Happy New Years

To all of my friends and family back at home, I hope you celebrated the Merriest of Christmases, and that all of you have a Prosperous and Fun Filled New Year! I wish I could be there to celebrate it with all of you, but that´s just not in the cards tonight. But since I won´t be home, I will fill you all in with a new Nica toast 

I recently learned over Christmas:

Arriba, Abajo, Al Centro, Por Dentro!

(Up, Down, to the Center, Down the Hatch!)

See you all in the New Year, when I make my triumphant return to the states in July!

Navidad in NicaLand

Well folks we meet again, this time on the other side of Christmas. I’d be lying if I said that this pass week and a half hasn’t been rough. It has. And for a couple of reasons.

First off, as I believe I mentioned I have tons of free time without any classes going on. That’s right, I phrased it as having so much room for activities. It’s the truth. So to productively fill up that time, I decided to have a youth summer camp, with an emphasis on both sports and youth development. I remember how much I used to love going to sports camp at the Y, meeting new kids from town and playing every sport under the sun. I wish I could still go to sports camps like that now that I think about it. As well as a fun opportunity for the kids – the focus being on the equivalent of 8^th grade, freshman, and sophomore boys and girls – it would also be an opportunity for me to get another step into my community. By meeting the kids, I would then by association meet their parents and siblings, and the goal was to build stronger and stronger relationships. So I went around town putting up flyers and even spoke to the kids while they were still in class a couple of weeks back, and it seemed like I had some pretty solid interest. I bought equipment, I planned each day – a healthy balance of athletics and development activities – and it seemed like I was all set to go. By development activities, I mean activities such as a community map or my life in ten years, activities to make the kids think about their own lives and to identify problems within the community. The big day finally strolls around I get their early, and I wait. And I wait. And I wait. And no one shows up. Not a single kid.

            Maybe you can understand my frustration, and what a hit to my pride it was. This was supposed to be my big project or a gateway project as I considered it. If it was successful, I would incorporate another session, and these kids were going to be the basis for a youth group I will eventually start. Now, there are other ways to start youth groups, but that’s not what was running through my head. The only thing I’m thinking is how I failed to get this project off the ground, and how suddenly my summer vacation is looking a lot longer, a lot slower, and a lot less productive. It kind of overwhelmed me for a bit, just thinking I have literally nothing to do (also not true, but I was in bad spot at the time), and it led me to really question what I was doing down here for the first time, what was my purpose. Am I really accomplishing anything?

            I had one bad small thought, and it just snowballed out of control, and quickly gained momentum. I had seen a lot of my peace corps friends go home for the holidays, and almost cruelly, I’ve been involved in the email chain of all my Richmond friends and their plans for the New Years. All of this brought about the realization of how long it’s been since I’ve been back in the states, close to 8 months now. That’s a long time, huh? All that kind of hit me at once, and it made last Monday far and away the toughest day emotionally of my experience down in Nicaland thus far.

But, I quickly learned since my arrival here to not dwell on the failures, but to learn from them, which I did. After questioning some community members, I learned that most people don’t want to do anything at all during the week before Christmas, but more importantly, the Alcaldia had scheduled some youth events for that week as well with conflicting times. And obviously the mayors office takes precedent, so what I did instead was join those youth events, in a project called Limpieza Internacional de Costas y Riveras, or International Clean the Coasts and Rivers. So on two separated days, at two separate beaches, we loaded up into the back of a big ole flat bed truck, and drove off to the beach, which usually included cleaning up a couple kilometers of beach for an hour and a half or so, and then enjoying an afternoon at the beach. The ironic thing about this clean the beach campaign, is what happens with the trash after it’s collected. Know that dumps don’t really exist around here. So I get back to our meeting ground with a heaping bag of trash, to find newly lit, blazing fires, fueled by the trash we had just collected. The rest we brought to a designated area for trash, which at some point also gets burned. So we concentrated the trash, and moved it to some where else, out of eyesight. So yeah we cleaned up the beach, but was it really environmentally friendly? I’ll let you decide. The second day I brought my surfboard to take advantage of the beautiful newly cleaned beaches that typically are tough for me to access. Here are some pictures of the gang cleaning, and then as well playing:

