On my way home today I rode in a
mototaxi with a couple of Nicas from down the road carrying two pigs in burlap
sacs. It was the five of us all crammed in the back, pigs included. Nicaragua,
baby!
We have 5 weeks in the books, which
marks being just about halfway done with training. I think it’s time for
another update! To be honest I’ve been procrastinating writing this mainly
because of just how much I need to get you guys up to speed on. Thankfully I
took a lot of pictures, so let’s go through them and you can all see what I’ve
been up to!
We left off with the four of us
trainees in my town planning for youth group, teaching, etc. I want to take a
little bit of time to give you guys an idea of the “work” aspect of training,
because if I didn’t you would all think I was here on vacation!
All four of us trainees in my town. Isaac, Rebecca, Deb and
I.
Here’s a rough weekly schedule (Sundays we always have
completely free):
Mon
|
Tues
|
Wed
|
Thurs
|
Fri
|
Sat
|
|
7:00 AM
|
Teach instituto
|
Teach instituto
|
||||
8:00 AM
|
Spanish class
|
Spanish class
|
Spanish class
|
Spanish class
|
Peace Corps class
|
Peace Corps class
|
12:00 PM
|
Lunch
|
Lunch
|
Lunch
|
Lunch
|
Lunch
|
Lunch
|
1:00 PM
|
Spanish
class
|
Spanish class
|
Peace Corps class
|
Spanish class
|
Peace Corps class
|
|
2:00 PM
|
Youth Group
|
Spanish class
|
Peace Corps class
|
Plan with professor
|
Peace Corps class
|
|
4:00 PM
|
Youth Group
|
Sometimes if feels like cramming 10 pounds of stuff into a 5 pound bag... but that's how we roll at Peace Corps!
I have Spanish class with the three
other trainees here in my town. The four of us teach in the instituto twice a
week (or at least try – our counterpart professor can be hard to get a hold of)
and together we run a youth group for additional English practice Mondays and
Thursdays in the afternoon. The “Peace Corps class” is the technical training
that we receive with all of the other TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign
Language) trainees. As I mentioned earlier in one of my posts, there are 41 of
us total between the two sectors, TEFL and Environment. We have technical training
with just the TEFL volunteers twice a week: first on Wednesday and then either
Friday or Saturday, where we focus solely on the methodology of teaching
English as a foreign language. It’s pretty much like taking college classes
again. The Peace Corps TEFL staff runs through a PowerPoint each class, however
instead of listening to a professor babble on and on and on, Peace Corps keeps
us on our toes; we’re constantly getting up and moving around with team
building activities and dinámicas that require us to think critically and
implement the methodology we just learned. I have to say this is some of the
most relevant and interesting material I’ve ever been taught. We learn it,
practice it, and then see it in action by hearing from current volunteers teaching
across Nicaragua, as well as applying the material in both the classes we teach
and in the youth group.
Just the TEFL volunteers.
The
last day of technical training during the week is either Friday or Saturday,
depending on which day was just the TEFL training (it varies week to week). We
take these classes with all 41 volunteers, the Environment sector included. The
class topics are broader, focusing on adjusting to life in Nicaragua and the
common struggles we will all face here, regardless of which sector we’re in. We
cover themes such as avoiding illness, diversity, technology, sexual
harassment, etc. These are fun because it’s a chance for all 41 of us trainees
to get together again and catch up, because the rest of the week is spent
solely with our respective sectors.
I
don’t have any pictures of teaching in the instituto, but I do have some from
our youth group. It’s going really well, and it has been apparent that the
students enjoy coming. For some, the added English practice has stuck and
they’re advancing nicely. Others just come for fun or because their parents are
making them. Either way it’s the little victories that count, and the simple
fact that we get about 30 kids every meeting that smile, laugh, and practice
their English is plenty good enough for us!
Ok, so that’s pretty much the work aspect of Peace Corps.
Still our jobs are technically 24/7, so we really don’t stop “working.” I guess
that means all that follows is technically still part of my job. In that case,
this is the best job I’ve ever had.
Home
sweet home:
Walk through the entrance of my house and you arrive at the back
patio!
My room is an extension of the house to the left of the
kitchen. The window where the pants and bookbags are hanging is my bedroom
window.
