Back in the USS... Wait, U-S-A!

I don't think there is any adequate word or way to describe my excitement of coming home. I was looking forward to this trip back to the States since before I left for the Peace Corps. True, it was an opportunity for to see my friends again, but it was mainly for Alex and Melina's wedding. I had been counting down for the wedding and saw it as the perfect reprieve one year into my service. This was my chance to see the entire family in one night, celebrate a joyous occasion and recollect myself after being away for nearly half of my service. What more could I ask for?

The day before I headed to Managua to decompress and prepare for my early flight home at 5am. Ridiculous I know, but with all the layovers and time changes I still wouldn't get back to Brookfield until 9pm. Anyways, I lucked out because I hurt myself at my soccer game on Sunday and thought I broke my thumb. Whoops, of course something always has to happen, but as a plus I got my travel reimbursed and a free night at the hotel. I guess karma has a twisted way of delivering. The whole day of flying home was a blur. It was a mixture of lack of sleep, adreneline, and anxiety of what to expect about what to see. The biggest surprise happened when I got to Miami... the price of everything. A banana is 5cents in my town, do you know how much it was in Miami, $1.39; that is absolutely absurd. I wanted a beer, $6 right there and that is not even including tip. Well to make a long story short I did not eat a single thing because I was way too shocked to spend money on things that would cost me less than a dollar. Once I was in JFK I was met by my dad which was amazing. I went running to him. It was quite a contrast to how we were meeting. I was coming back from a poverty stricken town while he was coming back from a two day trip in Scotland after playing a round of golf at the 2011 Ryder's Cup course. Anyways, we got a ride home from his driver and just to top it all off I had my mom and sister waiting for me at the house with a wonderful Italian dinner warming up in the oven.

In typical fashion, I was not going to take this vacation lying down. While most people would approach their time back in the United States as a time to relax, catch up on sleep, see a few friends, I saw it as a sprint to get as much done as possible. I set the pace right by waking up at 6am the next day or 4am my time to go for a nice little bike ride. Well I kept saying one more corner or one more mile and it quickly turned into a 26mile ride... whoops. Oh well, it was a good to get in some good miles and I had a sense of accomplishment by 8am and could take on the rest of the day.

After my morning ride I was off to Hartford to meet up with my old boss Rachael who is a RPCV. It was great catching up with her, sharing my experiences, and knowing that most of what I am going through is common and that I am at the hump... it is all down hill now. The biggest part of the day was Alex and Melina's wedding rehearsal at the church. It was beautiful to see the family, Al and Mel's friends and my grandpa's brother who came all the way from Texas. We had an amazing dinner out in Hartford and it gave me time to catch up with lots of my cousins and friends who I haven't talked to for the last year.

So far it seems like more or less a normal trip back to the States. I had been back in country for 24hrs and had already traveled up to Hartford, did some biking, and saw family and friends. I had to keep my trend going and was off the next day early for NYC. I was meeting up with Stella and her family on the upper westside. Her aunt and uncle lived around 96th street and Stella's mom flew over from Ohio to see her. It was a great day because I finally got to meet more of her family. Besides her family in the city her other aunts and uncles were visiting from Indiana and we even drove out to the Palisades to see her grandma. I guess it was about time because Stella has already met all of my family including everyone in Colombia. Her family is so nice and so caring. We celebrated the Jewish holiday which commemorated the 40 years in the desert and had a wonderful breakfast of bagels, lox, and fruit outside in a park. True, I didn't try to out due myself by then running down to Times Square or going around 5th Ave, but we did all go for a nice walk around Central Park and seeing Strawberry Fields.

Saturday! Al and Melina's wedding. Where did all the time go? I had been in country for two days already and the wedding had already come. The morning was a mad rush of getting ready and I made it worse by taking my dad's car out for a ride and figuring I had time to go to Bart's house. I don't have much experience driving stick, ie about once before, and I did pretty well. I didn't stall, I was able to start from a stop on any hill and got the car going pretty fast... but within reason. Well let was a mad rush getting ready for the wedding and to make it worse when we finally were off and ready Stella and I were the first to arrive at the church with my sister and Deakin coming in right behind. We figured we were still about 40 minutes early so what better than to head down the street to our favorite pizza place, First & Last. We barely made it, my dad was frantically calling and we made up some lie about how we headed down the street to fill up the cars. Oh well, it was exciting and the plus was my cousin Will came to meet up with us, but promptly left because he forgot the dress for his daughter.

