Neglected blog...

Wow, my last post was April 9th? Thats embarassing. In my defense I have been busy the past 2 months. I always had a blog post planned out in my head but then every time I went to the internet cafe I didnt have enough time (or money) to sit down and write it. Anyways, excuses excuses, I´ll let you know what Ive been busy with.

First off, I havent updated people with what exactly my job is in a really long time. And, since my job is slightly more concrete now than it was last year when I was starting out it makes sense to give you guys an update. My job is more or less co-director of the Corinto Health Center´s Adolescent Program. Since adolescents here don´t get a lot of guidance from their parents or the schools on topics such as healthly living practices, HIV, STIs, Self-Esteem, and leadership skills, the health center here runs a program to help create healthier adolescents in Corinto. Or at least thats what my counterpart Xiomara and I have turned it into. We get zero funds for activities from the health center itself so we rely on local NGOs that have the same goals that we do. Part of why I have been busy is because at the beginning of April the health center finally gave Xiomara and I our own (temporary) office. This basically changed everything because before that we would kind of roam the health center finding desk space to use when someone was gone, but now we have a place to put our things and more importantly, the adolescents can come to the health center and know where to find people to help them for any question or problem.
We didnt realize the potential at the time, but the office has turned into some what of an after school center. In the afternoon adolescents are showing up for help with homework or to help us with our job. Its great! The goal is to better connect adolescents with the health center, and here they are, showing up without even being asked! This all is the precursor to the big project we have been working on since last august which is the construction of an Adolescent Center. We started building in May and are hoping to finish in August. This adolescent center will have a space similar to our office where adolescents can come and hangout, do homework, or have meetings. There will also be a part where a doctor and nurse will exclusively see adolescent patients. The idea is that adolescents will feel comfortable looking for help with any questions or problems. Xiomara and I have been very busy overseeing the start of the construction, organizing our work in a way that will take advantage of the space we will have, organizing some fundraisers to raise the last $1000 to complete the construction, and of course our everyday activities that involve training adolescents on the important topics of the adolescence. So as you can see we´ve been busy! My normal internet time was in the late afternoon but now the kids are hanging out in our office until around 6pm so I dont have as much time for internet.
In addition to my work in Corinto, I have also been involved with giving classes to the new training group that arrived at the beginning of May. As you may remember from my training, it lasts 11 weeks and involves language classes and classes given by current volunteers related to their future job/life. At the end of May and beginning of June, I went to Managua to plan and give two different classes to the new Small Business trainees. I gave a class on how Nicaraguan gender roles will affect their job and life, and a class on Facilitation Techniques. I really like working with the new trainees because they have a lot of enthusiasm and are SO curious about what it will be like when they finally get out in the field as volunteers. It always reminds of how much Ive learned in the past year and a half (today I am completing 1 year and 5 months in Nicaragua, can you believe it?).
Anyways, thats what Ive been up to. I´ll try to post pictures of some of the activities and of the construction of the Adolescent House. I have two friend from home visiting me this saturdayfor a week so it will be a great vacation! I hope the summertime is treating everyone well!

What is the What

I just got finished reading a phenomenol book and want recommend it to all of you. It is called What is the What. I read a lot of good books here in Nicaragua and this probably is the best one that I´ve read. It is a memoir/novel about a man from the Sudan who was one of the Lost Boys during the civil war there and the book is about him escaping from his war-torn hometown, encountering other orphan boys escaping from the war, making a ´home´ in a refugee camp, and finally living in Atlanta with other Sudanese refugees.

It is classified as a ´memoir/novel´ because it written by David Eggers (great author) based on the true stories of the life of Valentino Achak Deng. Valentino is not a writer so he had Eggers write his life story in the first person voice of Valentino. It cannot be classified specifically as non-fiction memoir because Valentino cannot guarantee that his memories of traumas and conversations are completely accurate (much of the story takes place when Valentino is 6 and 7 years old), but he does say that the whole story is written as historically accurate as he can remember.

The powerful stories of Valentino complimented by the excellent writing of Eggers makes this book one of the best I´ve ever read. It sheds a lot of light on the situation in Sudan the same way The Kite Runner and A thousand Splendid Suns sheds light on Afghanistan. I never really understand the Sudan/Darfur situation until I read this book. The book can be both depressing and comical but I highly recommend it. Let me know if you read it...


What is the What
by David Eggers
http://www.amazon.com/What-Dave-Eggers/dp/1932416641
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/books/review/Prose.t.html

Isla de Ometepe/Friends visit

Holy Week for me here in Nicaragua meant a week for vacation from work, learning lots of wierd new Catholic rules, and two of my best friends visiting me from the states!

More on the Catholic rules later, let me tell you about the vacation...

We decided to go to Isla de Ometepe, one of the most beautiful spots in Nicaragua. In fact it is a candidate to be one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World, unfortunately, it is in 124th place in that contest. http://www.new7wonders.com/nature/en/nominees/northamerica/c/OmetepeIsland/

Nonetheless, it is a very beautiful, unique spot in the world. Nicaragua is known as the ¨Land of Lakes and Volcanoes¨ (a bit cooler than ¨Land of Lincoln¨, in my opinion). The Isla de Ometepe brings this nickname to life in a grand fashion. The island is really two connected volcanoes in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is the largest lake in Central America and the island of Ometepe the largest island in a freshwater lake in the world. I had never been to this 124th Natural Wonder of the World, so I thought it would be a great place to take my friends. They arrived at around 1pm on a Saturday (having had a flight from Chicago at 6am) and we headed straight for the islands. The trip to our lodging on the island took slightly longer than any of us expected but we arrived at 7pm at la Omaja (http://www.laomaja.com/).

It was dark when we arrived on Saturday night, but luckily the next morning we were rewarded with the views that la Omaja offered, including this sunset view later that day:
On that Sunday we hiked Volcano Maderas, supposedly the easier of the two volcano hikes on the island. It ended up being an 8 hour hike. We weren´t as lucky with our views this time, when we got to the top, the volcano was in a clould. Still a very pretty hike but the next day our sore muscles paid for it. The rest of the time we had on the island we just hung out. We went to the beach one day and to a natural spring another day. We celebrated St. Patty´s day as best we could with Nicaragua beers and rum. Not quite the same as Guiness and Irish Whiskey but it got the job done. Here are some pics of my friends from la Omaja. We weren´t very good at taking group shots or anything...

