And the verdict is...

…I’m heading to to Villa El Carmen, Managua, Nicaragua son! And I couldn’t be more psyched about it. I’ll tell you why this is such an awesome site, and why it has been my number one pick, almost from day one. Not to mention a sleeper pick, because I think I’m the only one who expressed interest that much interest in it.

Reasons why I’m pumped:

1. Great Balance of teaching at the sight. I am going to be teaching the enprendedurismo calss in 4 or 5 different schools in the surrounding area to the equivalent of American juniors and seniors. Of those 4 or 5 schools, 3 are schools that have no experience at all with the program. What excites me about these 3 schools, is that I’ll be able to make my own mark, and will go in to the schools without being compared to prior Peace Corps volunteers. I guess I should note that right now, first generation volunteers are living in Villa El Carmen, which I am taking over for, a married couple, both in small business.
2. The secondary opportunities are great as well. What I most wanted out of my experience in Nicaragua is to work first hand with local entrepreneurs and business folk, and Villa El Carmen offers just that. At site, there is an up and coming business, in it’s infancy, that is going through the legalization process of becoming a business that I will be able to directly work with. Super pumped about that, and couldn’t ask for a better opportunity. Alongside of that, Villa El Carmen is located in an area that has a high potential for (internal) tourism as it’s so close to the beach, and also has a large agriculture sector, specifically sugarcane. I look forward to trying to getting involved in both, two major parts of the economy of Nicaragua. And as a kicker, I will also have opportunities serving as a translator to the US Navy medical Brigade, and working as camp counselor for youth from Maltagalpa. I think I have some experience in that, no?
3. The site itself is not a large site, so I’ll really be able to get to know my community over the next two years. I was initially worried that being so close to the capital of the country, Managua, that I would be too close to the city. But after talking with the current volunteer, the city is nothing like that. What bothered me about the bigger sites was the size and the tourist attraction. In a larger site you’re just another person in the city, and its tough to develop relationships. And in the more touristy sites, you’re just another gringo tourist. So I think I lucked out with where I’m heading
4. It’s close to the beach! I know I’ll be inheriting a bike from the current volunteer and will be with biking distance of a few of my schools, as well as the beach, I believe less than 10 kilometers. And did I mention that the surf in the area is world class? So I’ll be able to relieve some stress on the weekends by riding the waves, and couldn’t be more pumped.

All in all I couldn’t be more pumped, and did the big fist pump when I first heard my site today. And to top it off, I took third in the aspirante site pool. A majority of the aspirantes put up an 100 cord cover, and guessed where each aspirante was headed. The person with the most correct guess took home the bacon. Third place (which was five correct picks) only got their money back, but it also meant that I took home a pack of M&M’s as well. And I haven’t seen any M&M’s since getting here, so I was totally stoked to enjoy some American treats.

As an added bonus I’ll add in the second hand t shirts of the (past two) week. We got a hodge podge today, all somewhat sexual, and all being worn by over weight Nica’s in their mid to late 40’s

1. A man wearing a shirt saying, “Want to try my sausage” with an arrow pointing down.
2. A woman wearing a shirt saying, “I’m looking for Mr. Right Now”
3. A man wearing a tshirt saying, “Tell your Girlfriend I say Thanks!”
4. And my personal favorite, albeit a little vulgar, a 25 year old dude (in the middle of the day) wearing a black tshirt saying, “I want to F*$& your Brains out”

At what point do people really not take the time to learn what their shirts say. Another plus, according to the Peace Corps, I have moved up a level in my language comprehension. Frankly I expected to move up faster in the 50 days I’ve been here (that’s right 50), but progress is progress and I can’t complain too much. Miss you all, and enjoy the 4^th! Especially you all on the Chop!

Volcano's, Floods, and Santo Patrinales

This has been an interesting weekend to say the least, full of firsts for me. I know right, but surprise that I’m experiencing things for the first time in a new country. But I’m 95% sure that one of these three experiences is completely unique to Nicaragua, and I’d be astounded if it did exist anywhere else in the world. Real strange stuff, so keep reading.

