Disclaimer: I don't want to sound culturally insensitive, but these are just some things that continue to befuddle me...
1) Boarding buses is like a rat race, every time it's like the bus is the last bus and if you don't get on it you're doomed. I've literally seen people elbow other people to get into the bus first. I always lag back a little bit and I'm always amazed when I get on to see that half the bus is empty and there are still plenty of available seats. Yet, the other day I finally understood why people push, shove, and fight their way onto the bus because I didn't and unfortunately had to stand the whole hour and half back to my town.
2) The amount of oil and sugar used everyday - urgh. My host mom informed me the other day that the last bit of the gallon of oil used in dinner had lasted 20 days. What?!? In the States, I've bought a container of oil, much smaller than a gallon, and have had to throw it out before using it all because it's been so old. Also, adding sugar to bottles of milk? I don't really think it's necessary and maybe without the sugar, the dental hygiene would improve too.
3) Cold showers! You all think that Nicaragua is this hot and humid tropical country, but in the mountains it's chilly at night and in the early mornings. I don't look forward ice baths and I haven't acclimated yet, because everyday I get out of the shower someone in the house says "Tiene frio" (You're cold) and everyday I reply through chattering teeth "Si" (yes). Also, another thing that doesn't have me excited about my cold showers. I was reading a fitness magazine the other day that was discussing the issue of how your body acclimates to routines; it was discussing the importance to changing workout routines in order to avoid plateaus, and exemplify this they stated, "if you plunged yourself into ice cold water everyday your body would adapt by building a layer of subcutaneous fat to protect itself from the cold" LOVELY!
4) My mom reported that Wisconsin doesn't have snow yet and it was in the 40s the other day. Seriously, the one winter I skip and it's not even really Wisconsin winter. Last year at this time I had already had to shovel my car out of several feet of snow, multiple times; and suffered through bitterly frigid temperatures. We joked that when I come to visit in July there will be snow, and if that happens then I'll actually start to believe my host family's belief that the end of the world is December 21, 2012. Prepare yourselves!
5) Ramen Noodles are a delicacy. Except they are referred to by the brand, Marchuen. And they are eaten with ketchup and crema. I do feel kind of bad about how I responded to my family's questions about the food, but I did tell the truth. They wanted to know if I tried them, how much they cost, etc. I told them that you can buy a pallet of them for about $5 and a lot of college students eat them because they're cheap. I don't really like them and I especially don't want them with ketchup (I didn't really say the last part, but it's the truth).
There are many other things that still surprise me in good and bad ways, but these are just the fresh topics of this week.
I hope you're all doing well. I miss you all. I can't believe that Christmas is only 10 days away :( I really wish that I could be home to celebrate with you all. Again, enjoy all the Christmas time goodies for me.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Silver lining...
My last few entries haven't been the most positive and optimistic entries, so in order to avoid being a negative Nancy I've been able to find the silver lining to my extremely boring life.
In my desperate attempt to find something productive to do with my time I started talking (indirectly - typical Nica style) to my counterpart to try and find out if I could have a space to start some English classes or youth group or something. Maybe I was too indirect because she then decided that I will be starting a manualidades (arts and crafts) class. It's not my first choice, but it seems like everyone in town is super excited about it and I can use a classroom for my space, so I ran with the idea. I left her office feeling pretty pumped and it kept getting better because I ran into some students in the park and asked if they would be interested in joining my class and they were so excited we spent the rest of the afternoon making invitations (that's right, pretty official) and they passed most of them out that day. Woo Hoo! Now I'm hoping that they actually show up on Monday and that they will be pleased with my friendship bracelet supplies. I'll keep you posted.
Another uplifting moment is before I leave the park each afternoon I go around and pick up a few pieces of the abundant trash strewn everywhere; luckily I'm indirectly teaching through example because the students notice and quickly join in by picking up a few pieces too! Slowly but surely I may be able to make some changes to people's littering habits (fingers crossed).
And finally I have a lot of people asking for help with improving or learning English, so I may have another venture on the horizon. I'll actually have something to do a couple days out of the week, YAY!
Now in other news, the Purisima was this week. It's kind of like a Catholic version of trick or treating. There are houses throughout town that have shrines of the Virgin Mary decorated outside their homes and groups of people come around singing and chanting until the people come out and give everyone treats, like oranges, bananas, sugarcane, candies and chicha (a fresco made from fermented corn, cloves, cinnamon and is color of pepto-bismal). It's not my favorite fresco so I often pawned that off on any child that was standing next to me at the moment. And how could I forget fireworks. But fireworks aren't really all that special, unfortunately they have lost their appeal because I'm pretty sure I hear at least one bomba everyday and I still jump every time I hear the boom. So I hope I've painted a nice picture for you and if you're interested in experiencing it in real time come visit me next year on December 7! Hint Hint: I would like visitors, really anytime you don't have to wait until December.
Another highlight of my week: I watched ELF on TV. I love that movie so much and it just reminds me of Christmas and home, so I was elated to see the opening credits while flipping through the stations trying to find anything other than a telenovela. I did appreciate watching the movie, but I still can't fully adapt to movies/TV shows dubbed over in Spanish. They just lose some of their appeal, for example cotton headed ninnymuggin just doesn't have the same spark in Spanish - it's literally lost in translation.
I've been in site for almost a month now, and I really am enjoying it more and more each day (even though I do wish I had more productive things to do during the days). I'm beginning to recognize more people; I hear my name shouted while walking down the streets more often; and I'm starting to feel more comfortable in the community. The best day was probably the day of the Purisima - I was walking home and a whole truck bed full of kids started shouting my name, and while I was walking around "trick or treating" I would randomly hear my name shouted from different houses and corners and some kids even ran up and gave me hugs :)
I hope I've put enough of a positive spin on my experience in site to make up for my couple negative posts earlier. I promise I'm not crying as much as I used to and even though I miss home and everyone there I'm feeling good about where I am and hopefully where I'm headed.
In my desperate attempt to find something productive to do with my time I started talking (indirectly - typical Nica style) to my counterpart to try and find out if I could have a space to start some English classes or youth group or something. Maybe I was too indirect because she then decided that I will be starting a manualidades (arts and crafts) class. It's not my first choice, but it seems like everyone in town is super excited about it and I can use a classroom for my space, so I ran with the idea. I left her office feeling pretty pumped and it kept getting better because I ran into some students in the park and asked if they would be interested in joining my class and they were so excited we spent the rest of the afternoon making invitations (that's right, pretty official) and they passed most of them out that day. Woo Hoo! Now I'm hoping that they actually show up on Monday and that they will be pleased with my friendship bracelet supplies. I'll keep you posted.
Another uplifting moment is before I leave the park each afternoon I go around and pick up a few pieces of the abundant trash strewn everywhere; luckily I'm indirectly teaching through example because the students notice and quickly join in by picking up a few pieces too! Slowly but surely I may be able to make some changes to people's littering habits (fingers crossed).
And finally I have a lot of people asking for help with improving or learning English, so I may have another venture on the horizon. I'll actually have something to do a couple days out of the week, YAY!
Now in other news, the Purisima was this week. It's kind of like a Catholic version of trick or treating. There are houses throughout town that have shrines of the Virgin Mary decorated outside their homes and groups of people come around singing and chanting until the people come out and give everyone treats, like oranges, bananas, sugarcane, candies and chicha (a fresco made from fermented corn, cloves, cinnamon and is color of pepto-bismal). It's not my favorite fresco so I often pawned that off on any child that was standing next to me at the moment. And how could I forget fireworks. But fireworks aren't really all that special, unfortunately they have lost their appeal because I'm pretty sure I hear at least one bomba everyday and I still jump every time I hear the boom. So I hope I've painted a nice picture for you and if you're interested in experiencing it in real time come visit me next year on December 7! Hint Hint: I would like visitors, really anytime you don't have to wait until December.
Another highlight of my week: I watched ELF on TV. I love that movie so much and it just reminds me of Christmas and home, so I was elated to see the opening credits while flipping through the stations trying to find anything other than a telenovela. I did appreciate watching the movie, but I still can't fully adapt to movies/TV shows dubbed over in Spanish. They just lose some of their appeal, for example cotton headed ninnymuggin just doesn't have the same spark in Spanish - it's literally lost in translation.
I've been in site for almost a month now, and I really am enjoying it more and more each day (even though I do wish I had more productive things to do during the days). I'm beginning to recognize more people; I hear my name shouted while walking down the streets more often; and I'm starting to feel more comfortable in the community. The best day was probably the day of the Purisima - I was walking home and a whole truck bed full of kids started shouting my name, and while I was walking around "trick or treating" I would randomly hear my name shouted from different houses and corners and some kids even ran up and gave me hugs :)
I hope I've put enough of a positive spin on my experience in site to make up for my couple negative posts earlier. I promise I'm not crying as much as I used to and even though I miss home and everyone there I'm feeling good about where I am and hopefully where I'm headed.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Can I fast forward to February already?
So it´s been a week in site and I´m already wishing that time would go by more quickly. There were some highlights to the week, which I´ll get to later, but most of my days consist of me sitting around as reported earlier. And what makes it even worse is when people ask me what I´m doing, NOTHING! Just today I had someone tell me that I´d better do something otherwise I´ll start gaining weight just sitting around all day, Thank you sir! Even if I wasn´t already concerned about gaining weight from the carb loaded diet I eat everyday, or from the fact that I know I´m a big waste of space at the present moment by not doing really anything productive I still would´ve been offended by the comment.
