Ok everybody, once again I am sorry for not blogging. (Grant - I am ALIVE; I swear.)
As of last week we started school again. Yea. These past two months we have been on vacation. The school vacation gave my sitemate (Laurel), her brother, my host family, neighborhood youths, some professional tradesmen, and myself an opportunity to successfully build a house made out of plastic bottles (stuffed with inorganic trash). Everyone in town said we were crazy and couldn’t understand why we would be storing such an excessive amount of “garbage” in my house.
But now they get it. The point of the project was not only to give my sitemate her own home but to show the town that there are other ways to use your trash besides burning it, dumping it on the street, or sending it to the town dump. Well, I think it worked. People are beginning to approach Laurel and myself with hopes of their own bottle projects. There is no protective fencing at the 4 schools that I work with. We are working to plant vegetable gardens at each of these 4 sites. Last year we lost a bunch of crops o animals, such as bunnies and lizards that make their dinner from our plants. So this year, we are going to build small walls made out of plastic bottles, creating a mini-green house effect. In theory I think it will work. Fingers crossed. I was delighted to share Nicaragua and Christmas with my family. My brother, sister, and parents all came to spend the time with me. We had an amazing time. Sailboat rides, swimming, zip lining, beaches, fancy drinks, and lots and lots of laughs. I think it was my favorite family trip. I think we are finally old enough to fight a little less and understand each other a whole lot more. Then my parents and sister Claire left and Kevin stayed behind with me. My family lugged a used computer system (thanks to Tony Peterson) to Nicaragua for my host family; Kevin and I presented it to them. They are very excited as they learn how to work with it. We went on bike rides, ate sugar cane, played with the dogs, helped with constructing the plastic house, built a chicken coop,
went volcano boarding, and did a coffee tour. Nicaragua continually surprises me. It is organized chaos, I am always finding new little surprises and adventures.
When my brother left and I had to return to my responsibilities in Tonala, I was greeted with the ultimate Peace Corps surprise. My 13 year old neighbor, with whom I had made two gardens at school, had made his very own garden. He used all the information he had learned and put it to use. It was exciting to see him absorb the knowledge and then find the self-motivation to put it to use.
Also during the school break, I was privileged to participate in a leadership camp, along with four local children I had invited from my town. It was a very exciting trip for all especially considering the distance we traveled to get to the camp. It was probably the farthest some of these kids had ever been and probably would ever be. But the camp was full of energy because there were young people from all over the country that participated. They were all able to share different aspects of their culture. We all gathered at this beautiful retreat center where they received classes on leadership, diversity, entrepreneurship, team work, etc. It was entertaining yet tiring. But the most eventful part of the trip was the journey home. First of all, we had to shove more than 50 people into a tiny mini bus. Included also was their drinks in plastic bags and their lunches in Styrofoam boxes. Secondly, the bus driver felt the need to catch-up on the time he lost trying to shove people into the vehicle and proceeded to drive like a maniac on winding roads. I’m sure you can guess what happened next. I heard screeching from the front end of the bus, “AHHHH que asco!” I slowly pushed myself out of the crevice I was standing in, to see one of the boys vomiting all over the front of the bus. I quickly, not so quickly considering I couldn’t move, instructed him to open a window and used plastic bags to clean “the situation” up. I felt that things were finally under control but as I turned I was greeted with the faces of the rest of them also on the verge of re-creating the same “situation”. I acted “quickly” and instructed those not feeling well to wiggle their way to a window. I thought to myself, wow, I am sure glad I am not a mother yet!
The following day, I was graced with a visit from my friend Alex as she was fleeing the snow storms in the U.S. On her short visit, she was greeted with swarms of mosquitoes, landed in mud as we fell off a bike that we were sharing, surfed at the ocean, and went dancing.
Unfortunately all vacations come to an end. I am now confronted with tons and tons of work. But I like it. “Times a wasting.” So far this is what the agenda includes:
1.) I just turned in my grant proposal to build a preschool classroom
2.) Next week we start compost pits in preparation for the upcoming garden season
3.) Building plastic bottle fences
4.) Building a youth center using the plastic bottle concept
5.) AIDS awareness billiard hall tournaments
6.) Re-starting a farmers market
7.) Continuing to teach English class
8.) Pen pals with U.S. students and Nicaraguan students
9.) Amazing gardens with lush vegetables….
10.) ….who knows
11.)
Recent animal update: So Moco is good as always. But there is a new addition to the family. His name is Jerry. He is my cat. Yes, I do have allergies to cats but certain events led me to choose sneezing over worse. Here is what compelled me to get a cat. Basically, I was awaken one night to a wet feeling on my back and decided to turn the light on. I was both frightened and disgusted to find a huge rat perched on my mosquito net. I didn’t sleep that night…or the next either. So I took action. I covered the top of the net with plastic. To my astonishment two of the local boys who had heard my story found a stray cat for me. The ironic part of it all is that I am allergic to cats, but in my house I don’t seem to be affected. But here’s another issue. I suddenly seem like the crazy gringa again. Why? ---because I have found myself now living in animal barn. Not only do I feed my dog and cat but my host family’s cat Jack, that now refuses to leave, as well as their dog Cuco and my sitemate’s dog Dumbo. But no that’s not all, just to add to the stampede that follows me to my house everyday, a little orange kitten now is appearing in my house, and he as well, will not leave. A month ago, I was crying that a rat peed on me and now I am living in a menagerie- but no more rats or mice!
