Settling in for the long haul

I think the honeymoon period is over. I mean, I have already had several highs and lows, but for some reason it clicked this week that I am really here and it will be two years until I am done. The first week at my site flew by because I was new, it was exciting, and everyday was filled with a promocion or another event. This week was my first real test to stay busy on my own and be self motivated and driven. I had to look for my own things to do while also completely the necessary things that the office says are mandatory.

I consider myself a pretty motivated person, and I think I am able to look for projects, but sometimes it is just so difficult here. I spent the week going around meeting the Centro de Salud, the Alcaldia, and several ONG´s like PCAC and ODESAR. I did get to do one cool project and that was yesterday I went with two doctors from Centro de Salud to a nearby community to give a health charla. To be honest I had no idea what I was getting myself into. A danger of just answering Si when you don´t understand what is happening. Well I met at the office, we took an ambulance to the town and then they were like ¨go get them¨good luck and call us when you are done. So... I ended up making up a 15minute nutrition charla on the spot and got some weird looks. It was fun to just wing it, but I do want to be better prepared for next time, step one is understanding what I am getting into. Well even though it was only 15minutes, I spent the next 4 hours in the town helping out the doctors pass out medicine and weighing babies... a productive day.

Other than the Centro de Salud I am going to be working with the Alcaldia to bring water to another community called Monte Verde. The problem is that it is located way up in the hills where there are no rivers and the only source of water they have are deep wells. Also, due to years of abuse the wells are all polluted and the town is very sick. I am trying to work with another NGO to bring in some water filters and the Alcaldia seems to be backing me up. I´ll see how it goes next week when the NGO comes by and drops off the supplies, but this will be my first real test of implimenting a project and ensuring that it works.

Finally, on a social level I am getting into a pretty solid grove. I am meeting more kids everyday and I suckered myself into forming an infantil soccer league. The kids were just too cute and I couldn´t say no, so my first practice is this Monday at 10am, who knows how many will show. Also, I have been busy practicing baseball every day down at the stadium and through that meeting a lot more chavalos. It is fun hanging around with them and practicing my Spanish and I am definitely learning some words you won´t find in the dictionary. I will try and get some pictures posted soon, but the computers at this ciber don´t recognize my usb drive. Hopefully I´ll have them up for Christmas.

Happy Holidays!

Journal Entry Excerpt

Due to my limited internet use and the huge amount of time it takes me to get to Matagalpa I probably wont be able to update this as much as I want. However, I have been diligantly writing in my journal and figure this last entry pretty much sums up my first week.

What a jampacked day today was. I went to promocion not knowing what to expect. I somehow thought I could bang it out, go to Matagalpa, and be home in time for baseball... silly me. Instead, I boarded a bus for Jicaro II at 8am, met Icia surprisingly and got to the school around 830. I learned Icias is writing a book. Everytime she seems more interesting, I guess she traveled around the world for four years and the book is her memoir. It amazes me to meet people who are so free and have had such experiences. I hope to be half as lucky and interesting and to travel to such new places. The most interesting is that she doesn´t plan it. She travels, falls in love with a place, and spontaneously decides to stay. It works for her but I know I rely on my structure and with my family I couldn´t bear to dissappear for so long. I guess I have to reserve myself to the life of a tourist, but there is nothing wrong seeing the world with a little bit of luxury.

Back on track, I got to Jicaro II and I thought how lucky I am to teach at such a school. It has only 2 rooms, but it is just plopped on top of a hill with a commanding view of the whole valley. Also, the teacher, Benedicto, greeted me eagerly and I am amazed by how nice they always are. Here is where the awkwardness begins. Keep in mind I arrived at 830, the promocion finally started around 1030. Trwo hours of just sitting around. It wasn´t a waste, I talked a lot, but it was weird, I ended up helping blow up balloons. Finallywhen it did start I was seated up front as a guest of honor. Everyone applauded me which I am reluctantly getting used to and then they started handing out diplomas. I thought I was in the clear, but oh no I had to hand deliver them to each student and get my picture taken with them. HOw crazy, they have no idea who I am and are probably wondering who this weird gringo is. I felt like I was ruining their moment since diplomas are so huge here. Well I survived that but it keeps getting better. After more people wanted pictures with me and I got trapped by some man who I couldn´t understand for dirt. Also three girls started following me around and kept asking me which one was more beautiful and that I was the most handsome gringo they ahve ever seen. Don´t get me wrong, I was flatered but I am awkward and I was lost about what to do. Somehow I managed to dodge all their questions, guess there is hope for me as a politician yet and I left with Benedicto for what I thought was our walk back to town... Nope, it was off to three parties. But, I did get to ride his horse which was a secret ream of mine. I acted nervous, but I could barely contain my excitement. I finally got to be a cowboy and now I feel like I earned that cowboy hat. Well we headed to each house and it is weird what they call a party. Basically, we show up, get invited in and we sit and talk about the weather and the kid is no where in sight. Then the mom comes out with a huge plate of food and we get to eat. Now I was excited the first time and made the rookie mistake of eating everything. It was good, I couldn´t help it. It was a chicken soup and I am a sucker for yuca. After we eat we just get up and leave. I felt like I was using them, but everyone acted like this was normal. At least at the second house we stayed and talked for a little. Might have something to do with the fact that the three girls were there and Benedicto seemed to enjoy seeing me uncomfortable. We aslo to another full plate of rice, but I was smart this time and also incapable of eating it all. Finally, off to the final house which was also a comedor. Here the family was more sensible and gave us a smaller plate with salad. I picked at it, but I felt like I was going to burst. Also the man who I couldn´t understand was there and somehow I had a full conversatiion that he seemed to enjoy without understanding a single word. Anyways, I talked with Benedicto some more and the worst was tehy offered me Aguardiente and I spun a web of lies how I don´t drink. I even went so far to make up a story how I gave it up three years after college. I needed some cover because I can at least now say I have tried it. Yet, I kept digging my hole. Benedicto went on about how alike we are and I just kept agreeing. I am going to miss beer for the enxt two years and wine, but I guess that is for when I am out of site... what a double life I lead.

So around 4pm we started our 1 hour trek home. Benedicto showed me a new path and he let me ride his horse halfway. I think the look fits me and he said I can borrow his horse which I am pumped for. Also on our walk I saw monkeys! Mono Congos, they were just chilling in the trees.

You woud think this is enough excitement for one day, but oh no, not for me. For some reason I decided to go for a walk and saw a huge crowd of people in front of the clinic. I, being curious, went to investigate and the kids told me my freinds were inside. Of course, since there were other gringos we had to know each other and of course were friends or family. But I went anyways to introduce myself. They were as shocked to see another American as I was. They are here for a week traveling to clinics with their church doing basical medical work. There was one doctor, four high school kids and a nurse. It was interesting to hear everyones stories and I am impressed how open many people are to volunteering. I have to remember or find programs when I get back to the states. Well I just hung around like a traditional Nica would and said I would like to help in any way that I could. Somehow I talked myself into traveling with them to Terrabona and being a translator, we will see if that actually pans out. I was excited at least to see other Americans and glad to know they come here twice a year. The other good part was I started talking with the people from the town and introducted myself to more people. At least I can say I am getting to know the community.

The proof of this is after I went to la cancha to watch the volleyball game and I have little kids calling my name. Who cares if Jason has turned into Jackson, no reason to get nit picky. Well I said a goal of mine was to meet people my own age and I was slowly making my way up the ranks. Tonight I finally reached that goal and was invited to play some three on three basketball. Best part was I was on fire. I hit layups, fought through fouls, which they don´t call, and fade away jump shots. They loved it and we ended up hanging around talking until 930. They taught me horno is slang for girlfriend and grilled me all night about if I had one, if I was faithful, would I look for one here, and the what not. I had to be careful, it seemed like they were waiting for me to screw up and I know how fast chisme spreads here. Finally the subject changed, but to something much more uncomfortable... religion. Now this is a very religious country and I don´t mind. I am used to people minding their own business, but when I said I didn´t really do the whole religion thing and that I think that other religions are just as important or right about their gods it was like the world was ending. I ended up getting an hour long seminar about how great El Senor was and how I am going to hell. It really threw them through a loop when I said I don´t even think there is a Hell. Also they said how science is just a theory and never mind mentioning that the bible is just another book or that religions have existed for thousands of years before christianity or the fact that most of the stories are borrowed or stolen from other religions. Nope, they are now on a quest to convert me and open my ¨closed¨mind. Luckily I managed to change the subject to learning languages and healthcare,but I know that this religion convo is going to come back and bite me in the ass.

