Bienvenidos to my Blog!

Hello Family, Friends, and Curious Readers,

Thanks for stopping in to see what I am up to. This is my first blog, and I hope not to bore you too much with the details of my life. But rather hope to offer you some insights into development work, the highs, the lows, and well the boring.

But before I move away for 27 months, let me give you a little information about myself before I lose a steady internet connection.

So after graduating from Boston College in 2005, I decided I wanted to learn Spanish and "save the world" so I moved to Cusco, Peru. I began by volunteering for The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco by researching and writing a small business plan for the organization. I continued to work with the organization until February of 2008, when I returned to the US to prepare for my move to Madrid, Spain for 15 months to study an International MBA at IE Business School. And now, after a year of searching for the perfect development job, and taking odd jobs in the meantime, I have joined the Peace Corps and am volunteering again. So wish me luck, and PLEASE someone stop me from volunteering again!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Swearing in and a Visit with the President of Nicaragua

What a week we have had. Lots of back and forth between Managua and the training towns for last training sessions and the final move to Managua for swearing in and then the move to our final sites. Boy am I tired!

The Swearing in ceremony was lovely as not only were we celebrating the passage into Volunteership of 40 new volunteers but we also were celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps existence, and 30 years of presence in Nicaragua. We had a small ceremony with our homestay families, thanking them for their hospitality, then in a following ceremony sang both National Anthems, took the oath of service in both languages, and congratulated Super-Volunteers and staff that have contributed more than 3 years of service to Peace Corps Nicaragua. I am very excited to say I was interviewed by a local news station and the interview was then broadcasted nationally. I have a copy of it so let me know if you want to see it and I can email it to you!

After all of that excitement, we went to the Country Director's house for a great Spaghetti lunch! It was fun to meet all the Peace Corps staff and have a great meal before going off to our sites for the next two years.

Then, we had a big surprise when we were all invited to meet the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, in a special audience. It was exciting because as I understand it, this is the largest group of Americans he has ever invited, he has never done this before, and he took the time to shake all of our hands and then talk to us personally. Granted the process took 3 hours, and the room as freezing due to air conditioning, but alas it was a very special experience.

And now I have one day to relax in Managua, then off to my permanent site! Don't worry, as I am on antibiotics for a bacteria infection, I am making good choices and getting lots of rest. Oh and Happy birthday mom (a bit early)

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Never was there ever...

Never was there ever a better time to tell people to make good choices than yesterday. We had our despedida (good-bye party) with our youth group. We were able to meet up in the park and then went to the Salvadoran Pupuseria here in Masatepe (something they never get to do based on the cost of eating out vs. eating at home). After about two hours there of eating, certificate presentations and gifts, we went to the park and hung out for a while. If I was ever unsure before about the value the youth group had, I understand it fully now.

When we asked the kids why they joined the group, they simply responded that they wanted to be a part of something. Unlike in the US, where kids participate in any and every activity they can get their hands on (to presumably get into a great College) kids here simply don’t have those types of opportunities. There is no dance club, or environmental club, or public speaking club, and if there were their peers would probably make them feel bad about participating. Being the best and doing anything to get to that position is not part of the culture here. People work as a team, they are part of a collective unit, and they work to push everyone forward. Therefore, we had a hard time getting the youth to volunteer their ideas, but when they did they were exceptionally bright and creative.

Overall, the youth group experience was a great one and I will definitely look into starting one in Matagalpa. After meeting these exceptional young people with all of their amazing and difficult stories, I am proud to have met them and truly hope the best for them. When we parted I gave each of them a hug and told them to make good choices. I sincerely hope they do and can go to the University here and have careers and make a difference in their country’s future.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Penultimate Week of Training and Youth Group Fair!

Today was the youth group product fair, and I am sad to say despite all of the time and effort we put in, our group did not win. We did get 5th place out of 12 teams though. Our kids were pretty sad but they are all excited that we were able to sell our product and make some money. For those of you who don´t know, we made Mango Chutney as our product. Which one might think with all the mangoes here it would be a no brainer. But the truth is, where I live, during mango season the fruit literally rots in the streets because there is so much of it. I just see thousands of dollars rotting in the streets considering that a mango in the states (that is green and doesn´t taste very good) can be almost $3! But overall I think the kids learned a lot and we are all excited for our goodbye party tomorrow! Also in our defense the competition was pretty steep, there were some great products like ice cream, natural soaps and hand made glass candle holders.