The Cross is the top of the summit

 So the first new experience was a trip to one of the many active volcano’s in Nicaragua, although it’s now the one you can “surf” down. That will have to come sometime in the future. I’d like to say the view was breath taking, and that I could feel the heat, but I just didn’t have that kind of experience. At the base, I’m looking around the landscape, and thinking to myself, “We got a nice relatively clear day, should be quite a view at the top.” So you literally hike up to the top of the volcano’s crater, or drive if you’re pressed for time, and look down at the lava and whatever else is in the crater at the top of a volcano. But we weren't lucky

enough to see that because of all the moisture and rain. I’m not going to get all scientific with you (mainly because I don’t know why it happened) but between the natural vapors of the volcano and the light to heavy rain that was going on during the day, the visibility was pretty poor. Depending on the wind, you could see for 100 feet, or a couple 100 yards. Once we reached the summit, we got maybe a five second window where we were able to see fully across to the other side. So while the view was hardly breath taking, the smell certainly was. As I’ve (now) experienced first hand, high levels of sulphur are emitted from volcanoes along with steam and 

other things, and breathing becomes a little hard. Your throat gets a little soar, and it felt like I perpetually had a lugie lodged in there, so I was mildly uncomfortable. But I consider myself lucky, as some of my compadres couldn’t even leave the bus, or their asthma started acting up. I guess I'm lucky in that regard, huh?

The Gang at the top.  A rare moment of Clarity.

But Right back to the Fog of obscurity

Numero Dos was a flash flood in the streets of Masaya. Unlike back home Nicaragua only has two seasons: the summer, or dry, season and the winter, or rainy season. And I can say that the rainy season is not upon us in full force. I don’t love it. It can be a clear, sunny day, and five minutes later you’re just absolutely drenched from a pouring rain. One of these occasions happened as I was trying to leave the market of Masaya this past Saturday (after I picked up a new leather belt and my first hammock for a whopping 200 cords, or 10 American dollars). The skies opened up and in a matter of maybe 10 minutes, the streets of the market were flooded. I literally watched the street in front of me turn into a small river, raising to the level of about a foot deep at some points. I think back home a state of emergency would have been declared, but it’s just another rain storm down here. Despite there being a small current in the streets, no one considers it really out of the ordinary.

But the wildest event had to be our neighboring town's Santo Patrinales, a celebration of the town’s patron saint. So this meant two things for the pueblo of San Juan de Oriente a four day street party and the traditional one on one fighting with bull dicks. Literally bull dicks, including the continuing tendon. They're like 3 foot long whips. Children, girls, men, and women alike (all close to blackout drunk) are fighting in the streets whipping each other, and then once they're done, they start dancing, hug it out, and continue celebrating. It's super barbaric, but super entertaining to watch. Not expecting to run into anything like that, I actually had forgotten to bring my camera. But luckily my buddy Zac had his, and he managed to take a couple video, which you can find below. The video’s do a better job of describing the event than I could in a million years, so check it out:

                                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqnVsirsGYg&feature=related

So that’s been it these past couple of days, and I’m gonna leave you with a video that I just found on Zac’s youtube account of yours truly and the rest of the gang at the Laguna de Apoyo. See if you can spot me enjoying a nice mango on the beach!

                                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtHgFaKqDas&feature=related



Nica Cuisine

So as of now, I’m half way done with training. Time has really flown by these past six weeks, and as a result it feels like swearing in is right around the corner. I’ve also realized that I haven’t done a great job of sharing some of the day to day parts of my life, so I figured what better way to start then by sharing with you all local Nica Cuisine. After all everyone loves food, expecially me.

I don’t think Nica restaurants exist back in the states, and I wondered why. I’ve at least seen a restaurant from countries all over Central and South America. You can find Mexican, Guatemalan, Venezuelan, and Brazilian back in the states, but not Nica. And while I’ve been loving the food down here, especially the cooking of my mother and the fritangas, there is a reason you don’t see it back in the states. It’s because a typical dish consists of carbs, carbs, and deep fried food. Unless you’re living a very active lifestyle, those carbs are gonna catch up on you quick. So it does help explain the dominant body type down here. With such a heavy emphasis on appearances back at home, it’s no wonder why Nica restaurants don’t exist. But, the food is 100% organic. So it’s got that going for it, which is nice. But lucky for me I do need the carbs and gladly slop up all the food that is put in front of me, and enjoy it too. Below are some pictures of a typical meal, and I’ll try and walk you through the, and how it varies day to day.