Swearing In!

The moment we had all been waiting for, twelve months of anticipation and training, and it was over in 3 hours. We had all finally made it to swearing in and are now official Peace Corps Volunteers. We said our goodbyes to our host families, we somehow managed to pack everything up into our overstuffed suitcases once again and even managed looking respectable for the ceremony. It was very exciting to finally make it, and I was a little taken aback. I found that it affected me more than I thought it would and I was very proud to finally be standing there taking my oath to protect and serve the United States Constitution and to also be singing the Star Spangled Banner and later the Nicaraguan Hymn. I realized how important of a moment it really was and it was great again to be honored with the presence of the Education Minister of Nicaragua to swear us all in.

As a group we have been very lucky and have met several key figures throughout training. When we arrived in Nicaragua we were greeted by the country director. During our first couple days in IPADE we met the new World Director, Aarron Williams, and just last week we met the US Ambassador and his cultural director. It really is awe inspiring to be in the presence of such powerful and smart people and it helps motivate me to keep striving for my own goals and to work that much harder throughout my service.

For the swearing in ceremony all the guys decided to coordinate our outfits by buying guayaberas. I probably butchered the spelling, but they are formal shirts that men use here instead of suits and ties. They are short sleeve button down shirts that have embroidery and four pockets on the front. We all chose different colors and I decided to rock the light yellow. It helped us look like we had adjusted that much more to the culture here and all the families got a kick of seeing the gringo boys in traditional wear. Besides our outfits, the ceremony was in a beautiful hotel and we were met by two members of each of our families. Sol and my mom came and it was so sweet to see them. We first had a ceremony honoring all of the families and giving them diplomas for all of their commitment. Jamie, from my town gave a great speech on all of our behalves about the importance they all played and how they will dearly be missed. We then stepped out and got ready for ceremony number two which was the official swearing in. Again we all had an opportunity to stand up and give a short speech about where we were from in the states and where we would be living. It was then followed by a speech from the Minister of Education, and then the US Cultural Director, and US Country Director. Each person made a very inspirational speech and then it was time for our elected speaker, Angus, to talk. His speech helped remind us all why we are here and what we have signed up to do. I know it helped hit home for me what I am about to embark on and also reminded me that I am really doing this and have willingly chosen to give up two years of my life.

Either way I am ready for the next chapter of my life to begin and this Friday I had off to my site. I am looking forward for the next two days at the All Volunteer Conference and being able to meet all the other volunteers in the country. I have a lot to learn and what better way to start it off. Also, it is THANKSGIVING! My favorite holiday of the year and again I am far from home. The ceremony made me think about that and how much my family and friends really do mean to me. It is hard to be so far away, but I like to think that I am doing something noble and what better way to show my thanks than to be giving back to the world at large.

I´m ready to be a volunteer and the clock has officially started, t-minus two years!

Final Week of Training

It has been another week and so much has happened. I can't really keep it all straight, but I will do my best to put it in perspective. Lets see this last week has been chaotic with me getting sick, traveling in and out of Managua, going to hotels, and some nice political unrest.

Lets kick it off with some positive notes. This Wednesday I had a charla in Olla de Barro which is a restaurant down the carretera. It was called our bridge to service and was supposed to prep us with all the procedures and rules for when we are volunteers. It was your normal charla of me sitting there, doodling, and half paying attention when all of a sudden I started getting weird looks. I thought it was a little odd and finaly someone told me that my face was beat red. During the charla I had an allergic reaction and my whole body was breaking out into a rash and I had to be rushed off to Managua and the medical office. It was annoying and I didn't want to go because that means I would have to go to the office, get meds, tests, and then travel back to my town, but it actually worked out quite differently. I did have all the tests and they did figure out I was having an allergic reaction, but I got the unexpected perk of being put up in a hotel overnight and having hot water for the first time in 3 months. I cannot put into words how amazing such simple luxuries are, and I guess there is always a silver lining to getting sick. The following day I was able to meet up with my group again and of course everyone was curious to know what happened to me. I of course had no idea and will likely never know what tripped the reaction, but that is besides the point.

So the following day we were all back at the IPADE, which was the NGO compound we stayed at when we first arrived in Nicaragua. It was our final two days to go through security briefings, go through more policy, and to meet the US Ambassador. It was a fun time to be with everyone again and to chill in the compound with a little more liberty. By this point I had recieved my package from Rachael which was a huge box of chocolate. We all were able to pig out on chocolate, get some beers, and just reflect on our last three months in the country. The big to-do of the week was being able to meet the US Ambassador. It was comforting to know that we have his support and that he appreciates what we are doing. He also spoke very frankly with us about the political situation in the country and the state of the future. He also took it one step further and was willing to talk about the political states of neighboring countries. The talks were overshadowed by the expected political marches the following day that were organized by the oppositional party. I can't go to much into it, but basically the current president, Ortega, is accused of robbing the last election and the mayoral elections last year. He is trying to change the constitution to run for a third term and right now he seems to have finagled a way to let him do it. Lets just say that the opposition is not happy about it and they plan to be vocal about it. In expectations for these marches we were not allowed to travel, but luckily nothing happened.

Alright, I know that this is probably a random account and is not following a clear pattern, but so much has gone on. The day after seeing the Ambassador I went with a bunch of other volunteers to a hostel down on the coast of Laguna de Apoyo. It was fittingly named the Monkey Hut and was absolutely beautiful. We had to take a halfhour moto ride down the steep ravine walls and finally we reached th tropical shore. It basically looked like a large house with a dock down by the water, but who could want me. Far off on the horizion you could see a distant volcano, the water was clear, and there wasn't a boat within sight. The night could be summed up with my later lying on the dock staring up at the stars and just thinking, how can life get much better? I was able to see 5 shooting stars that night and what better way to wake up the next morning than with a swim in 80 degree lake water?

All in all, life is looking really good right now. I am swearing in the day, I am finished with training, and I had the opportunity to lounge around the side of a lake. I can't say that I am suffering in Nicaragua and I have to count myself lucky that I am here and hope I can remain so positive for the next two years.

T-Minus One Week

Just as I started to get comfortable with my training town and fell into a groove, it is already time to say goodbye. It is scary to believe, but I am only in Masatepe until this Sunday, but for the rest of the week I will be traveling and not even around. Hopefully this will be an indicator of what to expect once I am actually a volunteer. My first three months flew by and I can only hope that this pace continues for the next two years. I am in no rush to complete my service, but there is something more satisfactory when the time is occupied and you are just being pushed along.

As for this week it has been crazy. Last week was our first week back from our site visits and it definitely made me look at my training town through a new lense. Coming back I felt like I was going home to where I have always been and belonged. I am really enjoying my family and even my little brother, Andres, is not bothering me as much anymore. I have just been trying to make the most of the little time that I do have left and also started traveling around the municipality since I will soon be far away. On this idea I went to Mombacho this Saturday. It is one of the biggest volcanoes here in Nicaragua and I set off early Saturday to find the "secret" termales. I went with a couple other volunteers and we were all excited since we believed we had legit directions. Well about 1 hour into our walk we realized we were not getting any closer to the volcano and also there were no signs of any hot springs. Even later one of the people with us realized that we were not heading to hot springs but a water spring that he has already been to with his family. He told us that it took them about 45 minutes by truck and that meant over 3 hours of walking for us. When we finally did make it we were welcomed to a small natural pool of clear fresh water. It was beautiful and seemed to just be tucked into the countryside. It was probably so much nicer because we just finished walking 14km, but either way it was an enjoyable trip. I would have loved to have made it to some real termales or even have stepped onto the volcano, but I guess I now have a reason to go back.

Other than our little trip to the volcano I went to Jinotepe yesterday with the group from my town. I had been once before, but wanted to go again for a change of scenery and to just be social. Basically, it is the next big town in our area and is famous for its large market. It was a lot of fun just wandering around, but there was a real damper on the day because I was sick.