The rest of this week has been activity and work filled, preparing for final project reports, presentations, and the youth group fair. I haven´t worked this hard since business school folks! I am tired! I am excited to start service so I can take things a little slower the truth be told.

Tuesday was the Día de la Revolución here in Nicaragua. It was celebrating 32 years of the Sandinista Revolution over Somoza. There was a huge celebration in Managua with tens of thousands of people that I watched, safely from the TV in my fellow trainees house as we worked on one of our many projects. It was interesting to talk to my homestay family about their experiences in that war/revolution and how they had dug a hole in there patio to sleep in so that if a rocket was shot into the house it would miss them. We also watched a video they had on the event. I am very lucky to say I have never had to experience something like that in my life, and I highly doubt I could ever understand what it would be like.

On a happier note, I went with Yessica and Carlos and their host mom Doña Cleo to a friends Finca (or farm) where they grow all sorts of products. I saw how the red beans grow (the ones they eat everyday) corn and where baby corn comes from, Plantains, Mangos, a Nicaraguan fruit called mamon, and several others. It was so nice to be in a forested area, out of a city and have it be quiet! The family that lives there was very kind and were excited to show a bunch of city-slickers how it all works. I will put up the pictures as soon as I get them from Yessica.

Next week is full of more training talks and the last minute details before we swear in next Friday. I will be moving to Matagalpa officially on Sunday the 31st! I am very excited to get there, but also a little sad to be leaving behind great friends here in Masatepe as well as the 20 other small business volunteers and the 19 agricultural volunteers who are such good company. But as I am in one of the biggest sites, I am sure I will see them all soon as they come to restock their pantries every month! Hope everyone is doing well! Miss you all dearly!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Pictures!


This is me in Granada by the Lago de Nicaragua


Enjoying my 1/4 Pounder with cheese a little too much!



Beautiful Granada!

My Homestay nephew! They call him Moreno meaning the dark one haha.

Happy Patron Saint Day!

I went to what I thought was a birthday party yesterday (even took chocolate as a gift), and when I arrived I found out it was actually a feast day for St. Carmen. So everyone in the family who is named Carmen, or has Carmen in their name celebrated yesterday. (I think it’s a great way to celebrate one’s life multiple times a year, I need to look up St. Jenevieve’s Day)

We had lunch (cow’s tongue – which actually tasted good but I was still too freaked out by what it was to really enjoy it) and then cake and empanadas. It rained most of the day but we were able to go visit the park in Diria which is close to my training town in Masaya. I was very impressed; it was even a little Disney-like reminding me of Splash mountain with the fake wood fencing etc. I was a little disappointed though that the watchman for the park told us the swings were just for children. Oh well, I guess that part of my life is truly over.

I only have two more presentations left before wrapping up training so I am dedicating my time to writing reports today to not have as much to do during the week. It’s raining again today so I am not missing out on much. Have a great day!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Rainy Season and Gallo Pinto

Ironically, in the rainy season it rains for days on end (which I can testify to as the last two nights in a row I have been literally soaked to the bone in downpours) and yet there is no water. What do I mean? Well the pump that feeds the municipal water supply in my training town broke last week, and since then they have been rationing water (meaning it only runs for two hours a day and that is if it runs at all) I am accumulating a large pile of dirty clothes and only bathing sporadically. I am sure I smell like roses and sunshine ha ha. Of course, due to the large amount of rain we are having, it is making it even harder to get things repaired. Go figure.

In the meantime, I am enjoying another plate of Gallo Pinto (which for the Nicaraguan Novice is rice and beans – in my house heavier on the rice than beans) and a cup of black instant coffee. For those of you who didn’t know, Nicaragua is one of the greatest coffee producers in the world, and Matagalpa where I will live for the next two years and has some of the best coffee in all of Nicaragua. However, although they are big coffee producers, they tend to drink instant coffee, which I have been told is actually Nicaraguan coffee that was exported to Costa Rica, processed, and then imported back into Nicaragua for the local market. Maybe one of the businesses I can advise will start a coffee processing plant to take the middle man out and put most of the profits back into the transaction.
I officially have 16 days left until swearing in and still quite a bit of work to do.

