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.