Elections

As exciting as the U.S. elections were, Nicaragua´s might be even more exciting (or crazy and dangerous, depending on your perspective). The mayoral elections here were held on November 9th. Here in Corinto, the result were interesting. The night of the elections, the Sandinista party announced victory and started to celebrate, only to find that the Liberal party also had declared victory and started their own celebration parade. The following day I had a friend who decided to hang out with the crowd in front of the election center. I call him every hour for updates and here were the results.

10 am - Liberals won.
11 am - Sandinistas won.
12 pm - Liberals won.
1 pm - Sandinistas won.
2 pm - Liberals won.

And it pretty much went on like that for the rest of the day and the following days. A couple of days ago they unoficially announced that the Sandinistas won, but the Liberals are still disputing it. Also, this race is interesting to me because the candidate for mayor was the director at my health center so I knew him well.

The good thing about Corinto, is that it hasnt turned into violence like the race has in Managua. The Liberals are claiming fraud and are fighting with the Sandinistas. Whats so interesting to me is that this is all over a mayoral election! But, it is the first election since Sandinista Daniel Ortega has been back in power so both parties are fired up about it. One thing I´ve learned here is that political parties are something that runs deep. The civil war here in the 80s was to some extent (although not completely) the Liberals vs. Sandinistas (of course with the U.S. meddling hand in there making everything much more violent). As a result, people here are VERY political and get very emotional about elections.

I am completely safe here in Corinto. We have been told by the Peace Corps office to stay out of Managua until this issue gets resolved. Hopefully things will resolve themselves soon and everyone can go back to normal life. The following is a NY Times article about the protests. In my opinion, it paints the picture a little more dramatically than it is, but I havent been in Managua in the past few days.

here is the link

Claims of a Rigged Vote Foment Bitter Protests in Nicaragua

Rain

I think that is my most frequently used title of my blogposts, "Rain". The good news is that the rain (seems like it) has stopped! October is the rainiest month in Nicaragua, and I would imagine most of Central America. It is also the month that God decides to close the water spout and not let it rain for another 6 months. Let me explain. The rainy season starts in may and it gradually rains more and more until October. October is characterized by gray skies and weeks where it only stops raining for 1 hour at a time. We just went through one of those weeks (compounded by Tropical Storm Number 16, which apparently never got big enough to deserve a name). Last week it was constantly raining including one day where it literally torrentially downpoured for 12 straight hours. During this month, there is no such thing as dry clothes, everything has a nice damp feeling to it. But, miracle of miracles, yesterday and today have been super sunny and no rain. Although this is not a confirmed end to the rainy season (and since I am writing a blog about it we will probably have another week of torrential downpours) it sure feels like it. The odd thing about the end to the rainy season is that its not gradual. One day it pours all day, the next day its sunny and then you don´t see rain again until may. Its like God realizes he accidentally left the garden hose on and abruptly shuts it off. Anyways, heres hoping that the rains have stopped so that my clothes stop smelling moldy and the risk of me showing up to work soaking wet are slim to none.

My month...

The last four weeks or so have seemed like a bit of a haze. I feel like a lot has been going on but at the same time, I haven´t done much.

Part of this has to do with my focus on my post-Peace Corps life. After a couple of months of working here as a Community Health volunteer I decided I want to get my Masters of Public Health when I finish Peace Corps. So in the past couple of months I have been researching different schools I might go to. And realizing that application deadlines for fall 2009 are in December I realized I also have to take the GRE! So the past month I have dedicated a good amount of time to the GRE (hoping my test scores will make up for my unmotivated/unfocused undergrad experience). It was fun being a student again and learning college level things. And the vocab study has proven to be a little easier based on the spanish vocab I know (although the spanish meanings trick you on a few english words). I´ll be taking the GRE in October so I felt that September was my month to buckle down and study. At first I thought being in Nicaragua and studying for the GRE would be difficult, but since I dont have TV or internet in my house it has proven much easier! All was going great with my studies until...