The past two months have seemed very short at times and painfully long at other points. But I can honestly say, that even with the amount of international experience I have had, I have learned a lot during training, both personally and professionally. Nicaragua is a completely different country that any other I have experienced before and the challenges I have faced and continue to face will be perhaps the most rewarding part of my experience. It is a country of great problems and of strong people that fight daily to survive and better their lives so that their children can have a better future. It reminds me of the US not too many generations ago. I am excited to keep learning about this amazing country but also to keep learning about myself in face of the challenges as they arise. Hope all are well. I am trying to take it one day at a time and to always remember to make
good choices. Hope you all do to!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Matagalpa Site Visit

I am now back in my training town in Masaya, and have a few moments to update you on the rest of my site visit. I had a wonderful time visiting my new home for the next two years, and meeting my counterparts. I will be working in three schools and with one government agency that works with women and economic development. On Wednesday afternoon, the vice-principal of one of my schools called me and invited me to a dinner with her group. I was told by previous volunteers that you should accept any and every invitation so I did. It ended up being a prayer group, and at first reaction I thought they were going to try to convert me to be an evangelical (I was born and raised a Catholic). In reality, it is a women´s fellowship group where they meet once a week to listen to one person´s experience and then say a prayer and that´s it. It was a great way to meet other women in the community and immediately be accepted into a new one. I think when I get back to Matagalpa I might participate more regularly. Its a great way to fill my free time, and meet new people as well.

My homestay family is a small but very loving family. The grandmother Irma makes cakes from her house and my homestay brother, who is twenty eight, and his wife, have beautiful 2 year old daughter. She is incredibly intelligent and can already count to ten and knows her colors and everything. I have my own room, and even have luke warm water to bathe in! No ice cold showers for me! And as I wandered around the supermarkets this week I noticed I can even get Cheddar Cheese in my site! I guess there are perks to being a more experienced volunteer. Haha.

The Counterparts I met this week were very nice and some were very excited to have my help. Others not so much, but the good news is that there will be plenty to do and I know I will be able to come up with several other side projects as well! First on my list will be getting a community bank started at my first school with the teachers!

But alas, now I am back in training and have several projects I need to get done before I will be officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Hope all are well!
And remember to make good choices!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Granada, Cheesecake, and Matagalpa

Saturday, I went to Granada with some of my fellow trainees and their homestay family. We had a wonderful day, saw the oldest city in Central America (Main land), the oldest Church, and the Lago de Nicaragua. We had a great lunch at a local Comedor, and walked around the city for a few hours. On the bus back, we ran into the artesan we visited last week in San Juan de Oriente. We had a great talk, and it made me realize that Nicaragua is a small place.

Sunday, as we had Monday (the 4th of July fully booked) a bunch of us went to an American restaurant near our training towns to have some good food. I split some Nachos, then had a cheeseburger, followed by REAL cheesecake. I think it was from the cheesecake factory. Really. Although it was bought frozen at Price Club in Managua, but still it was amazing. Plus all of that for about $12USD. I was so full I didnt even eat dinner. I hadn´t been that full in over 2 months. It was painfull and great at the same time ha ha.

And now I am in Matagalpa for my site visit. I am meeting all of my counterparts I will work with for the next two years and hopefully observe a class or two. I met two of them and they are very sweet. I think I will get along very well with them and hopefully have some great friends who can show me around my new city. But today has also been very overwhelming. I did not sleep well last night because of the heat and the general expectation that I was going to visit the city where I have been assigned to live for the next two years. It is very overwhelming when you think about it. But one foot in front of the other, and little by little I will get to know this new city I will call my home. It is located in beautiful mountains, and the climate is somewhat cooler than Managua. My new homestay family seems nice, and I have already met my bosses on the regional level at the Ministry of Education. This week will be full of introductions and trying to figure out what else I need to work on in training to be as best prepared as possible.

I hope everyone had a great fourth of July, and that they went out to play as much golf as they could! Haha. Love you all, and remember to make good choices!