Here’s breakfast, although it’s a little fancier than usual today. In the bowl is good portion of fresh fruit, which varies on a day to day basis from any combination of bananas, pineapple, melon, mango, and/or watermelon. On the plate we have the daily portion of bread, but I was a little hungry before I took the picture and already had scarfed down a piece. The egg dish you see there is the fancy part of my breakfast. Typically I get gallo pinto – rice and beans – or a fried egg. But on the luck days I get a small egg scramble with peppers and pieces of bologna. The people love bologna, so as a rule, now I do to.

Again, I already had started eating my lunch before remembering to snap a photo of it. As you can see much of it is white rice, a big staple of the diet down here , as well as a good portion of beans as well, the other main staple. Today it was fried red beans, and it varies between red and black. Typically I get a good portion of fresh veggies with lunch too, ranging from platanos (up on the small dish), tomatoes, onions, avovado (from our back yard), chyote, and carrots. And if you notice too, I have a little “meatball” on my plate to. I put it in quotations because it is literally just a ball of meat of some sort deep fried it oil. In a word: delicious. But occasionally I’ll get fried fish or fried chicken instead.

Third time's a charm, and I actually remembered to take a picture before eating. As you can see, gallo pinto (rice and beans) dominate the majority of the plate, along with a big old tortilla. For dinner I almost always get a portion of mean as well, tonight it was cooked with onions and peppers. Sometimes I get what is know as a pupulso, meat and cheese cooked in between two tortillas, and that’s a real treat. And how can I forget my favorite part of the Nica diet: friend cheese, the big white square in the middle. It takes a little getting used to, and it’s a little salty, but extremely appetizing.

I take it back, my favorite thing about Nica food is the refresco’s. If you look the pictures of breakfast and dinner, you’ll see the glasses of juice. Everyday the ama de las casa will create essentially fresh juice with whatever fruits she bought at the market. Refresco de lemons, oranges, guayaba, pitahaya, all awesome.

So I’m eating relatively well, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss the food back home. I dream of burgers and (good) pizza. Can’t wait for either of those again. And it's also interesting to note that families rarely eat together, based on my own experience, and talking with other aspiratnes. It has taken some getting used to eating alone.

So I’m gonna wrap up with two things:

1. Anyone have a old charger for a Dell Inspiron laptop. Mine is really on my last legs, and I would gladly pay someone to ship down and old, working charger in place of buying a new one.
2. Congratulations to my Bro, Ro, for congratulating high school, and doing his brother proud rocking the hawaiian shirt. I can only imagine these past couple of days and nights have been a blast.

Happy Father's Day!

I know it's a day late, but a special shout out to all the Father's out there, especially my own, Sheppy Sheparty. You're the best!

Mind's a spinning

These past couple of days have been super stressful, but I've busted
over that hump. I am now exactly halfway done with training which has
meant a couple of things. The first being that we have (and have had)
a bunch of interviews and evaluations about everything and anything.
The most stressful things being a language evaluation, and site
placement interview. As much as I've tried, I just haven't been able
to stop thinking about the sites, because after all it's where I'll be
living the next two years. It doesn't count for much from what I hear,
but I get to express my top three choices, and I've been flip flopping
on them the past five days ago. But I finally went with Carmen El
Villa, Moyogalpa, and Jinotega, three very diverse sights.
Some quick info on each site, Jinotega is a department capital up in
the mountains in the north. Although it's a larger city, its somewhat
difficult to access, and is literally located in a small valley in the
mountains. I didn't think I would like a big city as much, but for
whatever reason the site jumped out at me. There is a lot of
opportunities to get involved in AgroBusiness, which really interests
me, and plenty of Agriculture volunteers in the surrounding area,
which I look forward to hopefully working with. I think we have a lot
to learn from each other, and want to get my hands dirty and work with
them out in the fields. The peace corps has also worked with a
vocational school in the area as well, which means I could also
potentially have an opportunity to teach other skills such as
carpentry or computer skills. I got dem skillz that killz, and want to offer everything I can. It also means its a bit cooler in temperature since it's up in the mountains.
Site number two Moyogalpa, a smaller village located on the island of
Olmetepe, in the Middle of Lake Nicaragua. It's a really beautiful
spot, and as a result its a big tourist destination, and as a result, there is a lot of opportunity to work with up and coming businesses focusing on tourism. I'm use to Island life from the Vineyard, so I think it could be a really good spot, and the emphasis is more on small business than teaching.
Site three, and the site I want most is Villa El Carmen, and I'm
really dying for this spot. It's a smaller community, which is what I
think I want. I want to be able to walk around town and know most
people. To just be able to walk into a local store or down the road
and just start a conversation with anyone I run into. It also means a
lot of free meals which is always a plus. Some other big pluses of the
site are the advising opportunites available. There's one start up
company there that is a direct product of the enprendedurismo class
that I'll be teaching. And there's a healthy balance of teaching as
well. Although I struggled with it at first, I think I'm really going
to enjoy it, and will thrive as a teacher. I have my second class
tomorrow, we'll see how it goes. But the biggest kicker is that it's
only about 8 km from the beach, so a short bike ride, and its got some
great waves there. On a stressful day, there's nothing better to take you mind off of everything. I would like nothing more than to live there for
the next two years, with a good break in practically my back yard.

