Sunday, July 27, 2008
Out of the frying pan into the fire!
Well as the name of my blog says it all, I am now leaving the comforts of training and jumping into the wonderful world of becoming a volunteer. Over all the training was really a great way of getting used to the Nica lifestyle and a GREAT way of meeting other volunteers. The last few days have been pretty nice, other than my stomach playing games with me. I am seriously dreading going to the PC office and gathering the rest of m things to begin the journey to Masaya. I know the microbus guys are going to charge me an arm and a leg for the stuff, but I just want to get it done now rather than leaving some of my things at the office and then having to come back in the next few days. We are all sitting here in the shade of our little breakfast nook trying to consume the last bit of American food we can. Some just ordered the breakfast served here in the hotel while others walked to Burger King and ordered the yummy BK breakfast. I'm looking over at Stephanie and I'm thinking of assaulting her and stealing her Crossanwich. But ill fight the urge. Well I wanted to tell you all how it's going, and I think Im going to jump in the shower and make my last tour of the city before I jump to Masaya. ADIOS everyone... I'll be back.
Friday, July 25, 2008
I'm officially a Volunteer!
As of noon today, Peace Corps Nicaragua added 38 new faces to the family, and I am one of those people. It was a great swearing in today!! It started with a despedida (going away party) with our families. My host mom and my nephew came and it was great to see them again. Apparently I forgot a shirt at the house so she ironed it and got it back to me...what a great mom! The ambassador to Nicaragua was also there and he gave a nice speech. I guess today was his last day of service, and will be moving to Miami to work on another project. Now I am sitting at the hotel next to the pool watching Scott pull a coconut off a tree and cut it open.... have fun on the island. We are going our for dinner right now, so I will come back later and write more but just wanted to say a few words before I lose the chance to use internet. Talk to you in a minute.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Hi everyone
In a just a few short days from now, I will be done with training and will say goodbye to my host family. We are being sworn in on July 25th, 2008 in Managua and will no loner be trainees but volunteers! At first I couldn't wait for this, but now I realize that training has gone way too fast and I have become accustom to seeing my friends everyday and having more Charlas (training sessions) than anyone could ever need in a lifetime. Soon this will all be over and we will spread out over the country to live for the next two years in our own cities. Its a very bittersweet thought because I am going to miss the hell out of all the friends I have made during training, but I am very excited to get to Masaya and get to work teaching English to the youth of Nicaragua. It will be nice to move from a town of about 5,000 people to a city of around 159,000 people but I will also miss walking down the street and random people saying, “adios John” or “Adios Chele”. (chele= white person)
So I have been trying to think of things to blog about but I cannot seem to think of anything. Mainly because I haven't done anything exciting in a while, but also the things that I thought were weird or different when I got here have become part of daily life and I no longer find them weird or different. So with that said, I will need your help on things to blog about. If you have any thoughts or blog ideas, let me know. I think in the next few days I will go around the city and take pictures of Dolores so I can put them on the internet. I do have a shutterfly account where I would like to put all of my pics, but it takes forever to put the pictures on the internet because it is very slow here.
Lets see what can I say about the last few weeks. Umm Ive taken up reading again... I know right?! ME...READ? BLASPHMY. I am currently reading Janet Evanovich's One for the Money which seems like a promising book. Before that I read, Two Dollar Bill, Me talk pretty one day, Possible Side Effects, and The Kite Runner. When I went to the Peace Corps office I hit up the library that they have there and I grabbed a few more books which I'm sure I will have read in the next month or so.
The other night I was asked by my sister's husband if I could help him look on the internet for a soldering gun; he fixes TV's and his old one broke. I assumed this could be a simple task because he said that we could buy it online and ship it to his brother who lives in Miami and then his brother would send it here to Nicaragua. Well we went online and I looked on Google, of course, to see where I could get a nice one at a good price. After about an hour of looking he asked me if it would be faster if he gave me the name brand and the model of the gun he was looking for. LOL After we got the model number we looked for a while longer and he kept saying that it was not the one he wanted. I was getting a little impatient because we had looked and found the same model on 20 different sites, but they were not what he was looking for. After a while he found the one he was looking for on Craig's list. Turns out that the model I was blindly looking for is over 20 years old and is made out of bronze instead of aluminum or copper like they are now-a-days. He said that he wanted to find it at a store new, and not used. I had to explain to him that we were not going to find this model new ANYWHERE because of it's age. He kept insisting that we HAD to find it somewhere new because it was a good model. I then had to explain to him how things work in the US, and that although it may have been a good model, companies are always finding ways to make products for cheaper by using different and cheaper materials; I also said I was content to keep looking but I honestly thought that we were S.O.L. He finally agreed and I sent the website to his brother in Florida to look at and inquire about.
