Friday, August 31, 2012

Say what?!

So I'm at my Close of Service (COS) conference right now and it's great to see everybody in our group (both the English & Environment PCVs).  Very cool.  We had language exams on Wednesday and then 2 days here at the beach for a conference.  Is it fair that they have us closed up in a freezing cold (because of AC) conference room that has floor to ceiling windows that overlook the ocean???  Not really.  Well, at least we're in a beautiful location and staying in nice hotel rooms and eating delicious food :)

Ok, so that language stuff.  I was kinda nervous about the test/interview so Edwin practiced with me.  Then I got super nervous when I got to the PC office and had to sit around and wait with all the other PCVs there talking about the upcoming interviews.  The interview actually went really well and it was a lot more relaxed than I thought it would be.  I felt good after the interview and honestly felt like I really did my best.  It was frightening for me before because I found out I would be interviewing with the language department director here, but it actually turned out really well.

We had to wait for our results until last night, but I was pleasantly surprised.  I got "Advanced Medium"!  Sweet!  I was just shooting to get "Advanced", so that exceeded my expectations :)  I was so surprised when my boss told me and I was excited to tell my friends who had been encouraging me.  I even went back into the room to ask my boss to make sure it was really my score and not another Megan in the group haha  But, it was correct!

And now I'm here at the beach and we're celebrating our accomplishments with our group and we gave some small gifts to our bosses.  It's been a wonderful time so far and it's starting to really hit me that we're going to be leaving soon and going to have to say goodbye to our friends here.  Gotta soak up the rest of the time we have here!!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Machismo

So clearly this country has a lot of "machismo" aka male chauvinism aka guys think they're "all that" and can say whatever they want to women.  Ok, not all men, but it is a common theme here. 

Today I was on a mini field trip with my Access students practicing giving directions.  They were giving me directions on how to get to the market, but we actually went to the market, and of course made a few detours here and there.  It was a fun trip.  Well, on the way there, one of my boy students pointed out that some men were hissing at me so I told him a story about one of my guy friends here (another PCV) who likes to wave to the men and say "Adios mi amor" as a joke like he is acknowledging the piropo (catcall) and the men usually get embarrassed because obviously they were not directing their calls to him.  I told my student that he needs to protect his girls while we're walking down the street.  So he said ok and we continued walking. 

A little bit later, a man said something in Spanish toward the group of us girls and my student turns and says (in perfect English) "Hey, shut up stupid!"  Ok, not exactly what I meant, but I couldn't help but laugh!  I guess it's ok here because the guy might not have understood much except for "stupid" and they use the term "shut up" in Spanish fairly often, but hey, he was just protecting his girls and that's alright with me.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Fighting

So I got sick again for the 4th weekend in a row and I'm fighting to get better.  I'm trying to get an appointment with a specialist asap, but the earliest date so far is next week :(  I'm trying to figure out what's wrong and I'm back on medicine to get rid of bacteria.  Yesterday I had some of the, well, you know lots of trips to the bathroom.  And, I threw up :(  I was already feeling pretty nauseous so I couldn't really eat much, but I took the parasite pill anyway, and about 25 minutes later, it came back up.  So, I gotta start that over, but I'm worried because I don't wanna throw up again.  I'm just taking the bacteria medicine right now.  I feel a lot better than yesterday.  My body feels a little weak, but I think it's just because I need to eat more. 

I'm hoping to hear back from PC today about coming in either tomorrow or Wednesday.  Hopefully soon!  Our Close of Service (COS) conference is this week, along with my language exam on Wednesday morning.  I'm kinda nervous about that since I use English so much with my teachers, and all PCVs I encounter.  It's just hard as an English PCV to keep up my Spanish, but I'm glad that I live with a host family still for that reason (among others).  Edwin refuses to acknowledge me when I speak to him in Spanish, but since I told him I need to practice for my exam, he said we could talk a little in Spanish.  haha

Anyway, I haven't noticed any specific foods that have possibly made me sick and I've been drinking a lot of purified water lately.  I just don't know.  I hope I can enjoy this weekend with all the other PCVs in my group at the beach :)

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Crisis Averted

I talked to Edwin today and everything is ok between us.  Thank the Lord.  I was really worried about the whole competition and everything so I'm glad that he is not mad at me.  We hugged it out like real friends do and I helped him in his class today and everything seemed just fine.  Phew!  He told me he'd be coming to the community class tonight and things are looking good. Let's stay positive :) 

Side note: I'm going to the instituto this afternoon which is usually not my favorite part of PC, but the lady I work with is really sweet.  She actually stopped by my house the other day to check in on me and she brought me a little cake for my birthday.  Awww :)  What a sweetheart, right?  Apparently the teacher who was supposed to tell her that I've been sick slacked off on his job, so she's just been wondering where I've been, but was thankful to see me the other day.  Bless her heart.  So, that makes cake #5 for this birthday.  I guess 25 was a big one for me ;)

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Sing on!