Right now I am in the Peace Corps Office because I came down with something. Last night I had a scorching fever and I really thought I was going insane. I had two blankets on and was dripping sweat when I woke up this morning. To make it worse, I slept only about 2 hours last night because I would be jolted awake all night by either chills or horrible sweats. The weirdest part was that it went away when I woke up this morning and I even felt well enough to go to my charlas. Probably wasn't the best choice because once I got to my charla I had horrible stomach pains and then people started looking at me funny. Finally someone asked if I had gotten a sunburn and immediately after I realized I was having an allergic reaction to something. My whole face was bright red and little blotches started spreading throughout my body. I didn't feel sick, but anytime you change color you get worried. All of that led to me having to come here to the office and go through a round of testing. They aren't sure what I have, but I need to start looking more carefully at what I eat or just kick this cold. Especially with Swearing-in coming up I don't have time to get sick now and I just have to hope I can kick it before Monday.

If all goes well I am off to IPADE tomorrow, which is the same NGO compound we stayed at when we first got to the country. We get to meet the Ambassador on Friday and even have to spend the night in Managua on Thursday. The next two days are full of charlas which means they will be long days, but hopefully they will seem much more relevant due to the proximity of our ceremony and starting our service.

San Dionisio

It has only been a week, but it feels like and eternity since I have used the internet or been in a world I am familiar with. This last Tuesday I left Masatepe to attend counterpart day in Managua and then head out to my long awaited site. I started it off in style by cramming into the usual 18 passenger expresso buses with 25 other people and my 80 lb bag. I then had to play real life frogger to cross a 4 lane high way to get to the meeting point and then sit through about 8 hours of charlas where we were supposed to meet and socialize with our counterparts. It is a great idea in theory and many people took advantage of the opportunity to plan their schedules, set priorities, and familiarize themselves with the project. I on the other hand sat around twittling my thumbs because I, of course, was the only one whose counterparts decided they were too cool for school. I was pretty bummed but they did show up eventually, about 8 hours late and not in the talking mood. They brushed off being late like it really wasnt that big of a deal and that it wasnt even their fault. I wasnt too worried becuase I did have a nice 6 hour bus ride with them to plan, but when I went to bed that night I was still unsure about what time we were even leaving in the morning.

That morning I was awoken by a Nicaraguan woman yelling JIM in a high pitched voice. All the guys had to pile into one room because there wasnt enough space and it is true, guys really do stink. It was a good night because we had AC, but I did not appreciate waking up at 5 am when I didnnt leave with my counterparts until 730. The ride itself was fine, we took a taxi to the station, had a 2hour ride on an old US school bus to Esquipulas and then had to switch off again to another retrofitted school bus. The fun part was that once you hit the border of the Matagalpa department the highway turns to dirt and the road narrows to about one lane. That means travel is slow and bone jarringly bouncy. Also, the bus drivers all think they are rally racers and love to fly around blind turns and pass where it clearly isnt allowed. Their only safety measure is they beep the horn as they approach and pass a turn. About 6 hours later our bus finally hit pavement and we were in my town. I am living in San Dionisio, a small town of about 5000 in the middle of the mountains. The town is a little urban oasis in the middle of rolling hills and clearcut fields. We have such luxuries as paved roads, comedores, cantinas, billard halls, and a basketball court and baseball stadium. I was surprised and it reminded me of the city of Brigadoon.

I wont recap every little event that I had while I was there, but it was an overall positive experience. The one running thought I had going through my head, was I am going to be bored as hell at times. I mean, there are comedores if I want to eat out and I already joined the baseball team, but it is a huge transition going from training to out on your own. I always complain about having every minute of my life planned, but I grew used to it and kind of like the security. I mean once I am there, I will have no one looking after me, no reason to travel, and no american within one hour of me.

So a little about my family. The house itself is pretty fachenta. I mean it is high class regarding Nicaragua standards. We have tiled floors, a tv, a radio, a stove, and even a refrigarator. Given tehre are the down sides: a latrine that reeks, ice cold bucket showers, a shower where I have to squat so I dont hit the ceiling, and random chickens and cats that run through the house. I see these as minor problems, but I guess I am just getting used to life here. The mom works at the mayors office and is one of the remaining liberals there. I guess the town has always been liberal until the last election when it changed to Daniel Ortegas party, the FSLN: She therefore has to keep a really low profile, but is really nice. The main person I talk to is her neighbor and sister who mantains the house and does all the work. She is really nice and has two children, a daughter who is a little older tahn men, and a 13 year old son. I also have a 13 year old sister. The two girls belong to a volleyball team that plays every night infront of the house ont he court and I went all the time to watch. I also went with my brother to play baseball and decided to join the baseball team. As anyone who knows me will agree, I am not the most coordinated and baseball was proof of that. I was stuck at 1st base, but surprisingly made some good plays and even at bat I had one RBI, but struck out twice.

Besides the family and me joining the baseball team I got to visit my three schools. Each is about a 40 minute walk out of town along some prety rural roads and it will be a good opportunity for me to just relax and enjoy the views. It really is beautiful overlooking all the hills and one of the roads is on a ridge so I can see my town off in the distance. Each school has about 2 to 4 teachers and anywhere from 60 to 130 kids. That means I have some nice small classes and they all seemed pretty excited to work with me. One teacher especially already has huge plans of planting .75acres of crop including fruits, grapes, and beans. I am a little worried because I have absolutely no idea how to do that and some of the other teachers just seemed confused why I was even there or the directores were trying to say I would be working with the whole school. I did however travel with one of the English teachers to his instituto and promised to help teach english. It was a good experience where I got to take part in the school party for the end of the year and just socialize with some of the students. Everyone is pretty optimistic about me showing up and I think I will really be able to make an impact in my community.

Anyways, it was a good couple days adn I am excited and anxious to get to my site for the next two years. I am definitely not counting down the days, but I knwo that I can make it work. Other than the site I had a technical training charla today about compost and worm farms. It only got me more excited about starting my own gardens and composts with my kids at my site. Also, I have a lot of fun activities to look forward to with swearing in, nights at a hotel, the all volunteer conference, and dinner with an american family. Finally, I will get to have my first hot shower in three months and possible my last for the next year.It will be an interesting next week and I just have to hold on for the ride.

¡Matagalpa!

D-day finally came and passed... I am going to Matagalpa. I am beyond excited and cant believe that the stress has finally been lifted from my shoulders. I will be living in the center of the country which is hillier and cooler. While it will still be hot, about mid 80s it is considered fresco or cool compared to the North and Chinandega. I will be in an area that is famous for its chocolate and coffee. I guess I have to get in touch with My Colombian roots and grow a sense of appreciation for coffee.

It may not look that far, and you have to remember the entire size of the country is the same as New York State, but I am over 5 hours away from Managua. It seems pretty rough, but I am quickly getting used to the time here where 1 hour is considered just around the block. I guess I cant complain when I really wont have that much to do and time is just a measure and not as important as it is in the States.

Anways more about my site. I am being placed in San Dionisio. It is a medium sized community of about 5000 people. You can see it here on the map of Matagalpa, it is in the lowerhalf kind of on the left. I know it is really vague, but then again I am not exactly sure if that is the exact location on the map. From there it says I am about two hours from the departamento capital, Matagalpa, but it looks so close and isnt that far in km. I do have to take into consideration, and what I am really excited about are the mountains. I get to be a real country boy and cowboy. The area is knkown for the horses and as my description says, ¨horses for everyone¨. You know I will have one and I am thinking of giving it a dog name like Spike or Bud, but I will have to wait and see. The other good piece of information is that there is internet in my site. Even though it is small I can still go to the ciber and wont have to travel 2 hours, even though I will have to if I want to see a supermarket or bank. Right now this site sounds right up my alley. I get to rough it in a fairly small site, I am in the mountains, I still have internet, and here is the kicker... I only have water once every two weeks! That might not be so much of a plus, but I promise I will get real good at bucket showers with only a gallon of water. Like they say, ¨someone will look at a glass and say it is half full, another will say it is half empty, a Peace Corps volunteer will say I can take a shower with that¨. It wont be so much of a hurdle, I just have to plan carefully and regardless of where I go I would have to buy purified water, I just might not be able to shower regularly, not anything unusual for me.

