Week Four: Rural Nicaragua

Our group spent the last three days in rural Nicaragua working next to families and learning about their lives, and goals. I can’t count the number of times I have asked myself the past few days why I chose to spend the semester in Nicaragua. One time was when I was lugging my duffle bag, boots, and hammock up an unfamiliar hill to a home in the dark, another when I found out that my rural Nicaraguan host family doesn’t use toilet paper and the soonest I could get some was the following day (seems to be a reoccurring problem for me…?) once when I was hoeing a cornfield in the Nicaraguan heat and yet another when this carsick girl was bouncing around in an unairconditioned 15 passenger van on an almost impassable road for nearly an hour. I know there is a reason that I am here, but some days it is hard to see past the heat and the to-do list. I was a little disappointed with our time with families in rural Nicaragua. The goal was to learn about Fundacion San Lucas (a land bank for farmers), but I don’t think that I learned as much as I could have. During the three days we spent there my friend and I helped to husk corn for an hour, remove the kernels from the cobs for two more hours, and hoe in a cornfield. I am a farm girl so I’ve helped plant corn before, I’ve removed kernels from corn cobs doing crop samples for FFA, and done my share of hoeing in the garden. I wish that we could have learned more rather than just doing basic farm work, but the foundation said that we were able to give the farmers the affirmation that they needed in their work. I’m not really sure at the moment what I learned from the experience, but maybe if I have some time to think it over I will have a better opinion of it.

Cool side note: Progressive Farmer published an article this summer, From the Edges of Hunger or something like that. My dad read it and gave it to me to read on the plane. I met the families that the article was about this week J So thanks, Dad, for sharing that with us and them!

I didn’t come to Nicaragua because I thought it would be a vacation. I really didn’t. I came to Nicaragua because I felt that God was calling me to an unfamiliar, uncomfortable challenge where I could learn to fully rely on Him. Every day brings new challenges. Lately I have been praying for a more positive attitude, so if you feel like praying for me, this would be a great way!

Throughout my time in Nicaragua I have realized how much I desire organization and order in my environment and activities. I am always looking for ways to bring order to things, and when I feel powerless to change them, it aggravates me. I think that is my biggest frustration on this trip has been the overall disorganization of life in general and my lack of control over anything (even my own schedule). As I was reading the other day, I realized that God created a perfect world with perfect order and our sin screwed it up. The cool thing that I am finding is that God still has the perfect plan, timing, and order even in this crazy world. The more that I focus on the dirtiness, dependence, tardiness, and the things I can’t control, the more frustrated I get. When I spend more time focusing on Christ and his perfect order, and the little things in my life that I can control that my outlook on life and attitude improves.

On Humor: Our guide planned a surprise for us after spending time in rural Nicaragua. She wouldn’t tell us what the surprise was until after we left for our trip. The first surprise was that the family had a swimming pool, the second surprise was that we didn’t find out until after we left our host homes….without our swimming suits. The best part of our little trip was staying with the missionary family and we took hot showers. They made us American food for supper and I don’t know if cereal for breakfast ever tasted so good!

On Food (Rice): Our group has been in Nicaragua for almost a month. So far, I have eaten rice every single day. On a few occasions, I’ve had it for all three meals. On this trip to rural Nicaragua they gave us HUGE portions or rice at every meal. I mean three or four cups of rice and beans too. After we got back today I told my host brother that I wasn’t hungry for supper and headed to my room to unpack. He brought me a plate full of fresh pineapple, then yogurt, then Doritos. Day made.

Day 23

This past year, I had to take a Christian Philosophy class as a general requirement to graduate. I showed up to the class, but I became frustrated when I continually left with more questions than I came to class with. On this trip, I have struggled with wondering what I owe people in developing countries. Do I owe them money, food, time, or anything at all? As I couldn’t answer this question, the question soon expanded into, “What do I owe other people?” After thinking about this question for a long time I remembered that I wrote a three-page reflection paper answering that question in my philosophy class, so I went back to read the paper. This is what I came up with for a philosophy paper.

