Monday, January 31, 2011

School is starting soon

If you have been following my blog, you know that the start date for schools here was pushed back a little so we’ll be starting February 15th. Apparently, it takes awhile for things to get organized and for students to show up, so I guess the first few weeks are kind of hectic too. Anyway, I was thinking about getting things ready for the school year and started making a list of some things that might help.

-pens
-pencils
-regular Elmer’s glue
-scissors
-markers
-tape (scotch, packing, masking, double-sided)
-construction paper or craft paper
-stickers
-crayons
-white computer paper
-notebook paper/spirals
-tissue packets
-magazines (People, Good Housekeeping, etc.—I cut things out to use in class)

I was also thinking of some snacks/food items that I miss that might come in handy during my busy schedule.

-soup packets that I just add milk, butter, and maybe veggies
-trail mix
-fruit leather
-fruit snacks
-travel packs of peanuts or almonds
-100 calorie snacks (goldfish crackers, cookies, etc.)

If you see some things on sale and have the opportunity to throw a small box together, it’s greatly appreciated :)

Address:
Megan McCann
Apartado Postal #23
Boaco, Nicaragua
América Central

Sunday, January 30, 2011

S'mores

We had a PC meeting in Boaco, so Andrea and Kellie came to my house to hang out and we did girlie stuff, like make Valentine’s Day cards, eat chocolate, and watch “America’s Next Top Model” (old ones on dvd).  We also had the supplies to make s’mores and a gas stove, so we tried it out and were successful!


My host mom even tried it out :)

Friday, January 28, 2011

Jasser's Workshop

We’re going to have a baby shower for my host sister Ruth next weekend and I’ve been working in Jasser’s workshop. He’s at it again. He surprises me every time with his creativity and desire to go above and beyond. Jasser showed me some things that he had bought for the baby shower which included some plastic diaper pins, but they were pink and Ruth is having a baby boy. That didn’t stop him. We painted all 36 of the pins with yellow nail polish to include in the party favors. It made me really think about the times that I have gone to buy party decorations or things like that. He puts so much work into making them himself and he enjoys it. Although it’s a lot more work, it’s cheaper than buying a bunch of pre-made things at the store, and he really doesn’t have anything to do right now (and neither do I) haha I helped paint some Styrofoam circles too and cut some little sticks. Here is a picture of what he’s making for the party favors. It’s not exactly what I would think of as a party favor.


He’s making 36 of these! And, he’s making a large display to put the party favors on for the party. Here’s a picture of what it looks like before paint.


I’m always impressed by his work: the purisima, Christmas, and his friend’s birthday party. It’s given me some good ideas for decorating in the future :)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Visitors

My friend Kyle, from Oregon, had told me that he would be traveling through Central America starting in January and would hopefully make it to Nicaragua to visit. He emailed me telling me he would probably stop by in a week or so (last Monday) and then showed up in Boaco last Thursday (only a few days later…). I hadn’t gone to a cyber in awhile so I didn’t get his last email telling me that he was actually in Managua heading to Boaco. As I was sitting in a cyber, I checked my email and saw a message from him saying he was going to try to be in Boaco that day. I immediately wrote back hoping that he would check his email soon. I then got a message back just a few minutes later saying he was in Coabo. Coabo? I had no idea if that was a city or maybe a cyber in town. I asked Jasser and he had no idea. I sent him my phone number & told him to ask to borrow a phone so he could call me. I got a call and he told me he was in a cyber which happened to be down the street from the one I was sitting in. He apparently mixed up the letters and said Coabo instead of Boaco haha He said it scared him to read my message “Where’s Coabo?” I bet! Anyway, I ran down to the other cyber & found him and his friend Jackson. It’s crazy seeing friends from home here in Nicaragua! It was great :)




Ice cream with the boys :)

I brought them back to my house to put their stuff down and then we headed out so I could show them Boaco (not Coabo). We visited my sitemate Steve, and his family happened to be making buñuelos, which are this amazing deep fried treat with simple syrup on top. It was delicious!! We walked around a little and then came back to the house. I did a load of laundry—their first for the trip! My host mom & sis came back from the finca so they got to meet my family. We went out to dinner and Jasser joined us. Steve was planning on leaving Boaco the next morning for a meeting in Managua and Kyle and Jackson had wanted to visit Leon, so we decided that we would head out super early to ride the bus and catch a taxi with Steve.