That is all I know for now, I still have the rest of the week here in Masatepe and I am off to Managua on Tuesday. I am so excited, but I still have a week until I get to actually visit my site. In typical Peace Corps fashion, there has been a lot of confusion and we all at first thought we were leaving on Sunday. Then we learned we had counterpart training on Monday, which is now actually on Tuesday and Monday is just a normal class day in our training towns. Regardless, now we will be in Managua on Tuesday and either leave that afternoon or stay the night and leave early on Wednesday. I am positive beacuse I will be a replacement volunteer and will get to meet the current volunteer on my visit and pick up some tips about how to best work with the community.

Either way it looks like even with my campo site I will not be completely lost to civilization. I will have internet in one way or another and that means more updates and hopefully skype dates.

Jeronimo... You crazy fool!

I just had quite the experience. I vaguely remember my host mom telling me I had a commitment this morning, but I didnt remember it being anything like I just witnessed. Basically, we all know that almost every other country in the world besides the good ol US of A likes to party and will find any excuse to do so. Be it religious reasons, government holidays, or just a lack of creative reason to have a three day weekend. Well today I witnessed that even the Catholic Church likes to find a good reason to get drunk.

Today was the festival to celebrate the Saint Jeronimo. I have never heard of him and to be honest I thought it was a cowboy term used when you were making a suicidal run towards a bunch of angry Indians. Well I guess the church beat me to it and Jeronimo is an old saint that was known for being a drunk and womanizer. I never knew this side of the story but I guess he was such a drunkard and flirt that he eventually went out into the mountains to ask for forgiveness. Somehow this translates into people now getting ridiculously trashed and deciding to dress up like Halloween. I went down to the neighboring Barrio with my host mom and witnessed a mix of Halloween, drunkness, and marching band that I have never seen before. Basically it is a long procession with a drum and brass band and a bunch of dressed up people dancing behind them. Then there is the crazy idea of creating a huge float out of bamboo and living plants. A float seems like a good idea, but to add a Nicaraguan flavor it has to be carried by at least 20 people and they of course chose the hilliest part of town. It was interesting to watch, but you couldnt help but think why. I mean there are so many flat parts of town, but they chose the hilly side. To tie back in to the story of Jeronimo there were many people along the way that you would find passed out or just walked over. I guess they are on their way to the mountains to ask forgiveness. Either way, it was a funny time and perhaps the most ridiculuous. Did I forget to mention that they chose the hottest part of the day to do this in?

One Step Closer

The weeks just have a way of flying by. I remember waking up on Monday morning dreading the upcoming week and next thing I know it is Thursday night and I am basically done work wise. It was a very busy week and perhaps that is why it flew by. I even slept in two of these days and instead of waking up at 5am to go to the gym I slept late, ie 630. I remember rolling out of bed on Monday at 630 and my family thought I was sick. They kept asking what I was doing sleeping so so late and if I should go to the doctor. I still run into this dilemma every Sunday when I like to forget about the alarm clock and just rest. I think back to when I was in the states and my friends thought I was crazy for getting up at 8am. Look at me now 5am is the norm and anything past 6 is considered midday. It has been a little difficult getting used to but I guess it makes sense since I am usually in bed by 9pm.

Besides the new sleeping schedule it has just been an overall good week. I was expecting this week to be full of anxiety with our new professor, me teaching my last class, our youth group, and the dreaded placement interview. In fact, the big to do of the interview was perhaps the most miniscule part of my week. The interview was nothing too note worthy. I talked about my preferences and work style and basically got no hints about where I might be going. I am anxious but felt pretty calm all week. Perhaps the trigger that has made me nervous is that many of the directors are saying that my town is the most calm about this whole process.

I felt like this week I was back at home or maybe I felt like this is now my home. Who can tell, but anyways I felt comfortable and in a good routine. I continuing to stay busy with a gym routine and I am even making friends there. I have been hanging out with my little brother and I know it is rubbing off when I eagerly await the next episode of Ben 10 and hastely ask him for quick summaries of what I have missed. I hate to admit it but I love watching cartoons now and I was super excited when I got to watch the Naruto movie last night. To go along with my inner child I also hung out with one of the guys from the gym this week by going to a Nintendo or an arcade. It is pretty hilarious since it is basically someones house that they have gutted and retrofitted with about 30 tvs and videogames. Now I am used to xbox 360 and consider that a fairly old system. Well I got to play the newest and latest which was a PlayStation 2 and most people were still using Nintendo 64s and Game Cubes. I of course being a nerd found it hilarious but it was fun playing an archaic shooting game in the middle of Nicaragua.

On the work end of things I taught my final 5th grade class here in Masatepe. I had a blast and taught about ecosystems and the abiotic and biotic components. I have been slowly making my lessons more active and we played two games with my class of 45 students. They did great and I really got lucky with my group. I have observed some classes and heard about others where the kids are just animals and it is craziness. I started off on day one by kicking a kid out of my class and requiring they raise their hand. I think it really paid off because I never have to worry about discipline and the worst I have is an occasional shout of an answer. Also, I had my second and final youth group charla today about gender roles. It started off a little dissapointing when only 5 kids showed up, but they did great. We originally had a power group of 13 jovenes, but we noticed that some drama has been surrounding our meetings with boyfriends and girlfriends and today we only had 5. Yet, they did great and we actually had a lively conversation about what boys and girls are expected-able to do. I am not sure how much they will take away from it, but I know they at least had fun.

The final part of all of this is I am again thinking about what I want to do when I get back to the states. I have done some research already and I think I am going to tour the country. Basically I am piggybacking off Dans idea but it looks like too much fun to pass up. I found some old Honda Oddesseys or Volkswagen Microbuses for under 5000 dollars and now my hunt is to see if any of them are diesel. I dont know how practical it would be but I remember hearing about kits you can buy to transform diesel engines into engines that run off of vegetable oil. I think it would be fun to travel that way, possibly cheaper, and I wont feel like I am just burning gas. Since I only have limited internet time feel free to do this research for me.

Its already October?

I cant believe that is is already the middle of October. The pacing of time has definitely picked up and only two more weeks until I get my site assignment. As quickly as I am adjusting to my current town, things are already starting to wind down. I am teaching my last science class this week, I only have two more weeks of language class, and we are starting to wrap up our youth group projects. I remember just starting and being overwhelmed with all the work and it is quickly behind me. I have already done the whole gauntlet of PACA tools from a community map, daily activities, matrix, and interviews. I have a consistent group of 13 teenagers for my youth group and we already have a bopping garden, did a recycling project, did a life charla, have another one in the works, and played more games than I can remember. I guess I can sucessfully pat myself on the back looking at the list of things I have already accomplished, but there is so much more to still do.

I dont want it to seem like I am already on my way out. I forget at times that I still havent even started my two years of service. I have been so caught up in the timeline of training, that I forget that this is just the tip of the iceburg. Dont get me wrong, I am very excited but I just lose perspective some times. It has only been 6 weeks of training, but it has already been that long. I am well over halfway and there are realistically only two weeks left. This upcoming week is broken up with me teaching, a youth group life charla, movie night, and site interviews. I am hoping that these new events will break up the week and make it fly by. Best of all is that the following week we find out our placement on Wednesday and I am basically banking on the anticipation and excitement of visiting my site the following week to carry me through. Another factor is that we change professor and location of our language classes every three weeks. We just finished with our last professor at my house this week and it is for the better. We didnt really get along with her, and it seems harsh to say I didnt like her, but I wont shed any tears that she is gone.

The biggest news I have is that yesterday we had our site fair. Basically a volunteer came to represent every region of the country and talk about why their region is the best. We learned about our four possibilities: Chinandega, Leon, Matagalpa, and Chontales. We also learned what it is like to have a small site or big site, be a replacement volunteer or be new, and to have a site mate or not. It is hard to say that I want a specific thing, but I am right now leaning towards a small site. I also want to be more secluded which means I will most likely have to travel over 1hr to get to a city to use internet. Also, I am split over wanting to be a new volunteer but I think I would like to have a volunteer nearby to work with on projects. I am prepping for my interview on Tuesday and am ready to commit to wanting to do more Agricultural type work in small sites which I think will help place me in my favored sites of Leon and Chontales.

