AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAlma

Wooo, tropical storms! Or was it a hurricane? I'm not sure, I've heard it called both. All I know is that it rained for more than 24 hours and we got classes canceled for it. It also caused a lot of flooding and at least one death. Here's what it looked like in the backyard. Those dark things obscuring the view are laundry trying to dry very unsuccessfully. Unfortunately much of my laundry was included and even things that were previously dry became excessively damp due to the high humidity.


I posted a bunch of photos on my Facebook page, but I've got a good connection today so here are some more:


This is my little host niece Alandy (though in my learning of the español, I keep calling her my grandaughter), she's 3 and completely crazy. Everyone agrees that she's the epitome of the word 'necia' which is basically a super energetic crazy child. She runs in and out of the house, leaving messes everywhere she goes, and only really stays clean for about 5 minutes after a bath. And pretty much everyday she hurts herself or just throws a tantrum or six. I still can't really understand anything that comes out of her mouth.


This is the view from El Crucero, a little place where we have some of our training sessions. I just took a panoramic photo from there today when it was completely clear that I'll try to upload soon too. You can almost see the ocean!!

ok, time's running short. I got mail today, thanks for the letters!! It absolutely made my day!

When they say don´t have expectations, that means the internet as well!!

Well, I jinxed the internet. Our cyber cafe has been inexplicably closed for several days now, so yeah. Hopefully it´ll be functional again soon, but for now I will only have access once or twice a week. I wrote most of this entry on Sunday.

Transpo!!

Anyway, the transportation strike is over so I've been learning to navigate the local transportation system. Because we live in the boonies, the first step to go anywhere that isn't within walking distance is to hop in a taxi. The taxis run a set route from here to Jinotepe, the departmental capital city, for 5 cordobas, about $0.25 per person. In Jinotepe you can catch a bus to pretty much anywhere in the area for cheap. Our group classes are held in Diriamba, so we know the right corner to stand on and wait until a microbus pulls up (they're little van like things that hold about 12 people comfortably and lots more uncomfortably).

Pretty much all the buses and microbuses have their destinations written on the windshield, so it'll say Jinotepe – Diriamba for example, but in case you don't see that part there's always a guy hanging out the window yelling the destination. It takes a careful ear to understand them sometimes, since Diriamba Diriamba Diriamba!! turns into Dyambadyambadyamba!!! Then they stop along the way to pick up more passengers or drop people off. Today I went with another sitemate and her host-mom to Masatepe to visit one of the small business volunteers and get more practice traveling around.

Pueblo Planning

Now that I've been to a few towns of varying sizes, it's become very clear that towns here are based on a particular system of the Central Park and Church. The central location is always a one square block park, generally with a play area for kids and possibly a basketball court or other sports area as well, and across from the park is the Big Catholic Church. In Minnesota they say you need a bar and a church to make a town, here it´s a church and a park.

Youth Whatnow?

I've gotten a few questions about what it is I'm doing with this youth group thing, so let me say a little more. We´re working on this independent of the school, so there are no teachers involved. The mayor´s office is helping us though, because they´re connected with some of the youth organizations in town and know everyone anyway. So right now we´re working on getting a project chosen and started. Looks like we might be helping to clear an area and plant some trees for a new park in a little settlement of about 50 houses not far from El Rosario. I go from being very optimistic to very pessmistic on this venture.

The Big Picture

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by everything, and sometimes I feel good about it all. Changing our planned time for the youth group meetings will free up time that we can use to start co-planning and co-teaching at the school which is difficult to schedule. Training is intentionally difficult, much like the application process, to weed out people who aren't in it for the long haul. The days are long but I'm slowly adjusting more to the noise and I'm pretty used to the food now too. When I'm not exhausted, things are a lot easier to handle :)

The host family also continues to be good, the power was out this morning so I was chatting with my host dad who, much to my surprise, has read the autobiography of Isadora Duncan – the mother of modern dance!! Latin American men are famous for their machismo, and all I've heard so far about Nicaraguan men is that they're all liars and cheaters. Listening to some of the other trainees talk about how uninvolved the men in their families are makes me all the more impressed that my host dad and brother-in-law spend so much time with their kids/grandkids. The whole time we were chatting, my host dad had his little granddaughter playing in the hammock with him. And as soon as he gets home from work, my brother-in-law is playing with one of his daughters.