On Wednesday morning we left the island to head back to the mainland. This was the view of the island behind the ferry.

This is the ferry you ride on, it is about a 1 hour trip.

Ometepe is a gorgeous place to visit but it is fairly obvious that tourism is still fairly new. In some ways that was great, we were off the beaten path and seeing things that not many have. But in some ways not. La Omaja is a set of beatiful secluded cabañas with gorgeous views, but mobility from there was difficult. If you wanted to go anywhere else on the island you had to set up transportation the day before. There was one vehicle and it usually left in the morning and came back at night. I´m sure in 5 years things will look much different on Ometepe as Nicaragua is starting to realize its tourism potential. I´m glad I got to see it before it is overrun with tourists.

From Ometepe we went to the colonial city of Leon which is about 1.5 hours from Corinto. Unfortunately, many things, including the Cathedral, were closed because of holy week. So we just hung out with some other Peace Corps friends that were in Leon on their vacation as well.

On Thursday morning, we headed to Corinto so that my friends could meet some of my friends and people I work with in Nicaragua. We had a Nicaraguan version of a BBQ, which is making a huge soup. It seems wierd to make soup at midday on a hot day, but it was delicious. Although there were some language difficulties, I´m glad that my friends got a chance to meet my friendships here in Nicaragua and that my workmates had a chance to meet my friends. Now that the people here know my friends, they are always asking me how they are doing and if I´ve talked with them recently. Its nice when they take an interest in my life like that.

It was great to have friends from home visit, this way when I get back to the states other people will know what my past two years were like. We had a good time vacationing and now all three of us are back to our normal routines.

As far as wierd Catholic rules here are a few:

1. No sweeping the floor on certain holy days

2. No swimming on Holy Thursday or Good Friday (although only the very religious followed this)

3. No sex during the holy week (they interpret the ¨dont eat meat¨thing as not eating ¨human meat¨ aka, sex.

Of course, as with anywhere, only some actually follow these rules. I just thought it was interesting that the Catholic church, which is supposedly run by the Vatican, is so regionally different.

I hope everyone had a a good Easter and is enjoying the Spring! I´ll try to write more often in the future...

Sweet Fifteen

In the U.S., we have the small tradition to celebrate the ¨Sweet 16¨ birthday of a young woman that is turning 16. Of course this old tradition has been popularized recently by the awful but great MTV show called ¨My Super Sweet Sixteen¨. Well, as many people already know, Latin America has had their version of a Sweet Sixteen party long before MTV even existed except that they celebrate the 15th birthday of a young woman. This is no doubt a very fun tradition here in Nicaragua but in some ways it has gotten out of control. Many consider the 15th birthday party a bigger party occasion than a marriage and spend accordingly. The 15th birthday party here often includes a tiered cake, DJ, and hundreds of guests. Although I think it´s excessive, Nicaraguans love any excuse for a party so a girl turning into a woman is as good an excuse as any!

The 15th birthday parties usually take place at the host´s house or a neighbor´s house but sometimes they rent out a bar or nightclub. Preparations include hiring a neighborhood lady to cook food for the guests (usually Arroz Relleno, rice with shredded chicken and vegetables). They almost always serve bottles of alcohol, depending on the religion of the family (Catholics drink, Evangelicals don´t). The color scheme of the party is always pink, pink, pink. The tradition is that the birthday girl wears a pink gown, the tablecloths, centerpieces and cake are all pink, and pink balloons and streamers for decorations. At more formal (and more expensive) 15th birthday parties the birthday girl will have a ¨court¨, or 6 of her closest girlfriends and 6 of her closest guy friends. This usually involves some sort of a dance sequence with a choreographer (not to be stereotypical, but this almost always is the only openly gay man in town). They practice this dance for months in advance. Since I work with adolescents, I know this too well because many kids will have to miss youth group meetings because ¨I have dance practice for _______´s 15th birthday party¨ .

This past weekend I went to the 15th birthday party of the niece of the woman I work closely with (also this girl used to be in one of my youth groups). This was a more low-key 15th birthday party but still very nice. There were about 75 guests and it was considered a ¨small get-together¨. I helped with some of the decorations including the pink balloon heart behind the cake. This particular birthday girl, Genesis, chose not to wear the pink bubble-gum gown and instead just went with a regular dress...boring. Oh, and that cake top is a barbie doll with cake as a dress.


This is a really bad picture because you can´t see the girl, but the idea is to see the decorations in the background. These were the tables set up in the patio with all the various pink decorations. All in all we blew up about 150 balloons for the event, my lungs hurt afterwards.

This was at the end of the party. This is the woman I work with, Xiomara, and one of the youth that we work closely with, Danixia (a member of the youth group and also a close friend of the birthday girl).

As you can probably see, the 15th birthday party is a really big deal for the birthday girls and their families. There is no equivalent for guys turning 15. For girls it represents them turning into a woman. In the majority of girls, they are not allowed to date until they are 15. Although, this just means that a lot of girls date secretly before they turn 15. But it really is a significant birthday because they generally have a lot more freedoms from their parents after they turn 15. Also, I must point out that these extravagant birthday parties are generally thrown by upper middle class and high class type families. A familiy without resources might ask a relative in the U.S. to send money for a party or just not have a party. But even the families with money end up saving for close to a whole year to throw the party. Its easy to look at it as a waste of money, but it´s an event that the families will remember for the rest of their lives so you might as well make it memorable!

These are some pictures I took at the beach in Corinto. Of the coast of Corinto there are some small barrier islands, one of which has a lighthouse which makes for very pretty pictures.

Possible desktop background picture?

February

I guess February has been a slow month for me. Ive been busy with work and everything else, but I guess not much out of the ordinary has happened. One event does stick out in my mind...

