Volcano running...a new sporting event, not intended for the faint of heart

View from the top of Cerro Negro.

I hiked down into the volcano Cerro Negro, it was hot and gas could be seen coming out of the earth...amazing.

Quick updates:

Good ridenance, the raton is Dead!: My little mouse friend as passed-on…I did not kill him but I am pretty sure my neighbors did and he ended up dead in my house.

Bike problems…the continuing saga: My brakes are shot again…I have obviously been riding too much…on really steep terrain! And of course, my bike got two flat tires, but it only cost C$6 to fix the problem, not too shabby!

Dog sitting (warning: don’t actually sit on dog…this is a figurative term): While dog sitting, my neighbors decided to give Clavo (the dog) a goodie. No it was not a milk bone or a chew toy but instead it was a giant pig’s ear, which Clavo decided to bring into my house. I looked down with a surprised look as I caught him gnawing happily on the ear…no biggie…but I did ask him politely to take the ear into the backyard.

Another wild ride on the bus: Catching the big bus is always an adventure and yesterday’s ride was no exception. I boarded the bus only to find myself stuck in between: señor sexy, big madre and bollo de coco vender (candy vender)… YIKES! I couldn’t move, and there was no point of even holding on because I was wedged so tightly it would take the Jaws of Life to get me out of that predicament. Thankfully a really nice Nica couple saw the look of desperation on my face and squeezed together so that I could sit down next to them on the bus. Once again, the kindness of strangers never falters…gracias a dios!

Weather update: The rain has stopped and will not return until next rainy season (the month of July)…from here on out it is just going to get hotter

Quality vs. price the debate rages on: My kids think that quality is nonsense and that price is the only thing that matters; however, when I approached them the scenario concerning my ongoing bike troubles they had to stop and wonder…is price all that matters? I believe they are still pondering this thought, but at least it has them questioning the quality of products (and therefore simultaneously preparing them for the business class next year).

Cultural difference: Customer service…does not exist aqui…case and point, when at any local restaurant…after finishing the meal…the customer has to hunt down the owner to pay for their meal…and on top of it all the owner is guaranteed not to have cambio (change)…so be prepared and always carry small bills!

Tour de Sauce: Lance Armstrong has the Tour de France, and Nica Peace Corps volunteers have the Tour de Sauce…what in the world is the sauce? It’s a small town in Nicaragua that a bunch of us decided to bike to…35k later we reached our destination, hot, thirsty y con hambre (with hunge)! All of my Nica neighbors thought I was CRAZY for biking that far, but it was a lot of fun!

Cerro Negro, the volcano located behind my house...a 4 hour bike ride to the base, a 30 minutes hike to the top and a 1 minute run down the side of the mountain!

Chavalos are painting my house “bancentro” yellow (for those of you that do not live in Nicaragua and therefore do not know what bancentro yellow is it can be described as: sunshine/Tang (the astronaut drink)/dull/no need for sunglasses because it’s not that bright/they call it mellow yellow…that’s right…or put simply bancentro yellow). The trim is being painted a rusty red color (no need for an overzealous description, because rusty red says it all). And as an added bonus the chavalos also painted my clothes and hanging plants (por gratis…for free). Ok, here’s the story, I hung up my laundry apparently a little too close to the hombres trabajando (men at work) area because when I came home I noticed that all my clothing had a thin coat of paint! The chavalos apologized and assured me that they used water based paint; and therefore, it would wash out of my clothes. It seems that someone lent the chavalos an automatic paint spraying gun (mistake numero uno: NEVER lend chavalos an automatic anything…things are bound to get broken and people are guaranteed to get hurt). Case and point, my clothes were covered in paint and the once green plants were now paint covered in rojo. My cement walkway is also a blend of yellow/red…whose idea was it to give the chavalos this paint sprayer?? When my host mom arrived home to see the gigantic mess the boys made, she reprimanded them and hastily took away the paint sprayer. The boys are still painting (it’s been a three week “process” but at least they don’t have the automatic painter anymore). Oh the chavalo drama continues, because not only are they painting the house they are also making stuff (not sure what exactly and I am pretty sure they have no clue either as to what they are constructing, but once again someone lent the chavalos an automatic tool… in this case, a table saw). Therefore, the boys decided to cut a bunch of wood up INSIDE their house, which happens to be connected directly to my house. Out of nowhere a huge cloud of saw dust descended on my living room and bedroom…coughing and frantically looking for my keys I blindly rummaged through my house before escaping the dust cloud. I left for the day (in a sour mood and allergies) only to return later on that afternoon to find my house blanketed in saw dust…it took me 3 days to clean everything up/out (think laundry, mopping, basically the works)! Lesson learned NEVER give chavalos power tools or anything that requires electricity!

