Thankfulness

Well, I think it’s time again for the annual “what I’m thankful for” blog post.  Last year everything was timed nicely so that my whole training group got to eat Thanksgiving Dinner at the Peace Corps Country Director’s house the night before our swearing-in ceremony.  This year, I will be enjoying a turkey sandwich in a nearby city, celebrating the fact that I am done teaching for this year, and school’s out ‘til February!  Here we go with the thankfulness:

• ·      I am thankful for my host family.  They make me laugh, make me food, and treat me like another part of the family.  My host siblings like to tell people I’m their sister, and my host mom once said to my host dad when I came home from being away for the weekend, “Your oldest daughter is home.”  I have an excellent living situation, which is something that can really make or break your Peace Corps service. 
• ·      I am thankful for my host niece.  Because you can’t help but smile when you’re hanging out with an adorable 5-month-old.  And when she stays over, she pretty much always sleeps through the night, which is excellent for me because she sleeps in the room next to mine.
• ·      I am incredibly thankful for my Peace Corps friends.  It’s hard for anyone who is not here living this crazy experience to really understand what we’re going through.  The friendships I’ve formed with these people are deeper than most others, and I wouldn’t have made it this far without their funny texts, shoulders to cry on, encouraging words, and the adventures we’ve had together.
• ·      I’m thankful for my family and friends back home.  Though we don’t talk often, I’d like to think they’re thinking about me every once in awhile, and I know they’ve got my back.  And I’m so grateful for the opportunity to come home for Christmas and New Years (thanks mom and dad!)
• ·      Last but not least, this year has not been an easy one for me, and I can tell you that on December 31^st, I am more than happy to say goodbye to 2013 once and for all.  However, I have learned to be grateful for difficult moments.  While we’re going through them, they may seem like the worst thing ever, but in this past year I have learned how strong of a person I actually am, and I know now that I can get through whatever challenge is thrown my way.  For that, I am thankful.

So, enjoy your turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.  I’ll be here in Nicaragua taking a 90-minute bus ride just to enjoy a turkey sandwich and a beer.  And maybe some ice cream for dessert.  I didn’t want to be cliché and write about how living in a developing country has made me thankful for things like always having food on the table, running water, a roof over my head, etc.  But keep in mind those things tomorrow.  We have a lot to be thankful for.

Miraflor and Halloween!

Miraflor

Last weekend I had 3 of my fellow Nica 60 volunteers come visit me at my site.  They live in Rivas (south of Managua), so it was a long trip for them, but I'm so glad they came.  I love having people visit, and we also took an overnight trip to Miraflor Nature Reserve, which was a much needed retreat.

After showing my friends around my site (the 10-15 minute tour, it's a small town), we headed out on the bus to Esteli.  We got a bite to eat, found the UCA Miraflor office where we got a map and paid for our stay, and then headed back to the bus station to get on the noon bus to Miraflor.  It was a 2 hour bumpy ride on the bus, and then we got out of the bus at a fork in the road and had to walk a couple of kilometers to get to the place where we were staying, Finca Fuente de Vida.  Miraflor is basically a huge protected nature reserve which used to have lots of deforestation, but ecotourism has stopped this and given the residents an alternative way to earn money.  You can read more about Miraflor here.  We stayed in the highest zone of the reserve, in the cloud forests.

We arrived at Fuente de Vida after traversing some muddy dirt roads and huge puddles.  After opening the front gate, we followed the path through beautiful gardens.  Lunch was waiting for us, and then we headed out to explore.  Going to Miraflor during the rainy season probably wasn't the best idea, but we brought our umbrellas and went out to walk around, trying to find our way to a waterfall that we had heard about.  We made it to the waterfall, but it started to rain harder and it was going to get dark soon, so we decided to head back.  We made it back just as it got too dark to see, and, once again, our food was waiting for us.  I should mention that the climate in the cloud forest isn't only wet but also COLD (relatively speaking, for Nicaragua).  After changing into warm, dry clothes, eating dinner, and drinking lots of hot tea, we hung out laughing and chatting under blankets in our room.  The next morning we had breakfast and had wanted to go out explore some more, but, once again, it was raining.  We hung out close by, walked down to the bus stop, and caught the bus back to Esteli.  The bus was crowded, and I ended up standing up the whole 2 bumpy hours.  In Esteli, I said goodbye to my amigas and headed back to my site.  It was a great, relaxing trip, and I'm already planning a trip back to see more of the reserve.

In my site, before leaving for Miraflor

path and gardens at Finca Fuente de Vida

exploring the cloud forest

Halloween

On a whim, I decided to try celebrating Halloween here in my site.  Halloween is not typically celebrated in Nicaragua, although it has become more popular in recent years.  Most people call Halloween "Dia de Brujas" (Witches' Day), so it took some explaining to teach the kids (and teachers) that Halloween is really just a day that kids dress up in costumes and get candy, nada mas.  I made the decision a couple of days beforehand and put up a sign at the school that the kids could come to my house on Halloween in costume and I would give them candy.  Needless to say, it caught on, and I ended up with LOTS of kids, mostly in costume.  Kids here get pushy for candy, but I think everyone got some.  I had grabbed an ayote from my garden in my rural school, which looked just like a little green pumpkin, and I carved it and lit a candle inside.  My host family also had a dried out gourd-container that I drew a face on, and my host mom brought me a plastic jack o'lantern from Jinotega.  I bought like 10 bags of candy and made a sign telling the kids that they had to say, "trick or treat," to get their candy.  

Kids came in little by little, and I gave out candy, took pictures, and everyone hung out in the street outside of my house.  We decided to do a little halloween parade, and we walked down to the park and around back up to my house.  Despite kids getting pushy for the candy, I think everyone enjoyed it, and now has a better understanding of what Halloween is.  Afterwards, I watched a report about Halloween on the news in which multiple religious figures talked about how awful and diabolical it is.  Hopefully I was able to teach those in my town that it's actually a harmless, fun holiday.  Everyone had a great time! (see Facebook for more Halloween pictures!)