Spring Break, I mean Semana Santa

So as quickly as the school year began, we already found ourselves in our first week of vacation. And although only a month had gone by, I already felt like I needed a break from the schools; an opportunity to relax, and vent/talk about the future with my fellow peace corps friends.

Unlike the beginning of last year, I got off to a rocky start, although not for lack of effort. Arranging a schedule with 7 different schools, which are all in different communities, is somewhat of a nightmare. It took a lot of phone calls and first hand visits/meetings with the principals to get my way…sort of. I ended up with a workable schedule that allows me to get to all of my classes, but with not a whole lot of wiggle room. Or better said, not a whole lot of time to plan and prepare with my new profe’s. One of my other counterparts was promoted to sub-principal, which puts her in an administrative role, out of the classroom. Enter first new the counterpart.  In another school, the student population increased, and consequently, an additional teacher was hired to help fill the void. Among her other classes that new teacher is also taking over one of the two sections of emprendedurismo. The old counterpart continues teaching the other section. Enter new counterpart numero dos, bringing my total counterpart total up to 8 for the semester.  It would just be too easy if I continued to work with the 7 same teachers; Nicaragua had to throw me one last curveball in my final semester.

So I have two reactions to this new challenge. The first is that, at least, both of my the previous, trained counterparts are still at both school, and will be able to provide support to my new counterparts when I’m gone come July. My second reaction questions the sustainability of my work. It’s taken at least a year and half to train each professor to an acceptable level where they understand all the concepts of the course, and are able to give the class solo. I don’t have that much time with my two new counterparts. I’m starting from scratch with both, and only able to work with them intensively for one semester. That means on top of weekly planning sessions, I will need to hold additional group trainings to make sure they at least will possess a basic understanding of the more complex topics of the next semester. It’s disconcerting, and feels as if my work with promoted teacher was all in vain. Sure the students of the previous years got something out of it, but what about the future generations? If teachers are promoted (in this case), quit, are transferred to other schools, or told to teach other classes, my work of 1 ½ to 2 years just goes down the drain. So among the daily frustrations of life in the schools and constantly debating internally about what comes next after Nicaragua, I’m struggling to find reason and purpose in the time I’ve spent year. For that, a vacation was well needed.

And what a vacation it was! Down here during Semana Santa, pretty much the all business and daily life gets put on hold, and the whole country flocks to the beaches, lakes, and rivers. Although the beaches can be hectic and out of control, I was no different from the rest of the country, and spent most of the week along the playa, with close friends. The biggest differences between the rest of the country and I, were that I went to the remote beaches where the good surf was, and more importantly, that I can swim. Despite the rush to the beach, most Nicaraguans don’t know how to swim, or swim well. Consequently, due to both small currents, and inebriation, the amount of drowning during Semana Santa is high – there were over 50 reported last year alone. The last thing I wanted was to be at a crowded beach, and have to become a lifeguard again.

So my friends and I met up in Popoyo, a more remote playa in the Rivas department that is a surfer haven with multiple breaks that allows surfing at almost any time of the day. Lefts and rights, beach break, reef break, and when the swell is right, a very hollow barrel, that’s world renown. So needless to say, I had a fun time, which was compounded by being surrounded by many of my close friends. My closest guy friends in the peace corps were all there, some new girl friends that I feel lucky to have gotten to know, a UR friend, and a group of guys who I refer to as the Frisco boys – my old friend and SF roommate Scotty, and friends Matty, Anders, and Graham. You could say we had just as much fun out of the water, as we did on the waves. I could explain it, but a picture tells a thousand words, enjoy!