Final Thoughts...

These next few days are going to go by so fast! Today we are in Managua doing final presentations, tomorrow we have one more presentation in Leon, and then we just have Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday in Leon. Wednesday night we have our despedida, or goodbye party. Thursday morning we leave Leon and spend Thursday in Managua. Friday we fly home. Really there isn’t much left to the semester, which is crazy.

I have some things that I am very excited to get back to in the United States. I am excited for things like my family, friends, different food (that doesn’t include rice every day and beans at least every other day), hot showers, my own bed, and many other things. There will definitely be things to get used to again though.

First and foremost – the COLD!! We were cold when we visited Costa Rica up in the mountains and it was probably 60*F. I am going home to winter. I have accepted the fact that I am going to freeze… and asked my mom to take sure that there is plenty of hot chocolate and tea in the house!

FOOD – I am so used to having rice with everything and beans with almost everything. I am also used to having a tortilla with everything. I am looking forward to NOT having this every day. However, my sister, aunt, or mama goes to the market every morning here and buys the food for the day, so everything is fresh. I will have to get used to having some food that has been processed again. I’m a little bit worried about how my stomach will handle it. However, I am also very excited to eat food that I like again… not that I dislike Nicaraguan food… it just won’t ever be my favorite.

PRICES here are really really low. 22 cordobas (the Nicaraguan currency) is the equivalent of 1 dollar. I can go to Café la Rosita (where we go probably at least once a week) and get the equivalent of a starbucks frappuccino for 20 cordobas. I really enjoy that price. I will be sad to go back to starbucks and have to pay lots of money for stuff. Everything here is cheap, and in stores and the market, you are expected to barter with the vendors. If you don’t, they are excited because they get more money than they were expecting. I will be very sad when I see the prices of things back home.

I am sure that there are things that I will miss about Nicaragua, for sure my family and the friends that I have made. However, I am very ready to be home. This has been the longest that I have ever been away from home. I think it has been good for me, and I have definitely learned a lot. However, I am looking forward to spending some time at home with my family before going back to school again in January. I hope to travel more and have different adventures. But for now, I’m just going to focus on finishing school, more travel can happen when I’m done.

Teaching

Today was the first day of our last full week here. It's crazy to think of how soon we're going to be finishing up and going home. For the past 2 weeks, we have all been working in our service learning jobs. We haven't been seeing each other every day, and we have all been super busy. It's been weird, but good.

I have been working at a Christian school here in Leon with the English teacher. I have sat in on classes and observed, worked with students individually and in small groups, and wrote a curriculum and lesson plans. It has been a lot of fun. I have learned a lot from the experience. One of the ones that I have told the others many times is that writing curriculum is awful. It isn't fun, and it's very frustrating. Writing lesson plans is a lot harder than it seems. It's not easy to engage middle and high schoolers in a class that most of them don't really want to take!

Today, I started teaching the curriculum and lesson plans that I wrote. The classes that I am teaching are basically just review for the student because they didn't do well in the class during the year. We are just going over basic vocabulary and conjugating verbs. I was a little overwhelmed this morning. It is hard enough to explain why some things (like irregular verb conjugations) are the way they are in English, in Spanish, it was way hard for me. I was really tired by the time the morning ended! I'm teaching these students for the rest of the week and I really hope it goes well. Despite how exhausting it was, I did enjoy it!

For now, besides going to the school every morning, I'm just working on final papers and projects for my other classes (they are all due or being presented next week), relaxing, and spending time with my family. I am loving spending time with them and am sad that I'm going to have to leave. They're wonderful. However, I'm also really excited to get back home to my family and friends. There are also various other things that I'm homesick for... my bed, some certain foods, hot showers...). I'm also sure that there will things that I'll be 'homesick' for in Nicaragua too.
These next 2 weeks should be wonderful. I am hoping that I really enjoy them. I have made amazing memories and some pretty awesome friends over this past semester. I am looking forward to continuing with those friendships and having more adventures throughout my life.

Costa Rica

This semester has been flying by. We have all finished our elective classes. All we have left is 3 weeks of service learning (which starts on Monday) and a week of finals, a goodbye party, debriefing, and home. So Crazy!

This week we are in Costa Rica. Part of the reason we are here is because our visa's only last 90 days, so we needed to leave Nicaragua for 3 days in order to update them and finish out our semester. The other reason is because we are studying the immigration of Nicaraguans to Costa Rica. It resembles (but is not the same as) the immigration of people from Mexico to the US.