Last night we went out to the bar to celebrate everyone's July birthday in our group. There are four of us celebrating July birthdays: Me, Sonia, Scott, and Erin. A few of the girls left the bar saying they had to make a few calls home before the places closed. A few minutes later they came back to the bar with 3 cupcakes and candles and sang happy birthday to me, Scott and Erin and we enjoyed a delicious treat! Thanks for the birthday cake guys!!
Today is the day of the Revolution so we are unable to leave our sites because they feel that it is too dangerous for us to be traveling all over the place. Starting last night they began lighting off bombs to celebrate. When I say bombs, I don't mean bombs as in car bombs, but more like fireworks that just explode in the air without the colors. These things are loud! Many times when they begin lighting off the bombs, the car alarms start going off because these bombs could raise the dead. They are not thoughtful by any means when they light these things off; they start lighting them off around the clock. 3 AM is the earliest that I have heard them go off.
So I have been trying to think of things to blog about but I cannot seem to think of anything. Mainly because I haven't done anything exciting in a while, but also the things that I thought were weird or different when I got here have become part of daily life and I no longer find them weird or different. So with that said, I will need your help on things to blog about. If you have any thoughts or blog ideas, let me know. I think in the next few days I will go around the city and take pictures of Dolores so I can put them on the internet. I do have a shutterfly account where I would like to put all of my pics, but it takes forever to put the pictures on the internet because it is very slow here.
Lets see what can I say about the last few weeks. Umm Ive taken up reading again... I know right?! ME...READ? BLASPHMY. I am currently reading Janet Evanovich's One for the Money which seems like a promising book. Before that I read, Two Dollar Bill, Me talk pretty one day, Possible Side Effects, and The Kite Runner. When I went to the Peace Corps office I hit up the library that they have there and I grabbed a few more books which I'm sure I will have read in the next month or so.
The other night I was asked by my sister's husband if I could help him look on the internet for a soldering gun; he fixes TV's and his old one broke. I assumed this could be a simple task because he said that we could buy it online and ship it to his brother who lives in Miami and then his brother would send it here to Nicaragua. Well we went online and I looked on Google, of course, to see where I could get a nice one at a good price. After about an hour of looking he asked me if it would be faster if he gave me the name brand and the model of the gun he was looking for. LOL After we got the model number we looked for a while longer and he kept saying that it was not the one he wanted. I was getting a little impatient because we had looked and found the same model on 20 different sites, but they were not what he was looking for. After a while he found the one he was looking for on Craig's list. Turns out that the model I was blindly looking for is over 20 years old and is made out of bronze instead of aluminum or copper like they are now-a-days. He said that he wanted to find it at a store new, and not used. I had to explain to him that we were not going to find this model new ANYWHERE because of it's age. He kept insisting that we HAD to find it somewhere new because it was a good model. I then had to explain to him how things work in the US, and that although it may have been a good model, companies are always finding ways to make products for cheaper by using different and cheaper materials; I also said I was content to keep looking but I honestly thought that we were S.O.L. He finally agreed and I sent the website to his brother in Florida to look at and inquire about.
Last night we went out to the bar to celebrate everyone's July birthday in our group. There are four of us celebrating July birthdays: Me, Sonia, Scott, and Erin. A few of the girls left the bar saying they had to make a few calls home before the places closed. A few minutes later they came back to the bar with 3 cupcakes and candles and sang happy birthday to me, Scott and Erin and we enjoyed a delicious treat! Thanks for the birthday cake guys!!
Today is the day of the Revolution so we are unable to leave our sites because they feel that it is too dangerous for us to be traveling all over the place. Starting last night they began lighting off bombs to celebrate. When I say bombs, I don't mean bombs as in car bombs, but more like fireworks that just explode in the air without the colors. These things are loud! Many times when they begin lighting off the bombs, the car alarms start going off because these bombs could raise the dead. They are not thoughtful by any means when they light these things off; they start lighting them off around the clock. 3 AM is the earliest that I have heard them go off.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
It's been a while
Well ladies and gents, my fate has been decided. I shall live the next two years in the great and artistic city of MASAYA!!
Before we went to the meeting to find out where were are going to live, we decided to play with fate a little bit, and have everyone throw in 10 cords (50 cents) and guess where everyone would be sent to, and the winner would keep the pot. The total got up to 120 cords, and the winner was Lara with an unbelievable 4 correct guesses. Way to go Lara! You still have a way to go before you can call yourself a psychic, but that 120 cords sure helped pay for your beer at the bar. (And of course when I say beer and bar, a rough Spanish translation would be coffee and and coffee house, respectively.) I have been told that some of the TEFLers out there are not telling where they are going but, I'm going to let you in on a little secret where the people from Dolores are going. I will be going to Masaya, Masaya; Elizabeth is going to Chinandega, Chinandega. Lara and her hubby are going to Leon, Leon and Ryan is going to **ahhem** Villa el Carmen, Managua. We are all going to capital cities except for Ryan. (see Ryan, I told you by giving them money, they would send us to nice places...you should have listened to me!) It was a great surprise to everyone where they are being sent, but when I got my name called, I was excited and could do nothing more than an enthusiastic fist pump! Below are a few pictures of us when they called our names, just so you can see how happy we were.... well most of us.
