Last day of September...

Wow!  I really can't believe how quickly time is going by.  I keep finding myself at another weekend, another chain to remove from the link, another month to mark off the list.  It's crazy, but I'm glad the end of my service is almost here.  I'm excited for our post-PC travel & then getting home to see family & friends :)

This time two years ago I was already missing home, but looking forward to the new adventures and thinking about where my possible site might be.  Never would I have imagined becoming a godmother of my little "nephew".  It's been so incredible being a part of this family and seeing Ruth through her pregnancy and watching Dyland grow.  My family seems sad that I'm leaving but I always tell them that I will be back to visit sometime.  They don't believe me.  I think that's how it goes though since visitors don't usually find the time to come back.  Well, I want to make it my goal to come back and visit my family here.  They've been a big part of my life here and I think it would be great to come back and visit some day.  It will be interesting to see if Dyland will remember me. 

Well, tomorrow starts a new week, a new month, in fact the last whole month I will have here in Nicaragua.  Ok, it's starting to feel real now.  I wonder how I will feel when it gets closer to saying goodbye.  It's always hard to say goodbye, but harder when you know it's going to be a long time until you see each other again.  I remember saying goodbye to my parents in the airport and I started to tear up when we got to security.  I felt fine before, a little anxious, but when we got to the security line I thought "This is it.  I'm leaving and I don't know when I'll see my parents again."  It hit me suddenly that my life was going to be changing drastically and I was moving into the unknown--something very scary for me.  But, I pulled myself together and tried to rest in the comfort of knowing that this would be an incredible experience for me and that I would be meeting new people and learning new things.  It's difficult to describe all that I've gone through so far, but it has definitely been life changing and I'm thankful for the new perspectives I've gained and the new people I've met (especially Frank!).  I feel truly blessed to have had this experience and to be with the people here.  Things have certainly been difficult at times, but these circumstances only help me to become a better person and more able to overcome difficulties in the future.  I'm so thankful for my family visiting me and coming to see what life is like here in Nicaragua--it was really neat having them here to experience things with me and see a little into my life as a PCV. 

It will be very difficult to go home and answer everyone's questions about my service here & the culture in Nicaragua.  There are many stories I can tell, but to make them understand what it's really like here & to help them see what I experienced is impossible.  There are so many special things I've shared with fellow PCVs and Nicaraguans that will certainly remain in my heart, and I'm really glad that I've had Frank by my side through all of this. 

Before I get too sentimental, I'll wrap things up and save the emotions for later on.  Oh I know it's going to be hard. 

Something to make you smile:

Party!

Ok, so we might have had a little too much fun at a high school anniversary party tonight.  And by a little too much fun, I'll let the pictures explain below.  Basically, it was the anniversary of the Colegio (secondary school) where I teach Access class, and they were doing presentations of the candidates for king & queen for each grade and such.  Edwin of course decorated & he wanted us there for the special event.  So,  we left after dinner (& a few drinks to prepare ourselves) & he even gave me a t-shirt to wear for the ones we were to vote for & some fun party hats.  We didn't actually make it to the voting part since when we got there the primary school part wasn't even over & then about an hour and a half later the secondary school part started.  We left after being there about 2 1/2 hours & eating 3 free desserts haha  We did get permission from Edwin, but sorta raided the dessert table on the way out haha  I have great connections ;)  Well, here we go.....

+Romance!

Ok, this is the way it was supposed to be!  Frank came over & here is our romantic candlelit dinner.  The kitchen light bulb still has not been replaced...

Candlelit dinner without the romance

So last night the power went out around 6:15pm, just before my community class... Bummer!  I didn't think it would come back on, but sent out a text message anyway telling my students to come after the power came back on, if it did.  I went and grabbed some dinner and set up some candles on the table, then sat by myself to enjoy my nice little candlelit dinner.  Not so romantic, but it was peaceful.  Unfortunately, the power came back on a little too late & my students couldn't come.  Also, our kitchen light bulb was out and since that's where I give class, it wouldn't have really worked.  *It's one of those long tube light bulbs, so we have to buy one from the hardware store--they don't usually keep extras around the house. 

