Piñata proof!

 Why yes indeed, I DO know how to make piñatas!

 Star

 Carrot

 Chicken!

 Four cakes to feed all the guests

 An adorable one year old in her new dress with her piñatas (I know three is a little excessive but I couldnt help myself...)

 But her smile quickly faded...

 Mom had to help her a bit

 After only a few photos she was unhappy! But its not a one year old party unless the birthday girl (or boy) cries right?

 Pork with yucca...yummy!

 Blow out your candles

In her new outfit!

Piñatas, fiestas, and newly acquired skills

As I have said many times to various people, this experience is an exchange. Last week I had the opportunity to show my family how to make piñatas and we made three of them for the one year old's birthday party. It was a lot of work (I had forgotten how long of a process it was) but so fun to share in the birthday preparation. I made a chicken, a star, and a carrot for the party, though the chicken was clearly the favorite. We laughed so much during the process that I think part of my exhaustion came from all the laughing and excitement of making the piñatas. So many people continually asked "YOU know how to make piñatas!?" and were surprised when I responded with, "why yes, I do!"

There were over fifty people at the party and that was just family... I was so overwhelmed! After breaking three piñatas, eating a delicious dish of pork with yucca, cake, and candy, we cleaned up and rested only for a bit. After, it was off to another birthday party of a fifteen year old in the family. Nicaraguans sure do know how to party! Needless to say, I was wiped out after this weekend, but so happy to be a part of the festivities.

As another part of the exchange, I have also acquired some very important skills while in my town:
-Folding cloth diapers
-Tying baggies full of fresco (Fresco is a very common juice drink made of fruit juice, water, and sugar, and yes, there is a technique to tying the baggies).
-Laundry is a four part process starting with soaking clothes in detergent, scrubbing them with soap, then soaking them in fabric softener, finally followed by hanging to dry. I finally figured out why it takes hours!
-Do not say no to food, but instead carry a bag with you at all times (because you literally never know when you will be offered food) to save it for later.

These are only a few of the more interesting talents I have acquired, but you can imagine how talented I will be after two years!

Note: In my attempt to upload photos, the computer shut down and I lost everything, so it will have to wait for another day.

Why is there poverty?

This week I faced an interesting question as I was attempting to explain the education system in the U.S. I began by describing the school day, stating that we pay for school lunch and those who can´t pay receive help so that all kids get lunch. I was stopped in my tracks when the teacher with whom I was talking said to me ¨There is poverty in the U.S.? WHY?¨ As Peace Corps volunteers we are prepared to answer many questions about our country and this one seems no different. But I was caught so off guard because I was not expecting such a question.

So how do you tell someone in a developing country the reasons that a country so rich as the U.S. has poverty, inequality, and problems of our own?  I attempted to explain a few of the variables that can affect people´s socioeconomic status, but mostly tried to explain that poverty is everywhere. I don´t even know if I myself understand the reasons that a country with so many resources has such profound inequalities. But part of our job here is to represent the U.S. to Nicaraguans and when we return to represent Nicaraguans to the U.S.

We as PC volunteers are often faced with uncomfortable questions of how much things cost, how much money we make, are our parents supporting us financially to be here, etc... We try to explain that because we make dollars things cost more in our country. Mostly, we try to avoid such questions as best as possible. I don´t want anyone to look at me as only a dollar sign any more than I want to look at someone else and only see how much money they appear to have. But I can´t deny that I have been raised in privilege either.

More than anything, I dedicate my time to telling the truth about the U.S. Many here have a picturesque view of what it must be like to live there, to move there and leave behind such poverty. But I had to interrupt at a teacher´s training when the facilitator described classrooms in the U.S. as having 8 to 10 students. I have never seen such a class in any primary or secondary school. I again had to correct him when he stated that every child has a computer in the classroom. These are the images Nicaraguans see about the U.S., but that is the only thing they see. I am completely honest about how technologically advanced we are and how the classroom is changing through the world of technology. But I cannot lie and agree that every student has a computer at their fingertips, nor that it is completely necessary for each student to have his or her own computer in order to receive a quality education. It has also been an interesting reality for me to know that they strive to model our education system, when I believe that there are so many reforms that need to be made. Perspective is everything.