On Valentine´s Day (dia de San Valentin or Dia de Amor y Amistad) the city hall had an event for 5th and 6th graders in the central park in Corinto. Since I participate in the city wide Commision for Children and Adolescents, I was involved in the event. The event consisted of a drawing competition, poetry competition, and a dance competition. I was chosen to be in charge of the dance competition.

The participation in the poetry and drawing competition was weak. Only three participants in the drawing competition and 2 in the poetry competition. They prepared things before hand on what the Day of Love and Friendship/Valentine´s Day means to them. Although, I was impressed that two 6th grade boys got up in front of a group of 100 6th graders and read a poem they wrote about love and friendship. I guess poetry is a little more respected here among men than in the States because of Nicaragua´s beloved poet Ruben Dario (almost every town has a school named after him and he is the face on the 100 cordoba bill).

But, the headline competition was definitly the dance competition, the one I was ¨in charge¨of. I had never really attended this style of dance competition before but I in charge of organizing and being the MC for it. I´ll be honest, once I realized what was involved, I quickly passed the responsonsibility onto someone more capable.

The dance competition had 26 participants, or about 1/4 of the audience. Both boys and girls participated in the 4 preliminary groups of 6 or 7 and in the final round. It involved blasting Reggaeton music as loud as possible and then everyone watching while the participants grinded on each other for about 4 or 5 songs. Then the audience would vote on who were the top two and they would dance in the final round. The final round included 2 boys and 5 girls. The boys tried to win the crowd over by ripping of their shirts (which I laughed histerically at because remember, these are kids of 10 or 11, are they showing off their muscles?). The girls tried to dance scandalously, which I also laughed at because they were trying so hard to be grown up woman...but they are just tiny little 10 yr olds. On the one hand it was a little disgusting that the town and teachers (and technically myself) were supporting this competition. But most of them just saw it as innocent. They just think that this is how one dances to Reggaeton music, so of course the boys and girls would dance the same way. They really didn´t think there was anything sexual about it. I would have probably been apalled if I hadn´t seen this type of dancing by boys and girls at every single party and event I´ve been to since I´ve been here. But I guess we know why latin men and woman dance so well when they are adults...they´ve been practicing since they were toddlers.

I think Valentine´s Day parties are a little more interesting here than in U.S. schools...

Where the streets have no names

Here is a link to an interesting article about Managua, Nicaragua's capital. It will give you an idea of how screwed up the direction system is. Although, I have grown to love it because in the end you always know where something is!

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1701487,00.html

A few more less interesting pics...

Here are some more pics just for fun.

On January 6th, I went with some friends to a all you can eat brunch in Managua. They serve delicious food and all you can drink champagne. What could be more fun!

This is a picture of Katrina, my sitemate, and me. Katrina is the only other Peace Corps volunteer that lives in Corinto with me. She teaches English as a foreign language in the high school. We don't live together but we do see each other fairly often. We teach an english class together on monday and thursday nights. Also, she lives by the hospital so I sometimes see her on my way to work. She will be done with her service December of this year, 4 months before I am done. We are each others support system whenever we have problems with work or life in Corinto. I'm lucky to have someone that lives so close that can help me with whatever I need (including taking care of my cat, David Beckham, when I have to be in Managua for work).


A picture of Lisa and I at the buffet.

This is a picture of Playa Maderas in San Juan del Sur. We had to hitch a ride for about 15 minutes away from the town of San Juan del Sur to get to it but it was definitly worth it. Close by is one of the beaches where people say it is one of the best surfing places in the world.

This ones for you, Dad. Here's me on my cell phone at our cottage in San Juan del Sur overlooking the ocean.

Taco night at the cottage. I brought back some taco seasoning packets from the states and we made ourselves tacos for New Years Eve dinner.

Cat got your lip?

As I think I mentioned I got a cat recently. My host family in Corinto had a cat that recently had kittens and they offered me one. Since I have a significant mouse/rat problem in my house I thought, what the hell, I could be a cat person. Plus, I live alone and its nice to have someone to talk to other than myself. The odd thing is that I only talk to the cat in Spanish. I just don't think it would make sense to talk to in English, its a Nicaraguan cat. With the recommendations of some of the neighbor boys, I named the cat David Beckham, or Becks for short. Anyways, here are some pics of little David Beckham:




Chewing on my bike spokes which I thought was funny...

And now for the mystery of my lip....

On Jan. 2nd, the day my friends and I were leaving San Juan del Sur I woke up at around 8:00am. I didnt eat any breakfast. Around 8:34am I said to my friends that were awake, "My lip feels wierd." They shrugged it off. Within 10 minutes they were saying to me, "Holy crap Paul! What happened to your lip!" My lip apparently just decided to start swelling up, a lot. Only my upper lip. Everyone asked me, did you get bit by a spider or something? Not that I noticed. Did you eat anything out of the ordinary? Nope, just things that I've eaten my whole life (or at least for the past year). So it was a bit of a mystery why I had an upper lip roughly the size of a football. We all chalked it up to a probably spider bite while I was sleeping. I took some Benedryl, and we had lots of laughs about it until later that afternoon when the swelling went down (although it didn't go completely down until the next morning). Chalk it up to something wierd that happened on vacation.

People were calling me Marge Simpson because the Simpson's characters have a bigger upper lip than lower. I look just like her.

I purposefully made myself look like a sad puppy in this picture so that when I showed people the pic they would feel really sorry for me. But the truth is that I was pretty much laughing during this whole ordeal.

So Jan 3rd my upper lip was finally back to normal. I thought to myself "What a wierd freak thing to happen, I don't even have any allergies that I know of. Oh well, its over now." By Jan 4th I was back in Corinto and completely forgot about the lip swelling incident.

I woke up on Jan 5th, my birthday, and went to lay in my hammock. A neighbor boy came over to wish me happy birthday and we were sitting there talking. All of the sudden I had a sensation in my lower lip and I thought to myself, "This cannot be happening again!" I ran into my room and popped two Benedryl pills. I thought I might catch it before it got out of control. But no. It swelled and swelled and swelled until I looked just like Bubba from Forrest Gump. Again, I didn't eat anything strange and didn't feel anything biting me. Plus, the spider bite theory was pretty much debunked because it is very unlikely that a spider would bite me in southern Nicaragua on the upper lip, cause me an allergy for the first time, and then three days later bite me on the lower lip in northern Nicaragua. I think the early Benedryl did help me this time because the lip was unswollen by 5pm. Thank goodness because I was still able to go out for my birthday.

