Semana Numero Uno

I decided that writing a post for everyday just would not be an option here in Nicaragua. So instead every week, once or twice a week I will write about what I have done since I last posted.

The last week has been great. I really can’t believe that it has already been a week. In the grand scheme of tings a week is not really that long for me, after all I am going to be here for eight weeks in total. But if every week goes by as quickly as this last one, this trip and adventure is going to be over sooner than I know it; a good and bad thing.

So this week was very exciting. Of course I had the whole “new to an area” thing going on, so everything I saw was interesting to me. Let’s start with school. I am really enjoying school. I never really appreciated my language classes while I was in school, probably because I did not see any point to them growing up in New Hampshire where there might be a few Hispanic families in Manchester, and secondly probably because I was not given the instruction I would need in order to have it really stick. Well, here I am getting that instruction and practice every day with my host family to boot.

One of the things that I have really needed help with is remembering words. This is not something that my teachers can really help with, so on my own I have been making lash cards with words that I have been using in class and out and memorizing them. I am not sure how many I have memorized so far, but it seems like a lot to me. My teachers congratulated me on my studious behavior but inform me that I will be tested on Monday on the verbs I know. I don’t think I have ever studied so much, maybe once or twice for really large exams, but then for only a day before the test. I feel like I am studying every day for a test that is coming up in three more weeks. So much studying, but it is good.

So in class I have mastered the present tense! For the majority of the week we have been working on the preterete, or past tense. Before I came to Nicaragua I had been practicing this tense on my own, so I already knew a little bit, but these class sessions have really helped me nail it down. Another thing that I have had a really hard time remembering is many of the little words that I use every day without even thinking about it. some, about, to, with, the list could go on and on. I know many of them, but when I am speaking they just do not come to me. Nesesito practicar much!

So class is really only half of my day in Nicaragua. The second half of the day after the two hour siesta is the activity. We have done some really neat things so far. On Monday like I said in my first post, we went to two of the museums in Nicaragua. The Mi museum and the chocolate museum.

On Tuesday the class went to a house attached to the school where we learned how to make a traditional Nicaragua sweet treat. I forget what it was called but it was a little bit like latkes. Yuca, cheese, egg and a simple syrup infused with some sort of herb which reminded me of vanilla. Fry it all up and you have desert. On a semi different note, the house that we did the cooking in will be my house for the second month. Its super cute, and I am glad that I was able to get a sneak peak of where I will be living.

On Wednesday we went to this super cute town called Catalina. It is a town high in the mountains that is best known for its overlook of the Laguna de Apoyo, Granada and Lake Nicaragua. I was really cool when we got up there. Earlier in the day it had rained really  hard so there were many clouds up where we were, when we got to the overlook we could not see anything because of the clouds, but slowly the clouds were being blown away  by the wind and what opened up to us was this amazing view of the laguna and Granada. I snapped a couple of pictures, but you really had to be there to really experience it. While in Catalina I also got my first souvenirs. There were a bunch of this pictures being sold and they totally caught my eye, first there were these ones of people going to the bathroom, which I thought were hilarious, but after I went into the shop I noticed these other ones of Granada looking at the volcano Mambacho. I loved the colors and got one for a steal, 14 bucks. Maybe it is not a steal for Nicaragua standards, but for me, I thought it was pretty good.    

On Thursday we had a very small group just me and one other guy, Tom. His wife was sick that day and decided to stay home. Today we went to a cigar manufacturing location. It seemed to low scale. There were only five people working one to separate the leaves form the bundles after the have been collected and the others just rolling cigars and finishing cigars. It was really fun to watch. One of the people working even had the mediaeval looking machine to help role the cigars. After we had looked around for a little while thy asked us is we wanted to roll our own cigar, of course we both said yes. It was really cool to do it myself, even though I did get a lot of help from the actual workers. And after I had finished they gave me the cigar. In three months it will be a very good cigar. And now I don’t need to go and buy one! After the cigar factory we went to the cemetery and learned about some more of the history of segregation and the revolution.