**7 weeks**

P.S. Just 7 weeks to go!!

Poop

Don't worry, it's not as bad as you might be thinking.  Ok, so I visited Frank this week to check out his biodigestor project which does involve lots of poop, from farm animals that is.  He's been working hard on this project for quite awhile in a community way out in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone service and water is scarce.  But, he managed to get out there and complete 14 biodigestors, providing families with "free" gas for about 10 years or more.  So, the way it works is that these families have to first dig a big rectangular hole where the biodigestor will be placed.  On one end there is an entrance and the other side has a bucket underground with a tube.  Once the bag is in place and the tubes connected, the families need to collect the poop from their animals (preferably cows & pigs).  They mix the poop with water in a large bucket, then pour the poop into the "entrance" which flows into the giant biodigestor bag.  The poop mixture has to sit for a bit and then the bag will begin filling with gas.  There is a tube attached to the top of the bag, which goes all the way into the kitchen and connects to burners that have their own valves.   Also, in the "exit" part of the bag, as the days go on, it pushes the extra mixture out into the bucket and the families can use that as fertilizer.  The bacteria has already been removed, so it's safe to use!

The idea is super cool because the families have to get rid of the animal poop anyway, so might as well use it to get free gas & fertilizer!  I was excited to see Frank's presentation and see some of the biodigestors in action.  Two of our PC bosses were there to check things out which was great too.  The people who already have the biodigestors set up were very thankful and explaining all the benefits they have seen so far to those who are interested in putting in a biodigestor at their home.  Frank is done with the project now, but hopefully more people will be able to continue helping these communities to be more resourceful.  Before biodigestors, the families pay (on average) $25-$30 a month on firewood (that's chopping down a lot of trees, hauling them back to the house, and inhaling lots of smoke usually indoors).  Then, they also pay about that much for a tank of gas every 3 months.  But getting tanks of gas isn't that easy, since the nearest town (where Frank lives) is quite a drive on a bumpy dirt road that floods in the rainy season.  So...investing in a biodigestor really helps these families.  They just had to contribute $40 per family and dig their hole & help with the set up.  Frank applied for extra funds and received them, and was able to purchase the materials from an NGO that helps install these.  It was great to see the final product after hearing about everything for so long & to see the happy families showing off their flames. 

Here's a lady showing off her flames.  It was crazy when she turned it up all the way, the flame reached about a foot and a half high!

Here are some pictures of the presentation--30+ people came from the community!

Setting up the PowerPoint presentation

Frank & one of the guys who helped with the project

Explaining things

Lots of people in attendance

One of the community members thanking Frank, Peace Corps, the other organizations, etc.

This lady was really sweet & wanted a picture with me even though I had nothing to do with the project

One of the full biodigestors

Gas is brewing

Pig in a puddle

The new stove!

Saw this momma on the side of the road & she sure looked exhausted with her 9 little piggies squealing for food

Since I was staying at Frank's place another night, I decided to go with him to his elementary school to help paint (well I actually had already planned to do that).  Progress is being made & it looks like things will be wrapping up soon.

This was the progress made before we started today

Some students getting in on the action

Frank directing students--that was stressful for me to watch!

I even painted :)

I was in charge of the oceans

I found my inner artist

After all our hard work--more to do later!

Closure

So, my community class has been a little sporadic lately and it's been driving me crazy because I wanted to finish it by the end of this month, but that ain't happening.  I just wanted to organize our schedule and finish since the attendance was so flaky and we're getting near the end of my service here anyway, but I wanted to have some closure.  I didn't want to just call all my students and say, sorry, we're done now.  So, finally, all my students showed up last night to class and we reviewed past topics and talked about the class finishing up.  We decided we would have about 2 more weeks with a final test on Oct. 8th and on the 11th of October we will have a little party & I will give them certificates.  Phew!  Glad we got that taken care of!