So in addition to my sitting around, I attended a wedding on Saturday night which was a nice experience. I only knew the one person who invited me and I of course felt out of place like every other day here. I really didn´t pack for the various special occasions that I´ve been invited to. I wore a dress which compared to the Nica women was very casual and I was also told I wasn´t wearing enough makeup. But, in my defense even in the States when I wear makeup I don´t even wear enough for Nica standards. The wedding was very pretty and everyone was very nice until they made me dance. URGH, my face turned to a classic shade of red as I was pushed onto the dance floor and it proceeded to get redder as more and more people gathered to watch the gringa dance. What felt like an eternity and an inferno on my face, the song finally ended and I snuck off to sit down at my table. After the wedding there was a birthday party which I attended for a short while. I came late and one bottle of rum had already been disposed of before I arrived, if that paints a picture of the state of the guests. It was an experience. I had a man tell me in drunken English that I look like Barbie and have a nice face, which he proceeded to repeat over and over along with his life story. It was a fun time and all of these events are helping me meet people in the community, which I´m thankful for and they are all very nice and welcoming; it´s just too bad they all work during the day while I sit in the park with nothing to do.
I also attended a 2 year old´s birthday party on Sunday. Kid´s birthday parties are always fun, but they always have the exact same procedure: soda, food, pinata, Eskimo (ice cream), cake - and the cake is your signal to leave, literally it´s handed to you on a napkin and you gather your belongings and enjoy the cake at home. I chose a seat a little too close to the pinata and there were some kids aggressively trying to break the pinata, a blindfolded child with a broom handle and wildly swinging pinata overhead = a bit terrifying.
This first week passed by relatively quickly, but I had 3 events to attend to and was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with PC Volunteers by feasting on coffee and Nicaraguan food. Hopefully many of my weeks will have highlights and events that make the days pass by because when I have my family telling me that I can come home at anytime it´s only too tempting when there´s nothing for me to do.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
La Linsi
Spanish to English translation: The Lindsey
That's right! For those of you that have heard/seen my high school graduation announcement and the typo that stated "Come celebrate the Lindsey" it's somehow followed me all the way to Nicaragua, Thank you Mom and Justin!
Lindsey seems to be quite a difficult name to pronounce for anyone outside the US, but I'm trying really hard to pronounce it with a Spanish accent so people will actually call me Lindsey and not Nancy. I don't know how Lindsey translates to Nancy, but oh well.
My new site is going.......well it's going. I don't have anything to do in my site because school is on "summer" vacation until February so I'm spending most of my days sitting in the park reading books and having gaggles (I know it applies to geese, but I like the word) of children surround me and quiz me on Spanish/English words. I've successfully finishing a book in record speed of 2 days, I may need to purchase a bigger library.
My rat problem may be better. I haven't seen any but I'm still awakened in the middle of the night by bumps in the night and unfortunately my puffy bags under my eyes are getting worse and worse by the day. Well I'd better go, I'm going to try and mail Steve's free trade agreement goods, I hope they make it.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I really wish I could be there to celebrate with you all! Please enjoy extra helpings for me because while I'm eating my rice and beans I'm going to imagine it's turkey and other Thanksgiving fixings. I'm imagining the scene from HOOK where they have any imaginary food fight.....watch the movie and you'll understand.
That's right! For those of you that have heard/seen my high school graduation announcement and the typo that stated "Come celebrate the Lindsey" it's somehow followed me all the way to Nicaragua, Thank you Mom and Justin!
Lindsey seems to be quite a difficult name to pronounce for anyone outside the US, but I'm trying really hard to pronounce it with a Spanish accent so people will actually call me Lindsey and not Nancy. I don't know how Lindsey translates to Nancy, but oh well.
My new site is going.......well it's going. I don't have anything to do in my site because school is on "summer" vacation until February so I'm spending most of my days sitting in the park reading books and having gaggles (I know it applies to geese, but I like the word) of children surround me and quiz me on Spanish/English words. I've successfully finishing a book in record speed of 2 days, I may need to purchase a bigger library.
My rat problem may be better. I haven't seen any but I'm still awakened in the middle of the night by bumps in the night and unfortunately my puffy bags under my eyes are getting worse and worse by the day. Well I'd better go, I'm going to try and mail Steve's free trade agreement goods, I hope they make it.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I really wish I could be there to celebrate with you all! Please enjoy extra helpings for me because while I'm eating my rice and beans I'm going to imagine it's turkey and other Thanksgiving fixings. I'm imagining the scene from HOOK where they have any imaginary food fight.....watch the movie and you'll understand.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Swearing In
It's official! I'm officially a Peace Corps Volunteer now! This has been a crazy, crazy experience thus far. Our hands have been held this whole time and now it's sink or swim time, we're being let loose into the wild. Will I survive?? I sure hope so.
I have been overindulging in everything delicious this weekend. We've been lucky enough to spend the weekend in a hotel, but unfortunately my shower still reminded me that I'm in Nicaragua. The water was still cold and I had about 5 tiny streams of water to wash with. But, that's the only thing I'm going to complain about because we got to eat in a food court and wander aimlessly around a mall - I was confused as to where I was, I almost thought I was back in the States. Today was by far the best because we were able to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner, which was fabulous!! I'm suffering from a food baby right now because I fully enjoyed all the Thanksgiving goodness, including the obligatory slice of pumpkin pie! I'm slightly regretting all the food that I ate, but at the same time it was so delicious and it wasn't gallo pinto so I couldn't stop myself. Now tomorrow will be a cold slap back to my Nicaraguan reality when I move to my site and return to my three times daily serving of gallo pinto. :( Hopefully this touch of home will tide my cravings for a bit until the next time that I can indulge in delicious gallo pinto free food again.
I could and should write a lot more about the ceremony, but I'm still suffering from my food coma and that's all I can actively think about right now. I will say that it was amazing and I'm very proud of myself and my fellow volunteers for the commitment and adventure that we're about to embark on. And we made it on the Nicaraguan news, I think that it will make it onto YouTube and I will definitely be posting that as soon as I can.
I have been overindulging in everything delicious this weekend. We've been lucky enough to spend the weekend in a hotel, but unfortunately my shower still reminded me that I'm in Nicaragua. The water was still cold and I had about 5 tiny streams of water to wash with. But, that's the only thing I'm going to complain about because we got to eat in a food court and wander aimlessly around a mall - I was confused as to where I was, I almost thought I was back in the States. Today was by far the best because we were able to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner, which was fabulous!! I'm suffering from a food baby right now because I fully enjoyed all the Thanksgiving goodness, including the obligatory slice of pumpkin pie! I'm slightly regretting all the food that I ate, but at the same time it was so delicious and it wasn't gallo pinto so I couldn't stop myself. Now tomorrow will be a cold slap back to my Nicaraguan reality when I move to my site and return to my three times daily serving of gallo pinto. :( Hopefully this touch of home will tide my cravings for a bit until the next time that I can indulge in delicious gallo pinto free food again.
I could and should write a lot more about the ceremony, but I'm still suffering from my food coma and that's all I can actively think about right now. I will say that it was amazing and I'm very proud of myself and my fellow volunteers for the commitment and adventure that we're about to embark on. And we made it on the Nicaraguan news, I think that it will make it onto YouTube and I will definitely be posting that as soon as I can.
Friday, November 11, 2011
11/11/11
Eleven, eleven, eleven - make a wish!
I've got a lot of wishes I want to come true. I can't share them because then they won't come true but many of them have to do with people and things that I miss from home.
Training is coming to an end and my reactions are mixed. I want to scream AHHH! because I'm nervous about moving into the unknown all alone, but I also want to jump around and dance screaming WOO! HOO! because training can get a little tiring at times.
We will be staying in Managua next week for our last days of training and our swearing in ceremony, so I'll be posting all of my photos then when I have access to WIFI. Please don't get your hopes up about them because taking photos is something that I need to improve upon and I don't have lots of photos of me because I look like a hot mess (if any of you have seen the photos posted on Facebook you understand what I'm talking about).
I really don't have anything exciting to share. This week has been full of spanish classes and our youth group project presentations. Our original plan to make a casita from plastic bottles was an epic failure, so our final project ended up being a mural made from inorganic garbage. It turned out a lot better than I expected and I was really proud of our youth group's creativity, dedication and hard work. Maybe I'll be able to make a casita from plastic bottles in Muy Muy, maybe!
Well, I apologize for the lame post. I feel like I need to update you all every once and a while and I like taking advantage of Emily's family's WIFI, even though I really don't have anything exciting to share. I'm going to peace out because I'm about to drink some coffee and eat some cookies and then go for a run with Emily - sounds prefect, right!?
I've got a lot of wishes I want to come true. I can't share them because then they won't come true but many of them have to do with people and things that I miss from home.
Training is coming to an end and my reactions are mixed. I want to scream AHHH! because I'm nervous about moving into the unknown all alone, but I also want to jump around and dance screaming WOO! HOO! because training can get a little tiring at times.
We will be staying in Managua next week for our last days of training and our swearing in ceremony, so I'll be posting all of my photos then when I have access to WIFI. Please don't get your hopes up about them because taking photos is something that I need to improve upon and I don't have lots of photos of me because I look like a hot mess (if any of you have seen the photos posted on Facebook you understand what I'm talking about).
I really don't have anything exciting to share. This week has been full of spanish classes and our youth group project presentations. Our original plan to make a casita from plastic bottles was an epic failure, so our final project ended up being a mural made from inorganic garbage. It turned out a lot better than I expected and I was really proud of our youth group's creativity, dedication and hard work. Maybe I'll be able to make a casita from plastic bottles in Muy Muy, maybe!
Well, I apologize for the lame post. I feel like I need to update you all every once and a while and I like taking advantage of Emily's family's WIFI, even though I really don't have anything exciting to share. I'm going to peace out because I'm about to drink some coffee and eat some cookies and then go for a run with Emily - sounds prefect, right!?
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Time is flying by
Training is almost over! I still can´t believe it´s already November and I´ve been in Nicaragua for 2 months already. I also can´t believe it´s November because the weather here is always the same, I don´t have the changing leaves or cooler temperatures to gauge my seasons anymore; instead I´ll be judging seasons by rainy versus dry...hmmm....
