Higher Elevations

This weekend I ventured out to a new department, but first stopped at Frank's town to hang out and worked a little.  We went to an NGO called "Seeds of Learning" which seems like an awesome organization that has all kinds of children's programs, classes, and a library!  We helped them get some things ready for a festival that they were getting ready for.  It was neat to check out the place and the people were really nice there.  I need to look for some NGOs in my town to see what I can do with them. 

After we finished up there, we helped out Frank's host family start a tree nursery at their other house.  They had filled bags with dirt and so we moved the bag to a different spot and Frank showed them how to put them together.  Then they planted the seeds.  It was a neat process to see and I'm glad I'm getting to help out with other projects--sometimes I wish we had more things like this.

 

 

After getting our hands dirty and working hard, we washed up and made a nice pasta dinner.  The next day we headed up to Jinotega to meet up with other volunteers.  I haven't been up there yet but I was excited because Jinotega is up in the mountains and much cooler :)

We went out to lunch with everybody and took things slow, just enjoying time together and exploring the town. 

The next day a small group of us went hiking up to the cross that is perched on a large hill above the city.  It was a pretty steep hike, but thankfully it hadn't rained in a couple days so it wasn't muddy!  It rained after we finished the hike--perfect timing!

It was a great, short, weekend away and nice to enjoy the cooler temperatures in the higher elevations.

Slowing things down

Tonight I decided to visit my host aunt and her brother (my host uncle) who is also one of my counterparts.  My host aunt always offers me food when I go there so I visit fairly often :)  I really do enjoy chatting with her though--she is such a sweet lady.  Anyway, my counterpart walked with me to the house and told me "sit down!" like he usually does which in English sounds more like a command than what he actually intends, so that always makes me giggle.  Then my host aunt (Ruth) offers me gallo pinto to which I bashfully say yes to try to not seem too eager and that I'm only visiting for food...  Then she heads straight to the kitchen to whip up some food while I chat with my counterpart.  This is the usual. 

We actually had a pretty good talk as he asked me what I think of the behavior of the students in the instituto.  I told him it's pretty bad, especially with the classes being so large (40-50 students).  Not many students actually study and few do work in class.  It's sad really.  I was going to suggest that the classes need more quizzes or tests so the students would have something to study for, because I thought back to my Spanish classes in the States and I remember thinking, Oh, I have a quiz Wednesday, I need to study!  But, there's not much motivation to earn good grades either.  Before I could share my brilliant (hardly) idea, my counterpart began talking to me about how there is a lack of guidance and family dynamic here.  He said a lot of students don't have moms or dads living in the homes and there's not much support nor love.  I then added that without role models they have no view of what it looks like to behave well or support your family.  This made me really think about my job, especially working in classes where there is very low motivation and consider whether or not my job really is to teach English or to support these students and value them as individuals.  I know that they're not going to become fluent English speakers and I'm trying my best to better the program, but what these students really want is love and someone who looks into their eyes and sees them for who they are.  I know, it's getting mushy, but it helps put things in perspective. 

Near the end of this conversation, my aunt served me dinner.  My counterpart always asks me if I want coffee and I have found that whether I say yes or no thanks, coffee always finds itself next to my plate, so now I just say yes, but it is fun to throw in a no thanks here and there and still see that item appear.  This night in particular, my counterpart came from the kitchen with coffee in hand and asked me "do you like it strong?" and I hesitantly said yes curious to know how strong it was.  He waited for me to take a sip to ask if I liked it and I said yes; even if I didn't it would still be yes.  Apparently by "strong" he meant extra sugary. Ha!

As I finished my dinner, my counterpart brought out his boombox (wow, that's an old word) to play some English songs for me.  It was great.  They were pretty much all from the 80's, which I happen to love and it shouldn't be a secret to anyone who knows about my passion for singing out loud especially karaoke ;)  What an experience this was though.  My counterpart would start a song, ask me 2 seconds later if I knew it, before I could even process the 5 tones that played, and then he would start singing in a high falsetto--think Andy from the Office but with a Spanish accent/broken English.  I had to giggle.  We sat there and sang the high notes until a small portion of all 20 songs had been played.  I relished this moment, thinking about how unique and precious it was.  I asked to borrow his cd to copy the songs onto my computer and next week he's planning on coming to my house to check out the English songs that I already have.  I told him to bring a cd and he could pick out the songs he wants.  It's great that we both share a love for music (and singing in a high falsetto). 

The little things

Tonight I witnessed something that made me proud of what I’m doing here.  My host mom has wanted to learn English and she is a part of my community English class but she hasn’t been able to come to many classes because she goes to her finca with the family often.  She has expressed her frustration from visiting her cousin in Miami and feeling completely helpless and lost in the airport there.  I’ve helped her translate airline print-outs so she can learn to read them and know where she’s supposed to go.  

