Being a gringa in the Nicaland, is like living in a fishbowl or under a microscope (whichever metaphor you prefer) I´ve gotten pretty used to it. People always know where I´ve been and at times even where I´m going before I know; but every now and then I get a curve ball, like when I went to plan with one of my teachers. I go over there every week to plan and her grandkids are always there and wanting to tell me about there day and play. I was chatting with Sol, the 4 year old, asking about her day in preschool, etc and out of the blue she says, It´s true, you really do have a long neck.....PAUSE....I guess thank you. Yes, I´m a giant compared to everyone else here and I know that, but I didn´t realize that my neck was resembling a giraffe´s as well. And it also made me wonder what else are they saying about me? Are my ears too big too? Kids do say what they want to say, but she said it like before she was in disbelief, but now after observation it´s true!
That´s my only funny antecdote for this entry....but here´s what´s going on in my life:
I recently gave a charla to the new group of trainees and it felt kind of weird. I couldn´t believe that I´ve been in site for a year already and now am giving advice to the new volunteers when most of the time I still don´t quite know what I´m doing myself. And during this whole time I was in and out of the PC office and seeing all the volunteers that are preparing to leave as their 2 years comes to an end and I was able to really visualize the life cycle of a PCV and it made me anxious for my last year to finish up so that I could share the joy of those that are leaving. It wasn´t that long ago I was in training and hopefully not much longer and I´ll be signing my papers to go home.
The life cycle of a Peace Corps Volunteer.
1) Super long application process
2) Training for 3 months
3) Volunteer for 2 years
4) Close of service and you´re free!
Whiile in Managua for the charla I was able to indulge in American food, wireless internet, air conditioning, comfortable bed and pillow and it was wonderful, but like always it makes coming home and eating rice and beans and sleeping under a mosquito net that much harder.
Things are going well here. Classes are going to be finishing up in the next couple of months and I´m trying to prepare some activities to take place during the vacations so that I don´t die of boredom. I want to have some English classes and some Environmental activities.