Sidenote: we do usually have electricity, but it's gone out two or three times this week usually as the result of a strong rain though I don't think it rained last night. It is, however, raining a whole lot right now, so we'll see what happens tonight. The water, on the other hand, comes and goes. I think it works more often during the day when I'm not home, but we keep two big barrels out back full of water for washing clothes, dishes, and ourselves. I did get to take a real shower last week for the first time when the water was actually on, but generally it's bucket baths (take a 5 gallon bucket of water, use a smaller scoop to dump the water over your head, wash, rinse. I can bathe using less than ¾ of a bucket!) and dumping water in the toilet to “flush.”

In closing, I missed two weddings this weekend, so congratulations to Rosie and Nic and to Steph and Burt on what I can only hope will be happy lives spent together!

John Travolta Nica

Nicaraguans love John Travolta circa 1970. So much so that there was a competition this weekend in Managua to find the John Travolta Nica that I was just lucky enough to attend. One of my fellow-trainee´s host brothers, Onis, is a dance teacher and Travolta fanatic so there was a whole microbus of relatives going to support him and I was able to hitch a ride as well. We had signs and noise makers and lots of excitment. I really didn´t know what to expect in terms of a venue, I was thinking auditorium or small stadium or something with sitting, but what we got was one of the premier discos in Managua, El Rio, and 30 odd Nicaraguan dudes dressed in leisure suits and shiney shirts and slicked back hair.

They did 4 rounds of 3 people dancing at a time, each time the more ridiculous and un-Travolta like dancers were weeded out. They all gave it their best, that was clear, but there were also clearly some way more impressive Travoltas and that included Onis who made it into the top three. With our hopes riding on him winning the impressive motorcycle sitting outside, we were all standing on chairs and tables (ah, so not the U.S.) chanting "Siete! Siete!" (Onis´s number was seven) at the top of our lungs. In the end, Onis came in second with a prize of $2,000 cordobas which is about $100.

After the whole shabang was over, we stuck around to dance for about an hour and enjoy a little more freedom and excitement than can be found in our little pueblo. I think that I will definitely look back on this as an incredibly unique and fun experience during my time in Nicaragua. However, I would be ok with not hearing either Stayin Alive or Saturday Night Fever for a year or more.

At 4am on Sunday morning, I was woken up by a marching band and fireworks. I kid you not.

In other news, we had our first youth group meeting yesterday and we were incredibly happy to have 22 people show up. Overall it went well, they participated in all the activities we had planned and maybe even had a little fun. Today we met with our teacher again to plan our when we can all co-teach with him, so next Tuesday I´ll be in the classroom getting my feet wet!

In case you hadn´t noticed, I do actually have decent access to the internet here. We don´t have a phone to call internationally from but there is a Cyber Cafe that´s only 50 cents an hour, so send me an email with an update if you have a chance!!

Buenas Tardes!!

Hola from El Rosario!! My host family has been really nice, & they're feeding me great food! Many Nicaraguans eat lots of carbs and not much for vegetables and fruits, but I've been getting a lot of everything so far. In addition to my host mom & dad, there are 3 sisters who live here, one is married and her husband lives with us along with their 3 year old & 4 month old, who are both really cute. I chatted with one of the sisters for a bit yesterday, her name is Gabriela & she's my age. She's studying international relations at a university in Jinotepe & wants to learn English & French. My Spanish is better than I thought and I can understand quite a bit, but it's still not great so conversing can be difficult and I'm still catching onto the accent. It's even harder to understand a conversation between two Nicas because then they aren't speaking as carefully as when they talk to us & their accents get stronger.

But I'm settling in pretty well here, it's hard to be away from the support system we all built up during the last week but I've been out walking a couple times with the other trainees & their host families so I'm getting more familiar with the town. My mama's son, who doesn't live with us, told me that there are about 5-6,000 people in El Rosario, but I think that probably covers the town & surrounding areas because it doesn't seem to be that big, but I also haven't seen the whole place.

Things are a little weird with the transportation strike, like Gabriela was supposed to be at school yesterday but couldn't get there & we were supposed to have classes as well but our language facilitators couldn't get to the sites either. They say that we'll have classes tomorrow, but I'm not sure how the facilitators will get here. Wednesday we're all supposed to take the bus into Diriamba to have class with the other TEFL trainees, but again, not sure how we'll do that with the strike (they're striking over the price of fuel, which apparently Ortega promised would be lower if he was elected).

