I hope everyone is doing well and I know how hard it is to get back into the swing of things. Now I am only talking from experience because i just spent the last couple of days on the beach and I am still on vacation until the end of the month, but you can imagine.
I know it has been a while since I wrote to most of you, so here is a quick update starting from Christmas.
As you can imagine, Christmas is a pretty big deal here, but not in the same way as the states. It is almost like any other day except the people decide to stay up late, kill a couple extra animals and launch off tons of bombas. Christmas Eve started with me going over a neighbor´s house with my sister´s husband to see a pig being slaughtered. It wasn´t as shocking as you would think. I mean it was just standing there, the guy grabbed a log, cocked his arms back and hit it right between the eyes. When the chancho was on the ground confused he just stabbed it once in the neck, and left a little whole. I guess this guy is an expert and that one cut was enough to cut the artery and the pig bled out in about 3 minutes. Now, it sounds so quick and easy adn I was generally unaffected but I did feel pretty queezy at points, it is not often I watch anything die infront of me. However, I did partake in removing all of the hair and got to watch how the guy expertly trimmed off all the meat and removed the organs in two cuts. I was shocked and at least happy to see the whole pig gets used. Later in the day I learned how to make nacatamales and chicharones with the family and the whole day basically revolved around cooking and eating. It was a slow day and around 10 there was a big mass at the church across the street. The following day for XMas I opened all my gifts but it was weird doing it all by myself, something just felt wrong. Yet, thank you so much for the gifts, I loved them and I think I owe my slight weight gain to all that candy. Now the killing did not stop. I watched them kill two more chicken and again it was uneventful. No twisting the necks or decapitations, just a slit of the neck and letting them drain out.
That night I did go out with a friend to his family farm and again just ate more and ate some more. I am surprised not everyone here is overweight, but I guess that is why today is so special, there is never this much food.
Now the next big thing on my list was I went to visit my other family in Masatepe two days before New Years. It was amazing to be back in Masatepe again and had a different vibe. Imagine the Claradin commercials where before things are hazey and then it is vivid. That is waht the town felt like to me. For some reason my conversations wit the family felt more connected and I really appreciated them. I hung out with Andres all day and even played his new PS2, I couldn´t pass up the chance. Together we walked around town and said hi to all the other host families and it was good to just get out and appreciate all that they have done for us. When we got back to the house for lunch I was shocked to see Amber (the former volunteer) there and that she of course out did me by bringing gifts. I felt like a tool because here I am staying at the house and getting free food and I had nothing. Well not to be out done I rushed out and improvised a few gifts. I got picture frames and gave them two pictures I had of all of us together and a bag of chocolate I was saving for my trip to the beach. They loved it of course and I was happy I was able to save the day. Later that day I went with Sol to Catarina to hang out at the mirador. It was fun to finally just be able to spend time with here and realize she is much more fun than I ever imagined. We just talked and realized there was a party in town that night. We hung out for a little watching the clowns dance around and people watched, but headed back early since I was off to the beach the next day.
Oh the beach! I was expecting normal murky Pacific water and all the Nicas told me it was helado this time of the year. I didn´t have high expectations but as we pull into town I notice that the water is that vivid bright blue you see on commercials and that the street is lined with hostels and bars. We check into our place and try and get out as soon as possible. A little note about our hotel. The owner is a friend of a friend to one of the volunteers. He gave us a great rate, but imagine your traditional ex-pat. He is some attorney and is now into developing and selling property. He is also pretty creepy and skeevey. Some classic quotes are- I can help you change, I had plenty of practice in college.... of more girls are coming, there is room in my bed.... I´ll give you a good rate for a massage.... I prefer to be on the receiving end. Not to mention that he is also a passive agressive nut.
Quick shot of the sunset
Well we finally escaped his grasp and head down to the beach to swim, drink, and relax. Now, I like to have a good time but it is 11am and I can´t fathom starting to drink yet. I lather up on the sun screen and decide it is best to just pass out and mix it up with some swimming. I guess everyone else had a different idea and decided to put their livers to the test. When I awoke from my first nap I see my friend Chris clammering around searching for his glasses then proceeding to say how he doesn´t care, he has another pair (in Leon!). Well it ends up being a great day and most people head back to teh hotel around 4pm to take a nap in preparation for the evening activities.
The next day, the first day of a new decade started off just how anyone could dream. We all stumble out of bed and make our way down to the beach where we all promptly fall asleep and basically start up the same antics again. The day was complete with walks along the water, some more swimming, and best of all being threatened by some random bolo. I am known for being oblivious and that day was no different. I was delightfully reading my book and somehow missed the entire conversation. I was hoping to claim I didn´t know any of the people if shit hit the fan. Basically, it was getting out of hand and the guy would not go away so we had the bar tender (our new best friend) chase the guy away. The bartender proceeded to tell us that this was a scheme that is often run and usually people are just too scared and pay up.
That night we made our way back to the bar for some karaoke and dance competitions. It at first was pretty lame and sad. I mean it was Nicas belting away to English songs in horrible accents and karaoke can just be plain bad. We had to do something and fast so we ordered a couple litros of beer and started playing flip cup. A bunch of Nicas joined in and we had a good group going. After a few rounds we step up to the plate and start singing along. Rather than doing English songs I decided to go along with the Nica Ranchero music which is just more melodramatic country music sung like you are dying. I was loving it and enjoyed it even more since it was annoying the hell out of Jamie. Well I made my leave early when Jamie (my friend from training town) started becoming real good friends with the owner and was asked to sing every american song. She switched on her bitch mode and instead of the lyrics sang ¨You don´t know what I am saying because none of you can speak English¨. It was priceless, but I knew a lot of them did speak English. Either way I later heard that the crowd loved it and they even broke out into another dance party.
The whole crew
I can´t say I am struggling too much right now in my service. Life is looking pretty good and it was a good call to go on this trip. I remember being hesitant to travel all the way down to the beach, but those last two days seemed like the perfect getaway.
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