I got sick with who knows what. The last weekend in August I woke up one morning with a fever. I felt fine the rest of the day, then when I went to bed I had a fever. This continued for a couple of days, fever and body pains at night and feeling fine during the day. After 5 straight days I figured I should get some tests done. I did, and nothing came back. Meanwhile, the fever and body pains continued but now not only at night. I went and visited the Peace Corps doctor who said I must have an infection in my lungs (by this point, my lungs were hurting too, and my tonsils were quite swollen). He put me on amoxicilin, and that didnt do anything and I continued with the fever (about 2 weeks of fever for those of you keeping score at home) so he put me on a stronger antibiotic. Finally, that seemed to work. I started those pills at the beginning of this week and I have steadily improved. I feel about 95% healthy at this point which is a huge improvement from the previous part of this month. Yesterday I started to get a rash on my body, leading everyone (including myself) to conclude that I must have had Dengue Fever this whole time. Although my symptoms dont match up exactly, Dengue Fever is chararcterized by a rash at the end that looks exactly like the rash I have right now. Dengue is passed by mosquitos and there is no treatment or cure. (Although I´m not sure if I had Dengue, learn about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_Fever). You just have to ride out the symptoms: body pains and fever, ending with a rash. Dengue can be dangerous but only when someone has gotten it multiple times. Since this is my first time, and I´m 6 months from leaving, I think I´m safe! Anyways, I´m not sure if you are interested in my health or not, but this has dominated my life for the past couple of weeks. It was difficult for me to be working because I felt weak during the day. I tried studying for the GRE, but vocab just doesn´t stick in the brain when you have an intense headache!

Anyways...thats been my life for the past couple of weeks. Gracias a Dios, I feel better now, which is great because tomorrow I am taking a trip to Costa Rica to visit my sister! It will be a 12+ hour bus ride, but worth it since I hardly ever have a chance to see her and her husband. I´ll take lots of pics and try to blog about it when I get back. I hope all is well with everyone. It was Central American Independence day on the 14th and 15th, so Happy Independence Day!

Peace Corps Budget Problems...

Some of you may have already heard me complain about budget problems in Peace Corps Nicaragua. Not only is our stipend very out of date (using lasts year prices when many basic goods like rice and beans have more than doubled in price, although PC Nicaragua is currently fixing our stipend issue) but lots of other things like our subscription to Newsweek (free stacks of the magazine in the office every week) and a yearly conference for all the volunteers in country are being cancelled. Katrina, the other Peace Corps Volunteer in Corinto with me, brought the following article to my attention. As I assumed, Peace Corps Nicaragua isnt the only country with serious budget problems. The unfortunate thing is that most politicians (and Americans) look favorably on the Peace Corps and had had plans to expand it. But for international economic problems it is less possible. To me, its a simple issue of getting your priorities straight...

Peace Corps to Pare Ranks of Volunteers:
Despite Bush's Goal of Doubling Program's Size, Tight Budget Forces Cuts
By Christopher LeeWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, August 22, 2008; A15

The Peace Corps, the popular service program that President Bush once promised to double in size, is preparing to cut back on new volunteers and consolidate recruiting offices as it pares other costs amid an increasingly tight budget, according to agency officials.

The program, which has a budget of $330.8 million, is facing an anticipated shortfall of about $18 million this fiscal year and next, officials say. Much of the gap can be attributed to the declining value of the dollar overseas and the rising cost of energy and other commodities, officials said. That inflates expenses for overseas leases, volunteer living costs and salaries for staff abroad, most of whom are paid in local currencies.

Those factors "have materially reduced our available resources and spending power," Peace Corps Director Ronald A. Tschetter wrote in a July 22 letter to Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the program. "Tough budgetary decisions must be made now in order to ensure a financially healthy agency next fiscal year," he added.

The agency estimates its foreign- currency-related losses at $9.2 million for fiscal 2008 alone, spokeswoman Amanda Beck said yesterday.