They show the strangest dubbed American movies on TV here, so far I've seen Water World, Beethoven, and Indiana Jones. Looks like a lot of American TV gets down here, though they have their own stuff too. It also finally rained yesterday, it cools off when it's raining, but when it stops it's even hotter. It's not as bad here as in Managua- I'm sweaty but not too bad :) Though I keep getting bit by random little ants! Stupid things. We have a dog, a cat, & lots of animals wandering around the yard that may belong to my family, or maybe the one next door, I'm not sure. There are chickens & a rooster, a turkey, I've heard a cow but not seen it, and a couple pigs.

I'm still in disbelief that I'm here, I know that it'll be a day by day process because I just can't imagine 27 months of roosters crowing & reggaeton music blasting at all hours of the day. For now though, I'm still giggle to myself every time I hear the turkey gobble gobble and get the most entertainment out of watching the kids goof around :)

and now, fotos:

Our hotel in Managua, not bad eh?

Here I am with my two roommates, Kat in the center and Sam on the right (Sam was my roommate at the hotel in DC & was also supposed to go to Bolivia but with the Health group), at Peace Corps Headquarters in Managua.

Looks like those are all the photos it´s going to let me upload today! I´ll try for more next time. Hasta luego!

Fotos!!

Today is the first day I really feel like I live in Nicaragua! We were finally able to leave the hotel this evening & tour parts of Managua & we leave in the morning for our training sites and host families. I'll be in El Rosario, which is in the "state" (they're called Departments here) of Carazo, not far from Masaya which is probably the closest city that can be found on the map. I don't have my little info sheet with me, but I'll be living with a family that has 3 daughters around my age (like 20 to 25), also a 4 month old baby & I think a 6 year old. So I'm hoping that they all like me :) There are 3 other trainees in El Rosario & I was told that there's also a volunteer living there.

So this is our last night in the hotel all together, the business volunteers are training around Masaya & we won't be seeing them much during training, which is sad. But now it's time to go see the real Nicaragua & get on with what I came here to do. Thanks for the emails from those of you who have written me so far!! Keep them coming :)

The connection here isn't great, so I've only successfully uploaded one picture so far. Here are some of us doing yoga at the airport in DC on Wednesday morning:

Nica!!

Hola!!

We landed yesterday to a sunny and hot (90s) Managua in the midst of a transportation strike - the whole of Nicaragua actually - but since our hotel is across the street from the airport & we have nowhere to go till Saturday, the strike isn't affecting us much yet. For being across from the airport, it's surprisingly quiet, I think i've only heard planes a handful of times so it's not a super busy place.

Training is going fine, we do have AC in the hotel so it's a slow transition, & also this lovely wireless that I can only access by sitting next to a post out on a patio, but whatever!! I have some pictures I'll try to post later when I have time. Sounds like Skype is alive & well in internet cafes here, so if you have an account & I didn't find you, find me!! and I may wait till I get my site assignment to buy a cell phone, but the volunteers who are here with us say that everyone has a phone.

Tomorrow I'll find out my training site and also the 2-3 other people who'll be there with me through July. But it's approaching dinner so I need to go, hopefully post some pictures soon - maybe later tonight.

Staging!

Staging is a fancy name for orientation in the Peace Corps world. I arrived back in DC this morning & have been meeting my fellow trainees and getting oriented ever since. There are about 40 of us, both English teaching and business education folks. So far so good :) We fly out early on Wednesday morning for Nica.

Thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement!! Please keep in touch while I'm away, I look forward to reading emails & will try to reply as much as possible. These first couple weeks I probably will be out of touch, but I will do my best.

Take a Letter, Maria

Time is sneaking up on me, we're down to my last week at home. I saw lots of people this weekend in the cities (I counted last night, more than 20!! That's a lot in 3 days, but it was awesome!) and have taken over the living room with all my stuff to pack. Before I forget, here is the vaguely comprehensive guide to the communication methods I'll have open to me in Nicaragua. It's pretty much straight out of my welcome book:

• MAIL: Relative to the service in most developing countries, mail between the U.S. and Nicaragua is dependable. Airmail takes about two weeks; surface mail can take months. Packages sometimes mysteriously disappear in transit, and sometimes they are opened and the contents stolen. It is best if packages do not exceed 2 pounds. Padded-envelope-sized packages work well. It's not always worth it to send large packages since volunteers are responsible for paying customs feeds on larger items (which can exceed the value of the items).
  

• PHONE: International phone service to and from Nicaragua is good relative to other developing countries. For telephone communication to the States, most volunteers use Internet cafes or have family and friends call them at a local number. Others call home collect, using international calling cards. Many of the families who host volunteers during training have phones in their homes. If not, there is public phone access in all the training communities. Cellphone service is available in all departmental (state) capitals, however service rarely reaches the more remote areas.