We left Boaco after their short visit—they were tempted by my family’s invitation to their finca (farm/ranch), but they wouldn’t have enough time for the travel. Instead, we headed toward Leon and met up with my friend (PCV) Monica. She showed us around and we got lunch there. Unfortunately, the power and water was out in the entire city, which is extremely uncommon for Leon. This is a very large city and the power hasn’t gone out in 2 years I guess. What luck! So, we decided that the beach was the best way to spend our time. It was spontaneous, but proved to be worth the trip! It was so beautiful there & it was very relaxing.

The next day we went volcano surfing/boarding on Cerro Negro which is a black sand volcano. This is what originally lured the boys to Leon. Monica didn’t join us because she had already gone and she had a meeting that day. We had some great guides and there was an Indian family in our group with two sweet little girls. It was a long day and an awesome experience since we hiked down into the volcano’s crater—and yes, it’s a live volcano—hot and sulfery inside! The most amazing thing that happened that day though, was that the water miraculously came back and we were able to take showers after sweating all day and being covered in black sand/dust. It was by far the best shower ever and it was only lukewarm. I was also able to wash out the rest of the sand from my hair from the day before.




We headed to Granada after that, which was fun because I haven’t been there since our first 3 days in Nicaragua for orientation. We walked around and explored the town and ran into a guy selling tours. We weren’t planning on going on any tours, but then decided to take the canopy tour which is zip-lining through the jungle/forest. We had a great time and it was nice to get out of the sun a little. We hung out with other PCVs later and watched some football.

The next day we went to the Laguna de Apoyo. I went there with my training family back in September and it wasn’t very fun because only my host brother knew how to swim so the others just stayed on the beach. This time was much better being with other volunteers and friends. We headed straight to the water and spent several hours down there. It was awesome! However, we all realized later that we had some pretty impressive sunburns…Yikes! We did wear sunscreen, but reapplying is what we forgot.
Although I wished I could continue on with Kyle and Jackson as they traveled the rest of Central America and headed on to South America, I entered back into reality and decided that my days of travel would come soon. The boys are now on Ometepe Island, which I hope to make it to soon because I’ve heard it’s beautiful.

For now, I’m in Boaco and waiting for more visitors to come my way…School will be starting soon though and I am excited for that. Did I mention in my last blog that the ministry of education moved the start date for schools from January 31st to February 15th. I’ll keep you updated!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Getting in Shape

So I’ve been working out a lot more often lately and trying to eat healthier food, but Jasser is not keeping up with it. Last night I asked him if he wanted to work out with me today, well I made him promise he would. So today, I got out my pilates/aerobics dvd (which he agreed to do) and we got ready. He was in jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops. Hmmm… I asked if he had any tennis shoes or shorts. Nope. We started working out and I kinda had to laugh a little at him, but he was trying. However, he gave up half way through and watched me finish the video. I told him that at first it’s gonna be difficult, but if he keeps up with it, it will become easier. We’ll see! Tomorrow we’re gonna try tackling the stairs to Boaco arriba. I’ll see if I can get him going. He didn’t want to work out before noon today, but I got him to start at 11:15am. It’s gonna take some work, but I’m excited and I feel better after working out.


We went to Jasser’s aunt’s house for lunch afterwards and his cousin was asking us questions about working out and then she asked me how much I weigh. Apparently it’s okay to ask people this and not a big deal. I haven’t weighed myself in quite awhile, so I honestly said I didn’t know. It still made me feel uncomfortable because they kept with it and were surprised I didn’t know and she said I could weigh myself next time I come by. Um, no thanks. :)  It might be kind of interesting to see if I have lost weight because a lot of volunteers usually gain weight because of the carbs, starches, and sugars in all the food here, but it could be depressing if I’ve gained weight, so I’m just gonna wait until I know for sure I’ve lost weight to check.   Haha

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Foreigners


I got back to Boaco Thursday afternoon and took some time to unpack, do laundry, and took a shower.  I unfortunately did not get a hot shower this past week while in hotels because every time I got in, the water was cold/luke warm.  Bummer!  I’ll just have to resort to bucket baths with water heated on the stove. 