I have only 1 more week of Spanish class left and will be having my last language exam on Wednesday, I hope I´ve improved enough to clear the little hill from Intermediate low to intermediate mid. My Spanish has most definitely improved from day 1, but I still find myself bewildered and confused on certain days.
I can feel the stress mounting and it reached a peak the other day when I simply broke down in the middle of Spanish class and started crying. Why did I start crying? I don´t know....We were learning about different time phrases and I could feel the tears welling up. I cried for a little bit and laughed at myself for being a crazy mess, and luckily my training friends helped me by giving me chocolate and other candy. Also, the best part was receiving all the mail from my family and friends later that day. Thank you all so much! I was still stressed so I pretty much devoured the treats that were sent over the course of the week and laughed while reading the letters and cards. I felt a little pang of homesickness when looking at the school pictures of my cousins and after reading all the People and US Weekly magazines (Thank you Grandma!) and realizing how little information I hear about the world outside of Nicaragua. And obviously I´m talking about the important stuff like Beyonce is pregnant!?! Ashton and Demi are on the rocks?!? But really some important worldly information like Amanda Knox is now free from her Itailian prison and Steve Jobs died....Yes those of you in the states should know about all of this especially since this all occurred at least a month ago, but just in case you´re out of the loop like I am I´ll share the knowledge.
Nicaraguan News: The presidential elections are on Sunday and we´ll have to wait and see who the winner is. I´ll update you on the information.
Thank you for sending mail. I miss you and love you all!
I have only 1 more week of Spanish class left and will be having my last language exam on Wednesday, I hope I´ve improved enough to clear the little hill from Intermediate low to intermediate mid. My Spanish has most definitely improved from day 1, but I still find myself bewildered and confused on certain days.
I can feel the stress mounting and it reached a peak the other day when I simply broke down in the middle of Spanish class and started crying. Why did I start crying? I don´t know....We were learning about different time phrases and I could feel the tears welling up. I cried for a little bit and laughed at myself for being a crazy mess, and luckily my training friends helped me by giving me chocolate and other candy. Also, the best part was receiving all the mail from my family and friends later that day. Thank you all so much! I was still stressed so I pretty much devoured the treats that were sent over the course of the week and laughed while reading the letters and cards. I felt a little pang of homesickness when looking at the school pictures of my cousins and after reading all the People and US Weekly magazines (Thank you Grandma!) and realizing how little information I hear about the world outside of Nicaragua. And obviously I´m talking about the important stuff like Beyonce is pregnant!?! Ashton and Demi are on the rocks?!? But really some important worldly information like Amanda Knox is now free from her Itailian prison and Steve Jobs died....Yes those of you in the states should know about all of this especially since this all occurred at least a month ago, but just in case you´re out of the loop like I am I´ll share the knowledge.
Nicaraguan News: The presidential elections are on Sunday and we´ll have to wait and see who the winner is. I´ll update you on the information.
Thank you for sending mail. I miss you and love you all!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
So nice they named it twice
My new home beginning on November 20, 2011 until November 20, 2013 will be......drumroll....... Muy Muy, Matagalpa. Muy Muy literally translates to Very Very, for those of you non-Spanish speakers. I'm pretty stoked about the placement because it's in the mountains so while some other volunteers will have the pleasure of sweating their balls off day and night, I'll get to sleep peacefully in my cool mountain climate!
So I've really lucked out. I don't have a latrine (score!), I have a shower (no bucket baths for me!) and the town is pretty decently sized so I have cell service, internet cafes, and pulperias (little corner stores). Other sites aren't quite as lucky, most have latrines and some don't even have cell service; I'm sorry for all of you. But, the one downside for me is I'm 99% positive that I'm sharing my bedroom and kitchen with my arch nemesis: rats!
So I spent a week visiting my site and my new host family and getting the DL from the volunteer that I'm replacing. It was a pretty good experience overall, I'm super excited to actually start living and working there; but there were some minor problems with my visit.
1) I technically have to live with a host family for my 2 years of service and even though my assigned host family is very nice I just won't be able to survive living with them for the full 2 years for a couple of reasons:
a) My bedroom is the size of a closet and is really just a temporary wall that partitions me off from the rest of the kitchen.
b) There are rats in the house! Many of you know about my history with rats, so I believe I should not have to endure this. I didn't sleep for the whole week because I heard them scurrying around the kitchen wreaking havoc throughout the night and even if I was able to doze off and "ignore" them, I was startled awake by the rat that is living in my closet!! Yes that's right another closet rat. The worst part is it's right by the head of my bed and "slept" with one eye open and by headlamp on the whole night. I will be investing in some poison, traps and possibly some cats.
Luckily I only have to live with this family for 2 months and then I can find a different family to live with. I'm hoping that I can move into the casita of the other volunteer because it technically fits the rule of living with a host family because I will be sharing a back porch with them and to my knowledge it is rat free! Everyone keep your fingers crossed that it works out and I'll be able to survive 2 months with my rat and then be rat free for the next 22 months.
2) I fell victim to the inevitable stomach problems. Each night I didn't sleep due to the rats and to the terrible cramps in my stomach. I was a bit scared to get out of my bed in the middle of the night to make my journey to the outside bathroom, but luckily I didn't spot any of the rodents on my many trips during the week. I'm feeling better now, I'm not sure what the culprit was but I didn't like it and hope that I don't suffer from it continually in site.
Even though there were some minor set backs, I am really excited to move on from training and start my service. Everyone in the town seems very nice and excited for me to start working with them. Also, if you haven't noticed I changed my address in the top of my blog. So don't send anymore letters, packages to the old address because it will just take even longer for me to receive it from Peace Corps.
P.S. Some of you have mentioned difficulties commenting on my blog, I changed some of the privacy settings, so you may have success now if you would like to try.
Thank you to everyone reading my blog, you have no idea how happy I am when I hear that people are reading it and actually enjoying it. Love you and miss you all!
So I've really lucked out. I don't have a latrine (score!), I have a shower (no bucket baths for me!) and the town is pretty decently sized so I have cell service, internet cafes, and pulperias (little corner stores). Other sites aren't quite as lucky, most have latrines and some don't even have cell service; I'm sorry for all of you. But, the one downside for me is I'm 99% positive that I'm sharing my bedroom and kitchen with my arch nemesis: rats!
So I spent a week visiting my site and my new host family and getting the DL from the volunteer that I'm replacing. It was a pretty good experience overall, I'm super excited to actually start living and working there; but there were some minor problems with my visit.
1) I technically have to live with a host family for my 2 years of service and even though my assigned host family is very nice I just won't be able to survive living with them for the full 2 years for a couple of reasons:
a) My bedroom is the size of a closet and is really just a temporary wall that partitions me off from the rest of the kitchen.
b) There are rats in the house! Many of you know about my history with rats, so I believe I should not have to endure this. I didn't sleep for the whole week because I heard them scurrying around the kitchen wreaking havoc throughout the night and even if I was able to doze off and "ignore" them, I was startled awake by the rat that is living in my closet!! Yes that's right another closet rat. The worst part is it's right by the head of my bed and "slept" with one eye open and by headlamp on the whole night. I will be investing in some poison, traps and possibly some cats.
Luckily I only have to live with this family for 2 months and then I can find a different family to live with. I'm hoping that I can move into the casita of the other volunteer because it technically fits the rule of living with a host family because I will be sharing a back porch with them and to my knowledge it is rat free! Everyone keep your fingers crossed that it works out and I'll be able to survive 2 months with my rat and then be rat free for the next 22 months.
2) I fell victim to the inevitable stomach problems. Each night I didn't sleep due to the rats and to the terrible cramps in my stomach. I was a bit scared to get out of my bed in the middle of the night to make my journey to the outside bathroom, but luckily I didn't spot any of the rodents on my many trips during the week. I'm feeling better now, I'm not sure what the culprit was but I didn't like it and hope that I don't suffer from it continually in site.
Even though there were some minor set backs, I am really excited to move on from training and start my service. Everyone in the town seems very nice and excited for me to start working with them. Also, if you haven't noticed I changed my address in the top of my blog. So don't send anymore letters, packages to the old address because it will just take even longer for me to receive it from Peace Corps.
P.S. Some of you have mentioned difficulties commenting on my blog, I changed some of the privacy settings, so you may have success now if you would like to try.
Thank you to everyone reading my blog, you have no idea how happy I am when I hear that people are reading it and actually enjoying it. Love you and miss you all!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY....
Ay! It´s been raining for the past 2 weeks straight, today was the first day without rain until now. You should all be happy that I´m taking the time to write this and will unfortunately suffer while walking home in the downpour. I can officially say that I do not like rain and have been in a funk because of it. The other day my host sister asked me what I like more rain or snow..... and I was literally speechless. I didn´t know what to say; therefore I´ve decided I might have to live in an arid, desert like climate in order to be happy year round.
All of this rain has got me thinking about the comforts of home that I miss. After walking around in the rain and sitting in wet clothes all day (if you can tell me what´s worse than wet jeans, let me know) all I want to do is curl up in a comfy chair, with a delicious pumpkin spice latte, a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie and mindlessly explore the internet on my laptop with free wifi access...I´m growing more and more nostalgic while writing this and reliving my dream. Unfortunately I haven´t been able to find any of these comforts here. Instead I curl up in my canoe shaped bed under my mosquito net, read Bossypants by Tina Fey (Great book, I highly recomment) and eat Oreos.
Why oreos? Because that´s the only familiar cookie they sell here, and I don´t even like them that much especially because it´s missing the obligatory ice cold glass of milk; yet I´ve eaten more Oreos in the past 7 weeks than I´ve eaten in my entire 24 years before Nicaragua. The Peace Corps gives us Oreos at every training event, which occur 2-3 times a week, and I think they´re performing their own version of Pavlov´s drooling dog experiment because we all devour the Oreos once they´re put out, and if they´re late in arriving we all get a little tense and on edge. I´m afraid that the day the Oreos are missing is the day a riot will break out among the Peace Corps trainees.