In part, the program is caught in the political standoff between lawmakers and the president over the federal budget. If, as seems likely, Democrats delay final passage of the spending bills that fund the government until after Bush leaves office next year, programs such as the Peace Corps could be forced to operate at current funding levels indefinitely, administration officials said.

Beck said the agency could experience another $9 million in losses in fiscal 2009 in a "worst-case scenario" in which the agency has to operate under a year-long continuing resolution.

But that scenario is very unlikely, McCollum said yesterday, noting that her subcommittee has signed off on the agency's $343.5 million budget request and its Senate counterpart has approved $337 million.

"It's only going to be a short amount of time before a new budget gets through, and the Congress is committed to moving Peace Corps in an upward direction," she said, adding that the agency should ask for short-term supplemental funding if it needs it.

Beck said the "best course of action" would be for Congress to approve the president's full budget request.
In a July 21 letter to Tschetter, McCollum wrote that she had "serious doubts" about the agency's plan to close regional recruiting offices in Minneapolis and Denver by Jan. 1.

"It is my goal to see a growing number of highly qualified, diverse and determined Americans of all ages committing themselves to serve our country as Peace Corps volunteers," she wrote. "Achieving this goal will require . . . a strong nationwide recruiting presence."

Tschetter described the closures as "mergers" with other offices in Chicago and Dallas that are part of a move toward a "field-based recruiting model" expected to save $1.5 million. Thirteen people will be reassigned to other jobs in the agency, officials said.

The tight fiscal climate also means an anticipated scaling back in new volunteers next year by 400, wiping out planned growth and leaving the overall number of volunteers at about 8,000, according to Tschetter. Volunteers serve for 27 months and are paid a stipend of about $2,500 annually.

Managers at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington have been asked to cut their budgets by 15.5 percent. The agency even plans to stop providing copies of Newsweek magazine to volunteers in the field, something it has done since the 1980s. (Newsweek is owned by The Washington Post Co., parent company of The Washington Post.)

"It just seemed like an extravagance," Beck said. "Everything is under consideration, including the director's travel."

Kevin Quigley, president of the National Peace Corps Association, a nonprofit group of former volunteers, said, "I worry about what the [budgetary] implications are for the next president, who we anticipate will have plans to expand Peace Corps."

Established in 1961 by President Kennedy, the Peace Corps provides skilled volunteers to other countries while promoting mutual understanding between Americans and people of other nations. About 190,000 volunteers have served in 139 countries since its inception.

The 8,079 volunteers today number the most in 37 years but are far fewer than the goal of 14,000 by fiscal 2007 that Bush set in his 2002 State of the Union speech.

Expanding the program remains a popular idea. Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has pledged to double the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), his Republican counterpart, has praised national service and said there should have been a stronger national push to encourage people to join the Peace Corps and other volunteer organizations after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Another visit!

You guys must think, does Paul work there in Nicaragua or just roam around travelling Nicaragua like a vagabond? Well, a little of both I guess! Last week I had a great friend come visit me (we´ve been friends since we were 4 and I made sure to point that out to all Nicas, they were quite impressed...as am I!).

Anyways, this trip was a little more work and a little less vagabond then other visits I had. Partially due to my lack of vacation days and my friend´s flexibility, we did a weekend trip to Granada and then spent the week working/hanging out in Corinto. It was great because she got a great idea of what my life is like here (both work and play) and got to meet all the people important to me here. While in the area of Granada I got to go to one of the more beautiful places in Nicaragua that I still had never been too, the Mirador de Catarina. It overlooks a volcano crater lake (I had visited the lake part on my parent´s visit, but never been to the overlook), and as you can tell is very beautiful...



One day while we were in Corinto,we decided to do a little day trip to Leon (1.5 hour bus ride away, and my favorite city in Nicaragua). The biggest cathedral in Central America in in the central park there. Here is a pic from the top of the cathedral looking at another church in Leon and some volcanoes in the distance.


