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! |
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