"yo yego alas 5:00 pork voy acer el amor con mi mujer" - text fomr luis` friend accidentally sent to me instead of him...

Long overdue post time. I had my site visit. It was super helpful, but also a little bit overwhelming again because there are still so many things I need to improve on. The same frustrations existing. I am really hoping that the two night community classes can be combined after this test I´m giving this week. The kids class will probably just go until October, and I think I wanna turn it into or start a kiddie youth group. A teenager youth group will probably be more useful though. Something needs to end so I can have time to exercise and re-study my training notes. I´m one of those that needs to re-study. Anyways, trying to do my taxes online got really frustrating, so I handed all my info over to my dad to give to his accountant. My birthday was busy but nice. Mercedes remembered, a few students remembered, and Luis remembered, and I got a little surprise serenade at lunch time =).
Lately only one person, Gilberto, has been showing up to San Gregorio meetings, hopefully everyone comes next Friday, even though I´m gonna be seriously distracted because immediately after I´M GOING TO PICK UP MY MOMMY FROM THE AIRPORT!! I haven´t made too many plans, I just really want her to meet everybody, even though communicatoin is going to be difficult. And we´re gonna have some fachenta time in Granada, which I am excited for, because I will get to take some hot showers hopefully. And she will get to meet Julie and maybe even Sam!
One of my 9th grade students added me on facebook.

This has been a shitty week and it´s only Tuesday.

"how are you neha? I just passed an [...] called momentos diferentes, it made me think of your funny story [...]"

I completely forgot to post on Saturday. So my boss didn't end up coming last week because Tania's son got into a little accident and had to get a bunch of stitches so she wanted to stay at home and take care of him. Hopefully she'll come this week, I am very eager to know how I'm doing and where I stand. Ummm...there really isn't much new stuff going on. I've relaxed a bit, getting into my routine, so that's good. The San Gregorio guys have become even more flaky. The huge community classes are shrinking into the people that are going to actually try and stay for good. I still want to start a youth group for doing non English related things. I've fallen in love with the TV show Scrubs, but I only had access to the second season. I've gotten seasons one through six of The Office so I'm working on those. Also started watching Sex and the City. Next will be It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Although I should be doing more READING in my free time. Really...I guess that's all for now...

"Muchas gracias querida profesora que la pase bien."

I have become so bad at keeping my blog updated. I can´t let myself forget things that happen. So let´s try to remember the last week and a half. Umm...one of the San Gregorio teachers has yet to show up to one of our meetings, and one of them has only come once. I think I may switch that back to only once a week again, if he continues to flake, because he is the one I made so many of the changes for. Last weekend I went to Niquinohomo on Friday night to see Luis perform, but, as usual, it didn´t happen for some reason or other. Then I came back on Saturday just for my kids´ class, then went back to Niquinohomo on Sunday. This past week the people that didn´t make it to an advanced Spanish level during training went back to their training towns for a week of Spanish class. I was looking forward to seeing my friends from training but Peace Corps put me in Dolores for the Spanish classes (because Dolores is a training town, and there were people coming back here for Spanish classes anyways, so they thought it better not to move me). So I went to Niquinohomo on Sunday to see Sam and Julie and Matt, and I stayed the night with Julie and got a 6am bus back to Dolores for Spanish class at 8. I went again to hang out on Wednesday night and came back again Thursday morning. It was fun. This week of Spanish class has been very helpful, too. Yesterday a big group of volunteers went to La Dalia, Matagalpa (Sam´s site) for a his house party, and I was supposed to go but I got myself a bacterial infection (i.e. diarrhea and stomach pains) so I´m here in Dolores with all of my classes cancelled getting some much-needed rest and relaxation. I plan to wander the streets today looking for houses for rent/sale. If I feel like walking. High school classes are going okay, it still seems chaotic at times, like me and Tania should be spending more time planning, but planning sessions are so draining, so it`s hard to get myself to do it. When I´m alone and can think clearly and I make a list of things to discuss and resolve the next time I see her, when I finally get there it just seems too hard. In terms of other community classes, I´m starting to get used to the high quantity of students, which I think was initially the most overwhelming part, now I just need to find time where I´m not exhausted to lesson plan well. In terms of health, there is always something, whether big or tiny, to think about. And I have the feeling the doctors think I´m a hypochondriac because I ask too many stupic questions so now every time I´m about to call I hesitate. So does anyone know of any good websites with medical information where I can go and not scare myself into thinking I have some horrible disease? The health trainees in Dolores all got their site assignments so they´re all giddy and excited with like two weeks of training left for them. I need to hang out with them some time before they go. Maybe tonight. Or next weekend when I´m not on antibiotics and can have a beer or two. Another thing is that I really need to make some good, solid friends here in Dolores. I have Luis, and his friends, but those are all in Niquinohomo. When I get my own house I want to throw a little party and work on this situation. I also need to file and pay my taxes, which I´m really not sure how to do, and will need to spend a long time reading about on the internet (probably tomorrow if I can get myself to stop procrastinating) in order to complete. I wish there was a way I could find free internet...
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well, with life and love and work and school and family and friends and health. I hope to return with another comprehensive blog post next Saturday afternoon.
Love,
Neha