I was really like San Carlos and El Sauce as well. I mean how can you not like a village called the The Sauce. It's too good. Where are you from? Oh, I'm from the The Sauce. You really gotta emphasize the"au" in Sauce for the full effect. You know what I'm talking about?

So I guess life hasn't been too stressful, if that's all I really have
to worry about. I'm still constantly humbled by the language, and
rarely a day goes by when I'm not frustrated. After 5 weeks I expected
more progess. It just goes to show that its not a fast process. I've
been managing to have some fun as well though. I've been playing in a
basketball league here, and on the weekend have been hiking around the
surrounding area as much as possible. The hike to the Lagoon is an
awesome trail, full of monkeys and natural beauty, and of course there
is the beautiful clear blue lagoon waiting for you at the bottom. It was when I was swimming in the lake again yesterday that it struck me again where I was,
actually in Nicaragua. You'd be hard pressed to find a place like this
back in the states, and there I was about 30 yards out, just floating
looking up at the crater around me. Absolutley breathtaking.

Selection Saturday

Found out where I could be living for the next two years today. The sites are the following, organized by department:


If you got an inside scoop on any of them, let me know what you think!

Boaco	Carazco	Chinendega	Esteli
Boaco	Diriama	Chinendega	Esteli
Camoapa		Villanueva
San Lorenzo
Teustepe
Jinotega	Leon	Madriz	Managua
Jinotega	El Sauce	Palacaguna	Villa El Carmen
Maltagaplpa	Masaya	Nueva Segovia	RAAS
Maltagaplpa	Tisma	Santa Clara	Muelle de los Bueyes
Rivas	Rio San Juan
Altagracia	San Carlos
Moyogalpa
Rivas

Rama-rific

Rama isn’t the quite the Wild West that I was expecting, but I still managed to have a heck of an experience out there while visiting my main man Ricardo. Ricardo was an awesome host that did a tremendous job showing me the in’s and out’s of El Rama. I owe him a couple of free nights at my future site. This is Ricardo:

Our first full day brought the two of us out to Wapi, a small village two hours north of El Rama, to teach in a local school there. If I was picturing the Wild West, Wapi literally was it. To get there we packed into the back of a covered truck for two hours, going up and down, through the hills, fields, and jungles of RAAS. Really picturesque and beautiful, and if the rattling of the truck wasn’t so uncomfortable, or if the truck didn’t break down at one point, I think I would look forward to the trip every week. As it is though, once was enough for me. The pueblo is so far removed that the primary mode of transportation for the 2000 townsfolk is horse. Car’s exist out there, but horses are far more prevalent. There were legit hitching posts outside of most stores on their calle principal, with multiple horses tied up at each. As we walked along the streets, I expected to hear the low whistle of a challenge, a tumbleweed to roll by, and two men about to duel.

Our "Bus" to Wapi

The Bus Broke down

Center of Town

The Jungle surrounding El Rama

In my eyes, the best way to describe El Rama is a frontier town, although set in the jungle, rather than the plains we as Americans associate 'frontier' with. There are no other cities in sight from the top of La Loma, the hill/small mountain which looms above the city. See the view, and your boy for yourself. You may notice that I’ve cut away my not so golden, or curly locks, and for the first time ever, my beard is longer than my hair.



