’m not saying I’m a great cook, but I can manage. I think my host mom was worried about him not eating or being able to cook anything while she was gone. There are several bags of cooked beans in the freezer and a lot of leftover food in the fridge. Also, apparently my host aunt keeps telling Yasser that if we’re bored or hungry, we can visit her haha

Today, Yasser was going to make something and asked me if I knew how to make refried beans. I said, yeah and joined him in the kitchen. He had one of the bags of beans out and had chopped a little bit of onion and pepper. I got out the blender and poured the beans in and a little bit of water. He was going to put the pepper and onion in the blender too, but I thought it would probably be better after. After blending the beans, I told him we needed to heat them in a pan with the pepper and onion. I started looking at the onion and he hadn’t peeled it or cut off the end part. I started laughing and said, you don’t eat the skin. I asked for more onion and then showed him how to peel it. Then I got the pepper out again and he had cut off a piece from the tip. So, I showed him that you should cut the top part off and then remove the seeds before cutting the pepper. This was really funny because I’m not used to teaching in the kitchen—I’m usually taking instruction there.

Anyway, Yasser did make something. He took the corn tortillas we had and make tortilla chips and he boiled some platanos. After the beans were done cooking with the peppers and onions, we ate our homemade tortilla chips with them. He had to add cuajada (type of cheese) to the beans. I teased him last night about having to eat something without tortillas and cuajada sometime because I had made fried rice and he put cuajada on it and ate it with a tortilla. Someday I’ll get him to eat something a little out of his “food box”. I was pretty proud of myself for making the fried rice though—it was delicious and we’re kind of taking turns making food because we wanted to try out some new things and it’s entertaining.


After we ate lunch today, Yasser asked me how he can lose weight besides exercise. I laughed and asked him if he didn’t want to exercise, and he didn’t seem very interested in that. Then, I said that you should eat foods with less oil and less fried foods, to which he gasped. Oil is a staple here and Nicas use way too much of it! Then, he asked me what he should eat and I told him vegetables and fruits. He said he didn’t like soup. I thought this was kinda funny so I said that he could eat vegetables outside of the soup. He didn’t know how he would do this. I told him he could eat raw vegetables or cooked, but raw is better. He was a little surprised by this and asked about raw potatoes. Well, I said you wouldn’t eat potatoes raw, but carrots, etc. And, I made sure to say that potatoes aren’t really a vegetable—he should look for something else with vitamins. When I mentioned carrots, he said, oh in a fresco? They make frescos here with carrots, which I recently discovered, but I’m sure there’s lots of sugar added because if he doesn’t like vegetables, he wouldn’t be drinking carrot juice. This was a very funny conversation, but it made me realize that a lot of people here don’t understand nutrition very well and it’s a good thing that a new group of health volunteers are coming down here in a few weeks. They certainly have their work cut out for them.

After the whole food situation was done, Yasser asked me if I knew how to clean the blender because he didn’t know how. I said yes and that he had to watch me so he could learn how to do it. I know a lot of people “clean” their blenders without taking the pieces apart (here and in the States) and that grosses me out because it leaves food particles. So, I showed him how to take it all apart and clean it out. He had washed some dishes earlier and I saw two plates staked on top of each other face down. I asked him how he thought they were going to dry as they were stuck together… It cracked me up. It’s a good thing we can joke around like this, but hopefully he picks up some of these things. Last night I was washing dishes and he had gotten a glass of water and then poured out the last bit in the sink and put the glass on the dish drainer. Um, yuck. I wonder how many glasses I’ve used that he hasn’t cleaned. I took it and cleaned it.