We visited the neighborhood of La Carpio in San Jose, which is sometimes referred to as 'Little Managua'. Costa Ricans don't like going near there and all claim that it is dangerous, the Nicaraguans are violent, and that they steal all their jobs away from them. Nicaraguans are going to Costa Rica because they think they can make a better life for themselves there. It's an interesting situation.

While we were in La Carpio, we walked around with our guide and interviewed some of the immigrants there. Many of them have been in Costa Rica for years. Their children are Costa Rican, not Nicaraguan. It was really interesting to hear about their lives and get their perspectives. Most of them said that now that they have their lives in Costa Rica, they don't want to return to Nicaragua. It's really interesting.

I'm excited to return to Leon tomorrow and to see my host family. Leon has truly become a home and my host family is easy to consider actual family. It's been awesome. I'll miss it when I leave, but I'm excited to be back home as well. It's bittersweet.

Relaxation

This past week we had our mid-semester break. We went on a wonderfully relaxing Caribbean vacation. The 6 of us flew to the Corn Islands, off the eastern coast of Nicaragua. Because it was the hurricane season, there were very few people there, which was also very nice.

We spent the week swimming, laying on the beach, and reading books. We played a few card games, drove around the island (which is 12km around) in a golf cart (which died twice), and watched some movies. Basically, we relaxed. It was amazing.

One of our favorite activities was to go snorkeling! Twice we tried to go but it was too windy and the waves were too big. On our last full day there, it was finally calm enough to go. We looked at a sunken steamship and a reef. We were out there for a long time, but it was so cool and lots of fun. Our guide kept diving down to pick up shells and things to show us. He even picked up a sea cucumber and we all got to hold it. It was definitely a good experience.

Overall, we relaxed and had lots of fun. It was definitely worth it to take the trip out there, and we all felt relaxed afterward. We came home to a lot of rain and much cooler weather. Apparently it rained the whole time we were gone, and it has been raining since. It definitely cooled off, Cara and I even wore sweatshirts one day. It was a nice change.

Yesterday we jumped right back into classes by leaving for Managua at 6am. We had 2 classes and got back to Leon at about 5:30. Now we're all continuing on with our electives, which we will take for the next 3 weeks. After that we start our service learning. We all got our placements finalized this past week. I will be helping teach English in one of the schools in our area. I am very excited and can't wait to be in the classroom again! It'll be a good experience.

Thoughts

We have had a very busy couple of weeks here. But it has definitely been fun.

We went on another class trip to rural Nicaragua. We helped a group of farmers there. They are a part of a land bank. These farmers own their own land, which is atypical here in Nicaragua. We stayed with a family that had only been on their land for 16 days. They started building their house 16 days before we visited, and they hosted 8 of us at their house. The work probably wasn't considered very hard to them, and technically it wasn't very hard for us either, but we aren't used to it, and it was hot. We had fun talking to the farmers and their families though. It was really interesting to hear about their experiences and how happy they were despite having so little. It really made me think a lot about poverty and how differently people view it. I don't feel as though I truly understood poverty until going on our class trips and seeing it. Learning about it in school and talking about it in church and classes is not the same and seeing it. It was definitely a thought provoking trip.

This past week we started a new round of classes. We are going to Managua for our History and Worldview classes every Monday, then we have our elective courses Tuesday through Thursday. Friday we have our Culture class in Leon. Mondays are long days, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are long mornings (Megan, Lisa and I have 4 hour Spanish classes those days). Fridays are only 2 hours of class, and it's fun. It was also really exciting this past Friday because we all got to see each other for the first time all week. We're used to seeing each other every day, so it was weird to all be doing different things all week.

Today we left Leon at 4am for our mid-semester break! We are on the Corn Islands in the Carribbean, still a part of Nicaragua. It's gorgeous. We're definitely hoping to have a wonderful week to relax and just spend time together. It's crazy that we're already in the middle of our semester, it's going by really fast. But it's also good, because that means we're all having fun and enjoying ourselves. Hopefully the 2nd half of the semester is as awesome as the first half has been!

Development

This past week we went on a “Community Development” trip for our Worldview and Development class. We left from our houses on Monday morning at 6 to go to the Nehemiah Center. We had a history class in the morning, and in the afternoon we had our worldview class. We spent the night at the Nehemiah Center and on Tuesday morning had another worldview class. On Tuesday afternoon, we were scheduled to leave for our trip. We had a few hours of time in between class and our trip, so Maynor took us to what he calls the “Gringo Grocery Store”. We got Dr. Pepper. We were very excited about it. You can’t find anything but Coke, Pepsi, or Fanta anywhere in this country. We drove for three or four hours to get to Omotillo, a town in Northern Nicaragua very close to the Honduran border. Maynor, Jim (one of our Worldview Professors) and Roger (an employee of the Nehemiah Center) went with us.