Alright, the whole reason I came back to the States... the wedding. It was beautiful, I can see why it took Melina a whole year to plan the event. Everything was absolutely perfect. Yes, we just showed up in the nick of time, but everyone was dressed to the t and I got to catch a few glimpse of all the relatives I haven't seen in ages. I was ecstatic running around smiling at everyone and trying to spend as much time as possible with everyone. The mass itself and service went off without a hitch. I had my 5 seconds of fame reading doing a reading in front of everyone. Frank was the best man and the priest was gave a wonderful sermon about what to expect and the mysteries of marriage. 

The next part of the wedding was the fun part. Well the whole process was fun, but this was the big deal... the reception. It was at the Bond Room in Hartford and was on the 11th floor with a view of the entire city. I don't know how it was possible, but again I was one of the last ones to show up and we lucked out because my parents got all of us rooms at the hotel. We had a stellar table with the six of us, Will and Lyn, and Lil Will with his family. Given, I didn't spend too much time at the table, I did my best to mingle in with everyone but found that I didn't gravitate too far from my corner of the room or I was either at the bar. I know what you are all thinking, I was no lush. I was in fact getting drinks either for my sister or Ryan most of the time and just found a way of getting into conversations that always gravitated around alcohol. Oh well, I made the most of it and the biggest surprise of the night was that on each table was a card announcing my Peace Corps service. Mel prepared a whole flattering explanation of my experience in Nicaragua and announced that they were making a donation to the program.

The night carried on with plenty of dancing, reminiscing of stories and just forgetting that most of us have not seen each other in years. Stella made a good description, she said we were an Italian family, but just latin. It is true, we are a big family, and everyone regardless of distance tries to stay close. It didn't matter that I had not seen one of my Mom's uncles since I was about 5, but it didn't matter we picked right back up. Deakin, Sa's boyfriend, was a huge hit and spent the whole night dancing with Lyn, Uncle Will's fiancée... yes you heard right. It is about damn time! Everything about the evening was perfect, no drunken mistakes, no embarrassing moments, beautiful pictures, perfect company, and great food.

As long as I was waiting for the wedding, it was over in a heartbeat. After the reception we were off to the bar right next door to erase my comment about embarrassing moments. I can't say I remember clearly every detail, but I swear I remember Will on the ground at one point doing push ups in the  middle of the bar...

Yep, definitely happened. I also remember the bouncers slowly closing in on us like circling voltures. To make a long story short, two of our group got kicked out and Alex and Melina made their escape long before the scene got too ugly. I quickly followed suit and it was probably a smart idea because the next morning at breakfast I heard about how my cousin somehow ended up buying more drinks and went somewhere to buy a large pizza at an unknown hour in Hartford.

Oh well, that is behind us and now I had to continue my trip up to Boston. It was Sunday and I had to meet up with Amber, her boyfriend Chris, and my friend Michelle to go apple picking. Stella was with me and we all met up in Davis to head off to rural MA to get some apples. It was a perfect New England day. The weather had dropped to the upper 60's and the farm was packed with families. Sadly we did not have time to go for a hay ride, but this place was amazing. The trees were huge and filled with apples, we had to use ladders to get most of them. Chris is amazing and he was grabbing apples and carving faces into most of them to hide in the trees for following people. It was a quick visit, but I hadn't seen Michelle for over a year and it was amazing to catch up. Sadly we had to drop her off at South Station to head back to NYC, but my night with Amber, Chris, and Stella was just kicking off. We were out to go get Indian and it kept getting better with us meeting up with Dan, Chas, John, and Jason. It was a great dinner and afterwards we headed out into Davis for a few drinks and to meet up with Dan.

I promise I will look at this entry in the future and will update this I swear. I am getting tired and am just too drained from traveling and readjusting to the culture. Here is a shot of the stud, Dan Hall, in his ranger gear at the Shipyard on my last day up in Boston. It was like everything way too quick. For those of you keeping track this picture was taken Monday and I had gone from NYC, to the wedding, to apple picking, and now to Boston. I was finally hitting the wall and was on borderline exhaustion.