I can't believe we're in the last week of September and October is quickly approaching. We're going to have a big party for our group of PCVs (Nica 54--both mine & Frank's groups) here in Boaco this next month so I'm excited for that.  Then, we have our final presentation to Peace Corps about our projects at the end of October, then another party for PCVs (can't have too many parties of course).  And then I'll be doing a lot of goodbyes.  That will be interesting.  I don't wanna think too much about that yet ;)

Girls Night

Man, do I love my girls nights!  I do love Frank too of course, but I don't get many girls nights here so this was super fun!  Melissa, one of my friends in a smaller town outside of Boaco, was coming over to hang out yesterday and another one called to join in on the fun and of course we complied.  The more the better :)  So, we hung out, cruised around the town, bought some delicious goodies, and ate some pupusas for dinner on the way back to my place.  My friends don't get internet in their sites so all 3 computers were running and we were sharing things we found interesting and just lounging around my room.  We had to pull in an extra mattress and then my room became a great hang out. 

Later we poured some drinks and watched some TV shows online and laughed the night away.  Melissa & I stayed up chatting and talking about life and such, then found some online shopping excitement.  Needless to say, we were hooked and finding all sorts of neat stuff that we can only wish for for later haha  But, we did have a very good time and didn't turn the lights off til 3am, but still giggled at comments in the dark.  I love my girls nights.

Molasses

I don't like molasses and so it makes it even worse that my computer is acting just like molasses!  Ugh.  I really can't wait to get a new computer.  It's not that I need to catch up with the latest trend in technology.  This baby is old.  Several people here (Nicas & Gringos) have called my computer a dinosaur.  It's large, but definitely not in charge, and the electrical currents here really sucked the life out of it!  I didn't think it was too bad before, besides it being pretty heavy and awkward to lug around, but man is it slow now!  Also, the battery only lasts for 30 minutes tops (when not plugged in). Yuck!  This means that when the power goes out, I basically have to shut things down or it will turn off soon enough. 

I'm looking forward to getting something a little smaller, lighter, and faster.  Come to think of it, that'd be a nice upgrade for myself ;)

P.S. I also flooded the kitchen this morning trying to fill up buckets of water for a shower & to wash clothes, but I didn't feel too bad because my family has done that a million times before and they weren't home when it happened.  Hazzel just wandered into the kitchen and then started helping me clean up the mess :)

Bathtime

I kinda feel embarrassed writing this, but I'm gonna be honest with y'all.  Since the water went out Wednesday morning, I hadn't been able to take a shower this week and we finally got water today so I feel clean now as it was day 3 without water (aka no showers, no flushing toilets, nada.).  Bummer.  I really started feeling gross today and my hair was getting a little too shiny, so I sure was glad when I found out my host aunt was back in town and she had water to share.  It was a bucket bath, but it felt so refreshing.  Actually, it was freezing cold at first, but then I got over that and scrubbed every inch of my body with soap and used shampoo and conditioner.  Now we're talking.  It was funny later because I was thinking, well I guess I've gone without a shower longer like when I was camping, but then I realized that when you're camping, you usually don't go to work, teach classes, etc.  Sooooo, yeah.  I felt a little pena (shameful/embarrassed) about that.  Oh well.  At least I'm clean now :) 

I did use some baby wipe type things to "bathe" throughout the week and I also used hand sanitizer for bathroom trips.  Gosh, I never realized how often I wash my hands though and it was so frustrating not to be able to!

Getting things done

Well after a long night, I (well we...story to follow) finally booked our flight HOME :)  It feels so nice to have that taken care of!  After spending many hours with Frank finally getting our plans set and finding cheap flights, and then doing a short search on when the best time to purchase tickets is, I decided that last night was the night.  The did drop about $20 each from before so that's nice and since we changed where we're leaving from, it was also cheaper :)  Saving money already!  So, to that story...