“In this paper, I will argue that Christians should show love for all people they come in contact with. I will do this by showing: first, that Jesus showed love to all people; and second, that Christians should obey Jesus and follow his example because he commanded his followers to love others. Therefore I will conclude that Christians should show love for all people that they come in contact with.”

I had two problems in this paper. Unless I confined my paper to Christians, I couldn’t come up with a reason that humans owed each other anything. My second problem in my paper was, who are the people that we owe? I finally concluded that we owe the people that we come in contact—whether in person, or through friends, or through the internet. Right now, I am responsible for you as a reader of my blog because I am coming in contact with you. I can’t always justify this, but it helps me to have a better understanding of how I can go about this. It seems daunting to me to be responsible to people that I have never come in contact with. I still feel responsible to the starving children in Africa, but I feel that if I do my best to help them, then I am still only responsible to the ones I come in contact with—because how can I be responsible to people I never meet? Still have a lot of questions.

During Bible Study this week, I asked my friends what they thought we owed the people of Nicaragua. I asked them, “If I leave Nicaragua on December 13, and never set foot in this country again, what do I owe these people?” I was so happy with the way my friends answered the question. They said, for the three more months that you are here, you owe these people your love and your respect. You owe them affirmation, encouragement, and appreciation. In the three months you are here you will leave them with an impression of Americans, of college students, and of Christ. Do your best to give them an example of who Jesus is, and how his death on the cross has changed you and made you different.” Right now, I don’t have to worry about life in three years, three months, or even three days. Today, I feel that God has called me to walk with the people of Nicaragua, and I feel like the thing he wants from me right now is to trust him enough to get up and trust him each day.

I have always thought that Christians have the responsibility to give financially. However, I have been convicted on this trip that giving money is a very detached way to minister to people. Even good intentions with given money does not mean that the money actually helps the people it was intended to help. I still believe that giving is a wonderful thing to do, but I feel like Christians also have the responsibility to make sure that the money they are giving is not just “toxic charity” and that the money is really going to improve people’s self-worth and help them take ownership of their opportunities and goals.

On Dishes: When cleaning up the kitchen after meals at home, I would often wash the dishes. On a few occasions, my mom would notice that I was only using luke-warm water, and would have me re-wash the dishes. So, needless to say it has been imprinted on my brain that dishes are not clean until they have been washed in hot, clean, soapy water. This has been a bit of a challenge for me in Nicaragua. Because water is not reliable here during the day, the families often fill up the sink with water in the evening or morning, and then let the water sit to be used during the day. After a meal the plates are washed with a semi-clean sponge, and rinsed with the water that has been sitting out all day. My friend explained to me that the soap has bleach in it, and puts some kind of wax over the dishes after they are rinsed so that made me feel better, but it is definitely one of the differences I have noticed. I haven’t gotten sick yet, so I guess it must work!

On Life and Morale: I am in a much better mood lately. I got a mattress pad, new sheets and a new pillow. It’s crazy what sleep can do for a person. I feel like all the little things that went wrong last week were magnified by the fact that I had barely slept.

On Spanish: I met with my conversation partner yesterday, and we ended up reading books together since I had a hard time keeping a conversation rolling. Although I am catching on, they use the vos conjugation which I didn’t learn very well, and Nicaraguans don’t pronounce the letter “s”, so it is like trying to understand a foreign language with an additional lisp. It’s coming…slowly!

Days 20-22

On Technology: I’ve been sitting in an internet café since early this morning getting ahead on work, and catching up on homework. It is pretty hot today, but the breeze through the second story area is great. It is not unusual to walk the 40 minutes to the café, and have the internet stop working. There is only one internet café in the city, so that has been pretty frustrating. #firstworldprobs I know.