The last few days, Elizabeth and I have been talking about how when we move to our new sites, how said it will be that she wont be able to see me. Oh yeah and that I wont be able to see her either. So we decided to jump on the Nicaraguan bandwagon (yes, they have them here too) and buy a picture of us printed on a piece of wood. But these are not like any ordinary pictures, you see, they carry the picture of the person superimposed on a wonderful background such as a garden, or a waterfall; they also have butterflies (also superimposed) and about the size of the person's head flying in the background. We were so excited to see them man walking around our city today we took a picture to him. On Monday Elizabeth and I will join the ranks of the elite, by becoming owners of said picture. Oooh I cant wait. I will take a picture of it and put it on just as soon as I can, so I can share it with the world. Until then, I will share the pictures that we gave the man. You will notice that we are not smiling, but rather are carrying somewhat of a serious face. We decided that we want to be able to look at the picture an laugh our asses off when we are alone, without each other.
**************** a few days later***********************************
Well, I went on my site visit, and it was somewhat of an awakening. I really realized that I should enjoy the time I spend with my friends here in Dolores because in about 2 weeks, I will not have them in close proximity for the next two years and that is very disheartening to think about. The first night was very uncomfortable. I came there very late at night, and the meeting we at the meeting beforehand in Managua we were supposed to be served dinner, but that never happened; I arrived at the house and my counterpart told the family that we did not eat so they busted out some food and made me dinner. The entire next day, and the following half day, I didn't converse with my family much, and when I did, it seemed very weird. But that passed like a horrid B.M. The third day, they brought me to the Laguna de Apoyo on the outskirts of Managua, which used to be a volcano, but for some reason is now filled with water and is an awesome lake/ excellent place of rest. From then on, my family and I spoke a lot more and I felt a LOT better about the whole situation. I suppose it was a little weird for them as well, as I was the first PC volunteer that has stayed with them, so I'm sure they didn't know what do do/expect.
On my site visit, I met with all of the English teachers and also met the chief of police of Masaya. She seems very nice, and as a matter of fact, she has family that lives in Madison, Wisconsin so we had something to talk about. She told me that if I ever need any help or just want to talk around the city with her (so that everyone knows that I am friends with the chief of police so they don't “F” with me) she was willing and happy to do so. She even gave me her personal cell phone number, so we are like BFF's now.
I thought that I was going to have a very sad and uneventful day on the 4th of July, but it turned out otherwise. There is a group of American Legion people from the states (St. Louis I believe) and they hosted a party with free beer, hot dogs, and hamburgers for all American and British people in Granada. I guess the Brits were included because it's sad they lost the war. The first thing Liz said to everyone after opening her first beer was, “Way to win the war guys!” I thought it was funny... because war is something to laugh about. Totally kidding. Either way, we met a lot of American who live in Granada who are in charge of NGO's and great people to get to know. They were great!! THANKS AMERICAN LEGION GRANADA POST #1 for a great time on my first 4th of July out of the country!!
When I came home it was great to see my family! I was welcomed home with a big bowl of Albondiga soup! MMMMMmmmmm. I love that soup. My host mom also let me know that when the man came to deliver our pictures to us, she gave him a piece of her mind! The man had told us that the pictures were going to cost us 250 cords, and when he came to the door my mom started the conversation, “How do you think that you are going to charge these people 250 cords for these pictures, that is ridiculous.” The man (red in the face) answered, “Well, I never told them a price, but I'll give it to them for 200 cords.” My mom answered that with, “well it looks like you made those pictures in vain because I will not let them buy those pictures for 200 cords either, you are without shame sir, trying to steal the money of volunteers. They don't even get paid enough money to survive here, let alone buy frivolous things like the pictures. Looks like you lose a sale.” He then offered to sell them for 170 cords and she accepted the offer. LOL. She is a great bargainer.
Well, for now that is all I can think of, so I will leave it here. ADIOS
Before we went to the meeting to find out where were are going to live, we decided to play with fate a little bit, and have everyone throw in 10 cords (50 cents) and guess where everyone would be sent to, and the winner would keep the pot. The total got up to 120 cords, and the winner was Lara with an unbelievable 4 correct guesses. Way to go Lara! You still have a way to go before you can call yourself a psychic, but that 120 cords sure helped pay for your beer at the bar. (And of course when I say beer and bar, a rough Spanish translation would be coffee and and coffee house, respectively.) I have been told that some of the TEFLers out there are not telling where they are going but, I'm going to let you in on a little secret where the people from Dolores are going. I will be going to Masaya, Masaya; Elizabeth is going to Chinandega, Chinandega. Lara and her hubby are going to Leon, Leon and Ryan is going to **ahhem** Villa el Carmen, Managua. We are all going to capital cities except for Ryan. (see Ryan, I told you by giving them money, they would send us to nice places...you should have listened to me!) It was a great surprise to everyone where they are being sent, but when I got my name called, I was excited and could do nothing more than an enthusiastic fist pump! Below are a few pictures of us when they called our names, just so you can see how happy we were.... well most of us.
