Who would have thought I would get a department capital . . . with running water.

My first few days visiting my permanent site and I am pleased. In fact, I am really pleased. Last night I was walking down Calle Central to my house, the cloud cover started falling into the city, and I could actually feel the clouds. Three months ago I would never have thought that my permanent site would be up in the mountains and misty in the evenings. It is gorgeous up here.

Jinotega, Jinotega rarely gets that hot. It is nothing like Chinandega. This means a lot of things, but the best being the following; I will never be fed hot bean soup and boiling coffee when the temperature gets above 95º. It just never gets that hot here before lunch. If you are wondering what on earth I am talking about I´ll try to explain. Nicaraguans (like everyone from 5 yrs old to 105) strongly believe that when it gets really really blazing hot out, the best thing to do for your health is to eat really really blazing hot food. This usually comes in the form of hot bean soup with a hard boiled egg floating in it, and black coffee with about a quarter cup of Vitamin A fortified sugar. All I´ve got is maybe it makes you sweat even more, thereby making you cooler . . . who knows.

Anyway, my little site like every other city, pueblo and campo in Nicaragua has a beautiful Central Park neighboring a Catholic Church.

Inside Parque Central there is a small library. There are no books, which is very typical of Nicaragua (people don´t really read here – take into consideration the Contra Wars and it makes sense) but, there is a public bathroom and a couple of desks to work at if one chooses. I have a feeling when I need to get away from my counterpart this is where I will go.

My counter part, Don Enrique!

The health center I will be working at or working out of in Jinotega.

The first of many health campaigns I will be apart of. Plan Verano is sort of like a premptive strike against the drinking that takes place during Semana Santa.

Besides a relatively beautiful city center most streets in the urban center are asphalt or cement tiled. Most have sidewalks. And most are very typical of a tranquillo mountain city.

Oh, and there are three coffee shops I have found. Two of which say they have free wifi!

It looks like I might really like my little department capital up in the mountains in Northern Nicaragua. Now all I have to do is get used to living without other Americans around me. I suspect this will be a little hard.

I´m moving to the capital of Jinotega . . . I HAVE AN AWESOME SITE.

So . . . it looks like I will be living in Jinotega, Jinotega for the next two years. Que emocionado! A big site means a lot of NGO´s to work with. A lot of NGO´s means funds. And funds, well they mean I can do things. Did I already say how excited I am?

Jinotega is located in Northern Nicaragua and the second largest department. The Nica´s call it La Ciudad de la Brumas, or City in the Mist. Compared to central/southern Nicaragua, Jinotega is relatively cooler. I´m pumped! On top of climate, Jinotega is known for it´s coffee harvests and eco-tourism. I know I´m bragging . . . but I have the best site! Now I need to get there, negociate my living costs, and start working!

All of the above said, I am going to miss having the other trainees around. As a group we are super tranquillo and really just awesome. We have had some good times.

Thayer, Jenny, Katie and I getting on the plane to Nicaragua! What were we thinking?

Pinto, Lucas, Jen, Sonia and I . . . in Managua somewhere . . . I don´t
even know if we were having fun or not. Ha.

Jinotepe #1, and Lucas. No big surprise.

A couple of the other trainees are pretty close to my site though. So that really makes things seem managable. In fact, I´m hoping that we can do some projects together . . . Sexually Transmitted Infection workshops anyone?

Well, I´m leaving tomorrow to visit Jinotega for a week, meet my counterpart and hopefully start meeting NGO´s in town. Lets hope it all goes well-ish!

I just realized I have yet to explain what a Casa Materna is . . . next week?

While my first weeks in Nicaragua lasted forever, they are now flying by. I can see the end of training and I am excited. But, what I´m really ready for is getting a permanent site assigned to me. It is going to be amazing knowing where I will be living for the next two years. Training has been fun, don´t get me wrong but, I am ready to start work. I´m ready to move into a city, maybe be the only gringo in town, and get going. Surely this is the response Peace Corps is trying to solicite. They make training a never ending labyrinth of activities and responsabilities. It pretty much guaruntees that the 9 out of 10 of us who make it to swearing in will be itching to get to our sites. Now if they would just tell me where I will be going . . .

A mural created by a HPCV in La Dalia´s Casa Materna.

Like I said, life has been crazy busy here. My week consisted of class, HIV/AIDS presentations, condom demos, and more 5th graders. Those kiddos are monsters. Their redeeming qualitiy though, the minute I ask for a volunteer every little hand shoots up into the air. I am constantly amazed by this. Every single one of them is fascinated by helping out in class.