 This morning was the English song competition in Boaco and I was invited to be a judge.  I honestly didn't want to be a judge because I didn't want to get involved in the drama, but I agreed to do it. 

The students did a good job and the presentations were really fun to watch.  There were three of us judges, me, another PCV (my sitemate, Kelli), and an English teacher from a primary school (not participating in the competition).  We scored each individual team, then discussed all of our scores after and averaged the totals.  We discussed some issues that took place, such as one team who sang two songs that we're supposedly a "mix", but really one song starting immediately after the first.  That in my book is not a "mix".  Also, that same school chose their lead singer to be a student who is from the US, and English is his first language.  Does this seem fair for an English competition?  Not really...  Anyway, we decided to leave that out since that wasn't stated in the rules (but we told the representative from the ministry of education it needs to be in the rules for next year), and we just decided to deduct the team 5 points for performing two songs instead of only 1 like they were supposed to.  It was a hard decision, but it really wasn't fair to all of the other schools who only performed one song, and the rules stated one song would be performed (not in a very direct way, but it was clear enough).  Also, the songs were completely unrelated: "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston and "Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer...

Well, this team was moved from first place to second, but we didn't announce that specifically.  We just announced the top 3 schools in order and gave them positive feedback, but also stated that performing two songs was against the rules.  Edwin was the teacher in charge of this school and he was not happy with this decision and he left the place clearly upset and didn't say anything to me, or anyone else for that matter.  I hope that he can cool down and understand the decision that we made.  I still feel bad like I let him down, but I wasn't the only judge, and it was a decision we made, along with the ministry of education representative.  I know that he'll probably be mad at me, but I hope that he will realize sooner rather than later that this soon will pass, and we can't win it all. 

I truly feel that the students who won did a great job--I even got the chills when they were singing the romantic duet.  These students are from the public school, which doesn't win very many things, so this was a neat opportunity for them.  Also, the boy student in the duet, was Edwin's past student in the Access program, so I feel that he should be proud of that. 






Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Irony at its best

After a weekend of many trips to the bathroom, I finally get to Managua to do tests and I don't know if it was stage fright or God just wanted a laugh, but for some reason my systems turned off and would not let me fill that little cup!  I was thankful that the 20 minutes waiting for the bus in Boaco, 2 hours in the bus to Managua, and the 20 minute taxi ride to the office passed by smoothly without any emergencies (I pictured myself screaming "STOP!!!" and jumping off the bus and finding the nearest tree/bush/patch of grass), but then I got my paperwork, headed over to the hospital and realized that I was gonna have to take a test, but one that required a cup and a trip to the bathroom.  Unfortunately, I didn't have cup, nor the need to use the bathroom.  Hmmm.  Well, I saw a sign on the wall that said they offered sterilized cups for tests so I asked for a cup and then I got questioned on what kind of test I was doing.  I didn't know that they had different cups for different tests (I guess it's the size), but I didn't really care, just needed a cup. 

Anyway, I spent the next hour or so just hanging out in the lobby waiting for something to come along.  I drank some water, walked around, ate some snacks.  I should have stopped by McDonald's & picked up some french fries.  I'm sure those would have got things moving.  Well, I eventually was able to make the delivery and got back to the office and then to my nice hotel room.  The AC didn't work well, but the hot shower sure was nice.

This morning I got a nice breakfast and then headed over to the office where I was told all the test results were negative, so they couldn't tell me what my body was trying to tell me.  I did feel better though and I was eating normal food.  So, I'm back in Boaco now, but I'll be back in Managua on Friday to see a specialist who will hopefully have some insight into my issues.  Now I gotta study my medical terminology in Spanish to make sure I can explain everything correctly. 

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Just kidding!

I must have jinxed myself since today I woke up feeling sick again.  Seriously Saturdays?!  I just can't rid of whatever is not agreeing with my body.  I took a test again and it was the same old thing--no bacteria; no parasite.  Hmmm.  Peace Corps finally said that I need to go into Managua to do more tests so I will be heading over there Monday morning.  This time I will pack some extra clothes & my computer just in case.  I hope that they can figure out what's wrong because yet again, I'm going to be missing more class. 