The last few days, Elizabeth and I have been talking about how when we move to our new sites, how said it will be that she wont be able to see me. Oh yeah and that I wont be able to see her either. So we decided to jump on the Nicaraguan bandwagon (yes, they have them here too) and buy a picture of us printed on a piece of wood. But these are not like any ordinary pictures, you see, they carry the picture of the person superimposed on a wonderful background such as a garden, or a waterfall; they also have butterflies (also superimposed) and about the size of the person's head flying in the background. We were so excited to see them man walking around our city today we took a picture to him. On Monday Elizabeth and I will join the ranks of the elite, by becoming owners of said picture. Oooh I cant wait. I will take a picture of it and put it on just as soon as I can, so I can share it with the world. Until then, I will share the pictures that we gave the man. You will notice that we are not smiling, but rather are carrying somewhat of a serious face. We decided that we want to be able to look at the picture an laugh our asses off when we are alone, without each other.
**************** a few days later***********************************
Well, I went on my site visit, and it was somewhat of an awakening. I really realized that I should enjoy the time I spend with my friends here in Dolores because in about 2 weeks, I will not have them in close proximity for the next two years and that is very disheartening to think about. The first night was very uncomfortable. I came there very late at night, and the meeting we at the meeting beforehand in Managua we were supposed to be served dinner, but that never happened; I arrived at the house and my counterpart told the family that we did not eat so they busted out some food and made me dinner. The entire next day, and the following half day, I didn't converse with my family much, and when I did, it seemed very weird. But that passed like a horrid B.M. The third day, they brought me to the Laguna de Apoyo on the outskirts of Managua, which used to be a volcano, but for some reason is now filled with water and is an awesome lake/ excellent place of rest. From then on, my family and I spoke a lot more and I felt a LOT better about the whole situation. I suppose it was a little weird for them as well, as I was the first PC volunteer that has stayed with them, so I'm sure they didn't know what do do/expect.
On my site visit, I met with all of the English teachers and also met the chief of police of Masaya. She seems very nice, and as a matter of fact, she has family that lives in Madison, Wisconsin so we had something to talk about. She told me that if I ever need any help or just want to talk around the city with her (so that everyone knows that I am friends with the chief of police so they don't “F” with me) she was willing and happy to do so. She even gave me her personal cell phone number, so we are like BFF's now.
I thought that I was going to have a very sad and uneventful day on the 4th of July, but it turned out otherwise. There is a group of American Legion people from the states (St. Louis I believe) and they hosted a party with free beer, hot dogs, and hamburgers for all American and British people in Granada. I guess the Brits were included because it's sad they lost the war. The first thing Liz said to everyone after opening her first beer was, “Way to win the war guys!” I thought it was funny... because war is something to laugh about. Totally kidding. Either way, we met a lot of American who live in Granada who are in charge of NGO's and great people to get to know. They were great!! THANKS AMERICAN LEGION GRANADA POST #1 for a great time on my first 4th of July out of the country!!
When I came home it was great to see my family! I was welcomed home with a big bowl of Albondiga soup! MMMMMmmmmm. I love that soup. My host mom also let me know that when the man came to deliver our pictures to us, she gave him a piece of her mind! The man had told us that the pictures were going to cost us 250 cords, and when he came to the door my mom started the conversation, “How do you think that you are going to charge these people 250 cords for these pictures, that is ridiculous.” The man (red in the face) answered, “Well, I never told them a price, but I'll give it to them for 200 cords.” My mom answered that with, “well it looks like you made those pictures in vain because I will not let them buy those pictures for 200 cords either, you are without shame sir, trying to steal the money of volunteers. They don't even get paid enough money to survive here, let alone buy frivolous things like the pictures. Looks like you lose a sale.” He then offered to sell them for 170 cords and she accepted the offer. LOL. She is a great bargainer.
Well, for now that is all I can think of, so I will leave it here. ADIOS
Friday, June 27, 2008
Man, I feel like a woman
OK so I don't REALLY feel like a woman. Yesterday we were asked to be judges for an English singing/dance competition for one of the local high schools. They were able to sing an English song instead of taking a final English test, which is an awesome idea; less work for the teacher and more fun for the students. All of the groups did a great job, but in the end, a group that “sang” and danced to “I feel like a woman” by Shania Twain took home the gold. OK well they didn't take anything home, other than the fact they they now get to participate in the regional competition. After the competition, we thought it would be a great idea to talk to the English teacher and tell her that if they would like, we would work with them on the pronunciation of the song. The teacher asked them, and they liked the idea. So pretty much what I am trying to say is that with our help, they will win.... hand down. It was a lot of fun listening to Ryan and Elizabeth singing, “Men's shirts, short skirts, oh oh oh oh” well mostly Ryan, but he was totally into it, which makes me wonder about him... Does he really like Shania? Oh well we all have our own tastes I guess ;) Below are a few pictures of the singing competition and our beautiful piñata that we made with our youth group. If you would like the rest, send a S.A.S.E with a small donation of 500 buck to my mom, and she will send them out to you.
