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.