It was nice to see my host bro after being gone for 4 days and it always feels good to come home.  I walked around the town with him, got some groceries, and then went used clothes shopping.  I didn’t find anything for me, but we found some cute baby stuff for my host sister.  Jasser wants me to help him throw a baby shower for his sister next month.  I’m excited for the baby to come!  My host sister, Ruth, lives in Granada with her husband (in Managua during the school year) so I probably won’t get to see the baby often, but it will be fun when I do :)  I’m kind of glad they live in a different house because I’m not ready to live with a newborn crying through the night.  

That night I met up with some students from University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire who are doing some research here in Boaco.  One of them contacted me through Facebook because he had seen I was a PCV in Boaco and he was also interested in PC.  They’re staying at a hotel in Boaco, but working with a company in Teustepe, which is about 30 minutes away.  I invited Steve, my sitemate who is a small business volunteer, to come with us for dinner.  Since the students are doing a project with micro-finance, I figured they’d be able to talk to Steve about his work here.  We ended up going to the Mexican restaurant and we had a great time swapping stories.  The girl had studied abroad here in Nicaragua before and both students have applied to PC and have been given some information about where they might be placed.  The guy is supposed to be starting a project in Latin America in September, so he could be close by.  It was fun talking to them about our experiences here and hearing what they have been doing.  Their university is paying for their trip so we were comparing some things against our volunteer budget… Nicaragua really is a cheap place to travel, but when you’re on our budget, you live a more simple life, as it should be in PC.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Beach Time


The conference went really well and I enjoyed working with my counterparts and also hanging out with the other volunteers.  Tuesday afternoon our counterparts headed home and the other group of TEFL volunteers joined us at the hotel.  We had some sessions and a little get to know you through funny stories time.  We convinced our boss to extend lunch an extra half an hour Tuesday so we could swim in the ocean during daylight so that was super fun!  It was warm and the water was the perfect temperature.  

Unfortunately, the internet was not so great there, and it probably didn’t help that 30 or so people were trying to use it at the same time.  That’s Peace Corps though—I never thought that I would even have the access that I do, so I’m lucky for that.  Anyway, we had a great time together and that was the best part.  I hadn’t seen a lot of people for about a month and a half, so it was so exciting to be with my PC family again :)
Wednesday morning I got up a little before 6am and headed out to the beach with Melissa and Sam to catch the sunrise.  They swam, but I collected more shells and took pictures of the beautiful sunrise.  I don’t get up early enough to see the sunrise often and this was extra special on the beach.  Although I’m not a morning person, this was sure worth it.


We had meetings and such that morning, lunch, and then we were free after 2:30pm. Some of us decided to hang out by the pool for a little before heading to Managua.  Because our meetings extended into the afternoon, we had a hotel booked in Managua so we didn’t have to chance missing our busses or traveling at night by ourselves.  This was nice because we didn’t have to rush out of there.  A group of 5 of us took a bus to Managua together and then we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant near the PC office, which was delicious!!!  I’m so sad that I didn’t know about it before.  It’s a little spendy on our volunteer budget, but it was definitely worth it.  I really miss Mexican food!  If course we were craving something sweet after dinner so we headed over to the grocery store and picked up some treats.  I got a slice of cheesecake—I don’t even remember the last time I had cheesecake.  It was so good!  We then just hung out at the hotel for the night…again the internet was acting up though.  This just meant more time to talk with my friends at the hotel :)

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Vacation from Vacation

I'm here in Pochomil, Managua, Nicaragua right now enjoying a vacation from my vacation. We're staying at a little beach resort, which is such a treat. This is actually our get together with our whole TEFL group and our counterparts to refresh our minds getting into the gears of school and to get to know everybody.