"I think he needs to forget about his parents..."

Have I explained exactly what it is I´m doing here? If you´re still unsure, here´s a summary: My main job is to work with highschool English teachers in my community to co-plan and co-teach their classes, promoting the use of communicative activities (in which students are genuinely communicating with each other to complete the assignment or task, not just memorizing words and dialogues and filling in blanks etc, although that stuff does also have it`s place in learning), and reducing the amount of time the teacher talks and increasing the amount of time the students talk. Part of my specific assignment in Dolores was also to work with a group of teachers from a rural part of Diriamba, and help them with whatever their needs or wants were in terms of help with teaching English. In addition, I`m supposed to have community English classes, work with youth talking about life skills and health and sex and AIDS and stuff, and complete some kind of community project THAT MOSTLY COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE IN CHARGE OF that doesn´t necessarily have to do with English. So here is my schedule at the moment: weekday mornings, 3-4 periods a day I teach English with Tania to all of the 9th graders, 10th graders, and 11th graders, and with Mercedes to one classroom of 7th graders. Monday and Tuesday afternoons I plan with Tania and Mercedes. Tuesday and Thursday evening from 5:30-7 I have a community English class for people 13 and up, which is increasing in size so I may divide it by age and therefore will have this class every day Monday through Thursday. I`ve also mentioned that they can stay till 7:30 if they want extra help. Thursday and Friday afternoons I meet with the rural teachers (2 on Thursday, 2 on Friday), Thursday in Diriamba, and Friday all the way in the rural village (called San Gregorio). I had to split them up because their schedules are all over the place and they literally all couldn´t meet at the same time. Saturdays from 2-3:30 I have a class for kids from 8-12 years of age, which I had started a while ago, but stupidly began re-publicizing recently, so now there is a bunch of new students, and I`ve decided that the new people can come an hour early, at 1, for a few weeks, to catch up with the rest. I should really sit down one day and think about how I´m gonna make all of these things sustainable, maybe some older students could start teaching the kids` class? But who´s gonna do it for free? Maybe for cheap? Anyways, that basically only leaves Wednesday afternoons free, so Luis usually comes to visit then, and I go to Niquinohomo for the day on Sundays.
One day, about a month ago, my host sister secretly asked me to lend her 200 cordobas. To put that in perspective, it`s about 10 bucks. A little less. So I talked to her about it, and she said she needed it for her daughters` school supplies. I said "sure, when are you going to pay me back?" And she said, " this weekend" and I was like, okay, cool, and I gave her the money. Please don´t scold me for lending money. It`s my Peace Corps money and it was less than 10 bucks and it was for Karelia and Karelis. Even if she never pays me back I will see it as a Christmas present to them. Anyways, the weekend comes, and she´s liked "Neha, I can´t pay you back yet" and started talking about how some guy owes her money and what not. At this point I`m getting a little annoyed and suspicious, but whatevs. A few weeks later, she gets super sick, something with her kidneys, goes to the hospital has to have all these expensive tests and medicine and stuff, so SHE comes to ME, and brings up the subject on her own. (What I´m trying to emphasize here is that she isn´t trying to avoid me in order to never pay be back) and she´s like "please don´t think I´ve forgotten about your money". And she explained the situation, and I was just like "it`s okay, you can pay me back whenever you can". A few days ago, she brought it up again, and was like "I`m going to pay you back soon. I know Peace Corps doesn`t give you guys a lot of money" but then proceeded to tell me about how she had to sell some of her rings to pay for lunch today. Oh I forgot to mention about how she is considering moving to Costa Rica to work as a maid for one of her friends who married a Costa Rican and is super rich and that is the best way to save money because there is no work available in Nicaragua. Really. And she would just send money back for her kids every once in a while, maybe see them once a month. So she still hasn´t paid me back, but I´m not worried because I know she will pay me back (and I also know that some of you are thinking she probably won´t pay me back). But really, she had to sell her rings to pay for lunch today. I know my parents and my aunts and my uncles and grandparents are probably all thinking "I could tell you tons of stories like this about people in India, why didn´t you ever care to know about them?" Well, sorry. Anyways, here is more.
Luis hasn´t enrolled in school this quarter (which began in February) because he couldn´t pay. So his friend lent him a bunch of money, to pay for it, and a little extra to start a small business. His grandma sells food from her house, so he was going to start selling beer from the same place. Everyone convinced him it was a good idea, that it would go well because there are lots of drunkards in Niquinohomo and whatnot, and I`ll admit I thought it would go well too. Well anyway, his friend lent him the money, (which he needed because his dad lives in Managua with his second wife and 2 other kids and couldnt pay for Luis` school because he`s taking care of his other family) but then his mom said she really needed to pay for something so he gave some to her. So he didn´t enroll in Feb. But he started trying to start up the business and is STILL waiting for the police to come check out the location and give him a licence. Anyway, in March, he hears that most of the people in his major were unable to pay in Feb, so the school decided to start their quarter later, in March, so Luis was excited, because it was understood that his mom would be getting paid in Feb for the months of Feb and Jan, so he would (should) have been able to pay then. But NOW, his mom is paying for his little sister`s education (his little sister who has a kid) and he`s not going to ask her to pay for his instead. He has been trying to sell his violin but no one wants to buy it.
There are still Tania and my host mom`s stories to tell, but I gotta do that later.