The view from La Loma



The View of La Loma from El Rama



The city also sits at the crossroads of two big rivers, Rio Rama and Rio Siquia, to form el Rio Escondido, which travels all the way east to Bluefields and the Caribbean Sea. Because of its location El Rama serves as the trade capital of the area, offering a port for farmers and cattle herders of the campo a place to sell their goods to merchants, who in turn bring the good to the coast and/or Venezuela. Cattle are sent to Venezuela to be processed, and then sold back to Nica’s at 3X the cost. It’s a sad reality, and it would just make to much sense to cut out the middle man and process the mean internally. The city of Rama itself has a population of around 50,000, which is quite large in Nicaragua. But it is still much undeveloped. No running water to any house, no more than ½ of the streets are paved (and that’s generous), and the first things locals asked me regarded the sanitation. The streets were very visibly dirty and full of trash; the people just didn’t care about what they did with their trash. Don’t get me wrong though, the city had its positives as well, that superseded the negatives.  According to Ricardo, it’s super safe, and as I noticed in my short term stay, has a very friendly feel to it. Everyone I met was cheerful, and very excited at the prospect of another volunteer being in town. And as a volunteer, the city has many opportunities to teach and work with small business.

As a result, it was tough sometimes to remind myself that this was volunteer site visit, and not just a vacation. I was there for a reason: to learn about a day in the life of a business volunteer. And I did learn a lot about what it means to be a volunteer. The first is time management. I’ll going to face a lot time where I’ll have nothing to do. Thank goodness I’m a business volunteer, and my day is somewhat structured. I talked with a  Health Volunteer in El Rama, and she seems like she is hard pressed to find even a small activity to do on a daily basis. I’ll need to develop new hobbies, continue to exercise, and hopefully read a bunch more, along with other things to stay busy. I can also constantly put myself out there and be open engaging, which is the second thing I learned. By just keeping your ear to the ground and talking with anyone who will listen to you, you can forge great relationships that could lead to both personal and/or professional opportunities. In his first couple of weeks, Ricardo was all over town talking everyone up, and it shows now, as he has multiple side projects to teaching and multiple friendships that started from nothing. Aprendizaje numero tres is to be flexible. Every day is full of small victories and failures, and you need to learn from both, and now dwell on failure. Staying positive and always learn from the past is the only way to stay sane and progress as a teacher and as an individual.

So my time in El Rama taught me some valuable lessons about the day in the life of a volunteer, as well as what I want from a future site. I’m thankful for getting sent to El Rama on my volunteer visit, but I can say it is not the part of the country for me. I thought I would maybe want a site like that – off the grid and far away from all white man contact. But now I’m not so sure. Saturday is our site fair, and I’m excited to see the possibilities where I could end up.

El Rama Bound

So week 5 here is almost upon us, who can guess what that means? It means Volunteer Site visits, and a nice break from 6 hours of a language classes a day. This is something g I’ve been waiting anxiously for over the past two weeks or so, as it’s my first chance to get out the Masaya district and really see the country. Sitting in the training session on Wednesday morning was completely nerve-wracking, waiting to find out where we would be heading. If I was anxious then, I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like the hours leading up to my site location.

But after those few restless minutes, I found I was one of the three aspirantes going to R.A.A.S (Region Autonomo Atlantico Sur), the wild east of Nicaragua. Most Nicaraguans call it the “other” Nicaragua, as it’s completely different. Similar to the wild east of New Canaan, apparently anything goes, and is somewhat separately governed and autonomous. While Spanish is still spoken there, Meskito and Creole are also spoken there, and much of the population has Caribbean ancestry. Unfortunately I’m not making it all the way out to Bluefields, like my boy Ronaldo, but I’ll still be smack in the middle of the department, right on the river that empties into the Caribbean ocean alongside Bluefields. The climate and nature is suppose to be wild. The way I look at it, since no business volunteer is going even as far east as El Rama for site deployment, this is an opportunity to explore a part of the country I may not have otherwise. And it’s on the Peace Corps dime, which is even better. And I’m excited to see what a day in the life of a business Volunteer is to. Diriamba in the morning for more training, spend the night in Managua, and off to Rama early Sunday morning. I’m ready for an exciting couple of days.

Goal Four: Teaching Enprendedurismo in the Schools

So the fourth and final goal is teaching. Since arriving in Nicaragua, I’ve found out that most of the available sites for Nica 56 have more of an emphasis on teaching, rather than small business advising. For me, it’s a little bit of a disappointing to hear. I was really looking forward to the small business advising part of Small Business, and have a lot of interest in working with entrepreneurs and small business. While the opportunity will still exist, I will need to put most of time into teaching.