After a few long bus rides and a hectic bus schedules, bus times change on Sunday, but are not always predictable or posted, we found our hotel and settled in. We had a little meet and greet and then headed to dinner, which was delicious. Some of us wanted to check out the beach even though it was dark, so we went out there and touched the warm ocean, yes Oregonians I said warm ocean ;) We walked along the beach for awhile and since it was low tide we found some neat shells! Yes Mom, I grabbed some for you :)

We came back to the hotel and everybody was getting excited for karaoke and asked me to get it started because I had started deaf karaoke with our group and they loved it. I was going to sing one of my favorite karaoke songs: Tina Turner “What’s love got to do with it”, but they didn’t have it so I sang “Wake me up before you go go” with Sam (my fellow Oregonian). I encouraged others to get in there and before we knew it, the dance floor was rockin’. We had so much fun and we even got our bosses to sing a song, which was fun because they told us before they were observers. The party went on for awhile, which kind of surprised me since we were in an open-air bar in the middle of the resort, but I think they shut things down around 11pm, so not too late to disturb too many people. I will post pictures later because I didn’t have my camera.

Tomorrow we have meetings, but hopefully we’ll get some beach time :)

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Time is flying...

My 4 month mark slipped by me and now it's almost the middle of the month!  Can't believe it!  I haven't been too much because my family is still at their finca, so I've just been hanging out with Jasser.  However, it feels like the break is going by quickly.  This weekend we have a conference with our TEFL group and our teaching counterparts.  I'm excited to see everybody and get back into the swing of things.  I'm actually really excited because we'll be at a hotel on the beach :) 

P.S. Jasser locked his keys in his bedroom the other night but fortunately there was a spare in the kitchen.  Then, he locked himself out of his grandma's house and had to break in. We haven't had much luck with keys lately...

Not a great morning

Yesterday I went to Managua for a meeting to cover for another volunteer from my department. He asked me last night and I said yes before realizing that I would have to get up at 5:30am in order to catch a bus to make it in time for the 10am meeting. Ugh! Well, I got up at 5:30am which is ridiculous—who gets up that early?! I’m not a morning person, but I did it anyway…but it didn’t go as well as I would have liked.


I walked up to the bus terminal and everything looked like it usually does—there were several buses, but only one filling up, and a man shouting “Managua, Managua, Managua”, so I got on the bus and found a seat in the back as it was already pretty full. I waited and then the bus pulled out of the terminal a little early, which I thought was nice. But, we pulled out going in the opposite direction than usual. I thought maybe we were going around the other way on the highway and then going through town. We turned left when we should have turned right and I was getting worried so I asked the man next to me if we were going to Managua and he said no in a worried voice. I immediately said that I had to go to Managua and he stood up and whistled at the driver and told him I needed off. I hustled up to the front and they told me that an expreso bus would be coming the opposite way and I could take that. I was a little irritated because the guy at the terminal had said “Managua”, the bus had “Managua” written on it, and I went to the terminal for the buses going to Managua. Ugh! Anyway, they ended up pulling over and flagging down the expreso, which was very nice of them. But, I wasn’t as lucky I thought.

I did end up getting a seat thankfully and I drifted in and out of sleep as we headed back through Boaco and then through the country. All of a sudden I heard a big BOOM and the bus bounced a little. We all looked around, then before we knew it there was smoke coming up the aisle from the back. The next thing I knew I was smashed between people in the front of the push pushing to get off while everyone was yelling—I don’t even remember getting up from my seat. My mind was racing so fast and everyone was shouting for them to open the doors and the bus slowed down. I thought it was going to catch on fire or explode—we were all in a state of panic and started coughing from the smoke. Finally, the bus driver opened the door and we rushed off and ran to the grass, coughing. I was pretty shaken up and I had scrapes on my legs from people’s shoes as they were trying to push their way off the bus.

We found out that fortunately, it was just a tire that had blown out. I was terrified in the moment though because about 2 weeks ago by host brother was on a bus in Managua and it caught on fire and they all had to run and get off. I would have to say this was the scariest experience of my life, especially because of the fear I saw in everyone else’s faces.

It only took them 15 minutes to get the new tire on and they had to wipe down all the seats because they were covered in dust. Needless to say, I stayed wide-awake the rest of the way to Managua.

