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