Anyways, I still have no idea exactly why my lip swelled up twice. I talked to some doctors here about it and they say it must be from something I ate. Maybe. But I just ate what I always eat. Anyways, I am now 16-days lip-injury free. I'm going to try and keep the streak going.

Happy 2008

I know that you all miss me. I haven't written in over a month. But the truth is that I've busy, sick or travelling. I'll recap.

I left for the U.S. on Dec. 19th to visit family and friends for Christmas. I was super excited to see everyone and hang out at home. But, to be honest, when I was taking off from Nicaragua, I was thinking, "Thank goodness I'm not leaving here for good!" It was a good feeling to have, knowing that I wanted to come back to my life here in Nicaragua. A lot of Peace Corps Volunteers go home for a visit and say they don't want to come back to Nicaragua. That being said, after spending a great 10 days with friends and family, I could have used another 10 days more. Home is home for a reason, you just feel comfortable there. I did a whirlwind visit of everyone in 10 days and really enjoyed myself. But, I could have used another 10 days to just chill at home.

Many people told me that it would be wierd for me to visit home. But the reality was that I felt like I had never left! Although a couple of things did strike me when I arrived in the Houston airport on my way to Chicago. First would be hostpitality. I bought a bagel and cream cheese in the airport (delicious). When I walked up to the counter I was greeted with "Hello Sir! How are you doing today! What can I help you with!!!!!!" I literally had to take a step back from the woman for a second. I have not recieved that friendly of service in over a year! That continued to strike me throughout the trip with waitresses and everyone. I would think, "Is this waitress interested in me?" Then I would quickly realize, "Of course not you fool, she is just nice so you give her a tip!" The other thing that struck me in the Houston airport was accents. Everyone had a Texan accent. And then I stood in line for the flight to Chicago and heard Chicago accents, and embarassingly, I got a little emotional. Thinking emotionally, I said to myself, "These are my people!" Luckily I snapped out of that emotional state pretty quickly. Anyways, other than that it was pretty normal being at home. I enjoyed every meal, every moment on a couch, and every moment with friends and family. Thanks to everyone that made time to see me and made my visit great!

When I got back to Nicaragua I went for 3 days to the beach town of San Juan del Sur. I met up with 15 Peace Corps friends there and we rung in the new years on the beach. It was a really fun and relaxing trip and great to catch up with those friends. On Jan 2nd I headed back to Corinto. I thought that it would be tough for me to adjust back but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Although I did have a tough time motivating myself to get back into work. But it was great to see all my neighbors and friends here. And now after 3 weeks of work I have my motivation back!

Anyways, I have some pictures and stories to share that I will try to post this weekend. One involving my new cat and one involving a random swelling of my lips. Stay tuned...

Some reading recommendations...

I have read a good amount of books since I got to Corinto. Peace Corps Volunteers have a great informal book exchange system going so I almost always have a supply of recommended books to be reading. Whenever we get together we usually bring a book or two we have just read and trade with others. Since most Peace Corps volunteers in Nicaragua dont have TVs (although most Nicaraguans do) we end up doing a lot of reading! Anyways, since its the Christmas season and people are thinking about what they want to give or recieve I thought Id put down the books that Ive read in Corinto for some ideas. I honestly liked all of the books Ive read except one.

Here are the books Ive read, in order of when I read them (and yes, I do keep a list):

The Blood of Brothers by Stephen Kinzer
This is a book about the war here in Nicaragua during the 1980s between the Sandinistas and the Contras (aka U.S. Government). Its a really good read for anyone that is thinking about visiting me or is curious what exactly happened here in Nicaragua during the 80s.

The Best American Non-Required Reading 2006 by Various Authors
This was a gift to me before I left for Nicaragua and I really enjoyed it. Editors pick out random reading material such as newspaper articles, short stories, graduation speeches or blog entries and compile them into this book. The 2006 edition was great and Im sure the 2007 edition would be just as good. Its great as a book to just pick up and read whenever, you dont need to read them in order.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins
This book is really interesting for anyone interested in international politics, especially U.S. work in developing countries. It is the true story of a guy who says he ended up screwing over a lot of developing countries while working for the U.S. government all in the name of helping developing countries. Im not sure I believe everything in the book, but nonetheless it is a very interesting read.

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
This was also a gift before I left. It took a while to get into but turned into some of the best writing and storytelling I have ever read in a novel. Its such a unique story thats written in a wierd style but I would definitly recommend it to anyone interested in something a little different.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
The best book that Ive read here. It is the story of a Harvard doctor that opens a clinic in rural Haiti. It is very well written and the story solidified my desire to get a Masters in Public Health and work in international public health when I am done with Peace Corps.

Lost in Transmission by Jonathan Harley
Ive been told this book is out of print, but if you can find it, its definitly worth the read. Its about an Australian journalist that gets posted to the Indian subcontinent in 2000. As the events of 9/11 unfold he is assigned to Afghanistan and other countries in the area. He weaves the current news stories of the day with his own struggle as a person adapting to living and working in India and Afghanistan. Since its written by an Australian, it also offers a different perspective on those events.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Ive been told there is a movie from this book. The book, although a bit depressing it is a very well written and well informed novel about an Indian family that has moved to the United States. Maybe I just like all the books that are about foreigners adapting in a new country, but the story and characters are very real which make this a very interesting read.

Naked by David Sedaris
A typical David Sedaris book with different disconnected stories about his life growing up. It is definitly funny and an easy read. Its a good beach or brainless book, but it doesnt have a lot of meat to it.