Bus incident (number 203…but who’s counting): I was sitting on the microbus minding my own business (WARNING THIS IS A LITTLE GROSS) and the next thing know I have throw-up running down my right arm…yep, I was thrown-up on! It was bond to happen sooner or later and I don’t doubt that it will happen again. I am quite honestly surprised that it doesn’t happen more often considering the fact that bus rides are long, traversing on bad roads and people eat things on the bus such as: coleslaw/mustard/ketchup covered hotdogs, candy, fried platanos and gaseosa en bolsas (soda pop in bags). The best part about this isolated incident is that my stop was still an hour away, but on a positive note the windows were all rolled down and therefore a cool breeze was passing through the bus! I would like to suggest that all buses carry barf-bags for passengers (they seem to bag everything else so why not just place bags throughout the bus for people who suffer from carsickness…it would save the rest of us from getting thrown-up on!!). Now if only I could find the “suggestion box” to place these words of wisdom…aka not going to happen…but I can dream, right?

Water and electricity: The water has returned!! Good thing too because I had all my laundry sitting in buckets of water (so it wouldn’t mold) ready to be washed thoroughly whenever the water returned…I have also stocked up on my drinking water because during this last water shortage I was literally sucking the juice out of oranges, because I was so thirsty and had run out of drinking water! Just to drive home my point, my town RAN OUT OF FRESCOS because of the water shortage and this is simply unheard of in Nicaragua…there is ALWAYS a fresco available, so its gotta be bad when the local fresco lady doesn’t even have water for those sweet concocted beverages that I love sooooo much.

Let’s see, for the past week my neighbors have been busy as beavers remodeling their house and because my house is connected directly to their house I have suffered sawdust, loud construction noises and electrical problems. However this isn’t even the worst of it because I am sin luz again. My house has been re-wired AGAIN…which means quite simply I have no electricity…meanwhile my neighbors (who have plenty of electricity because they are sucking the electricity that should be going into my house into their house in order to power multiple TVs and radios simultaneously). Meanwhile, I sit alone in the dark without even enough electricity to power a nightlight! The chavalos rewired in order to put a large, incredibly bright light in the backyard. Now when I open my back door in the middle of the night, I feel like it is high noon because the new light blinds my eyes and illuminates the surrounding sky (I can’t even see the stars anymore). The light takes the place of the sun…and no I am not exaggerating the luminescence.

No hay agua=No hay shower!! And why not have a Panqueque Block Party!!

¿Qué Paso?:

Get a shoe shine: For only C$7 I am able to get my shoes shinned. They tend to get pretty beat up on these dirt streets, so it’s a good thing it is cheap and the shoe shiner lives down the street from me.

Minor injury: I did something to my fingernail (ok I slammed it in the door one night when there was no electricity and I was super sleepy trying to guide myself around in the dark) and now it is turning black and hopefully staying put…I really don’t want it to fall off…but time will tellL

Weather: It is winter, what does that mean exactly in a tropical country…well, it’s still hot, there is no snow, and it is only going to get hotter because guess what season comes next…summer (aka hot hot hot).

My bike: The key to riding my bike is simply to never switch gears. Yes, this presents a slight problem when there is a drastic change in terrain, but I have learned the hard way that switching gears = long walk home (probably through mud). It also elicitates stares from all the people I pass by while walking my bike…this of course leads to town gossip…by the time I make it back to my house EVERYONE already knows that my bike broke down (again) and that I tried to fix it (again) and finally gave-in and resorted to just walking it back into town.

What I am thankful for this year: This was the first Thanksgiving that I did not go home to be with my family. Instead, Peace Corps arranged for volunteers to eat Thanksgiving dinner with various American families that live in Managua. Therefore, I was not without pumpkin pie and turkey (but I still missed out on Gram’s hot apple pie…can pie be shipped through UPS??).

Sweet dreams: The typical Nica bed frame is made from wood and woven wicker…then there is the option of placing a thin foam mattress (or if extremely lucky putting a REAL mattress on top of the frame). Unfortunately, I am not “extremely lucky” and I only have a foam mattress placed over the woven wicker (to provide a thin cushion for my back). I chose to buy the foam mattress to save money, but it has drastically deflated since I first purchased it and now it is merely a thin fabric covering. Recently, I also splurged and bought a real pillow!! I was so excited to have a pillow again…that very night I anticipated getting the most restful sleep ever…but unfortunately that didn’t happen…I got maybe 3 hours total! Turns out I have to ease back into using a pillow…go figure!