That being said, the fourth goal of training is to co-teach three enprendedurismo classes at the local school in Niquinohomo. Let me start off with a little background about the small business here in Nicaragua, as it is one of the most successful countries (in terms of small business) in the Peace Corps in the world. Ten years ago the Peace Corps decided to focus their energy on the youth of the nation, since 70% is under the age of 30. The process started by teaching the enprendedurismo class at whatever schools would let them, and now, ten years later, it is part of the national curriculum approved by the government. This is a huge success story, and now most small business programs are modeled off the system in Nicaragua. That means if I decide to extend for a third year, there’s a good chance I would be sent to a new country that is just developing their enprendedurismo classes. Kind of a cool option to think about in the future.

Now you may have noticed that I’m supposed to be co-teaching. The idea is that we co-plan with the teachers, and teach them the course, so they can confidently and successfully teach the class after our eventual departure. The idea is create sustainability of the curriculum within the school system. My counterpart at the local school, Ernesto, has turned out to a complete flake thus far. I have hope that things will change, but it is not unheard of for counterparts to see you as a part-time sub and take advantage of your help. Despite repeated attempts to reach out to him and co-plan the class, I went ahead and made an entire plan myself, something I’ve never done before. I figured I would at least show up on class on Tuesday, and have him there to approve it and help me manage the class. But when I showed up at el Instuto Tuesday morning, the main office gave me the comforting new that he had just left for the day. You could imagine how I felt: stunned and nervous. Stunned that I had just been pretty blatantly stood up (something I have to get used to down here) and nervous for a couple of reasons. Public speaking has never really been my cup of tea, and never have I had to teach a class to a bunch of 9^th graders, let alone in a language I barely know.

            I wasn’t about to just give up, so before entering the class, I counted down from 5, exhaled away any sense of being terrified/hesitant/nervous I had, and walked into the classroom with a confident, friendly voice and a steady hand. Lucky for me, the class responded well to my disposition, and we plunged right into the lesson. The lesson I was assigned to teach was analasis FODA, also know as SWOT analysis back at home. I happen to know this subject very well and would feel very confident teaching SWOT in English, but Spanish is a different story. It turns out my Spanish is better than I thought, because the kids generally understood what I was saying. The tricky part was when I would ask questions, I could never really understand their answers, and would try to repeat what they said, or just respond with whatever answer I had ready to give (if there was no response). It occurred to me about halfway through the class that maybe the kids weren’t connecting the dots, and seeing the big picture. It felt like my ideas were not adding up to the big picture. I tried not to show my concern, but it had to show, my heart started pumping hard, the room got hotter, and I definitely sweated through my shirt. But I got through the class without completely losing my cool, and I lived to teach another day. Looking back afterwards, I almost feel like Will Ferrell in Old School after he “whited” out during the debate section. I had trouble identifying the specifics of the 45 minutes, but somehow managed to teach successfully. One of the Peace Corps business tech advisors observed the class, and she told me I did a great job getting my point across and that despite what I thought, the kids actually picked up on the lesson.

So I have two more classes to go to successfully complete training, along with the other three goals. It’s crazy to think I’ve almost been in country for a month, and that in a month’s time I’ll actually know where I’m going to be for the next two years. Time is flying by!

It Takes Getting Used To...

Las Baratas

I didn’t think this existed anymore in the world, and it definitely doesn’t exist in the states anymore. The Supreme Court made sure of that a couple years back, deeming in not a part of our free speech. La Barata is a car that has a megaphone attached to the top, and drives along the streets very slowly, splurging out political propaganda, advertisements, and whatever you want essentially. The joke among us aspirantes is that we’re going to rent one out to advertise for our youth groups product. But every time I see one I can’t help but think about the movie Better Off Dead, when John Cusack drag races against the Asians driving una barata:

Check the top center of the picture to catch a glimpse of the megaphone

But in reality they look more like this:

At multiple points during the day, you can expect to hear this drive by interrupting any conversation you’re attempting to have. But it just takes getting used to.

Second Hand Shirt of the Week

I need to start getting better at bringing my camera around with me, this week I was fortunate enough to see some classics.