Dreams of my Father by Barack Obama
This is the first book by Obama before he hit the national political stage. For that exact reason it is a compelling book. His words are not glossed over by fears of how it might affect his campaigns. He talks candidly about his views, angers and drug use. I feel like I got an idea of how he thinks which is an important thing to know about a presidential candidate. And besides all that, his story of growing up is just plain interesting with a Kenyan father and a Kansan mother and growing up in Hawaii, Indonesia and L.A.

The Things they Carried by Tim OBrien
I had wanted to read this book for a while and Im glad I finally did. It is about the Vietnam war. OBrien is a very skilled writer and writes this book not as a continuous story but different fragments of one big complicated story. OBrien is a Vietnam veteran and I feel like I got a better idea the experience as a young man in war and now as an older man struggling with his memories. Its a quick read and I definitely recommend it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini
This is the second book by the author of The Kite Runner. I cant say if this was better or worse than the Kite Runner but its woth the read. It follows the story of two women in Afghanistan and the impossible lives that they are leading. It gives good insight into the history of Afghanistan although much of the story is very depressing.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Since I work trying to convince Nicaraguan adolescents to live healthily, I thought that this book was very useful. It describes the phenomenon of how trends or behaviors change. It is very anecdotal so its an easy read and the information is valuable to anyone, no matter where you work or live.

Hawaii by James Michner
This book was 1034 pages so its a bit of a time investment. That being said, I am super glad I read it. Michner writes historical novels that are full histories of a region. In this case he starts in Hawaii with how the volcanoes were formed, moving to the story of the first inhabitants of the islands and how they got there. The majority of the story involves the missionaries and other immigrants that came to the islands over the years between the early 1800s and 1900s and how they shaped the history of the islands. I read the first half of this book, set it down for a couple of weeks and then read the second half. Its a committment but well worth it.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Anyone that lives in Chicago should read this book. It is the true story of a serial murderer in Chicago during the time of the worlds fair in Chicago. I have lived in the Chicago area my whole life but didnt really know anything about the worlds fair or this murderer. They both are fascinating stories. Larson did tons of research and writes this book like a novel using dialogues from the real life diaries of the people in the book.

All I really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
This was the one book I didnt really like. A little corny for me. But I read it because I picked it up to see what it was about and when I realized it was crap, I was on page 50. The book only had 190 pages so I thought, what the hell, Ill just finish it. And thats how it got on this list, but I dont recommend it. Unless of course you like corny, which some people do and thats ok...

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J.K. Rowling
I had never read a Harry Potter book nor seen a movie so I felt like I was finally in the loop on pop culture. Everyone knows about this book so Ill just say, if youve been avoiding Harry Potter, dont, you should read this, its a fun read.

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
I hear that this is a popular TV show in the States now. But I guarantee the book is better. It follows a west Texas football team through a season in the 80s. It talks about race, economics and the dynamics of a football team. A good read that kind of made me want to play high school sports again.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Ditto.

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
Ive never seen the movie but the book was great. Apparently the commercial fishing industry is really interesting and I never knew! It is a very interesting story of a boat lost at sea but it also give info on storm systems, rescue operations, the fishing industry, and the ocean.

The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
Quick easy fun read. Its about a womens detective agency in Africa and small simple stories that result. It is a book series but you dont need to read them in order.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Im not going to lie, I borrowed this book because it had the word elephant in the title and I love elephants. It doesnt have much to do with elephants but the story is still great. It is about an old man in a nursing home who is recalling his memories as a young orphaned man working with a travelling circus. The world of a travelling circus in the 1930s is really fascinating and the author definitely did her work finding out all the details about that life. This is one of my very recommended books.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
If you want to know what using all sorts of crazy drugs is like but dont actually want to use them, just read this book. It is written as one big trip in Las Vegas in the 70s. I enjoyed reading it but Im not sure everyone would.

The Firm by John Grisham
A page turner. Somehow Ive never read this extremely popular book but Im glad I did! Ive read other Grisham books and he always knows how to weave together a great story. Also recommended, but everyone has probably already read it!

Anyways, those are my recommendations for Xmas gifts. Im trying to be in the christmas spirit here, but 90 degree weather makes it tough. But Im not complaining, Im worried about the freezing cold when I get home! See everyone soon!

La Griteria

One of the biggest celebrations of the year just took place yesterday, December 7th. They call this day La Griteria, or in my crudely translated Spanish, The Shouting. It celebrates the Virgin Mary on the day before the religious holiday celebrating the Conception of the Virgin Mary on December 8th.

I had been waiting to see what this holiday was like for a long time. For the past 3 months Nicas have been telling me, ´Youve never been here for the Griteria, its so alegre, so alegre. Its so happy´. I figured it was a good holiday, but its hard to get excited about a holiday that youve never seen and isn´t part of your tradition growing up. My neighbors and co-workers were anxiously awaiting this day but I was indifferent; I was just happy I was getting a half day off work to do some long needed clothes washing. But, after participating last night, I think this holiday won me over.

The holiday is similar to Halloween except that it celebrates the Virgin Mary instead of all things freaky and devilish. But the main idea is that kids and adults go around ´shouting´ to peoples houses that have an altar of the Virgin Mary set up and yell ´Quien causa tanta alegria? ´ which means, Who causes so much happiness? Then the person inside the house responds with ´La Concepcion de Maria´ or The Conception of the Virgin Mary. Then the people visiting the house start singing various songs praising the glory and sanctity of the Virgin Mary. As the visitors are singing, the people inside the house hand out presents to the people singing. These gifts can be anything such as candy, juices, laundry detergent, matches, whistles, plates, buckets, ice cream, firecrackers, or balloons. Really anything goes, and it obviously usually depends on how much money the family has. When a family gives out plates or buckets or ice cream there is usually a huge crowd outside the house, everyone shouting and singing. It can get kind of crazy!

I think I like it better than Halloween for a the folloing reasons. First, everyone participates, not just kids. Second, its not just candy, its random stuff. I received a hand sewn matchbox holder to hang on my wall, I never even knew they existed, and now I have one. What a nice surprise! Third, the timing of the holiday couldnt be better. Families giving out presents to whoever comes to their door all in the name of the Virgin Mary, it put me in the Christmas spirit!

