Sunday, March 14, 2010
NUMB all over
Buenas! Today I am on my way back from a lovely stay at a beach called San Juan del Sur. I stayed at this beautiful house that a friend of a friend owns. It was nice to just sit around, swim in a pool overlooking the ocean, eat healthy, and hang-out with a few other volunteers. However, as I was packing my bag today, I had a little visitor hanging out on my towel, a scorpion! and it stung my belly! It felt like a bee sting and was a bit swollen. The strange thing is that my tongue is still numb,and it happened this morning. I took some meds and put on some topical cream, no worries mom! But ek! I will be shaking my things out from now on!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Buenas tardes a todas y todos!
Again I would like to apologize for not writing as often as I should. School has finally started and I have recently moved!
To begin with, I now live in my own house, around the corner from my host family and directly in front of the Instituto (high school). It is a good size place with a bedroom, kitchen, and sala (living room). I also have a large patio and backyard. It has an avocado tree (still blooming), lemon tree, chili bush, and a cashew tree. The cashew nut hangs off a fruit, you toast it and it tastes amazing. We are currently approaching mango season but I sadly don’t have one of those in my back yard. I shower outside but in an enclosed area. I also use a latrine. Every day or so I have to sweep my patio to get rid of the leaves, fallen fruit, and garbage (the Nicaraguans are meticulous about the cleanliness of their patios, I have to keep up). I also have to sweep inside my house everyday because the amount of dust as well as ash from the burning of cana (sugarcane)is significant. I have recently set-up a chicken coop so that I can eventually have hens that will lay eggs for me.
As for company, I always have plenty of it. There are always little kids coming in and out, as well as the boys from my youth group. The high school students often come in as well asking English questions and reading the magazines that I have on my table. I am also waiting for a little perrito (little dog) that my host family from Niquinohomo has promised me. I am getting it just because my dad wouldn’t let me have one in the U.S.
One interesting note, unlike at home in the U.S., people generally don’t live on their own; almost never. People are constantly asking me if I am scared or lonely. Independence away from your family doesn’t really exist here. Privacy is very limited. Often children will get married and still live with their family until it gets too crowded (crowded in Nicaragua means about 15 plus in the same house; then maybe they will move out). One problem (overcrowding) I do have with my house is the constant presence of mice that scurry about. YUCK. I have also seen a few cockroaches and spiders. When I was moving in, I saw a dead tarantula on the street. YIKES.
School seems to occupy most of my time now. I am currently observing 6 teachers and next week I will start to give charlas (lessons). I ride my bike to school each day. The school furthest from my home is about 30 minutes away in the middle of farm land. The other day I arrived late to school because I got stuck behind a herd of cows. The classes are all held without books. Often the teacher is also missing the information to teach and has to go on the internet to research different topics. One of my schools is in need of a classroom so they have class outside under a post and tin roof structure. I hope eventually to get a grant from the Peace Corp to help them pay to have a classroom made. In general, the schools have seen less students attending this year. They think it is due to the current difficult economic situation; children stay at home to work or are too embarrassed to come because they can’t afford the uniforms or the notebooks. Two of my three schools are referred to as multigrado (mixed grades). For example, I am working with one teacher that is teaching to first and fourth grade at the same time! It is very interesting to watch her juggle between topics and try to maintain discipline. As a generalization, aulas (classrooms)in Nicaragua are less structured than what we are used to. Typically, the students don’t raise their hand, can leave the room when they want, and often arrive late. At times it can be challenging for the teachers to maintain control. However, I have noticed that the teachers seem to have very strong relationships with their students as well as their parents. There are no boundaries in that sense. Since there are usually no books for the students to read from, the teacher is often reading the lecture out loud or the students have to copy the information from a large piece of paper that is posted in the front of the class. The rural schools are lacking in a lot of materials. Sometimes they are missing desks or their markers don’t work. The students seem very excited to work with me, as well as the teachers. I have already given charlas about composting and organic garbage. We have almost finished creating several compost pits. We will use the compost to give more nutrients to the soil and help with water retention when we start doing our gardens and tree nursery. The students brought in huge bags of kitchen scraps, cow poop, ash, leaves, etc. It was inspiring to see their enthusiasm about bringing in the different items.