On Church: Yesterday we went to church in the morning for three hours and again for three hours in the evening. If you have ever attended church in a Central American country, you know that it can get pretty crazy. In the United States, we value singing on pitch. I feel like there is an unwritten rule, that if you don’t sing well, you sing quietly. In Central America, it doesn’t matter how well you can sing. People sing at the top of their lungs regardless of how well they can sing. It is a good reminder that God loves to hear his people worship him regardless of how well they sing. A few days ago, I began to pray to thank God for the meal my friends and I were eating. After I started, I heard a Spanish voice start praying aloud while I was praying. At first I was pretty confused, but I caught on pretty quickly that that is normal here. Just one more thing to get used to!

On Bugs: For some reason I never made the connection between the ants crawling on my walls and the bug bites all over my legs. On Friday morning, I woke up around 3 in the morning and my feet and legs were burning with bites. After a little help from my friend and host family we were able to take care of most of the ants so I have been waking up with a lot fewer bug bites.

On Missions: After a short-term mission trip to El Salvador in high school, I decided that I would never go back to Central America for just a week or two. I felt bad about spending so much money to do something that the people could do themselves. Because I couldn’t speak the language, I felt like I was working for the people rather than working with the people. In my courses I’ve had to read the books Toxic Charity and Serving with Eyes Wide Open. I am realizing the importance of staying here, learning the language and learning what is important to the people. It seems logical that people would want “better” living conditions, like a consistent water supply and air conditioning. Maybe we as Americans are failing to see what the people really want and need. As a whole, Americans value cleanliness and order. I am not sure if the Nicaraguans place the same value on these things. We can return from a mission trip feeling great that we were able to clean someone’s house or paint a building, but is that what they needed? Are they empowered to step up and start the next project? Do they care at all about the work that was done? Would it have been better to hire a local teen looking for work? Just something else to think about.

Day 18- Just a few Random Thoughts

I finally decided that it was time to invest in internet. I figured that I would probably spend more money eating out in internet cafes than I would by purchasing a Nicaragua SIM card and borrowing a modem from my friend, so I am now able to use Google translate and send emails from my house. It is crazy how something as small as an internet connection can make life run so much more smoothly.

I am enjoying my four day break because I didn't have class on Friday, and because of the Nicaraguan independence celebration this weekend, I will not have class on Monday either. So far, I absolutely love my classes. I feel that we are talking about issues that are important and will help me in a future career. I love hearing about agricultural issues, policy, and trade restrictions. The Nicaraguan independence parade should start in the next hour or so. I will probably go and watch it, but I am perfectly content to sit here with my music and catch up on my work, and get stuff done. I need to find my sense of adventure :)

Shopping: People always say that shopping here is less expensive than shopping in the US. To a certain extent that is right but I much prefer shopping in the US. I am pretty fussy with what I buy. For example, the other day I had to buy another towel. In the US, I could drive to Walmart, Target, Kohls, etc. and have a choice of 20+ towels, and I could shop around for the one I liked best and wait for a sale or maybe even use a coupon. Here, there was one kind of towel, a relatively thin towel and it was $6. Not bad, but not what I would choose in the states. Another example is in the thrift stores. When I go thrift store shopping--I am looking for a bargain. Here, many thrift stores are over-priced. A well-worn shirt is usually $7 or $8. On the other hand, I did find a store this week that gets new clothes from stores like Gap, Banana Republic, LOFT, etc. and they were reasonably priced, so I am looking forward to doing a little shopping later on. Also, the other day I wanted to buy a binder (I had to take my binder out of my suitcase because it didn't fit). The binder I bought was not even new and looked like it had set on the shelf for a few years. The rings were almost rusty and the binder was full of dust. Definitely not a purchase I would have made in the States--but necessary to keeping me sane here. Finally, I bought pens here because I forgot to bring them along. I bought a bunch of pens, and they didn't even work! Quality that I would complain about in the US seems to be the norm here. Just an opinion.

On Life: In one of the books I read for a class,  a man talked about returning from an extended period in Africa and became disgusted when a neighbor man spent all day (Saturday) working on his yard, fertilizing his lawn, trimming his trees, and then ended his day admiring his work with a cold beer. The man returning from Africa was disgusted and was ready to return to life in Africa. The story was written to evoke sympathy for the man returning from Africa and the lack of vision of the American man working in his yard. I, on the other hand feel like I see nothing wrong with spending an enjoyable Saturday afternoon working to take care of his yard. It is enjoyable and more valuable (in my opinion) than  spending an afternoon watching television or maybe even going out to eat. In as much as I was hoping that time in Nicaragua would help me separate myself from American culture and the things that it values, I feel like I am clinging to the things I know and love even more. Feeling challenged.

