Yay! I finally made it to my training site! I am in one of the "bigger" sites for the SBD (Small Business Development) trainees. I live right in the center so the Catholic church and central park are only a couple blocks away. This is a completely new situation that I am not used to. My living conditions have definately been the biggest adjustment so far.
I live with a family of 4. There is my mom who is in her 40s, my dad who is in his 50s, my sister who is 25 and my brother who is 6. I was glad to only have one little brother because I am not used to being around children. They are all extremely nice and look out for me but it can be a bit awkward at times because I´m used to being independent and doing things myself. Not only this, but it is the first time my family has hosted a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer). So, it´s a learning process for the both of us. Everyday I have "Spanish class" which has really been the teacher teaching us colloquial terms and correcting us when we need it. It´s not your typical learning the conjugations of verbs type deal, which I like. We usually walk around the community and do activities to learn about the businesses and meet the owners. It is all very informal and feels like we are just chit-chatting with random people but in all honesty, it truly is integrating. The people here are incredibly nice and open. They are friendly and I feel very lucky to have been placed in a country with such great people.
Because I am not the best writer or really enjoy it all that much I´m probably going to just write bulleted items of certain events or highlights that have happened to me recently.
- My first day in my family´s house, my little brother tells me that all the beds have bedbugs. Not true, but it´s funny to see how a little kid´s mind works.
- The Catholic church here looks like new. Really out of place yet quite beautiful. I found out that it is so nice because a millionaire was going to marry a Nicaraguen woman who said she wanted to get married in a church in one of the pueblos. She picked the church in this town, so he paid to have it all fixed up. Cool story.
- The whole town only has water in the morning (not sure what time it turns on) until 10am and then again in the afternoon from 3-5. I´ve started to get the hang of how the toilet works.
- They listen to a lot of Mexican ranchera music here which I found odd. But, they also listen to a lot of salsa, reggaeton, and bachata. Anyone who knows me will know that I am super stoked for this!! Next step, finding places to dance!
- ALL of the food is fried! The rice, beans, plantains, their meats.... everything. They always have to add a ton of oil to whatever it is they are cooking. I miss vegetables!!!! Fresh greens! (And its only been a week).....I am grateful for the abundance of fruit. I can´t keep their names straight though. They have a huge variety of bananas and mangos. One of my favorite is a type of banana called "Manzana Maduro" literally translated means "matured apple". Kind of does taste like an apple. LOVE IT!
- The other day I saw an old woman with a shirt that said "More cushion for the pushin". I almost fell over in the street laughing. Apparently, it´s quite common that people wear shirts with silly sayings in English. Priceless!
- I have found that students in school here are quite respectful to their superiors. Don´t get me wrong, they misbehave but it doesn´t even compare to how I remember high schoolers acting out. They all stand up when the teacher enters (at least in my counterpart´s class) and then sit down when she tells them to. It´s pretty sweet.
- We had our first meeting for our high school business group today. 30 kids showed up (which was quite incredible). Most them really seemed intrigued and excited to get started on the project. We gave them "homework" to identify problems in their community, who these problems affect, and solutions to those problems. Just a way to get the creativity flowing so we can choose a product or service to develop. It´s quite exciting. Next week Ï begin teaching with my counter-part........ scary!
That´s all I have for now. Until next time!
I live with a family of 4. There is my mom who is in her 40s, my dad who is in his 50s, my sister who is 25 and my brother who is 6. I was glad to only have one little brother because I am not used to being around children. They are all extremely nice and look out for me but it can be a bit awkward at times because I´m used to being independent and doing things myself. Not only this, but it is the first time my family has hosted a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer). So, it´s a learning process for the both of us. Everyday I have "Spanish class" which has really been the teacher teaching us colloquial terms and correcting us when we need it. It´s not your typical learning the conjugations of verbs type deal, which I like. We usually walk around the community and do activities to learn about the businesses and meet the owners. It is all very informal and feels like we are just chit-chatting with random people but in all honesty, it truly is integrating. The people here are incredibly nice and open. They are friendly and I feel very lucky to have been placed in a country with such great people.
Because I am not the best writer or really enjoy it all that much I´m probably going to just write bulleted items of certain events or highlights that have happened to me recently.
- My first day in my family´s house, my little brother tells me that all the beds have bedbugs. Not true, but it´s funny to see how a little kid´s mind works.
- The Catholic church here looks like new. Really out of place yet quite beautiful. I found out that it is so nice because a millionaire was going to marry a Nicaraguen woman who said she wanted to get married in a church in one of the pueblos. She picked the church in this town, so he paid to have it all fixed up. Cool story.
- The whole town only has water in the morning (not sure what time it turns on) until 10am and then again in the afternoon from 3-5. I´ve started to get the hang of how the toilet works.
- They listen to a lot of Mexican ranchera music here which I found odd. But, they also listen to a lot of salsa, reggaeton, and bachata. Anyone who knows me will know that I am super stoked for this!! Next step, finding places to dance!
- ALL of the food is fried! The rice, beans, plantains, their meats.... everything. They always have to add a ton of oil to whatever it is they are cooking. I miss vegetables!!!! Fresh greens! (And its only been a week).....I am grateful for the abundance of fruit. I can´t keep their names straight though. They have a huge variety of bananas and mangos. One of my favorite is a type of banana called "Manzana Maduro" literally translated means "matured apple". Kind of does taste like an apple. LOVE IT!
- The other day I saw an old woman with a shirt that said "More cushion for the pushin". I almost fell over in the street laughing. Apparently, it´s quite common that people wear shirts with silly sayings in English. Priceless!
- I have found that students in school here are quite respectful to their superiors. Don´t get me wrong, they misbehave but it doesn´t even compare to how I remember high schoolers acting out. They all stand up when the teacher enters (at least in my counterpart´s class) and then sit down when she tells them to. It´s pretty sweet.
- We had our first meeting for our high school business group today. 30 kids showed up (which was quite incredible). Most them really seemed intrigued and excited to get started on the project. We gave them "homework" to identify problems in their community, who these problems affect, and solutions to those problems. Just a way to get the creativity flowing so we can choose a product or service to develop. It´s quite exciting. Next week Ï begin teaching with my counter-part........ scary!
That´s all I have for now. Until next time!