Here is a website that talks a little bit more about the traditions of the holiday:
http://www.vianica.com/go/specials/8-december-celebrations-nicaragua.html

And here is a passage I found that apparently explains the history of the holiday:

The story goes that Bishop Monseñor Isidro Augusto Oviedo y Reyes made a promise to the Virgin Mary as he sought her protection from the violent eruptions of the Cerro Negro volcano in Leon, Nicaragua that occured from late July and early August of 1947. The volcano had been sending rivers of lava down its slopes and raining sand and ash down upon the streets of Leon with increasing fury for weeks. For her protection of the city, he promised that Leonesas would celebrate her assumption with city-wide processions every year on this day.

This celebration of penitence is also referred to as “Purísima de Penitencia” or “Virgin Mary of Penitence.” This particular day is unique to Leon while the rest of the nation (and Leon again) celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary on December 7th.

Here are some pictures of the La Griteria in Corinto:

The altar of the Virgin Mary a family friend put up.


Kids shouting and singing to the altar.


You cant see this well, but it is the central park in Corinto, complete with Xmas tree and Xmas lights.


Here are the family friends kids in front of the xmas tree. I went with them to go ´shouting´ as they call it.



This is one of the houses that gave out plates so there was a crowd in front.


Thats all I have for right now. Ill be heading home in less than 2 weeks, I hope to see people then!

The pics finally...

I finally got some of the pictures loaded.



This is a pic of some youth group kids putting an HIV awareness poster on the back of the buses that go between Corinto and the big city, Chinandega. As I have mentioned before these buses are old school buses from the U.S. Unfortunately this one is not painted interestingly, some of them are painted really bright colors with cool designs.



This was during the pool tournement. I was teaching them how HIV is transmitted. The girl with me is someone that works with me, otherwise you probably wouldnt see any and women in the picture.



The guy who just shot the cue ball is the eventual champion.



Me with the champion and owner of the Billiards hall. The champion won about 15 dollars and a soccer ball.

December 1st

December 1^st was a lot of things for me this year.

I completed eight months living in Corinto on December 1^st. Since I have a 24 month commitment here, I am a third of the way done. Time is flying by, a little too fast if you ask me.

December 1^st was also the day my $50 monthly rent on my house was due. Not super important, but noteworthy.

It was also the start of December, the month that I go home to visit my friends and family in the States. It was the first day that this trip felt close and when I thought about it I got a very excited/anxious feeling in my stomach.

And, as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the health sector, December 1^st also meant that it was Dia Mundial Contra SIDA, or World AIDS Day. We as health volunteers are encouraged to organize our own activities or help with the organization of community activities on this day. Since my community is in an area of Nicaragua with a high incidence rate of HIV/AIDS, we have a Municipal Commission for the Fight Against AIDS. The main organizers of this committee are myself, my counterpart (who works at the health center in Corinto), and another Nicaraguan who is the head of a human rights NGO. The three of us are supported by representatives or volunteers from local schools, the Red Cross and other NGOs.

We organized three different events throughout the whole day. From 10am – 3pm we had informative booths with information in front of the supermarket, bus stop and in the central park. Members of my youth groups and members of the Commission were in charge of manning these booths. It was pretty successful because we got the information distributed but a lot of people were really embarrassed to approach the booths and take the information. So, the resourceful youth group members took the brochures and went in search of people, passing them out to taxi drivers and people who passed by but didn’t stop at the booth.

Then at 3pm, I planned a pool tournament at one of the local pool halls. One of the new focuses of the Peace Corps health program in Nicaragua is targeting men to encourage safe sex and healthy practices. Seems obvious right? But, in a strained health system like Nicaraguan, the country-wide health focus immediately goes to women and children, the most vulnerable. Since Peace Corps works directly with the Nicaraguan health system, our focus used to also be on women and children. Men get their health information from their friends or not at all and they rarely ever see a doctor except for emergency situations. Peace Corps still has a big focus on women, children and adolescent but we are also trying to go to where the men are and educate them on things like HIV/AIDS. Pool halls are pretty much exclusively the domain of men and most women are afraid to go in them. Men go there to drink and play pool for 5 cents a game.

The pool tournament was an idea that I learned in my Peace Corps training and it goes something like this. Sixteen participants in a single elimination tournament and after the first round I give a 10 minute talk on what HIV is and how it is transmitted. Then the guys play the second round and afterwards I give a 10 minute talk on how to prevent contracting HIV. They play the third round then I give a talk on the correct uses of a condom and passed out condoms to the players. Condom use is not common here and many men have never touched a condom let alone used one even though they have very questionable sexual practices. At that point they play the championship game and after a player sinks a ball, they have to answer a question based on the talks that I gave. If they get it wrong the ball comes out and is put back on the table. If they get it right they continue. These questions reinforce the information for the players and also for the audience that has gathered to watch the championship. Our tournament had 16 participants and about 25 onlookers that couldn’t help but also learn about HIV and its prevention. I was a little nervous about going in and doing this tournament because the guys that go to billiards halls (especially in a port town like Corinto) are usually pretty rough around the edges. I was going to be this clean cut gringo walking in and interrupting their good time. But the reality was that the guys gave me respect and really enjoyed the tournament. I had a great time doing it and hope to do the tournament in other billiards halls around Corinto in the next couple of months.

The third activity was a movie in the central park about HIV. A Nicaraguan NGO made a soap opera series (as you may know, Latinos LOVE their telenovelas) about social issues such as HIV, teenage pregnancy, violence and other important issues. So we showed an episode of that series that was about HIV. There is rarely “something to do” out of the norm in Corinto so we got a pretty good audience for it.

I think it ended up being a really good day and in the end everything came together. We had big problems in the beginning with organization. We had a truck organized to pick up the materials and drop them off at their respective places at 8am. The truck arrived at 10:45am. We told the people who were helping us to arrive at 9am. They started trickling in at around 10:15. You always hear about working with other cultures and how they aren’t punctual and you think, ¨if someone shows up to a meeting 30 minutes late, it’s not that big of a deal.¨ But it starts to get really difficult to work with people when you depend on them for a big event and they aren’t responsible about it. I would say that this is the biggest challenge I have here. Not just people being late, but people not taking their commitments seriously. Anyways, in the end all the events turned out great. But between the hours of 8am and 11am, I wanted to pull my hair out and scream because it seemed like our entire event was going to fall flat on its face. The Nicaraguans I was working with were also frustrated but not as worried as I was. I guess they are just more used to working like that. Although, all in all, it was a great work day.