Traffic: Getting around the town is stressful because traffic is so crazy. There are many crazy intersections, but rarely any four-way stops. I have a tendency to think that traffic will yield to the pedestrian (me) so I've almost gotten hit numerous times. Even if you have the right of way, you have to be careful because there are motorcycles and bicycles zooming around cars and will hit you if you are in their way. Definitely not the organized traffic in many US cities.

 

Day 16, But Who's Counting

The URL to my blog is Nicaraguan Agriculture because I was going to tie in my work with Nicaraguan agriculture to my internship in the States, but I have too much non-Ag related stuff that I want to include--so I will write a few articles about my work in Nicaragua so you can watch for those later on.

I haven’t blogged in a while because it has been a crazy few days. Yesterday, Danielle and I went with Carlos (A bilingual Nica working on his master's degree) to the Agricultural University. This story gets a little personal, so don’t complain to me later because you have been warned. :) Around 2’o clock I asked Carlos if there was a bathroom in the lab that we were working in. There wasn’t, so I followed him to a nearby building to find a bathroom. It was locked, and he couldn’t find anyone with a key. Instead, I followed him to a nearby bathroom that was used by the University students. There were four stalls and the door to the first one was open so I started to walk towards the open stall. To my surprise, it was occupied by a street dog that was drinking out of the toilet bowl. So, I moved on to the next stall. Besides the great artwork and writing on the walls, the stall was relatively clean. I walked in the stall and closed the door. After closing the door, I realized that there was no toilet paper in the stall (or any of the stalls), so I grabbed the handle to open the door, and it was jammed. I pulled it again with no luck. I was praying that I wouldn’t have to crawl under the door. I finally yanked the door with all my might, and thankfully it came open. By this time, my hands are feeling less than clean, so I decide to wash them only to realize that there was no soap, or towels, so I dried my hands on my skirt and left the bathroom still needing to use the bathroom more than when I came. Around 3’o clock, we left to visit a farm site near Managua. The farm site was in the middle of nowhere and one of the most bumpy roads I have ever been on. After I saw the outhouse on the farm, for some reason, I really didn’t need to use the bathroom anymore! (see picture below) We finally were dropped off at our houses around 7:30 that evening. If I don’t learn anything on this trip, I am learning to be thankful for the little things (like toilet paper, soap, and running water).

Outhouse at the Farm Site

Earlier in the day when Danielle and I were working on our service-learning project, we said hello to the security officers at the university, and they asked us if we liked mangos. Both of us said we did, so the security officers took turns throwing a big green mango into the tree and knocking down ripe mangos for us. They were so good and it was great to watch them take turns trying to knock down mangos for the “gringos.”

Yep. That's a Volcano behind the Corn Field.

Yesterday, we worked on our service learning project for over 11 hours. In the morning, we visited a farm and got to see banana, plantain, coconut, mango trees, and various types of peppers. It was crazy to see how much better the plants were doing in areas that BioChar was used in the soil.  Later in the morning, we visited the man who makes the ovens to burn BioChar. In the afternoon we went to the lab and helped Carlos measure the bio mass of corn stalks from each different plot. In the afternoon we went to the farm site to see one of the BioChar corn fields and look at the crop. We were at the farm for almost five hours. It was well past dark by the time we made it back.

Kitchen at the Farm
The BioChar stove is the orange colored box on the right.

 

There is a tropical storm on the Atlantic Coast (we're on the Pacific), so the weather this week has been much more comfortable this week. It rained everyday this week really hard.

