Site Visits!

So things are progressing quite rapidly over here in Nicaragua. Week 4 of training has kept us all very busy. This week we gave our first class as the one of the local schools. It went better than I thought it would and we actually had to give the class in two different 5th grade classrooms. I think teaching will be fun but classroom management is going to be difficult. The kids here are pretty loud and get up and run around. They seem very eager to learn though. It has also been eye openening to see the conditions of the schools which are quite different than those in the U.S. The classrooms in the school we are working with are quite small and there are about 30 to 35 kids in each class. The classrooms are stuffed full of desks and only a few text books many of which the kids share or are in really bad condition. There is not a lot of room to move around or supplies for the teachers to use. It really makes me realize how lucky I was with the school I went to and all that I got to do.

We also had to start another youth group this week and give a charla (small talk or presentation) to them. Our last group slowly but surely stopped coming after a couple weeks. Hopefully this group will stick around a little longer. Their incentive is that they can get out of school a little early if they come to our group. We also have to plant more tomatoes and peppers in our garden as the rain has wiped out our first group. The pepian however is doing well.

The most exciting thing this week is that we found out today where we are going for our site visits. On Sunday I will be headed out to the department of Leòn. I´ll get to spend 4 days with a current environmental volunteer and shadow her. I also hear that we´ll get to go to the beach. It will be a much needed break from spanish classes and technical sessions. :o) I´ll post more on that visit when I get back.

Other than that I am still adjusting to life here in Nicaragua. We are in the rainy season now and it rains quite often and fiercely. And apparently October is worse than September! The most interesting thing is how everything shuts down when it´s raining. Sometimes even school is cancelled. It also makes washing clothes interesting because it is difficult for things to dry when it is raining all the time. I, however, generally like the rain because the temperatures are a bit lower. I do need to invest in a nice umbrella though.

Food is another big adjustment. My host mom cooks great food and despite the complaints of some other aspirantes I have no problem eating gallo pinto for dinner everynight. Right now it is one of my favorite things to eat. I am also a great fan of the jugos (juices) that my host mom makes. I get jugos of lemons, oranges, pinapple, papaya, and pitahaya (a crazy bright red fruit that is really tasty) and probably others that I don´t know what they are. So my adjustment is not being able to choose what I eat and eating such big lunches and dinners. There is also a lack of fruits and veggies. One night I was served spaghetti with rice and asked if I also wanted a tortilla! So I am looking forward to being able to shop for myself at some point in the future.

I hope everyone is well. Thanks for the emails and kind words (Which help tremendously!).