Ahhhh the Internet

Well it certainly has been a while since I’ve had access to the outside world. I’ll really try to keep the gap shorter from now on – depending on what’s happening around here. So you’ve probably been wondering what’s been goin on since I’ve arrived at my training site? A WHOLE LOT to be honest, so this is gonna be a long one! It’s hard to know where to start!

Well, we began our adventure to Esteli (training department) on Sept. 6 with an ever eventful, typical Nicaraguan experience…a flat tire! It was hilarious – I’d be lying if I said that I was surprised. All 22 of us soon to be Ag. Volunteers broke out in a simultaneous laugh, as if we knew it was inevitably going to happen. Nicaragua has great highways and main roads, but because most of the side roads have ridiculously huge rocks and tropical weather tires wear out a lot faster. To say the least we started with a great bonding experience.

I have definitely been blessed; my host family that I live with is evangelical and get this my dad is the pastor of the church! I was super-exited when I found this out upon arriving in my training town of El Naranjo (and yes that means orange in Spanish). My house is situated about 100 ft west of the Pan-American Highway and 10 ft from the La Iglesia Bautista Evangelica de Naranjo (the church is painted a bright sky-blue color). We have a dog (Pitufa), a parrot (Luis), a cat (Gato), a rooster (that insists on crowing every morning beginning at 3 a.m. and every two hours thereafter) and two chickens (that roam around freely in our backyard). My host mom Zoila is an amazing cook! Because our schedules are so crazy during training, my host family prepares every meal for me, washes all my clothes (by hand, with bucket water from a electric well), and suffers through my outrageous Spanish mistakes when I’m trying to have a conversation with them. Overall, I love my family here! They have really made me feel like I am at home…it will be sad to leave them when I go to my permanent site in Nov.

My typical schedule as a trainee: I get up every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for Spanish class that goes from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. (classroom setting) 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. (hands on in the community). There are three others in my Spanish group. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday we have technical trainings held at organizations around the area. The other days I learned how to cut open a tire, turn it inside out, cut handles in it, and use it as a planter (all with my bare hands…pretty amazing!). When we’re not in class, we are required to work with the areas university students with commercialization, grow and sustain a community garden, protein bank and tree nursery. So to say the least, we haven’t had much time to hang out with our host families or just relax on our own.

Electricity - we have it almost everyday. Usually it´s pretty spotty on Saturdays and Sundays.

Bucket baths - the form of bathing at my house...it´s pretty interesting. We have an electric water well (unfortunately it only works when there is electricity.) There is also a huge basin to collect rain water and city water. It is not heated, so in the morning it´s a great waker-uper!