So cleaning beach with the gang, helped what at first seemed like a slow week past quicker, and the next thing I knew, I was heading back to Niquinohomo, with my volunteer friend Ron, to spend Christmas. Both of us developed very close relationships with our original host families during training, and decided there was no place we would rather pass the Navidad, since we weren’t heading home. It was strange though, it just didn’t feel like Christmas time, and I blame two things: the heat and lack of Christmas music. Spending every since Christmas of my life in New Canaan, I’ve always associated Christmas with winter, cold and snow, and being constantly bombarded by Christmas music wherever you go. Both of those were not the case here. And although it was colder than it’s ever been here on Christmas day (I actually needed a blanket at night), it just didn’t have that Christmas feeling. What surprised me too, is that the big celebration day is not the 25^th, but the 24^th. The 24^th is treated as a big party, and one of the largely followed traditions is eating a big dinner at midnight, usually with freshly killed and prepared chicken. I unfortunately didn’t partake in this tradition, but I did trade the usual Jam and Bloody Mary’s, for Gallo Pinto and Ron. Every time I thought the party was over Saturday night, we either went to a new party, or the current host would bring out another bottle of rum or more food. From 7pm to 1:30am we just did not stop eating or drinking, and we were having a very merry and festive time talking about anything and everything. And on actual Christmas day, Ron and I made the scenic hike down to Laguna de Apoyo, where we spent the afternoon swimming and lounging about with a couple of Tona’s.

It wasn’t a typical Christmas celebration, which would be a big day time feast with the Eatersons, but it was just fine by me. I hope everyone out there had a lovely Christmas, and Santa Claus brought you everything you wanted. And although initially I only made this Christmas card for my family to enjoy, I recently learned it was actually incorporated to the family Christmas card that gets sent to everybody. So Feliz Navidad!

Second Hand TShirts of the Week

Number One - I Recycle Everything but the girlfriends, worn on a guy who could be juggling a couple of girlfriends by his appearance

Number Two, worn  ironically by a drunk


Number coming from Jinotepe

Las Promociones

So this past weekend was jam packed with the Graduations of my students. One of the downsides of working in seven schools is that you can’t be in seven places at once. Five of my schools had their graduation ceremonies at the exact same time, and I received invitations from all of them. There’s usually enough of me to be shared, but not simultaneously. So I did what was fair in deciding which one to attend; no I didn’t accept who asked me first, but rather chose my favorite school, which as it is, is my largest school. One hundred and five kids walked that day. Needless to say it was a long afternoon.

The ceremonies here are very important, and well, very inefficient. As much as it pains me to say, most students won’t pursue a higher education. Of those who do, the number is even smaller for those who successfully graduate from the university. So this certainly was a big day for a lot of students, warranting the expenditure of a lot of money on new clothes, shoes, and of course, the graduation party.* The ceremonies themselves are a lot like the American equivalent in many regards. Each student wears their robes and caps,  walks on a stage to receive their diplomas and shake hands with the VIP’s, and throw their caps into the air at the end. But there are some notable differences however. Each student is announced one by one upon entering the graduation hall or courtyard, and is escorted by a parent or loved one to their seat. Then once everyone is seated, they repeat the whole process as each student, escorted by a loved one, walks to the stage to receive their diploma. What took me as particularly strange, is that the names of the students would be announced not when they walked on the stage, but when they first stood up from their seats. So Juan would be walking, receiving his diploma, but the MC would be announcing Yanerish, the person next in line. Strange, right? One thing that I did like in particular, and would have enjoyed this back at my graduation, is that each graduating home room of quinto ano had an opportunity to go on stage, and sing/perform the song of their choice, as a thank you to their teachers, and a goodbye to themselves. All of them were very moving, and made me think of those joyous hours after my own high school graduation, when all of us were all smiles, and giving each other high fives. I was on cloud nine the night of my graduation, and had a blast celebrating with my friends. So much fun, that I felt compelled to sneak out of the house that night to continue the party with my best friends. I didn’t make it back to the house until 9am the next day, but luckily my parents were to distracted to ever know I was missing.

            Perhaps the most memorable part about one of my graduations is that I was recognized by my students for my work this semester. They were handing out gifts to their home room teachers for their work for the school year, and therefore wasn’t expecting anything. So it was pretty heartwarming to hear my favorite student get up and speak such kind words about me, it justifies why I am here. I may not have reached every student in the classroom, but at the very least I reached one.

*To go on a small tangent, ceremonies like graduations, quincineras, and communions, among other things, warrant large celebrations here. Parents will often spend more money than they have, or worse lend money from banks or lending institutions to pay for lavish parties. Sure it makes for a fun afternoon/night, but at what expense. These parties can put people in debt, or take away money from their pockets that they ought to use to invest in their own futures. While I may not neccessarily see the need to spend on such an occasion, it is an interesting way to compare my own culture to the one I´m currently living in. Some things are just more important.