I got everything set to book including the websites, schedules, and credit card information, but the stinkin' thing wouldn't work because I guess it thought I had stolen my mom's credit card since I was in Nicaragua purchasing a ticket for Peru, go figure.  Well, then I had to call up my mom and have her fill in all the information.  But she was working late, and had to call me after and between all of this I was calling Frank to check details, etc.  I had my hands-free set on my cell on for Frank and was using my Skype phone on the computer to call my mom.  I felt sorta like a travel agent, except not as glamorous as it may sound.  Around 11:30pm or so we finally got the tickets booked (because yes, it had to be last night to get the best deal and just to get it all taken care of) and I was exhausted.  I called Frank after to confirm and didn't get to bed until well after midnight :( 

This morning my body did not allow me to get out of bed before 9am.  Yikes!  I think it was all the stress...  Anyway, I did eventually get out of the house today.  I went to the preschool with Ruth & Dyland again and unfortunately, they said they were too full so Dyland couldn't enter :(  So sad because he gets so excited when we visit and he sees all the other kids.  He really should be in a school type atmosphere because he just cruises around the house all day, watches TV, and then today he took a pen around and decided to color all over the walls, his clothes, and his body.  Nice.  Needless to say, they don't pay attention to him as often as they should and he really needs to be around kids his own age.  Bummer about the preschool.  We did take him to the park after to play which was fun.  The play-set is a little too big for him, but we climbed up there and helped him on the slide.  He LOVES the slide :)

After we got back I was looking up more flight stuff for our flight from Panama to Peru (we're taking a bus from Nicaragua to Panama to check out the Canal & things for a few days there before heading to Peru) and Ruth delivered lunch to me.  She's such a sweetheart.  

It's sort of an omelet thing with tomatoes on top, rice, and some french fries. 

In the afternoon I went to the instituto again since I told the teacher I would be there.  I almost left because I was waiting for awhile and she wasn't there and she wasn't on the bus with me, but she eventually showed up.  Oh, speaking of the bus.  One of my Access students offered me a seat and he talked to me for about 20 minutes all in English.  I was so proud of him!  A lot of times the students are too nervous to speak to me in English, but he was telling me all about the class this morning (that I slept through...oops!) and other things.  It was a nice conversation & I noticed several students looking over at us because we were speaking only in English--I think they were surprised he could speak so much with me :)  So, back to the instituto.  When the teacher finally got there, we chatted and I asked her if she was teaching the same lesson from yesterday (it was a different group of students), and she said yes.  So, I told her that I was going to observe the lesson and she got a little nervous, but I told her to not worry and I would just watch.  We ended up moving outside because the school is under construction and they were painting so we were inhaling paint fumes.  Yuck!  The teacher found an extra dry-erase board and we headed outside, which is not uncommon, especially right now with the construction.  It's funny because everytime I got there I think, oh my gosh there's no way students or teachers would be allowed to walk through here or even be here period.  It's a construction site.  Things are hanging down, they're installing the roofing, painting, etc.  It's kinda crazy, but they can't just cancel class for 5 months, right?  Well, it seems like most of the students aren't there anyway.

Ok, ok.  So she taught, I slipped in for some extra help and we finished the lesson.  After I took a few minutes to talk to her about the things that I liked, and gave her some suggestions.  I encouraged her to use more English, which is very difficult for her.  She barely uses any and I think she is just very embarrassed to pronounce anything in front of me even though I told her it's okay and it doesn't have to be perfect.  She doesn't have very much confidence in her English abilities, but she's practicing so that's good.  Here we are:

Observing my counterpart teacher

Me teaching a bit

Explaining some things

After I got back from the instituto, there was another flight to book, and yet the same thing happened again and my mom even got a call about suspicious activity on her credit card.  It was actually a good thing she got the call though because last night's attempt actually charged her twice, and that was through Delta Airlines' website, not even a third-party page.  Weird.   Well, she got all that cleared up and I gave her instructions for the next flight (Panama-Peru).  Now, I'm happy to say that we have our flights booked: Panama-Peru, then Peru to Portland.  Wow, all P's haha  We just gotta figure out all the buses later but that will be a little easier (I might take that statement back later haha).  Right now I'm just glad we got all of that taken care of since we'll be leaving in less than 2 months.  Only 8 weeks...