I´ve completed my last class in training. Unfortunately my last two classes weren´t as stellar as my first one. Probably because I got a little cocky from the grand success of the first one and thought that I didn´t have to plan and practice as much. Oops! And obviously I didn´t learn my lesson because after my second class was less than stellar, I still didn´t prepare more for my last class today. I´m going to go ahead and blame my laziness on my funk caused by the rain. I learned that I should be scared and fully prepare and practice my lessons in order for them all to be successful, or maybe I just had beginner´s luck?!
I´m going to find out where I´ll be living for the next 2 years tomorrow!!!! I was excited to find out, but after today´s discussion in Spanish class I´m now rather terrified. Apparently there is a rat plague taking place in one of the departments (I´m picturing rats literally raining from the sky) and with my luck I´ll probably end up there and die from some awful disease that is rampant and it´s cause is from rat urine. Por ejemplo, you should wash soda cans before drinking out of it because if a rat peed on it and you drink from it, BAM you´ve contracted the disease. Mom - if you get a phone call with someone hyperventilating and crying hysterically it´s probably me, which means that I´ve been sent to the rat haven....I´m hoping that doesn´t happen. I´m also getting quite worried because our Spanish teacher keeps talking about the instability of laterines and the dangers of possibly falling into a latrine pit.
My worst nightmare: falling into a latrine pit filled with rats! OMG I need to stop, I already won´t be able to sleep tonight from worry, I don´t need to add nightmares to my fitful rest.
What else....I received a lot of mail yesterday!!! Thank you so much Mom and Grandma Vick I received the packages, and I´ve already enjoyed some granola bars and candy and I´ve shared the wealth with other trainees, students and my host family. Also, grandma I´ve received three letters from you, thank you! Red and Jan I got your card, thank you so much! I appreciate it all so much. For those of you thinking about sending stuff....The packages were sent September 27,28 and I received them October 19; so a little less than a month. The letters are all different, but at least a couple of weeks.
Well, I´d better start my trek back home. There´s a lapse in the rainfall and I´m going to try to get home dry. Please pray that I don´t end up in some Rat infested town! Thank you all for reading my blog. Miss you and love you!
All of this rain has got me thinking about the comforts of home that I miss. After walking around in the rain and sitting in wet clothes all day (if you can tell me what´s worse than wet jeans, let me know) all I want to do is curl up in a comfy chair, with a delicious pumpkin spice latte, a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie and mindlessly explore the internet on my laptop with free wifi access...I´m growing more and more nostalgic while writing this and reliving my dream. Unfortunately I haven´t been able to find any of these comforts here. Instead I curl up in my canoe shaped bed under my mosquito net, read Bossypants by Tina Fey (Great book, I highly recomment) and eat Oreos.
Why oreos? Because that´s the only familiar cookie they sell here, and I don´t even like them that much especially because it´s missing the obligatory ice cold glass of milk; yet I´ve eaten more Oreos in the past 7 weeks than I´ve eaten in my entire 24 years before Nicaragua. The Peace Corps gives us Oreos at every training event, which occur 2-3 times a week, and I think they´re performing their own version of Pavlov´s drooling dog experiment because we all devour the Oreos once they´re put out, and if they´re late in arriving we all get a little tense and on edge. I´m afraid that the day the Oreos are missing is the day a riot will break out among the Peace Corps trainees.
I´ve completed my last class in training. Unfortunately my last two classes weren´t as stellar as my first one. Probably because I got a little cocky from the grand success of the first one and thought that I didn´t have to plan and practice as much. Oops! And obviously I didn´t learn my lesson because after my second class was less than stellar, I still didn´t prepare more for my last class today. I´m going to go ahead and blame my laziness on my funk caused by the rain. I learned that I should be scared and fully prepare and practice my lessons in order for them all to be successful, or maybe I just had beginner´s luck?!
I´m going to find out where I´ll be living for the next 2 years tomorrow!!!! I was excited to find out, but after today´s discussion in Spanish class I´m now rather terrified. Apparently there is a rat plague taking place in one of the departments (I´m picturing rats literally raining from the sky) and with my luck I´ll probably end up there and die from some awful disease that is rampant and it´s cause is from rat urine. Por ejemplo, you should wash soda cans before drinking out of it because if a rat peed on it and you drink from it, BAM you´ve contracted the disease. Mom - if you get a phone call with someone hyperventilating and crying hysterically it´s probably me, which means that I´ve been sent to the rat haven....I´m hoping that doesn´t happen. I´m also getting quite worried because our Spanish teacher keeps talking about the instability of laterines and the dangers of possibly falling into a latrine pit.
My worst nightmare: falling into a latrine pit filled with rats! OMG I need to stop, I already won´t be able to sleep tonight from worry, I don´t need to add nightmares to my fitful rest.
What else....I received a lot of mail yesterday!!! Thank you so much Mom and Grandma Vick I received the packages, and I´ve already enjoyed some granola bars and candy and I´ve shared the wealth with other trainees, students and my host family. Also, grandma I´ve received three letters from you, thank you! Red and Jan I got your card, thank you so much! I appreciate it all so much. For those of you thinking about sending stuff....The packages were sent September 27,28 and I received them October 19; so a little less than a month. The letters are all different, but at least a couple of weeks.
Well, I´d better start my trek back home. There´s a lapse in the rainfall and I´m going to try to get home dry. Please pray that I don´t end up in some Rat infested town! Thank you all for reading my blog. Miss you and love you!
PLASTIC BAGS
A thought I´ve been pondering...in Nicaragua the plastic bag is a hot commodity. They use them for everything, including a way to serve frescos, helados, and when you buy a soda in a glass bottle and don´t drink it there they pour it into a plastic bag and give it to you. At first it takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it I don´t know if I´ll go back to drinking from any other container.
From an environmental aspect, we all know plastic is bad and needs to be recycled instead of thrown into landfills or in the case of Nicaragua thrown wherever you want; but in comparison to the US mass consumption of products in plastic bottles vs. the use of plastic baggies; which is the lesser of two evils?
I´m not sure yet; but I do know that helado de banano con leche eaten from a plastic bag is delicious.
Quick lesson on eating or drinking from a plastic bag:
1) pick a corner
2) bite off the corner and spit out the tiny fragment of plastic
3) drink and enjoy
4) if your Nicaraguan or have adapted to Nicaraguan culture (like some volunteers have; not me) after you finish you´ll chuck the remains onto the street.
From an environmental aspect, we all know plastic is bad and needs to be recycled instead of thrown into landfills or in the case of Nicaragua thrown wherever you want; but in comparison to the US mass consumption of products in plastic bottles vs. the use of plastic baggies; which is the lesser of two evils?
I´m not sure yet; but I do know that helado de banano con leche eaten from a plastic bag is delicious.
Quick lesson on eating or drinking from a plastic bag:
1) pick a corner
2) bite off the corner and spit out the tiny fragment of plastic
3) drink and enjoy
4) if your Nicaraguan or have adapted to Nicaraguan culture (like some volunteers have; not me) after you finish you´ll chuck the remains onto the street.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Nica Time
I don´t even know where to begin, it´s been quite some time since my last post and I feel like so much has happened. So I´ll just give the highlights:
1) Our school garden has been successfully created and is actually growing! We planted tomato, cucumber, squash, peppers and chitome (don´t know what the english translation is). Our chicken wire fence is really a sad excuse for protection, especially since a good portion is rusted and falling apart and the other parts are sagging and can be hopped over. I believe we´ll be able to transplant our tomato plants next week!
2) I gave my first class in Spanish to my 6th grade class and it was AMAZING! I taught them about types of energy and classified it has renewable or non-renewable. They seemed to enjoy the dinamicas/activities which is different from their normal rote memorization and copy method. And it seemed like they learned some stuff and could decipher my Spanish (at least I hope). I´m giving my second class this Thursday on the carbon cycle.
P.S. It doesn´t matter where students are from all middle schoolers are the same. I did a KWL activity and was asking the students what they knew about energy before we started and I had my ¨star pupil¨ (who I identified within the first 5 minutes of class) just start reading from the book hiding under his desk. I quickly stole that away from him.
3) We went on Site visits! I spent two days with a volunteer in Rivas to observe what volunteer life was like and to talk to her and get the DL (for all you older readers, translation: DL = the scoop, information) It was a really awesome time. One, I got to escape from my tiny little town and see a different part of Nicaragua. Two, I learned some valuable information from her. Three, I can´t wait for training to finish up so that I can get to site and start volunteering.
While we were there we observed some of her science classes and english classes; met her friends; hiked to a really pretty river, saw a tiny waterfall, some monkeys, almost got stampeded by a pack of cows; went to a wonderful bakery where I was able to indulge in some brewed coffee and delicious coconut bread! It was heavenly!
4) We´ve been to Managua a couple of times now and experienced the joy of Nicaraguan public transportation. Everyone warns about the buses and the ladrones (thieves), well knock on wood nothing has been stolen from me except for my personal space. They pack as many bodies on to these retired school buses as they possibly can and you´re being jostled around like a pinball. I have no idea how I´m going to travel on these buses with my enourmous suitcases when I move to my site in a month. The upside was we got PIZZA while in Managua. Another heavenly experience, we all pretty much gorged ourselves with it because it was not gallo pinto (rice and beans).
Yeah, so I think those are the highlights. Time is flying by and I think my Spanish is improving, but I still have those days where my brain just doesn´t want to function in Spanish.
I still haven´t received any mail, but have received word from many people that it´s in transit. Thank you!! It will be greatly appreciated when received!
All you Midwesterns are starting to experience fall weather, which I´m a tad jealous of. The climate here is always the same, relatively hot and humid; so I´m missing out on those crisp fall mornings and evenings and all the beautiful changing leaves. But then again, fall will quickly disappear and you´ll be faced with a cold slap in the face and I´ll still be enjoying my hot and humid, tropical climate.....hmmm......