So Much Room For Activities

These past couple of weeks have in fact been a blur. So much has happened, that it’s actually a little difficult to put memories to certain days. It’s not often when tons of new, different activities occur simultaneously, so for me it was a little overwhelming.

            For instance, I neglected to mention that during our language taller, the National Emprendedurismo Competition took place in Managua. At the convention center of the Hotel Holiday Inn, the winners from all the regional competitions in Nicaragua convened to compete for the top spot. We had teams from all points of the compass: El Rama R.A.A.S, San Rafael de Norte Jinotega, El Viejo Chinendega, and of course my own team from Villa El Carmen. And what’s more, every business volunteer was required to come, so it was one of the few opportunities we had to see each other in one place. I’d be lying if I said that I would be on the edge of my seat, glued to every presentation, especially with so many of my friends there. More than likely, I would be in the back row, making wise cracks to my friends and shooting the breeze. But not this time! I was appointed time keeper for each presentation, which meant I was front and center, with the judges, and since I had nothing better to do, actually paid attention. The first thing I noticed was the world of difference between my local competitions and the national competition. Here, the kids participating are the ones that are the leaders of the classroom and (maybe this is wishful thinking) the future leaders of Nicaragua. They actually care about the project and their education, and it shows in the professionalism and quality of their presentations. There were some really incredible ideas, beyond the “100% all natural” or “superior quality and taste” products you hear during other levels of the competition. Among my favorite products were a car battery charger (which has huge implications in the campo where that can be the only source of energy), roof shingles of micro concrete, a flea repellent (doesn’t really exist down here), and a belt with multiple uses and patterns (using Velcro or snaps, you’re able to accessorize your belt in whatever way you could imagine, at a relatively low cost). Some really creative products were at the fair, and yet it seemed that the more creative products barely got recognized this year. A coffee based drink, flour made from pejibaye, and a flowerpot took first, second, and third place, respectively. I was planning on banning all bebidas in next year’s competition, as there is nothing original about them, but how is that possible now if it can win at nationals? Granted there is more to the evaluation process than creativity (Creativity – 30, Business Plan – 30, Presentation – 20, Marketing – 20, Finances – 20), but come on. It was a disappointing end for me, and it left a sour taste in my mouth. But I think all of SBD 56 took it as an incentive to improve the competition for next year, so hopefully some good will come out of it. **Unfortunately, I forgot my camera in Villa El Carmen and was unable to take any photos, sorry folks**

The competition and our language taller flowed right into our first In-Service-Training (IST), held in the liberal/college capital of Nicaragua, Leon. I know that sounds really exciting right? A couple days of nothing but training and charlas for 8 hours a day, where do I sign up? Surprisingly in a lot of ways it was, but largely because of timing and location – which I will get to in a bit. So our first four months in site have been solely devoted to teaching the emprendedurismo class and focusing on the competition. But for those of you who may remember when I told you in person close to 10 months ago, there are two parts to my title: business teacher and business advisor. This IST honed in on the second part of my title, business advisor. So we started off with an art gallery of sorts, where on a large piece of paper, everyone drew about their secondary projects and business advising opportunities within their sites. It was an interesting tool to see what could possibly be out there, and if there are any possibilities for collaboration with other volunteers working on similar projects. Great brainstorming idea. This was the icebreaker for the next couple of days, where we went over the culture of business advising in Nicaragua, the business advising approach, and different ways of financing start-ups, among other things. As we found out at the end, we’re the first small biz group to put a large focus on advising, so we’re guinea pigs in a lot of ways. Over the next couple of months, I’m expected to build relationships with small-medium sized businesses in la Villa, and develop and implement an action plan on how to improve their businesses. But where are all of these businesses hiding? My biggest problem is finding them, letting alone develop a relationship with them. But as school is out, I have plenty of time to do some serious research. More or less I now have two months of vacation, with as the saying goes, “Nothing but time.” Or maybe it’s nothing but surfing, but we’ll see.

