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.