The point of community development is to change the community and not just get stuck in a rut. Often there is conflict in the community and they are not making any sort of progress. Because of this, people are unhappy. On Wednesday morning we visited 2 communities, one that had developed a lot over the past several years and one that was in the middle of their development. In both communities we were able to meet with the leaders and speak about their development. It was interesting. In the afternoon we visited a community that hadn’t yet developed. They were having their first meeting with a group of people who were going to try to help them with development. The people there obviously had issues with one another, and were sitting on opposite sides of the area we were meeting. There were two leaders there and they were on opposing sides. It was really interesting to watch them try to come to an agreement. At the end they wanted to know what we were going to give them. Lisa kindly explained that we were just students and observing. That all we could really give them was encouragement. I’m not sure how much they liked that. On Thursday we visited 2 other communities, both were communities of people who had relocated after Hurricane Mitch. The first talked about bettering the health of their community and jobs for people. The most common job there was digging through the dump and finding things that they then sell. The ladies we talked to were well respected in the community. Later, we talked to a group of ladies at a school. I don’t really remember what exactly we talked about there because we were all busy watching the kids play. They were adorable. We managed to get some pictures of them too, which was good.

It was an interesting trip and we learned a lot. It was good to observe the differences between the communities and listen to their stories of how things had changed and what things they were trying to change. It was also very different than anything I had seen before in the states, so I think it was a good learning experience to actually be able to see these things in person, not just read about them or see pictures. We’re going on another trip to Rural Nicaragua next week. Hopefully we will learn just as much while there.

Adventures

This past week has gone by fast, and I’m sure the next few weeks will too. Today, we started our last week of basically Spanish review for Lisa, Megan and I and learning a bit for Cara, Rachel and Curtis. Next week we finally get to start other classes. We’re excited. We’ve had a lot of fun lately. We’re taking full advantage of the fact that we have lots of down time and everything here is cheap. We went to the beach last weekend, which cost us about a dollar each… possibly 5-6 each if you include food. This past weekend we went to Cerro Negro, a volcano near Leon. It was really really cool. We went with a tour company. We had a guide. We hiked up the volcano (and I realized how out of shape I really am), and then we sledded down it. I’m not kidding you. We sledded down the volcano. It’s called Ash Boarding. You can either do it like snowboarding or sledding. And you get incredibly dirty. But it was so worth it. We all said we would love to sled down again… if we didn’t have to hike it again. My family laughed at me when I got back home. My mama told me I was a negrita (little black girl). Then she and my sister ordered me to go take a shower. I was very okay with that idea. Even the fact that the water was cold didn’t bother me, in fact it felt amazing that it was cold.

In the afternoon we all met up again and went shopping. We walked around Leon and the Central Park (which has a lot of touristy stands, great for getting gifts for people back home) all afternoon. Then we went to Café Rosita. The only reason I mention this is because the lady there recognized us (which I suppose shouldn’t be too hard since we’re there 2 or 3 times a week and she works at the other coffee place we go to too…oh, and we’re all white). She noticed that Curtis had gotten his hair cut, and she asked me if we were all siblings or just friends. Cara decided that she’s going to count how many times we go to Café Rosita and how many of those times she’s working. It’s our favorite café, so I feel like we’ll be seeing a lot of her around.

I’m definitely looking forward to being done with our current Spanish class and starting the next. We’re all ready for the change next week! Hopefully we can all get used to it and enjoy it. Next week we have one of our class trips, then another the next week. Both are overnight trips to different towns. Then we only have a week before our mid semester break already. It’s weird to think of how fast that will go. We definitely have a lot to do before December! But it’ll be fun, so it’ll be worth it.