Later we visited Yasser’s aunt (Ruth) and Yasser told her about the fried rice that I had made and she said it sounded really good. So, after we left, Yasser wanted me to teach him how to make it so we could give her some. We bought the ingredients and I pretty much did everything—he was a little distracted wanting to get ready for New Years. I kept calling him into the kitchen to show him each step. I finished cooking and then we took the food over to Ruth, who lives with her mom and dad. They all said it smelt great and I guess they had already eaten. Ruth ate some and was asking how I made it. Then, the grandma asked to try some. Ruth gave her some and she ate it all, even though she already ate dinner. They were so surprised that I could cook, and that the food was good. Not sure if that’s a complement or not haha They teased Yasser and told him that he needs to learn to cook from me. It was pretty cute—makes me feel like part of the family :)

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Taste of Mexican


Yesterday 5 other volunteers from Boaco came into town for lunch and to check mail, shopping, etc.  We were going to go to the pizza place, but they don’t open until 3pm…kinda weird.  Anyway, I had spotted this Mexican place the week before and so we decided to try that.  It was basically plastic tables and chairs set up in the family’s living room, which is pretty common here.  Most pulperias (little shops with anything from candy to toilet paper to super glue) are the front part of people’s homes because they don’t have to pay extra rent for another building.  Anyway, we talked to the lady and she usually doesn’t open until 5pm, but she said we were welcome to come in and she’d make us whatever. 

We checked out the menu and everything was 40 cords—very nice! One of the volunteers with us had lived in Mexico for a year and so he described all the different foods to us, as there were only names, and ones that most of us hadn’t heard of.  We were all excited and put in our order.  The lady went to work and offered us a little cup of soup for a free appetizer.  We got our food and chowed down quickly, mostly because we were really hungry, but also because it was really good.  It’s nice to have a little break from Nica food.  Everybody ordered more food after that to share and try new things.  One plate was good enough for me though. 

Then, we decided dessert was in the plan so I showed everyone where the panaderia is and we purchased some fresh baked goods—they pump out new stuff at 2pm, and we arrived around 3pm and a lot of things were already gone.  This place empties quickly and it’s obvious why.

I love having visitors here in Boaco because I love being able to show people around and point out my favorite places.  Hope to see you soon!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Poolside

I made a trip over to the aguas termales (hot springs) near Boaco with my host brother yesterday and we had a pretty good time.  We called before to make sure it was open, but we didn't find out until we got there that only 1 of their 6 or so pools were actually open (or filled).  The way this place works is that they take the natural hot spring water and pump it into pools.  There are covered areas around the pools with tables, chairs, and hammocks.  But, if you use a hammock, they'll charge you.  they won't tell you before, but as you leave, they'll call you over and tell you owe them money.  That's what happened to us.  Gosh, one thing I love about the U.S. is good signage. 

Anyway, we had a great time and enjoyed the hot water.  I know it sounds weird because it's already hot here, but it was actually nice and relaxing.  Part of the pool was in the shade and it had an island atmosphere with the palms and hammocks.  I instantly felt like I was in a completely different place.  They were only missing the sand.  Oh, and the fruit smoothies.  They had food and drinks, just way overpriced.  Glad we brought snacks!



Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmastime is here!

So I recently found out that Christmas is celebrated on the 24th here, which is interesting. Apparently there is a tradition to have dinner at midnight and set off a lot of fireworks. This is how my Christmas in Nicaragua played out…

I left Boaco early and went to Nindiri to meet up with Kellie and check out her place and then we met up with some other volunteers in Masaya. It was so great to see everybody after almost a month. Then, Kellie and I went to San Juan de Oriente to celebrate Christmas with our training town families.

The little girls were so excited to see me—they saw me a block away and ran down the street with open arms. Then we walked to the house holding hands. It was precious.

I hung out and unpacked a little—the little girls stayed right by my side as I made my bed and we played a little. They thought my mosquitero was so fun so we laid on the bed for awhile and giggled. Then they wanted to paint my nails, so Maria Eduarda got out her nail polish and painted them. Now she’s 3, so it was messy, but pretty funny. She wanted to paint them all pink and then put sparkles. After two of my fingers were painted, fingers not just nails, I decided that maybe she should just paint the rest with the clear glittery polish. She went along with it :)


Maria Eduarda and Giselle

Kellie and I walked around the town like old times, without Jess though, and we made sure to visit Jess’ family. They were very happy to see us, but of course sad that Jess wasn’t there. It’s weird being back here, but it feels nice at the same time. I had a little de sha vous yesterday as I was eating lunch and my host mom’s sister walked into the kitchen from the back patio and greeted me as she usually did when I was eating lunch back in training. I had a weird feeling and thought, woah, what if I was back in training again? It makes me feel like I haven’t been gone that long, but still training feels so long ago. It has been a month I guess. Wow, time does really go by quickly!