Thats about it for the work report. I missed going to a lagoon today because I was at the gym and it was a shame no one came to get me, but that meant I got to bond more with my family. I spent most of last night and this afternoon in the bakery and I am becoming quite the baker. I can now make different types of pan and I even taught my sister today how to make cinammon rolls. She was obsessed and wanted to learn because they are just so different from the pan simple they sell here and will probably go fast. Well tomorrow I am going to bake some sourdough bread and that will be about it for the week. Also I have a big finca party with all the volunteers in my group which should be fun. I like most people in my group and it is fun to spend time with them, but I have noticed I dont go out of my way to be with them. I kind of like the solo deal, but it is good to connect every once in a while. We basically get a farm to ourselves tomorrow to cook, play games, and just relax.

Hope all is well back in the states. I heard about the Sox getting knocked out and it looks UConn is starting to pick their game up. Also, looks like it is getting pretty cool up in the North.

I want to be a farmer

So I am finally reading a book that has been on my reading list for way too long. It is by Barbara Kingsolver and I am in love with it. I know it is a major influence on my life when I just want to rush home from whatever I am doing to continue reading. This book as well as an article I read in Newsweek has shifted me to wanting to be a vegetarian or at least more concious of where my meat comes from.

Basically the concept is that the food we eat as Americans is very wasteful and inefficient. We too often get our vegetables from all across the globe and when they are out of season. As a result we are hurting our local farmers and local economies. We instead should be buying from local farmers markets and coops. It makes a lot of sense and who cares if it costs more, you are helping a fellow neighbor. I know Stella and I were doing this in Cambridge and I dont see why everyone can at least try in their own lives.

As for the meat subject, I am starting to feel really horrible about how many of the animals are treated. Not the fact that they are killed, but that chickens are often packed so close that they either peck each other to death or have their beaks removed. Pigs have their tails cut and are shot up with so many meds they dont realize they are alive. And many of these animals never see the light of day their entire lives.

I instead suggest that rather than polluting an area with super concentrated animal factories that create too much waste and destroy an area that we return to how animals are supposed to live. I would rather pay more for free range meat. It is not only more humane but healthier. These animals are often not the homogenized genetic beasts, but classic breeds with their own flavor and traits. Also, they dont need to be pumped with many different drugs to keep from getting sick because they have the space to live. Furthermore, these animals are eating their evolutionary diet rather than being force fed corn which only increases medical problems and puts more fat in the meat we end up eating.

I am not saying that I am giving up meat, only that I believe that free range is more humane and in the end healthier for the animals and for us. Also as for being a farmer, I want to keep one going where ever I live and there are just so many to chose from. In my journal now I have a growing list of 26 different species and that is not even getting into different variations of fruits or vegetables. I could spend my whole day working in the field and this thought makes me happy. Maybe I need to think, rather than having my garden as a hobby, it could be a lifestyle.

Site Visit and Climbing a Mountain

So much has happened in the last couple weeks. I am already on week six of my training, have visited a volunteer for a week, gotten better at Spanish, gotten worse at Spanish, learned to bake, climbed a mountain, got drunk, and ran a road race.

It may seem like a random collection of events and it is. Nicaragua and especially the Peace Corps makes no sense. My life is split between being a small child again, yet being an adult with more than enough responsibilities and obligations. I probably mention it too much, but I am trapped as a middle school student. I have to tell my parents here when ever I leave, I have to ask permission to stay out late, and I try to hide my breath if I dare go out to get a beer. It is not all bad, it is kind of exhilerating to escape at night and feel that rush of heading home knowing that you were supposed to be back before dark. I love being able to walk down main street at night and think I am breaking a rule.

So enough of that, last weekend I got to go visit a volunteer up in Chinandega. It is the northern most part of the country and also the hottest. It is right before the Honduran border and next to the Pacific Ocean. We started the trip off right and went straight to the beach. It was a blast to just relax and live the life of a real volunteer, no more being watched over and just getting to relax. The beach wont make it onto any postcards, but it was just what I needed. The water felt like a warm bath, the waves were big, but the water was brown, and the sand was like CT. It was a good stress reliever and then I was off to my volunteers town. She lives in a small community of about 5000 called Rancheria and it only has one paved road. I spent the week with her teaching english to her youth group and visiting the three schools she is in charge of. It was a lot of fun to see how our projects are actually going to come together and to see that you arent under as tight a time table as we are now under training. Also, it is ok to have some failure. Her community group is three people and all her gardens havent made it, yet she is still in Peace Corps and not in trouble. Perhaps the best part of training was the fact that she had her own house. That meant we cooked every night. Now I am no chef, but I fell in love with cooking these last couple days. It was amazing to just saute some vegetables and do it all yourself. I made stir fry, pasta, pancakes, tuna salad, and eggs. It was great and I cant wait to do it everyday. As for sleeping arrangements I slept on a wicker bed which I found humorous. It was a wood frame bed with a tight wicker weave in the middle which was my makeshift mattress. I wont say it was comfortable, but it was basically like sleeping on the floor. Now I wont sleep on the floors because I saw way too many tarantulas and scorpions to risk that.

Finally for that trip I read the entire first Harry Potter. I am sorry for making fun of all those who read the books, it is addicting. I will never say they are great works of art, but they are fast and quickly addicting. I am curious to read the next six and if anyone is bored and wants to send a package, Harry Potter would be perfect.

Now up to modern times. This week flew by since I got back to Masatepe on Thursday. Yeterday I headed off to Volcan Masaya for group training. We got to see the TEFL crowd again and it was fun to catch up. It was actually a great day to be outdoors and I have some great shots of the giant crater and the rolling landscape around it. Also afterwards I got to go out with a bunch of fellow trainees and relax at a bar for a while.

Lastly, today I learned I am no longer in high school or on a college sport. I am not in the same shape I was in college or even last year. I ran a road race today that was only 7km and about half was up a huge hill, but it hurt. I was tired and to make it worse i didnt win. I was heartbroken and to rub it in we had to max out in pullups, dips, pushups, and squats and I couldnt even keep up in any of those. It is motivation and I plan on training again here, but it will be hard once I get to a site to stay motivated.

Besides my little physical backstep it was a great day for cooking. I made vegan banana pancakes for my family and they really enjoyed them. I also had a fellow trainee come over and she taught me to make sourdough bread and cinammon rolls. I wrote down all the recipes and hope to be able to cook them once I am at site and on my own.

Livin da Life

Ahhh... time is flying by. It has already been three weeks and I am already looking at the end of training. I guess that is a little premature since I still have 7 more weeks, but I only have one more week in my training site until I get to go live with a volunteer for a week and then it will be the beginning of week 6. I know I am getting ahead of myself, but that is what keeps me sane. Either way I struggle with the concept everyday that I feel like so much time has passed and I dont know if that means time is moving or staying still. It literally feels like I have been here for months and I sure hope that is a positive thing.

Other than worrying about time, I have been getting into a steady grove. I taught my first class this week to a 5th grade of 45 students. I have never had such a large class and it was pretty intimidating. It is ridiculous when the room is packed to the brim with kids, there is no room to move, and I have to teach in Spanish. Basically I had to teach the kids about the similarities and differences of plant and animal cells. Luckily for me it was a very basic lesson, but I think it was sucessful with my two elegant drawings and a dinamica of papa caliente.

Hmm... my youth group is still going very well. We met this week on Monday and Tuesday and the kids are still very eager to come. If anything I learned never to have a meeting on Friday evening. Not because of the kids, but it is always after one of our charlas and it is usually when we all go out. So, I had to cut short my drinking at the Catarina Mirador to head back and conduct my youth group. It was a lot of fun, and probably better than me sitting around and talking english all night. We played capture the flag in the central park and it was hilarious to see all the local reactions to a bunch of gringos sprinting around.

So this weekend I have to plan my next class with my maestra and other than that I am free. I am excited because even though this is a free weekend I am actually busy. My mom's mother died six months ago and we have to go to a mass for her and later I got invited to a cousins 15th birthday in a nearby city. it doesnt end there, on Sunday I am going to Masaya, the regions capital for La Ipica. It is basically a huge parade where horses dance and supposed to be pretty ridiculous. I am also pumped because I am hopefully going to the beach in Catarina with the family in the morning.

The big news I have is that I bought a phone. You can call whenever you want and my number is 011+505+8382-8336

Masatepino

So it is official, I am a Masatepino. I feel like I am really a part of the community here. Sure I am just a gringo, but I can now walk down the street and recognize familiar faces, stop on people´s porches to talk, and have a normal routine of going to the gym or going for a run. It is weird to think that I am starting to live a normal life in a different country, a third world country at that.

