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Published: September 14th 2008
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Ah omg so busy! Mon-Tues-Thurs Spanish class from 8am-12noon, and again from 1-3pm. Wed and Fri, as well as some Saturdays, like today, are in the field or the classroom learning Peace Corps stuff. Like getting immunizations, learning about dengue-malaria, figuring out the reasons why PC doesn´t like you to wear contact lenses - although I still am - learning about diarrhea and stomach viruses and how to prevent them... since out of the 22 of us several are sick and one has been taken to Managua for <óbservation< whatever that means, how to take your stool samples to the pharmacy to figure out if you have amoebas or bacteria or parasites or whatever... usually from the water that you drink, some from bad food, etc.
Fortunately, knock on wood, I have a stomach muy fuerte, or very strong. Also, they use a ton of oil here, eat mostly gallopinto, or redbeans and rice, and corn and tortillas. Lucky for me, I just got back from China where they also eat a lot of grease and rice. Right now the food is really good. There´s this cheese that rocks my world called ¨"cuajada" that just makes rice and beans oh-so-much-better,
it´s like this white, dry, salty cheese. Also, they make refrescos here out of fruit juices.
The fruit rocks my world. Mango season is about over, but there´s a mango tree that hangs over the shower at th ehouse. Actually, you have to be really careful not to get hit by a falling mango on the way to the shower. They´re just all over the ground and ready to be picked up and eaten. Passion fruit is also awesome, the seeds smell great and are super tart and make great drinks. Theré´s something called phitaya or pihtaya or something that´s purple like pokeberries and stains as well, but it´s very good and mi madre makes refrescos out of them, too. There are no apples, but there are guavas that are about the same size as an apple and can be eaten like one.
We´re doing a lot of training in agriculture, too. Learning how to make terraces on hills and the ratios for different grades of hills. How to plant beans with the corn so the nitrogen can be put back into the soil. How to make different kinds of mulch and compost and the ratios needed. How
to harvest seeds and start a seed bank. Also, how to start a community bank so the women can save their own money and not have the men drink it all away.
Oh, and how to teach this to the campesinos in Spanish when we get out of training and go to our individual sites.
Training is exhausting. I usually get home around 6pmish. Moncha makes me dinner. I sit in the kitchen trying to communicate. About my day. About her day. About the food that she´s making. About laundry. about the kids. About the other PCT´s she´s had as I´m the 9th... which means she´s been doing this for over a decade. About food. About life in the States and China. Learning new vocab for parts of the body, for agriculture, for produce, for ... everything.
Only been here in training in the community for one week. Seems like at least a month. Diarrhea is pretty prevalent so we´re all getting to know each other pretty well and talk of bowel movements is pretty standard... instead of, you know, talk about the weather.
The weather is hot. Wé´re apparently at the end of the rainy
season, which lasts about 6 months. It´s usually clear here in the mornings and then the clouds come in and it storms in the afternoons or evenings. The rain sounds awesome on the tin roof, and with the gap between walls and roof the lightening makes flashes into my bedroom.
Okay. Well, that´s about it for now. I am enjoying myself and am certainly never bored.
Yesterday we were in the field all day from 8am-6pm, breaks for lunch and some snacks, crossing rivers and hiking to differnet fields. Today is Saturday and we were in the field all morning and afternoon learning about mulch and compost and differnet fruits and the marango tree and how to turn tires inside out to make planters and how to use plastic bottles as planters, etc.
Monday the 15th is Independence Day, but tomrrow, Sunday, are student parades. So am coming into the city for the parades and street fairs and then in the afternoon Iowa, VirginiaTech and I have to start our garden and our ¨"protein banks´" of marango trees, or miracle trees. Google it. They are freaking amazing. And then, of course, Monday we ahve class and it
starts all over again, six days a week.
Lots of current Volunteers come in to teach us and give us charlas, or like sessions.... so they´re here tonight and are taking us out drinking ... and then home early. I usually go to bed by 9pm, am up about 5am. It´s 8 hours, but damn I´m effing exhausted and a little overwhelmed. Good times, noodle salad. Gotta run times up!
xoxo
buenas noches
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Jim B
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Retiring 2 Nica
I'm LQQKing into retireing to Nica-land. You make it sound like an adventure.