And training begins...

I’m not sure when I’ll get to post this because I don’t think I’ll be having much internet access over the next 10 weeks, if any at all.  When I was in Honduras, I tried to keep a journal, but I wasn’t really able to make a habit of writing things down everyday, so it was short-lived.  It’s definitely easier for me to type things, so I figure I’ll just write a bunch of blog posts as I go and then post them as soon as I have internet access.  I apologize in advance for these posts being so long.  I hope someone will take the time to read them, but if not at least I will have these notes and thoughts for myself to document my time here.

September 9, 2012

Today is my first full day with my host family.  Yesterday, after a long charla (training session) on living with host families in the morning (which was kind of boring for me, since I’ve already lived with two), we split up into different buses/trucks and headed out to our training towns. 

I’ve noticed many differences between the way Peace Corps training is done in Honduras and here.  In Honduras, our whole group of 15 trainees was living in the same town, Las Cañadas.  We had Spanish class in small groups most mornings and had technical training sessions together in the afternoons.  Almost all of our training took place in Las Cañadas, with a few trips into the office in Tegucigalpa on Fridays.  Here in Nicaragua, both projects are living in different departments (states).  All of the environment volunteers are living in the department of Masaya, in 4 different towns: Pio XII, Masatepe, San Juan del Oriente, and Niquinohomo.  I am living in Niquinohomo, which is pronounced Knee-key-no-mo.  After dropping off the volunteers who were living in Pio XII, we arrived in Niquinohomo to drop off Riana, Chabe, Susana, and me.  My host family has hosted like 30 volunteers in the past, so they are very experienced as a Peace Corps training host family. 

The family’s house is very pretty.  The property is completely fenced in.  It has a beautiful front yard with tropical plants and flowers, and a front patio with tables, chairs, and rocking chairs.  In the front of the house there is a big, open sitting area, and the whole house has really high ceilings.  My bedroom is right in front of the house, off of the large sitting area.  There are 2 beds, one full size and one twin bed.  I have plenty of space to unpack my stuff, and I have most of my stuff laid out on the twin bed.  The rest of the house has a bunch of rooms off of a main hallway that goes towards the back yard, including a few bedrooms and the kitchen/dining room.  The house is very open, and is closed up in the back by a large gate rather than by a door.  This allows for better air circulation because it is HOT.  The back yard has a cooking area, the bathroom and shower, and an area for washing clothes. 

When I arrived at my house, I put my stuff down in my room and got a little tour of where everything was, including my special gallons of bottled water kept in the refrigerator.  Then I sat down out on the front patio with my host sister and chatted a little bit before having lunch.  Host families, in general, always give you way too much food.  I had a full plate of rice, fried yucca, chicken, French fries, and salad.  I ate as much as I could, but there was no way I was going to be able to finish it all.  After lunch, I spent some time in my room unpacking before heading to Spanish class at 1:00.

I’m still working out all of the names of the people who I live with, but so far I’ve met my host mom, Doña Manuelita, her older daughter Patricia, another daughter who has an adorable 2-year-old son named Diego, and the twins who are in their early 20’s.  I’m still working on the names.  I was definitely told them initially, but it’s hard to remember everything when you’re meeting so many people all at once.

At 1, the twins, Diego, and I took a mototaxi to Spanish class, which is held at the house where Chabe lives.  It is so different being in an advanced level Spanish class.  It is mostly just conversation-based.  We spent our first class together learning some words and phrases that are unique to Nicaragua, going on a walk to the local pulperia (convenience store), and visiting Riana’s host mom for a chat about the town, her family, and the past volunteers who have lived with her.  I should mention that we did sneak a peek at the list that our bus driver had to see our exact Spanish levels, and I somehow managed to get Advanced-Mid, which is the same level I had when I left Honduras.  This really surprised me, but I’m glad I was able to pick up the language again so quickly once I arrived here, because I haven’t really spoken much Spanish since January.

After class, I hung out in the house.  Living with a host family is a little awkward sometimes because there is only so much you can talk about, so there is a lot of awkward silence.  I hung out and chatted with people, and ran out to the store with one of the twins to buy some stuff.  I found out that my host mom and sisters run a kind of small-town fast food business out in front of our house.  I’m not sure if it’s something they only do on the weekends, or if they do it every night.  They had a table set up out front with food, and people came to buy plates to go.  I had dinner, hung out around the house, and had a nice conversation with a friend of the family who came over to visit.  It’s definitely an advantage to have the ability to have a real conversation with someone.  The whole family keeps complimenting me on my Spanish.  I remember how difficult it was when I moved in with my host family in Honduras, and it has definitely been easier to make an initial connection with this family.  I ended up heading into my room around 8:30 or so.  I started reading a book on the history of Nicaragua, so I read a little.  Despite the radio playing, Diego crying, and all of the other noise of a Saturday night, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and fell asleep early.

This morning I got out of bed around 8:30, which was fabulous.  In all of our days at the hotel during orientation we always had to be up around 6 to be ready to leave at 7, so sleeping late was such a treat.  I took a cool bucket bath, which was refreshing because of the heat, and had a great breakfast of bread, instant coffee (ok, that part wasn’t that great), and a big bowl of fruit salad with pineapple, watermelon, and banana.  I spent the morning playing and coloring with Diego and playing Uno with the twins out on the front patio.  This afternoon I’m hoping to get to walk around town a little and see everything. 

I just realized that I forgot to mention the rain, which started yesterday evening and didn’t end until probably about 9 or 10 this morning.  It’s the beginning of the rainy season here, so I’m sure this is only a taste of what is still to come weather-wise.  I hear October is the rainiest month of the year. 

So, that’s all for now.  I’ll be spending the rest of the day today with my host family and then I have Spanish class Monday through Wednesday and other training on Thursday with the entire group.  We have Friday and Saturday off this week because of Dia de Independencia (Independence Day), so we will get to celebrate with our host families and see how the holiday is celebrated here.  Spanish classes are going to be from 8 to 12 and then in the afternoons from 1 to 3 or 4.  As an advanced class, we are only going to be receiving 3 weeks of class, and after that we’re going to be doing projects in the community.  I’ve been trying to hold my own in a class that includes native speakers, and it’s definitely going to push me to learn a lot.  The fact that I’m doing all of this for the second time definitely has made me feel more comfortable and excited about everything as opposed to nervous and anxious.  Of course, I do have some anxieties, including being successful in an advanced Spanish class and acquiring the skills and knowledge about the environment that some of my peers already have because many of them majored in environmental studies or environmental science in college.  More updates to come!

---One of the other girls in my training site has internet at her house, so looks like I could have semi-regular access.  I'll have a cell phone in a few weeks so that I can coordinate times to skype with people via text message!