"...no sabes cuanto..."

I need to write about recent doses of perspective that I`ve received, but I don´t have time at the moment. Maybe tomorrow.

"Si no es una cosa, es otra."

So now, in the cyber with the good music, THEY PLAY BOLLYWOOD. LOL. Crazy. I don´t really know where to begin updating. I met for the first time with the San Gregorio teachers last Friday, and today for the second time. There are 5 but only 3 are really serious and gonna come regularly. They are Gilberto, Jose Antonio, and Absalom. Today we met in San Gregorio, which is 2 bus rides, about 40 minutes, away. We alternate each week between there and Diriamba, which is 10 minutes away from me. I´m also now working with the other English teacher in my school, Mercedes, but she only teaches 7th grade, so that´s not much extra work. I haven´t been searching very hard for a house, but I should start. I am gonna try changing my malaria pills to see if it improves my hair loss problem. I also have a skin situation on my arms that the doctor said was nothing but it has spread so I´m gonna ask again. There are also a bit of constipation issues. In case you wanted all of my health deets. I have been having some strange abdominal pain for the past week, not severe, just strange, and some lower back pain, which I think is from spending a lot of time standing (in class) and reaching up high to write in the board. In other news, Luis is kind of officially turning into a rockstar. He signed some contract to perform in the artisan market in Masaya, so we´ll see how that goes. There have also been some modeling offers, and talk of going to some kind of music school that doesn´t cost a lot of money apparently. Did you know that there is some Mexican remake of High School Musical? It´s pretty much the same, except they play soccer instead of basketball. I was just watching it with my nieces. Oh, one of the cybers (not this one) has wireless internet, which is pretty exciting. I just told the guy working in this cyber about it, I still plan to remain loyal to him, he is the nicest cyber owner. My sister is moving to West Virginia, and my mom is in India, and my dad is in Cali and I am in Nicaragua. School has been pretty good, mainly trying out amazing activity ideas that fail because there are too many students in the classrooms. The class size ranges from 30 to 55. Still being a bit intimidated by Tania at times. I keep on finding students, and people in general, that remind me of people back home. Mostly friends. My schedule is falling into place, and I really want to start a youth group in addition to everything else. I got the mayor to pay for an announcement about my English classes that I´m starting on Tuesday. Hopefully not a ridiculously overwhelming amount of people show up, but a good amount. Today`s heat has drained all of the energy out of me. I´m gonna go now, byebye.