Well, I had a full English class this past Monday (everybody came), which was exciting and it made me get a little more motivated and I planned the next three classes based on what my students had accomplished.  Tonight I was in my room getting some things together before my English class was supposed to start and I heard some English words coming from the living room.  “Sh-irt, sh-irt.  ¿Qué significa ‘shirt’ Hazzell?”  My host mom was practicing the vocabulary and asking her daughter to help her.  My host sister pulled out her notebook and then they began to study together on the couch, reciting the vocabulary words and memorizing what each one means.  It was so cute—I wanted to take a picture to capture the moment because it felt so special to me as a teacher to see them studying and wanting to learn the words.  I know I’ll keep that picture in my mind though and remember little things like this to keep me going. 

Rocky roads and cold snickers bars

Things have been a little rocky lately... I've been having a lot of issues trying to get together with counterparts to plan lessons and organize things, which has been very frustrating!  Things have been piling up and it has been getting tougher for me to be patient.  I've talked with my bosses and we're trying to get things worked out but I don't want things to be awkward between me and my counterpart teachers if I have to change counterparts or something.  I'm in a difficult position and I'm trying to be calm and figure out what to do.  Yesterday, after a rough day, I retreated to my hammock and indulged in a snickers bar that had been in my fridge to keep it from melting.  I needed that.  Frank also talked to me and encouraged me.  It's nice to have someone here for support.  I'm not exactly what I'm going to do to resolve this situation yet, but today I was doing a devotional and cracked open my Bible and found some inspiration...

"What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever" 2 Cor. 4:18
In the devotion it talks about rough times and times where we grow tired and weary and we are unsure of what to do and we may want to give up.  But, in the end it says, "God never said that the journey would be easy, but he did say that the arrival would be worthwhile."

I find so much encouragement in the verses I read this morning and know that God is with me here in Nicaragua and pulling me up when I've fallen and when I feel like I have no strength to continue or no motivation to solve reoccurring problems...
"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  2 Cor. 4: 16-18

When you find yourself on rocky roads and turning toward cold snickers bars and hammocks for relief, take hope in God's precious promise and His mighty Word. 

P.S.  I might need some more chocolate soon :)

New class

One of my counterparts just started working with a new English program in Boaco with the U.S. Embassy here and asked me to help him with it on Wednesdays and Fridays.  I went today for the first time to teach American Culture.  I observed the first hour and then taught the second part.  I was so impressed by these students.  They don't know much English (very basic level) but they seem eager to learn and participate.  The class only had 24 students which is so much more manageable than the classes at my instituto which have 45+ students!  

I’m really excited to work with this class and I think it will be a really good experience.  The students asked me a lot of questions at the end of the class about the U.S. and I talked to some students on the way through town after class.  One boy in particular was really trying to use as much English as he could to ask me questions and chat with me.  It was sweet and I was impressed by his effort.  This has re-sparked my motivation and I’m looking forward to continuing with this class and seeing how the students improve.  It’s hard sometimes at the instituto because the motivation to learn English is not high and students just don’t seem to put any effort into much, so I hope that this new class will give me more patience for the other students :) 

These students were given a unique opportunity by the U.S. Embassy to participate in a 2 year intensive English program that has classes Monday-Friday 2 hours each day.  Books, workbooks, and English dictionaries are all provided.  What an awesome opportunity!  These students seem like they are excited about it too.

9 Months!

I have officially been in Nicaragua for 9 months now...time is flying!  Happy 9 months to meeeee :)

Atlantic Coast Adventure

Before heading off to the great unknown, aka: The RAAS (the southern, Atlantic autonomy of Nicaragua), I went to Frank’s place to visit and check out his work there.  I got to go out to a finca with some of the local jovenes to see the garden they’ve been developing and I even got to pull a few weeds.  Nope, I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty!

We made sure to get some pizza at his local pizza place because it’s the best pizza I’ve had so far in Nicaragua—it’s a good thing I don’t live in his town!!  It’s a nice treat when I go to visit :)  I also tried some helados for the first time.  I’ve seen them before but haven’t tried them since they’re made with tap water, but I was feeling adventurous and it was totally worth it in the end!  It was sooo hot that day and helados are basically a popsicle in a bag.  Most snacks here in Nicaragua come in plastic bags—I might even change their motto from “The land of lakes and volcanoes” to “The land of plastic and fried food” but that just doesn’t sound as appealing to tourists I guess haha  Anyway, these helados were made from a variety of chopped up fruits and the juices and frozen in little bags, sold for about 10 cents.  Deliciously cheap :)

After I got to relax at Frank’s and we were ready for our big trip, we hopped on a bus and headed to Managua to meet up with the rest of our group.  We had dinner at McDonald’s because that really is like a little piece of home for us here.  It’s crazy because I NEVER eat McDonald’s back home, but for some reason whenever I’m in Managua, I see those golden arches and I’m drawn to them.  Well, it certainly hit the spot (especially the hot fudge sundae dessert) and we took a taxi to the bus terminal to wait for the night bus.  Our bus wasn’t leaving until 9pm, but left around 9:30pm.  We all piled in and soon realized that our back seats had been added so they could sell more seats so we had absolutely NO leg room, and to make things worse, there were big metal springs sticking out of the seats in front of us… We didn’t want to rip our pants or get stabbed by those, so we had to sit a little sideways and take over an empty seat next to us.  Needless to say, it was not a comfortable 5 ½ hour bus ride, but we made it there safely so that’s something to be thankful for.  