• INTERNET ACCESS: Local internet providers exist in the capital, in nearly all major cities, and in some smaller towns. Most volunteers have regular (weekly or monthly) access to email.

During training I'll be receiving my mail at the Peace Corps headquarters in Managua & mail can be sent there throughout my service:

My Name, PCT
Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 3256
Managua, Nicaragua
Central America

I take off for staging in DC early next Monday morning and my phone will be functional until we leave for Nicaragua on Wednesday, so give me a call or better yet, send me a happy email that I can print off and take with me :)

My Application Timeline

I meant to post this a while ago, but with my program switch I just kinda forgot about it. When I was going through the motions of applying to the Peace Corps, I searched everywhere for timelines of people who had been accepted to see how long each stage took. This post is mostly for prospective Peace Corps Volunteers who are looking for the same information.

It is recommended that you apply to the Peace Corps 9 months to a year before you want to go, largely due to the amount of time it can take to get medical clearance. Here's my timeline:

July 2007: Started application
Aug 30: Submitted application
Sept 10 : Interview
Sept 19: Nomination; leaving May 2008
Oct 29: Mailed Medical Packet
Nov 5: Dental Clearance Received
Feb 5, 2008: Medical Clearance Received
Mar 3: Invitation to Bolivia Received

Mar 13: Bolivia training group officially canceled

Mar 17: Invitation to Nicaragua received
May 5: Departure for Nicaragua (same date as I would have left for Bolivia)

Basically, it took a month to do my application and about 10 days to do the interview and then 10 more days to get my nomination. It took me about a month to complete my medical packet and about a day to get dental clearance. It took 3 months to get my medical clearance and then another month to get my invitation, which left me with about 2 months until departure.

It is said that the process is meant to weed out people who aren't really serious, and I definitely believe that now that it's over. There were times when I thought about just doing something else instead of writing all these essays and asking for recommendations, then seeing doctors and more doctors and then going back after the PC wanted more information. I think I read somewhere that something like 17% of applicants are actually accepted.

What's in a Name??

I've had some questions about the name of the blog. "The wisdom of the little toe" is actually a phrase my yoga teacher used once that I filed away because my poor little toes have suffered serious mishaps over the years:

At probably age 10 or 11, I froze my left little toe. I was doing my brother's paper route during the winter but this was before I had one of my own so I walked it instead of biking because it freaked me out to bike in the snow. Unfortunately, I also had really crappy boots so when I finally got back my feet were frozen but my one little toe was worse off than the others for some reason & it swelled up real big. Ever since, if my feet get too cold my left baby toe swells up & itches (I've been told that's a sign of nerve damage).

At age 22, I fractured my right little toe. It was the first of three shows of my very last dance concert at Mac and during the last piece I didn't kick quite high enough during a fight scene and nailed my partner in the head. I was initially much more worried about her but as the dance continued, I felt my toe swelling up and by the time I stumbled off stage it was huge!! I went to urgent care the next morning and it was indeed fractured. The doctor sure gave me a look when I asked if I'd be injuring it further if I danced on it, but he said I wouldn't. I finished up the last two shows (adrenaline is an amazing thing!!) and then hobbled around for several weeks afterward.

It's surprising how important such small appendages can be, so the idea behind the name refers to the importance of small things.

Blast from the Past

I've been spending a whole lot of time cleaning out my childhood room as I've been meaning to do it for some years now. Since I was raised as a pack rat I still have a lot of random assignments from my K12 education including such things as an old Physics paper entitled "Isn't it time for a real appliance? Isn't it time for a toaster?" The last page included a series of Toast Haikus that I got online, and they're still there, but this was my favorite:

Thirty-six croutons
Sewn together with great care
Spicy slice of toast

Probably the most interesting thing I've found is my prediction of how my life would play out from age 13, verbatim:

• Graduate at the top, or close to it, of my class
• Start college somewhere out east
• Study archaeology and literature
• Start work as an archaelogist
• Sometime go to Britain and study Stonehenge, the wheat circles. To Yucatan Peninsula to see the Mayan temples. Go storm chasing with Rachel. Go skydiving with Rachel, Nichole, Roseanne, and Andrea
• Study aliens
• Somewhere try to become an archaelogical professor
• Live in Britain for 2-3 years
• In my retirement study art and literature, write a book or novel
• Travel the world while I'm retired

Soooooo..... yeah. I haven't done any of that really, except graduating towards the top of my high school class & I went to Britain but didn't get to see Stonehenge because of Mad Cow. Of course I haven't yet retired so I guess I might still study art and literature (though I doubt it) and travel the world (I hope so!). At 13 I apparently didn't have much interest in marriage or children or anything else between getting a job and then retiring.

