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!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
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!
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!
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