Playing on my radio now: Juanes

Here is a sample of a product that 4th year students came up with for the business course LEC National Contest. The product his group created was a notebook holder:

Well, the water went out again…and has yet to return!! Now if I had some warning (any warning in fact) it would be just fine because I could plan ahead…but there is never any warning and my neighbors dig into my stored water before I can even dig into it. Therefore, even though I store water (just in case) it doesn’t even matter because everyone else using it! I am left with inability to shower, dirty dishes, dirty floor, unclean clothes and barely enough drinking water (I am soooooo thirsty!). However, I have learned to wash a ton of dishes with only 1 gallon of water…I can also shower with 1 gallon of water (but right now there isn’t even 1 gallon to spare). The town announcements have promised that the water will return tonight (but I have my doubts!). In the meantime, I am using plenty of deodorant and my hair has been braided for the past few days! I have no issues living without electricity, but living without any secondary water source (my town has no rivers) is a difficult adjustment. People in my town resort to either traveling out to fincas to shower or going into the cities to shower…I am just playing the waiting game for now and hoping for rain.

Sometimes I make some poor decisions, oh the gift of hind sight, if only I had the gift of foresight! Anyway, I decided I needed to get some exercise and I went for a bike ride. However, instead of leaving in the morning (which is my typical routine) I waited until the sun was going down…during dusk! Apparently, the bugs come out in droves during dusk. Therefore, I was riding around an hour from my town and watching the sun fade behind the volcanoes, while getting pelted in the eyes with bugs! I finally made it back to my site and washed out my eyes with drops. Three days later my eyes are still blood shot and itchy! I will never again ride my bike that late in the day…it may be cooler but it is not worth getting bugs in my eyes. Another lesson learned the hard way.

The school year has commenced and summer break is in full swing. To keep myself occupied, I decided to pull together my best students and create a youth group. The kids like hanging out at my house, and I like the ability to practice my Spanish with my students. I have also been taking on some extra crafty projects…por ejemplo I made a shelving unit for my books and I also jarred my own jelly. I decided jarring food would be a useful lesson to pass on to my students, because without refrigeration jarring is a wonderful alternative for preserving food (plus it’s a fun activity to do with kids, very hands on and they can all taste the jelly!) I will give an update in a week or so about how the jarring lesson went with the kids.

The first youth group project I completed with the group was a fundraiser. I pitched the idea to the group that we make panqueque (pancake) mix. The kids are not really familiar with pancakes, because their typical diet consists of rice, beans, cheese and tortilla (morning, noon and night). So I thought it would be fun to introduce a new (and easy to make) food to the kids. To kick off the project, I invited all the kids over to my house on Saturday morning to enjoy a feast of panqueques (basically I turned my house into IHOP). Anyway, I had the kids, and all my neighbors jam-packed into my house as I was cooking up a storm. It worked out really well because each kid brought a different pancake ingredient with them (sugar, eggs, flour, and milk). Instead of pancake syrup, which costs a fortune because it is only sold at an American-like grocery store located in the city, I made a fruit syrup sauce. The kids and my neighbors loved the party and people came back for seconds!!! After the party finished, the kids and I assembled pancake mix in small bags, which we then sold for C$5 a bag! The fundraiser was very successful and now we are just trying to identify a community project that the money will contribute towards. The next party I am hosting is simply a Queque party (cake party) to celebrate the youth groups hard work (I have learned through trial and error that incentives are key to keeping a group together and making food is cost efficient because each kid can contribute ingredients found in their backyard).

To keep in shape I am still bike riding everyday, but instead of riding to my schools (since school is not in session) I have been able to explore the more rural farm community around my site. The paths have been badly washed out due to the rain but it is slowly drying up. As I was biking out by the fincas (farms) yesterday, I reached a point where there was a 4 foot deep mud pit. On the side of the mud pit was a very narrow dry path full of rocks and lined by barbed wire. I stopped my bike to scope out the situation (should I turn around? Go through the mud? Or risk riding on the small narrow dry patch of dirt?). Meanwhile, a farmer on his bike was on the other side of the mud pit doing the same thing I was doing…scoping out the situation. He decided to walk his bike carefully across the narrow dry path, teetering dangerously close to the mud one minute and barbed wire the next minute. After watching this scene, I decided to up the anti and cross the path while riding my bike. The man told me to be careful!! I backed up my bike 15 feet to get a running start…then I hopped on full speed ahead and crossed…the farmer cheered me on…I luckily did not fall into the mud pit…what a rush! The paths that I bike on are always full of rocks and I have become accustomed to using my brakes to navigate over rocks/mud/pits etc. The nicas are amazing bike riders…so I feel the pressure to be a good bike rider as well…I have mastered riding without hands on rocky dirt paths (and my neighbors just laugh when they see me coming…gringa riding without hands…haha!). My next challenge will be biking while having a fellow passenger riding on the bike-bar in-between my handle bars and bike seat (Nicas are always giving people rides around town using this method…so in order to fully integrate I feel I should also learn how to do this!).