On Friday we went to the zoo. The zoo was halfway between Masaya and Managua. In order to get to the zoo we took one of the crazy buses that get ridiculously full and rode there. The zoo was nice, very small, and I have never gotten that close to the big cats before.  But at the same time parts of this zoo were very sad. A few of the big cats clearly looked like they were sick or ailing in some way or another. The zoo just did not have the expertise to help these animals or maybe the money, I’m not sure, but it just made me a little sad.  The ride back from the zoo was even crazier than the ride there. We hail a bus and all nine of us hop in, or rather squish into the bus. For a little myself and two other people were standing in the stair well with the door open behind us as the bus drove down the highway.

Today myself and the family are going to Masaya to wander around and see the sights. I am very lucky, the family here is really taking care of me. Making me part of the family. I am not sure I would have been able to feel as comfortable as I do if it were not for this family.

Ok well I am out for now. Soon I will try and get some pictures up. 

First Day of Classes

Today was my first day of classes! I was super excited to finally be doing what I had wanted to do for the last year! Classes started at 8 and Gloria wanted me up so that I could have breakfast. For breakfast we had some meat like Canadian bacon or bologna, all fried up, put in three buns and served with hot milk infused with sugar and instant coffee. It was very interesting… and quite a lot of bread. I am not sure how to act with my host mother, I want to eat all the food she serves me, but if I do not like something than I need to be able to tell her, I just don’t want to hurt her feelings. But on the other hand, she really does want me to feel at home, during my walk back to school in the afternoon she was asking me all the different foods that I liked and what I would want to eat.

                Today was my first day of school. My host mom, Gloria, brought me to classes and when I got there my program was described to me in Spanish. After my program was introduced to me, I was introduced to my teacher and I was promptly given a test. I did not do that badly and was able to complete most of the questions.  After I completed the test she brought me my workbook and informed me that we would start with the basics, the abcs and numbers, both of which I zoomed through.  We then went on to verbs and conjugating ar, er, and ir present tense verbs. By the time we had finished those the day was over. Or at least the first part of the day was over.

At noon my host mother came to pick me up and bring me back to her place. She only lives a few blocks away and I can easily get there and back already by myself but she insists that she take me. When I got back to the house she made me this chicken dish that was very good, I wolfed it down. I was still a little jet lagged and so I took a little cat nap. At 2PM Gloria and I went back to school for the afternoon activities. When I signed up for the classes I did not know that I was going to be getting activities as well, a pleasant surprise! This afternoon we went to two museums the first one is the MI museum that holds many of Nicaragua’s most precious archeological artifacts. I really enjoyed it, being an ex-anthropology student. We had a guide who only spoke Spanish, but luckily the tags around the museum were all in both Spanish and English, so I could mostly figure things out. The second museum we went to was less of a museum and more of a store… it is called the chocolate museum and cafe. It had the history of chocolate on boards around the shop and also offered classes that taught you how to make chocolate yourself. It was interesting to read about the process and history of chocolate and we even got a few chocolate samples.

An interesting thing to know about today is that I did not shower, even though the last full shower I had as Friday. I did wash my hair with hotel soap on Sunday, but that doesn’t really count. I had not had the opportunity to go to the market to buys some shampoo yet, something I did not travel with because I knew I would be able to buy it here and save some room in my backpack. But enough was enough, and I knew I needed to go to the store today to get some.

 After classes and the afternoon activity were over I asked where the store and local bank were. I needed to cash some of my American dollars to Cordoba, the national currency. I did not think that I would make it to the bank on time as I was told it closed at 4, but I ran over anyways and was lucky enough to find it still open. I was given 960 Cordoba for 40 dollars, I felt very rich after I left the bank and started to be more conscious that my wallet was in my back pocket.