Back to the grind

I like school and being in class and seeing the students and talking with teachers and giving lessons and all that stuff.  I bet you're thinking, well that's good since you're a teacher ;)  Well, yeah, I guess it is.  Today was a good day teaching-wise.  Well, for the most part.  I enjoyed being in Access class this morning because my attendance has been sporadic thanks to some minor medical issues and some major senioritis!  It was good seeing my students and hearing them use their English.  They still have a lot to work on, but they're doing really well and it's exciting to hear them speak.  Today we took a group picture and I took advantage of this opportunity to do my newspaper picture--taking a pic for my local newspaper back home.  Unfortunately though, I didn't have my camera, just my phone and apparently I didn't get the big group picture with me in it on my phone, but Edwin has it on his camera so hopefully I'll get that soon so I can send it in.  I told the students that they could be famous, so I don't wanna let them down ;)

This is the older group--been with them since the beginning.  They really do know how to take a picture ;)

Both groups :)

I even went to the instituto as much as I dread going, but it turned out to not be so bad.  I then rushed home because Ruth wanted me to go with her to take Dyland to the preschool again to see if she could enroll him,but they weren't ready when I got home (even though she told me to come home earlier than I was planning on coming home), then she was feeding Dyland, and then he fell asleep.  Well, another day I guess.  Anyway, I got to play with Dyland later when he woke up and later on that night when he was running around in his jammies.  He's just so stinkin' cute, and I can't resist playing with him when he's in his jammies :) 

Last but not least, I met with a teacher tonight to give him one of the manuals for teaching English from Peace Corps and he was super happy to receive it.  I also gave him an English Bible (thanks to my church back home for sending me those--I've given one to each of my teachers which have really appreciated them!).  He was really happy about that too, especially because Bibles can be expensive and it's really hard to find one in English here, well at least understandable English.  He said he saw one before and the way he described it it must have been old English or something so I'm glad this one will be better for him.  It's funny how religion is so intertwined in everything here.  It's completely acceptable to talk openly about religion here & give people Bibles without offending anyone or breaking any rules.  It's very different.  It has it's pros & cons like anywhere I guess, but today worked out for the better and I was glad to give him that gift.

P.S. That teacher made me write him a note and sign my name in each of those books.  Come to think of it, the last teacher I gave a manual to asked me for the same :)

What a weekend!

This was a long weekend which was super nice to have.  It was one of those weekends where you lose track of what day it is and what obligations you have the following day or week.  Loved it.  Especially because I got to spend it with my main man.  And main man, I mean my only man...don't worry!

We spent lots of time planning out post-PC travels, watching movies, cruising around town running errands, and of course making & eating delicious food!  I usually don't make anything extravagant, especially when I'm just cooking for myself.  Let's be honest, I've been known to just snack all day or eat a peanut butter & jelly sandwich or a bag of popcorn as a meal.  This is not just because I feel lazy, but sometimes I just can't think of what my body wants.  Hmm, weird.  Anyway, it's much easier when Frank's around.  Well, not a ton easier, because we both can be very indecisive and we tend to fall into the "well, do you want this? Well only if you do..." back and forth nonsense haha  Frank is pretty easygoing and I like to make sure everything is ok for the other person--people pleaser?  Well, sorta.  So, we sometimes take awhile to figure things out, but in the end it's usually a good thing :) 

We made some scrumptious fare I might say and even managed to bake cookies without my host family eating all of them!  That was mainly because we stood guard over our cookies the second they came out of the oven and only indulged in them when the others weren't around.  Is that mean?  Oh no, not at all.  These cookies are cherished and if my host family gets ahold of them, they're gone in 30 seconds.  I don't think they even take the time to thoroughly enjoy them.  Ok, maybe I'm talking to much about cookies, but really did make some yummy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with crunchy peanut butter.  Then, to add to the delight, we saved some for later, picked up vanilla ice cream, and made ice cream cookie sandwiches.  Oh yes.  They were amazing and we enjoyed every last bit of them while watching movies and eating popcorn :)  Man, if I could just watch movies, eat popcorn & ice cream all my life, I'd be a happy girl.  Glad I found someone who loves the same things!

To prove that it wasn't all just eating & playing, here's a picture of our post-laundry adventure:

I pretty much made Frank bring all of his dirty clothes and both sets of sheets over to wash in my washing machine and this was him after collecting all the clothes from the lines outside.  After all the laundry was folded, we got back to all the fun :)

Say what?!