First up, 40+ year old, obese, balding man playing baseball in the streets with a short sleeve black shirt, with the following written in bright pink: "SHUTUP AND DANCE"

Number two is sadly ironic. A similar looking guy is walking next to the local courts with a shirt that simply says "UNEMPLOYED". Based off national employment statistics, that shirt was unfortunately probably true.

And number three goes to all the basketball jerseys I've seen down here, the most impressive being a) A Kevin Garnett T-Wolves Jersey b) a Rasheed Wallace Bullets jersey c) and a generic raptors jersey translated to spanish, the Salsero's

And a special shout out to Mrs. Griffin for my first piece of mail. Thanks a bunch!

Balling, Ag Day, and Hipica

¡Bueno friends and family! Been a couple of (fun) days since I’ve last updated. Without trying to be to long and bore you all, I’ll do my best to describe my past couple of days, which have been chock full of new experiences.

Friday was a long day of technical and training and charlas (lectures), and by the end I was more than ready to be finished. For all of you that knows what its like to be in a class that seems to run an hour to long, that’s how I felt Friday; we were just re-learning material we have been taught multiple times. So by the time we got let out I had a lot of pent up aggression, and decided to take it out on the basketball court. Me and the bros from Niquinohomo – Chalin and Ronaldo – rounded up a bunch of aspirates from nearby towns to ball, and had a heck of an afternoon. When we got to the la cancha, we found the local Niki team practicing, and they challenged us to a full court five on five game, team Niquinohomo vs Team America. We played until we couldn’t see the ball anymore, and had a grand time doing it, albeit frustrating at first. As much as I hate to admit it, we lost the first couple of games. It should’ve been expected since none of actually played basketball, and the Nica’s play everyday, but our competitive spirit (and supreme athletic ability) got the best of us. Ball down here is a completely different game compared to pick up back at the states in two ways. First off, they (pardon me for generalizing all the Nica’s based on this team)  play no defense and cherry pick like crazy. Any time we missed a basket, they were quick to throw it up court to a player we forgot was even playing. So we resorted to posting essentially a free safety in the backcourt to prevent that, which was typically me. And second, any contact is a foul, so essentially any time you challenged the ball handler you fouled. At multiple points throughout the game, we would shout in distress, “No sangre, no falta”. But to no avail. So while it took awhile getting used to, we ultimately had fun, and I finally got the opportunity to make friends with some Nica’s my age. They play every weekday at around 4:30 or so, and I’m gonna start picking up with them as often as I can. So watch out back at home, I’m gonna come back a baller.

And to make a great day even better, Ron and I met up with some aspirantes at a local restaurant for a beer after the game, and I realized that as I sat down to join everyone one, and eased into conversation, everything felt completely comfortable. After weeks of living in a strange community, it was great feeling to finally feel at ease with my new friends.

Saturday was a full day of training, but was by far the best training session yet. I like to refer to it as Ag day, as it was entirely based around the Agriculture sector and practices. The small business aspirants, along with the agriculture aspirantes, met up at INTA, which is essentially a government operated experimental farm, to get a crash course on local Nica fauna and its uses, as well as recipes using only local natural resources. So the better part of our morning was spent learning how to make, chocolate from cacao, fudge from beans, an awesome cornmeal, a high in protein powder/tea, and tamarind wine. So for anyone that ends up visiting, I’ll be sure to teach you how to make some wonderful chocolate, absolutely to die for. And what made the day all the better was being able to hang out with Aggies, or agriculture aspirantes. Historically small business and agriculture but heads, but within our class, Nica 56, we get along famously, and look forward to the days we get together. So in the afternoon, during some of the more mundane, boring business charlas, a couple of aggies and I simiply “walked away” to go explore the mango groves, and had a heck of a time climbing the trees and getting our hands on some humongous, premo mangoes.

But the day didn’t end there, as a hand full of business aspirantes and I headed to Catarina that night to visit an establishment that reminded us of home. So a restaurant that had loud music we could dance to, and every third song or so was one that we could understand, or in English. I’m a little ashamed to say, but when David Guetta’s “Sexy Bitch” came on we lost it. And my friends from Richmond can attest to my shameless love of that song. The night was an absolute blast and a good way to blow off some steam, and in our own minds feel like we were temporarily back at home.