Yesterday was Día de San Juan or for those of you non-Spanish speakers out there, “Day of Saint John”. THATS ME!! minus the saint, but thats neither here nor there, ANYWAYS I came home from going to Jinotepe, my host mom handed me a gift bag, and inside was an agenda, and a rag. Its funny because I was looking to buy an agenda for when I get to my site and start doing things. And the rag for when I go to my new site if it's too hot, I can wipe the sweat from my brow. I think they were great gifts. I was thinking the other day that it will be very difficult to leave here when I go to my site. Firstly because I like this family a lot, shes a great cook, and they invite me to almost everything they do. And Secondly, I'm going to miss hanging out with the other Trainees. I'm still wondering if I should call her mom, or continue calling her by her first name. I called my host mom in Spain “mom” and she replied with, “My name is Maria”. But I think I might just throw it out there and see how she reacts. Of course, she will never replace my real mom (because my really love my real mom and not to mention she has access to my bank account, and I wouldn't want to upset her) LOVE YOU MOM!
We find out on Friday where they are going to send us for the remainder of our 2 years here in Nicaragua, and I can't wait to find out! I have my preferences, but I guess where ever they send me will be fine! ( I have to write that, the Peace Corps may read this =) Ryan and I walked to Jinotepe today to price out beds, fridges, and table top gas stoves for when we make the move. It was really funny because we both walked into the store together and said, “Estamos buscando una cama matrimonial” or We are looking for a matrimonial bed (thats how they say double bed). We failed to mention that we were BOTH looking for a bed, not one to share. It was funny, I wonder what the sales people were thinking. It keeps them thinking I guess. The beds range anywhere from C$3,000 cords- C$ 4,500 cords ($156.25- $234.00) A fridge (small one) will be around C$6,000 cords ($312.50) and a table top stove is about C$450 cords ($23.50). I hear our moving in allowance will be around C$4,000 so we will have to come up with other methods to earn money. Whats that you ask? Why yes, my birthday IS coming up very soon (July 22nd) now that you know, theres no excuse for no gift. And I have ways of tracking who has visited this site. So once again, my mother will be taking donations for this special ONCE A YEAR occasion. So there is no confusion, my name is spelled John Cunningham for all of you check writers out there (hint hint, nudge nudge. wink wink)
Well thats all for now, I will be back Friday, or Saturday to let you all know where I will be living.
P.S. Happy Birthday Paul. Hope your feeling better Linda. Glad I got out of UHG when I had the chance. Hope you have fun on your around the country excursion Tessa and Anna. Hi Karla at UHG (and everyone else) Kate, I'm glad you added me on facebook! How was Ukraine? If you answer Ukrainey... so help me god! Hi Whitney (I tried calling you the other day, but I think you were working) HI D☺RI!! and Peen, you are NOT the baby's father! And for the guy who asked me what time it was the other day, and I didn't understand until after I walked past, it was 12:30.
P.S.S I recently changed my UWEC email password and forgot what it was... so email me at cunninjj@gmail.com
GOODBYE EVERYONE :::waves goodbye, and tugs on right ear::::::
Yesterday was Día de San Juan or for those of you non-Spanish speakers out there, “Day of Saint John”. THATS ME!! minus the saint, but thats neither here nor there, ANYWAYS I came home from going to Jinotepe, my host mom handed me a gift bag, and inside was an agenda, and a rag. Its funny because I was looking to buy an agenda for when I get to my site and start doing things. And the rag for when I go to my new site if it's too hot, I can wipe the sweat from my brow. I think they were great gifts. I was thinking the other day that it will be very difficult to leave here when I go to my site. Firstly because I like this family a lot, shes a great cook, and they invite me to almost everything they do. And Secondly, I'm going to miss hanging out with the other Trainees. I'm still wondering if I should call her mom, or continue calling her by her first name. I called my host mom in Spain “mom” and she replied with, “My name is Maria”. But I think I might just throw it out there and see how she reacts. Of course, she will never replace my real mom (because my really love my real mom and not to mention she has access to my bank account, and I wouldn't want to upset her) LOVE YOU MOM!