I made it to the meeting just fine and got to see one of my friends so that was good. I was still coughing from the dust/smoke though. This day did not go as I would have hoped, but I’m thankful that I wasn’t hurt. I was a little nervous for the bus ride home, but everything was fine.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Locked out

I locked my keys in my room for the first time at my house here in Boaco.  I knew the day would come.  Jasser and I were going to go visit his aunt and grandparents and I stepped out of my room, closed the door, took 3 steps and said "Oh, crap!"  A rush of panic came over me.  I immediately told Jasser in a sad voice.  Unfortunately, there are no spare keys for my room...and the rest of the family was at the farm that's without cell service.  Well, I have a small window to my bathroom which is barred, a large window to the back patio which is barred, and there is an interior glass window.  Before I always thought it was so odd to have these interior windows, but I was very thankful for it yesterday because it became my only entry point.  The window is made of glass plates that fit inside a metal frame and a knob can be turned to open the window.  Jasser told me he remembered the strategy that he and Hazzell used before, so we took out the glass plates and I attempted to climb through the window, which was not going so well.  Then, Jasser got out a big stick and was able to push the handle on the inside door lock and the door opened.  What a relief!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Let's Make a Deal!

I challenged Jasser to go one day without eating tortillas, cuajada, or beans and he accepted this challenge. However, he told me that I would have to accept his challenge. At first he was going to make me shake before telling me, but I said that wasn’t fair since he already knew his challenge. So, he said that he would complete this task as long as I made the food for him because he wouldn’t know how or what to make. I agreed.

Yesterday morning I made pancakes on the newly found griddle that is hidden on their stove—never been used! I made Jasser put peanut butter and syrup on the pancakes because that’s how I do it at home :) He really liked them, but said he was going to miss his cuajada for the day.

I tried to get him to work out with me because technically our goal was to be eating healthier and exercising, but he didn’t want to. I did anyway though because I knew I’d feel guilty after those pancakes…

For lunch I made BLTs with onions. They were delicious :) Usually Jasser eats really slow but he scarfed this down. I haven’t had a BLT in awhile and it always reminds me of summer because we would use fresh tomatoes from our garden. There are always good tomatoes here and I’m thankful for that!

I decided to make a veggie stir fry for dinner. Gosh, this was a lot of work washing and cutting up all the veggies—oh and going to the market first and purchasing them—then, cooking everything, making the sauce, etc. I have a lot more respect for my dad cooking all the time and for my mom always taking care of me and cleaning. I was so exhausted because I was in the kitchen for so long, cooking and washing dishes. I only left to go to the market… Anyway, the stir fry turned out really well and I was impressed, as was Jasser and his cousin who came to visit.


I cut up a banano and an apple to have a little fruit salad for dessert because I had to eat something healthy. Jasser wanted me to make fried rice again so I cooked some rice to save. He’ll have to make the fried rice this time.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Ringing in the new year

Last night there was a quinceañera for a cousin of Yasser’s friend. This is a celebration for a girl’s 15th birthday. It is very elaborate, including a mass before the big party. I have been to a few of these in the States, but not yet in Nicaragua. Yasser had told me about the party before and said the mass began at 6pm then there would be a party after. So, a little after 5pm he decided we should leave his grandma’s house to get ready, oh and he still needed to buy a present and take a shower. Hmmm… So, we raced home and he told me to hurry up. I told him that I was fast and he said he was faster than me. We’ll see about that. Yasser is known for taking really long showers. I had taken a shower earlier so I was still fresh :) I got ready quickly—changed into a dress, did my hair, got my things together, etc. I sat on the couch as Yasser raced around trying to find things and going back and forth between his bedroom and the mirror checking if everything looked all right. He heard music outside so had to check that out. I definitely gave him a hard time about getting distracted and not going fast enough after he told me to hurry up. I also told him that he would need to carry my phone and keys in his pockets because I didn’t have a purse, besides my big, colorful shoulder bag. He didn’t want to do this apparently so he got one of his mom’s purses for me to use, even one that matched my dress. Then he made me carry his money and camera.