But the weekend doesn’t end there, not by a long shot. I thought today was going to be relatively calm, but at around 1:30, I got a call from a friend in nearby Masatepe. He woke up walked outside his house to find a huge feria going on. But more than a feria, a Hipica– may or may not be the right spelling – which is essentially a parade showing off the countries finest horses. So essentially a humongous party, and who am not to take a look at new cultural experiences. The scene was out of control, like nothing I’ve ever seen in the states. The closest thing I can compare it to is the Preakness, but it’s on a grander scale, and there is no drinking age or open container policy. So it was organized mayhem, but a lot of fun. And I had my first slice of pizza since bing down here. For 15 cords I wasn't expecting much, but it satisfied my munchies at the time. Pretty good for something coming out of the back of a truck. I’m a little bit burnt out from the day, so I’m gonna wrap it up. And since a picture says a thousand words, here are a couple from today.

                             Tona, the drink of champions down in Nica

                    Ronaldo, Cassi, and Matty getting excited for the Horses

Chocala, Hombre

This Lady kept the Tona liter on her head all day, which is saying something considering how out of it she seemed

Big crowd, huh

BizNa$ty, enjoing Hipica. Sadly, Chalin was nowhere to be found

It takes getting use to....

Here's another  installment I'm going to try and do weekly or biweekly. There are many things different between Nicaragua and the United States, but these will be the ones that really jump out to me.

The first one is dogs. I can't stand them down here. As Americans we think of dogs as companions; loveable, cuddly, and with a personality. There's a reason we call them man's best friend back at home. That is not the typical dog in Nicaragua, and I have yet to see that dog here. For the most part the dogs you see on an everyday basis are flee ridden, living on the street, and skin and bones. You can't go a block with out not seeing one, and if you're going faster than a walk, be ready for some to chase you. Running in the morning has a new feeling to it, because you constantly have to keep your eyes open for the strays. That and always carry a big stick, to quote Teddy R. It's a bit of a hassle, but nothing wakes you up in the morning like hearing a dog barking, and assuming the defensive position: stick at ready, foot up, and uttering "Chee, Cheeeeee" through barred teeth. I'll be happy when I get my rabies shot next week. And next weeks installment will be a bit less harrowing.

Goal Tres

I mentioned that there were four goals I had to accomplish over my 11 weeks of training in Niquinohomo, and its time to reveal goal numero tres: establish a youth group in our pueblo.

It seems pretty straightforward, right? Get together a group of kids and play around with them on a weekly basis, just another step towards eventual community integration. With my experience in YG it seems like it would be a piece of cake. Not quite. Our youth group of course needs to have a business spin since I’m in the small business sector. More specifically an entrepreneurial spin, or as we refer to it in Spanish, “endprendedurismo”. This is a word the Peace Corps essentially made up, because the concept of an entrepreneur didn’t really exist in Nicaragua prior to our arrival. What are end goal with the youth group is to create a product or service from local resources that the kids can market and sell to their peers and members of the town. Every group of aspirantes in each town, including the agriculture aspiratnes, has to create this group. At the end of the 11 weeks, we bring all the kids together to face off in a competition, to see which group has the best, most feasible product. The idea is that each group creates a product/service that betters their community, and creates essentially a small business that the kids can continue after we leave. It’s a tall order but we have high hopes for our kids.

As of now, we’ve had two meetings. We had an aggressive marketing campaign, consisting of putting up papelogrofos (posters) up all over the hot spots and schools in town, and even got permission to talk to a couple classes at local schools. The work paid off, almost too well, we have had 15+ kids have shown up at each meeting! That’s a staggering amount of kids, considering that most other groups have 6 or 7, and numbers typically drop off after a the first week. We’ll see if the participation keeps up, and I have mixed feelings about such high numbers. It’s great that so many kids want to learn about this stuff and are enthusiastic, but at the same time, its tough to occupy that many kids in small scale product. But who know maybe it will work out for the best, and time will tell. We take things week by week. Week 1 consisted of listing all of the resources in town, and week two was listing out the skills they had and coming up with product ideas to think about for next week. Next week is a big one, we’re figuring out what are product is going to be! It’s just our first step on the road to winning the competition.

Here are some pics of the Niki aspirantes and our grupo de jovenes at our first meeting:

                     Chalin helping the kids out with their Community Map

      Michelle asking some questions about the places they visit on a daily basis

Cassi explaining the importance of our first activity and meeting