This is what happens when Lucas, Robyn and Jenny steal my camera. Love it.

This upcoming week I will be heading north back to Chinandega with the other 23 trainees. We are paticipating in an HIV/AIDS workshop. The department of Chinandega boarders Honduras and the ocean. These two factors have created a very high population of HIV/AIDS. Thus, HIV/AIDS week is in Chinandega. I am stoked. Although Chinandega is ridiculously hot it is also full of energy and really an amazing city. Life seems so vibrant there.

Well in off to work on a charla . . . water saftey!

Quesillo

-Tortilla

- Thin slice of Nica cheese

- ¼ cup of chopped onions

- ½ cup Nica sour cream

Wrap tortilla around other ingredients; eat on yellow school bus passing through La Paz Centro. Stay in close proximity to toilet or latrine following night.

Training has become increasingly more hectic. The past two weeks have included multiple 6 hour Spanish classes, a visit to MINSA (Nicaragua Ministry of Health), 4 days visiting a PCV in Chinandega, traveling almost to Honduras alone to reach the PCV in Chinandega, a day in Masaya discussing future sites (basically where I will be living for the next two years) and hiking Volcán Masaya.

Luckily, I am still in the ‘Honeymoon’ phase of training.

On Sunday I left for Chinandega to visit a PCV, you know to see the life of a volunteer who works in the health sector. Thayer and I boarded a fun little microbus (really an abductor van with 20 seats squished in) to Managua. I convinced the cobradór to drive into Managua’s Market, Israel, and drop our price by 3 cords. That’s like $ 0.20, still I’m impressed with myself. Ha. In Israel we boarded a yellow school bus to Chinandega, Chinandega. They say these yellow school buses are sent from the U.S. to Honduras to die. When they die in Honduras they are sent to Nicaragua. Lovely! Fortunately Thayer and I had no problems. In fact we had a pretty eventful bus ride north. In La Paz Centro a sweat drenched Nicaraguan woman got on the bus. She was wearing an apron spilling with coca-cola bottles full of some white cream, and she was carrying a blue bucket of food on her head. Turned out she was making Quesillos, which are a Nica delicacy. Thayer and I thought we would try our first ‘street vendor.’ It was good. Really good. So good in fact, that the following evening I sat on the toilet ALL NIGHT.

Thayer, the quesillo and I.

The PCV I visited actually lived a couple hours north of Chinandega, Chinandega, in a small rural town that cools off to 95˚ F at night. Visiting her was a crazy eye opening experience. I learned that the smaller town you live in the more gossip becomes an integral part of life. I arrived to site a few hours before the PCV and thus was promptly sat down by the Doña of the local pulperia* and fed. In the next two hours she reported to me the entire history of the previous three PCV’s that lived in their town, who they married and or dated, their Spanish levels, and how fat they were. It was hilarious. It’s hard to remember that here in Nicaragua gossip many times is the only thing that exists outside of the hard campo lifestyle.

After the site visit I returned to Carazo for more Spanish classes, PC tech training, and a diversity workshop. Fortunately some of this occurred in Masaya. Masaya is a beautiful little tourist destination on the west coast of Nicaragua. Here the markets are flooded with bright colors, the scents of handmade hammocks, and old Catholic churches on every corner. I plan on visiting Masaya again. It is gorgeous.

Sonia and I getting ready to hike the volcano!

Lucas, Jenny and Neil also getting ready to hike the volano?

And, we hiked up to the top of Volcán Masaya. It was fun. Seriously.

Although I have been crazy busy I’m just happy that I am still in training. I feel like I have so much to learn about everything Nicaragua has to offer and the more I know the more effective I will be in the future. If only in my ability to partake in the local chisme*!

*Pupleria- A small convenience store of sorts many Nicaraguans have in the front of their house. This is usually more of less in their living room. Pulperia’s are generally a center for junk food, friendly gatherings, and town gossip. All towns have at least one. The bigger towns usually have a pulperia on every block.

*Chisme- Gossip

P.S. We received the list of site options for Nica-52. That is the cities PC will be placing us in for the next two years. I’m fairly interested in San Carlos Rio San Juan, San Ramón Matagalpa, and Jinotega Jinotega. They are all relatively larger sites in or close to large cities. I’ll just have to wait and see what happens though! Ahh.