My brakes are shot, and apparently my Nalgene is filled with Swero (which is not an alcoholic drink)

Striking a pose with 2 of my counterparts!

¿Qué Paso?:
The evacuation is over: After being evacuated from my site for about 2 weeks, I was finally able to return to my house. Things are a bit on the moldy side but it’s nice to be home.
Weather: Lately, it has been very sunny and the nights have been rather cool. The torrential rains have stopped and winter has set in…Deciembre is the coldest month of the year.
Knock Knock: Who’s at my door? Why a Jehovah’s Witness!! Trying to convert the gringa…Gracias a dios!
My bike: The local bike shop came to my rescue again and fixed my bike seat (woo hoo it no longer swivels left to right while I’m riding). The bike repair guy also feels sorry for me, which he should considering I tend to do more “bike walking” than “bike riding.” Therefore, if I have just a minor bike adjustment the bike repair man will fix it for free. Today, on my way back from a rural school I realized that as the weather gets hotter, the earth gets dryer, and the dust starts to swirl. I was so dirty after my 20k ride that I had to jump into the shower really quick before going to my next school (I was just glad that the water was still running that late in the day).

So I have been carrying a Nalgene bottle filled with water for the past few months. It is an essential part of my “pack,” because I ride my bike everywhere. Plus, there is a high probability that my bike will breakdown, and so, it is always good to have plenty of water and a snack for those occasions. Well, it wasn’t until recently that one of my counterparts asked me about my “kidney condition.” I was struck with confusion and responded “What kidney condition?” She responded, “Your water bottle is filled with Swero, right?” Now, until recently I didn’t know what “Swero” was and during this particular conversation I thought that Swero was some kind of alcoholic beverage. So I assumed that the teachers all thought I had some kind of kidney or more likely a liver problem because I was drinking hard alcohol throughout the day. I immediately asked my counterpart, “What is Swero?” And thank goodness she explained to me that it’s not liquor (as I had previously thought) but it is oral re-hydration salts. This made me feel a bit better; at least they didn’t think I was a drunk. Instead everyone thought that I was dehydrated. A big cultural difference is that Nicaraguans do not drink as much water as I do! I get at least the recommended 8 glasses a day…where my guess is that they drink maybe 2 glasses a day (mas o menos). Also, another Nicaraguan teacher at my school has a kidney problem and therefore she has to drink a lot of Swero to stay hydrated…so that’s why everyone thought I too must have a kidney problem. No worries, I am healthy (so to speak…minus the occasional parasite or bacterial infection).

I was recently sent a fabulous care package that included a large map of the United States. Naturally, I hung the map in my living room so that I could point out my home state of Colorado to all visitors. However, I was not prepared for the map to be such a big hit. A friend of mine came over to chat and caught site of my map. She rushed over to look and started tracing a route on the map. Next, she asked if she could go get her friend…pretty soon I had a group of people in my house all staring at the map. One hour later, people finally started to disperse but up until that time they all had been standing and simply staring. They all wanted to know where the Casa Blanca (Whitehouse) was located, New Orleans, and Colorado. To the right of my U.S. map I have a large map of Nicaragua. This map also fascinates people and I am happy to point out where our town is located. I never thought that I would be a geography teacher, now all I need is a World Map (that would blow peoples minds!)

This is the really big spider I have livig in my house!

I never enjoy visiting people late at night, because by that time I am exhausted and my Spanish comprehension diminishes by 60% when I am tired. Of course, people always ask me to visit at night and so I make my rounds…but as soon as I step out of my house I get bombarded with further visit requests. For example, yesterday I left my house at 5pm to make a quick run to a friend’s house and somehow I didn’t end up returning to my house until 11pm. I talked to everyone and was ready to crash when I finally got back home. I have learned that nothing is ever “quick.”

Last week I traveled a few hours south of my site to participate in a Spanish Taller (workshop). I got to stay with a different Nicaraguan host family for 1 week as I worked on the subjunctive tense. The family took in the back of their truck to a nearby tourist town, because they thought I would enjoy the mirador (view). In this town, there was a hotel (4 stories) that we stopped at to visit some of their Nicaraguan friends (who worked at the hotel). My host family wanted a tour of the hotel. We all got to walk around and check it out. Then we all went to the 4th floor to see the dinning room area. I was with 5 adults and 2 small children and once we all reached the 4th floor, I went over to the balcony to look at the view (a huge full moon hung in the night sky) but inadvertently I scared all the people I that brought me to the hotel. In small towns, tall buildings are few and far between (it is very rare to see a two story house). Therefore, this 4 story hotel was a colossal building for the Nicaraguans I was with and they were scarred for my safety (because I was much to close to the railing!) They pulled me back and wouldn’t let the kids get within 4 feet of the balcony. I could only imagine what they would think of a city like New York, with skyscrapers galore.