I wanted to let Senorita Schroeder and her Spanish class know, that I received the little lamb and it has been traveling with me to all the schools. I have had the children take pictures with it and they are very exited about the idea of sending it back to the U.S. I hope to take it with me to a volcano or two. A group of my students are planning on writing all of you letters, like pen pals so they can learn all about Wilmette and you can learn about their town of Tonala.
Talk to you all soon. Nos vemos. Adios.
Again I would like to apologize for not writing as often as I should. School has finally started and I have recently moved!
To begin with, I now live in my own house, around the corner from my host family and directly in front of the Instituto (high school). It is a good size place with a bedroom, kitchen, and sala (living room). I also have a large patio and backyard. It has an avocado tree (still blooming), lemon tree, chili bush, and a cashew tree. The cashew nut hangs off a fruit, you toast it and it tastes amazing. We are currently approaching mango season but I sadly don’t have one of those in my back yard. I shower outside but in an enclosed area. I also use a latrine. Every day or so I have to sweep my patio to get rid of the leaves, fallen fruit, and garbage (the Nicaraguans are meticulous about the cleanliness of their patios, I have to keep up). I also have to sweep inside my house everyday because the amount of dust as well as ash from the burning of cana (sugarcane)is significant. I have recently set-up a chicken coop so that I can eventually have hens that will lay eggs for me.
As for company, I always have plenty of it. There are always little kids coming in and out, as well as the boys from my youth group. The high school students often come in as well asking English questions and reading the magazines that I have on my table. I am also waiting for a little perrito (little dog) that my host family from Niquinohomo has promised me. I am getting it just because my dad wouldn’t let me have one in the U.S.
One interesting note, unlike at home in the U.S., people generally don’t live on their own; almost never. People are constantly asking me if I am scared or lonely. Independence away from your family doesn’t really exist here. Privacy is very limited. Often children will get married and still live with their family until it gets too crowded (crowded in Nicaragua means about 15 plus in the same house; then maybe they will move out). One problem (overcrowding) I do have with my house is the constant presence of mice that scurry about. YUCK. I have also seen a few cockroaches and spiders. When I was moving in, I saw a dead tarantula on the street. YIKES.
School seems to occupy most of my time now. I am currently observing 6 teachers and next week I will start to give charlas (lessons). I ride my bike to school each day. The school furthest from my home is about 30 minutes away in the middle of farm land. The other day I arrived late to school because I got stuck behind a herd of cows. The classes are all held without books. Often the teacher is also missing the information to teach and has to go on the internet to research different topics. One of my schools is in need of a classroom so they have class outside under a post and tin roof structure. I hope eventually to get a grant from the Peace Corp to help them pay to have a classroom made. In general, the schools have seen less students attending this year. They think it is due to the current difficult economic situation; children stay at home to work or are too embarrassed to come because they can’t afford the uniforms or the notebooks. Two of my three schools are referred to as multigrado (mixed grades). For example, I am working with one teacher that is teaching to first and fourth grade at the same time! It is very interesting to watch her juggle between topics and try to maintain discipline. As a generalization, aulas (classrooms)in Nicaragua are less structured than what we are used to. Typically, the students don’t raise their hand, can leave the room when they want, and often arrive late. At times it can be challenging for the teachers to maintain control. However, I have noticed that the teachers seem to have very strong relationships with their students as well as their parents. There are no boundaries in that sense. Since there are usually no books for the students to read from, the teacher is often reading the lecture out loud or the students have to copy the information from a large piece of paper that is posted in the front of the class. The rural schools are lacking in a lot of materials. Sometimes they are missing desks or their markers don’t work. The students seem very excited to work with me, as well as the teachers. I have already given charlas about composting and organic garbage. We have almost finished creating several compost pits. We will use the compost to give more nutrients to the soil and help with water retention when we start doing our gardens and tree nursery. The students brought in huge bags of kitchen scraps, cow poop, ash, leaves, etc. It was inspiring to see their enthusiasm about bringing in the different items.
I wanted to let Senorita Schroeder and her Spanish class know, that I received the little lamb and it has been traveling with me to all the schools. I have had the children take pictures with it and they are very exited about the idea of sending it back to the U.S. I hope to take it with me to a volcano or two. A group of my students are planning on writing all of you letters, like pen pals so they can learn all about Wilmette and you can learn about their town of Tonala.
Talk to you all soon. Nos vemos. Adios.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