All in all it was a great trip. Would I do all this again... eh. I mean, I loved it all and I am so glad that I got to see everyone, but I am not sure I agree with doing it all in such a short period of time. I literally got myself sick moving around so much. While it may have been the corned beef hash I ate the day before I left, but I swear I had beaten my immune system down from lack of sleep. Everyone was so wonderful and there are plenty of perks with my crazy schedule. It is also comforting to know how much has stayed the same in the last year. On the day before I left I headed off to Bart's house to see him and Carolyn and within five minutes it felt like any normal night. I had never been to his house, yet we become accustomed to the comfortable and I felt like I was just gone for a week. It helps me think that it won't be so bad readjusting to life when I finish my Peace Corps service.

Thank you everyone for finding time to see me and being so hospitable. Congratulations to Alex and Melina for the most perfect wedding. It was beautiful and I can't thank you enough for such a considerate message on everyone's tables. Only one more year to go and I will be home for good. I can't wait to see you all again in December for Christmas and this time I am taking it a bit slower.

Negative?

I’ve been working hard to try and reboot my youth group soccer team. I have been trying hard to get my team to practice again and feel like a group. It has been hard because I am usually busy during the week and can’t attend practice with them. Yet, as usual, I was able to do my usual job of soliciting the town truck and organizing another team to play against. Everything started off pretty normal and I thought it would just be another weekend soccer game. Of course I had to ask several parents for permission and swear nothing would happen to their sons, but that is pretty much standard. Maybe I should have taken that as an omen that this weekend might not be as easy as the lasts. My next big surprise didn’t come until we were all waiting in front of the alcaldia for the truck at 7 o’clock Saturday morning. The surprise was that we didn’t actually see the truck until 8:30, it just so happens that the vicalcaldesa wanted to join us and because she is the second in command, we have to fit her schedule. Fine, I understand how this works and I wasn’t too upset. Please, I am in Nicaragua and I am used to things not going as planned and as for a surprise guest this is small stuff.

Anyways, we get to the town which is about 2hrs away and several of us are pretty shaken up from the bumpy ride. Just to remind you all, we travel in the back of a flatbed truck and none of the roads are paved. This isn’t too bad, but it is made worse by the fact that the roads have only worsened with the rain and I swear our driver thinks he is a formula 1 driver. The team we were to play against was already there waiting for us, but something seemed out of place. I didn’t notice it until I stepped onto the field and my foot sunk. That was it, the grass was too green, we were basically playing in a swamp. The center of the field was a mud pit and the edges were probably a meter high of grass. Not your ideal playing conditions, to top it all off the field was probably 30m shorter than usual. Ugh, I can’t ask for perfection, but a little help every now and then would be helpful. I of course had to be the referee because my professor (counterpart) won’t do jack and our team was winning 3-0 by halftime. Things were going well, I was ready to take back my uneasiness from the problems earlier until the professor told me he was taking off to do errands in Matagalpa and was sure I had everything under control. I wasn’t happy about this, but I also wasn’t ready to make a scene in front of the kids so I told him it was fine. Well we finished the game and walked down to the highway where the professor told us the truck would be waiting. Nope, there was no truck. Hmmm… ok, don’t panic, it probably just went to go buy some gasoline and will be right back. Wrong again, 1 hour passes, 2 hour passes, finally 4 hours later the truck decides to grace us with it’s presence. I don’t want to dwell on it, but it was a miserable 4 hours.

So that enough right there is to ruin ones day. The professor who is supposed to be helping me watch the kid bounces, the truck is no where in sight, and I am on the side of a highway trying to keep 18 kids in order and out of danger. Oh no, it gets so much worse. We all climb into the back of the truck and start heading home. I noticed that everyone going in the other direction has rain jackets... weird. Nope, it was pouring ahead of us, in fact, very practical. We got drenched and pouring rain, high speeds, and exposed skin leads to a very unhappy Jason. I was livid and we still had to pick up the professor. We get to the stop and he isnt there. What the F... I couldnt take it, first he ditches us and now he has the audacity to make us wait for him while he was probably doing shopping. Urrggghhh, well we get him and then head down the unpaved part, ie the last 1.5hrs. It was miserable, I think the driver was trying to help us out by going faster but instead that just made the bumps hurt that much more. I was swearing like a sailor as every bump felt like my tailbone snapping. I was in the fetal position the entire time and I have never in my life felt just so beaten and lost. I didnt want to talk to anyone, acknowledge anyone, and I refused to even look at the professor.