We find out on Friday where they are going to send us for the remainder of our 2 years here in Nicaragua, and I can't wait to find out! I have my preferences, but I guess where ever they send me will be fine! ( I have to write that, the Peace Corps may read this =) Ryan and I walked to Jinotepe today to price out beds, fridges, and table top gas stoves for when we make the move. It was really funny because we both walked into the store together and said, “Estamos buscando una cama matrimonial” or We are looking for a matrimonial bed (thats how they say double bed). We failed to mention that we were BOTH looking for a bed, not one to share. It was funny, I wonder what the sales people were thinking. It keeps them thinking I guess. The beds range anywhere from C$3,000 cords- C$ 4,500 cords ($156.25- $234.00) A fridge (small one) will be around C$6,000 cords ($312.50) and a table top stove is about C$450 cords ($23.50). I hear our moving in allowance will be around C$4,000 so we will have to come up with other methods to earn money. Whats that you ask? Why yes, my birthday IS coming up very soon (July 22nd) now that you know, theres no excuse for no gift. And I have ways of tracking who has visited this site. So once again, my mother will be taking donations for this special ONCE A YEAR occasion. So there is no confusion, my name is spelled John Cunningham for all of you check writers out there (hint hint, nudge nudge. wink wink)
Well thats all for now, I will be back Friday, or Saturday to let you all know where I will be living.
P.S. Happy Birthday Paul. Hope your feeling better Linda. Glad I got out of UHG when I had the chance. Hope you have fun on your around the country excursion Tessa and Anna. Hi Karla at UHG (and everyone else) Kate, I'm glad you added me on facebook! How was Ukraine? If you answer Ukrainey... so help me god! Hi Whitney (I tried calling you the other day, but I think you were working) HI D☺RI!! and Peen, you are NOT the baby's father! And for the guy who asked me what time it was the other day, and I didn't understand until after I walked past, it was 12:30.
P.S.S I recently changed my UWEC email password and forgot what it was... so email me at cunninjj@gmail.com
GOODBYE EVERYONE :::waves goodbye, and tugs on right ear::::::
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Cockroach Hunting
Forgive me readers for I have sinned. It has been 9 days since my last blog entry. Whats that you say? Only 1 hail Mary..... SWEET. Hail Mary full of grace, ermm something something something something something amen. AAnnnndd DONE!! Lets see whats new since the last time we've talked. Umm I had a great time visiting Patrick in San Jorge, and got a lot of pointers for when I too am a volunteer, like which rum is the best quality, and which women of the night are clean and which ones are not. I can't wait to put these pointers to good use, THANKS PATRICK!!
Lets see, we have a new youth group, as our last group decided they were to cool for school, and didn't want to hang out with us. Our group went from all males 18 and up, to all females aged 15, and then one boy. We asked them what kind of project they wanted to do with us, and they decided that they wanted to make a pinata, and then have a fiesta and break it. So we spent 2 days making the pinata from scratch. Instead of using a balloon and using paper-mache, they use a clay pot and then wrap paper around it. Either way it served its purpose, and we are ALMOST done with the pinata.
We also had our second language interview, and it went pretty good, everyone in Dolores moved up to the advanced level, therefore we do not need classes any more which is awesome! I think I'll miss the classes a little bit, because they were fun going from house to house and having classes in a spare room or in the patios of the houses, but then on the other had I will not miss the homework that they gave us to do. We had our last class on Thursday, so we had a little party, with some cake and coke. a cola. It was Fun Ivania, but our time has ended. She was so excited she did a little dance of liberation.
The other day when I came home from class, my host mom was pulling piles of wood away from the wall outside and using a broom to get all of the cockroaches out and she was sweeping them into the back yard. 10 feet above us on the roof of the house next to us, were about 30 hungry birds licking their beaks (wait do birds even have tongues? Either way), waiting for us to move so they could swoop down and take advantage of the free buffet we had just served up for them. We may have made a discovery though, while looking for more cockroaches we found this one type of cockroach that burrows itself in the ground. Being as smart as she is, Isolina (host mom) went and boiled a pot of water and then poured it over the ground. Seconds later a family of 20 of the newly discovered cockroaches comes climbing out of the ground, and Isolina screamed. So to kick her while she was down (because thats how I roll) I tickled her back with my fingers and yelled ¡NO SE MUEVAS HAY UNA CUCARACHA EN SU ESPALDA! (don't move, theres a cockroach on your back) LOL and she yelled like a little ninny girl. Why do I get off on that kind of stuff? God, Im a total F****er. I think with that stunt, I have surely secured my spot in the fiery pits of hell.
On Friday, we had yet another charla (chat) and they had a site fair, as we are almost dine with training (YAY). During the fair, they had Volunteers from all around the country come and talk to us about where we could be going to live. After listening to all of the spots, I decided that I like to go to Matagalpa, Leon, or Masaya. Now where they send me is a different story, but at least I let them know where I would like to go. They said there are many things that are taken into consideration before they place us, like language ability, personality and so forth. So in other words... I'm screwed.
Today I spent a good majority of the afternoon fixing my hosts sister's roof on her house. We would slide the large pieces of aluminum over and then bring them down and cut them using a machete and a hammer. We were almost done and then.... HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN!! So we are outside playing with the metal roof when its raining like a hooker, with thunder and lighting. Lets test out the old theory of playing with metal during a lightening storm... yeah we're smart!!