While in Granada, we visited Volcano Mombacho where you can go ziplining. They are long cords connected between trees and you hook yourself on and essentially glide through the trees. I had been ziplining once before, but this time they let us do some crazy stunts such as hanging upside down!

And going two at a time...


I like this pic that my friend took because it sort of captures my life here. I am always on a bike. My work is not stationary, it always takes me from the hospital, to someones house, to the mayors office, to a youth group meeting, etc. And my mode of transportation, and the mode of transportation of most people in Corinto, is by bike. My bike is rickety and old, but I love it (most of the time). Some of my friends here have lovingly nicknamed it my ¨Mercedes-Benz¨. I love the fact that I get everywhere by bike, but sometimes at midday I would love a real Mercedes-Benz with air-conditioning. Biking to work in the states is possible, but not as easy as it is here, so I´ll enjoy it while I can.



As always, friend visits are great because I get to share Nicaragua with them. Peace Corps has had the same 3 goals since John F. Kennedy started the program in 1961.

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

When I have friends visiting me, I get to share the things that I have learned about Nicaragua, and they get to experience it firsthand, which is what the 3rd goal is all about.

Now, its back to normal life. Hopefully, I´ll be able to get work back into high gear quickly before the heavy rains start in september an interrupt everything!

Funerals

Visiting or living in another country it is always interesting to observe the culture and traditions. These traditions are usually strongest regarding important life events (ie. weddings, funerals).

Unfortunately, I have gotten to witness firsthand the traditions regarding the death of a loved one here in Nicaragua. I had been to one funeral here before but it was of the grandma of an acquantaince so I just went to the funeral mass. Sadly, yesterday there was a death here that literally hit much closer to home. My neighbor, David, 35 yrs old, died suddenly of a heart attack in the middle of the night.

David had been Mr. Fix-It in my house, helping me get everything in order when I moved in and helping me with anything from a broken toliet to a falty light switch. His wife, I have always considered my ¨mom¨ of the neighborhood who can help me answer questions such as ¨How get out ______ stain¨ and always brings me extras of the food she makes. Two of David´s kids are my best friends from the neighborhood whom I have gone to play baseball, go running or just hang out in the hammocks in my house. Anyways, needless to say, I consider them a great family and this was a devastating blow to them.

In Nicaragua, from the time a person dies, the body is not to be left alone, and typically should always be with the family. For this reason, the night immediately after the death, the family has a vela in their home. This is very similar to a wake but with a few important differences. The family rents plastic chairs by the hundreds (businesses that rent plastic chairs for all types of events are plentiful) and puts them in front of their house. Around 7, or dusk, people start to show up to accompany the family. The body is in an open casket in the front room of the family house and as people show up they give their condolescences to the family and pray at the body. It is customary that the people coming to visit the family will give them bread or coffee grains. This is because the family is expected to make coffee and give a piece of bread to all of the guests throughout the night. The main difference between a vela and a wake is that the vela doesnt end until the sunrises the next day. Although, this is not to say that everyone stays that long. The closer you are to the family, or person that died, the longer you would stay.

There is an exception to this rule. Homeless drunks are prevalent in Nicaragua. The drunks show up for the free bread and coffee and end up staying the whole night drinking. It is considered very acceptable to drink alcohol at the vela. The idea of the vela is to accompany the family at all costs, so neighborhood teenagers will set up a table and play cards all night. Although an American might consider drinking and playing cards at a wake very offensive, it is not offensive here and it is very much a part of the vela. I said to a woman that I was at the vela with, ¨Its great that there are so many people here to support the family, but I really dont like that the drunks show up, to me its a lack of respect to the family¨, the woman looked at me a bit funny as if she had never imagined the concept of a vela without drunks. She responded ¨The drunks are needed because they lighten the mood a little bit and they make sure that the family is accompanied until the sunrises¨. I guess the drunks do serve a purpose in town...