This morning I was supposed to meet with Edwin to practice Spanish for our exit language exam with PC, but I started feeling icky...I decided to wait a little before postponing or canceling, but I didn't get any better so I told him that maybe we could meet later today or something.  Well, it's already the evening and I'm not better :(  I'm taking Dramamine to get rid of the ganas de vomitar (nausea), a pill to protect the mucous lining in my intestines, and chugging Powerade.  We'll see how things go.  I just can't wait to be back in the USA and be less sick (hopefully).  At least I will be in a cleaner place :)

Friday, August 17, 2012

In case you didn't know...

I only have 13 weeks left in Nicaragua! 

Remember this?  My countdown chain is shortening!
AND, I'm not sick anymore!!! :D  I went to my community class last night (finally) and it went pretty well.  Edwin came to help out as well.  Unfortunately, only 3 students were there because of rain & other issues, and the band at the school was practicing in the next room so we were having to yell...just another normal thing here in Nicaragua in August/September.

So, I ended up going to Managua and got to see a doctor and got some medicine for different skin issues I'm having (sun damage, etc.)--so thankful for "free" medical here!  I ended up having to stay the night (unexpected), but it was actually a good experience because I got to meet some new PCVs, went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant (delicious!!), took not one but TWO hot showers, and lounged on a bed in the AC room :)  I definitely needed that!  But, now I'm back in Boaco and things are fairly well.  I've been stressed lately though just thinking about all these things I gotta figure out with PC and my life in general.  It's difficult trying to "plan" when there's so much unknown & things are all up in the air.  Maybe I'm over thinking everything...I have a habit of doing that, but I guess that comes with my super-planner personality.  I just gotta relax!  I just laughed when writing that because I know that I can't "just relax" when I have so many things on my mind and want to plan out everything that's coming up.  I just get too excited about things & want to plan it out. 

Ok, so here's what I'm dealing with.  1. I guess school stuff should be #1, even though I'm not all entirely excited about it.  But, it's something I'm dealing with & gotta work on too.  2. Any upcoming small trips around Nicaragua that Frank & I wanna do before our time is up.  3. Despedida (going away party) that Edwin wants to plan for me& my fellow PCVs...he wants me to invite everyone & help him with some details.  4. Central/South America trip with Frank.  We have decided on some dates, but gotta figure out exact bus times, flights & prices, then all the lodging details.  5. Oregon!  I'm SO excited for this one since I haven't been in Oregon in 2 years!  I can't believe it!  I've made a list of some places I wanna take Frank & even started listing food I wanna eat (totally normal for a PCV to think about).  6. Gonzaga.  I figured out my housing--I'll be living where I lived before I left for PC, which is nice & very convenient (fully furnished place & about 3 blocks away from campus).  7. The rest of my life... Where am I going to live?  What job will I get?  When will I get married? What will I do??????  This part is what's stressing me out the most as of lately because, well the elephant in the room...Frank is from Maryland and Megan is from Oregon.  Could we have found someone from a further distance in the big old USA?  haha  That doesn't quite make things easy, but I know we will figure things out.  I guess the unknown of jobs, living arrangements, etc. is just kinda scary, especially when it's less than a year away.  I'm excited that I'll be finishing up at Gonzaga but then it's on to "real life" and big decisions.  Ugh.  Can't we sign up for an all-inclusive package deal or something?  I think I've been looking at travel websites too much! haha

Well, if you're reading this, be sure to send out a prayer, good vibes, happy thoughts, etc. for me so I can stop stressing & just RELAX ;)

Maybe this little guy will help take my mind off things...

Monday, August 13, 2012

Repeat

Ok as if it wasn't enough to get sick on my actual birthday weekend, but to also get sick on the following weekend when I went away to celebrate, now that's too much.  But, that's what happened unfortunately :(  This time I got sick Saturday night (instead of Saturday morning) so I didn't have to spend the majority of the weekend sick, but I unfortunately had to travel back home during the sickness.  I was glad when the taxi driver didn't mind stopping by a gas station for a quick bathroom break between bus terminals in Managua.  Phew! 