So the evening, I would say, was a little anti-climatic. My family told me that we would have dinner earlier because it’s weird to wait so long, but they were baking bread for later so I was very excited about that—I love their bread! My host mom gave me gallo pinto, fried cheese, and platanos fritos for dinner (the typical Nica dish here) around 7:30pm, and I thought it was weird that there wasn’t a special dinner, but lunch was really good so I just went with it. We hung out around the house for awhile and they started getting kind of dressy so I thought we were going to do something. I took some pics of my host sister with her daughter by the Christmas tree.
My host mom and her sis were getting ready to leave for mass and then she asked me to make garlic bread, because I had introduced it to them before. So, Kellie and I took over the kitchen and made some garlic butter and added it to their dough to make some garlic rolls. Then we watched a movie until her family was going to start eating…around 11pm. I was so tired because I had stayed up late the night before, so I almost went to bed, but then the bread was ready to eat so I had some delish garlic rolls with more garlic butter on top. I wasn’t even hungry, but who can turn down fresh, hot bread? I watched a show on my computer and then it was midnight and I heard all kinds of fireworks in the streets. My host mom and her sis came to my door and wished me Merry Christmas and then they brought out a bottle of sparkling apple cider. They couldn’t open it, so my host mom said, ask Megan, she’s strong. Haha Well, I was able to open it and we enjoyed some and then watched fireworks outside. We retreated back inside the house because it was really cold out and then sat on the couches watching TV. It felt kind of like New Years: hanging out til midnight, watching fireworks, and then everything is over. Some friends came over and chatted for a little and then I had to say goodnight because it was 2am!

I found out that pretty much nothing goes on here on the 25th so after eating breakfast (a nacatamal and more garlic rolls :) So I’ll be way full the whole day) Kellie and I visited Jess’ family again because her mom was gone yesterday. It was nice hanging out with them—they’re a fun family and so welcoming. Her mom gave us some torta (cake) that she had made last night, which is a traditional cake for Christmas. It was pretty good—had some honey and liquor in it and reminded me of tres leches cake.

Today we’re planning on just hanging out and watching some movies, including A Christmas Story, a classic :) Kellie hasn’t seen it, but it’s a tradition in my family. There are some other volunteers close by, so we might hang out with them. Sounds like it will be a pretty chill day.
Here's a link to my Facebook album:

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Karie's Visit

After not having much on the agenda for quite awhile, my weekend was suddenly full of adventure. One of my professors from Western Oregon was visiting Nicaragua and she invited me to join her to show her around my digs. She is fluent in Spanish and has made it her goal to travel to all of the Spanish-speaking countries, and Nicaragua was next on her list.


I left early to meet Karie in Managua where she was staying and then we headed down to Masaya. We met up with Kellie and took Karie to all of the local attractions, including the Nica market and the cleaner tourist market. Kellie showed us the mirador in Masaya, the one I hadn’t seen before, and it was beautiful. The lake is bigger than the one in Catarina and the view was breathtaking. Thanks Kellie! We hung out in the park for a little and enjoyed the tranquility and people watched. Later, I took Karie to Catarina to see the mirador there, where you can see Granada (Karie will be going there later) and Lake Nicaragua, and then we checked out some shops. I promised that the pottery is best in San Juan de Oriente (my training town) and she agreed once we arrived. We both bargained and bought some pieces. We also went to a workshop and the local artisans showed us everything in their shop and the process of making the pottery. They were very eager to share their work with us and this was a very neat experience for both of us. After a long, hot day, we headed back up to Managua to catch the bus to Boaco.