After I changed my money, I then went down the main strip towards the market where I was told I would be able to find the things I needed. Walking down the street is a little surreal in Nicaragua. Firstly there are really no sidewalks to speak of, and even when there is one sometimes it is closed or there are people sitting on it or there is just no way that it could be used for a sidewalk. So then you have to walk in the streets. The rule of thumb is that the cars have the right of way, always. So if you have to wait for ten minutes to cross the road because cars are crossing, you wait. But if the cars do not get you, then the motorcycles might. There are hundreds of thousands of motorcycles in Granada. They are almost all small bikes 100cc and 125ccs, although I have seen a couple of larger bikes and it seems like they are all Japanese, although I could be wrong, most of the names I do not recognize. These motorcycles will carry anything from one person to a whole family to all the products being sold at the market that day. It’s amazing they can balance it all. But finally if the motorcycles do not get you then the bicyclists might. There are many more bicyclists than any other MOT, other than walking. This is the cheapest way to travel quickly in Nica, and they have exactly the same purpose as the motorcycles, although a little more difficult to ride and balance.

So walking down the street was crazy, cars motorcycles and bikes passing me in the street, while all the time I am looking in the shops, seeing what they have. Most of the shops that are in buildings are small bodegas with an assortment of stuff, kind of akin to the dollar stores in NY but smaller. I was told to go to the Pali, or local supermarket. So down the street I went looking for the store, but after a little while I started getting to an area across the river. I did not recall being told to cross the river. I wandered back and forth for a minute until I got up the nerve to ask someone for directions. The people I asked were very nice and told me that all I had to do was walk back up the street a little bit and look to my left. Lo and behold there was the store. Pali was pretty much a grocery store, although I a little dirtier and with fewer items, reminded me of a Chinese market. But I was able to find some good old American shampoo. I thought  that maybe checking out would be a little more exciting but it was the same as any old checkout, except they did not give me a bag.   

The rest of the day was easy peasy. I went back to the school and used their internet while I waited for my host mom to come and pick me up. When she got there we went back to her place and I did my homework while she made dinner. The rest of the evening we watched TV. I went to bed at 9pm because I was soo tired from traveling still and a long day of new place and classes. But I was feeling a lot better than the day before when I was feeling that I had made a mistake coming to Nicaragua by myself.  

Day 1

I am finally here after planning for almost a year. 

The ride from LA to Nicaragua was an interesting one. So many stops and starts. I went to three places before I finally got to Nica. When I did get to Nica it was about 130 in the morning and I still needed to go through customs. I had no clue that I was going to have to pay to get into the country, 10$, but it is ok.

 When I got out of customs and got my bag I went to look for a bathroom to put my money belt on, instead when I walked out I was bombarded by taxi drivers. After telling a few drivers no, and not seeing any bathrooms, I finally started talking to this one very persistent driver. He wanted $20 to get to Managua proper, but I was able to talk him down to $15, which is the price listed in my tour book. I told him the hotel I was going to and he tells me that it is a dirty place and that I would be better off going to this other hotel, hotel Morgut. I tell him no and that I have reservations at the other one. He finally baks down and we go to mine. When we get to my original hotel it looks very empty and closed. We knock on the door and whistle for someone to come out. After waiting a few moments, finally a lady in her pajamas came out to greet us at the gate, the lady clearly had just woken from her sleep. The woman did recognize that I had a reservation but stated that it was not for now, that she had me down for later that day. It was clear that I was not getting a room there so I broke down and told my taxi driver to take me to hotel Morgut. Hotel Morgut is four times more expensive than the other place, but I got a private bath and free Wi-Fi there. I got there around 3am and probably did not get to sleep until 4. They offered free breakfast starting at 8 so promptly at 8 I got woken up by the voices of people eating and talking at breakfast. I stay in bed tossing and turning until about 9, enjoying the free Wi-Fi while I have it. I even get to chat with Hannah for a few minutes which was really nice.