After he was finally dressed and ready (he considered changing but I convinced he looked fine), he told me that we needed to go to the shop next door to pick out a present. Well, the shop was closed. I suggested another little shop down the road, which meant we would have to walk down the wet, cobble stone street with rain lingering above, and me in my heels and long black dress. Whatever. We walked down the street and it appeared that the other shop was closed too, but fortunately it wasn’t. Yasser told me to help him pick something out. I had never met the girl, but I pointed out that lotion or perfume would be a good choice. He asked the guy at the counter and he suggested perfume or lotion. I guess he didn’t trust either of us so he asked the lady there. She took him over to a shelf with picture frames and diaries. He picked out a diary and bought it. Then, he chatted with the lady as the clock ticked to 6pm. I hate being late so of course this bothered me that he was taking his sweet time. But, I tried to relax because I know Nicas are usually late.

If there’s one thing that Nicas aren’t late to, it’s mass. We showed up to a jammed pack church and stood in the back. I looked around and noticed that no one else was dressed up and I was being stared at, which is not uncommon because I always look different. I asked Yasser why no one else was dressed up and he said that they weren’t the invitees, just attending mass, but then he thought maybe we were at the wrong church. Great. He made a phone call and found out that his friends were outside waiting, so we joined them. They were dressy. Phew! We sat outside during mass, waiting for about an hour.

When mass finished, the girl who we were celebrating walked from the front of the church to the back in a pink gown and tiara with her father as her escort. She even had a bouquet, which made it seem just like a wedding. They took lots of pictures and there was a videographer too. We followed them out the church and they walked to where the party would be—about a half mile away. I couldn’t believe that they didn’t have a special car to take her to the party, but apparently it’s the tradition to parade through the town to the destination with her family following.


The party hall was all decorated in pink and flowers. There was a giant display with not one, but 10 cakes. The chairs had white covers and pink bows on the back—it really did feel like a wedding.


Cake display across the dance floor


They played music and the party girl came in with her dad and they danced to a traditional quince song. Then it was time for everyone else to dance, so we did :) We didn’t eat dinner until 9:30pm and by that time I was starving! They had good food though—salad, 4 different choices of meat, rice, and rolls. There were bottles of rum on every table with Coca Cola too (totally Nica).

We had a great time dancing and chatting with everyone. We finally ate cake around midnight and it was better than the usual Nica cake which was good because I usually don’t like cake here. A lot of people were leaving after this, so we headed out too. It was quite a celebration!

Mariachi band member...in true Nica fashion: a rum bottle up the pant leg.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year and Welcome 2011!

It’s weird to say 2011. I was filling in my new day planner last week and it looked so odd to write 2011 on the page. This reminds me of every January in school, dating my papers with the new year and the strange feeling it brings. Only a week later, I’ll accidentally write 2010 somewhere :)
Well, I had a good time here in Boaco celebrating with my host bro and his friends. He was kind of last minute inviting people over (partly because he still doesn’t have a phone after it was stolen) so there weren’t that many people. We still had a great time dancing to really loud music with glow bracelets and glittery hats. At midnight, we got out sparkling cider and set off fireworks—something which gets pretty crazy here in Nicaragua! A lot of the fireworks are pretty much bombs and not very safe. My host bro set off one quickly and too close to the house, so I had to run away as a piece hit my leg. My first firework scar! Haha It’s tiny, but it hurt and scared me pretty good. We also lit sparklers which were fun (and a lot safer!). After setting off fireworks, we headed over to a friend’s house to continue the celebration. There were things burning in the streets as we walked by. A tradition here is to dress up a dummy like a person and burn it in the street at midnight to say goodbye to the old you. It was kind of weird to me though because it looked like burning people in the streets. A little morbid.

Anyway, we hung out with the friend and her family for awhile, while the older men were drinking and singing the night away. It was hilarious. The best part though was when the dad of Yasser’s friend went out to pour water on the burning pile in the street where people had been setting off bombs and other little fireworks on top of a dummy. He started pouring water and some sparks came up. Then he poured the rest of the bucket and part of a firework shot up and started going off and crackling. It certainly scared him. Then, he brought more water out to finish and this time, the mini bomb type things exploded when he poured the water. This was so funny to watch. I guess the water agitated the fireworks that were hidden in the pile that hadn’t exploded.

We came home late and then watched a little TV and ate some ice cream to celebrate before starting diets for the new year haha We then went to bed at 4am! Yikes! I finally had a legitimate excuse for sleeping in until 11:30am :)

with Yasser's best friend from school