Sunday, October 30, 2011

A New Me






In the 9 months that I have been here in Nicaragua, I have learned a lot. Some of the things listed below are skills that I have acquired, while others are just things that I have gotten used to. Some are helpful skills that I will be able to continue to use when back in the states and some are pretty much just relevant to being here!

-Killing Cockroaches (well…almost)

-Watching Boston sports via the score updates on the bottom of ESPN (They have played all of the Pats games though on live TV!)

-Bathing using the bucket bath method

-Waiting more than an hour for a meeting to start

-Riding a bike in 2 inch white leather-looking heels

-Wearing 2 inch white leather heels and feeling okay with it


-Commanding a room of anywhere from 5 to 80 people...in Spanish...usually I talk about sex.

-Cooking on a one burner camp stove-recent cooking triumph: vegetable soup (which is called Stone Soup here) and tabouli.

-Dancing (I’m still perfecting my salsa and bachata, but I’m getting there.)


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Next Edition of I’m An Awkward Gringa (well…almost…it was a really close call)

I have these great sandals. They are black strappy super comfortable flats that go with every single outfit I own. I bought them from a store in Leon for 60 cordobas. Because they were so cheap, 2 of my friends bought the same exact shoes. I mean, who can say no to a 3 dollar great (or so I thought) pair of sandals? I wear them very often…so often in fact, that the bottom has started to wear away. Because of that, they have become rather slippery, which of course does not help my case of awkward-gringa-ness.

Anyway, on Monday, I was about to walk into the food store. I was feeling great with my cool sunglasses and confidence building outfit, so I was walking pretty tall. That is, until I slipped and came extremely close to face planting. I picked up my dignity from the grey cement Pali walkway and smiled and gave a “ha wow that was a close one” face to the security guard. He looks at me like I’m crazy and tells me to be careful. I’m okay. I continue walking into the store and head to the vegetable and pasta section of the store, which is pretty close to the front of the store. That being said, the security guard had another clear view of my next close call. Same thing happened- I almost slipped, this time almost falling flat on my back. I did that move where your legs are spread, almost like you’re about to do a split. Your arms instantly go out to either side to balance yourself and you make an extremely attractive panic face. If I had been out at a dance club or maybe at the gym, I could have pulled this off as a new starfish looking dance move….but I was not. I was at the food store…in Nicaragua. And as before, only one person commented, while the rest just looked. Thank you sir security guard for being worried about me (and for watching my bike every time I visit your store).

Oh, the life of being an almost awkward gringa.

Rainy Days and Movie Night Updates

Today it rained for 12 hours. It started early morning around 2 am and kept raining-hard- until about 2 pm. This was definitely the hardest rain I have seen here in Nicaragua so far. Someone said that right now we are being hit with a small hurricane, which will be followed by Tropical Storm Irwin. They’re expecting a lot of rain this week…remember- this week marks my 7 movie nights in a row…hmmm.

Update So Far:

Movie Night #1: It was scheduled to go from 6pm to 8pm. It rained from 4 until about 5:45 pm. 6:15 pm- we started the first movie. 2 out of the 3 movies and the projector worked perfectly. We had a great crowd and they were very participatory. 8pm- we finish and I head home. 8:30 pm- the electricity goes out until 3 am. Maybe my luck is changing?

Movie Night #2: It rains for 12 hours and is supposed to rain on and off for the whole week. Maybe last night was a fluke.

I will keep you updated with how the rest of the week goes.

Invent Yourself

Back in 4th grade, we had a group project to invent something. It could have been anything-no need for it to be realistic. My group and I designed a sneaker that could do anything and everything- you could travel to far away places in seconds, it could make you hot chocolate etc… It was a fantastic idea. Not realistic at all, but fantastic. (And come on, honestly, who would want to drink hot chocolate that came from a show you’d been wearing all day?) Here, the Peace Corps small business sector has an annual entrepreneurial competition in the high schools. Each Small Business volunteer runs a local competition. The winner of this is sent to a departmental competition. The winner of this is sent onto the National Competition, which is held in Managua. It’s a pretty cool event. All of the students who are a part of this business class have learned how to come up with an original product, make the product, write a business plan, present it and sell it. Broken up into groups, this is what they must do for the competition. Today I was a judge for the event in Corinto. We had the task of judging painted and decorated tortillas (being sold as a tourist product); a new local healthier bird food; a chocolate dish made of cocoa, dulce de leche, dried fruits and peanuts (absolutely delicious!); a calendar/agenda with pictures of Nicaragua and Corinto; and a jewelry business (very creative with their ribbon bracelets). I was honestly very impressed with all of the groups- it was obvious that they all worked extremely hard to organize their presentations, actually make and sell their product and write a detailed business plan. At the end of the month, the department wide competition will be held in Chinandega. I’ll be very excited to see how the rest of Chin did and to see if a representative from Corinto can continue on to Managua!