So, I don't know what's been making me so sick lately, but I do know one thing: It's no fun!  Last weekend I took parasite medicine and this time I'm taking stuff for bacteria.  I was planning on going into Managua on Wednesday for something else, so maybe I can check in with the doctors then and just maybe they'll take pity on me and let me stay the night in the air conditioned hotel...probably not, but it's nice to dream about!  Actually, it's not too bad being here in my house; it would just be easier for people to believe that I'm sick if I'm in Managua, and the AC & a hot shower wouldn't hurt ;)

Well, I was feeling a little better last night/this morning but the sickies are creeping back in and I started the meds.  Hope this goes away soon, because I feel terrible for skipping out on my classes.  Although I do have a valid excuse, it's just hard to keep telling people I'm sick, when I don't really look sick. 

Besides the feeling bad, I did have a few days of feeling good and got to celebrate with my honey in Leon, where we first "met" :)  It was nice to go there again and visit a few places that we went that one weekend almost a year and a half ago.  Can't believe it's been that long, but sometimes it feels like I've known Frank my whole life.  I owe a lot of that to Peace Corps for helping me to open up as an individual.  I'm so close to people here because we've been through a lot here and those tough things come out pretty easily.  And, when you're leaving the office with a little brown bag going to the "lab", you can't really make up something else besides the fact that you're going to drop off a "specimen" and you're pretty sure it's bacteria or a parasite.  Never thought fecal matter would bring people closer together, but sometimes talking things out helps haha 

So anyway, Frank & I enjoyed our weekend in Leon and got to see lots of other PCVs since Leon is a hotspot for getaways.  We went to a movie in the air-conditioned theater, toured some museums, and went out for a fancy dinner.  Almost went dancing, but Frank didn't wanna...I tease him that he pulled a "bait & switch" on me when we met because he really stole my heart out on the dance floor in Leon that one weekend so long ago, and ever since he's not really wanted to return to the dance floor :(  I still love him though, and I have gotten him to dance with me a few times.  It just takes a little whining haha

Well, now you know the reasons for my blog absence...I've been out and about and getting sick left and right.  I'll leave you with a quote I read awhile back and something that proves true more and more each day in a third world country: "Never trust a fart"  :P  Too far?  Stop blushing and laugh a little bit!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Back in business...well sorta

My sickness is over so now I'm easing back into things and trying to get my energy and appetite back, which is not all that easy.  Soup has been the easiest food to make myself eat more of and soaking it up with bread helps too.  I can't believe I ate soup in the heat here.  I almost took a picture of myself because it looked very similar to my post-work out face (red, sweat droplets), but didn't in the end because I didn't look too pretty haha  But, sweating through those spoonfuls wasn't too bad.  Food never tasted so good.  It's funny when you haven't been eating much how different and delicious regular things taste.

So yesterday I ventured out and planned with the English teacher who teaches at the Seminary (and is part of the new drama, "stealing" English classes from another teacher at his school).  We planned some things and he said we would teach 7:30-9:30pm, 1 1/2 hours.  Hmm, that doesn't sound right.  I said well 2 hours is a lot and he said, no only 1 1/2 hours, 7:30-9:30pm.  You know those times when people make you question yourself and think you're crazy, this was one of those.  I almost thought I was the crazy one, but then after I told him no that's two hours and he counted 7:30 to 8:30, then 8:30 to 9:30pm, he came to the realization that it was indeed two hours and that he actually meant to say 9pm.  Ok, well I said that was still too late because I know we usually go after the set time and I don't like being out there that late and getting home so late.  Gosh, can I say the word late anymore times here?!  Well we agreed on 7:30-8:30pm and I thought to myself that we probably wouldn't get out of there until 9pm anyway, but at least it's not til 9pm and leaving by 9:30pm. 

So I went to meet him at the school at 7pm so we could drive over to the seminary.  I don't know why I got there so early because I knew that the guys would be eating dinner at 7pm, but he said that they can change the schedule around so class starts when we want it to start.  Well, we got there a little after 7pm and dinner started late and we didn't start teaching until 8pm.  Then the teacher decided that I was going to do everything and he got out his laptop to work on some things.  Ugh.  Frustrating since we "planned" to do specific things and he was supposed to be a part of it.  And it's not like I could just walk out and leave since we're way out in the middle of nowhere.  Ok, so I started a review and we had a pretty interesting class and then the teacher was about to start a new activity when I saw it was already 9pm so I said I had to leave.  He told the students that I had to go, but he would continue their reading class.  Hmm, ok so I had to ask about the priest giving me a ride home because that was the previous arrangement.  Then he asked me why I wouldn't accept money for transportation.  This was a little confusing.  I think there was a little miscommunication, go figure.  Apparently, he wants me to arrange my own transportation home and they will reimburse me.  Hmm, ok.  It's kinda hard to get a taxi to come all the way out there at 9pm on the really bad road in complete darkness--most of the road doesn't have any lights.  They would definitely charge c$50 cordobas or more (the usually in town taxi price is c$10).  Good thing this is only a once a month thing!  They ended up taking me home and I was thankful to be back.  I cleaned off my sandals on the porch as I had slid into a mud hole at the seminary since I couldn't see anything.  At least I hope it was mud ;)  Then I found out my host family was back from their ranch.  Sorry host mom about the muddy mess on the porch!  Oops!

