Plastic Chairs

Oh the experiences of a Peace Corps volunteer...

After a few days of training in Managua, I boarded a bus with a couple of friends to head back to site. I bought my ticket and the woman said to me, there are only seats left in the "bancario." I of course had no idea what she was trying to tell me but did not want to wait another hour for a bus so I bought my ticket. After waiting for everyone else to get on, I was given a small plastic stool that I placed in the aisle of the bus for my ride. Nicaraguans sure do love their plastic...

I should not have been surprised considering each home has their share of plastic chairs that are used for every occasion. There are also stores dedicated entirely to plastic. Everything from chairs, to soap containers, to tupperware can be found in such stores. I guess that is one way to make an organized theme right?

The plastic chairs do come in handy for every party, though. And as I have found out, December is the month of parties. No, I never found out what La Purisima was because I was too busy attending birthday parties this weekend. A large family means you could be attending many birthdays within the span of a month. Add graduations, Christmas, and New Years and literally this will be one month of pure celebrations. I realized though, that I have definitely gotten to a point where I am comfortable in these settings, I know most of the family now and I have a lot of fun. After talking to other volunteers they basically say their advice is to accept every invitation for any occasion. So here´s to a month of celebrating!

As for Christmas, it is so far off my radar. School just ended, it is hot as heck outside, no one has decorations, and I have only heard Christmas music twice. I feel as if Christmas is as far away as I am! I do almost think that it is better this way because I can more easily ignore the fact that I will be missing all of the holiday traditions. And it sounds like I simply won´t have time to dwell on what I am missing back home which is another plus. I am just so thankful to have the host family that I do because they have truly welcomed me into the family. I hope to add to my list of skills making enchiladas and taquitos this month, among other things.

As I sit in my plastic chair at the Internet Cafe I am looking forward to a busy week of graduations and celebrations. Happy December everybody!