As a Peace Corps trainee my life has been revolving around our weekly charlas ¨talks¨and class. My usual schedule is that I wake up around 5 o´clock thanks to the crying of my dog and the annoying honking of the buses that like to announce they are passing. I go to the gym where my trainer gives me some unheard of training schedule and I work out until about 710. After that it is a sprint back to the house, bucket shower, eat some beans and rice, then rush out the door at 745 to meet my other Peace Corps trainee and we are off to pick up the third. We have to travel in a pack because our class is of course in the most dangerous part of town and they dont want to girl walking down alone. Well back to the schedule, we are in class from 8-12 and then it is back home for an hour lunch which is more beans and rice. From there we have a technical session in the afternoon which usually involves trying to find jovenes to join our youth group or teaching a class from 1-3. Finally around the end of the day we are left with either our youth group meetings on Monday and Thursday or just left to relax when I usually go over to my sister´s Panderia to work and just talk with the customers. It is a nice schedule that is broken up on Wednesday when we have technical charlas in Managua or other cities and security briefings. And on Friday and Saturday when we of course have more charlas and get shot up by the doctors.

It is a good life that doesn´t always make sense. I complain during the week that I am often stressed out, but it is then followed by periods at night or on the weekends when I have absolutely nothing to do. I was originally stressed out about the sucess of my youth group and our joint venture to construct a garden, but the results have been unbelievable. We have a steady group of 13 jovenes everytime and our garden is a full 5x8 meters on a corner of farm land that a local let us use. I will try and post pictures, but each joven worked so hard and it is amazing what you can do with some sacos ¨large bags¨and manual labor.

Other than that I am about to start week 3 of training and that means I start teaching. I met with my coteacher today and it was not as intimidating as I expected. After observing a class the previous week I expected to be berated and under appreciated. However, the teacher welcomed me into her house and was very eager to participate in helping me prepare the lesson. So this Tuesday I will be teaching my first class in Spanish to a group of 28 5th graders about the difference and similarities of plant and animal cells. It should be fun and I have already begun planning a lesson that involves a game of hot potato, building puzzles, and learning new vocab.

Also on the plate is that we are going to introduce ourselves to the Alcadia this week and try and form some relationships with the government. As most of you would expect this is not likely to go anywhere. As with most countries local governments drag their feet and are likely to be less than impressed with some gringos showing up.

I will do my best to keep you posted on what is happening here and hopefully I will have some more exciting stories than me just doing my normal workload. I am starting to meet some friends and they have plans to take me all around Nicaragua, but who knows if that will ever go anywhere.

Living it up in Masatepe

So this blog business is much harder than I thought it was going to be. I promised to update it like a journal and to let you all know about what has been happening. Well, it has been a week and I have not written anything since before I left. So much has gone on and I would swear that I have already been here for months. Another disclaimer, I am using a smaller keyboard that has a different setup so dont be surprised for the many typos and lack of punctuation.

Where to start, it has only been 11 days, but each one is so packed with its own amount of craziness and odd happenings. For one thing, before we even arrived in Nicaragua we ran into our fair share of problems. We had to wake up at the god awful hour of 2 in the morning to catch our flight from DC to Miami. Well, we did wake up and got to the airport before it even opened. We ended up waiting 3 hours to catch our 630 flight. To make matters even worse, we were all pumped to be meeting the new Peace Corps director, Aaron Williams, but instead we were treated with a 4 hour delay at the Miami airport. So finally we touched down in Managua about 5 hours behind schedule, but we were met by the country director and a sworm of current volunteers. It felt like I was being welcomed into a brotherhood where we all care and look out for each other. We were shuttled out to our compound, but without one vital detail... our luggage.

What trip is complete without a dose of trouble. Not only were we stuck in an airport for hours, but the airline lost our luggage. I immediately had flashbacks to Barcelona, but we were all in high spirits and didnt seem to matter.

For the next few days we were locked down in a compound outside of Managua. It was a smooth tranisition and we were put through our share of government hoops. We were tested in our Spanish, given shots, interviewed, filled out paperwork, sat through lectures, and did group activities. It however was not without its rewards, we eventually did get to meet Aaron Williams and it was an hour. He was very nice and supportive towards the Peace Corps. He promised that President Obama was aware of our service and commitment and that we were doing something great for the country. I was proud to be in his company and it helped me feel more secure of what I was embarking on.

I know that I am skipping over many crucial parts, but I have already written several emails and in my journal and it is difficult to keep repeating all that is happening. Even harder is that I am doing so much in each day I cant keep track of it.

One thing I wont forget was leaving the compound on Friday. The environment group all left in a small caravan of 3 Range Rovers. We were cruising south towards Masatepe and dropping off other volunteers along the way. The simple task that was supposed to take about 2 hours quickly turned into an all day ordeal and I finally got to my town around 8pm. I was nervous to meet my family, but right as I stepped out of the truck my mom was outside to greet me. -she was very warm and friendly and I got to meet my new 6year old brother, Andres, my older sister Hilda and my little puppy Nena. My house is right on the corner near the entrance to town and my other sister has a clothing shop right in our front room. Another interesting fact is that Hilda is a teacher at the high school but also works at the bakery across the street with her brother Gonzalo.

So my normal schedule during the week is that I wake up around 6 and meet up with my two other trainees to go for a morning run. We have time to shower and get ready for our 8 oclock class at one of their houses and we are there each day until noon. I have an hour to eat lunch back at my familys house and then I head back to either the school or around town for technical training from 1 to 3. It is a busy day and current volunteers say that training is the most difficult part of their service. I definitely feel stressed trying to assimilate to the culture here and meanwhile trying to organize a youth group, build a garden, teach a class, and improve my Spanish.

Some fun things that I have already done here is that I went to the circus with my family on Tuesday night. It was exciting because it was a big attraction for the circus to come to town and i have never been to one before. The tent was packed with a large line waiting outside. Somehow we were able to force our way inside and not only avoid being cramped with everyone else, but be able to sit in the inner circle for the show. The only problem was the circus was kind of sad. It was pretty boring with some lame clowns, sad looking animals, and a boring host. It was big for its experience, but I know I wouldnt go again.

What else? I joined a gym and I am going each evening with my cousin down the street. It really isnt much of gym but it is cheap, about 2 dollars a week. Imagine someones front room stripped of all the furniture and some old rusty weights put in its place. Now, imagine the walls painted crazy neon colors with some poorly drawn pictures to boot. Okay, to compliment all that there are holes in the wall where weights were obviously thrown and the tiled floors are broken from dropped weights. It really is a funny setting but a great way to meet new people. Also I am determined to not put on weight like most volunteers do.

Now I know that this is getting long, but there has been so much happening here in my life. I will try and update this a little more frequently so they are not this drawn out but who knwos how much I will be able to get to a computer. I hope all is well in the states and I know these next two years will fly by.

As I have now gone through the process I would recommend observing the packing limit. I definitely had the most stuff out of the guys and a lot of it isnt necessary. All you really need are about a week or two worth of clothes and a flashlight. I am glad I have most of my things, but you really can get whatever you want here in Nicaragua. As for traveling around the country, it is going to take a while and isnt what I imagined. The Peace Corps especially during training is a lot of work and I doubt I will be going anywhere anytime soon.

Nica Please

It's finally time... I am going to Nicaragua. Only 10 hours until I am on a flight to Washington DC and 26 hours until I am on my way to Managua! It seems sureal that it is finally here and I don't believe it will settle in until about a month after I am in Nicaragua. I hope to keep in touch with you all and feel free to send letters and e-mails.

For those of you who are geographically... troubled here is a map of where I will be. It is located in Central America just above Costa Rica. Don't worry it is safer than most countries and Latino culture is known for it's hospitality and warmth. I will be living just south of the capital (Managua) for the next three months with a home stay and it will basically be studying abroad. Each day I will have language class followed by classes to become an environmental educator. I won't have a computer or cell phone, but I am sure I can go to a ciber once a week or more to check e-mails.

Thank you all who were able to come to my send-off party. It was great to see you all and it meant so much to me to have you there offering your support.