Lets see, we have a new youth group, as our last group decided they were to cool for school, and didn't want to hang out with us. Our group went from all males 18 and up, to all females aged 15, and then one boy. We asked them what kind of project they wanted to do with us, and they decided that they wanted to make a pinata, and then have a fiesta and break it. So we spent 2 days making the pinata from scratch. Instead of using a balloon and using paper-mache, they use a clay pot and then wrap paper around it. Either way it served its purpose, and we are ALMOST done with the pinata.
We also had our second language interview, and it went pretty good, everyone in Dolores moved up to the advanced level, therefore we do not need classes any more which is awesome! I think I'll miss the classes a little bit, because they were fun going from house to house and having classes in a spare room or in the patios of the houses, but then on the other had I will not miss the homework that they gave us to do. We had our last class on Thursday, so we had a little party, with some cake and coke. a cola. It was Fun Ivania, but our time has ended. She was so excited she did a little dance of liberation.
The other day when I came home from class, my host mom was pulling piles of wood away from the wall outside and using a broom to get all of the cockroaches out and she was sweeping them into the back yard. 10 feet above us on the roof of the house next to us, were about 30 hungry birds licking their beaks (wait do birds even have tongues? Either way), waiting for us to move so they could swoop down and take advantage of the free buffet we had just served up for them. We may have made a discovery though, while looking for more cockroaches we found this one type of cockroach that burrows itself in the ground. Being as smart as she is, Isolina (host mom) went and boiled a pot of water and then poured it over the ground. Seconds later a family of 20 of the newly discovered cockroaches comes climbing out of the ground, and Isolina screamed. So to kick her while she was down (because thats how I roll) I tickled her back with my fingers and yelled ¡NO SE MUEVAS HAY UNA CUCARACHA EN SU ESPALDA! (don't move, theres a cockroach on your back) LOL and she yelled like a little ninny girl. Why do I get off on that kind of stuff? God, Im a total F****er. I think with that stunt, I have surely secured my spot in the fiery pits of hell.
On Friday, we had yet another charla (chat) and they had a site fair, as we are almost dine with training (YAY). During the fair, they had Volunteers from all around the country come and talk to us about where we could be going to live. After listening to all of the spots, I decided that I like to go to Matagalpa, Leon, or Masaya. Now where they send me is a different story, but at least I let them know where I would like to go. They said there are many things that are taken into consideration before they place us, like language ability, personality and so forth. So in other words... I'm screwed.
Today I spent a good majority of the afternoon fixing my hosts sister's roof on her house. We would slide the large pieces of aluminum over and then bring them down and cut them using a machete and a hammer. We were almost done and then.... HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN!! So we are outside playing with the metal roof when its raining like a hooker, with thunder and lighting. Lets test out the old theory of playing with metal during a lightening storm... yeah we're smart!!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Im a murderer
Hello all of you beautiful people out there reading my blog! How are ya? Me? I'm doing just great! Today was a great day, we got to meet up with the business group, and we had a few activities together. It was nice to see them all, as it doesn't happen very often. One of the best things of all, we finally got to find out where we are going for our volunteer visit. We do the visits so we can see what life is really like before we go to our sites. I am going to San Jorge, in Rivas. Ryan is also coming with me, as his volunteer canceled at the last minute so we are the only ones going as a pair. I hear it is on the beach, so I think we will have a good time. I will be there from Sunday until Wednesday, so if you call me and Im not answering thats probably why.
So, the other night while I was writing in my journal before going to bed, in the corner of my eye I saw a little cockroach run from under my door, alongside my floor/wall and then under my bed. I decided that this one's time on earth will soon come to an end. I dashed to the other side of my room (if you know my room and how small it is, this means I leaned over to the left) and grabbed my best friend... RAID!!! I grabbed a flashlight and my camera and laid on the floor. I gave a few sprays of Raid and as soon as the raid hit the cucaracha, it jumped onto it's back and began its slow and painful death. The following picture and video are proof of my matanza (killing).
Things are still going great here in my training town, although a few people have fallen ill. One of the girls believes she may have gotten e-coli, as she spent three days in the hospital in Managua. I hear it's like a five star resort there, with CNN in English and air conditioning to boot! Once I heard that I thought about drinking some tap water to see if I can secure myself a reservation for a 2 day stay.
I am still taking language classes, but I hope that once we have our second language interview, I can jump up to the advanced level from my current intermediate-high level. If I can achieve that, this means I will not have to take any more language classes. There is also a part of me that knows if I do get to that level, then I will be told I have to teach more English classes instead of taking Spanish classes.
