My schedule is growing, and so is my love for this country!

This post was written last night, but then I lost Internet, so I´m posting in a nearby cyber cafe (what it´s called, even though there´s no cafe)

Greetings, faithful blog readers (hi Mom & Dad)! It has been a bit longer than usual since I last wrote, because I haven´t had Internet access since last Tuesday, until now. So much has happened in the past week and a half, but I´ll try not to ramble!

The biggest change for me last week was that I started teaching another English class. This class meets 4 days a week, so it added quite a bit to my schedule! There are typically about 5-8 people in this class, all adults ranging between 20 and 65 years old. Because I was used to teaching kids around 10 or so, there were a lot of differences that I had to take into account, some of which make the class easier, some of which make it it more difficult. The biggest difference is that most of these adults have a solid understanding of English. On one hand this is great, because I can speak almost exclusively in English during the class, and although they may not be able to understand everything, they can generally follow along. However, it´s harder because planning the classes requires much more effort. My 10 year olds can spend an entire hour on learning one verb form, but the adults understand material more quickly, so I have to prepare more for each class. Additionally, I have to prepare more advanced material, which requires more thought on my part. With the younger kids I can make a lesson plan in 20 minutes, but this class requires me to really think about how the English language works- English is weird! I am so glad it´s my first language, because I would not want to learn such a difficult language. All my students are great though, and it´s definitely worth the extra effort!

Early on Friday morning I departed from Corinto to meet everyone in Leon, where we would all be heading to our first excursion in Granada! Granada is an absolutely gorgeous colonial town, but infested with tourists, which although I was expecting, was still surprising to see. I have seen a total of 2 gringos (Westerners) in Corinto, and only a smattering in Chinandega, so I wasn´t used to seeing so many in Granada! Once we dropped our bags off at the hostel we headed out for a boat tour on Lake Nicaragua to see Las Isletas. Las Isletas are tiny volcanic islands, most of which are only big enough for a large house. Most of these houses were very lavish and owned by wealthy Nicaraguans. We had lunch at one of the isletas and while we waited for our food (it´s not unusual for food to take more than an hour to come out) we swam in the warm waters of Lake Nicaragua, only returning to the table to drink from our coconuts that had arrived. Once we returned to Granada we were able to explore the city, which was lovely. I visited Granada in 2007, and although I wasn´t there for very long, I still recognized many parts and got a picture with a statue that I remembered. That night we were assigned a task, where we had to "sell" our life- that is, make a presentation on why our life was the best. Once everyone presented, we voted for the person who had persuaded us that they had the best life, aaaand.... I won!! Our project directors kept telling us about the AMAZING prize that waited for us, and that jumbo size jar of Nutella that I won definitely did not disappoint! I was absolutely giddy, to say the least. 

The next day, after a tradition Nica breakfast at the hostel, we headed out to the volcano Mombacho to go zip lining! I´ve been zip lining before, but this experience was like nothing I had ever had before. It was not spectacularly long or high, but what set it apart was that fact that we did different positions on the course! I first did what they referred to as "Superchica", head first, on my stomach in the Superman pose, and then dared to do it upside down! Flying through the air upside down, hanging only by my legs was, although incredibly disorienting, so much fun! We spent the rest of the day back in Granada enjoying the many sites and shops that the city has to offer, and being tourists, for once. One of the most notable stores that we went to was a joint chocolate museum/store/restaurant. I ordered chocolate fondue with fruit, which was the richest chocolate I had ever had. It was absolutely delicious, but so unbelievably decadent that I couldn´t finish it, which as a dark-chocolate lover, was hard for me to come to terms with. We had dinner at a nice restaurant that night, and were entertained by a vendor selling engraved maracas. While we waited for our food, he rapidly engraved beautiful images and words onto maracas, using only a small knife- it was quite impressive! I spent the rest of the night out on the town with Tess, Vanessa (one of our project directors), and her Peace Corps friend, enjoying ourselves.

Sunday morning we all hopped in a couple taxis that took us to Laguna de Apoyo, which was one of the most beautiful places I´ve ever seen. When we got there, the clouds were resting low on the volcano that surrounds it, creating a mystical feel, but by the afternoon, they had lifted to reveal the spectacular view. We swam in the clear, pristine, water in the afternoon, and when we got tired and prune-y, we got out to indulge in some of my Nutella and retreat to the hostel, where we had our own cabin. In our cabin were a variety of posters, including one from a National Geographic magazine that I have pinned up in my room in the States, which caught me by surprise! We spent the night playing bananagrams (which Mateo insisted his family made up, though we all knew it that was false) and Taboo, which gave us all many laughs, and made the volunteers realize how little Mateo and Vanessa know of Western culture (honestly, who doesn´t know who Kate Middleton is? Mateo and Vanessa, that´s who). The weekend was wonderful, and reminded me how I am surrounded by such great and remarkable people here, both Nica and otherwise. 

When I got back to Corinto, as I was opening our gate, a Nicaraguan man passing by asked me in English where I was from. I get this fairly often, and am used to people being curious and wanting the try their English on me. I responded "Los Estados Unidos", and he said "No, but where in the States?". I told him Rhode Island, which is close to Boston (nobody knows where Rhode Island is), and he responded with "Oh cool. I used to live in Providence". What?? He was so casual, I wondered if I had misunderstood him. I asked him where in Providence, and he told me what street, which happens to be a large street in Providence about 10 minutes from me! I was absolutely shocked, but he did not seem to be phased at all. Of course, then he asked me if I was married (I get asked this a lot, and depending who´s asking I often answer affirmatively, though I felt in this "small world" situation I could tell him no), and then told me that he was "single, just so you know". Although I was put off by that, I still found the situation incredibly unusual and told my family and coworkers, none of whom found it that strange, but warned me to stay away from him. It was definitely an experience!

I´m slowly getting used to being called out on the streets, and have learned to appreciate the friendliness that all Nicaraguans seem to have. If I meet somebody once, briefly, they always are sure to yell "hello" when they see me down the street, and give me a hug and a kiss when they see me again. For a comedor infantil, my organization buys wood to cook food, and about a month ago I went to accompany one of the other volunteers buying wood from an extremely friendly elderly woman. A few days ago, I returned for the first time since, and was greeted with an enormous hug and kiss on the forehead. She scolded me for being gone so long, exclaimed over how tall I was getting and my blonde hair, and treated me like her own granddaughter. People here are so hospitable, welcoming, and outwardly friendly, and sometimes I just sit and marvel over how wonderful the human race is. 

Life continues to go on here in Corinto. Right now I am in a house/store across the street from my house, where I am using the Internet and watching my host mom scoop out various types of fresco (fresh juice) into bags and sell them at the door. The World Series game is going on in my house (I´ll check the score once I post this!), which has definitely been a conversation topic for the past week or so. Go Sox!

I have been slacking on uploading pictures, but I will do that this weekend! An entire post will be dedicated to the visual beauty of Nicaragua. 

It´s hard to believe that my time here is more than half way over. Here´s to hoping that the second half is just as wonderful as the first!