Laugh at the Little Things in Life...No, Really!

The second week of training was almost a hard pill to swallow because I had officially come to the realization that I would be living under these conditions for the next two years (dunn, duuNNN, DUUNNNNN!!). Being broke was something that I had been used to during college, but not quite like this. This is a different level of poverty. We currently get an allowance of about $12 a week which is technically approximately about $C300 of Nica dollars which helps pay for transportation, and small odds and ends that we may need during the week since our family provides us with three meals per day.  By Wednesday afternoon, I was nearly choking in tears from being overwhelmed by the language barrier and culture shock. It can become quite frustrating when you are not able to pick up to phone and call your best friends, Fraternity/Sorority sisters/brothers, or church or family members to support you when you are basically being stripped from what you are used to doing or knowing and encouraged to adapt rather quickly to a different cultural perspective and language. Thank God I pledged a Sorority….several times on so many different levels!

Over this week however, I have built quite the “confianca” or trust with my training mates who are completely awesome by the way (Traci, Preston, Emily) and I wouldn’t change them or my training site (Catarina) for the world.  There were definitely several things that bothered me during my second week of training that I so graciously tried to ignore like the unidentified flying insects that randomly circle around my room only to be conquered by a surreptitious Geico who’d been chilling behind my curtain awaiting his next victory (named Jose by the way). 

Or the phrases that do not translate to English whatsoever but makes perfect sense in the Spanish language. Or the Piropos (Pee-Rhope-Poes), known as womanizers, that constantly undress women with their eyes and limit their vocabulary to short phrases of “Que Rico”, “Hola, Morena”, “Princessa”,”Hermosa” and occasionally a disgusting air kiss at the end.  Or itching myself to death from the side effects of our potent Malaria medication (which is truly helpful, yet has annoying side effects). Or finding out that real roosters can “alarm” you at ANY time of the night to inform you that they are indubitably awake. Or lastly, the infamous ice cold bucket showers that I have now created the name “Buckeeta” as the fun verb to use while referring to my bathing process. I have realized that this is my life and a darn good one at that because I am learning to laugh at smallest things in life and be content with what I don’t know how to say or do.Lesson of the week: Learn to laugh at the small things that life gives us…including yourself.

#thelittlethings....

First Week of Peace Corps (Aug 18th)

This week has begun with my arrival at Staging for the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C where I checked in the hotel and met up with a few "stagees"  that I have been conversing with for the past couple of weeks through Facebook(#Networking). Over the weeks leading up to our Staging date, we have all shared our commonalities, anxieties, packing frustrations, and  "must haves" while being away for twenty seven months. I was elated to finally put a personality to a name & face when I met up with Traci, Hanna, Jen, as well as Anita & Warren at Staging! Everyone was  nervous and unaware of what was about to take place as we anxiously stood in line to listen to the stern, yet knowledgeable voice of Emily, one of our Staging coordinators who thoroughly prepared us for our Safety and Security training  while in Nicaragua. I would say the #1 rule in the Peace Corps  is to expect the unexpected, especially in the first three months of training. If you are preparing for Staging for the Peace Corps, I suggest that you bring a packed lunch or stop and get food prior to your event begins because we did not have time to eat food prior to the event which was seven hours long with only a twenty minute break. 

After Staging, we didn't get much sleep because most of us stayed up trying to get to know each other after dinner and most of us were only able to catch some shut eye for two hours (if that!) to only get up and prepare for another day at two am in the morning. Que lucura! We arrived at the airport at 3am where we had a short layover, flew to Miami where we endured another layover and finally arrived in Managua, Nicaragua where we received our Vias for the country and were greeted by Peace Corps Volunteers and facilitators.

Shortly after, we crossed the street where we would be staying for the next few days, Hotel Mercedes (a really nice hotel that I recommend everyone stay in if you ever come to Nicaragua). Fort he next three days we talked, and talked, and talked, and ate of course, and talked some more about the rules and regulations of Peace Corps as well as the Safety and security here in Managua.  

After all of the talking, I was able to coordinate and host an intimate talent show and saw th

at my group was fun and diverse as I introduced everything from poetry (me) to harmónica and guitar playing, to Salsa and Meringue dance lessons, to singing about cookies. Fue interestante! The next morning we departed for our host families after three days of pre-service training where I was able to meet my 4 foot 7 host mother and my 15 other family members along with chickens, roosters, three dogs, and two cats (sometimes) and three dogs. Although I have a large family of 15, it was definitely what I requested because it gives me the opportunity to speak to the best of all worlds because my host familly’s age ranges from 5 years old to 77 years old. My host mother, Lucia, sells news paper in the city, while my host father, Justo, grows herbal medicine. We also have a small restaurant where locals come in on a daily basis to eat small meals for really low price. My room is actually pretty small and has a bed covered with my handy dandy mosquitero, a desk where I spread all of my Peace corps material, a small stool, and a rope near the wall to place my clothes. Its pretty comfortable and I am very happy to be here. There is no running wáter (I took my first bucket bath today), however there is electricity which is a good thing that way I can still do work on my computer and send it when I get to a cyber café!

My room!

First day in my new home!