So long DC...

I moved to DC more than a year and a half ago as a post-college adventure and my big chance to move out of Minnesota. When I drove out with a friend and his dad who happened to be going to Baltimore, I left with an offer for a job I wasn't too sure about, a second interview lined up for the job I wanted, and a bed in someone else's parents' basement - somehow knowing that I wouldn't be moving in with my own folks made it seem better. But I was lucky & got my preferred job only 2 days after moving out and was soon settled down in my new home.

There are things that I loved and things I hated about DC, but overall I would never want to trade my time there for anything. Highlights:

• 804!! My house was a blessing in that it brought me together with one of my best friends in DC, but it also was the location of many many frustrations. If we weren't dealing with contractors in the basement, Comcast was screwing up our bill, a bird was in the kitchen, or there was housemate drama. Not to mention the monster $700 gas bill we got the first winter we lived there. But Laura & I made the best of it & at least we had each other to lean on when we were ready to walk straight out of the house & never come back. And I have enough happy memories of chatting in the kitchen, spying on the neighbors, or having the girls over for dinner before we went out to last me some years.

• The DC Dance Scene. The first house I lived in was shared with 3 professional dancers, which I think really helped push me to get back into dance class. Spring 2007 was crazy as I started workstudying at one of the Joy of Motion studios, took at least 2 to 3 classes a week and was rehearsing for 2 shows at different times. I'm proud to say that I was able to get by on my natural talents & perform in semi-professional shows. Knowing that, I finally listened to my aching joints & nagging back pain and cut way back on my classes & stopped performing. I don't think I'll ever stop dancing, but I just couldn't keep up the way I was.

• Worky Worky. While looking for a job in DC, I kept my sights on doing something with a nonprofit, & only hoped I might find something housing-related. I was lucky enough to do just that and even got to combine it with a subject area that I felt was often overlooked: rural issues. I learned a lot about rural housing, got to attend hearings on the Hill, and met some great people as well. While so many of my friends were floundering in jobs that had nothing to do with their interests, I felt lucky to be working in the field I hope I might continue on in someday.

• Weekend trips to New York City. I can almost maneuver the system without a map and I only accidentally ended up in Harlem at 1am alone by accident once & didn't die. I'd still really like to live there, but only for a little while before the city would swallow me whole.

• Good company. There isn't much to say, my friends rock.
  

Flying out of DC on Monday, I finally got the view I wanted. Somehow on previous flights I was always on the wrong side of the plane or we took off in the other direction, or I was flying out of Dulles. But on Monday as the plan lifted up off the ground I was able to take in the full view of the Mall and downtown DC before we ascended into the clouds and it was gone. I know I'll be back, but I'll never know the city as well as I did when I lived there.

Todo Sobre Nicaragua

I've been alerted that I need to post more to keep my housemate entertained at work. All that's happening in my life right now is packing & generally running about, which means that I'm going to re-write the CIA World Factbook page on Nicaragua for you all. Enjoy!


A Brief History

• Nicaragua became its own country in 1838, and later was almost taken over by Crazy American William Walker but they killed him.
• The U.S. Marines were called in in the early 1900s to help settle unrest within the country and that is apparently the reason that baseball is insanely popular there.
• From 1934 till 1979 Nicaragua was under the rule of a military dictatorship.
• A huge earthquake in 1972 destroyed large parts of the capital, Managua.
• In 1979 Marxist Sandinistas overthrew the dictatorship and ruled until 1990. Free elections have taken place since then & the current president, Daniel Ortega, is the first Sandinista elected since.

Economy

• Nicaragua has widespread underemployment, one of the highest degrees of income inequality in the world, and the third lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere.
• They are part of CAFTA - Central American Free Trade Agreement with the U.S.
• 48% of the population lives below the poverty line
• Agricultural products: coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products; shrimp, lobsters
• I can't figure out where I read it, but I swear tourism is something like the 2nd largest sector of the economy!!!
  

Climate (copied from ViaNica)
A tropical climate can be observed in Nicaragua. Just as in the other Central American countries, there are two seasons: the dry and the raining season. During the dry season (January - June) there is virtually no rain and trees and plants start to dry out. Once the rains come around June, July, everything starts growing and the yellow plants and leafless trees turn green and start blossoming. In August and September it often rains once a day. Fortunately, it just rains for a short period of time and these are often spectacular, tropical downpours. In the eastern part of the country it rains more than in the west.