We finally arrived in Boaco in the evening, just in time to walk to Boaco arriba and find a restaurant for dinner. I invited my little sister to join us and we had a great time and good conversation. It was fun because we spoke Spanish—usually when I’m around other Americans we speak English, but it made more sense to speak Spanish since my host sister was there. I enjoyed this and I feel like I was able to learn some things from Karie too. After dinner we hung out at my house and relaxed because we were very exhausted from the travel.

The next morning, I cooked breakfast for us—oatmeal, eggs, tajadas (platanos fritos), and fresh pineapple. Delicious :) After breakfast, Karie did the dishes while I heated water for bucket baths. The water in my house is freezing, so I figured bucket baths wouldn’t be terrible as long as we could have hot water. I think this was Karie’s first bucket bath, so she got to enjoy a little bit of the Peace Corps experience.

Fresh and clean, we headed out to explore Boaco. I took Karie to Boaco arriba, now in the light, to see the park, church, the lighthouse, and then to the panaderia for a snack. We sat in the park and enjoyed the scenery and the gentle breeze. Then, we walked to Boaco abajo to see the market and take pictures. It was such a fun experience because I haven’t taken pictures of the market yet mainly because I live here and I usually don’t take pictures when I’m walking around by myself. Karie inspired me and we got a lot of great pictures, played with the kids in the market, and talked to some locals. I made sure to direct Karie to some shops with sacos (strong Nica bags made from plastic) so that she could carry her pottery easier on the way back to Managua. We then headed back to the house and Karie packed up her things. It was then time to say goodbye. We took pictures with each other and then with my host sis and mom. They seemed to enjoy having a visitor. I then took a taxi to the bus terminal to help Karie with her things and made sure she got a seat on the bus. It was so good having a visitor and playing tour guide and I was sure sad to see her go. She has plans to visit Granada, the Isla de Ometepe, and a place near San Juan del Sur. Sounds like some fun Christmas plans :)

Although I was just in San Juan was a short visit, I’m still planning on going back for Christmas to spend time with my old host family. I’m really excited to see my family there and hang out with friends, including Kellie who’s going back too. It should be fun!

I’m posting pictures on Facebook so make sure to check them out!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Christmas is coming!

So we finally started putting up Christmas decorations which was very exciting because I LOVE Christmas :) We put Christmas music on and started decorating. My host brother totally gets into decorating for holidays—it’s really cute. He spent so much time making a Christmas tree out of lights for the front window.


Then he had me dust off the Christmas ornaments and sort them into different sizes for him to put them on the tree—gosh I thought I was super organized! He did a great job with the ornaments and then started putting on the lights, to which I told him you are always supposed to put the lights on first, but he said then the ornaments hide the lights. Who is to win this fight? He let me help with the lights and I’d say our combined work made the tree look beautiful.




Yesterday I borrowed movies from Steve (my sitemate who is a small business PCV) because I had been wanting to watch a movie and my host brother and I couldn’t find any. So, I bought ice cream and we watched a movie with the sparkle of the Christmas tree in behind us. It was so wonderful. Did I say I love Christmas? :)


Today I decided I was going to reorganize some things in my room, which also meant moving out some things that the family had left in my room. My host bro said it would be ok—I did ask first! So, I rearranged things and I feel so much better, not so crammed. As my parents know, I love to rearrange things and organize. It just makes me feel better about the space I’m living in, and if I’m gonna be here for 2 years, I might as well feel comfortable. Speaking of living here for 2 years, I had lunch at home the other day with an aunt, my host sis, and host mom. I’m not sure how we got onto this topic, but the aunt started teasing that I was going to marry Jasser, because apparently there was a rumor going around that we were married. Then, my host mom pretty much said that she wanted me to stay there (even after the 2 years) and marry Jasser. This is not the first time she’s mentioned this. Usually it’s kind of awkward, but this time it was fuinny with the aunt. She started saying that Jasser is too small for me (he’s a little shorter than me and pretty flaco—thin). They were joking around and I was laughing and then they asked me, what I think. I said (in Spanish), “I need a big man for security”. The aunt was laughing hysterically and then they all started saying poor Jasser. I think I cleared up the “marrying Jasser” situation though.

