I just finished my second day of volunteer work at El Centro Carita Feliz. I am helping an art teacher with a class of about fifteen kids. It has been really fun so far, and it feels really good to be teaching again. It´s funny how a break from something can help you find the joy in it again. Trying to teach in a foreign lanaguage has been a great reminder of what little influence talk has on instruction. Examples and simply stated instructions really does work wonders. It´s especially cool that there´s a student in the class who is deaf and mute and I have the easiest time instructing him because I don´t have to worry about recalling specific vocabulary and using the correct verb tenses. The center sells the students´ canvas paintings for $30 per piece and the student gets half and the center the other half. It's definitely student art - nothing mind blowing, but I plan to buy one. If anybody is interested, I could take some photos of the work and email them to you.
I also wanted to write a quick note about the awesome geckos that are all over my bedroom. They´re a really pretty off-white almost clear color and every day I get to see at least one chase down a mosquito on the wall and eat it. I caught an ant the other night and tried to feed it to one of the geckos, but the gecko was too skittish to notice I had food for it. I even found a rather large gecko in my purse when I was leaving the house after lunch today. I´ll have to check my bags before I leave so I don´t subject any to a probably deadly trip to Colorado. Oh yeah, they also make this cute chirping noise all night that helps to distract from screaming children, loud tv shows, and family debates.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Super Tuesday
I had a really nice Tuesday. After class and running home for lunch, I went back to the school for my second trip to Laguna Apoyo. I didn´t think it was possible, but it was even more perfect swimming there the second time. I totally had one of those happy place moments. I stopped for a second after jumping in the water to look around me and remember everything. I was floating in the middle of a crater lake filled with clear cool water under a bright sun with views of lush green volcanoes all around me. Ahhh.
After we returned from the lagoon, I went home to change and headed out to a local hostel to meet some other students for a free screening of The Road to Guantanamo. It was a fantastic film, but even better was the discussion afterwards. It´s quite a treat to discuss a meaty topic over some beers with an Austrian, a Dutch, and a Nicaraguan friend. I´m pretty sure we solved all of the world´s problems after the second round!
After we returned from the lagoon, I went home to change and headed out to a local hostel to meet some other students for a free screening of The Road to Guantanamo. It was a fantastic film, but even better was the discussion afterwards. It´s quite a treat to discuss a meaty topic over some beers with an Austrian, a Dutch, and a Nicaraguan friend. I´m pretty sure we solved all of the world´s problems after the second round!
Monday, January 28, 2008
My homestay is quite interesting. The two year old continues to be cute for the hour a day he's in a good mood, but the other 23 when he's screaming his head off is getting a bit old. So are the mosquitoes that swarm me at night through the large hole in the roof above my bed. But the bright side is that the ice cold shower feels quite good on sweaty itchy mosquito bites.
Okay, enough spoiled westerner whining. I feel like I'm getting a much more real homestay experience than I had in Guatemala. There I was in an impeccable and quiet house with a retired couple, but here I'm really a renter in a busy household going about their daily life. And, my situation actually got better today because I got to switch to a different room because the other student moved out. This room has a mosquito net, a complete roof, and a place to put away my clothes which is nice. Although I will miss the stray cat that sometimes was looking at me from the roof in the mornings as I woke up.
The student that moved out was this hilarious hyper young kid from Chicago. He didn't speak Spanish, but always gave it a go with really entertaining Spanglish. I called him my little brother and told him how I proud I was when he made the decision to move into a youth hostel to get away from all his bad influence friends in the neighborhood. The family had asked me several times to translate for him that the guys he was hanging out with were bad news, but he kept saying they just had bad reputations but were good guys. It never occurred to him that people who were deported from the U.S. for gang involvement and drugs might not be hanging out with him just to keep their English sharp. Well, he finally wised up and I get the good room out of it!!!!
Okay, enough spoiled westerner whining. I feel like I'm getting a much more real homestay experience than I had in Guatemala. There I was in an impeccable and quiet house with a retired couple, but here I'm really a renter in a busy household going about their daily life. And, my situation actually got better today because I got to switch to a different room because the other student moved out. This room has a mosquito net, a complete roof, and a place to put away my clothes which is nice. Although I will miss the stray cat that sometimes was looking at me from the roof in the mornings as I woke up.