I stayed at the vela until about 2am which seemed to me like an appropriate time for a close neighbor who had a 8am meeting the next day. There are all sorts of interesting beliefs associated with the vela, the family has to be with the body all night so that bad spirits don´t prevent the soul from reaching heaven. Also, (with varying degrees of who believes this 100%) it is considered dangerous for anyone who is pregnant or with an unhealed cut to go to a vela. This is because the body emits something that if it enters a living body through a cut can kill them. Generally, people with cuts have to cover them, and pregnant women either stay away or cover their stomach in a sheet.

The vela ends at sunrise and then the preparations for the funeral begin. In the case of David´s funeral, it was at 2pm. Friends and family meet at the family´s house a half hour before the mass and then there is a procession carrying the body to the church. After the mass, there is another procession through town that ends at the bus stop. At the bus stop, the family will have rented 3 or 4 buses to take all the people to the cementery (in the case of Corinto, since it is a fairly small island, the cementery is on the mainland, about a 10 min drive away). At the gravesite, a close family member nails the coffin shut which is generally very emotional, and then close male family members lower the casket into the hole with rope and take turns with a shovel filling in the hole. Also very emotional.

Anyways, that is the typical funeral here in Corinto. I think in bigger cities here there might be traditions closer to U.S. style. For those of you that are religious, pray for David´s family, they will have a rough time emotionally and making ends meet for a while.

What is interesting about living in a different country/culture, is that on the surface things are very different, but being there with the family at this funeral, you realize that all humans have the exact same feelings and emotions.

P-A-R-T-Y

As my loyal readers know, we are trying to raise money for the construction of the Adolescent Clinic here in Corinto. Well the best way for any teenage in the world to raise money is to have a party (more or less like a high school social...but with a few differences).

Xiomara and I, with the help of our loyal team of youth, went around town arranging all the details, buying soda to sell, paying the DJ, asking permission from the police, and reserving the location. Although, this was sort of like a high school social, people not in high school also go to it. And since the drinking age is 18, and there are a lot of people here in high school over 18, any time you throw a party, you have to serve beer or else no one will come. I was hestitant to serve beer because this was a fundraiser for an ADOLESCENT Clinic, and I didnt want people to get the wrong impression. But people convinced me that without beer, theres no party. And all we had to do was make sure we didnt serve to minors.

We were nervous the day of the party for many reasons. We had invested a certain amount of money in just DJ, soda, beer, and reserving the location. Which means, if a certain amount of people didnt show up, we would lose money. Another big worry was rain. Its the rainy season here, and if its raining people dont leave their houses. So if it rained that night, we would have lost a lot of money. Luckily...it didnt rain.

I volunteered/was assigned to be the bartender at the event. I forgot how much fun it is to be the bartender, even if I was only serving cans of beer and bottle of coke. I got to relive my college bartender days for a brief moment. Unfotunately, tips are not customary in this culture...

The DJ pumped reggaeton, salsa, bachata and carribean music the whole night and the place filled up quite nicely. We sold all the drinks we needed to sell and had enough people come that we made money. It was a success but we need to do about 20 other events like it to make the money we need! But now that we know how to throw a party, we´ll be able to make more money in the future. In the meantime, my life as a Peace Corps Volunteers has become party/event planner (and part-time bartender) and I´m enjoying it!

Friends Visit

I had the chance to spend the last week here in Nicaragua as a tourist and it felt pretty good! The occasion? I had two friends from the states come and visit me. They rented a car so we were travelling in style! I usually travel in the buses and it made me realize that things are just so much easier in your own car. Although, I made the recommendation, ´You totally dont need 4WD, all the roads to the places we´re going are really nice´. I guess my mind just conveniently forgot about the bad roads we had to drive on. But, their little Hyundai Accent did great and there were no extra charges at the end of the week despite bottoming out on potholed dirt roads multiple times.