My goal is to live here in honesty, sharing my experiences and my insight about a country that I appreciate more when I do not live there. I think often times it is easier to get caught up in the negative, in what we would like to change about the laws, the culture, or society in general in our own country. I do see the benefits of life in the U.S. as well as the positive aspects of our country easier now that I do not live there. On the other hand, it is much harder for me to remember the harsh negative realities. But it is no dreamland full of riches and free of worries, that I will have to share with people here along with many other very real stories.

Pig on the Loose!

This week was full of new experiences, new faces, and new routines. I spent everyday from 7 in the morning until roughly 5pm at the school getting to know kids and teachers. I observed many hours of class, had to explain many times that I was only there to observe and to the dismay of many kids would not be teaching. I was fed more delicious food and gifted with juice and chips. And the girls who had visited me during my previous stay wasted no time in running over to greet me when I arrived at my new home. It was really a great feeling to be so well received by everyone and helped me to feel that I have actually started to weave myself into this community for the next two years.

After only a few short days of being in town, I gradually started to hear Hola Profe! and Buenos días Profe morgan! in the streets. This was definitely a highlight of the week! Though I still get catcalls and stares depending on where I am and who Im with, people are starting to remember that Im not just the strange gringa in town, but the new profe at the school down the road.

I have also had many Oh my gosh, Im in Nicaragua moments (as I like to call them) this week. On Wednesday I went shopping in the next town with my host mom, sister, and the baby. What an experience! I can just say that buying food for an entire month (including rice and beans) makes for a very heavy load. I can say that I now better appreciate a grocery store in the same town as well as a car in order to easily transport everything. On our way home the sun was setting over the mountains in the distance as we drove through the rice fields in the valley. In that moment the sky was pink, I had spent the afternoon with my host family, and nothing could have been more perfect. Here I am in Nicaragua.

The mountains are so calming and so beautiful. As I sat with a couple of teachers one morning waiting for more to arrive, the teachers commented on how sad the school was because there were no kids. It seemed too quiet to them. But I sat staring at the mountains in the distance with a few clouds peaking over them and fruit trees growing not far off. This was a tranquil feeling, not one of desolation or loneliness.

Another moment happened when I was going to shower and realized as I crossed the patio that the pig had gotten loose at night and had made a mess of everything! She followed me so I scurried into the bathroom to shower. When I came out, she came back up to me and was trying to smell (or eat) my feet. Needless to say I ran back inside to tell someone that her rope was no longer tied to the pole. I have never before been afraid of pigs, but I think the fact that she was smelly, dirty, and not tied up made me feel that I needed to preserve my clean body!

For breakfast one morning I sat eating my beans and cheese with a fresh warm tortilla and watched the cows pass by on their way to the pasture. I couldn’t help but think that this life is not for everyone, but that I love it. A fresh tortilla hot off the grill…I would argue there are few things in life that are better, at least for me right now!

Life here is certainly not perfect, but each and every day I find the good things to look forward to, the ah moments that make everything worthwhile. While I do miss home at times, I know that this is where my heart is right now and that feeling simply cannot be described.

(October 28) What does it mean to leave a place behind?

It was a week of final presentations, wrapping up our work at the school, and preparing for the big move to our new site. After visiting, I am energized to begin doing the work we have been preparing for during these past three months. But oh yes, there are the goodbyes.

Nothing could have been as hard as the goodbyes I had to endure in order to move to Nicaragua, but it continues to amaze me what it means to have a sense of community. Here we are in a big city where it took a long while to integrate and feel like we really understood its culture, the setup of its streets, and the neighbors that surrounded us. In fact, I would say that it took me almost two whole months to get to know the city fully and make it my home.