There are three temperature zones in Nicaragua. In the lowlands (Pacific and Atlantic coast) temperatures vary roughly between 72° F at night and 86° F at daytime (22° C - 30° C). Temperature can reach 100° F in May (38° C). The central part of the country is about 9° F (5° C) cooler, and in the mountains in the north it's about 18° F (10° C) cooler.

Other Interesting Facts

• Nicaragua's about the size of New York State
• The largest lake in Central America is located there, creatively named Lake Nicaragua
• The median age is 21.3 years old, compare that to the U.S. median of 36.6 & we're talking about a very young country!
• Race/Ethnicity
• 69% Mixed Amerindian & white
• 17% White
• 9% Black
• 5% Amerindian
  
• Catholic is the majority religion @ 72%
• While almost everyone speaks Spanish, there are some indigenous groups along the Atlantic coast that speak other languages

The Peace Corps in Nicaragua
Peace Corps first entered Nicaragua in 1969 but the program was suspended in 1978 due to the civil war that brought the Sandinistas to power. It was reestablished in 1990 and they've been there ever since. Volunteers serve in 5 areas: small business development, community health education, environmental education, agriculture, and teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL). The TEFL program is the newest area, it was established in 2006 which makes my group the third to go in which is kinda cool since our experiences and feedback have the potential of the future of the program.

So there you have it! That's a fraction of the stuff I've read and I still feel like I have much to learn.

Let's try this again

My second invitation arrived this week:

TEFL Teacher Trainer (TEFL = Teaching English as a Foreign Language)
Nicaragua
U.S. Orientation: May 5-6
Training (in Nicaragua): May 7-July 18
Service: July 18, 2008 - July 16, 2010

I accepted it this morning.

I feel extremely lucky to still be going to Latin America on the exact same date as I was preparing for, but I can't pretend that I'm not disappointed to have gotten an invitation to the program I'd been hoping for for 6 months, only to have it taken away. It makes it hard to get really excited again. But I think my new assignment is great, and if I had decided not to do the Peace Corps, my plan was to teach English in Latin America anyway so here we are!

Now, what I'll be doing:
I think my title makes more sense as TEFL Teacher/Trainer, because I will be primarily teaching in a high school with a local English teacher (aka my Counterpart in Peace Corps terms) and only a small part of my time will be doing what I think of as teacher training, which is me talking to a bunch of school teachers. My job will be to help my counterpart improve their own English speaking ability and also to plan lessons together using more participatory activities rather than rote repetition or other methods that may not be as effective. This will involve me co-teaching classes of high school students that could be as large as 50 students! In my spare time I will most likely teach a class for adults in the community and do other projects according to my time and interest.

I'm nervous mostly about the size of the classes. That's a lot of kids! Last fall I co-taught a class of about 30 adult immigrants who were highly motivated and it was still a challenge to make sure everyone understood what was going on. I think it will be a big challenge, but I know I'll learn a lot from it and if I'm successful, then hopefully the kids I teach will have better futures ahead of them.

For anyone who's not quite sure where Nicaragua is, it's in Central America right in between Costa Rica and Honduras. I'll write more about my future home soon. I hope that maybe I'll get more visitors with my new location. Tourism is quickly becoming the biggest sector in Nicaragua's economy :)

Hoodwinked

Haha, good joke, Peace Corps, good joke! Sending me that invitation to serve in Bolivia? Classic! Calling me yesterday to let me know that you would no longer be sending a training group to Bolivia in May? Priceless! Hoo, boy, you sure do know how to pull a fast one on a girl.

I tell ya, I wish it was that funny. The official reason I was given is that there is a vote on May 4th on the new Constitution in Bolivia (which, according to my research, was actually postponed) but there are also a couple provinces that are fighting for autonomy, so their overarching concern about civil unrest is entirely possible and I was actually a little prepared for things to be canceled on me. I'm definitely not happy about it and am disappointed to not be going to Bolivia and maybe even more disappointed that I won't be doing water and sanitation work (it's unlikely, I believe). I was very excited about this assignment.

I should have more information by next Wednesday about a new invitation. I wasn't given much information on the where, when, or what front, but I have a couple clues. They'll look first for something in Latin America with the latest departure date in September, and she asked a few questions about my English teaching experience. There aren't many teaching posts in Latin America, but there are a few. I don't think another water/sanitation program is leaving in the next few months so I'm pretty sure that's completely out.

