#45 The Ultimate Nica Party

Every year on November 17^th, a town on the opposite side of the Island has Ometepe’s biggest party of the year. As I’ve been to my share of Nica parties, I was completely unprepared for just how huge this party was. This party, with its packed dancefloor, cock fights, both DJs and live music, bull riding, carnival rides, and 50 cent drinks put Miami’s Ultra Music Festival to shame. This was also the Thursday prior to the marathon I had helped plan with my youth group, so a few other volunteers came down early to partake in the festivities also : )

Turtle eggs and fried plantains 

Some highlights from the night:

• Eating huevos de Tortuga (turtle eggs) – not very good, don’t intend to eat them again
• Getting my dance on with the cute girl that works at my new house for the whole night
• Watching my new host parents out dance every young 20 year old on the dance floor
• Seeing a Nica boy band perform, and pumping up with the crowd with the question “Who here’s got Facebook!?!?” and following it with a song all about Facebook and relationships
• As mentioned before, the 50 cent rum and cokes

For this event next year, I will be pressuring my friends and family from The States to attend, so be prepared or just mark your calendars now. 

New host parents killing it on the dance floor

Nothing to see here

Incredible.

Cock fighting

#44 Halloween and Elections

Another apology for not keeping up with my blog recently. It seems to have a snowball effect for as soon a week is skipped, others follow.

Over the past few weeks a whole lot has happened, of which, I’ll do my best to remember and share, but am sure that I will be missing several stories.

We can start with Halloween. In many parts of Nicaragua, Halloween isn’t celebrated and is seen as a witch’s event. According to many other volunteers (no Nicas shared this with me), many of their Nica friends and family believe that Halloween in the USA consists of kidnapping and murdering children as they travel from house to house collecting candy. Bizarre. Anyways, my Halloween was celebrated at the discoteca in my town with some of my friends from my youth group and neighbors. As I was sitting in the bar, I remember thinking about how things have changed since this exact time last year.

One year ago to the hour, I was at the University of Maryland at Bentley’s (bar), surrounded by my close friends and half naked college girls partying and dancing to house music. There I was sitting in a bar, at the foot of a volcano in the middle of a lake in Nicaragua, speaking Spanish with the transsexual to my left, listening to meringue/salsa music, and sipping on the national beer - Tonya. Funny where my choices have led me.

A few days later were the presidential elections, a day of much importance to nearly every Nicaraguan. Presumably, the current President won with 65% of the vote… Since, the newspapers’ titles here continue to read about the lack of transparency during the voting process leading many to believe that fraud or corruption may have been involved during election day. A few days before, I had been called to the PC office in the capital for meetings and ended up staying in a hotel for the week or so surrounding the elections due to protests and violence blocking my route home. I got to pass the time with another small business volunteer and her sitemate as they were forced out of their site due to violent clashes in the street between opposing parties.

A few days after my return to the beautiful island of Ometepe, I said goodbye to my air conditioning, hot water, flat screen TV, and hammock (for now) and moved my things to a new home around the corner. I am now living in a motel-type/restaurant/family home. It is very difficult to describe, so I’ll post a video sooner or later, but I am very happy with the family, conditions, and, most of all, the food! Mmm… 

#43 This Too Shall Pass

This is a real job and some days do, in fact, suck just like they would back in the US. Except here, when you have those bad days, you can’t go out for your favorite comfort food for dinner or even pick up your phone/laptop and contact your family for support.

I’ve only had just a couple of these days in Nicaragua, but I’ve seemed to pick up their pattern. The majority of the time it’s when you have nothing to do that day and, therefore, have little reason to leave the house keeping you bored and running laps in your own head. The negativity will usually be triggered by a passing comment or little action that just hits a nerve.

Yesterday's? I was sitting in my family’s little corner store early this morning when the family’s grandma walked in and, skipping all introductions, said, “you going to treat me to what I want?” To which I just laughed off, but then heard her say to my host sister, “it’s true all Americans are cheap.” I tried said I was a volunteer and don’t make any money, “but you’re American, you have money.”

While yes, I could have just said okay and bought her whatever it was that she came to buy (probably costing no more than a dollar), I do not want to start a trend of ‘ask the gringo’ nor do I feel it’s any of my responsibility to buy someone’s errands or snacks. Little things continued to upset me further in the day, which I can pin down to my lack of fluency in Spanish, but I know that little by little my [lack of] Spanish will become less of a problem...

I learned this phrase about a year ago – This too shall pass – and I’ve adopted it as a sort of motto since then. Whenever I’m having a bad moment/day/anything I just remember that whatever it is that is bothering me will, probably soon, pass. The phrase encourages me to react to those difficult moments with peace of mind and, because of those simple words, I can now move on from most low times rather quickly.

I feel better now. Thanks for reading :) 

#42 Cocktail Party

Long time no see boys

This past Friday night, the Small Business sector (my sector) had a 'Cocktail Party' fundraiser in the majestic Holiday Inn in Nicaragua’s Capital  to raise money for an annual National Entrepreneurship Competition. All sans one volunteer from the newest business group attended as did about 100 more Peace Corps volunteers and dozens more volunteers from other organizations and, of course, local Nicaraguans. It was great to see everyone in our group as we are especially close compared to the other PC groups before us.

