hello there

I’m sorry it’s been so long. Let’s start with the fiestas patrias, which basically translates to “Patriotic Parties” and they’re independence day celebrations. I don’t remember which is which, but one of the days, September 14th or 15th, is celebrating the independence of Central America, and the other the independence of Nicaragua. This year the days fell on a Wednesday and Thursday, so naturally we lost the entire week of class. Monday and Tuesday were spent on band and marching practice, because every single student is required to march, both days, and Friday and the following Monday the teachers had off because they were technically working on the actual days helping the students march around. So basically I had a week off. I decided to go to Leon for three of those days, which is a big historical city a little north of where I am. Like a 3 hour bus ride in total. It was just a group of 3 girls, and we stayed in a hostel and partied too hard. Saw some sights too. One day I visited Julie and Matt who were taking a break from their isolated site and staying in a fancy hotel in Granada. Since I had gone on one of the actual holiday days, the 15th, I asked the bus driver when the last bus left from Granada to Jinotepe (back to my site), because schedules are different on holidays, and he said 5 o’clock, and I said “Are you sure?” and he said “Seguro” and so I came back at 5 and there were no buses so Julie paid for my taxi home, calling it a belated birthday present. I spent a night or two in Niquinohomo too, of course. The week after that, because of a long list of reasons, I made the decision to move! Also, that same week, the majority of the new TEFL trainees (because there is a new group every year) came and observed 4 of my classes. Then the week after that, I gave them a lecture on “Your First Class” and I moved! The new place is pretty expensive, but I think I can manage if the landlord doesn’t decide to make me pay for water and electricity separately. I don’t have internet in my house, and I don’t plan to get it. Anyways, it’s an actual house, not just a room. I don’t know when I’m going to post pictures of it because my camera battery is messed up, but I will eventually. I didn’t have to pay anyone to move it, Luis and his friend carried all of my stuff the 5 blocks to the new place. I moved in October 2nd, so it’s been about 2 weeks. This past week, a storm, I think its name is Irwin, decided to come in, and there has been no class for 5 days. Basically I just sat in my house watching movies all day. It was nice the first few days but now I’m done with it. Dolores literally has seen no sun in 7 days. Work, before this week of no work, has been going well. This Friday I arranged for another volunteer that works in a university in Leon to come give a lecture on pronunciation to the English teachers in Dolores and Diriamba, hopefully the rain lets up so everyone can come…I’m kind of excited for this school year to be over, so that I can start the next one fresh with everything I’ve learned and can implement my new plans. Like an English teachers conversation group. And a better organized youth group. And a real BEGINNER’S English class. And spending a little less time with Tania and a little more time with Gilberto and Jose Antonio, who definitely need it more. And having free weekends so I can FORCE my teachers to make materials with me. I don’t know if I mentioned it here, but I’m going to be working on the Peace Corps youth leadership camp, which should be some time late January or early February, which should be really challenging and fun. In addition to all of this I have COMING HOME to look forward to! In less than two months!!! I should probably start making plans…
Luis and his friend have been spending a lot of time here in Dolores, because Luis is super Catholic and somehow became BFFs with the pastors here, and there is a big Catholic…spiritual center, I guess you could call it, here in Dolores called Betania, and he brought his friend to some event there and then he got all religious and recently got baptized. It reminds me of high school and middle school when everyone was discovering God and all my friends were taking me to church with them and people were getting serious and baptized.
I hope to plant some basil and oregano and cilantro and spinach in my front yard at some point. And maybe get a pet bunny. I was seriously considering a puppy but that might be too much responsibility than I want. And I’ve never been much of a cat person.
I suppose this is all for now, here are some pictures:

Ready to start marching after singing the national anthem.

Big band drums.

Little girlies dancing in skimpy outfits.

Marching.



Luis serenading Alison (an environment volunteer who was in Dolores visiting her training host family; she got to Nicaragua the same time I did) during a little dinner party I had at my old house.