We started out the week in San Juan del Sur at the fanciest resort there. Everytime I go to San Juan del Sur, I go on a budget. Meaning my lodging is cheap and I try to do cheap meals. But this time, in celebration of my friends being there, I decided to dip into some of that american money savings and REALLY be on vacation. Let me just tell you, it was VERY enjoyable. I tried to just ignore the prices and not think about my food bill in comparison to my monthly rent in Corinto. And luckily, down here, no prices are out of control so you never spend much more than $15 on a meal, even when you´re ´splurging´. We had a great time trying out different restaurants, lounging by the pool/beach, and drinking $3 margaritas that were 2 for 1.

Next we headed to Granada, stopping at Volcano Mombacho along the way. We did the island tour outside of Granada, stopping by monkey island and having a howler monkey crawl into our tiny little boat! It was really hilarious, a very tame monkey, just looking around for some food! We also found out that you can rent an island house for about $180 a night and it can sleep 10 people. I took a mental note of that and hopefully I will complete my dream of someday attending/throwing an island party in Granada. That night we went out to a live salsa band bar and attempted (and failed) to dance like latinos.

The next day we headed to Corinto, stopping along the way in the colonial city of Leon for lunch and a tour of the Cathedral (biggest in all of Central America). We headed into Corinto and my friends (two rather attractive white girls) had to deal with a slightly uncomfortable situation. We had to park the car in one spot, then take a open air bike taxi across town to my house. This turned out to be more like a gringa parade for all the Corinto men to stop and stare at. It was a fairly successful parade based on the crowds reactions of whistling and shouting. Needless to say, they felt pretty uncomfortable.

Whistling and staring at girls is part of the culture here and the woman here arent fans of it, but arent too offended either. They are just used to it. So bringing in two gringas, who to them essentially look like movie stars, they just can´t help but stare. I have darker features, and am a male so I dont get as much attention here (although I do get whistles from high school girls sometimes), but many Peace Corps Volunteers with the blonde hair/blue eyes, equate their experience here to being a movie star. People are always watching you and interested in what you´re doing. Obviously, this dies down as your community gets used to you, buy the extra attention is an undeniable feature of life here that we all have to get used to (some more than others).

Anyways, once the initial parade was over, we settled into a relaxing evening in the hammocks of my house and ate a nice homecooked rice and beans meal prepared by yours truly. The next morning I took them by the hospital, showing them where I work and introducing them to a few of the people I work with. Then we headed out of Corinto toward Managua so they could catch their flight back to the US of A.

Although visiting Corinto was not the most glamorous or fun part of the trip, I´m glad that my friends got a chance to see it. They got a better idea of my life here so that when I am done with my Peace Corps experience, I will have friends (and family) at home that understand my time here. Plus, like I said the last time I had friends come and visit, its great because the people that meet my friends in Corinto, will be asking me about my friends for the rest of my time here. Visits like this help the people in Corinto understand my pre-Corinto life a little bit better.

Anyways, vacation time is over and Monday starts normal work all over again. We´ll work hard to raise the last funds for the project and continue overseeing the construction. Although I pumped my friends for all the gossip back home, I havent recieved any updates recently, how about an email? Enjoy your summer!

Pics of the project...

In my last blog post I mentioned that we are working on a project to build an Adolescent Clinic. Well, the construction is plugging along, here are some pics of the development...

This is Xiomara and I, the ones seeing the project through. She is one of the most dedicated employees I know. She is continuing working on this project despite the fact that the hospital has told her that they no longer have funds to be able to pay her. She says that she doesnt want to see this project fall because it is important to the adolescents in Corinto, so she will at least work until it is completed. Myself and other from the hospital and local NGOs are doing everything we can to make sure she starts getting paid again because it would be a big blow to the adolescent program at the hospital if we lost her.

This is the adolescente house. The walls are all up and in this picture they are working on putting in a front porch. With solid funding through the rest of the project, the Clinic should be completed in August.

Some workers completing the porch.

Xiomara pretending to mix the cement and help out. We both wanted to help out a bit with the construction but realized that we know pretty much nothing about building houses. In the background is part of the hospital.

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...