Adjusting

This past Sunday we moved in with our host families in Leon. It has definitely been an interesting experience, and taken a lot of adjusting. We all live within about a 10 of 15 minute walk of each other, which is nice, and our host families are willing to let us go out by ourselves if we're together or going to each others houses (yesterday was the first day I was allowed to walk to somebody's house besides megan, who lives the closest, by myself). They're pretty protective of us!
It was really overwhelming at first to have to talk to them in Spanish all the time and try to figure out how to communicate. I only understand about half of what they are saying... often because they're just talking to fast. Yesterday I got really excited because I talked with my mama for almost an hour without her saying "entiendes" (which means 'do you understand'). It's getting easier and easier as the days go on. And I can tell that I'm getting better at communicating with them, although it's still difficult. They have trouble pronouncing my name, because there is nothing like it in Spanish. My sisters call me "Malo". My mama just rolls her eyes and says "malorie" really really slowly. It's cute to listen to.
My family goes to bed pretty early. But it's okay because I'm exhausted too. We're all pretty much in our rooms at 8. I turn out my light at around 9 or 9:30 most nights. I fall asleep pretty fast too. However, I usually wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning. my alarm goes of at about 6:30. Our classes start at 8 and go till noon. Right now the afternoon is free for us. But that's gonna change as the semester gets further underway.
So this week has definitely been an adjusting time. But it's been good, and it continues to get better. I'm excited for more classes and to get to learn more about the culture. I think it's going to be a great semester.

Changes

Tonight is our last night at the Nehemiah Center (for now). Tomorrow we will meet and move in with our Host Families in Leon. The other girls and I spent the evening (after eating supper, playing cards and watching boys be ridiculous) packing and repacking our stuff... trying to make it all fit again, and succeeding much better than we did the first time around in the US (no weight limits for each bag this time... it makes things A LOT easier).

We have had so much fun these past few days having our little orientation! We are up at around 7 each morning, have breakfast and get ready, and then start doing stuff at 8:30. The stuff we do varies a lot. The first day, Thursday, was just our group and talking about classes and our host families and receiving our cell phones and such. On Friday we toured around Managua and visited Volcan Masaya, which is absolutely gorgeous. We also went to a museum and learned a lot about the history of Nicaragua. Today (Saturday), the Nehemiah Center was hosting a New Missionaries and Expatriates Orientation, so we attended. Not everything that was discussed applied to it, but a there were definitely parts that were really interesting and useful, especially when they were talking to us about adjusting to cultures and talking about specific differences between the Nica culture and our own.



We have had every afternoon and evening free so far. In the afternoons we all relax, read books, and take naps. Alicia (our coordinator here) and her husband Maynor come back at around 6 and eat supper with us, then we hang out and talk and play games. It's been fun. It gets dark at around 6 here, so we feel like it's way later than it is a lot of the time. Which is probably a good thing, because we're usually heading to bed a little earlier than we probably would otherwise.

Tomorrow we are headed to Leon after church. We're going to have lunch with our host families (which is when we will meet them for the first time), and then go home with them. I am ready. Partially because I'm excited to jump in and get started, partially because I am ready to unpack my suitcase and organize everything! I don't know much about my family except for their names (my parents are Lorenzo and Silva. I have 2 sisters, Karen and Marlen. Karen has a 3 year old son named Alejandro) and that the daughters are around my age (one a bit older, one a bit younger). In Leon, the 6 of us SPIN students will all live on the same street within 3 blocks of eachother... so we can walk to each others houses quite easily! We start our 3 weeks of 4 hour a day Spanish Classes right away on Monday morning. Hopefully it isn't too overwhelming. Right now I am just very glad that I already have a pretty good foundation!

I am very excited to see how things change and develop in the next few weeks. There will be times when it's hard, and times when it's easy. But in the end it will all be worth it.

Arrival

We made it into Managua!!

I traveled the whole way with Cara and Megan. Our first flight left from Sioux Falls at 10:12am. we flew into Chicago O'Hare where we had a 2 hour layover (we were all quite tired there) and then from there to Houston, where we had an hour and a half layover. In Houston, we met up with Curtis and Lisa, and we all had the same flight to Nicaragua. We landed at about 8:30 local time (and right now I can't think of what that compares to for times in the states). Now we're at the Nehemiah Center getting very sleepy and glad to be done traveling for awhile :) We have orientation in Managua until Sunday, and then we will go to Leon and meet our host families. So... this week will be busy, but it's exciting! Hopefully we don't get too worn out :)

Preparation

As many of you know, I am going to be spending this coming semester (August 24th - December 9th) studying abroad in Nicaragua. I can't believe how soon I'm leaving!! I leave Wednesday, so less than a week from now. There are days when I think that I'm crazy for deciding to do this, but mostly I'm excited. I don't really have much to say about it right now. I'm just doing some preparation and packing (which is SO hard. I hate packing right now). I'm spending the weekend at Dordt so that I can see my school friends before I leave, and then I'll be home on Monday until I leave on Wednesday. I'm sure that it will go by fast, but I will have an awesome time.

I hope that by reading this blog, you will get an idea of what I am doing down there. I also ask for your prayers as I travel and go a bit out of my comfort zone living with a family I have never met before and adjusting to a different culture.