Keep walking and you’re at what’s basically the equivalent
of a “guest house” that’s occupied by a few of my brothers. It has a nice patio
with a roof and we spend majority of our time out here and use the table for
eating, hanging out, playing cards, etc.
Walk a little further and take a left and your at the
pila/washboard. We do the dishes and wash our clothes here. And by “we” I mean
mostly my mom and sisters, but I always make sure to wash my own dishes, and I
clean some of my clothes myself.
Family
matters:
So this is the reaction I get every time I try to take a
picture of or with one of my sisters.
However, my sobrinos (nephews/nieces) and primos (cousins)
are a lot less shy.
Gabriel, Angelo, Diana, Olman, Estefani y su amiga.
Mis primos Olman y Diana.
Mi sobrino Angelo.
Mi sobrina Yoseling y su amiga.
Olman is my dude.
Spending quality time whistling with Sonya. She never ceases
to amaze me. Just the other day I was taking a nap and I woke up to her
laughing. Yes, laughing. I don’t know how she picked it up, but it blew my mind
so I had to take a quick video.
About 13 seconds in if you listen carefully, you can hear her say “Lora”
and then laugh. Remember, parrot in Spanish is “lora” and that’s one of the
most common things she likes to say. Every day Sonya has about an hour or so of
“talking time” where she sings, whistles, laughs, and runs through her entire
vocab. It’s pretty awesome.
We have three new members of the family – turkeys. However
they do not talk, sing, whistle or laugh, the male struts his stuff gobbling
like crazy, and they are extremely territorial to the point of charging if you
get too close. The male also loves to test his boundaries, so I’ll just be
sitting at the table eating lunch and he will inch closer and closer until he
charges to attack me. Honestly, I’m not a fan. The only silver lining is
instead of using the word “pavo” to mean turkey, the Nicaraguans call them “chompipes,”
which is my new favorite Spanish word. It’s really fun to say and hilariously
adorable to listen to when my little sobrinos like Olman talk about them.
Chompipe [Chome-pee-pay].
Adventures:
A few weeks back, we took a trip to Jinotepe to go to the
market!
Pitahya! Dragonfruit! This is the fruit I was talking about
on the last post – it’s a superfruit that is very healthy to eat, makes
the tastiest juice, and is definitely the coolest-looking fruit I've seen.
Papá is a big fan of food, especially fresh fruits and
veggies, so he kind of pressured me into taking a lot of pictures of the food,
but don’t be deceived, this market has vendors that sell pretty much
everything…
…like ASU hats! I think I may have overacted a bit to this
in person, but seriously… it’s an ASU hat in Nicaragua! I almost bought it.
I did buy this… for less than a dollar. This is a shout out
to you, Philbo! It’s great memory I have of when we saw this movie in theaters.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s a pretty sweet action movie, but
with terrible acting. However because the dialogue is so bad, I can understand
pretty much everything in Spanish – so a win-win!
A five-córdoba bus ride down road and you arrive at
Catarina! This is the Laguna de Apoyo and is one of the cleanest lagoons, making it a popular swim spot. Also here's a nice pic of myself and six other aspirantes putting out the vibe. Nicaragua's lacking some serious vibe without my other three brothers here to help put it out with me.
Couldn't resist the temptation to swim there! It was hands down the most fun day
I’ve had here in Nicaragua so far. Seven of us took a moto taxi down to the
lagoon, swam for a couple hours, had some drinks and lunch, then made it back
to our towns by dinner. Such a blast. We’re planning another trip there as soon as possible.
My happy place.
Nicaragua’s independence day is September 15, so aside from the
awesome Google homepage…
…there was a “desfile” / parade through my town to
celebrate!
Mi sobrino, Angelo, is one of the top students of his class,
so he was able to lead the parade carrying the flag. What a stud.
Anyway,
there are plenty more pictures to share, but I’ll save them for next week.
Hopefully this ties you guys over! I need to get better at sending more
frequent posts, rather than one every few weeks with pages upon pages of
updates. I’ll work on that.
A
group of six of us is going to spend the next week in Chinandega, teaching at
the largest instituto in the country. Every class has at least 40 students. We
will each teach four classes: three with counterpart teachers and one flying
solo. It should be an awesome experience. Wish me luck!
I
miss you all like crazy, but at the same time I feel very fortunate to be here and keep looking forward to all the more adventures ahead. Until next time! A la orden.
Z