Then the real crisis started, I was supposed to get picked up by the school to get to Granada. Th school had the address of the other hotel i was staying. I had sent them an email in the morning when I got to the hotel that said that my address had changed but I had not gotten a response by the time I got up for breakfast. After I ate breakfast I tried to contact the school by phone but i was getting no luck. The hotel manager even tried to help me, but he also had no success. After we could not contact the school the hotel manager started trying to convince me to take a taxi to Granada, I stuck to my guns though, and told him I would wait for the other transport. Later when I got back into my room to wait I found that there was an email from the school saying that they would pick me up at the new location. Few.
I had a few hours before I was supposed to get picked up so I enjoyed the wifi while it lasted. I even tried to watch one of my favorite tv shows. Did you know that if you are in another country you cannot stream shows on ABC? But i have my ways around the system, unfortuanly the taxi driver came right in the middle of my show. Who knows the next time I will be able to watch it…

When I got into the taxi I was told that we would be picking up two more people, little did either of us know, the two turned into five! Two adults and three small children. Two girls and one boy, the oldest only being 6 years old. They were very nice and we spoke a little in the car. The adults had been coming to Nicaragua since before their children were born.

The ride down to Granada was nothing special. If you have driven in Central America you have pretty much seen it all, the poverty, the trash, the stray dogs, the starved horses, and the venders on the side of the road. Don’t get me wrong though, I was very excited to see everything! And, did you know that gas is only a dollar a liter here?

We dropped off the family first at this really nice looking house in the middle of the city. After we dropped them off, myself and the driven then went on a crazy tour of the city, I did get to see some of the places named in my tour book, which was good, but after a little while I was wondering if my driver was just trying to get me lost… The house I was brought to did not look like very much from the front. There is a vacant plot to the right of it and an old dilapidated house for sale to the left.  An older woman with salt and pepper hair was standing at the door. She invited me in through the front gates already speaking Spanish to me and me not understand a single word. I bumped my way into the house and followed her as she led me to my room. I was a little worried for a second because I thought I had heard her say that I would be sharing the room with another person, after all the room did have two beds in it. After some confusion, greetings and introductions went around. My host mother’s name is Gloria, she has two sons, Philip (18) and (I can’t remember the other’s son’s name right now) (27), there are also two dogs that live in the house, paco and candy. Paco is a very large mutt with some pit bull or something in him and candy is a tiny dog that looks like a cross between a chiwawa, dashethound, and a mountain dog. They are both very nice.  I was told that Philip is recovering from a sickness and has to stay in the house and his brother is working in communications.

After we had settled we ate lunch which was meat, rice and beans, and plantains. I found it really good as I had not eaten anything since breakfast. After we ate lunch, Gloria and I went for a very long walk down the beach, we walked all the way to the bars that my tour book says you should only take a taxi to at night. I really enjoyed walking along the beach, there was a great breeze and it even rained on us for a short period of time. I was told that the rain at this time of year is very rare, I said that it was global warming. 

It is very hard not being able to speak the language. For a little while today I was very lonely for that very reason. I wanted to speak to the family and ask them all sorts of questions and talk and talk and talk, but I just can’t, communication between us is almost nonexistent. Because I was lonely for a little while yesterday I started questioning my whole trip. What if I can’t find anyone who can speak English, what if I have a horrible time, what if, what if, what if. It would have helped if I had the internet, then I could have surfed the net and occupied myself while I was lonely, find some things to read or watch in English and maybe talk to someone. But I had to remind myself that this was just a phase, and it would get better. To preoccupy myself I did a lot of journaling, something I have not done in over a month and I sat outside and enjoyed the slow pace of life, watching children run around in the streets. And later there was a party and a short parade on the street. (wish I had taken pictures) My host mother said that it was for a woman’s birthday. I couldn’t believe the racket put up for just someone’s birthday. It made me think of how my birthday is only in three and a half weeks! I wonder if I will even do anything for my birthday…  

At the end of the night the family and a family friend just sat around and watched the tv. When Gloria went to bed her son Philip came into the room and asked me if I was bored. Hehe. I said that I was not sure, we sat there and watched more tv until I decided that it was time for me to go to bed. After all I had not gotten that much sleep the day before. I slept like a rock!