Pata de Perro

Sorry for not posting anything in so long. Things have kind of just been coasting lately. My Saturday kids' class is falling apart. I've hit some kind of slump where I don't feel like I'm really DOING anything, also thinking that I am approaching my one year of service mark and wondering what I am going to have to SOLIDLY show for it. But things are good.
Thursday evening a rock crashed through the plastic roof sheet in my roof (they are all metal, except for one) and there is a huge hole, which was supposed to get fixed yesterday, and then today, but it hasn't happened yet. It's okay though, it's not that bad, it's in a corner so nothing is really getting wet. I just had to move my table-constructed-out-of-suitcases-covered-with-a-bedsheet that I used as a bookshelf for all my Peace Corps books. And last weekend my sink was leaking but that is fixed except for a tiny drip that I have given up on trying to fix.
I got a haircut today after....almost nine and a half months. It was nice.
More interesting vegetables have been showing up in the market lately! Instead of just different types of squash (pipiyan, ayote, chayote), taro, potatoes, yucca, tomatoes and cabbage. I have found eggplant, green beans, and broccoli. Also my host mom, and a family that shares a fence with my school in Dolores, both have abundant spinach plants that I steal spinach from. Actually my host mom has a bunch of stuff. I also steal oregano and basil from her yard. And lemons. And chiles. Would you be interested in seeing pictures of the fruits and veggies that are available here? There are some delicious fruits that I had never seen before I came here.
The latest TEFL trainees got to Carazo yesterday! There are none in Dolores though since I'm already working with the English teachers here, and they would have no one to practice with. Since I'm right here, they're gonna be observing a lot of my classes I'm sure, and I'm sure I'm gonna be asked to give them lectures and stuff because I'm so close. I am already signed up for one, "Your First Day of School". Should be good.
My camera is acting up, I think the battery is starting to fall apart. It'll suddenly turn off and stuff or say there is no charge left even right after I've finished charging it. Too bad I don't know anyone (yet) who knows how to fix cameras. Right when I started to take more interest in taking pictures. Oh well.
I'm fantasizing about my trip home in November. I'm going to buy my ticket on Wednesday, after I confirm details with one of my bosses about my vacation days. I will most likely be getting to LA in the afternoon December 9th, and leaving late at night on the 28th. I'm fantasizing about things like waxing my arms and legs, getting a legit facial, eating good food, eating taco bell, lying on a couch, drinking wine and champagne, seeing all of my friends and family, going to Disneyland, going to the movies multiple times, Trader Joe's...and many many other things.
I have had a weekend FULL of free time, and it has been just what I needed to see that I really don't enjoy SO much free time =).
Love,
Neha

Finally saw HP 7.2 yesterday. I am ready to let go. Things are changing a little bit in terms of work. I had a little talk with my youth group/youth English class thing, about how I was sick of their lack of discipline, and together we made a new structure for the group. They came up with most of the ideas, which was awesome. They even want to raise money for materials and a little party or something at the end! An embarrassing but true fact, my students at the high school don't respect me; if Tania leaves the room, the noise level increases noticeably. Except for maybe in one class. It might be because she can give them lectures about responsibility and being accountable in SPANISH, which I don't feel at all comfortable doing. I don't involve myself too much in the grades, and they probably know that. I could use the excuse that that is technically not my job, but I need to handle that situation somehow. Planning with Tania seems to be becoming more productive, and planning with Mercedes is slowly increasing in time and hopefully I can squeeze in more and more information for her in the time that she gives for meeting with me. I am taking off one class with Tania to add one with Mercedes. The people in my adult class, which now numbers 7, but usually actually only 5, goes well because they are all pretty advanced and super motivated. BUT, one of them is going to start observing and teaching my kids Saturday class with me, which is AWESOME because maybe next year SHE can teach it! Sustainability! Yessss. AND, the others have also agreed, that for next year, when I start a new beginner community class, they will help me teach that! It's gonna be ALOT more planning time, but if it all works out it will be awesome. Now, there is another thing I need to think about: most TEFL volunteers hold some kind of summer camp (summer here is December and January) and I need to start planning that now if it's happening. It would happen in January, cuz I'm coming home for Christmas, but I am thinking girls only or boys only. Ages like 12-14 or so. Things with Cesar are going slow, and San Gregorio too =/. I know I am expected (kind of) to give some kind of class or training or presentation to all of the teachers in Dolores and Diriamba, as I am soon to be (in November, when Megan leaves) the only TEFL volunteer in the area, but THAT is probably going to be the scariest.
BBL