1) Our school garden has been successfully created and is actually growing! We planted tomato, cucumber, squash, peppers and chitome (don´t know what the english translation is). Our chicken wire fence is really a sad excuse for protection, especially since a good portion is rusted and falling apart and the other parts are sagging and can be hopped over. I believe we´ll be able to transplant our tomato plants next week!
2) I gave my first class in Spanish to my 6th grade class and it was AMAZING! I taught them about types of energy and classified it has renewable or non-renewable. They seemed to enjoy the dinamicas/activities which is different from their normal rote memorization and copy method. And it seemed like they learned some stuff and could decipher my Spanish (at least I hope). I´m giving my second class this Thursday on the carbon cycle.
P.S. It doesn´t matter where students are from all middle schoolers are the same. I did a KWL activity and was asking the students what they knew about energy before we started and I had my ¨star pupil¨ (who I identified within the first 5 minutes of class) just start reading from the book hiding under his desk. I quickly stole that away from him.
3) We went on Site visits! I spent two days with a volunteer in Rivas to observe what volunteer life was like and to talk to her and get the DL (for all you older readers, translation: DL = the scoop, information) It was a really awesome time. One, I got to escape from my tiny little town and see a different part of Nicaragua. Two, I learned some valuable information from her. Three, I can´t wait for training to finish up so that I can get to site and start volunteering.
While we were there we observed some of her science classes and english classes; met her friends; hiked to a really pretty river, saw a tiny waterfall, some monkeys, almost got stampeded by a pack of cows; went to a wonderful bakery where I was able to indulge in some brewed coffee and delicious coconut bread! It was heavenly!
4) We´ve been to Managua a couple of times now and experienced the joy of Nicaraguan public transportation. Everyone warns about the buses and the ladrones (thieves), well knock on wood nothing has been stolen from me except for my personal space. They pack as many bodies on to these retired school buses as they possibly can and you´re being jostled around like a pinball. I have no idea how I´m going to travel on these buses with my enourmous suitcases when I move to my site in a month. The upside was we got PIZZA while in Managua. Another heavenly experience, we all pretty much gorged ourselves with it because it was not gallo pinto (rice and beans).
Yeah, so I think those are the highlights. Time is flying by and I think my Spanish is improving, but I still have those days where my brain just doesn´t want to function in Spanish.
I still haven´t received any mail, but have received word from many people that it´s in transit. Thank you!! It will be greatly appreciated when received!
All you Midwesterns are starting to experience fall weather, which I´m a tad jealous of. The climate here is always the same, relatively hot and humid; so I´m missing out on those crisp fall mornings and evenings and all the beautiful changing leaves. But then again, fall will quickly disappear and you´ll be faced with a cold slap in the face and I´ll still be enjoying my hot and humid, tropical climate.....hmmm......
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Hey Blondie
I do quite a bit of walking in a day and as I walk by there´s lots of english phrases shouted at me often by little children, hello, goodbye, whatisyourname (yes, all one word) and in a country where not many people speak english I´m amazed that the phrase ¨hey blondie¨ is remembered and used when I walk past.
Let´s see....another week down and more and more spanish is being absorbed into my head, I´m often finding myself waking up and talking to myself in Spanish, that´s a good sign right?! I´m feeling like I´ve done quite a bit of improving over the short 3 weeks that I´ve been in country, but I still catch myself utterly bewildered when my host sister gives me the benefit of the doubt and rambles on way too quickly in Spanish, like I´m a native speaker. But she´s good at noticing my confused look and stops herself, slows down and repeats words sometimes to many times to count.
Things are moving along quite well and we´re actually starting to get our hands dirty, literally. We had a gardening charla/training last week and I helped build a garden. Grandma - if you´ve figured out how to read my blog yet, I may actually return from this experience and want to help you weed your garden instead of considering it cruel, slave labor- we´ll see.
We´ll be building our own gardens at the elementary school this Saturday and I really hope that we have lots of little hands to help us, otherwise I´m going to have my work cut out for myself. I´m feeling more confident in our ability to gather children for our groups and projects have are super successful youth group meetings!
We had a meeting on Monday, which 11 students showed up to, way better than our first attempt and one that we were all proud of; but it gets even better. We had another meeting on Tuesday and.....drumroll please.....22 students showed up!!! Woo Hoo! And I´m kicking myself for not carrying my camera with me every minute of the day, luckily Hannah brought her camera and I´ll steal the photos to post because I´m super proud and want to show off our creative students. Our goal for the youth group is to create a product out of recycled materials, so has an introduction we had the students collect trash, which can be found all over the streets, and make something that could potentially be used in the bathroom. The students were so creative, I was amazed. They made toilet paper holders, toothbrush holders, flower pots, fly swatters....I promise I´ll post the photos. We also decided on our big recycled project which is......another drumroll......a playhouse for children made from plastic bottles and other materials. This is a super huge project, but the students seem really excited about it and so are all of the aspirantes (trainees/not yet volunteers). I´ve thrown my camera into my bag and am now going to carry it around all the time, so I promise to take lots of photos and post them occasionally to show progress.
Hm....that´s the really big news for me this week. Wait! I got my cell phone finally!! so if I haven´t texted you already and you´d like my number email or facebook me. I was super excited to actually talk to my mom this week, even though it was only for a few minutes.
And I have to get going because it´s almost 6pm and it´s truly like clock work here...sunrise 6am, sunset 6pm. Before I leave I´m going to give one last plea for mail...a postcard, letter, package, anything would be greatly appreciated. I´m the only one of the 4 trainees that haven´t received any mail yet, it´s gotten to the point that Emily a trainee promised to send me a letter. C´mon people!
Let´s see....another week down and more and more spanish is being absorbed into my head, I´m often finding myself waking up and talking to myself in Spanish, that´s a good sign right?! I´m feeling like I´ve done quite a bit of improving over the short 3 weeks that I´ve been in country, but I still catch myself utterly bewildered when my host sister gives me the benefit of the doubt and rambles on way too quickly in Spanish, like I´m a native speaker. But she´s good at noticing my confused look and stops herself, slows down and repeats words sometimes to many times to count.
Things are moving along quite well and we´re actually starting to get our hands dirty, literally. We had a gardening charla/training last week and I helped build a garden. Grandma - if you´ve figured out how to read my blog yet, I may actually return from this experience and want to help you weed your garden instead of considering it cruel, slave labor- we´ll see.
We´ll be building our own gardens at the elementary school this Saturday and I really hope that we have lots of little hands to help us, otherwise I´m going to have my work cut out for myself. I´m feeling more confident in our ability to gather children for our groups and projects have are super successful youth group meetings!
We had a meeting on Monday, which 11 students showed up to, way better than our first attempt and one that we were all proud of; but it gets even better. We had another meeting on Tuesday and.....drumroll please.....22 students showed up!!! Woo Hoo! And I´m kicking myself for not carrying my camera with me every minute of the day, luckily Hannah brought her camera and I´ll steal the photos to post because I´m super proud and want to show off our creative students. Our goal for the youth group is to create a product out of recycled materials, so has an introduction we had the students collect trash, which can be found all over the streets, and make something that could potentially be used in the bathroom. The students were so creative, I was amazed. They made toilet paper holders, toothbrush holders, flower pots, fly swatters....I promise I´ll post the photos. We also decided on our big recycled project which is......another drumroll......a playhouse for children made from plastic bottles and other materials. This is a super huge project, but the students seem really excited about it and so are all of the aspirantes (trainees/not yet volunteers). I´ve thrown my camera into my bag and am now going to carry it around all the time, so I promise to take lots of photos and post them occasionally to show progress.
Hm....that´s the really big news for me this week. Wait! I got my cell phone finally!! so if I haven´t texted you already and you´d like my number email or facebook me. I was super excited to actually talk to my mom this week, even though it was only for a few minutes.
And I have to get going because it´s almost 6pm and it´s truly like clock work here...sunrise 6am, sunset 6pm. Before I leave I´m going to give one last plea for mail...a postcard, letter, package, anything would be greatly appreciated. I´m the only one of the 4 trainees that haven´t received any mail yet, it´s gotten to the point that Emily a trainee promised to send me a letter. C´mon people!
Monday, September 12, 2011
One week successfully completed....
My first week is complete and I´m still alive.
I´m living in a small pueblo, Niquinohomo, for the next three months during training. I really lucked out with my host family and living conditions. I live in a house surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants with amble amount of butterflies and hummingbirds buzzing around daily (for those of you familiar with the movie, Matilda, it´s remineiscent of Miss Honey´s cottage, but Nicaraguan style). I have running water, YAY no bucket showers!! and even though it´s cold water it´s actually quite refreshing, after the initial shock of shivers. And quite possibly the best part, I have a washing machine, YAY no handwashing clothes!!
My family consists of parents, two sisters, 15 and 8 years old and a grandmother. They all very nice and very understanding of my lack of understanding and my use of a circle of words that I use to describe something. Their house is a good 15 minute walk away from the city center where the other volunteers live and where Spanish classes are held everyday, so I get to walk about an hour everyday. I walk to class at 8AM, return home for lunch at 12PM, return to class at 1PM and return home at 5PM.
It´s been quite a long week. We have formal Spanish classes for about 6 hours everyday and then I return home for my continued Spanish immersion. It´s quite tiring for me to think so much about Spanish and the constant translating and searching for correct words and verb tenses. I´m pretty sure I´m developing a form of ADD because I often catch myself glazing over and simply nodding and replying ok, si and really I have no idea what they just said or even worse they´re looking at me expecting me to answer the question they just asked. I´m often done for the day by 9 pm at the very latest, sometimes earlier. Last week, I hit a wall on Thursday where I´d had enough Spanish for the week, and I´m hoping that doesn´t repeat itself weekly.