For now the Christmas decorating continues as Jasser sets up a full nativity display including Bethlehem. It should be interesting—he always works so hard on these things.


This is the beginning of what I'm sure will be quite a display!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Better

I survived the bacteria. I just have to do another test tomorrow to make sure that it’s completely gone, but I feel tons better, besides feeling full to the brim from my host mom’s food. So, I told her last week (conveniently right before I happened to get sick) that it would be better if I bought and cooked my own food because I felt bad wasting her food because I didn’t eat that much and I didn’t want her to worry about what to buy me, because often I don’t know what I want to eat. I gave her the money for the last week and told her from then on I would buy and make my own food and she doesn’t need to worry about my food—I also told her I didn’t want to offend her, but it’s just easier for me to take care of the food situation. Anyway, for the past week, I’ve been making my own food which hasn’t been too hard because I was getting over my sickness so I wasn’t eating much. However, I think my host mom is worried that I’m not eating enough because she keeps making food and telling me to eat it and watching me make my food and making weird looks like I’m eating some strange, foreign material (you know, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches). I feel kind of awkward though because I’m not paying her but she keeps giving me food. I know our conversation was clear last week because she repeated back to me what I had told her and she saw me bring groceries home from the market and she watched me make my own meals. I’m not quite sure what to do because I want to keep buying my own food so I can eat what I want, but I don’t want her to expect me to pay her later because I can’t afford to be buying my own food and then paying her as well. Weird. Things here are weird is all I can say. But, it’s just another weird thing to get over and I have to make it unweird and deal with it :) That’s what we get when cultures clash…


For now, I’ll just keep on keeping on and find something else to worry about, like my parents and brother being in Hawaii right now. Hope they’re having fun, but not too much haha I do have some fun plans coming up. One of my professors from Western Oregon is coming to Nicaragua, not quite sure why she planned to come here, but I’m excited to hang out with her. I’m going to go into Managua and then show her around Masaya and where I used to live and then hopefully bring her back to Boaco for the night to check things out here. By the way, I went around yesterday to the hotels here comparing the services, rooms, etc. so I’m prepared for visitors :) Of course, we have an extra room at our house, but if you want your own space, there are cheap (and clean) hotels here, although the rooms are very small. But do you really need a lot of room when you just sleep there? Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing some friends in Masaya too and hopefully we’ll take lots of fun pictures so stay tuned.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Bacteria

I’ve kept a low profile this past week mainly because I’ve been sick and I wasn’t able to be up and about. Unfortunately, I ate some food that wasn’t stored well (not from my host family) and I ended up getting an intestinal bacterial infection. I’ve gotten stomach bacteria within the first month of being here in Nicaragua, but this is much worse. I ate the food, which seemed to be just fine, around 5:30pm on Monday and I felt fine. A little later I felt like I kind of had an upset stomach so I ate some soda crackers. I was feeling really tired so I went to bed around 8:30pm. This wasn’t too unusual because I was getting over a cold so I didn’t have much energy. I woke up around 10:30pm and my stomach felt a little weird but I laid in bed for a little while longer. I then decided that it felt like I might throw up so I grabbed my water bottle and flashlight, put my hair up just in case, and planted myself on the bathroom floor next to the open toilet. Well, to say the least, I was right in my prediction and I did feel a little better after that so I went back to bed. However, about an hour later I felt the very same way so I headed back to the bathroom to take care of things. I was feeling a little weak by this point because I had thrown up quite a few times and things were coming out the other end too. So, I didn’t have much of anything in my stomach. I stayed in the bathroom because I felt this wouldn’t be the end of it. I draped my bath towel around me as I found a semi-comfortable position on the floor and camped out until my stomach decided to get rid of whatever else was left in there.