Pretending to Rough It

With only 3 weeks until my departure for the Peace Corps, I drove up from CT to meet up with Stella for another weekend adventure. We were heading up to Plymouth, NH and later Mt. Washington for an "outdoor" weekend.

I knew the weekend was going to be great when Stella mentioned that we could go to the coast and see the seals in Plymouth. I guess it is an Ohio thing, but they are not used to there being several towns with the same names; Plymouth, NH is much different than Plymouth, MA and about 150 miles from the coast. Besides that small little issue there really wasn't too much to do in Plymouth. In fact the only reason we even stopped there was to break up the 3 hour drive to Mt. Washington and start our vacation an evening early. Plymouth was a nice enough town, but I guess like all on NH just small and pretty desolate. We had a mediocre meal at some random restaurant and we got a cheap room at the Red Roof Inn. It was exactly what you would expect for $86 and it even had a good breakfast in the morning.

The real adventure started Saturday morning. We checked out of the Red Roof at about 7:30 and started our hour drive up into the state parks. I remember the area from my Reach the Beach race in September and it was every bit as beautiful. We were welcomed to the area with signs every few miles warning us about moose and the large White Mountains and the Presidential Range.

I planned like I was my dad and had a map with highlighted roads, a written out agenda, and a time table. I am proud to say we got to the parking lot only 30 minutes behind schedule and were on the trail by 9am. We started on the Ammonoosoc Ravine Trail, which is rated as difficult but passes through the Lake of the Clouds Hut and is about 4.5miles long. I came prepared unlike Stella who only brought a rain jacket. I had three bottles of water, a backpack, winter gear (hat and gloves), rain gear (jacket and pants), food, two knives, dry sacks, and rope. I know I went a little overkill but I had all the gear and was eager to use it all. The one downside I quickly realized is that all your gear must be packed tightly. I made the mistake of just strapping down my nalgene with a caribener and the swaying bottle quickly tired me out.

The trail itself was beautiful. I did my research and if you have any desire to climb Mt. Washington I would recommend the Ammonoosoc Ravine Trail. It starts right on the Base Rd and follows one of the rivers up the mountain. It has many great spots where you can stop and over look the ravine and many waterfalls. Also, you feel like you are doing serious hiking, the trail is well cared for, but at times you are climbing near vertical rock walls or scaling mile long segments bouncing from rock to rock. I agree that this was a harder trail, but it was so rewarding to finally get to the the Lake of the Clouds Hut. I was impressed how much work the AMC does and the hut is no little building, it holds about 80 beds and lets you come in for free to warm up. At this point too, we were above the alpine zone and the temperature had dropped nearly 30 degrees from the warm 70 at the base. Stella was glad I brought extra gear and I gave her my hat and gloves. The alpine zone was like walking on a different planet. The trees immediately stop and you are met with a completely rocky environment. Also, those lakes, more like ponds, very tiny but cool to see them about a mile up the mountain.

The most crazy part about our hike was that at the Lake of the Clouds we ran into a group portaging a canoe to the summit. It was about a 16ft aluminum canoe and I remember portaging from my last outdoor trip, it sucks, never mind climbing a mountain. The last half mile of the hike was through the alpine zone and it was all rock, even though we could see the summit it took us about another hour to reach the observatory. We really lucked out on our trip and had a clear 360 degree view of the area. However, as nice as the view was it was kind of disappointing to see people just pulling up in their cars. I guess the best part of the climb was in fact the climb and the sense of accomplishment of doing the climb.

It took us 4 hours to climb Mt. Washington. We were ahead of my pacing and I decided we were going to take Jewell Trail down. This trail was supposed to be easier and a little longer. I thought it would be better because descending is difficult and we would get to see another part of the mountain. The trail followed the train path for a little then broke off to another ravine. Unlike the trail up it hugged the evergreen trees and the trail was much narrower with vegetation all around. I am glad we didn't ascend on this path because there aren't many viewing spots and most of the time you are hidden under the trees. Yet, I did find a few opportunities to run close to some cliff edges despite Stella's disapproval.

That night we stayed at the AMC Highland Center Lodge. It was recommended to us by Stella's supervisor and was amazing. I felt like we were staying in luxury. As we arrive they are having an appetizer hour with wine and beer. Our room was a 4-person bunk that we had to ourselves overlooking a nearby lake and train station. That night for dinner we met a group of 4 men from CT and had dinner family style. The food was outstanding and it was great to share our experiences with complete strangers. I also got to hear about the Foreign Service from a man that just retired from it and it may be another possibility after the Peace Corps.

The next day we headed to Arethusa Falls, the tallest waterfall in NH. We figured since it was Sunday and early we might as well get in a short day hike before heading back to Boston. It was supposed to be a challenging hike 1hr each way. It felt eerily familiar and was a nice hike after our odyssey the day before. By this point Stella and I could take any hike and we were passing people left and right to the falls. After the falls we planned on heading back and stopping at Flume Gorge, but got sidetracked and decided to hike Frankenstein Cliffs on the same path. This was a 3 mile loop that took us up to the top of 2500ft cliffs. Again the trail was rough with many steep sections and lots of rocks. Of course Stella and I didn't have a map and we just kept assuming we were heading in the right direction. It is amazing when you are hiking how easy it is to lose your orientation about distance 0.2 miles seems like an eon on the trail. Well we finally made it to the cliffs and it was worth the spontaneous decision. Stella and I sat right on the edge of the cliff with our feet dangling over the ground over 1000ft below. We both agreed that the view was much more rewarding than Mt. Washington. Although much lower, we could see the waterfall off in the distance where we were hours ago and see my car even further. Also, we had a view of the entire canyon.

This really was the perfect trip and many things happened to fall in our favor. Each day we were hiking we were enthusiastic, but got rightfully tired. It just so happened each day that when we hit the "wall" the point where we were ready to be done, the end was no more than 30 minutes away. Also, I am very adamant about eating at local restaurants and avoiding chains. As we were driving home I wanted a family restaurant and we stopped at the first place we saw. What was on the menu, but a whole story explaining how the restaurant is family owned and how they want to make it the most "warm" restaurant possible.

Over this weekend I grew to appreciate nature and hiking. I had an amazing time and will not forget how awe inspiring those views were. I realized I don't need big fancy games or toys, just a good pair of shoes and company. In addition, I learned to love the time I am in. I just took it all in stride with no clear expectations. I am used to being so frugal with my decisions, but with Stella I just want to make her happy. Who cares if i is a few extra bucks for a root beer float, it makes the meal more fun. It was the perfect weekend of being outdoors, but we were still comforted with the luxury of a warm dry bed at night. I think I need a few more trips like this until I am ready to through hike anywhere.

Jaunting Along the RI Coast

It's coming faster than I expected, I am really leaving for the Peace Corps at the end of the month. A year ago I sent in my electronic application and I naively thought I would know my placement by Christmas. Silly me, a year later I am finally leaving and now it seems like just yesterday I was applying.

Due to the proximity of my departure and my limited days with family and Stella I am determined to make the most of each moment. I kicked it off right by staying in Boston for a week and traveling with Stella around New England for the weekend. This weekend I met up with Melina and Alex at her new apartment for dinner. It was a great dinner, she invited Frank since Andrew was on vacation in NH and we had a nice "family dinner". Melina is really a great hostess and she made all the fixings: eggplant parmesan, breaded meat, salad, and chocolate covered strawberries. Also, everyone seemed excited to see Stella again and we all just picked right back up in terms of relationship when we were in Colombia. I loved having dinner with them all because I see them as some of my closer friends and a group I really want to be a part of. I know Stella felt the same way because she was complaining why we didn't do this earlier and vowed to stay in touch with Melina even after I leave.

That night we stayed at Amparo's and were woken up to a filling breakfast. Amparo made arepas and Stella even made one. We were headed out that morning nice and early (9am) for Misquamicut Beach. It was the first nice beach day of the summer, rumors of 90 degrees and we didn't want to miss the chance. Our 1.5hr drive quickly turned to a 2.5hr drive due to all the traffic; it appeared that the whole world had a similar idea about the beach. Also, Misquamicut was packed, imagine the old pictures of Coney Island, we only had enough space for our towels and that was pushing it. Even with the disaster of traffic and finding space in the sand it was amazing to get out and just enjoy the sun, good company, and cold water. I went out with Stella in the waves which were about 6ft and we even went for a 3mile walk.