Today is September 15th and it is Central America's Independence Day, but it's more special for me because in exactly TWO months, I will be ringing that bell signifying the end of my Peace Corps service, and yes, we really do get to ring a bell :)

We are wrapping things up here and I feel kinda bad for not being at school very much but I've been in and out of Managua a bazillion times and actually the few times I went to school, classes either ended early, or my teacher wasn't there.  Go figure. 

Anyway, I'm hoping to finish my community class by the end of this month or shortly after so we can have some closure before I just take off.  Frank & I are currently working hard on making a very detailed itinerary of our trip for Central & South America post PC service...we've been slowly adding details but last night we sat next to each other with both our laptops out for about 6 hours straight plugging away searching for flights, hostels, tour packages, etc. to match the dates we're trying to schedule.  We have a pretty good schedule set right now so we'll see if we can stick to that and get things booked.  I know once the tickets are booked a little bit of the stress will melt away.  We've also read that buying travel insurance is a good idea so we gotta look into that too.  Any suggestions from fellow travelers??? 

So, TWO months til end of service which means just THREE little tiny short teensy weensy months til our return to the USA!  Yes Mom & Dad, I will be home very very soon...

Speaking of creepy crawlies...

Well, I didn't quite get away from those little pests just yet!  Being at Frank's brought out new creatures.  His house has been experiencing a mouse problem every once in awhile.  They blame the neighbors because their patio has long grass and they don't take care of the area, which makes sense, but sucks that they have to pay for their neighbor's lack of care.  Hmmm, so I was cooking last night in Frank's kitchen and I heard some scratching from the shelving unit so I notified the lady of the house that I thought I heard a mouse.  She confirmed it by showing me with a flashlight a mouse hiding behind the shelves.  Yuck.  Just what I want to see while I'm cooking :(  Well, I tried to push that out of my mind and finish cooking and got out of the kitchen as soon as possible to enjoy our dinner outside on their clean patio :)

Frank's family set a trap on the counter (gross) and the waiting game began.  They tend to put rat poison on the counter too and sometimes it falls on the floor--not a good idea with a dog and small children cruising the area...

This morning when we went in to make breakfast we found out that the rat (yeah, too big to be a mouse) was caught and now dead, thankfully.  The family has a weird tradition of killing rodents though.  Whether it's in the trap or caught and put in a plastic bag, they just leave it out in the sun until it dies.  Gross again.  Yeahhhh...sorry if you didn't want to read that, but I had to see it, so deal with it.

I choked down my breakfast while trying to put that image far far away in my memory and then played cards with Frank which drew my mind away from the disgusting yuckiness of what was behind the shelf.  Glad to be in Boaco this weekend, until I see the first cockroach. 

Counting down the days

Now that my countdown chain has fallen to a number below 10 (weeks), I guess I can begin a countdown by days.  Officially, it's just 9 weeks to go til I'm done with my service here, which means just 63 days!  Crazy!  I still have a lot to get done before I leave and it's getting real now--can't believe I'm leaving Nicaragua so soon.  Time sure flies by!

Cockroaches in the kitchen and ants in the microwave

What would you do?  No wonder people get sick so often around here...ugh :(  Frank hates cooking in the kitchen at my house and although I think it can be pretty disgusting, I guess I've gotten semi-used to seeing cockroaches on the counter, stove, and in the cabinets.  Tonight was no different.  I went to serve myself some gallo pinto that my sister Ruth made and she pointed out all the cockroaches on the stove.  Delightful.  Rice and beans with a side of cockroach may be a delicacy somewhere, but not here and not for me!  Fortunately the pan of gallo pinto was properly covered--they usually don't cover things...  So, I scooped up some gallo pinto because even after all of that I was still hungry.  Then I plugged in the microwave to find ants inside carrying away left bits of food that had actually molded in there blah!  I decided to wipe out the inside of the microwave before heating up my food, just in case. 

Through all of that, I still ate my gallo pinto, but every second I thought to myself, gosh I can't wait to get home and control the cleanliness of my kitchen!

