Saturday, September 29, 2007

Pictures!

Hola,

I figured since nothing really interesting happened this week i'd spend some time uploading pictures! Anyways, here it goes...


mi familia

Nica 45!



okay, so i only got to upload two in the time that i was here (it takes just this side of a year to upload them). hopefully i will put some more up next week sometime.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Independence Day

I noticed that I took my 4th installment of Chloroquine this week, which means that Ive been in country for a month now! (only 26 more, for those keeping track... haha). Its amazing how time travels in the Peace Corps, two days ago seems like years but I cant believe that its already been an entire month.

Anyways, last weekend was Nicaraguan Independence day. It was really interesting to see how another culture celebrates their independence (although it was pretty similar - just more dancing, less BBQ). We went into Esteli and watched the parade, all the students from the local schools were marching and the drum lines were playing (they were really good). On friday we all watched the "running of the torch", which is a torch that is carried through all of the Central American countries to celebrate together. After it passed we all jumped on my nica-dad's bus and followed the flag for a while, honking and waiving at everyone that had flags out.

After all the Indepence day festivities were finished, all the PCTs hiked up to a waterfall for some swimming (highly recomended) and a sack lunch - which was a great change from class/work routine they have us in here. Later we headed off to an organic farm to learn some more about safe chemicals that can be used when farming that wont harm the environment or the community's health. And finally, I learned how to vacinate a chicken! (so much fun) So if anyone has an chickens that are in need of some vaccinations, Im your guy.

Not a whole lot worth mentioning went on this week. I had Spanish class, some more Spanish class, oh... and then some more Spanish. But its good as Im still learning a ton. We dont have any activities planned for this weekend, and I just bought a guitar... so I plan on making good use of the extra time.

Hope all is well in the States!


PS: I was going to put some pictures up this week... but unfortunately I forgot my cords back in my house, so it'll have to wait until next weekend probably.

Friday, September 14, 2007

The life of a PCT

Hola everyone!

So I´ve been in country for about two weeks now... sorry it took so long to give an update, they keep us really really busy during this first part of service. Its amazing how much has already happened, I feel like I already have about a years worth of Nica under my belt. Anyways, lets start with good old Felix. I only took 3 days on site for me to get my first hurricane scare, luckily thats all it turned out to be. The was a lot of talk about whether we´d be taken to managua or stay in esteli... in the end we stayed on site and waited, then waited some more... eventually everything just passeed by with nothing more than a good rain. It wasnt till later that I herd how big it really was (class 5!), but in case any of you were still wondering we didnt get hit here in Esteli. I did hear that some towns got hit pretty hard on the east coast though, the news said that how crop cycles were washed away, I feel really bad for those effected.

Okay, on to something else, I currently live in a small town just south of Esteli. My host family is wonderful (two kids, soynia y christian, my nica madre ulda and papa fermin). The kids tend to keep me pretty busy any time im not in class or studying, but we have a lot of fun. They all have been really helpful with the whole learning spanish thing (which is coming along faster than i could have imagined). By week 11 Im quite sure I will be ready to hit the campo for my service.

I also already know more about farming than I ever thought I would (glen would be proud). They are teaching me all kinds of ways to productively farm without the use of chemicals that have really hurt the environment and water here in Nica. I have found it extremely interesting how plants can work together to help the overall health of a garden (with natural repellents, fertilizors, and protection). And althought they are one of the biggest enemies to my future gardens... I find leaf cutter ants facinating (until they bite, then they suck).

I was fairly surprised to learn a great deal of my service will deal with youth, but i guess it makes sense... if you want to have a lasting impact you have to look to the youth.

On a slightly less postitive note, ive decided choloquine is the most vile tasting thing on the planet... although its better than getting a horrible case of malaria.

Anyways, sorry if I jumped around a little... Im running out of time here at the cafe before the indepence day festivities start up! hope all is well up north,

steve