That night we went to Mystic, CT and a KOA campground. True, it is not real camping, we just show up in a car, pull out a tent, and sleep, but it was better than nothing. I knew it was camping because I have the bug bites to prove it. But, we didn't even have a campfire, instead we went into Mystic to get dinner and walk around. We were both surprised how touristy it was, even at 8:30 at night we could not get a table at any restaurants and we ended up with an okay meal at some cajun restaurant.

Already we were having a pretty jam packed weekend. We drove from Boston to Melina's for dinner, we forded 3hrs of traffic on the Masspike, went to Misquamicut, and camped. We debated just staying at the campsite until late morning playing horseshoes, miniature golf, or going for a walk, but I wanted more. I figured we did so much, we might as well go for it all. That morning we got up and raced towards Point Judith to catch a ferry to Block Island. I already had one bike on my car since I was moving home and we figured we could just rent another for Stella on the island. The ferry was relaxing and it was great to just have some time to relax.Once on the island, which is absolutely beautiful we made a beeline for the nearest bike shop. It was already getting pretty late, about 1pm, and we wanted to cover a lot of ground and some how get back to Boston that night.
We asked some locals for advice and found that we could cover the botton half of the island in a few hours. Only a 5-10mile ride, but we wanted to stop a lot to look around and enjoy the route. Along the way we found a huge organic garden that attracted Stella's eye. The garden had every type of vegetable and it gave me some great tips and guidance for my own garden or project in Nicaragua. We then trekked on to a lighthouse and were too cheap to climb to the top. Figures that they are trying to build a wind farm off the coast that will power the whole island and it is no surprise that it will be one of the first in America, while Europe as a couple hundred. From there we kept on biking in the slightly overcast weather until we saw two cute little boys selling lemonade. We figured why not and starting talking to their dad who was reading "The Tipping Point". We started off mentioning how we both read that book and a few others he listed off. He then told us of a good beach down the road that is usually void of tourists and a nice spot to check out. Stella loves just walking and we figured it would be a good spot to ditch the bikes for a little and just walk along the coast. The beach was in fact hidden and here is a picture of the crazy trail to get down there. I didn't realize we were going to have to bounce down a ravine and jump over some rivers to get there.
All in all well worth the reward at the end of the path. I was able to go hunting for some crabs by the rocks and Stella was able to do some yoga. Also, we got a good view from the shore.What a weekend it was, we did it all and were able to get back to Boston by 8pm and we missed all the horrible rain everyone was talking about. Not a bad start to my farewell tour and I have CT to look forward to for the next week and then it is off to Mt. Washington the next weekend .

Canoeing through the Saranacs

My action packed week continued this weekend with a camping trip in the Adirondacks State Park. I was invited to go with my friend Andrew, who is one of Marissa's good friends and my companion in Barcelona.

After a 5.5hour drive up to the Adirondacks and sitting in traffic through Lake Placid, I made it to Flower Lake and Saint Regis Outfitters. It was a beautiful ride and really great to see all of the old Olympic structures such as the crazy ski jumps and the bobsled runs.

The trip started with Andrew, Eric, and I portaging our 18ft canoe through town about a mile to the town park on Flower Lake. Our canoe loaded with gear, and us were an estimated 700lbs and it was impressive to see it all loaded at the beginning of our trek. Each of us had a stiff hiking bag and Andrew brought about 50lbs of food: including GORP, trail mix, canned food, a water filter, and summer sausage.



It was great to get onto the lake and I quickly realized this would be unlike any other camping trip I have done. It was also much different than my biking trek and much more liberating. Unlike what I expected, we were going to be canoeing everywhere with very little hiking. Our whole trip focused around Lower and Middle Saranac Lake with several ponds and rivers in between. Each night we were going to be staying on a different island and we lucked out to have it all to ourselves each night. Another interesting aspect was that the lakes were very shallow, usually around 20ft or so and even though it was a huge lake, there were designated lanes for boats that were dredged.
The first night of camping was a learning experience. We decided to rough it and only camp in lean-tos. Seems like a good idea, we were only concerned about rain which was forecasted for everyday, but instead we were surprised with mosquitoes. That night we were all hiding under our 2-walled lean-to in our sleeping bags sweltering. I decided I would rather sweat to death than be bitten anymore by those devil bugs.

The following day we canoed from Lower Saranac to Middle Saranac and had to cover about 9 miles. In those 9 miles were locks that we got to operate ourselves. Each lake is about 10ft higher than the previous one meaning a lock is definitely necessary. It was quite simple to use, we just canoe in, close the doors, and open the slats on the other end of the lock. As for our second night, we were on an island more in the middle of a lake and a storm was approaching. Combining these elements and a steady breeze meant that the bugs were much less but we were fearful of a monster thunderstorm. So, what do I do, I go for a swim because I found a big rock and of course wanted to climb it. It was nice to get out on the water and I figured since I was wet it would count of a shower and I know that would make my mom happy.

Very quickly the trip was coming to an end and on Friday we only had about a 6mile trip back to Lower Saranac. Due to our "short" trip we decided to canoe to the portage to Upper Saranac. It was a great thing we decided not to camp on Upper because the portage was a 1.5mile hike through bug infested swamps and ankle twisting trails. Well our last island was a little like the first. The water around it looked too calm and there were way too many trees. Quickly we all realized that this was a recipe for mosquitoes. Thanks to all my years as a professional fort builder in the basement we were quickly able to make our own tent out of tarps. The picture basically explains it all, one problem though is that a tarp is not exactly breathable. We slept without bugs, but not without realizing that it was again sweltering hot and condensation was building on all the walls. However, it did lead to quite a humerous night of us pretending we were WWII anti-bomber patrols and were treating the bugs as "boogies" to be shot down. The whole 2hr event of killing mosquitoes came when Andrew yelled, "I'm a medic not a killer!"

After returning to civilization after 4 days of camping and canoeing I would eagerly do it all over again. Like my biking trip I wish I did such trips earlier, but I am glad to have started. I saw this trip as an opportunity to appreciate the simple things and to find that I can do such trips on my own.

Still Falling out of Trees...

This weekend I got to go back to Berea, Ohio with Stella to visit her family. I love going to see her family because everyone is just so nice and unbelievably caring. I met Stella at her office and we took the quickest flight we could out West.

The reason we went out to Berea was to see her sister's, Erika's, play. It was called Into the Woods and was an astounding three hours long! Erika did amazing, she was the step-mother in the Cinderella section and definitely was one of the better actresses. Stella's sister was very happy to know that we traveled all the way out to Ohio to especially see her and her performance in the play.

Beyond seeing the play, Stella's parents really treat me like one of their own. We toured around the town, took Zoe for a walk and made dinner together. Time quickly passed and before I knew it, it was already Sunday. I woke up early with Stella's dad to go for a bike ride. Like the last time I visited, I borrowed a bike from her dad's friend, Richard and we also went out with another friend, Dave and his son. I was upset that Stella couldn't go riding with us, but we were able to hold a much more intense pace and even covered about 37 miles. Coming back to the house I found Stella and her mom sitting in the yard just relaxing in the sun and we spent the rest of the day lounging around, going for yet another walk and letting Zoe go swimming. However, on our walk we stopped by a car show. I was anticipating this and couldn't wait to show off my car knowledge and see some classic gear heads. I felt like I really got to know Stella's dad and we talked about how his bias for 50's cars and mine for 70's.

I guess it is getting to the point where I have to explain the title of this entry. On Sunday Stella had the idea of making stuffed grape leaves. She was rather persistent about this and I decided to help her cook. The reason we were so set on grape leaves was because they have a vine in their backyard. The trouble is that the recipe calls for young leaves, meaning at the end of the vine. I volunteered to climb the tree and pick the leaves. First time, perfect, not one issue. We went back inside cooked the leaves and latter found out we needed more. I rushed back out and thought nothing of it and climbed right back up the tree. Things were going really well, I was about 6ft up had about 10 leaves when all of a sudden the branch under my right foot snapped. All I remember was flipping backwards and seeing the ground rush towards my face. Lucky for me my right wrist and right leg got caught in the branches and I was left dangling from the tree. Even better, no one was outside to witness the fall, the only proof I have are some manly gashes over my body. To compliment it I had Stella's sister give me a henna tattoo on my left arm that is a combination of a heart and roses.