The location and timing of our IST was so good because in coincided perfectly with a holiday known as La Purisma, which is almost exclusively celebrated in Nicaragua from what I’m told. La Purisma celebrates the birth of the Virgin Mary, and while it’s celebrated throughout Nicaragua, the largest celebration is in Leon. So although our IST ended on the morning of the celebration, our entire group booked a hostel to participate in the celebration. It’s similar to Halloween in that people decorate their homes (with altars praising the Virgin Mary instead of scary scenes) and people go from house to house (or stand to stand) to solicit dulces and little trinkets. La Purisma is also know as La Griteria (which more or less translates to the shouting), because to be given the dulces, one must scream, “Quien causa tanta alegria?” answered by “Maria de la Concepcion”. Literally thousands of people come to Leon for the event, the lines are multiple blocks long to go from house to house for the dulces. And there is a massive fireworks celebration in the main park from the roof of the Cathedral, where the masses gather to watch the celebration, to sing and praise the Virgin Mary, and watch the act that goes with it. The whole thing is quite the spectacle, especially because the fireworks literally explode 100-150 feet above your head. There’s no regulation or anything regarding fireworks, so it’s kind of a free for all. I’m pretty sure who ever was in charge didn’t need a permit or anything for such an extensive firework display. So the event is doubly interesting, because there is the chance of fireworks exploding too low, or inadvertently shooting into the crowd, both of which did happen at one point. But fear not, no one was hurt.

So until the next episode, adios amigos 

Back to Los Pueblos Blancos

What I mean to say is that this past week, with a brief pit stop in Managua and La Boquita, me and the other aspirantes-turned-volunteers returned to Niquinohomo for a week of language classes. Niquinohomo (or Niki-no-homo as my little brother quickly pointed out…so college) was my original training town where I spent my first three months. I was really looking forward to this for two reasons. First, it was here where I developed my first real and lasting relationship with a Nicaraguan family. Second, it meant that all of my volunteer friends would be only a stones throw or short bus ride away, something that hasn’t been the case for months. Because of that, it had all the feeling of returning home from college for the first time: your family is excited to see you again and swap stories, and you also have the opportunity to share a beer with some good friends you haven’t seen in months.

            What was really touching, was that my original host family, Dona Ivonne, Don Vidal, and the rest, were super excited to me, and it felt as though I was part of the family right away. We’re cracking the same jokes that we used to, and I was being brutally honest about what my life is like back in the Villa. Since not all is completely well with my host family in Villa El Carmen, it was relieving to be back with a family who seems to care about you and you feel completely comfortable around. And now, I have some Christmas plans locked down, as they invited me to pass the Navidad with them. I gladly accepted. And having all your friends close really increases one’s quality of life. After classes almost everyday, in some way, shape, or form, we would reunite over beers to catch up and just talk in English, somewhat of a rarity in sight.

            Despite all the fun we had in our “homecoming”, we were back in Los Pueblos Blancos for somewhat of a serious reason: to learn more Spanish. Training didn’t encompass every single part of the Spanish language, so the idea is that after acquiring a couple months of practice under your belt, you return to this taller with questions and enough knowledge to proceed forward. I was actually looking forward to the classes, until I learned what it meant: an absolute blitzkrieg of information. I learned a lot of concepts, but the amount of new Spanish I learned wasn’t too big of a percentage of all the material I covered. It will literally take me weeks to review my notes, and start putting all of that into practice. Did you know that the Spanish language has 14 different verbs tenses? To put that into perspective, English only has 7. So the struggle continues. It’s worth saying though, my own ability (as well as my companions) has increased tenfold in the last couple of months. It was really something to notice how everyone progressed so much, and speaking to each other within out 7 hours of class a day. And I made progress on my own barometer: understanding my host father Don Vidal. We actually had some interesting conversation together, and I really get the feeling I’m an older son he hasn’t quite had yet. It must get lonely in a family full of women.

            So now right now, we find ourselves in an awkward spot of time, in between our language taller and a small training we have in Leon at the beginning of this week. So what better to do that go to beach, where Niquinohomo and some friends decided to the pass the time catching up. We headed to La Boquita for some R and R, which has consisted of tons of surfing, a fair amount of rum, plenty of sun burns, and the unveiling of some alter-egos. It’s been fun. It was also the first time that all of us from Niquinohomo were gathered together again for the first time since training, so we couldn’t help but take a picture together. Check out our happy selves, and just where were we were.

Niquinohomo, joined by best from M2Strong

Lovely Sunset at La Boquita

Gumby, just being Gumby

 OH, and despite being in Nicaragua, I managed to have an American Thanksgiving. Families from the embassy down here invited Peace Corps volunteers to their home for the holiday, where amongst stuffing my face with turkey, I was able to take hot showers, skype with friends from home, and drink wine for the fist time since my arrival. Que fachenta. I literally couldn´t help but stuff my face. And I even carved the turkey!

A nice change from Gallo Pinto