I wasn't too excited to get to bed because I knew that I needed to go to the public school today which meant I needed to get up a little earlier.  Blah.  *not a morning person here*  Oh well.  I decided I would set my alarm for 6am, snooze a bit and get to school before 8am. 

This morning came and I did exactly that.  I gave myself a little pep talk about how my counterpart would be happy to see me and it would be good to be there so we can talk about the schedule for this semester, etc.  Well, I walked up to what looked like an abandoned school.  Since it's under construction, it looks pretty bad, but I knew something was up when I didn't hear or see any people.  Since the construction, most classes are being held in the corridors, which means outside in the "fresh" air.  I walked around toward the back and heard something from the teacher's lounge and I sorta regret going to the teacher's lounge.  They were having a meeting and I sorta felt like I had to go in since I said hi and they saw me.  I sat down and then felt that I had to stay for awhile since I was there and my chair wasn't near the door.  Bummer.  It turned out to be quite entertaining.  Oh, and my counterpart wasn't even there.  Seriously?!  Well, they were talking about upcoming events, including Central America's Independence day, which is pretty big here and all the schools have band/dance team competitions that day.  The holiday also is celebrated with a battle that took place the day before.  This year those happen to fall on a Friday and Saturday, so naturally, they're taking off Friday, but also Monday and Tuesday to "observe" the holidays.  I won't even go into how I feel about that.  Anyway, they were talking about the band not having enough instruments and then about the dance team uniforms.  This is where it got funny.  Last year the uniforms were horrendous.  They usually look pretty bad, but the instituto's were pretty darn ugly that they even changed part of it after the parade to not have it in the competition.  One teacher made some comment regarding this saying that she imagined only the poor mothers of those girls would have said they looked pretty hahaha  Other teachers commented and the director said they needed something different so that other people wouldn't make fun of them this year.  It was kinda sad, but really, who approved of those outfits?  They talked about using a more simple type of outfit with only a few colors.  I liked where they were going so I nodded my head in agreement.  We'll see if that really happens come September.  Speaking of September, that's when the holidays are, but they're practicing things now and they do it during school time.  This means lots of noise and no students in class.  Well, they said very seriously that they were going to take attendance in the band & dance team practices because those kids won't really be in class for the next month.  Oh ok, well at least you're taking attendance then.  Really?!  I don't even know how they don't understand why their students don't get good grades. 

Let's put that aside and talk about something else that happened at the meeting, unrelated to the actual meeting itself.  I received a text message from my Access counterpart telling me he was going to start the parent meeting.  He had invited me to the meeting but told me it was on Tuesday and I wasn't able to go because I wasn't able to prepare anything from being sick.  So, I texted him back that he told me it was Tuesday and today I was at the instituto.  He just said "oh yeah I changed it".  Oh ok, and how was I supposed to know this?? hahaha  I'm actually glad he didn't tell me earlier because then I would have probably skipped out on the instituto and missed this very lively meeting.  ;)

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Four cakes and a pizza

I didn't have any expectations for my birthday, just wanted to stay in town to be with my Nica family and of course my boy :)  I slept in, took it easy in the morning, and made myself a big cake, which turned out to be cake #1 of 4 of the day. 




Edwin, my counterpart with the Access program, told me to go to the school in the afternoon, which I assumed was going to be a little party or something with the students.  It was great!  They sang a couple songs and we had snacks and more cake.  I actually didn't eat a piece of cake there, but they gave me the "extra" cake to take home.  Seriously?! Cake #2 and 3 picture below.



After the party with the students, I headed back home to do laundry and then my boy came!  He was so sweet and brought me flowers and ice cream :)  He really knows me! haha    He also got me a nice new leather wallet and a piece of special pottery from Matagalpa.  We went out to dinner at a pizza place to check out the new ownership and enjoyed some much better pizza then what was there before.  Pizza #1.