"no voy a dejar que te pasa nada"

Just got back from four grueling days of in-service training. Tuesday through Thursday we had lectures and workshops with our counterparts, and Thursday to Friday it was just TEFL 54 volunteers. I learned a lot, and am so excited to start the new semester fresh with all of the changes me and Tania are planning to make in our classes in terms of encouraging more participation (in English) and discipline, which is, to me, the biggest issue. Actually, there are lots of big issues. Like class always being cancelled for some assembly or meeting or random day off. Like paperwork for the Ministry of Education that takes priority over teaching a class. Anyways, I'm still excited to start implementing all of this stuff, and being MORE for my 2 counterparts (Tania and Mercedes), and for Cesar and for Jose Antonio and Ramiro and Gilberto and Absalom and all of the English teachers in Diriamba and Dolores. As well as for Michael and Carlos and Melvin and Tatiana and Daniela and Stefania and Stefania's little sister and Katherine and Guadalupe and Anyeli and Ayaris and Gioconda and Gabriela and Olga and Vladimir and Sergio and Belkis and Eduardo and Freddy and Yasmina and Martha Elisa and her little daughter for my awesome bosses and fellow volunteers and finally for the incoming TEFL 57 trainees! I have learned a lot this semester and I can't wait to improve myself.

Last Saturday I woke up with diarrhea followed an hour or two later by stomach pain so I did a stool test and discovered I had amoebas. I'm blaming the increase of flies in my kitchen and EVERYWHERE. I had to take one pill four times a day for three days, and another one three times a day for 10 days! For the amoeba BABIES! Yuck. I have just finished day four of the second kind. I really don't like pills. And I think these pills are messing with my stomach a bit too. There is always something. But I did sign up for Peace Corps and all that goes with it. Half of the people at in-service training were sick with parasites or bacteria or some gastro-intestinal issue.

I keep forgetting to take my camera everywhere.

"si es amor abrazame con ganas, si no lo es tal vez sera mañana"

I semi-recently posted about being bored, correct? And that nothing new and exciting was happening to me anymore? Well, I spoke too soon. Two weekends ago, I went to Niquinohomo on a Sunday morning. I was gonna stay the night, and leave the next morning for Managua. The bus from Niquinohomo passes right in front of the place I was supposed to go to, so I thought I might as well leave from there. Anyway, I am approaching my stop in Niqui, so I do the usual, stow away my ipod, get up, tell the cobrador (The person that collects the money on the bus and also shouts out to people telling them where the bus is going and also tells the bus drive when a passenger wants to get off) that I want to get off at 'tapiceria' and some time in between when I got up, was talking to the cobrador, and waiting for the stop, someone opened my backpack and took out my wallet and my ipod. Partly my fault, because I had both of those things, along with my phone, in the same very accessible pocket of my backpack, which I had on my back, not in my arms, forgetting everything the Peace Corps security officer has told us because I am getting too comfortable and too trusting, and bad things ONLY happen in Managua, right? Anyway, Neha of course, doesn't notice until about half an hour later and deep into an animated conversation with her host mom that that particular pocket of her backpack is open, and realizes that two critical things are missing. Freak out a bit, run back onto the street to see if maybe I dropped it, knowing that that was not the case but doing it anyway, and trudging back to my Niqui host family's house, call the bank to block my account, and send sad text messages to Luis. At this point I have no money, so I borrow 100 cords from my host mom (From now on I will refer to my Niquinohomo (training) host mom as Julissa) to survive for the next two days. Then I make Luis come with me to make a police report, which I need to ask Peace Corps for a reimbursement on the cash I happened to be carrying at the time, which was about 400 cords. Oh yeah, I also had a flash drive in my wallet. The second one I had bought here. And last weekend I just bought my third. =/. The rest of the day goes by normally, but feeling stupid. So I needed some official Niquinohomo Police stamp on the police report, but they didn't have it at the time (of course) and I didn't get it until Tuesday, when they decided they needed to interview Luis too. I had to make a bunch of annoying trips to Managua to get a new ID and to get my passport so I could get a new credit card and then to return the passport (because Peace Corps keeps our passports so that we can't run away). And I guess I have survived surprisingly well without my beloved ipod, but I'm gonna have to find some other ways to entertain myself on buses.
I have ANOTHER story about this past weekend, but I'll write about it later.
In regards to work, tomorrow begins the semester break, which is a week and a half. Not much of a break though, because 4 days of it is in-service training with my counterpart (the 12th till the 15th), and then I'm helping out at a girls' camp another volunteer is doing in San Marcos (another municipality of Carazo) and she wants me to do the HIV/AIDS part, so I gotta study up on that and come up with a fun way of talking about it. That is on the 18th and 19th, and school starts back up on 20th. I'm looking forward to it all though, mix things up a bit. And awaiting the motivational push that in-service training is going to give me.
I should really sleep now. Got a lot of work to do tomorrow.
Peace.