On Tuesday evening I went to the circus in town with a few friends. It was interesting, but definitely not an event that I would bring kids to. It was the first time since arriving in Nicaragua that I was glad that I didn’t understand Spanish. I thought it was worth noting that I went to a circus here, but also that I don’t need to see anther circus for a long time. Overall, every day is an adventure!

During Bible Study tonight my friend mentioned that the Nicaraguans seem so much more content than Americans. I feel like I struggle with that. I've heard many Americans returning from mission trips talk about how people in Latin America are so much more content than people from the United States. Part of me is happy with the fact that Nicaraguans seem happy how they are, but on the other hand, I feel like I resent the fact that they are so content where they are and don't seem like they really desire the change I wish they did. I'll letcha know if I come to any conclusions.

Day 13

Sunday morning I woke up around 6 as usual and started reading for a class. My host mom got up around 7 and asked if I would like to go to the market with her. We walked the seven blocks to the market and I watched as she bought all kinds of fresh fruit and fish. We took a cab (a bicycle with a bench on the front) back to the house and she showed me how to prepare the fish with onions and seasoning. She put it on the stove and started cooking it so that it would be ready for dinner. Church was crazy. People here pray at the same time, dance around during church, and sing as loud as they want regardless of whether they can sing or not. It is pretty typical to be late, and we were 45 minutes late to a three hour church service and it was no big deal. How crazy is that?!

After dinner we took a bus to the beach. It was a beautiful day and the breeze was wonderful. My host family brought the Uno cards that I gave them-I love that they play it everywhere. It makes me wish that I had brought more card games along. We stayed on the beach for a few hours and then took the bus back. I am getting used to the whole idea of "public transportation". I think it is good for me, but I really don't like squishing next to strangers in 90+ degree temperature. I have to remind myself to enjoy the journey. This trip has been a good reminder that I often confuse my wants and needs...I still would like to argue that I need my car, but who knows what I'll think in three more months.

Today we headed back to Managua for class which is great because then I have internet and time to catch up on assignments. There was a break in the heat which has been amazing. Not too much new, just plugging away at the Spanish.

Today in class we discussed the implications of developing a country. It was really interesting to read about all of the different ways to measure development. We usually measure development by economics, but is that really a good indicator? What really makes a country "developed"? Is it our responsibility to help these countries such as Nicaragua develop, or should we simply let them develop on their own and in their own time? I have a lot of questions, so hopefully I can gain some insight over the course of the semester. Any thoughts? Let me know :)

Watching Mama make fish for almuerzo

 

Day 9

If you are following my posts, you may have noticed that I skipped day 8. As much as I would love to post everyday, I am way too busy to keep my blog up to date. From here on out, you only get the important stuff. :)

I was starting to wonder if I would need to rename my blog because I haven't posted much relating to agriculture, but after today I feel like the name makes more sense. My friend Danielle and I met Carlos a little after 10 this morning to discuss our work on his thesis, a biocharcoal research project. Carlos is working on his master’s degree and is studying the quality of biocharcoal as a soil amendment in corn fields. Nine farmers and their families are involved in the project. There are three sites, with three farms on each site for a total of nine farms. Each farm has six different plots of 3x3 meters. Each field has different amounts of fertilizer and biocharcoal added to the soil. This semester, Danielle and I are working with Carlos to determine the cost of production of biocharcoal, and a potential to market the biocharcoal to other farmers in the area. We talked to Carlos for two hours and we got an understanding of how biochar is made, what it is used for, and other information that we will need to determine a selling price. I have a good idea of what questions to ask to determine the cost of production, but I will need to do some research to figure out the value of the biochar and the different qualities--which changes based on the type of wood burned in the stove. Next week Wednesday we will go out to the farms and meet the farmers. Each family has a biochar stove and an opportunity to use the stove to make extra biochar. By determining the how effective the biochar is and a potential marketing strategy, we hope to provide a way that these farmers can earn extra money for their families.

