Hello blog followers :)

Buenos dias! On Friday, we had one more day of pre-training in our training camp and by evening we were all settling into the houses of our new host families. In the morning we went over general environment topics (TEFL went into another room). We were given about 15 different books covering a range of topics (and reading assignments in each…it’s like I’m in a college course again!), and then we were split into different Spanish test groups. The groups were split again into three levels:novice (beginning), intermediate (middle to high level Spanish) and advanced/superior (fluency). I was put into the intermediate level and for an hour we did different interactive Spanish games to see which people worked best together. Later these groups were further broken down into groups of 3-4 trainees (out of the original 8 in intermediate). Then we were assigned to towns where we will receive training for 3 months. I was assigned to a small/medium sized town with another girl and two boys. I live with a fairly large family. My host mom and dad have three daughters- 10, 20 and 25 years of age. The 25 year old is married, 5 months pregnant, and has a 7 year old daughter. Beside the family members that I live with, the entire block consists of other brothers and sisters of my host father. My understanding is that typically the father of the family buys a plot of land and eventually leaves the land for his children to split up amongst themselves. As a result, they generally live in close proximity. However, the land is usually given to the sons and the daughters usually go to live with their husband. Sometimes the parents may not have enough land to pass onto their children. This was the case for my host mother whose family didn’t have land to pass on; her family is more spread-out. Nevertheless, family is very important to Nicaraguans. I have a lot of respect for the way that people in Latin American have shown me how much they value their families. It is rare for family members to live far from each other or even in another town. My host mom was saying that is one of the big differences between the U.S. and Nicaraguans. Independence is sought after in the U.S., with some people going as far as they can for things like college. In Latin American you don't leave your home for college. In my host house, the women seem to have a system for how things work. My host mom cooks during the week,the older daughter cooks on the weekends (during the week she is a teacher), and the other daughter cleans when she is not at school. My host father is a truck driver for a construction business. And as I mentioned my host sister is in school, studying engineering in Managua, the capital. She has class from 3 to 8 pm but has a two hour bus ride to get there every day. DEDICATION! I have my own room with a bed, a dresser and a lamp. I flush the toilet and shower in the morning with a bucket of water! They have a huge vat of water, which they then pour a portion into a smaller painter’s bucket. I then use a small bowl to pour the water over my head. It was a bit difficult at first but now I have the hang of it and I think it is a quite effective way to manage the amount of water each person uses every day. Al Gore should take note. I also found the structure of the houses interesting (Thank you dad. I notice the structure of houses). They build the houses with as much “openness” as possible. I believe it is to deal with the humidity, heat and provide more air flow. They use bricks /stone blocks with holes (or rather designs punched-out of the brick), have openings between the walls and the roof, large walls, and big doorways. They generally use big cuts of stone instead of smaller bricks because of the cost of the bricks and the cement is high. I have also found that they love Michael Jackson (and are very taken back by his death :( ) and almost every home has a few rocking chairs (abuelitas). Also, they love baseball. The first three questions I was asked by my host family were: What music do you listen to? What is your favorite comedy tv show? And who is your favorite baseball team? The best part was during my first hour of being at my host house, my host dad had the Chicago SOX game on!!! I was like OMG my family would love this house! That is the other thing. The house I am in, does have cable and the young girls love the Jonas Brothers, Dora the Explorer, The Fairy God Parents, and Jimmy Neutron. Also, I taught my host sisters some card games and since then we have played cards every second that we have had together. They love UNO, KEMPS, and SPOONS.

The young girls also took two of the other trainees and myself on a tour of the town - showing us the park, their school, the mayor’s office, the church, etc. I have also started my Spanish class, which is 4 hours of general interactive vocabulary and grammar lessons. Two more hours include going into the town and learning more technical terms and how to start things like a youth group. I also went to church on Sunday with my host mom and there were big firework noises that kept going off that made me jump each time. It was Mother Mary’s Birthday so I am not sure if that noise is a normal occurrence or not (for my sanity I hope not). For those that do not know I am a vegetarian; so I was somewhat concerned about that. However, my family has been amazingly accommodating and everyday they introduce me to new meals that are not always the most flavorful but are still very tasty. In the morning I am typically given a piece of bread that sometimes has cheese in it, maybe eggs or a potato, a vegetable mixture,and sweet coffee or fresh squeezed juice. Lunch and dinner may be pinto gallo (rice and red beans) with a vegetable soup or some sort of maiz tamale with a salty cheese, or maybe cooked bananas. There are four types and all are used in an assortment of ways: guinea, banana, platano, and I can’t remember at the moment the name of the small, sweet one. I also was given a maiz (corn) drink the other day that looked liked iced coffee but had more the flavor of a sweet juice with an interesting kick. The town seems a bit run down but still beautiful and full of history. There are displays of different propaganda painted onto the walls running through-out the town. There isn’t a huge amount of pollution in the streets. My host mom explained to me that this is a recent development and that the town has really been working hard to control the litter, and they are doing different restoration projects with the money they do have. I also feel very safe here. The people are all friendly and you greet everyone on the street that you pass with Buenos Dias, Buenas tardes, Y Buenas Noches. Though it is considered the winter (invierno) and the end of the rain season, it has only rained about twice and is very hot! This is just a general overview of what I have seen so far in my short time being in my town. That’s all for now! Hasta Pronto!