The night kicked off with a delicious catered dinner, not even one flake of rice or a single bean, followed by a group of intense Nicaraguan dancers and musicians in bright costumes performing forcefully. Dinner was followed by raffles for dinners, hotel stays, and a trip to Panama. My luck has been off the charts recently and this night was no exception seeing as I luckily won the Panama trip (valued at $600). The only drawback was it was for one person, so I’m now looking for anyone to join me within the next three months, or I’ll be going solo. By the way, Panama is supposed to be very similar to the beautiful Miami, Florida but far cheaper. Any takers??? Seriously…

Winning my Panama trip!

The night continued with hours of dancing and late night pool parties enjoyed by an abundance of oversexed 20-somethings. Managua is the closest thing many volunteers get to being back at home in a modern culture, therefore the rest of the weekend consisted of enjoying the luxuries of life: unlimited wireless internet, clean bathrooms with hot and high pressure showers, carpeting and bare feet, relaxing by the pool, and, of course, the food (Quiznos, pizza, sushi, McDonald’s breakfast…)

Poolside :)

Sushi dinner mmm

Other stories since my last blog post include:

• A weekend with the other Island volunteers where we cooked some tasty curry dish for dinner and relaxed at the Ojo de Agua the following day. 
• Going out to the discos in my town with some friends and Frosting the locals (Same as ‘Icing’ but done with a Victoria Frost beer). 
• Some more successful English classes. 
• The usual combination of successful/failed/canceled high school business classes. And lastly, continued progress being made on the Marathon/Home Run Derby planning with my youth group – November 20, mark the calendar, see you there!

Ojo de Agua

Nica Frosting

My English class

The President of my youth group came back from a trip to the Capital – Managua – and explained with such passion and emotion how incredible new 3-D movies are. Not one of the other members in my youth group had seen one, and jaws were dropped as the President dramatically explained with entire body gestures as things flew towards him, scared him, and frankly amazed him. Mind you, I have met very few people here that have even been to a movie theater as the trip (Boat, bus, taxi, food, tickets…) can usually add up to a few weeks pay. 

#41 It's About Time

It’s taken a little more than two months at my site, but finally things have picked up and everything is going fantastic. This blog has also been viewed more than 5000 times! Thanks for your support!

I am continuing to co-teach at the schools, which, depending on the school can be quite satisfying and rewarding. A teacher from a school that I am not working at who is teaching the same class has come to me asking for a workshop type session regarding the course because students from my class have told him how much they are enjoying my classes. Not trying to sound conceited or anything, but for all the trouble I go through with some of my schools, it’s very complementing when I hear that at least one of my schools is appreciating my effort in their class. Meanwhile, after more than two months, I still have yet to teach a class at one of my schools because school on Fridays has been cancelled every week since my arrival.

Secondary projects.

The marathon project I’m working on with a youth group is progressing and we have upped our weekly meetings to now meet twice per week. I was in charge of making the flyers, and VOILA (click that).

In addition, I have now taken on the project od recruiting participants from across the Peace Corps in Nicargua and other organizations and potential groups that may have interest.

I am teaching my first English class this Sunday evening to a group of 20 community members. These classes, from what I hear, usually end up with a quarter of the number of students they started with due to people quickly realizing that English is much more of a commitment than they had expected. No worries, it is just good to know that before starting.

All the little kinks and headaches surrounding these projects and everyday life here are just working out. I think I just realized that I finally feel integrated into my community. Hmph.

Standing awkwardly at Chaco Verde

My social life is now existent as I now have a growing network of colleagues and friends. This means that I will be enjoying more Friday and Saturday nights from now on and will be able to do more cool things around the Island. For example, a friend and I went on a hike the other day to my new favorite place on the island called Chaco Verde, a natural reserve filled with very funky flora and fauna and even cooler monkeys.  

Also, there is a local beach bar and discoteca around the corner from my house that are supposed to be bumpin’ on the weekends so now I get to enjoy those too.

"God flies in Nica"

Changing the subject, I constantly get bombarded with religious questions here and I finally explained to the family that I don’t go to church with them because I’m not a religious person and, in general, don’t hold any religious beliefs nor do I believe in God/The Devil/Hell/Jesus... This was a mistake. The next day at school my principal sat me down and drilled me about God. In a small town word travels fast. Now I feel like a ninja dodging religious questions, answering only with I have no opinion.

Last but certainly not least, a January vacation is now booked to go back to Connecticut for a couple of days followed by a nice week long vacation in Turks and Caicos with my parents. I didn’t think I’d travel back home for at least a year if I did at all, but now that it’s been decided, I’m so excited and cannot wait!

Oh also, this season of Breaking Bad is about to end on Sunday and I’ll need your support as I’m going to be withdrawing harshly the week following.