I tried to post more pictures but I could only get a few to work. Here is one of some of the participants in the tournament listening to my talk. I´ll try to post more pictures later.

Pics

This is one more pic I could load. They are some of my youth group kids with a representative from the red cross. They are manning a table in front of the fire station which also happens to be where the bus stop is

Baseball Fever

Baseball season has started here in Nicaragua and its impossible not to notice. All the kids (and adults) that usually play soccer in the streets or on the beach have traded in their soccer ball and stick goalposts for a bat and glove. The end of the World Series and the beginning of the Nicaraguan national baseball league coincide and it gets everyone baseball crazy. People claim that baseball is the national sport in Nicaragua but if you ask anyone under 30 they’ll tell you that soccer is by far their favorite sport. A lot of kids will follow the major leagues because they play the games on TV here. Usually, the favorite team is the Yankees, presumably because of Daddy Yankee the famous Reggaeton star. Although, generally, even the biggest baseball fan here still puts more weight into who wins the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona game in the Spanish soccer league.

There are a handful of baseball players that make it to the big leagues from Nicaragua, but usually no one famous. The most famous player to come out of Nicaragua is Denis Martinez. The Nicaraguan national baseball league only consists of 4 teams that continually play each other ( http://www.lnbp.net/ ). Luckily there is a team from the nearby big city, Chinandega, and I hope to go to some of the games this season. This league consists of mostly Nicaraguans with a few washed up Americans and other Latino players. The start of this league and end of the World Series gave me the opportunity to play some beach baseball with the neighbourhood kids and their newfound enthusiasm for baseball.

The field we played on was the sand on the beach. Corinto has an interesting beach where there is a sand wall, or cliff, 10 feet high about 30 feet from the shoreline. Behind the cliff is a big flat field of sand. In front of the cliff is the 10 foot drop, 30 feet of sand, then the water. So we played on the big flat field of sand. As you look down the beach, you can see 3 or 4 other beach baseball games going on, whereas only last week, you’d see3 or 4 beach soccer games. The catch about the field location is that left field has a cliff down the middle of it. And I, of course, was lucky enough to play left field. More on that later. A neighbourhood boy’s dad has a collection of 8 or 9 gloves for when a Corinto league sometimes gets organized. He is nice enough to lend them out for the afternoon to play the beach baseball games. Luckily he had a left handed glove for me to use. Unluckily, it was made for a 7 year old, but it worked well enough. We used metal bats and a ball that looks like it was made from wrapping a golf ball in a LOT of electrical tape. We played with home plate, only two bases (made by a pile of sandals), and no catcher. The teams consisted of about 3 adults (me being an adult), 3 teenagers and 3 kids.

I was a little nervous when we first started playing because this was my new neighbourhood and I didn’t want to make a fool of myself in front of the new neighbourhood kids by making errors and striking out. But luckily that faded when on my first at bat I hit a home run (or jonron). After living my life being the ¨small kid on the team¨, I forgot that I was the big kid on this team and playing well would be easier than I thought. I only made a fool of myself once when I forgot about the whole ¨cliff in the middle of left field¨ thing. I was going for a fly ball that was going to land before the cliff drop. I was aware of the cliff, but forgot that by chasing the fly ball full speed, my momentum would carry my over the 10 foot sand cliff. Well that’s what happened, Paul going nearly full speed over this sand cliff. No damage done (the sand is soft at the bottom) except a few scrapes from broken shells. I climb over the wall and everyone is telling me, ¨Pablo, you don’t need to try that hard, you don’t need to jump over the cliff!¨ I just looked sheepishly and said I forgot about the cliff.

Anyways, that game, and the game the next day, were really fun, and I hope the baseball fever continues so I can play some more beach baseball. It has been a good way to get to know other people in the neighbourhood and have a good time hanging out at the beach.

I hope all is well with everyone else…I’m sure you enjoyed hearing about me at the beach while you guys are experiencing the November cold settle in. Remember, you can always take a vacation down to Corinto to play baseball, we’ll put you in left field and see how you do!

House Pics

I moved into my new house about a month ago and I thought I´d show you guys some pics. I tried to post these earlier but the website wouldn´t let me. But now I´ve got them so here they are:


This is my front door and window. That tree is an almond tree but I have no idea when it actually produces almonds or how they taste.



This is the house directly across the street from mine. I think its really funny because they have a painted Santa Clause, two American flags, two xmas candles and a pink door with an xmas bell on it. I´ve got a house with a great view!

This is a picture of my street taken from in front of my house to the left.

This is the front part of my front room. The front window and door are there on the right and my bookshelf with novels and workbooks is there on the left. And of course, my hammock and bike.

This is the corner of my front room. It is in the corner opposite of my front door. That doorway leads into my bedroom. I have my two hammocks for louging around and the table and chairs for eating or planning classes.



This is a pic of my bedroom. On the left there is my ¨closet¨, a bar with clothes hanging on it, straight ahead is my bed. The door at the end is the door into the kitchen. And that yellow and green thing in the foreground, is a cot, but I use it like a table when I don´t have visitors. The two doors on the right go out to my patio but I usually just keep them closed.




This is my kitchen. You may recall that at my other house my kitchen was outside in the patio. This is completely closed in so it is a big step up. I have my fridge on the right, stove straight ahead, and sink and clothes washing station in the bottom left. That doorway goes into my bedroom.



View from the back of my patio. My clothes are hung there after a morning of washing. The first door there is into the kitchen, and the second two doors are into my bedroom. That little box thing in the ground is a well. I don´t use it but my neighbor who doesn´t have running water comes over and gets water from it.