This week we´re actually getting started with our projects that we need to complete in training and unfortunately our first attempt at forming a youth group was an epic fail! We posted two posters in the library and videogame shop advertising our awesome request for teenagers to join us for an environmental, recycling project. Today we went to the library, hoping someone would show up and we were in no luck. We waited an hour and prepared more advertisements for our round two attempt for a meetig next week. We even bought cookies and Coke to try and allure them into joining the group. Hopefully we´ll have more success next week.
I feel like there´s so much that´s happened and much, much more that I could talk about, but I´ll keep it simple with a list of things I´m liking and not liking so much.
Me gusta....
1) Chocobananas and Eskimo (ice cream shop) the meeting place for me and the other volunteers to debrief and have English time
2) Watching iCarly in Spanish, I can actually understand what´s going on
3) The Starbucks instant coffee that Aunt Tracy sent with me before leaving (lifesavers, thank you1)
4) My host family
5) The weather - it´s actually quite enjoyable
6) All the pretty flowers and plants
7) and more.....
No me gusta....
1) Rain on zinc roofs (very, very loud)
2) The constant state of dampness in everything- clothes, paper
3) The giant spider I saw in my bedroom the other day (the size of my palm, no lie)
4) The mold I found growing on my shoes
5) The carb overload I´m suffering every meal, every day
6) It´s dark at 6PM every day
It´s not that I don´t like it, but I can foresee me not liking it after two years and that is....I have some combination of rice and beans for every meal, every day.
Overall, I´m having a good time and am anxious to get started with our projects and it´s not that I hate the things listed, more like things I have to learn to like.
I´m living in a small pueblo, Niquinohomo, for the next three months during training. I really lucked out with my host family and living conditions. I live in a house surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants with amble amount of butterflies and hummingbirds buzzing around daily (for those of you familiar with the movie, Matilda, it´s remineiscent of Miss Honey´s cottage, but Nicaraguan style). I have running water, YAY no bucket showers!! and even though it´s cold water it´s actually quite refreshing, after the initial shock of shivers. And quite possibly the best part, I have a washing machine, YAY no handwashing clothes!!
My family consists of parents, two sisters, 15 and 8 years old and a grandmother. They all very nice and very understanding of my lack of understanding and my use of a circle of words that I use to describe something. Their house is a good 15 minute walk away from the city center where the other volunteers live and where Spanish classes are held everyday, so I get to walk about an hour everyday. I walk to class at 8AM, return home for lunch at 12PM, return to class at 1PM and return home at 5PM.
It´s been quite a long week. We have formal Spanish classes for about 6 hours everyday and then I return home for my continued Spanish immersion. It´s quite tiring for me to think so much about Spanish and the constant translating and searching for correct words and verb tenses. I´m pretty sure I´m developing a form of ADD because I often catch myself glazing over and simply nodding and replying ok, si and really I have no idea what they just said or even worse they´re looking at me expecting me to answer the question they just asked. I´m often done for the day by 9 pm at the very latest, sometimes earlier. Last week, I hit a wall on Thursday where I´d had enough Spanish for the week, and I´m hoping that doesn´t repeat itself weekly.
This week we´re actually getting started with our projects that we need to complete in training and unfortunately our first attempt at forming a youth group was an epic fail! We posted two posters in the library and videogame shop advertising our awesome request for teenagers to join us for an environmental, recycling project. Today we went to the library, hoping someone would show up and we were in no luck. We waited an hour and prepared more advertisements for our round two attempt for a meetig next week. We even bought cookies and Coke to try and allure them into joining the group. Hopefully we´ll have more success next week.
I feel like there´s so much that´s happened and much, much more that I could talk about, but I´ll keep it simple with a list of things I´m liking and not liking so much.
Me gusta....
1) Chocobananas and Eskimo (ice cream shop) the meeting place for me and the other volunteers to debrief and have English time
2) Watching iCarly in Spanish, I can actually understand what´s going on
3) The Starbucks instant coffee that Aunt Tracy sent with me before leaving (lifesavers, thank you1)
4) My host family
5) The weather - it´s actually quite enjoyable
6) All the pretty flowers and plants
7) and more.....
No me gusta....
1) Rain on zinc roofs (very, very loud)
2) The constant state of dampness in everything- clothes, paper
3) The giant spider I saw in my bedroom the other day (the size of my palm, no lie)
4) The mold I found growing on my shoes
5) The carb overload I´m suffering every meal, every day
6) It´s dark at 6PM every day
It´s not that I don´t like it, but I can foresee me not liking it after two years and that is....I have some combination of rice and beans for every meal, every day.
Overall, I´m having a good time and am anxious to get started with our projects and it´s not that I hate the things listed, more like things I have to learn to like.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
A hot mess in Nicaragua
I've finally arrived in Nicaragua!
It's been a whirlwind the past few days and I'm so sleep deprived that I'm a walking zombie and really haven't been able to absorb what's going on around me.
To make a long story short, I've been waking up way too early the past two days (4AM and 2AM) that it should come at no surprise that I slept throughout most of the flights. But, I also had the pleasantry of seating in the middle seat between two men that I didn't know on both flights; so there were some moments where I caught myself sleeping/leaning a little too close to my travel companions. On a positive note, I didn't drool on anyone that would've been embarrassing!
Let's see....arriving in Nicaragua is like walking into an oven. I'm already struggling to lug around 4 rather heavy bags, which is quite the workout, then I'm greeted with a hot and humid atmosphere as we wait outside the airport for a school bus to come pick us up. I was quite sweaty by the end of our journey, like hot yoga sweaty (gross, I know!). Driving through Managua from the airport to our training compound was not the most scenic route. As I was gazing out the school bus window, the scene reminded me a lot of Nairobi.
Right now, I'm staying in a training compound where I'll be overloaded with information and paperwork; but on the upside I've been able to cool down, and I'll have WiFi YAY! I'm rather tired and am trying to absorb as much as I can, but my neurons seem to be slowing down. I'll keep you posted with any new and exciting information, like my roommate just told me she found a large, luckily dead cockroach in our room; at least it wasn't a rat!
It's been a whirlwind the past few days and I'm so sleep deprived that I'm a walking zombie and really haven't been able to absorb what's going on around me.
To make a long story short, I've been waking up way too early the past two days (4AM and 2AM) that it should come at no surprise that I slept throughout most of the flights. But, I also had the pleasantry of seating in the middle seat between two men that I didn't know on both flights; so there were some moments where I caught myself sleeping/leaning a little too close to my travel companions. On a positive note, I didn't drool on anyone that would've been embarrassing!
Let's see....arriving in Nicaragua is like walking into an oven. I'm already struggling to lug around 4 rather heavy bags, which is quite the workout, then I'm greeted with a hot and humid atmosphere as we wait outside the airport for a school bus to come pick us up. I was quite sweaty by the end of our journey, like hot yoga sweaty (gross, I know!). Driving through Managua from the airport to our training compound was not the most scenic route. As I was gazing out the school bus window, the scene reminded me a lot of Nairobi.
Right now, I'm staying in a training compound where I'll be overloaded with information and paperwork; but on the upside I've been able to cool down, and I'll have WiFi YAY! I'm rather tired and am trying to absorb as much as I can, but my neurons seem to be slowing down. I'll keep you posted with any new and exciting information, like my roommate just told me she found a large, luckily dead cockroach in our room; at least it wasn't a rat!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Minor panic attacks
The countdown is down to just 9 days!
Let me stop and catch my breath, the realization that I'm leaving for Nicaragua to live there for 27 months in just 9 days is truly beginning to sink and has got me freaking out just a tad.
I'm really not ready at all. The other day I tried to separate what I need to pack/might pack/won't pack and made lists of things I still need to get and still need to do before departure. This process was rather overwhelming so I just left my room a mess and fled the scene without looking back. This packing thing has engulfed my worries so much that I've been having nightmares that I arrive in Nicaragua to find that I've forgotten the basic necessities and lots of other essential things. For the past 4 days I've tried not to think about it. But there are constant reminders, like...
Panic attack #2: I've been spending money like I'm a millionaire, which couldn't be farther from the truth. I've got way more money flying out the door than coming in and even though I'm freaking out about it, it really doesn't faze me to say no to going out with friends or finding more things to buy at REI and Target. I just keep swiping my check card and then a couple of days later have a mini heart attack looking at the dwindling numbers of my bank account. Oh well...
Panic attack #3: Family members getting too sentimental. My mom started crying the other day talking about how much she's going to miss me and worry about me. My mom even played out the scene of when she drops me off at the airport and says goodbye. My grandma told me she misses me already and I haven't even left yet. My cousins who are 5 and 8 keep reminding me how many holidays and birthdays I'm going to miss and predict how tall they're going to be when I return. All of their sentimentality is very touching, but I'm trying to keep it all together (for them and for myself). I'm not sure how much longer it will be until I break down and start crying over every little thing, but I have feeling as the amount of panic attacks grow, my stress level rises and the number of nightmares occurring increases; I'm going to reach my breaking point and the flood gates will open.
Let me stop and catch my breath, the realization that I'm leaving for Nicaragua to live there for 27 months in just 9 days is truly beginning to sink and has got me freaking out just a tad.
I'm really not ready at all. The other day I tried to separate what I need to pack/might pack/won't pack and made lists of things I still need to get and still need to do before departure. This process was rather overwhelming so I just left my room a mess and fled the scene without looking back. This packing thing has engulfed my worries so much that I've been having nightmares that I arrive in Nicaragua to find that I've forgotten the basic necessities and lots of other essential things. For the past 4 days I've tried not to think about it. But there are constant reminders, like...
Panic attack #2: I've been spending money like I'm a millionaire, which couldn't be farther from the truth. I've got way more money flying out the door than coming in and even though I'm freaking out about it, it really doesn't faze me to say no to going out with friends or finding more things to buy at REI and Target. I just keep swiping my check card and then a couple of days later have a mini heart attack looking at the dwindling numbers of my bank account. Oh well...