The student that moved out was this hilarious hyper young kid from Chicago. He didn't speak Spanish, but always gave it a go with really entertaining Spanglish. I called him my little brother and told him how I proud I was when he made the decision to move into a youth hostel to get away from all his bad influence friends in the neighborhood. The family had asked me several times to translate for him that the guys he was hanging out with were bad news, but he kept saying they just had bad reputations but were good guys. It never occurred to him that people who were deported from the U.S. for gang involvement and drugs might not be hanging out with him just to keep their English sharp. Well, he finally wised up and I get the good room out of it!!!!
Free Time in Granada
I had a fun first weekend.
I went to a large market about a half an hour from Granada. It was definitely similar to other Latin American markets I've been to, but there were a couple of noteworthy distinctions. The first was the large selection of taxidermied reptiles including an assortment of frog couples in compromising positions. It was a bit disconcerting, but in order to assist the local economy I did my Christmas shopping early. So, let me know if you prefer frogs or lizards. The second new encounter for me was the giant cheese section of the market. Cheese is so delicious that I didn't think twice about cruising through. But, I was very wrong and I may never eat my former favorite food again. The smell was horrific. It was far worse than even the meat section and most definitely the worst smell ever. I need to stop writing about it to keep from gagging. Oh well. At least this new repulsion will be a healthy diet change.
I also went on a kayak tour of the small islands in Lake Nicaragua. It was really fun and a bit scary when we got into the wavy open water. The lake is the only place that has a special type of shark that migrates from ocean salt water up the fresh water rivers to the lake. There numbers are quite small, so we didn't really have much of a chance to see one but it was still exciting to think that they're out there somewhere. We did see a ton of really cool looking birds and some interesting plants though. We also saw caiman skeleton with its head and part of its tail still attached.
I went to a large market about a half an hour from Granada. It was definitely similar to other Latin American markets I've been to, but there were a couple of noteworthy distinctions. The first was the large selection of taxidermied reptiles including an assortment of frog couples in compromising positions. It was a bit disconcerting, but in order to assist the local economy I did my Christmas shopping early. So, let me know if you prefer frogs or lizards. The second new encounter for me was the giant cheese section of the market. Cheese is so delicious that I didn't think twice about cruising through. But, I was very wrong and I may never eat my former favorite food again. The smell was horrific. It was far worse than even the meat section and most definitely the worst smell ever. I need to stop writing about it to keep from gagging. Oh well. At least this new repulsion will be a healthy diet change.
I also went on a kayak tour of the small islands in Lake Nicaragua. It was really fun and a bit scary when we got into the wavy open water. The lake is the only place that has a special type of shark that migrates from ocean salt water up the fresh water rivers to the lake. There numbers are quite small, so we didn't really have much of a chance to see one but it was still exciting to think that they're out there somewhere. We did see a ton of really cool looking birds and some interesting plants though. We also saw caiman skeleton with its head and part of its tail still attached.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Settling In
My first two days of classes and living with a family are going well. I have class with another girl from the states. She is a bit farther along with Spanish than I am which is great because it pushes me. The school has a really down to earth feel and funds a program helping street kids by providing meals, clothing, and tutoring. Several of the teachers and the school tour guide are graduates of the program.
The school activity yesterday afternoon was a trip to a crater lake about 15 miles from Granada. The water was really nice and it felt so good to cool off. Have I mentioned that it is really hot here? In the evening after dinner, I went to a free salsa class at the school. I think I might have finally exorcised my salsa demons. I wouldn´t exactly call what I´m doing salsa dancing, but at least now I´m moving in the same direction as everyone else :-)
My family lives about ten yards from the school which is really nice in the morning. The house centers around a courtyard kitchen and besides the kitchen table all the furniture is rocking chairs (about 10) around a coffee table. I love it - in fact it totally rocks. Sorry. There is a grandmother, husband and wife, their two kids, and their daughter´s two kids in the house. The two year old and nine month old are hilarious and really fun. The two year old has been trying to explain something to me about dogs for two days now, but I´m just not getting it. Hopefully, we´ll cover his vocabulary in class tomorrow. The whole family is good natured, and they think it´s hilarious that every time I go to use the bathroom or the sink, the water goes out for several hours. Oh well. At least I´m not wasting water.
