Pre-Site Visit

I leave tomorrow, Tuesday, May 7th,  for a five day site visit. I will be stayed in the casita with the cot and the chair and hopefully it will have electricity. I will take a bucket bath for the first time and will use a latrine again (haven’t since my visit to Camoapa). I will meet my host family that supposedly lives across the street and my counterparts at the different schools. I will also meet members of my future community and hopefully be able to take part in a youth group meeting. The last few days has been a rollercoaster of emotions, jumbled nerves about the unknown. I didn’t picture myself in a tiny site in rural community. I am a city girl; at least that is how I would define myself at this point in my life. I am excited to begin this journey but definitely scared!

Volunteer Visit – April 7-13 – Camoapa

Each of the small business volunteers spent Week 5 of training with a current volunteer to learn about our future role as Peace Corps Volunteers. Our life as an aspirante (candidate) is not similar to the life as a volunteer. We have structured classes and activities that we must attend and there is a lot of reflection and follow-up. One of the purposes of the visit was to assess if the PCV experience is one we want to commit to for the next two years. My visit definitely confirmed my decision.

I went to Camoapa in Boaca. It is a small city in the center of the country, in the land of cowboys and cows. I visited a girl from Pennsylvania who prior to PC participated in AmeriCorps*City Year in Boston and we actually studied at the same school in Seville, Spain. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Camoapa and hearing about her experience definitely inspired me.

The bus ride out there was easy. I met up with one of the other aspirantes at 6:10AM for the 9AM bus out of Managua.  We first took a bus into Managua’s Mercado Huembes (I was familiar with the location since it is where I went to take the bus back to my training town when I was sick). Then we called a cab to bring us to Mayoreo, a large bus terminal. We waited at the terminal for about an hour and of course saw other volunteers travelling to their sites since many buses leave out of Mayoreo. The ride was easy. I couldn’t buy a ticket in advance but I was able to “reserve” my seat. Most people left their bags on the seat but I left a book since we were “reserving” them about 20 minutes before we were leaving the station and we only were allowed to quickly go on the bus, put something on a seat and then  get off the bus and wait until we were allowed to board the bus. It was my first time on a long distance bus and it wasn’t any different from the yellow school buses I am used to. At almost every stop people got on to sell thing, mostly food and drink, but one guy got on to sell cookbooks of drinks you can make to cure a variety of illnesses. He was selling them for 30 córdobas each and about 6 people actually bought them. We also listened to some music hits from the US, like Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” and Aerosmith’s “Amazing”. You really never know what songs you are going to hear here.

The volunteer lives with a single woman in her early 30s and her 8 month old baby. The volunteer has her own room in the back of the house that includes a shower. There is a shared latrine in the garage like area. It was my first time using a latrine in Nicaragua. I was lucky and didn’t have to take a bucket bath. Amazingly there was water each time I wanted to take a shower. Something very uncommon at her site.

The volunteer I visited currently works in 3 schools, teaches 2 English classes and has a youth group. I was able to attend classes and co-planning sessions at all 3 schools and participate in her 2 English classes. She works at one rural school, one public school in the city and one private school in the city. The teachers she works with are all familiar with the material and after she leaves in July will be fully capable to teach without her support. At most schools, the students were working in small groups on their product so I was able to meet with all the students and learn about the products they plan to make for the competition.

At one of the schools, I met a kid with his fingernails painted black. The volunteer pointed it out to me and I asked him if his sister painted his nails. He immediately laughed and told me that the lead singer of one of his favorite bands paints his fingernails black and he went on to tell me all about the music he likes. We went back and forth for about ten minutes about bands we like and don’t like and he was super impressed by the fact that I have seen many of the bands he likes. I made such an impression that weeks later he asked the volunteer I visited if I am coming back! Unfortunately, one of the teachers made him take off the black polish and he has not been able to paint them again.