I ALSO GOT MY PACKAGES!!! I was sooooo excited to see Douglas the bus driver walking up with a bunch of packages for the volunteers. When I got home I was excited to see the t-shirts and shorts I was sent. Also I got a small, mouse for my laptop, and a headset for SKYPE (if I ever get the chance to use it) I also got kool-aid packets sent to me and it was oh-so-wonderful. When drinking my American lemonade I felt like I was back in Wisconsin on a hot summer day... even thought it only lasted for a few seconds, it was a great. I also got the movie Across the Universe sent to me, I cant wait to watch it..again.
This last weekend, we traveled with Lara's mom to Granada. It is a really nice city, but very very touristy. We sat down under a canopy and ordered a coffee. While smoking a cigarette and taking in the city, I thought that I was in Spain again, with the way the city looks, as it has a very colonial feeling to it. That was until I got a sip of the coffee. Then I was thrown back into reality that I was in Nicaragua, and not Spain. Even though Nicaragua has a large export of really good coffee, you rarely go anywhere and find the “good” kind of coffee, it's mostly instant coffee crystals. I digress. We were approached by a man who asked us if we wanted to take a boat ride in the Lake of Nicaragua and see all of the isletas or islands. There are about 365 small islands in the lake, and quite a few of them have homes on them where rich Americans and rich Nicaraguans make homes to which they visit once or twice a year. On one island, a rich Chinese family built an awesome home, with a Pagoda-ish roof. We also were brought to an island where there were monkeys.. YAY for monkeys right? I asked the driver, “How did the monkeys get on the island, its pretty weird for monkeys to be on an island in the middle of a HUGE lake.” Then he let me know that the monkeys were brought there pretty much so they could use them as a selling point for the tours. Oh well, better them then me I say! Overall I think that Granada would be a great place to bring my parents to, as it doesn't seem too dangerous once you get out of the bus station, walk past the people outside singing for money, and past the pick pocketing nuns from the local convent. I'm kidding... there were no people outside singing ;)
So, the other night while I was writing in my journal before going to bed, in the corner of my eye I saw a little cockroach run from under my door, alongside my floor/wall and then under my bed. I decided that this one's time on earth will soon come to an end. I dashed to the other side of my room (if you know my room and how small it is, this means I leaned over to the left) and grabbed my best friend... RAID!!! I grabbed a flashlight and my camera and laid on the floor. I gave a few sprays of Raid and as soon as the raid hit the cucaracha, it jumped onto it's back and began its slow and painful death. The following picture and video are proof of my matanza (killing).
Things are still going great here in my training town, although a few people have fallen ill. One of the girls believes she may have gotten e-coli, as she spent three days in the hospital in Managua. I hear it's like a five star resort there, with CNN in English and air conditioning to boot! Once I heard that I thought about drinking some tap water to see if I can secure myself a reservation for a 2 day stay.
I am still taking language classes, but I hope that once we have our second language interview, I can jump up to the advanced level from my current intermediate-high level. If I can achieve that, this means I will not have to take any more language classes. There is also a part of me that knows if I do get to that level, then I will be told I have to teach more English classes instead of taking Spanish classes.
I ALSO GOT MY PACKAGES!!! I was sooooo excited to see Douglas the bus driver walking up with a bunch of packages for the volunteers. When I got home I was excited to see the t-shirts and shorts I was sent. Also I got a small, mouse for my laptop, and a headset for SKYPE (if I ever get the chance to use it) I also got kool-aid packets sent to me and it was oh-so-wonderful. When drinking my American lemonade I felt like I was back in Wisconsin on a hot summer day... even thought it only lasted for a few seconds, it was a great. I also got the movie Across the Universe sent to me, I cant wait to watch it..again.
This last weekend, we traveled with Lara's mom to Granada. It is a really nice city, but very very touristy. We sat down under a canopy and ordered a coffee. While smoking a cigarette and taking in the city, I thought that I was in Spain again, with the way the city looks, as it has a very colonial feeling to it. That was until I got a sip of the coffee. Then I was thrown back into reality that I was in Nicaragua, and not Spain. Even though Nicaragua has a large export of really good coffee, you rarely go anywhere and find the “good” kind of coffee, it's mostly instant coffee crystals. I digress. We were approached by a man who asked us if we wanted to take a boat ride in the Lake of Nicaragua and see all of the isletas or islands. There are about 365 small islands in the lake, and quite a few of them have homes on them where rich Americans and rich Nicaraguans make homes to which they visit once or twice a year. On one island, a rich Chinese family built an awesome home, with a Pagoda-ish roof. We also were brought to an island where there were monkeys.. YAY for monkeys right? I asked the driver, “How did the monkeys get on the island, its pretty weird for monkeys to be on an island in the middle of a HUGE lake.” Then he let me know that the monkeys were brought there pretty much so they could use them as a selling point for the tours. Oh well, better them then me I say! Overall I think that Granada would be a great place to bring my parents to, as it doesn't seem too dangerous once you get out of the bus station, walk past the people outside singing for money, and past the pick pocketing nuns from the local convent. I'm kidding... there were no people outside singing ;)
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