The school activity yesterday afternoon was a trip to a crater lake about 15 miles from Granada. The water was really nice and it felt so good to cool off. Have I mentioned that it is really hot here? In the evening after dinner, I went to a free salsa class at the school. I think I might have finally exorcised my salsa demons. I wouldn´t exactly call what I´m doing salsa dancing, but at least now I´m moving in the same direction as everyone else :-)
My family lives about ten yards from the school which is really nice in the morning. The house centers around a courtyard kitchen and besides the kitchen table all the furniture is rocking chairs (about 10) around a coffee table. I love it - in fact it totally rocks. Sorry. There is a grandmother, husband and wife, their two kids, and their daughter´s two kids in the house. The two year old and nine month old are hilarious and really fun. The two year old has been trying to explain something to me about dogs for two days now, but I´m just not getting it. Hopefully, we´ll cover his vocabulary in class tomorrow. The whole family is good natured, and they think it´s hilarious that every time I go to use the bathroom or the sink, the water goes out for several hours. Oh well. At least I´m not wasting water.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
It´s really hot here
I am in Nicaragua! I arrived this morning and had no trouble changing money and finding the bus stop to get out of Managua and head to Granada. It was a little tricky when I was getting out of the cab at the bus stop and two bus conductors grabbed my backpack and started arguing about which bus I should take. Fortunately, my panic Spanish kicked right in and I was able to yell at them that I didn´t care which bus I took I just wanted my bag back. One of the guys hurled it onto his bus, so I followed my bag in and took that one. I´m pretty sure they were intimidated by me so that´s why they didn´t give the back directly to me :-)
Once we got into Granada, I decided to get off at a stop that lots of passengers stood up for. I didn´t know where to head, so I put on my packs and started walking like I knew where I was going. For the first time ever this worked out really well because after a block I saw a sign for a hostel that was recommended on wikitravel. I checked into a tiny but mostly clean dorm that I´m sharing with two girls from Germany.
After claiming my bunk, I consulted my Lonely Planet bible er book and set out to find a school to enroll in. However, I totally managed to misread the map and went in the complete wrong direction. After walking in the sun and humidity through blocks and blocks of shanty homes, I decided I´d better head back the way I came. I was pretty embarrassed when I realized I was only a block away from where I wanted to go when I turned right instead of left. Oh well, at least I got to see a less touristy side of the city.
I stopped to get some lunch at little homefront restaurant, and the owner was so nice and chatty. She told me of a school nearby that has a good reputation, and she even told me I could come back and pay later when she couldn´t make change for my large cordoba bills. The school turned out to be great and I start classes tomorrow morning and move into my homestay after class. The director even made phone calls to two possible volunteer places and set up appointments for me to visit. And the best part: after I found a bank to make change and went back to the restuarant, I got a free piece of yummy cornbread.
After all that work I needed a nap and managed to snag one of the hammocks in front of the hostel. Now I´m at the internet cafe after dinner and two beers. A pretty good first day!
Once we got into Granada, I decided to get off at a stop that lots of passengers stood up for. I didn´t know where to head, so I put on my packs and started walking like I knew where I was going. For the first time ever this worked out really well because after a block I saw a sign for a hostel that was recommended on wikitravel. I checked into a tiny but mostly clean dorm that I´m sharing with two girls from Germany.
After claiming my bunk, I consulted my Lonely Planet bible er book and set out to find a school to enroll in. However, I totally managed to misread the map and went in the complete wrong direction. After walking in the sun and humidity through blocks and blocks of shanty homes, I decided I´d better head back the way I came. I was pretty embarrassed when I realized I was only a block away from where I wanted to go when I turned right instead of left. Oh well, at least I got to see a less touristy side of the city.
I stopped to get some lunch at little homefront restaurant, and the owner was so nice and chatty. She told me of a school nearby that has a good reputation, and she even told me I could come back and pay later when she couldn´t make change for my large cordoba bills. The school turned out to be great and I start classes tomorrow morning and move into my homestay after class. The director even made phone calls to two possible volunteer places and set up appointments for me to visit. And the best part: after I found a bank to make change and went back to the restuarant, I got a free piece of yummy cornbread.
After all that work I needed a nap and managed to snag one of the hammocks in front of the hostel. Now I´m at the internet cafe after dinner and two beers. A pretty good first day!
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