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.
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