The next step was heading over to my host aunt's house to visit, which turned into another party and cake #4.  We celebrated and hung out til the evening quieted down.



It was a great birthday, but unfortunately the next morning I woke up not feeling so hot and now I'm taking anti-parasite meds...Boo!  Not sure how they got to me, but Frank was a good sport and took care of me :)  I'm still healing, but lying low since my stomach still doesn't feel right.  Well, at least it didn't happen ON my birthday and at least it was the weekend, I guess.  I don't plan on going to school tomorrow though since I wanna make sure I feel a little better. 

Besides the bugs, the birthday was a success and I'm officially 25!  Thanks for celebrating with me :)

Friday, August 3, 2012

Morning Surprise

The tradition here for birthdays is usually an early morning wake up with a traditional song.  Well, my family did exactly that.  Now I'm not usually a morning person.  I really don't even know why I wrote "usually".  I'm not a morning person, but today I didn't feel too grumpy being woken up at 6:15am by my family.  My sister Ruth was on the tambourine, her husband on the guitar singing, and Jasser holding little Dyland all standing outside my bedroom door wishing me a happy birthday.  It was the sweetest thing.  It made me feel super special and they even decorated my door with balloons and streamers which Dyland instantly wanted to play with.  I love my family here and I really will miss them dearly.

Good morning!




Thursday, August 2, 2012

Awkward

Today I went to the monthly teacher meeting at the public school with all the teachers in the Boaco schools.  When we broke up into our subject area groups I found out that the teacher that I was helping with the English class at the seminary took over some classes from an English teacher at a private school.  This teacher was not very happy with the situation since a religion teacher was taking over her English classes and reducing her to teaching half time.  It made for a super awkward situation since she was expressing her frustration and the new teacher was there too.  Then, she asked me to talk outside of the class and asked me about teaching with the Access program because she needs more hours.  I told her I could give her the contact info for the program coordinator and we went back into the classroom.  She then came over to my desk and gave me a paper with her contact info on it and turned to Edwin and said, "Since you won't call me back, she can".  Awkward :/  I guess Edwin never passed on her information to the Access program coordinator because he wanted to teach it still...Then Edwin talked to me later outside and mentioned that he wanted to continue teaching. 

Later this afternoon the new teacher texted me asking me for the topics he needs to teach for his new classes, but I didn't know so I told him to ask the other teacher since she taught the class before.  He then texted back that he couldn't ask her because of the tension between them.  Awkward.  That's going to make for a very difficult semester since they're the only 2 English teachers at the school and we have these meetings every month.  I felt like I was put in the middle of a little too much drama today.  Yuck. 

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Happy August!

I really can't believe it's already August!  Only 3 1/2 months left of service and only 2 days til my birthday...the big 2-5! Yikes! 

After a fun weekend with my friend Monica here in Boaco, I took a trip up to Matagalpa to help Frank with his world map project.  He's been making two world maps at two different schools that he works at and I went up to lend him a hand.  We finished drawing one of the maps, and the other still is missing a few countries, but the drawing part is the hardest and the next step is for the students to paint.  I might try to see if I can go up there again to help supervise with that.  It's actually a really cool project because a lot of people, especially those living in rural areas, have never seen a map of the world before and don't have much of a concept of what lies beyond Nicaragua's borders.  I was happy to take part in creating this, although my part was very small.  It was still a cool opportunity and it was fun entertaining kids' questions about the map at recess.

Here are some pictures of the "finished" map (still needs to be painted):





The maps are 6' x 12' and I'm super proud of Frank for tackling this project since it is very tedious!  I wanted to quit after a few squares just because I felt like I was gonna mess it all up.  Part of the reason of why this looks so good, besides Frank's awesome drawing skills and attention to detail, is that this map comes with instructions for how to draw the grid, then each square shows what part of the country you need to draw in the corresponding square on the large map.  I felt like I was playing battleship while trying to find my parts to draw.  It wasn't as easy as I thought it was gonna be especially with the sun was beating down on us for a couple hours of the morning so I had to take a break to apply sunscreen.  As I crouched down to draw Antarctica, I almost just said "Forget it; they don't need to know about Antarctica!" but, I trudged through.

It was pretty cute watching the kids try to identify countries on the map.  They all immediately thought Nicaragua was in the middle (actually Africa), and then couldn't believe that Nicaragua was so small in comparison to the rest of the world.  I can't wait to see it complete and watch the students read the countries' names.