"Esta comida es de Neja y Luis, cuidado Concho se la come, ellos van a venir." - note from Luis' mom

All of the important people in my life think so differently from each other. How IS success measured, REALLY? Can anyone answer that?

"Noooo profeeee...yo soy un angelito"

Lately life here has been "normal" and sometimes, instead of making me feel at home I just feel bored. Usually I'm pretty okay, but sometimes I do have my low lows. Ultimately I know it's up to me to make more exciting things happen, which I am working on. Right now the funnest thing I do is play with a group of kids for an hour on Wednesday evenings, followed by an hour of a light-hearted English class. It's a group of about 10-12 of my high school students, but it's really nice to get to know some of them better. Michael, Melvin and Carlos are 7th graders who like attention and like fighting each other and are super entertaining sometimes but one of them is going to get kicked out soon because they do significantly disrupt the class for other people. Ayaris and Gabriela are good studious 10th grade girls who enjoy putting the aforementioned 3 boys in their place. Guadalupe and Daniela are girly 8th and 9th graders who may slightly enjoy being annoyed by and flirting with the boys. Gioconda and Anyeli are quiet and studious but can get super enthusiastic about a competitive game of soccer or basketball. Katherine is a super studious 7th grader who is one of those who participates TOO much in class. Those are all the regulars, there are others that come and go. My Tuesday and Thursday evening adult English class has probably about 7 regulars, but I'm totally okay with that. Olga comes with her teenage son, Vladimir, and they are both hilarious and good at English. Actually everyone has a pretty good level of English in this class. Eduardo and Freddy are recent college graduates, and I think Eduardo likes Yasmina, who is another student, whose English isn't quite so good but she's very enthusiastic. Sergio is a nice tall thin man who always comes a little late on his bike because he's coming from work. That's pretty much it. A few other people stopped coming, which sucks. Oh yeah, Martha Elisa is an old lady whose daughter is in my 11th grade class, but she doesn't come regularly. I wish more old people came. I'm too lazy to describe all the kids in my kids class (not that they aren't worth it). I will have to take pictures of all these people.
Lately I have really been missing food! Fake meat! Veggie burgers! Broccoli and brussel sprouts and subway! =/ Nothing satisfies me. Also I could be starving and not want to eat unless it's something exceptional. So today I splurged on KRAFT AMERICAN CHEESE SLICES at the fancy supermarket in Jinotepe, I'm still looking for cheddar. And next time I'm in Managua I will spend whatever it takes on some frozen veggie chicken nuggets or something if they exist there.
I've also been missing friends and family and HOME. Family barbecues. Fireplaces. Wine. December is really far away. I want to watch Glee on Hulu but it doesn't stream internationally. So I guess I would like Glee Season 2 on DVD ASAP. And The Office. I've seen seasons 1-6, with a few missing episodes. Oh! I just finished the first season of Avatar, the Nickelodeon series, I dunno how many seasons there are but I would love to see the rest!