Making Progress & Fun with Friends

It´s hard to believe that I´ve been here in Corinto for exactly 4 weeks, and in Nicaragua for nearly 5. I knew it would, but the time absolutely flew by. I´m more than a third of the way through my time here, and while I´m excited to see my family and friends at home, two months seems so short.

This week was full of work, and the weekend was full of fun. I continued teaching my English classes, and although I´m learning more about how to teach, and the method, it´s difficult because it seems like some students consistently forget what they learned the last class. Part of me wants to review with them, so they are really able to learn it, but it´s also important to move on, because the students who have learned the material are ready to learn more. Others are clearly more enthusiastic than others, and while I try to engage everyone, it can be hard balancing the two extremes. They are definitely making progress though, which as a teacher is wonderful to see. 

I´m making progress on my garden project as well. A few of the others ASOHUV workers and I went to the local school where the garden will be, and talked to a teacher about what types of vegetables we would plant, and how the students would be involved. They have an enormous home-ec class, so we are planning on giving presentations to them about the environment and it´s importance, and then connecting that with the garden, which they will work in during school. I also went with another coworker of mine to two local hardware stores to compare prices for the supplies that we will need, which was interesting

On Wednesday I had a workshop, which went very well. We discussed the projects that everybody is working all, all of which sound very interesting. Another volunteer is also creating a garden with her organization, so I´m looking forward to sharing ideas with her. In addition to giving each other feedback on our projects, and be given support from our supervisors, we also discussed various development theories that at one time or another had been used to explain development in Latin America. We had been emailed various documents to read during the week, and it was really interesting to discuss them as a group and talk about how that information is vital to fully understand the culture. Our discussion also reminded me of my AP US History class and Sociology class that I took in high school, and I appreciated the foundation I already had. After our workshop, we all went out to eat at a local smoothie and crepe restaurant, and walking around Leon. We did a bit of thrift shopping, and ended up spending some time at one of the volunteers, Emma´s house, which was quite different from my house. Rather than a typical small 1-story house, her host mom owns a large hostel-style house, which has many rooms that she rents out to tennants. For those of you who were interested by my last post, unfortunately the interview did not happen! I thought that I returned to Corinto too late to be interviewed, so I went straight home, and in the morning when I asked about it, I learned that the news station didn´t follow through. I really shouldn´t have been suprised, this is typical Nica-life.

On Saturday I went to Chinandega for the morning. I had a breakfast of nacatamles at Tess´ house, and then she and I had our second salsa class, which although difficult, is lots of fun. There is quite a lot of shimmying and shaking, and while I´m sure I look absolutely ridiculous, I am really enjoying the class. Tess and I also loved it when in the midst of typical Latino salsa music, Shakira´s "Hips Don´t Lie" came on- our teacher almost changed it, but started laughing when she saw our reaction and kept it on. After our class we showered and headed off to Leon, where we stayed until Saturday with the other volunteers. We met up with the others, Emma and Sara for a late lunch of baguette sandwiches- Emma lives next to a French bakery, and it was strange remembering how many different options there are in the big city of Leon, compared to Corinto. After walking around Leon a bit, grabbing a bite to eat for dinner, and hanging out at Emma´s place, we all went out for a night on the town, which was a lot of fun. It was our "fancy" night, and the first time I wore my hair down since I came here! We ended up at the same bar/music venue that I mentioned in the post "Life in Leon", where we saw a very talented and energetic local man sing and play guitar. We ended the night buying an enormous hamburger and hot dog (the hamburger was the size of my face) from a street vendor, and splitting them 3 three ways. In the morning we slept in the latest that any one of us had slept here (9 am) and then went out for a relaxing breakfast. Tess and I headed back to Corinto, where we spent the day at the beach with some of my coworkers, which was wonderful. I love the beach, and although I go often here, this was the first time I swam in the ocean, which although extremely salty, was quite enjoyable. 

Tomorrow I´m gong to the school where the garden will be to do some cleaning with other volunteers, and discuss more about the project with the teacher there who is most involved with it. I´ll keep everyone posted!