I decided to buy ice cream for my host family today. Although many things are less expensive here, ice cream is not. I bought a half-gallon of Eskimo ice cream for $5 at the Eskimo store and we had it for lunch. Lunch is also different here because my family always serves me first, and they usually don't sit down and eat with me, so that will take some getting used to also. (I'll try and post a picture soon--it comes in the cutest milk pail container) I have had rice and beans every day since getting here. Last night I told my host mom that I really liked the gallo pinto con crème...so that's what I ate for breakfast too. I'll probably think twice before I say that again lol.

     Communicating with my family is still very difficult. Many of the words they use are not familiar to me even after they slow down and explain them. I am starting to understand many common phrases, so that is encouraging. My family is so nice and understanding which makes living here a lot more fun. I am so glad that I brought card games because my family plays them for hours every day.

      My friends and I decided that we needed to find an internet café and we found one that we really liked. The café is similar to ones in America and has tables in the second floor with a wonderful breeze. (After a half an hour walk in a rainstorm, we finally made it). Overall, I think this experience is giving me an understanding of what it is like to live in a city and walk everywhere. As an independent person, I am also learning what it is like to rely on other people and their schedules. So far, so good!

                                                            MMMmm is for Mango :)

Day 8

Today marks one week of living in Nicaragua. It is hard to believe that we have been here for a week because it has gone so fast. (I will probably say that about the whole semester) Today I woke up at 4 am so that I could meet my friend at 4:30 to walk to the bus station. I got ready for the day and my host mom sent breakfast along with me. It was dark when I left. I met my friend and we tried to find the bus station in the dark. They told us to walk four blocks and then take a right. We walked for about six side roads looking for the bus station but we couldn't find it. It was a little before 5 am in the morning and I had no clue where we were. We finally asked a woman to bring us to the bus station. We paid about $2 to take a minibus (16 passenger van) to Managua. When we arrived in Managua we hopped on another bus that had about 80 people on it. I have never been that close to that many people. We took the bus for about 10 minutes and then hopped off in a really sketchy neighborhood. A woman offered us a ride so we rode with her to the mission. I was really glad that our Nicaraguan friend Roberto came with us because I felt much more safe with him. It was also nice because he only speaks Spanish, so we could practice our Spanish on the two hour bus ride there and back.

Danielle and I met our Agriculture professor and we were able to tweak the course curriculum to fit exactly what we want to do. Danielle and I expressed that we wanted to learn about as many different commodities as we could. The plan this semester is to visit farms all across Nicaragua. This summer I had the opportunity to job shadow at a cheese processing plant for a week. One afternoon I worked in receiving and watched all of the milk trucks come through. I saw a picture of a milk truck in Nicaragua and I can’t believe the difference! I am very excited to see how farmers in Nicaragua milk cows and learn more about dairy here. My professor told me that the cows here give about 6 pounds of milk a day. How crazy is that?!

Around 7 pm it started to rain, and it rained so hard that the entire hall was covered in over an inch of water. I stepped out of my room into a puddle. There was so much water that it ran down the hall, through the kitchen and out the front door. I couldn’t believe how much rain there was. The tin roof echoes through the whole house and the noise is so loud you have to yell to the person next to you so they can hear you. I opened the door to my room and put the fan by the door so that my room cooled off. I think that it dropped 15 degrees in a matter of minutes. Most Nicaraguans (or Nicas) throw their garbage in the streets and when it rains all the garbage is washed away.

                                       This is my room in Nicaragua. I'm usually not this messy, I promise :)

This is the hallway. Most hallways in Nicaragua are open so they hang clothes on the line here. When it rains there is sometimes four inches of water in the hallway.

 

Day 7 (9/3/13)

This morning we walked as a group to the church for our Spanish class. It was awkward walking through the streets of the city because the sidewalks are also steps for the houses and you have two steps on level ground, and then steps down and up—then the sidewalk will end, and then start again, and you have to be careful that there aren’t any cars coming. I don't tend to remember buildings because my eyes are always on the ground so that I don't trip. I think my tour guide was concerned that I was going to get hit by a car because she told me over ten times to look both ways before crossing the street. In the United States, pedestrians are the most important travelers and cars are supposed to yield to pedestrians, but in Nicaragua, pedestrians need to look out for cars because they will not stop.