While in Camoapa, I was able to try some new foods, such as rosquillas (crunchy ring of salted corn dough) and almíbar (a sticky concoction of sliced fruits cooked in dulce. The one I had was made of jocote, tamarind and mango). I also tried a fruit that looked like a large piece of okra but it had white flesh and black seeds. I wasn’t a fan of the three things I mentioned above but I tried a papusa made on the corner near the park for 20 córdobas (less than a $1) and it was delicious! A welcome treat from the rice and beans I eat every day. I also went out to dinner on Sunday night with the volunteer and her volunteer site mate. It was my first time going out to dinner here in Nicaragua.

The volunteer has been in her site for almost 2 years so she has built strong relationships with many individual in the community. We went to one of her friend’s places for lunch. We first went to the market to buy some random things and then gave them to her as gratitude for feeding us. She made a pretty impressive meal, which included macaroni and cheese, on a two burner gas stove without a rice cooker or running water. The volunteer also teaches two English classes in the evening and the families that host the class serve her dinner those nights so I also got in on the action, rice, beans, and tortilla. Pretty standard but still very tasty!

My last night there was a Wednesday and there was a big birthday party down the street. We didn’t get invited or go but I could hear the mariachi band then just loud music and also a great rendition of Happy Birthday. My bus ride back was on a coach bus and we watched music video. This time they were the popular Spanish songs with Gangnam Style thrown in. The best part was that Gangnam Style had Spanish captions!

One interesting fact I learned is that it is common for new mothers to eat only tortillas and cheese for the first 40 days after delivery. It is supposedly common throughout Nicaragua. Also, I learned that Nicaraguans start feeding babies solid food much earlier than in the states. And also saw a lot of women breastfeeding. It is definitely not something reserved for private spaces. A bunch of women at the heath center were breastfeeding, for example, and no one was using a cloth of any kind to cover themselves up.

Here are some pictures I took from the bus on the way back to Managua.

Drumroll please… I am going to…

Drumroll please… I am going to… Santa Clara! It is a small town in the northern department of Nueva Segovia, about 5 hours from Managua, Nicaragua’s capital. Santa Clara is only a couple dozen kilometers from the border of Honduras. It is part of the municipality of San Fernando; there are 7,000-8,000 people living within the entire municipality and about 2,000 within the town of Santa Clara. The smallest site by far out of all of the business volunteers in my group. According to the paperwork I received, the area is very rural and the majority of people make their living within the agricultural sector. The municipality is well-known for the production of basic grains, beans, and coffee. It is set in the most mountainous region of Nicaragua and the highest peak in the country, Cero Mogotón, is located in the municipality. The town is in a small valley surrounded by pine covered hills with one of the nicest climates in Nicaragua. 

It is a replacement site so I am replacing a business volunteer. She is in Santa Clara with her husband, an agriculture volunteer. I will be living in little casita and as I am writing this is getting electricity. Supposedly, the casita is one room, about 12x14 in size. I will have my own latrine and bathing area, both outside. I will also have my own pila, which is a concrete water storage tank. Supposedly, the town has water for an hour in the morning and an hour at night. I will fill up my pila when I will have to make my casita homey as it only has a borrowed cot and mattress. 

I will have multiple counterparts in multiple sites. I will be travelling quite a bit to get to the sites.  I will be working in Aranjuez, Mozonte, San Fernando, and Cuidad Antigua. Supposedly, my casita is close to the main road and so are the schools so I should have much trouble getting to the schools.

Wish me luck! 

Used American Clothes

My site mate and I went to Masaya one Saturday to buy jeans. I ended finding a pair at a secondhand American clothes store that reminded me of Goodwill. They were marked C$250 but were on sale for C$180 ($7), which seemed liked a great deal. The first jeans we saw were new but cost C$500. They were shortened by the person who owned them before me so they are the perfect length. They are a brand I have never heard of, Sarah Jessica Parker Bitten, and I have already received compliments!