After arriving in the RAAS from the bus ride, we waited at the boat dock to take our ride into Bluefields, which is a port town on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua.  Our boat left at about 5:30am and it took 2 hours to get to Bluefields.  It was a little smoother in the panga than the bus ride, but every now and then we hit a small wake or wave and it scared me awake.  Thankfully I had Frank’s arm to grab :)  I do like boats, but trying to sleep on one and then waking up to the boat bouncing and smacking the water is not so fun.  Anyway, we made it to Bluefields and I was so excited—it looked beautiful!

Napping at the boat terminal after the long bus ride

Pangas

Crawling out of the panga onto the dock.  They really need to invest in ladders.

We met up with Martin, a PCV who lives in Kukra Hill (about a 30 min boat ride north of Bluefields) and then we went to our hostel to check in.  Since we were all exhausted, we zonked out for a couple hours and decided to meet up for lunch later.  This was great.

We then had lunch on the bay and enjoyed each other’s company, telling stories of the bus/boat rides, etc.  That evening we went to a showing of a film made in Bluefields called “The Black Creoles” which shared the history of the area and included interviews of locals.  It was very interesting and fun to listen to people speaking creole.  It was funny because even though they were speaking English, because it was creole, it was difficult to understand and I ended up reading the Spanish subtitles to understand what they were saying.  Go figure!  That means that my Spanish is good though :)  This also reminded me of studying different dialects, accents, pidgins and creoles in grad school.  It’s so interesting—you should check it out if you have some free time.

The next day was the feria and parade.  It was only the second annual fair there even though they’ve been celebrating palo de mayo (maypole) for a long time.  This was fun—there were booths with local foods, handicrafts, and giveaways.  I bought some pan de coco (coconut bread) which is a very common item here.  It was a pretty chill day as we walked around the park and waited for the parade to start.  We heard an announcement for the parade just before 2pm and headed out to the streets, but in true Nica fashion, the parade didn’t get going til about 3:30pm.  We found a restaurant with a balcony facing the streets and ordered drinks while we waited.  At least we found a fun place with a nice view.

That night we decided to check out the local night life after dinner on the bay and visited a reggae club.  It was definitely interesting, but good for dancing and I LOVE dancing :)  It was even better that I had my boyfriend there so I could dance with him and not have to worry about any creepy guys asking me to dance.  There are some definite advantages to having a boyfriend here haha  I'm definitely glad I have Frank here other than those reasons though.

Sunday was crazy, but turned out well in the end.  We got up early because we were planning on taking a trip out to the Pearl Keys in the Pearl Lagoon, north of Bluefields.  Some girls in our group had arranged a deal with some locals they had met and we got 11 of us together to make the trip.  Well, we were supposed to leave at 7:30am, but that came and passed quickly.  While the guy went to get gas, we all went out and searched for breakfast foods and then eventually walked over to the guy’s house and waited for him to show up after filling the tank.  It was 9:30am by then and we found out that it was going to be a little more expensive because the gas was more than expected. Also, they told us that it would take 2 ½ hours to get there instead of 1 ½ like we had thought originally.  Hmmm…well by then some of us started to talk about ditching this plan since things were changing and we hadn’t even seen what kind of shape this boat was in.

We waited a little longer and then decided to leave and just go to the beach in El Bluff on the coast, like we had originally talked about the day before.

So, four of us took a 30 minute panga ride to El Bluff, found a little cabana, and enjoyed the beautiful beach.  The waves were perfect and we were greeted by two really cute puppies.

Later we found out that the rest of the group encountered more issues with the boat deal, including motor problems and sitting and waiting for 2 more hours.  So, they didn’t end up going and a couple of them had to stay and try to sell the gas…  Glad we got out of that one!

After having a great lunch (gallo pinto cooked with coconut oil, tajadas, and salad) and getting very sunburned (what’s new right?), Frank and I decided to catch a panga back to Bluefields so we could buy our tickets for the bus and boat ride home the next day.  We got there in time to get the tickets and I felt relieved after that knowing that our rides were secure for our early morning travel :)

Frank and I cruised around the park that evening and got a little ice cream treat before heading back to the hostel.  We turned in early because the next day we would be leaving early and traveling the whole day…

4am came way too fast, but we got up and headed downstairs to meet up with the others.  We walked down to the boat terminal and waited a little to load the boats just as it started to rain.  Our boat did not have a cover, but fortunately Nicas have a plan for this: using a giant piece of plastic (similar to a tarp) and having the passengers hold on to it and the panga goes jetting down the river.  I couldn’t help but laugh as the tarp flapped up and down hitting people in the head and still allowing sprays of water inside.  In times like these, you have to laugh and realize that it’s just a little water and it’s an experience you’ll never forget.  I didn’t get a picture of this, but you can use your imagination.

Our bus left El Rama at 8:30am and I got off early at the roundabout before my town because the route passes through Boaco—very convenient!  I then had to wait a couple minutes for the bus to pass by to take me into Boaco.

Wow, what a weekend!  We did lots of traveling and saw lots of interesting and unique things.  Definitely a great experience!