Family Ties

As I close my eyes, I think of my family. I had no idea how much I would miss them. One of Peace Corps’ slogans is “(it’s) One of the toughest jobs you’ll ever love”. It is true. I really do love my life here- I love my job, I work with some really great people, have some good friends and am learning so much, but it can be difficult. The highs are so incredibly high and the lows are terribly low. Your highs and lows can come and go in a span of an hour or two. Never in my life had I ever woken up feeling so positive to stepping out of the shower, having washed away all of my positivity, leaving behind only dark negative thoughts. I’m not sure why this happens. I do want to reassure you that this is not something that happens very often, but it does happen. Not always being able to have direct, instantaneous contact with a friend or family member after of these extremes definitely makes it difficult. Living with Mom, I could come home and have her there to talk to or I would encounter my Dad on the bus ride home. I miss the small things-arriving home in JP after work to roommates with bottles of wine and smiles waiting for me; spending Sundays watching football with Mom and Scarlett followed by Youth Group and more football at Main St with sugar rimmed pumpkin beer and friends; checking out new parts of Boston with Dad, paid for by Groupons that he bought; and a impromptu sisters outing, even if it was just to Marshalls or to a movie. You honestly do not think about what your life would be like without someone there until they’re not (or at least not a close by kind of “there”). Peace Corps prepares you to learn Spanish, to give charlas, to speak in front large groups, to form youth groups and to adapt and integrate into Nicaraguan culture. I honestly do not know if there is a way to prepare for the longing for someone familiar that one can feel when they are not close by. It can be a tough job.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Lights Action Camera...Movie Night

Health promoters here use movies a lot as a tool to teach people about health topics. There are films on everything from gender roles to HIV to domestic violence...really any health topic (especially sexual and reproductive health) you could think of-there is probably a video. Being a health promoters, myself, Xiomara and Estefan (new German volunteer), we have used and will be using movie nights a lot. When I first arrived, Christian (old German vol.) and Evan (PC volunteer who I replaced), RAVED about movie nights. They described them as being one of the easiest activities to organize. As long as you have all of the equipment, you should have a successful event. To begin, you arrive at the neighborhood where you will be putting on the movie. You go to the house of a community leader, hoping that they will lend you some electricity and possibly a sound system. From the Casa y Clinica, we bring the movie, a laptop, a projector and a screen. As soon as everything is set up and working correctly (which should be an easy process), you go house to house inviting people. This is the fun part. Next, everyone shows up half an hour later and you begin the movie. To end the night, you give a short charla on the theme that the movie discussed and thank everyone for coming.
Now...these are the steps, in order, that one must go through, if we lived in a perfect world (or if I were a luckier person). For me, I have had some difficulties arranging these events. The first time I attempted to put on a movie night, we arrived and told the people we would begin around 7. At 6:59, the lights go out. We now have no electricity to plug anything in. The event is postponed. Movie night number 2- it pours and the event is postponed. Movie night number 3- the wire we bring to connect the sound system to the computer is not compatible. The event is postponed. Movie night number 4- it pours....the event is postponed...again. Movie night number 5- my computer does not have the correct program to connect the projector to my computer. We borrow a computer and FINALLY are able to put on the show. We show a film on gender roles and domestic violence and give a brief charla on the theme. It goes well...finally.
Anyway, today my counterpart-Xiomara- tells me that her boss wants us to do a series of movie nights- the series being 7 movie nights in 7 nights. What?! Are you serious? Dead serious. The theme is domestic violence, HIV and teen pregnancy. The week long movie night will begin Monday October 10th and will end on Sunday October 16th. We will be putting on these activities for 15 youth per neighborhood here in Corinto. If all goes well, it will not rain for a week, the lights will not go out and we will all be technologically inclined. (This being Nicaragua and me being me...I'm not too optimistic!)
But being in Peace Corps and being a person who likes to learn, I'm hoping to have at least a few of the movie nights go well. And if not, as my Dad always says, at least "it's an opportunity to make new friends"!


Another Edition of “I’m an Awkward Gringa…Why Don’t You Stare At Me Some More?”

8 am Thursday morning- one of the cooks from the Comedor Infantil, Paula, and I go shopping to buy a fish for Friday’s lunch. The best place to buy fresh fish here in Corinto is in the Barrio de los Pescadores (Neighborhood of the Fishermen). It’s a neighborhood located right on the ocean- it has amazing views of the islands, fantastic sunsets and great access to the beach. The fish stores or markets are set up in front of or inside of someone’s house or garage. The place we go to is a wide open garage type building filled with bins, buckets, scales and of course, the smell of fish. The bins and buckets have tiny fish, child-size fish, urel, eel, manta rays and shark. It’s a busy place, but because it’s still early in the day, there are many people sitting around drinking their morning coffee. The men fishing in the boats have just come in from an early morning expedition. Some use the spear fishing method, while others use massive nets. You do not see many fishing poles here, at least not in Corinto.

Paula and I choose a fish of about a foot and a half in length- we need enough fish to feed 30 children. The man gives me the fish in one black plastic bag and I give him 50 cordobas (about 2 US dollars). I then put the bag with the fish on my bike handle bars and begin to head home.

Because I am white, I get stared at- even though I have been here for 6 months. I do not have to make a fool of myself and do anything extra to draw attention. Just by being white, people notice me. But, being the awkward-at-times-person that I am, I sometimes draw attention for other reasons.

Anyway, Paula and I bike back to my house. We are right around the corner from my place when the fish bag breaks. The fish slips out through the hole in the bag and flops onto the street. People are staring. The breaks on my bike are broken right now(I promise to get them fixed right away!), so the only way I can stop is to use the Fred Flintstone method. I slow down and start dragging my foot on the ground. As I am attempting to stop my bike in a most comedic manner, the fish is still just lying in the middle of the street. I finally stop and I turn my bike around. There are many many people staring now. Some are laughing; some just stare. Not one single person comes over to help. They just sit and enjoy the strange gringa show.

Eventually Paula takes the fish from me and we make it back to my house. We stuff the fish into my freezer and sit down to rest after our fish flopping fiasco. What a way to start a Thursday!

Stay tuned for more awkward situations to come!