Panic attack #3: Family members getting too sentimental. My mom started crying the other day talking about how much she's going to miss me and worry about me. My mom even played out the scene of when she drops me off at the airport and says goodbye. My grandma told me she misses me already and I haven't even left yet. My cousins who are 5 and 8 keep reminding me how many holidays and birthdays I'm going to miss and predict how tall they're going to be when I return. All of their sentimentality is very touching, but I'm trying to keep it all together (for them and for myself). I'm not sure how much longer it will be until I break down and start crying over every little thing, but I have feeling as the amount of panic attacks grow, my stress level rises and the number of nightmares occurring increases; I'm going to reach my breaking point and the flood gates will open.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Adios Minnesota
My countdown to departure continues....15 days!
As my departure date creeps closer and closer the number of goodbyes grows bigger and bigger. This was my last official weekend in Minnesota and tomorrow I will pack up the remaining things (which is pretty sparse) in my apartment and make my way to Wisconsin. This last weekend in Minnesota was the best! I spent the weekend with a group of great friends and had a bit too much fun, maybe.
Although today was pretty hard to say goodbye to everyone. I'm going to miss my friends and family so much and it's really difficult saying "goodbye, I'll see you later" when I don't know when later is. I don't know what I'm going to do without them. I do know some of my friends are seeking replacements for me, good luck! If a replacement is brought in they better not get too comfortable because I do plan on coming back and resuming my position.
There are so many things I'm going to miss about Minnesota and others that I'm not going to miss at all.
I will miss: family, friends, the lakes, the Current, Corepower Yoga, Grand Ave., my school and students, the cherry and spoon, DL, and much much more.
I will not miss: 9 month winters, feet and feet of snow, subzero temperatures, Minnesotan accents you betcha!, terrible sports teams; there's really not all that many negatives other than weather related topics.
And since I've grown such a disdain for Minnesotan winters I've officially decided I don't plan on coming back for visits during October - May because there's a possibility that Minnesota will be experiencing snow and winter conditions. My visits will be in June - September because the summer is the best season!
On that note, hasta la vista Minnesota I'll be back!
As my departure date creeps closer and closer the number of goodbyes grows bigger and bigger. This was my last official weekend in Minnesota and tomorrow I will pack up the remaining things (which is pretty sparse) in my apartment and make my way to Wisconsin. This last weekend in Minnesota was the best! I spent the weekend with a group of great friends and had a bit too much fun, maybe.
Although today was pretty hard to say goodbye to everyone. I'm going to miss my friends and family so much and it's really difficult saying "goodbye, I'll see you later" when I don't know when later is. I don't know what I'm going to do without them. I do know some of my friends are seeking replacements for me, good luck! If a replacement is brought in they better not get too comfortable because I do plan on coming back and resuming my position.
There are so many things I'm going to miss about Minnesota and others that I'm not going to miss at all.
I will miss: family, friends, the lakes, the Current, Corepower Yoga, Grand Ave., my school and students, the cherry and spoon, DL, and much much more.
I will not miss: 9 month winters, feet and feet of snow, subzero temperatures, Minnesotan accents you betcha!, terrible sports teams; there's really not all that many negatives other than weather related topics.
And since I've grown such a disdain for Minnesotan winters I've officially decided I don't plan on coming back for visits during October - May because there's a possibility that Minnesota will be experiencing snow and winter conditions. My visits will be in June - September because the summer is the best season!
On that note, hasta la vista Minnesota I'll be back!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Packing, packing, and more packing
My departure to Nicaragua is closely approaching, about 4 weeks until I say adios to the US; but my goodbye to Minnesota is coming even sooner. August 15 will be my official last day in Minnesota:( then it's off to Wisconsin for the last two weeks. For the next two weeks I won't be homeless, but I'll be rather possession-less. Even though I'll be living in my apartment in Minnesota until August 15, my mom and brother are coming up tomorrow to help me move most of my things out of my apartment and into her basement to be stored for the next two years. So I get two weeks on an air mattress and a duffel bag of clothes! YAY!
I'm really hating this process:
1) I'm a huge procrastinator, hence the reason I'm posting on my blog versus packing and cleaning my apartment. Also for this reason I can totally see myself waiting until the night before to pack for Nicaragua.
2) I like to be organized, so I would ideally like to have things that I'm taking to Nicaragua packed separately from things that I'm leaving behind; but see reason #1 and that explains the word ideally and how it most likely will not be organized.
3) And the biggest issue....What am I taking to Nicaragua? The things that I'm not taking, will I want them within the next 2 years? Will I want them when I return to the US? Am I really willing to get rid of everything to be totally possession-less upon return?
I've definitely been scaling down over the past few months, by donating or tossing out things that I don't need/use, and most of my furniture is being passed on to my brother (one of the reasons that my possessions are being moved out before me). So I really won't have all that much to store while I'm gone, but there are some things that I just can't seem to part with. It's not so much about my attachment to the things, it's more like a security blanket for me. I'm having a difficult time imagining myself returning from this experience with absolutely nothing and having to start completely from square one. It's not like I can't do it; I've done it before when I first moved out, and the thought of 'will I even want the things that I kept', has crossed my mind. I don't know, luckily I still have some time to answer the big packing questions.
P.S. It's even more official now. I've received my staging material and booked my flight to DC. I depart Madison, WI on August 30 for DC, then depart Washington DC on August 31 for Nicaragua.
I'm really hating this process:
1) I'm a huge procrastinator, hence the reason I'm posting on my blog versus packing and cleaning my apartment. Also for this reason I can totally see myself waiting until the night before to pack for Nicaragua.
2) I like to be organized, so I would ideally like to have things that I'm taking to Nicaragua packed separately from things that I'm leaving behind; but see reason #1 and that explains the word ideally and how it most likely will not be organized.
3) And the biggest issue....What am I taking to Nicaragua? The things that I'm not taking, will I want them within the next 2 years? Will I want them when I return to the US? Am I really willing to get rid of everything to be totally possession-less upon return?
I've definitely been scaling down over the past few months, by donating or tossing out things that I don't need/use, and most of my furniture is being passed on to my brother (one of the reasons that my possessions are being moved out before me). So I really won't have all that much to store while I'm gone, but there are some things that I just can't seem to part with. It's not so much about my attachment to the things, it's more like a security blanket for me. I'm having a difficult time imagining myself returning from this experience with absolutely nothing and having to start completely from square one. It's not like I can't do it; I've done it before when I first moved out, and the thought of 'will I even want the things that I kept', has crossed my mind. I don't know, luckily I still have some time to answer the big packing questions.
P.S. It's even more official now. I've received my staging material and booked my flight to DC. I depart Madison, WI on August 30 for DC, then depart Washington DC on August 31 for Nicaragua.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Let the countdown begin....
48 days until departure....
I'm reading a really great book that I recommend to everyone, Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists by Courtney E. Martin. It's come at a perfect time and this excerpt is on the first page of the book.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others will destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.
- written on the wall in Mother Theresa's home for children in Calcutta
This is what I'll come back to every time I'm doubting myself and my efforts.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
It's Official
What?!? The waiting game is finally over and I've been officially invited to serve in the Peace Corps.....
My assignment: Environmental Educator in Nicaragua.
My departure date: August 30, 2011.
My service dates: November 21, 2011 - November 22, 2013.
I know I've been waiting for this information to reach me for what seems like forever, but now that it has I'm freaking out just a little bit. I think I'm just so overwhelmed because it's all just happening so fast now.
For almost a year now the only information I had was my nomination for Africa in July, well the time to be notified for that came and went without any word. Then I receive emails about budgets being cut and departure dates being pushed back as far as January 2012. At this point, I'm starting to lose my patience, and wonder what I'm suppose to do while I wait. Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long. I get a call from a PC Placement Officer, who starts asking me what I've been doing for the past year, how I've been preparing for the PC, and if I'm still interested. Of course, I respond "Yes, can you tell me where and when?" In which I get a unofficial invitation which is a very general and broad description of my placement region, assignment and departure. He also tells me that the official invitation will be sent out right away. I've grown accustomed to the waiting game, so I leave for my vacation in New Orleans without much thought or worry. I figured it would be best for me to have the official invitation and description before spreading the word to family and friends - because even though I've gotten used to the waiting game, many of them haven't.
I return from New Orleans to find a massive packet of papers from the Peace Corps. I eagerly open it to find where I'll be spending the next 27 months of my life and am excited to see Nicaragua. (I'm hoping to improve my rusty Spanish skills). As I continue reading a wave of emotions comes over me and I get a little shocked by my departure date (August is coming up rather quickly) and then just seeing 2013 in writing got me.
I've been telling friends and family the good news and it seems that they're excited, almost more excited than me. Don't get me wrong I'm excited, but also a bit overwhelmed because I'm looking at all the paperwork and preparation that I really need to get done. Normally, I'm all for a good countdown to a vacation or event, but I think I may have to hold off on a countdown, at least until I can check off some items on my massively long to-do list. Speaking of which, I should probably get back to some of that paperwork....
My assignment: Environmental Educator in Nicaragua.
My departure date: August 30, 2011.
My service dates: November 21, 2011 - November 22, 2013.
I know I've been waiting for this information to reach me for what seems like forever, but now that it has I'm freaking out just a little bit. I think I'm just so overwhelmed because it's all just happening so fast now.
For almost a year now the only information I had was my nomination for Africa in July, well the time to be notified for that came and went without any word. Then I receive emails about budgets being cut and departure dates being pushed back as far as January 2012. At this point, I'm starting to lose my patience, and wonder what I'm suppose to do while I wait. Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long. I get a call from a PC Placement Officer, who starts asking me what I've been doing for the past year, how I've been preparing for the PC, and if I'm still interested. Of course, I respond "Yes, can you tell me where and when?" In which I get a unofficial invitation which is a very general and broad description of my placement region, assignment and departure. He also tells me that the official invitation will be sent out right away. I've grown accustomed to the waiting game, so I leave for my vacation in New Orleans without much thought or worry. I figured it would be best for me to have the official invitation and description before spreading the word to family and friends - because even though I've gotten used to the waiting game, many of them haven't.