Today was our first day of classes. Being typical Americans, we arrived at the church about five minutes early. At 9:30 our professor had not arrived yet. Nicaraguan time is so much different than American time. They place much more importance on relationships than time. Part of me likes that because it is okay to be late, but on the other hand, I don’t like it because life is just much less efficient. (Obviously 100% American)

( Mom don’t read this paragraph) My host brother told me today to be extremely careful in Managua because people would shoot us or cut our throats. That was not reassuring at all so I am pretty careful when walking through the city.

Spanish class was in the church and I don’t think our Spanish professor knew English at all. She went over concepts that I already knew, but it was a great review. It was so hot in class—way hotter than hot weather in the U.S.

I had more rice for lunch, and then went over to our friends’ house (it took an hour because we got lost) so that we could have wi-fi and get caught up on our work. Overall, it was a good day and I am so happy that I finally have internet!

In the evening, I wasn't hungry at all. I thought about telling my host mom that I didn't need food, but I didn't do it in time. She prepared a big plate of food for me to eat.

My host brother is studying computer technology at the University and has homework in English, so I was able to help him understand it, but it was really frustrating because I know so many words in English, but I couldn't communicate in Spanish. I really wish that I had internet in my home so that I could use Google translate. I think that my family knows as much English as I know Spanish, but they almost never use English. It is difficult for me to remember Spanish words when I hear them because I am a visual learner and need to see the words on paper.

Overall, I had another good day.

Day 6

For breakfast, my host mom (mama) made me a fried egg, banana/strawberry smoothie and crackers and cheese. It was good, but my North American I can’t believe how much fat/oil I just consumed for breakfast was in the front of my mind. I am tired all of the time, but I woke up a lot during the night because of the heat.

The first day, we had a scavenger hunt with a native-speaking guide. We spent the entire day walking around the city and exploring the sites. We went to the numerous bus stations, three markets, parks, and markets. It was very cool to see the city. We did the scavenger hunt for five hours. We stopped for lunch at 1:30 in the afternoon. For the equivalent of $2.40 American Dollars, we had an amazing fried chicken breast, rice, beans, and a tortilla. I really love the fried chicken, but I could do without the rice and beans. While we were eating lunch, it began to pour rain. I couldn’t believe how much rain was in the streets. During the rain, there was so much rain that the street had over seven inches of flowing water. I thought the motorcycles were going to float away. We had to wait in the restaurant for almost an hour until we could walk on the sidewalk. I was so glad that I brought an umbrella, and sandals that could get wet because my feet were soaking by the time we got to the meeting place.

Yesterday, it was my friend’s 21^st birthday, so we were invited to the host home of my friend. Mama told my host brother that we should go to the paneria (bakery) to buy a sweet bread. He gave me the tour of the city on his motorcycle. It was so nice because I got to see most of the city, and it was one of the few times that I actually cooled off since coming here. After we got back from the bakery we went to my friend’s host home and celebrated her birthday. They served us a fried tortilla called “caro sucio” which means dirty face. The dish was pretty good. I finished it and was full. They asked us if we were ready for the next two courses. We were so full, so we shared a plate between the three of us. They also like to serve a kool-aid drink. It is the one thing that I have had since I got here that I really can’t stand. There is so much sugar and I really don’t like the taste of it. After we finished the first course, they brought out a second course. I was full already, so my friends and I split a plate between the three of us. For dessert, we had Eskimo Neopolitan ice cream, but it was less dense and had a different flavor than ice cream in the states.

A friend of my host sister came over to the house later in the evening. She spoke a good amount of English and her Spanish was easier for me to understand. We talked for over an hour and I really enjoyed talking with her.

Overall, living in Nicaragua is an adjustment. In the U.S. houses are enclosed. Here in Nicaragua, the hallway has an opening and you will get wet when you walk down the hall in the rain. The doors are somewhat transparent material strung on wires from nails. Families wash laundry by hand here and they hang it in the opening in the hallway. Families watch a lot of television, and their programs have a lot less commercials than programs in the U.S.