It was all terrible and one week later I am still sick. True, I havent been helping the situation given I have been running everyday, I ran 20km this morning, but still. Yet, something happened at the end that made it all worth it. We were pulling into town and the players started screaming. They were celebrating our win that I had entirely forgotten about. It didnt matter to them at that moment that we were on the highway for four hours, or soaked to the bone, or exhausted, we had won and we were going to let the entire town know. I was so proud of them and I realized maybe I shouldnt be festering all this anger. Stuff happens and if anything people here are great at letting it just roll off your back.

La Antorcha

It is sweltering hot, what was I thinking? Everything I do seems to take just that much more energy and I am on a slippery slope of decline. It all started out harmlessly enough. I was to meet up with my neighbor around 5 in the morning and then head out with him on his motorcycle towards Zapote. The morning was crisp, it was cool in comparative standards and there was even a bit of fog settled in the valley. I was ready for my neighbor to come by and was already in my running shorts with an emergency 20 cords in my pocket. The whole reason we were heading off to Zapote was to take part in the running of the torch. The torch is run every year through all the Central American countries to commemorate the independence of the region some 180 years ago. I wasn’t sure what to expect in my town since we are no where near any well traveled route and would not be seeing the real torch. My nose was in the correct place, after a 30min ride out we were met by a hodgepodge collection of students and one carrying the leg of a chair with a tin can nailed on top… your torch. I guess it is cute to see how the people deal with what they have and make the best of it, but it is a far cry from the running of the Olympic torch that I saw years ago.

After cutting up a new mop bottom and thoroughly soaking it in some oil and gas we had ourselves a torch. The MINED delegado made a short speech, we sang the national anthem, and we were off. I should chime in here and let you know this was about a 20km run. The idea is that each school along the road would run a section and then pass the torch off to the next school as we make our way to San Dionisio. I didn’t think that was exciting enough and I got a couple other professors to join me and run the entire route. In my infinite wisdom I figured running 20km would be a piece of cake, I already ran three marathons so how bad could this be. Luckily, we stopped several times because the torch went out or we had to sing the national anthem again because maybe someone forgot it, but it wasn’t a continuous run. It took us nearly two hours to run the 20km or 12miles and felt pretty good. The only rough patch was when we finally met up with the high school and all the older runners waiting to sprint to town. They wanted to show off how fit they were, but they forgot that I had already run a good 12km before arriving.

In the end it was a fun morning run. We were escorted by a horde of people on motorcycles and even more kids leading the way on their bicycles. Once we made it into town, we did a victory lap through all of the streets and everyone was out of their houses with flags and yelling. It is amazing how people can get behind an activity and just take it all in. The best part was I was back up in my house by 10am and got to finish it all off with a nice pancake and bacon breakfast.

Ive Been Surfed

I don’t know how many of you have heard of this, but couch surfing is a network of people who are either looking for places to stay or have a free bed or floor to offer. The concept is quite simple, yet it never really seemed to have made it to the lime light. I guess it takes a certain type of person to offer their place to a complete stranger and an even more unique person to feel comfortable enough to stay at a stranger’s house. Personally, I think it is a marvelous idea and I first came across it while living in Spain. As soon as I was settled down in Nicaragua I offered up my house in San Dionisio thinking what tourist in their right mind would want to come way out here. Surprisingly, quite a few. Not all of them have worked out, people’s plans change, but I had my first visitor come last week. He is a young guy from Germany who decided to take a few months to tour Central America before going off to college. I guess it takes a free spirit to make your way out to me, and his philosophy is that he would rather see the off beaten places to truly get the feel of a country and it’s people. Well he came to the right place, I am one of the few gringos that may town has ever seen and there is nothing in the sense of attractions.

Even with my lack of touristy appeal, we had a great time. It really wasn’t so odd to host a stranger in my house. By chance I was in Managua and was able to pick him up right by the Peace Corps office and assist him with all the different buses and transfers that I frequently combat to get home. Once in town he was a huge hit. A common question was if we were brothers. I didn’t see the resembalance, he is a 6’2” blonde German and I am a darker, brown haired American, but what do I know. My visitor showed off his Diablo skills (a type of juggling with two sticks attached by string where a hourglass like container remains on the string by centripetal force). I have never seen so many kids in my barrio before. Daily there were probably about 20 kids waiting for us to get home from the school and have my visitor show of his juggling and Diablo skills. I think the real catcher was that he would let them try it out and luckily nothing got stolen or broken.