However, until this week I did not realized that I had fully adopted this city as my temporary home, even with its moto-taxis that nearly run you over and the horse poop smelling up the streets. My group began our presentation on our community integration by dressing in traditional costumes worn during Diriamba’s annual celebration. We like to call it the center of culture because it is the birthplace of various traditional dances and a play that makes fun of the Spanish conquerors. We not only impressed the staff and language facilitators, but also our fellow volunteers and even ourselves. In a matter of a few minutes we realized all that we had taken away from the city of Diriamba.

The week continued at a rapid pace as the workload did not weaken. On Thursday we made our last visit to the school in the morning to give away trees we had planted in bags to be transplanted in the ground as a part of Nicaraguas reforestation efforts. As we arrived they announced that the kids had a small program planned in our honor. Each class we had worked with had a different activity planned, some being songs and others danced. We were nearly in tears because it was so beautiful and sweet of them to prepare for us. We had not realized the impact we had made upon them until we arrived that day.

I rushed home to gather my lesson plans and return to the school to give my last science lesson. After I had completed the lesson, my teacher presented me with a lovely card and a ceramic wall ornament from the class. In addition, each student gave me kind parting words about what they had learned from my lessons and their wishes for me to have a safe journey. Again I was nearly in tears! One of the moms prepared a typical Nicaraguan dish and there was yet another program to follow. This one consisted of mostly dancing and lasted for over an hour. (The students either attend school in the morning OR the afternoon, so the students were different hence the reason for two different programs.)

Now it is time for me to say goodbye to the family that welcomed me with open arms in those first few days when I was nervous and intimidated by the two years ahead of me. This is yet another instance of how I hadn’t realized quite how much I had bonded with them until it has come time to part ways. I will miss the baseball games with my host dad, watching Brazilian soap operas with my host mom while talking about education in Nicaragua, and even the way Luis Jesús calls me Amorgan instead of Morgan. This was my home for almost three months and I will miss certain aspects, most of which I was unaware that I had appreciated so much until I was packing my bags.

And yet I cannot help but feel anticipation as I head to my new site. As my dad pointed out, I am done with around 10% of my service and even though it is an important start, I have not even begun my work. I feel motivated and prepared for the most part, as prepared as three months of training can make a person. In the Peace Corps, learning as you go is an important aspect. I learn more and more each and every day about myself, the U.S., and this beautiful country in which I currently live.

The secret to happiness, you see, is not in seeking more but in developing the capacity to enjoy less. –Socrates
This quote truly embodies the Peace Corps. I am finding a new sense of peace and accomplishment throughout every individual day. The journey has already begun, but it is about to get a lot more interesting.

What it Means to be New

After arriving safely in my new site, it is hard to describe the mixture of feelings of nervousness, sadness at leaving my friends, excitement for the days to come, and shock that this day had actually arrived. I had visited, which almost made things even more weird because I knew people and instead of a welcome from the neighbors I got more of a "oh, youre back" reaction. (Very genuine just the same).

Everyone is so kind and inviting, literally telling myself to make myself at home as I enter each house. After the fourth home I had to say, wow! I have so many houses here! Everyone wants to show me around, chat with me, and get to know me better. Its almost like being a local celebrity. Today I observed classes at the school next door. A girl in third grade made me a little note that had a heart on it and a sweet message about me being the outsider. She said that even though I felt like the strange one, we all feel strange at some point and soon enough I would get to know them all. It was the sweetest thing, especially coming from an 8 year old! Moments like that outweigh any statistics on the number of students we teach or teachers we train. It is those interactions that lie at the core of our work.

There are still moments when I walk alone that I realize I am still the weird one, the redhead in a sea of dark hair. I receive the looks and the occassional catcall when I leave my three block radius, but I am happy to find much less harrassment here than in my training town. I have yet to walk alone a lot though (having only been here for a few days on top of the fact that people are interested in showing me around.)

I apologize for the delay in posting and the short nature of this post, but I promise more updates will come soon. I have to figure out this transition and how to best use my resources here.