I do consider myself lucky because I spoke to my boss this morning & in the event that I have a later departure date and want to keep my job, they're happy to keep me on. And I had just posted the sublet ad for my room yesterday when I got the call so that got deleted, so I have a place to live and a job if I have to stick around for a little while longer. I already bought a flight home to Minnesota, & so did my brother, so we'll have to deal with that. Logistically, I think I'll be ok, but that's not really any consolation to having my prize ripped out of my hands. Like I said, I'm disappointed, but I'm staying positive and hoping for something that's even better than sanitation in Bolivia, even if I'm not sure what that would be right now.

More information as I get it....

Email Subscription

I just added a feature to get my updates via email (on that right sidebar over there) so I'm testing to make sure it works!

Update: It works! If you want to subscribe to the blog, enter your email in the box on the right sidebar. You don't have to register with anyone and you can unsubscribe at any time by following the links at the bottom of the emails (but why would you!?). You'll then receive a "daily digest" of whatever I post that day and when I don't post, you won't get an email. Happy Trails!

Peace Corps: Bolivia

Last Monday I finally received my invitation to the Peace Corps as a Basic Sanitation volunteer in Bolivia leaving May 5th. I had actually predicted that this would be my invitation so I spent my evening thinking and talking to family and friends and on Tuesday I accepted the invitation.

What's this Peace Corps thing? The Peace Corps was started in 1961 by John F. Kennedy with the purpose of:

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Volunteers work in several areas including education, health, business development, youth/community development, agriculture, environment, and information technology. They serve for 27 months total, which includes 3 months of training in-country and 2 years of service in a particular community. In-country training consists of language classes, cross-cultural studies, and technical training with other volunteers. During pre-service training, each volunteer is assigned a host community based on their skills and the needs of the communities

So what will I be doing? According to my little welcome booklet, my duties may include:

• Providing technical assistance in water and sanitation project design and implementation
• Working with elected officials and other formal and informal community leaders to improve community awareness and responsible management of water systems and sanitation facilities and processes
• Overseeing water and sanitation project construction and developing maintenance plans with a strong emphasis on sustainability
• Organizing and facilitating training for water committees
• Identifying sources of funding/materials for water projects
• and the list goes on.....

While Basic Sanitation is my project area, I can also do secondary projects based on my interests and the needs of the community. I hope to perhaps teach English or even dance - I'm not sure if anyone will be interested in learning ballet, but it could be fun! I think getting involved in teaching would provide me with at least one consistent activity since sanitation work may be intermittent.

How am I qualified for this? Because I built fences with dad and learned how to make tiny theater sets in college. Kinda. My basic construction experiences are apparently what qualified me, and that includes doing random projects around the house with dad, industrial tech in Middle School, Tech Theater in college, and participating in house builds in and around DC. My pre-service training will (hopefully) provide me with the nitty gritty skills I need to do my job.

Why Peace Corps? Ummm, why not Peace Corps? I have always wanted to live abroad and I felt that I could spend that time doing something beyond teaching English or paying a bundle to volunteer through a private organization. Through the Peace Corps, I will get the language training I desire (yes, I will ideally be fluent in Spanish upon returning, and may also be learning an indigenous language) and also develop skills that will be useful when I come back to the U.S. It is a big commitment and it will be very difficult at times, but the time will fly and I hope to have some amazing experiences to offset the bad ones.

I have long since given up my notion that I will be drastically changing the lives of the people I will be working with. Peace Corps is hard work and while the volunteer is largely responsible for the amount of work they accomplish, there are major obstacles and difficulties along the way that can prevent projects from getting off the ground. I hope to provide a good example of what Americans are really like and to learn about Bolivia and pass on that knowledge when I come back home. Obviously I hope that I can have a successful project, but I am also preparing myself for the fact that it just may not happen.

When Jonathan & I went to see the Golden Gate Bridge, I remember being surprised at the low railings. This article in the Post (I hope it's accessible to everyone, I have an account so I can never tell) talks about the current argument over whether or not to install a barrier in addition to an important discussion of suicide. It's basically saying that a main argument against a barrier (aside from aesthetics) is that a suicidal person will find a way to do it regardless so the barrier really isn't saving any lives. Except that there's research that says otherwise, that given an easy way out, people are more likely to take it, and if prevented, they may not kill themselves at all.

This is one of the opening quotes from a man who jumped & lived to tell about it: "And my hands were the last thing to leave, and once they left, I thought: 'This is the worst decision I've ever made in my life.' "

So give someone a smile and show a little love, you never know what even these small actions might do for someone. The article says that 98% of Golden Gate jumpers were successful in killing themselvs, and 94% of those who were stopped by passersby or patrols were determined to still be living or have died of natural causes.