In case there are any other couch surfers wishing to come visit, your stay can be as intensive or laid back as you want. My most recent visitor came with me to all of my schools and showed off his skills during recess. We worked in my personal garden and got to hack a few trees down with my machete. The big plus for me was that I got to cook and we made everything from baked macaroni and cheese, black beans and rice, and an asian stir fry. As my first time hosting it was a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again. I have fallen in love with the program and see it as a great way to meet new people and make new friends. In addition, I feel like I was accomplishing a part of my Peace Corps service, I was sharing a new culture with my community but also giving my community the opportunity to show off themselves.

Sitting in Class

Do you ever just kind of day dream in class and forget where you are? That happens to me a lot when I got to my Thursday school in Susuli. Technically it is not part of my required activities and due to that I take it a little less seriously. It involves no planning, no preparations, and me just sitting there speaking English. I have offered to help one of the English professors, but he often forgets I am there or is doing other themes in Spanish. This last week I was sitting through one of his Spanish classes where the kids were presenting skits they had prepared when I heard a distant thumping. It was gradually getting louder and I had never heard it before. Perhaps I was just dozing off, but I noticed the looks on several of the kids faces that told me they were as curious as I was. Finally I noticed the thumping was not in perfect time and that the thumping was in fact the marching feet of students. As I turned to look out the window I notice a group of 30 kids marching by in lockstep. Not a normal thing you expect to see during school hours. Well this throws the class into an uproar and they proceed to forgo their skits and run outside to join the marching. Where were they marching you might ask? Oh, just around the building in preparation for the Independence Day festival coming up where they will march 100m down their dirt street and back again. This alone may not seem too odd, but compounded by the fact that half the school is under construction while classes are going on and most classes have either been relocated to people’s houses or local bars and you get the idea… we aren’t in America anymore.

One Year Brunch

I have been away from home for over one-year, I have been living in a third world country for over a year. I can’t believe how quickly the first year has gone by. The best part is that it has not been a countdown, it has not been a struggle to survive, but rather the anniversary mark just happened to creep up on me. It is a beautiful thing and the scary part is that from past volunteers I hear that the final year goes by even faster.

Enough about reminiscing, the brunch. It was beyond description, it was the most extravagant brunch I have seen in my entire life. True it was $30, but I would have gladly paid $50. First I thought maybe it just seems so nice because I have been eating rice and beans for the last year… nope. We were ushered to sit down and all thirteen of us just stared like little kids at Christmas. Upon arriving we were swept past a sushi bar and the salad bar. From my vantage point I could see the meat carving table and vaguely see the dessert section just on the horizon. Did I mention that this was a big brunch? The most troubling part about the brunch was where to start, there was so much food that it really did take some planning and plate management to not feel overwhelmed or stuffed. Given, we did have 4hrs and we weren’t going to leave a minute early, but I did want to keep a little bit of class. Following my friend’s lead I avoided the bread, no reason to needlessly fill my stomach, and I made a run for the fruits and antipastos first. I haven’t seen so many types of hams in my life, and the cheese. Wow, there were lox, salads, shrimp, and caviar. Each plate seemed to out due the last. As I got up for my next plate I was confronted by the meat carving section where I could get lamb, roast beef, and then finish it off with mahi mahi, seafood, or soup. I think you all get the point, the food was great and super plentiful. The dessert table did not let down, we could get freshly made crepes or chose from 10 already made dishes. All this is impressive, but what blew me away was the service. My champagne flute never got below half full. Believe me, I tried, I really did attempt to see the bottom of my flute, but I never could. The waiters seemed to just be hovering over to refill our glasses and I don’t think any of us were ready to complain.

While the food was incredible and I drank more champagne than I have since Spain, the real treat was to see all the volunteers from my group. Most I haven’t seen since in-service training and even then it was just noticing them across a table. It was great to hear about different people’s projects, their ups and downs and to know that most of us are going through the same struggles. It is easy to get caught up in your own life, but every once in a while it is nice to be reminded that others are there with you.