Thats all. Thats my house. I really like it, its a lot bigger and nicer that my other house. Plus I like the neighborhood a lot more. I´ve had a chance to make some new friendships so overall the move has been a great thing!

Update...

I´m going back home right now. The rains have mostly stopped and supposedly are not going to start up again. In fact, I´ve even heard that the rainy season is over which would be fastastic so all the stuff in my house would stop molding. Anyways, back to the real life...

Still here...

So I mentioned in my last blog that I was stuck in a hotel in Chinandega...

Well, thankfully they let us leave and go home on Wednesday. I went back and explained to everyone why I was absent for the previous 5 days and started to get myself settled back in. But of course, Saturday morning I receive a phone call telling me a tropical storm is coming towards Chinandega and that I have to head back to that same hotel. I was not happy about it but I grudgingly packed up and went. On the positive side I got to watch the Illinois vs. Michigan game last night. Although they lost, it was a fun game to watch and cool to see the pics of Memorial Stadium and Kams. Also, the hotel is going to do some of our laundry which is fantastic becuase we cant do our own laundry on account of the rain (and not really being home to be able to wash).

In other words, Im still in the hotel with nothing new to report. Hopefully the rains stops and the sun comes out so I can go home! (but not until after tonight so I can watch the Boston v. Cleveland game on cable tv!)

New House

So unfortunately I’m still stuck in a hotel wasting the hours away watching TV and using internet. The rain has calmed down a lot but the Peace Corps has still not allowed us to leave. The say a tropical storm is headed our way, but we’ll see if it actually shows up.

Anyways, since I have some extra time on my hands I figured I would write about the new house that I moved into. I feel like 50% of my blog entries are about me moving or my house, but I have been moving around a lot. Hopefully, this will be my last.

So I moved to a different house in Corinto a week and a half ago. With the evacuation thing I have only spent 5 nights there but I really like it so far. I enjoyed the old house I lived at but I always knew that I wasn’t going to stay there my whole two years. My old house was right in the center of town and not on a very residential street. I always knew I wanted to live in more of a neighborhood area and away from the chaos of the center of town. Also, the walls in my old house were paper thin and didn’t reach all the way to the ground, so I could hear EVERYTHING that my neighbors said and did. And I shared a shower and patio with my neighbor, so I lacked a lot of privacy. So in the past couple of months I have been casually looking for a new place to live.

My best friend here, Manuel, told me about a house that his mom owned in a neighborhood that I really like. He told me that the current tenant was going to move out soon and I would be able to move in. I decided I was ready to move and that this was good timing. So last weekend, I paid a guy $5 to come with his pick up truck and help me move my stuff from my old house to my new house. Moving wasn´t too difficult but it was a bit tiring. The day after I moved in a bought a few new things for my house including a CD player which is awesome to finally listen to my own music! (anyone that wants to send me interesting CDs, that would be great!)

The new house is about double the size of my old house. It has a really big living room when you walk in. Then I have a decently sized bedroom and an indoor kitchen and bathroom. My old house had a kitchen and bathroom in the patio so having it indoors is a big improvement (think bathroom trips in the rainy season, much better to not have to leave the house).

The other great thing about my new house is that I live really close to a lot of my students from my 6th grade classes. The classes have recently ended with them so I still get to hang out with them. Believe or not I really love hanging out with the 6th grade kids here. Before I came to Nicaragua, working with middle school kids was my nightmare, but these kids have won me over. Anyways, I live by these kids and a bunch of other kids since this is more of a residential family neighborhood. I wanted to live by a lot of teenagers because that is the population that I work with.

Anyways, overall I am really happy about the move. I have a mango and lime tree in my backyard which is pretty awesome to me. I´ll try to post pictures soon of my house and the neighborhood but since I am not currently in my house I cant take the pics. Soon though...

RAIN!

Sorry I haven´t written in a long time, I have been busy in the past couple of weeks. I´ll write about that in a blog later today, but right now all I can think about is RAIN.



I wrote about rain in a blog earlier in the year, but the rainy season really kicked it up a notch in the past week. Since this past monday, it has rained continuously pretty much every moment of the day and night. I vaguely recall a thursday afternoon break from the rain for about an hour, but thats it! Is this what a monsoon is? Anyways, in addition to this, I conveniently left my rain coat in the office in Managua, good work Paul. So basically I just have to wait for the times when the rain slows down to be just a drizzle to go anywhere I need to go.



This rain has been irritating for many reasons. First and foremost, when its raining all the time you can not hang your clothes out to dry. I desperately needed clean clothes (as did the rest of Corinto/Nicaragua) so I had to wash and dry my clothes inside, which leaves everyone smelling fairly mildewy, gross. The other thing is that everything is just wet. The air is wet, you can feel it. My bed and clothes feel moist. My matches wont light which means its difficult to light my gas stove (after 20 failed tries with 20 different matches, lucky number 21 finally lit). My patio flooded. My shoes and bottoms of pants are always wet. Its just gross. Thank goodness the rainy season is over in another month.



But this irritating rain might, and already has, turn into a bigger problem. There is a lot of flooding all across the country. Peace Corps office in Nicaragua has consolidated all the volunteers in their nearest big city or in Managua, the capital city. Which means I am currently in Chinandega with the other volunteers from Chinandega waiting out this rain in a hotel (not bad, it has a TV and three free meals a day). Supposedly there are a couple of tropical storms headed our way so they are afraid if they dont get us out of our sites now, the already saturated ground will completely flood when these bigger storm systems come and we´ll be trapped in our sites. As of yesterday there were a few volunteers that were stuck in their sites and Peace Corps went to get them in their cars with snorkel gear (air intake above the roof of the car so it can pass through deep waters). I think all the volunteers are safe in their consolidation points now. Us volunteers don´t think anything serious will happen but I guess its better to be safe than sorry. The staff of Peace Corps Nicaragua is really great about keeping us safe. They may be overcautious, but they are responsible for 150 some volunteers so it makes sense.

Anyways, thats my life right now, wet and on hold. I´ll write later this week about my new house and the project I´m working on. But, I want to take pictures of my new house (hopefully not flooded!) to post on here. I hope all is good and dry with everyone!