On December 6th, I turned 25 years old. I decided to stay in my site for my birthday and spend the day with my host family. The day began at 5.00am when I woke up in the dark to the sound of "La Mañanitas" (the birthday song in Spanish) blasting outside of my bedroom door. I walk out of my room and my host mom, sisters and 1 year old niece are standing outside my door with a little portable radio blasting the birthday song, ready to wish me a Happy Birthday. This is a very common tradition in Nicaragua. Once the, incredibly LONG, song finished we all crawled back into bed to go back to sleep. The remainder of the day, I spent hanging out with my host family around the house. At one point, my host sister tells me that we are going next door to her aunt's house. We walk in and everyone jumps out and yells SURPRISE! They actually put together a surprise party for me with the extended family and all. My host mom had made one of my favorites dishes called "Vigorón" which is fried pork with yucca and a cabbage salad. They even bought me a birthday cake which is a huge compliment considering they aren't exactly cheap here. We ate great food, played games with the kids and overall it was a really great birthday. I was completely caught off-guard and enjoyed the day spent with the host family.
Two days later I came down with a fever of 102.6. I was sick all week battling a fever and all the bones in my body severely ached. After getting a number of blood tests done, I found out that I had Dengue! It's an infectious tropical disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes and very common in Nicaragua, especially during the wet season. It turns out, that I was bitten by the mosquito on my birthday. I remember specifically because I hadn't been bitten by a mosquito in almost a month and thought that it was weird to have a mosquito bite. During the wet season, I was constantly eaten up by mosquitoes and then when the wet season was over, I get bit by one mosquito and catch the fever. What luck is that?!
The school year in Nicaragua begins in February and ends in December. That makes December a time for high school graduations. I was invited to go to the graduations of all four of the schools that I work at. Between being sick with Dengue and schedule conflicts I was only able to attend two. One of them was at the school in my rural community and it was a great event. They had me sit on stage and help hand out diplomas to the kids. I didn't feel so great because I was still battling the dengue fever and I was having hot flashed because of the fever and was breaking out in a slight rash from it as well. Needless to say, I wasn't all there. During the principal's speech, he starts talking about how proud they were to have their students make it to the Regional Business Plan Competition and began thanking me for assisting them in the process. At this point, they start handing out awards to students and I suddenly hear my name called. I was extremely confused but approached the principal's podium and they gave me a gift. It was a doll that represents a character from the famous "El Güegüense" dance from Diriamba. The teacher I work with said that it was the kids' idea to give me a gift and they all pitched in to buy one of these expensive dolls for me. They wanted to thank me for working with them. Even through the haze of the fever I was extremely touched! I felt so lucky to have worked with such awesome kids and at the same time was sad because I know I wouldn't be working with them anymore. This was definitely a rewarding moment in my Peace Corps experience and one that I will never forget!
A few days later, I also met up with some fellow PCVs in our old training town of Masatepe. During training, all 5 of us promised the kids from our youth group that we would return in December to attend their graduation. They were so excited to see us there. One of my favorite girls even began to cry when we greeted her. She invited us to her graduation party where they played music, gave us delicious food and cake! Being in Masatepe brought back a lot of memories of when we still had no clue what we were in for and we all enjoyed hanging out with the kids who shared our first experiences of it all.
Two days later I came down with a fever of 102.6. I was sick all week battling a fever and all the bones in my body severely ached. After getting a number of blood tests done, I found out that I had Dengue! It's an infectious tropical disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes and very common in Nicaragua, especially during the wet season. It turns out, that I was bitten by the mosquito on my birthday. I remember specifically because I hadn't been bitten by a mosquito in almost a month and thought that it was weird to have a mosquito bite. During the wet season, I was constantly eaten up by mosquitoes and then when the wet season was over, I get bit by one mosquito and catch the fever. What luck is that?!
The school year in Nicaragua begins in February and ends in December. That makes December a time for high school graduations. I was invited to go to the graduations of all four of the schools that I work at. Between being sick with Dengue and schedule conflicts I was only able to attend two. One of them was at the school in my rural community and it was a great event. They had me sit on stage and help hand out diplomas to the kids. I didn't feel so great because I was still battling the dengue fever and I was having hot flashed because of the fever and was breaking out in a slight rash from it as well. Needless to say, I wasn't all there. During the principal's speech, he starts talking about how proud they were to have their students make it to the Regional Business Plan Competition and began thanking me for assisting them in the process. At this point, they start handing out awards to students and I suddenly hear my name called. I was extremely confused but approached the principal's podium and they gave me a gift. It was a doll that represents a character from the famous "El Güegüense" dance from Diriamba. The teacher I work with said that it was the kids' idea to give me a gift and they all pitched in to buy one of these expensive dolls for me. They wanted to thank me for working with them. Even through the haze of the fever I was extremely touched! I felt so lucky to have worked with such awesome kids and at the same time was sad because I know I wouldn't be working with them anymore. This was definitely a rewarding moment in my Peace Corps experience and one that I will never forget!
A few days later, I also met up with some fellow PCVs in our old training town of Masatepe. During training, all 5 of us promised the kids from our youth group that we would return in December to attend their graduation. They were so excited to see us there. One of my favorite girls even began to cry when we greeted her. She invited us to her graduation party where they played music, gave us delicious food and cake! Being in Masatepe brought back a lot of memories of when we still had no clue what we were in for and we all enjoyed hanging out with the kids who shared our first experiences of it all.
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