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
Friday, September 14, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Pre Service Retreat
Hello all!
I write from Managua (the capital city) where I have spent the last couple days in a really, really nice resort going through more orientation and introductions to country staff. The weather has been extremely nice (last night there was quite a lightning show, but no rain... today we had a pretty hard downpour but it didnt last too long). On another note, before I came here I always heard that they had "rolling brown outs" all over the state to try and combat their massive energy crises, well, Ive been here two days and had two brownouts, its not really that bad... just something that will take getting used to Im sure. I do wonder how it will be when Im in the country side though.
Saturday will be the first day that I spend with my host family. Which Im pretty excited about, but at the same time also pretty nervous. I think that my group is great, lots of fun people (Im sure that has and will continue to help with the transition from US life to Nicaragua).
Unfortunately, I dont really have a whole lot of interesting stuff to say as Ive been pretty much locked in a room all day in "peace corps class". But I wanted to post an update so everyone knew that I got down here alright and that things have been going well thus far.
Hope all is well up north! and hopefully I will be able to write again soon when I get up to Esteli, Im sure I will be much more intersting then.
I write from Managua (the capital city) where I have spent the last couple days in a really, really nice resort going through more orientation and introductions to country staff. The weather has been extremely nice (last night there was quite a lightning show, but no rain... today we had a pretty hard downpour but it didnt last too long). On another note, before I came here I always heard that they had "rolling brown outs" all over the state to try and combat their massive energy crises, well, Ive been here two days and had two brownouts, its not really that bad... just something that will take getting used to Im sure. I do wonder how it will be when Im in the country side though.
Saturday will be the first day that I spend with my host family. Which Im pretty excited about, but at the same time also pretty nervous. I think that my group is great, lots of fun people (Im sure that has and will continue to help with the transition from US life to Nicaragua).
Unfortunately, I dont really have a whole lot of interesting stuff to say as Ive been pretty much locked in a room all day in "peace corps class". But I wanted to post an update so everyone knew that I got down here alright and that things have been going well thus far.
Hope all is well up north! and hopefully I will be able to write again soon when I get up to Esteli, Im sure I will be much more intersting then.
Friday, August 17, 2007
A Couple of FAQs that have been coming up
So it seems about everyone that I talk to ask a couple of the same questions... So I figured I'd post them here in case anyone forgot to ask them before I leave.
Where will you be in Nicaragua?
Unfortunately I cant really give an exact answer here. I know that I will be training in the Northwest part of the country and it is likely that I will be serving somewhere in the same area, however, the Peace Corps doesn't actually "place" me until my training is complete. This gives them a chance to see how I am adjusting to the new language, customs, and how well I can integrate into my community before deciding where to put me.
Can I send anything to you?
Of course you can. letters and small packages are best (If you send me a large package I will have to travel in order to get it... small packages and letters get delivered much closer to me). It also can take a long period of time for things to reach me, so don't plan on sending anything that will go bad with age, or anything that you would be upset if it gets "lost" or stolen in route (as these are both real possibilities). In order to get my mailing address, feel free to contact me via email or my mom at my home phone number (I'm not going to post either of these here as it isn't information I really want to attach to a public blog).
Can I come visit you?
Yes! As far as international travel goes... Nicaragua is pretty cheap and easy to get to (and I'll definitely be able to show you a side of the country / culture that you wont get any other way). So feel free to make some vacation plans to come and visit me. If you're interested, email me when you're starting to think about planning a trip and we can work out any details.
Where will you be in Nicaragua?
Unfortunately I cant really give an exact answer here. I know that I will be training in the Northwest part of the country and it is likely that I will be serving somewhere in the same area, however, the Peace Corps doesn't actually "place" me until my training is complete. This gives them a chance to see how I am adjusting to the new language, customs, and how well I can integrate into my community before deciding where to put me.
Can I send anything to you?
Of course you can. letters and small packages are best (If you send me a large package I will have to travel in order to get it... small packages and letters get delivered much closer to me). It also can take a long period of time for things to reach me, so don't plan on sending anything that will go bad with age, or anything that you would be upset if it gets "lost" or stolen in route (as these are both real possibilities). In order to get my mailing address, feel free to contact me via email or my mom at my home phone number (I'm not going to post either of these here as it isn't information I really want to attach to a public blog).
Can I come visit you?
Yes! As far as international travel goes... Nicaragua is pretty cheap and easy to get to (and I'll definitely be able to show you a side of the country / culture that you wont get any other way). So feel free to make some vacation plans to come and visit me. If you're interested, email me when you're starting to think about planning a trip and we can work out any details.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Nicaragua!
Hello Friends, family, Internet wanderers...
Getting tired of asking me where the Peace Corps is sending me later this fall? Well, good news! I officially have word that I will be going to Nicaragua on August 27th (so everyone still has about 2 months to get as much Steve as they possibly can). For those of you who might not be geographically gifted, here are a couple of maps to show you exactly where Nicaragua is:
You might ask... So Steve, what will you be doing while you're in Nicaragua? Well, I have an answer for that too! (sort of) I'm going to be working as a Rural Development / Agriculture volunteer. This means that I will be working to raise the standard of living in rural communities through increasing food security and creating other income opportunities. Unfortunately this could mean about a million different things... I could go into some extensive explanation of what food security is and the ways in which I might be working to improve it in Nicaragua, but instead I think I'll leave everyone in suspense until I actually start working and can tell you exactly what I'm doing.
Anyways, I hope to use this blog to keep everyone updated on the life of a Peace Corps volunteer. Feel free to leave comments here (it'll let me know if people are actually reading this thing or not - just click on the "comments" link at the bottom of every post) or email me if you want a more direct, personal line of communication (I dont know exactly how much access I will have to the Internet until I get there, so I can't make any promises about how quickly I'll be able to respond or for that matter update the blog). I hope everyone is doing well and enjoys reading about my adventure!
- Steve -
Getting tired of asking me where the Peace Corps is sending me later this fall? Well, good news! I officially have word that I will be going to Nicaragua on August 27th (so everyone still has about 2 months to get as much Steve as they possibly can). For those of you who might not be geographically gifted, here are a couple of maps to show you exactly where Nicaragua is:
You might ask... So Steve, what will you be doing while you're in Nicaragua? Well, I have an answer for that too! (sort of) I'm going to be working as a Rural Development / Agriculture volunteer. This means that I will be working to raise the standard of living in rural communities through increasing food security and creating other income opportunities. Unfortunately this could mean about a million different things... I could go into some extensive explanation of what food security is and the ways in which I might be working to improve it in Nicaragua, but instead I think I'll leave everyone in suspense until I actually start working and can tell you exactly what I'm doing.
Anyways, I hope to use this blog to keep everyone updated on the life of a Peace Corps volunteer. Feel free to leave comments here (it'll let me know if people are actually reading this thing or not - just click on the "comments" link at the bottom of every post) or email me if you want a more direct, personal line of communication (I dont know exactly how much access I will have to the Internet until I get there, so I can't make any promises about how quickly I'll be able to respond or for that matter update the blog). I hope everyone is doing well and enjoys reading about my adventure!
- Steve -
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