Volcano Updates

So this is a short update article that was written on The Nicaragua Dispatch on September 12, 2012 about the latest happenings on the volcano. The latest that Peace Corps has told us is that we will be out of our sites still until Monday at the earliest.
"San Cristóbal Volcano’s initial cooldown on Sunday and Monday may have been a fake out. Nicaragua’s largest volcano registered three more minor explosions on Tuesday afternoon shortly after 3:30 p.m., according to Civil Defense.

The Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies (INETER) also registered a sudden flurry of minor seismic activity in the area surrounding the volcano.

Tuesday belches, which caused a cloud 300 meters above the crater, were much smaller than Saturday’s eruptions. Authorities still believe San Cristóbal is calming, but the preventive alert remains in place for Chinandega as they monitor the volcano’s continued grumblings."
http://www.nicaraguadispatch.com

Ashes Ashes We All Go to Granada

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19533933

So the excitement continues here in Nicaragua. Today the volunteers of the Northwestern region of Nicaragua were evacuated due to volcanic activity in Nicaragua's biggest and most active volcano, San Cristobal.

According to earthquake-report.com, the volcano erupted 3 times this morning throwing up gas and ash 1,500 meters into the sky. The eruption mainly affected the families living within 10 km of the volcano, but many other pueblos nearby are seeing blackened skies and receiving ashy rainstorms. The eruption is being monitored by the Nica government and to me, it seems like things have calmed down a bit. About 3,000 people from the area have been evacuated, as well as nearby peace corps volunteers. We have been moved to a safe location, where Peace Corps is taking very good care of us. These couple weeks have definitely been a time where I think to myself, "I'm definitely not in Massachusetts anymore..."

This Has Nothing to Do With Nicaragua...

But they look delicious...Oh how I miss chocolate.

Homemade Kit Kat Bar

Every now and then, you come across a recipe so ridiculously indulgent and unabashedly excessive that you simply must prepare it immediately. A perfect example? This recipe for homemade Kit Kat bars, adapted from Paula Deen, and loaded with peanut butter, chocolate, and butterscotch chips.

About This Recipe

YIELD:	Makes approximately 32 bars
ACTIVE TIME:	45 minutes
TOTAL TIME:	2 hours, 45 minutes
THIS RECIPE APPEARS IN:	Edible DIY: Paula Deen's Homemade Kit Kat Bars

Ingredients

• 75 Club crackers
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Procedures

1. 1
   Line 9- by 13-inch rectangular baking pan with one layer of Club crackers (you may need to break some to fit).
2. 2
   Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add graham cracker crumbs, dark brown sugar, milk, and granulated sugar. Bring to boil. Boil for five minutes, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat. Pour half of butter mixture over crackers in pan. Smooth surface with spatula.
3. 3
   Arrange another layer of Club crackers over butter mixture. Pour remaining butter mixture over surface. Smooth surface with spatula. Arrange a third layer of crackers over top.
4. 4
   Combine peanut butter, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips in small saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over crackers.
5. 5
   Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate two hours. Cut into 2-inch bars. Bars will keep for two weeks, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator
   .

4th Annual Career Fair

 Last week, after a good amount of work(our whole team) and a few stressful days(me), we put on a Career Fair for the 11th and 12th grade students from my town and a nearby town. 6 high schools came-about 400 ish students-to learn about local universities and options for their futures. 6 universities from Chinandega and Leon, the Naval Base, the Casa y Clinica and our new Association Youth Footprints came and set up informational tables with banners, posters and demonstrations. One university even put on a demonstration of how to hook someone up to an IV, which included sticking a needle in one of their classmates and actually inserting a saline solution into his vein.

The morning of the event, I have to say, was stressful for me. As I have learned, Nicaragua and Latin America in general, runs on their own time. People always talk about "Nica time". Basically what that means is that an event scheduled to start at 9 am, could start anywhere from 9 am to 10:30am. People usually are not in a rush, which fits into who I am perfectly! Except when I'm running a big event; then I like things to be on time...I like people to be on time. A few people arrives at 8 am as we had planned to begin setting up, but the majority of our work team did not arrive until 10. The fair was planned to start at 9. Anyway, I was definitely worried. Luckily-since we were starting so late, and unfortunately-because we wanted them there- neither the mayor, nor the health center director, nor the director of all the schools were able to come. We pushed on without them though...jumping over small troubles with our donated bus, not having enough lunches and then having one too many and wishing and hoping that all of the students came. 

Eventually, I calmed down when things started to run smoothly. The first school came; in perfectly straight lines, they listened to the national anthem and to the introductions given by Xiomara and Carolina. While there are a few things I would change for next year, overall the event was a huge success pulled together by the whole community! We were donated music and a sound system by the Catholic Church, lunches by a local comedor and a local port worker union, the bus by the port and the time and effort of 6 universities, the fuerza naval, 6 high schools, 9 youth volunteers and a visit from the Peace Corps office. Overall it was a great event!