I return from New Orleans to find a massive packet of papers from the Peace Corps. I eagerly open it to find where I'll be spending the next 27 months of my life and am excited to see Nicaragua. (I'm hoping to improve my rusty Spanish skills). As I continue reading a wave of emotions comes over me and I get a little shocked by my departure date (August is coming up rather quickly) and then just seeing 2013 in writing got me.
I've been telling friends and family the good news and it seems that they're excited, almost more excited than me. Don't get me wrong I'm excited, but also a bit overwhelmed because I'm looking at all the paperwork and preparation that I really need to get done. Normally, I'm all for a good countdown to a vacation or event, but I think I may have to hold off on a countdown, at least until I can check off some items on my massively long to-do list. Speaking of which, I should probably get back to some of that paperwork....
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Just go with it
I'm currently reading blink: the power of thinking without thinking and just finished he's just not that into you; two totally different styles of books, but both which I appreciate and can relate to their overall message of just trust your instincts. Gladwell says that "we live in a world that assumes that the quality of a decision is directly related to the time and effort that went into making it." I'm definitely guilty of falling into this trap and I am always over analyzing situations, trying to plan ahead and know what's coming in my future (I really dislike the unknown), and asking the WHY not just accepting something without an explanation. So reading these books have really got me thinking...do I trust my gut instincts? Am I really that indecisive? In hindsight, why didn't I trust my gut?
Some of my best decisions have come rather impulsively. These have made some of the best vacations, Miami, Las Vegas; experiences, skydiving, random outings; I blindly accepted my current job and even though there are definitely crazy days that make me think 'what am I doing?', overall it's been a wonderful experience and I've learned a lot.
I'm coming to the conclusion that I come off as indecisive because I'm a people pleaser. I don't like when others push their agendas and opinions on me, so I avoid doing that myself and I really don't like/want to piss people off. The more I think about it, I'm really not indecisive at all. I have an opinion on just about everything, I'm pretty judgmental and I know what I want; instead it's the others around me that get me acting all indecisive. Also, this Minnesota Nice and avoiding confrontation has me dragging the announcement of my decision out because why get everyone up in arms about my decision months in advance, when I can hold off for as long as possible.
Some of my best decisions have come rather impulsively. These have made some of the best vacations, Miami, Las Vegas; experiences, skydiving, random outings; I blindly accepted my current job and even though there are definitely crazy days that make me think 'what am I doing?', overall it's been a wonderful experience and I've learned a lot.
I'm coming to the conclusion that I come off as indecisive because I'm a people pleaser. I don't like when others push their agendas and opinions on me, so I avoid doing that myself and I really don't like/want to piss people off. The more I think about it, I'm really not indecisive at all. I have an opinion on just about everything, I'm pretty judgmental and I know what I want; instead it's the others around me that get me acting all indecisive. Also, this Minnesota Nice and avoiding confrontation has me dragging the announcement of my decision out because why get everyone up in arms about my decision months in advance, when I can hold off for as long as possible.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Ready for change
I'm still awaiting my invitation from the Peace Corps, so the jury's still out for that one. But, I'm continually weighing my options for the upcoming year and whether or not I decide to go to the predetermined country they choose for me I definitely need a change of scenery. I've come to the realization that I'm not ready to settle and become stagnant in one location, with one job, and with the same routine day in and day out. And to tell you the truth I don't know when I'll ever be ready for that.
I've always had a strong desire to travel and not just tourist travel where you spend a long weekend at a resort and stop by all the famous landmarks; I really want to experience the world and cultures to it's full extent. If I had the resources I would love to live my own personal version of Eat, Pray, Love and just take off and live in three different countries for a year.
Looking back I've always had this desire to be challenged and push my comfort levels in different atmospheres. After graduating high school, I had no desire to stay in Wisconsin for college, so I went out of state to Minnesota. I had this fear that if I stayed close to home for college I would grow too comfortable and never leave. Most of my family live within a 30 mile radius of one another and although I love them all dearly and would consider living there later in life, I want to be independent and explore.
During college I wanted to study abroad and instead of choosing to go to some European country, I chose to go to Africa. I'm pretty sure most of my family and friends thought/still think I'm insane but I wanted to be different. Anybody can travel to Europe and visit London, Paris, Madrid, etc; but not many people decide to travel to Africa. Plus, I want to live by Gandhi's words: "Be the change you wish to see in the world" the study abroad program was a service learning program where I was able to study and have an internship in an orphanage/safe house. It was a wonderful experience and it really influenced me to apply to the Peace Corps in the first place. After graduating from college, I started applying for jobs and the Peace Corps. All of the jobs that I applied to were again out of state. Minnesota and Wisconsin are great states, but I feel like I'm ready to get out of the Midwest and either explore more of the US or the world.
I've always had a strong desire to travel and not just tourist travel where you spend a long weekend at a resort and stop by all the famous landmarks; I really want to experience the world and cultures to it's full extent. If I had the resources I would love to live my own personal version of Eat, Pray, Love and just take off and live in three different countries for a year.
Looking back I've always had this desire to be challenged and push my comfort levels in different atmospheres. After graduating high school, I had no desire to stay in Wisconsin for college, so I went out of state to Minnesota. I had this fear that if I stayed close to home for college I would grow too comfortable and never leave. Most of my family live within a 30 mile radius of one another and although I love them all dearly and would consider living there later in life, I want to be independent and explore.
During college I wanted to study abroad and instead of choosing to go to some European country, I chose to go to Africa. I'm pretty sure most of my family and friends thought/still think I'm insane but I wanted to be different. Anybody can travel to Europe and visit London, Paris, Madrid, etc; but not many people decide to travel to Africa. Plus, I want to live by Gandhi's words: "Be the change you wish to see in the world" the study abroad program was a service learning program where I was able to study and have an internship in an orphanage/safe house. It was a wonderful experience and it really influenced me to apply to the Peace Corps in the first place. After graduating from college, I started applying for jobs and the Peace Corps. All of the jobs that I applied to were again out of state. Minnesota and Wisconsin are great states, but I feel like I'm ready to get out of the Midwest and either explore more of the US or the world.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Africa or an Automobile?
A few different people have suggested that I create a personal blog....for the longest time I shrugged it off, but now (obviously) I've changed my mind. I have no intention of become an Ann Landers or any other advice columnist nor am I claiming to be any type of writer, so if that's what you're expecting stop reading right now. I guess I'm making this blog because I'm a recent college graduate trying to figure out what to do with my life (like many other fellow graduates) and instead of annoying my family and friends with my constant, wavering indecision; I'll try to work it out through blogging and if they decide to read this and comment/question me and my thoughts then AWESOME, but if they decide to ignore it my feelings won't be hurt, but I'll still bother them for advice with a desperate hope that they will make a decision for me or at least help me make a decision.
I am an extremely indecisive person. I have a difficult time trying to decide where to have lunch, so trying to decide what to do with my life is almost overwhelming to me. I've applied for the Peace Corps and have been accepted and nominated - supposedly I'm to be leaving this summer, but it's not official yet. This sounds like a done deal right? You couldn't be farther from the truth. I applied almost a year ago when I graduated from college and was "ready" BUT this is such a long process that in the mean time I've gotten a "real" job, live in a non-campus, rat-free apartment, pay tons of bills and student loans - it's almost like I'm an actual adult! So here's the dilemma: I'm finally becoming an adult and settling into a comfortable groove and now I may be totally turned upside down by leaving and serving for two years in a foreign country. What is a girl to do?
Since I haven't received my official invitation from the Peace Corps yet, I'm procrastinating (another wonderful quality I possess) making my decision. Even though I keep telling myself that I'll make a decision when the official invitation arrives, I wrestle with trying to make a decision almost every day. I'm continually flip flopping on whether I should go or stay and I'm desperately hoping for a sign to come to me, ultimately something that will make the decision for me. Well THE sign hasn't arrived yet, but an interesting dilemma recently arose. I had an old crappy car that recently traveled it's last mile, which leaves me in the interesting predicament of having no car. Not having a car is not feasible for me, so the dilemma is trying to force me to stop the procrastination and make a decision already. Do I buy a car which will keep me in America and stick to my comfortable life and surroundings? Do I bike, bus, rent and borrow cars to keep the procrastination alive and avoid making a decision until the absolute deadline?
I am an extremely indecisive person. I have a difficult time trying to decide where to have lunch, so trying to decide what to do with my life is almost overwhelming to me. I've applied for the Peace Corps and have been accepted and nominated - supposedly I'm to be leaving this summer, but it's not official yet. This sounds like a done deal right? You couldn't be farther from the truth. I applied almost a year ago when I graduated from college and was "ready" BUT this is such a long process that in the mean time I've gotten a "real" job, live in a non-campus, rat-free apartment, pay tons of bills and student loans - it's almost like I'm an actual adult! So here's the dilemma: I'm finally becoming an adult and settling into a comfortable groove and now I may be totally turned upside down by leaving and serving for two years in a foreign country. What is a girl to do?
Since I haven't received my official invitation from the Peace Corps yet, I'm procrastinating (another wonderful quality I possess) making my decision. Even though I keep telling myself that I'll make a decision when the official invitation arrives, I wrestle with trying to make a decision almost every day. I'm continually flip flopping on whether I should go or stay and I'm desperately hoping for a sign to come to me, ultimately something that will make the decision for me. Well THE sign hasn't arrived yet, but an interesting dilemma recently arose. I had an old crappy car that recently traveled it's last mile, which leaves me in the interesting predicament of having no car. Not having a car is not feasible for me, so the dilemma is trying to force me to stop the procrastination and make a decision already. Do I buy a car which will keep me in America and stick to my comfortable life and surroundings? Do I bike, bus, rent and borrow cars to keep the procrastination alive and avoid making a decision until the absolute deadline?
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