I did end up going back to my bed, but after the 5th trip to the bathroom, intense stomach cramps, and crawling to my bed, I decided to call the PC medical officer on duty. I explained my situation and she instructed me to take Dramamine to hopefully stop the vomiting. She said if I could hold that down for at least an hour, then I could start drinking rehydration salts. Fortunately, my stomach accepted it and I began drinking suero (my new best friend) to rehydrate. She also told me that in the morning I would need to go to the lab and do a test to see I for sure had bacteria. I didn’t know how I was going to make it there in the morning, but I didn’t have enough energy to worry about that right then. My body allowed me to sleep for a little with a few trips to the bathroom to take care of business.

In the morning around 8:30am, I pulled together as much strength as I could, which meant putting on a zip-up jacket and walking out of my bedroom. I woke up my host brother and asked if he would go to the lab with me, and apparently he didn’t realize the urgency of this request as he got ready, fixed his hair, etc. I felt like death and could barely walk so I told him that we needed to take a taxi. Usually it only takes about 8minutes to walk to the lab which is in Boaco arriba, but there was no way I was going to make it on foot. I sat on our porch as we waited for a taxi and then we hopped in.

As we walked to the lab, my bro put his arm around me to help me walk. There was road construction so the taxi had dropped us off about a half a block away and as we were walking, my flip-flop caught a cobblestone and broke. So, I then had to walk with only one flip-flop the rest of the way, and up the narrow stair case to the lab. I got some weird looks with only one flip-flop, in pajamas, and I probably looked like I was going to throw up or pass out. I managed to tell the lady that I needed a test which she shouted back to the doctor—no need for privacy anymore :) I was too sick to be embarrassed, fortunately. She then told me to come back at 11am, but I asked if they could do it earlier as I was clearly in pain and I needed test results to tell me what kind of medicine I could get. They said 10am would be fine. Ok, so I returned to my house and laid on the couch in pain. My host mom came home and then found out what was going on and got upset that I didn’t tell them last night while I was sick. Well, when your head is in the toilet and you have only enough energy to crawl back and forth from your bed and the bathroom, going to wake up your host family to explain in Spanish that you’re not feeling well is not exactly the number one priority. I told the PC doctor that I dropped off the specimen and I had to wait to get the results, and she told me to call her back after that.

The next thing I knew, the living room was filled with my host mom’s side of the family—he mom, two sisters, and two nieces all with their own opinions of what should be done. As I laid in pain, they asked me about diarrhea, vomiting, what I ate that caused this—of course all things that I did not want to be thinking about, nor discussing with the whole family. They all suggested their secrets to cure what I had—lemonade, alka-seltzer, etc. I told them several times that I spoke with the PC doctor and I had to wait for my test results, but they kept talking. Finally, 10am came and my host bro went to the lab for me to pick up my results, and sure enough I had bacteria. I had to wait a half an hour for the PC doctor to get back to me and then she told me what medicine I could take. I took a taxi with my host bro to the pharmacy and got the goods and then was on my way home, but the taxi had to take others to Boaco arriba first. I was just so anxious to get home and lay down.

The doctor instructed me to not eat anything dairy or fried, but I could eat fruits, veggies, or bread. I actually had no appetite so I went straight to my room and hoped the meds would kick in soon. Unfortunately, the doctor told me that the diarrhea would continue through the next day, but I needed to keep myself hydrated with the suero, which tastes disgusting (salty, sugar water). I continued to take Dramamine and took Tylenol as well. I got a little sleep, but felt absolutely miserable. That day was pretty much a blur as people came in and out of my room and my host mom tried to get me to eat, but my body just couldn’t do it. I did eat 3 bananos that day and drank some oatmeal drink, which actually turned out to help because it had some substance and tasted good.

That night (Tuesday) was the main celebrations for Purisima, so the streets were filled with music and people running around setting off fireworks. I could only hear what was going on, but others came in and told me. My counterpart came over worried as ever and wanted me to go to the hospital, but I told him things were under control and I had talked to the doctor. He then wanted to call my PC boss, but I told him no, that I had already talked to the doctor and there was nothing my boss could do. About a half an hour later I got a text from my boss telling me that he called her, but she assumed I already talked to the doctor. After all the craziness wore off (inside and outside of the house), I finally got to sleep.