Eruption

There's been a lot of natural disaster issues taking place here lately but at least nothing terribly dangerous.  I'm sure you all heard about the huge earthquake in Costa Rica and it was felt in some parts of Nicaragua.  I was on my way into Managua on a bus when it took place so I didn't feel anything, but some did in Managua and I guess it lasted awhile.  PC told me it was still safe to come into Managua so that was good I guess.  Nothing bad happened and I headed back to my site the next day, taking my friend Julie with me.  She got to see Boaco for the first time so it was fun for Jasser & me to be tour guides again.  

I'm still taking my medicine and things seem to be going well with that.  I actually had my appointment with the specialist and felt so much better just talking to him and knowing he knew exactly what he was talking about.  He told me what was wrong with me and what medicine I should take and why.  Loved it!  So, basically I'm taking medicine to produce more enzymes and protect my intestines from bacteria.  Things are digesting better :)

Ok, back to earthquakes and other disasters... So PC sent out a message Friday telling all PCVs that they needed to avoid any volcanoes, beaches, the islands, and the Managua area.  I guess the scientists here put us on an alert for increased seismic activity.  Well, that warning couldn't have come at a better time since yesterday (Saturday) morning a volcano erupted up in Chinandega.  It was actually pretty interesting how this event unfolded.  Julie and I were in Frank's site and we all were waiting at the bus stop to catch a bus up to Matagalpa where a PC regional meeting was going to take place, and Julie & I were going to see the corn festival.  Julie called me over to see "a weird cloud" and then said it looked like a volcano erupting.  Well, it was.  We took some pictures and called our friends in the Leon area and after they stepped outside of their homes, they confirmed with us that indeed it was a volcano erupting.  

The next step was calling PC, which Monica (who lives in Leon) did after I called her to ask her about the volcanic activity over there.  Then, we found out that it was north of them in Chinandega and PC began evacuating all PCVs from that area. We were safe here in Matagalpa because we're far enough away and up  in the mountains.  We enjoyed the corn festival and sent out good thoughts for those evacuating their sites.  They'll probably returning next week, but PC wants to make sure that no other volcanic activity will take place.

Here's a picture of the first part of the eruption.  We saw it at about 9am, right when it erupted.

And here are some pictures from the corn festival:

View from the hostel we stayed at:

Twice the fun

Besides not getting sick this weekend (YAHOO!!!!!!!), I got to hang out with Frank & his friends who are traveling through Nicaragua.  We took them out and showed them around a little and enjoyed some delicious food :)  It was definitely a fun time with twice the laughs.  Let me explain that one.  So, Frank's friend and his girlfriend don't have much Spanish between the two of them so we took on the translator role and helped them out a bit.  It was funny at times, but always a good experience.  When sitting around at Frank's with his family, his host mom would say something in Spanish and we laughed, then translated the story to Carl & Nikki, then we all laughed again.  And so it went, listening, laughing, translating, laughing again.  For the most part we were telling stories back and forth and I just had an out of body experience, ya know when you kinda step back and really see what's going on in the situation.  I thought it was so funny that we were experiencing a situation, relaying the message, and experiencing it all again.  It was neat and I'm gonna miss things like this. 

2 years later

So today is not only the first day of September (Happy September!!), but it's our 2 year anniversary of being here in Nicaragua :)  This day two years ago we arrived in Managua and were whisked away to a hotel in Granada to be told what it means to be a Peace Corps Volunteer.  I remember that day very clearly and the mix of emotions I experienced. I was very nervous and excited at the same time.  The other trainees seemed cool and I was overwhelmed by all that I had already seen and felt.  I took a language test there where I was labeled "novice high" since I had forgotten most of my high school/college Spanish and now I've been given the score of "advanced medium", although I don't think this is my biggest accomplishment or the thing I will remember the most.  Yes, I improved my Spanish and I feel more confident with the language, but there have been so many incredible experiences here that will forever remain tucked into a special place in my heart.

As I think about today and what it means in the whole scheme of things, I feel a true mix of emotions.  It's really starting to feel like the end of my service is close.  Although I have been doing a countdown, there's a time when things start to feel real, like your days are lessening and time is going by too fast for you to see things clearly.

It was really nice to be with all of the other PCVs in my group and reflect on our time here and also talk about future plans. I can't wait to see where our lives will take us.