It cooled off yesterday because of all of the rain, so I slept a lot better than I have been sleeping. I am also becoming more comfortable in the house. In the morning, I finally got enough courage to take a shower. The shower was like a small garden hose coming out of the wall. The cold water felt really good and I was ready for another shower by 10 in the morning because it is so hot!

Day 5

This morning, we went to an English church in Managua. The service started at 8:30 and ended about an hour and a half later. Everything about the service was similar to worship at my church back home. Dress was casual, the singing contemporary, and the Pastor gave a great sermon from Hebrews and incorporated a clip from the movie, “Chariots of Fire”. After church, we took a ride back and had lunch. The food has been wonderful so far. We have had great flavored pork, chicken, and beef with rice and beans. The fruit and vegetables have been so good as well. In the afternoon, we packed up our things and took the van to meet our host families at the church. For snack we had Nicaraguan tacos. They were basically fried tortillas with cheese, chicken, sour cream, and lettuce. They were good, but not what I would consider a snack. They had a Nicaraguan musician come in and sing a few songs. I could not believe that they took vans down the street that the church was on. There were people selling things everywhere. There may have been about four or five inches on each side of the van—tops.

My host mother is a single mother in her 40’s. I have two married host sisters and a host brother. Both my host mother and sister stood up to greet me. when I met them  It was funny because my host mother is barely 5 feet tall and I am over 6 feet. They introduced me to their family at the table and they began asking me questions. I don’t think they understood how little Spanish that I spoke and understood. The first four questions that they asked me, I didn’t even know how to answer. My favorite phrase today was “No entiendo”.  I did my best, and they started to slow down their words and use more actions. Within a few hours of meeting my host family, I could tell that my Spanish improved a lot. I am excited to start Spanish class and learn more conjugations…currently everything is in present/future tense, although I am trying really hard to match the verb with the subject.

 

I found out that my host brother has a “moto”. So guess who showed up to orientation on Monday morning on the back of a motorcycle. Good guess J I also tried to explain that I was a lifeguard at the pool (fail), I finally found a picture to show her, and I found out that my host brother is a lifeguard at the ocean. My host sister and brother are taking classes at the University. It is crazy to me that public universities in Nicaragua are free!

The room that I am staying in is about 10 x 15 feet. The floor is red cement, and the walls are a blue uneven cement block. It has a (Nicaraguan) full size bed, a dresser/closet, and a small desk, and the best part ---a fan! I have one outlet, and I brought a surge protector outlet. Because of the size of my charger boxes, I can only charge one thing at a time, so I’m rotating through my devices. My host mom invited me to put my water bottle in the fridge (which honestly made my week) because I really don’t like drinking warm water. It is really interesting to me that there is an opening in the hallway of the house, and when it rains (everyday) there is SO much rain running through the hallway of the house.

I gave my host family peanut butter, an American calendar, and UNO for a gift. They immediately opened the game, and we played about ten rounds of UNO. It was fun, but I was getting really tired of it by the time that we finished. For the record, I successfully explained the game in Spanish.

So far, our entire group of girls from the US agreed that we did not expect how dressy Nicaraguan women are. It was very difficult knowing what to pack. I am most comfortable in shorts and a tank, but most women here do not wear jean shorts or tank tops. I am glad that I brought so many skirts and dresses because it is really too hot to wear much else.

Day 4

Today, they had new-missionary orientation at the mission. We were able to meet people that have been serving in Nicaragua for the past few months. We met a group of people working for Mennonite Central Committee which was pretty cool because I come from a Russian Mennonite Community and we had some experiences in common. In the morning, we listened to lectures about adapting to a new culture and the stages that are common. It was interesting to hear, but I don't think that we will experience as many of the emotions because we will only be here for about three months. We listened to another lecture about the history of Nicaragua--but it was a very brief overview. We had lunch and then had an interactive session about aspects of poverty in developing countries. The final session of the day was an interactive session where we asked questions about Nicaragua. It was very hot, and sitting through the lectures made it a pretty long day.