First Few Days in Site

So I have almost completed my first full week in my site as a full time volunteer. This isn’t exactly the most exciting time for us. Or should I say this isn't the busiest time. Since school is out and there are no classes, I find myself having a lot of free time. This is the point when I am supposed to be getting to know the community. This may seem fairly easy but for me it is kind of a challenge. I am not the most outgoing person in the world, so putting myself out there and introducing myself is something I am not use to. I think it will be good for me though, because it forces me to come out of my shell.

Yesterday I went to the finca or the farm with my family. It was pretty cool. At the farm they grow a lot of different things such as bananas, mangos, plantains, avocados. We packed up the family truck and headed over to the finca. My host mom’s mom made pollo asado which is grilled chicken. Also I tried sheep’s meat, which was really good on the grill. We also had a salad and plantains. We stayed there for about four hours and just talked. It was fun, and I got to know my family a little better. I am supposed to go to another lagoon with them on Tuesday, which should be fun.
I am also glad that we have a phone plan now where we can call and email anyone for Peace Corps for free. I have a feeling I am going to need a lot of support and will be giving a lot of support to people over the next few months.

Also sadly one of my friends from my group has decided to go home. I am really sad to see her go because we were really good friends. I support her decision and I know her number one priority is her health and happiness. I am hoping we will keep in touch! She said she would send me packages! A part of me is a little jealous because she gets to see her family and friends and sleep in her own bed! I wish we could take mini breaks every three months. I know it doesn’t work like that but it would be nice. Haha Ok well until next time….

Pictures:
These are all pictures of the farm.

On to the Next Step

So I am happy to say that I am officially a peace corps volunteer! I made it through training! Today we had our swearing in ceremony. So it's official, I am going to be here awhile. Only 27 months to go! lol. It was a really nice ceremony with all of our host families. The U.S. ambassador here in Nicargua came and gave a speech as well. It was a really exciting day. We sang the Nicaragua national anthem as well as the U.S. one. I think I messed up the Nicaragua one but no one knew. Funny story when the ambassador came into the room, we all stood up. My friend Megan who was sitting next to me, by mistake knocked the table with her knee and my glass of water spilled all over me!! It was right at the beginning of the ceremony. I was wet and freezing cold lol. Luckily I was wearing a silky dress so it didn't really show. It was pretty funny.

It's been a crazy two weeks, having our last minute meetings and sessions before swearing in. It was fun spending time in my training town. It was sad to leave my family from my training town. We also said goodbye to our youth group. They danced for us and made us dinner, it was very cute. I am also sad that my training group (Nica 54) is going to be moving around to all different parts of the country. I made some good friends in the last three months so I am really going to miss being with them all the time. But now we have cell phones where we can call and text each other for free! So I am pretty excited about that.

I guess now the "real peace corps" experience is starting. We are actually starting our service and doing what we came here to do. It's exciting but also scary at the same time. I am nervous that I won't do a good job! There is a lot to be done and a lot to live up to. The next two months we are supposed to get to know our new community and our new families. That should be fun and a little challenging as well.

Tonight we are having Thanksgiving dinner at the country directors house! It should be a lot of fun!I am happy that we won't completely miss the comforts of home. Apparently it isn't hard at all to find turkey here. There is going to be pie as well which I am excited about

Hmm I am not sure what else to say. I am excited to start my service. I am proud of myself and I hope I do a good job.

Pictures:

Picture of the youth group
Picture of my family the night a made them a spaghetti dinner
Pictures of the swearing in ceremony with my host mom and sister and then some of my friends.

Site Visit

Hi All,
This past week I have been visiting my site where I will be for the next two years. It was a good experience and I think I am going to like my town. Something that I wasn{t planning on feeling was completely lost in my new community. I am only about a 20 minute bus ride from my training town but it seemed like hundreds of miles away. I guess I am so use to my training town and most first host family that it has kind of become a comfort for me!

My site is a lot bigger than my training town. There is a bank, and a central park (that is being re-done) and two grocery stores! My new host family is really nice. The first three days were really akward though for both parties. This family is a lot smaller ( four people) and a lot quieter than my training family. So lets just say there were a lot of awkard silences. Mainly my fault because I wasnt sure what to say. Also they talk a little bit faster and quieter in my new family so it was hard for me to understand what they were saying in the beginning. It will take some times but I know I will grow to love them!The food was really good too! My room is nice and there is a really nice bathroom which I love! In the family there is the mom and the dad and then a nine year old named Oscar and a 2 year old Alejandra. Another Alejandra that is two years old lol. She is really cute and seems to like me. I also met the extended family and they are all very nice!

I also was able to go to the school where I will be working and observe some classes. I am going to be working with 4 different teachers at the school. I will definetly have my hands full but it will be fun! The school has three different shift, morning, afternoon and evening. I will probably be working morning and afternoon. Al the teachers seem really excited to work with Peace Corps. I cant remember how many times random people asked me to teach them english in the past week lol. So I am sure I will be very busy. One awesome thing about the school is that it has a computer lab. That is going to be very helpful for me for looking things up and just general internet stuff. So over all my site is pretty cool and I think I am going to really like it. Its very close to the Managua and the Peace Corps office so that is great too. As my family kept saying its bien tranquilo, very calm and laid back so I like that. Only a few weeks left of training I cant believe it. The next few months will be interesting because school is out so I have two full months with nothing to do... I am not sure how I will fill my time. But I am sure I will figure it out.

Until Next time

Pictures:
The first few of of my new house where I will be living, it{s pretty nice. Notice the High School Musical Pillows
There is a picture of a volcano in the distant
My site has a minor league baseball stadium
Oscar and Alejandra

Wow

I just wanted to write a short post about what I experienced today. With all of the activities we have coming up, today was my last class with the students in my training town. I only taught about 5 or six classes in my training town. But today some of the students stood up and thanked me for coming. They were saying such genuine and heart felt things. They said that I made the class more fun and more "dinamic", and they learned a lot. One of the girls in the class started to cry. I couldn't believe it. It really suprised me because I didn't think that I could have an affect on the kids in such a short time. With teenagers you never really know if they are paying attention to you at all or if they even care. It was just really cool to experience that. It's makes me excited to go to my site and work more consistently with a group of kids. Today made me realize why the Peace Corps exists and why we are here in Nicaragua teaching english. I feel really lucky to be a part of this!

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