I felt a little better Wednesday, but still couldn’t eat much—I had a banano, crackers, some cooked potatoes, and lots of suero. I had a little more energy, but realized that it wasn’t much as I got tired very easily after walking around the house. My host mom heated up water and I took a bucket bath, which made me feel a lot better too.

Thursday I felt much better, but still had some stomach pain. I poached an egg in the microwave and ate in on top of soda crackers—one of my favorites that mom always made (poached eggs on crackers). This was some comfort food and I knew it would get some good substance in me. I rested in my room and then later had a pb & j sandwich. I ate very slowly as I still wasn’t feeling able to eat much even though I was hungry and knew I needed food.

I lounged on the couch and watched tv and was bored as ever. Then, I decided that I needed to get out of the house to check the mail. The post office is only a half block away and I was short of breath by the time I got there, even though I walked slow, not Nica pace, but pretty slow. There was nothing in the box, but the lady at the desk informed me that I had a package. What a surprise! I got a package from my aunt and uncle in Arizona. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any money to the post office with me because I wasn’t expecting a package, so I had to go back home, get 5 cords, and then go back to pay for the package. I walked back home, excitedly with my package. I struggled to open it—a mixture of a very good tape job and my own weakness from being sick. After opening it, an overflowing stocking with individually wrapped presents came pouring out. I almost started crying because of this wonderful surprise. I had felt a little sad the past few days being sick and without friends or family, so this was just what I needed. Thank you :)

I’m feeling a lot better and have eaten more today.  I hope to be ready to eat ice cream again by next week ;)

My host bro's Purisima's display--he worked so hard on it and I thought it was pretty cute.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Sickness

So sickness hit me after riding in a truck with high winds and cool air for about 2  1/2 hours and I've been laying low for the past few days.  It's a head cold so I haven't had much energy, but I hate being cooped up in the house all day so I didn't rest as much as I should have.  I lost my appetite in the middle of the day the past two days and I could tell my host mom was worried about me, but I just wasn't feeling like myself.  I got some medicine and it's getting a little better.  What started out with a headache, sneezes, and sinus pressure, has moved down to my throat and lots of coughs.  My voice was scratchy last night and I thought it was as good as gone, but it came back today.  My ears were plugged and my nose has been a little stuffy, but as the day progresses, the symptoms lessen, thankfully :)  I hope I'll be back to my normal self soon because I have been wanting to get back into my workout routine. 

Today was pretty fun because we had a little get together with the Boaco PCV's.  We all met here in Boaco and went to Steve's (small business volunteer) house and then disbursed to explore the town a little for those who haven't been here before.  It was neat because I got to play tour guide :)  I like being the leader, but it was a little hard with my scratchy voice and plugged ears haha  Anyway, we ended up going back to Boaco arriba to La Pizzeria which is owned by a gringo.  We had to wait awhile, but it was great pizza--well worth the wait and it wasn't that expensive.  I certainly can't eat there everyday on a PCV's budget, but if anybody wants to visit, we are going!

So, there's not much else going on right now...there are some more Catholic holidays coming up--I can't keep up with all of them!  We'll probably go around and visit houses and eat lots of food--that's an international rule for holidays :) 

I found out that my host mom's mom (my abuela--grandma) has wireless internet in her house, what?!  Yeah, and she only lives a few blocks away so I'm thinking I'll be visiting grandma more often ;)  Her daughter and her kids live there too so that's why they have internet, but I was definitely excited to find that out.  My friend who worked at one of the cybers here in Boaco did let me use the internet there for free, but he doesn't work there anymore--not because he got fired for not charging me haha  He's doing something else, but I can't remember right now. 

Well, that's all the news for now; make sure you add me to your list for Christmas cards!  (The Boaco address)

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

3 Months!

Today marks my 3 month anniversary of being here in Nicaragua!  Can't believe it and I know the next 24 months will fly by as well.  Thanks for following my adventures and supporting me in my service.  Feel free to write :)