If you're going to San Francisco....

So I went to the San Francisco Bay Area a couple weeks ago to visit my brother and celebrate both of our birthdays. We were blessed with perfect weather for the entire time and I totally loved the city and the entire area. I saw lots of San Rafael, where he lives, and other parts of Marin County including Mount Tamalpais, also Berkeley, Point Richmond, and we spent 2 days in San Fran itself. One of the interesting features of the trip is that it was entirely by public transit since Jonathan is sans car and because he lives in San Rafael, this involved taking buses almost everywhere and walking a whole lot. I don't really want to write a book about the trip, but here are some of my favorite pictures. Hopefully you'll recognize the one above :)

I flew in on Valentines Day in the afternoon. Jonathan met me in the city, we walked around, ate some dinner, and then went to a pillow fight!!! It was pretty sweet, there were tons of people there and feathers were flying, quite literally! I actually found a little bitty one in one of my contacts when I took them out that night.

This is the view from China Beach, which we happened upon in our unguided journey from the Golden Gate to the Sutro Baths.


These houses may look a little familiar. This is in Alamo Square, where the opening to Full House was shot. We wandered around trying to find the real Full House house but found out later that it's a few blocks north.

We toured around several neighborhoods including the Castro, the Mission, Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, Seacliffe, and this is in North Beach. We stopped here, here being Washington Square I believe, to enjoy some gelato from one of the many many places selling gelato around the neighborhood.

The view of downtown San Fran from the top of Telegraph Hill.

We stood in line for forever and took the trolley. It was totally worth it!!

On Jonathan's birthday we climbed to the top of Mount Tamalpais, the highest point in Marin County. Waaaaaaay off in the distance just under the cloud cover is San Francisco.

And here we are, San Francisco-exploring, mountain-climbing, both-one-year-older siblings, chilling out on Mt. Tam.

There are many more photos than that, but you get the idea! I don't have a photo for possibly the most memorable thing we did, which was Jonathan's birthday present for me: a life reading! We went to see a guy who channeled my life spirit and did a tarot card reading. I admit that I was a little skeptical at first, but he just shut his eyes & started talking with amazing accuracy about the challenges and opportunities I have in my life right now. Most of what he talked about are things that are rolling around in my head at the present and it solidified the path that I'm choosing to take, which mostly is that there isn't a path at the moment, but me choosing to go out & do some crazy stuff I've always wanted to do. If anyone wants to hear more about the trip or the reading, I'm more than happy to talk about both! It was a fantastic trip and absolutely the best way I possibly could have spent my birthday.

My House is Cursed... literally

In this house of cabinets falling of the wall, leaks, broken light fixtures, and myriad other problems, I sometimes feel like I'm going crazy. But tonight takes the cake. Tonight a series of events so odd and creepy happened that I'm completely beside myself.

There is an old doorbell installed high up above the front door with no accompanying button and it has been going off at random over the past two days. I suspect this has something to do with dying batteries because the tones are distorted and really pretty creepy, enough that when I'm home alone and it goes off I get really freaked out.

I got home not too long ago, did a little yoga, took a shower, & came down to make dinner. Standing in the kitchen I hear this scratching noise & I look up to see a goddamn bird sitting on our ceiling fan!!!!! Where this bird came from, I do not know. How it got into my kitchen & onto my ceiling fan I do not know. I'm not a big fan of birds, I saw the movie The Birds as a child and large groups of birds with their pointy beaks make me uneasy. Trying to ignore that fact, I went to the closet & got out a broom, opened our back door and a window and proceeded to spin in circles staring up at the ceiling, waving a broom around my head trying to shoo the stupid thing towards the door. Of course the bird does not realize that it has two ways to freedom and just flies around the ceiling, landing on the cabinets & back on the ceiling fan and, at one point, trying to escape through the little hole in the plaster in the corner. Finally, it landed on the cabinet next to the open window & I waited patiently for it to hop on out of the window, which it finally did. Oh, and my point with the doorbell is that as I'm swatting & spinning & cursing at this bird, the doorbell just keeps going off again and again and again and again.

I called my roommate who called me back shortly after it finally left and we're wondering if we have poltergeist because that whole sequence was really quite disturbing. But what I don't understand is why we've never had this kind of blatantly weird stuff happen before, we've lived here for over a year now so I'm not so sure about the poltergeist. But I might just go beat the living hell out of that doorbell right now!