I had a brief moment of worry this morning as I biked out to catch a bus only to find out that the bus may not arrive at all! However, 40 minutes later the bus pulled up and I gratefully hopped on and had the conductor throw my bike on top. Twenty minutes into my bus ride, a guy on from the back of the bus tried to “put the moves on me.” In the U.S. a guy will usually buy a girl a drink at a bar when he is trying to hit on her but in Nicaragua it’s a different story…the guy in the back of the bus bought me an ear of corn to eat…that’s right, I accepted corn on the cob from a guy a didn’t know! Delicious. Next, I arrived at my school just in time to see prizes being given away to the students with the highest percentages. The prizes included brand new bikes, and in between the prizes being announced, my students preformed various dances. It was muy algre (very happy)! Afterwards, I had to wait for the bus to bring me home…but to my horror the bus that had brought me apparently broke down…and there was a good chance that I would have to bike 40k out (through some really rough terrain…in a dress). After waiting for 2 hours at a bus stop, a new bus arrived to take everyone out of the town to the main road (where I could easily bike back to my town).

Oh I’m sorry; you wanted my astrological sign (Libra) and not my body weight (libra translates into pound)

¿Qué Paso?:

Just call me Brik: That’s right, people in my town call me Brik…why?...because some people have trouble pronouncing the “e” and turn it into a “k” instead (even though I explain to them that my name has no “k” they still say BRIK!!)

Inflation: Gas prices and bean prices have gone up quite a bit...looking ahead to next year, there will be a lot of problems associated with lack of food…and the bus fares have already increased to make-up for the increased gasoline cost

Please wipe your feet before entering: I have a cardboard door mat now, because my neighbors thought that I was getting my house too dirty…only problem is that cardboard isn’t very water resistant

Weather update: It’s STILL raining on and off…I returned to my site after being evacuated…only to find out that I had to evacuate a second time…I will be returning to my site soon?...I hope. However, when I was allowed to go home for a few days I discovered that my house had turned green (yep, the mold had taken over). However, my town is just fine.

Currently playing on my neighbor’s radio (on repeat): “Said I loved you, but I lied” …someone save me from this song…if it repeats one more time I am not responsible for what I might do... “said I disliked this song, and I’m not lying”

A “should we really be doing this?” moment: A bike lane is being built along the major highway I travel along (It feels just like my crazy biking days in Boulder, Colorado but the raccoons have been replaced with herds of cattle and the occasional horse). The funny thing is I seem to people one of the few people using the new bike lane…others still insist on riding in the middle of the road. So here I am “the gringa” riding in the bike lane, all excited, while others still are not sure what the lane is used for…but I know everyone will catch on soon. In the meantime, busses are still having to swerve wildly around bikers

The Great Wall of Brik: My landlady built me a wall because she thought I was exposing myself to too much sun while washing my plates and laundry. It was a very nice gesture…and unlike the Great Wall of China, my wall was built in 1 day by about 10 chavalos…I just hope it doesn’t fall down…but so far so good

Plant update: My cilantro plant is thriving…I cannot wait to make guacamole

The fresco kid: Jon, the local door to door fresco kid, came by my house a few days ago and was soaked to the bone…but he knew I would want my carrot and orange fresco…he braved the rain to come by my house to drop off my fresco…muy amable!

My internet boyfriend: I was introduced to a Nicaraguan guy who lives in the city, he is a friend of a friend, and he is very nice but he wanted to get my phone number…instead, I gave him my email address and now my inbox is overflowing with various emails from him. I explained to him that I check email only once a week…but he still sends 1 email everyday of the week…and in hindsight I am very glad that I didn’t give him my phone number!

This is the Piggy Box that some of my students created as part of their small business...they make various clay animals to sell to the locals.

So I bought a bike about 2 weeks ago and almost every part on the bike has been replaced or adjusted in some shape or form. However, people just love my bike…and I just now understand why. I had a Nicaraguan friend of mine pick out the bike for me in order to get a fairer price. I told them all I wanted was a bike that worked well (because I have to travel pretty far on this bike). They seemed to be overly concerned with what color bike I wanted, but I told them again and again that it could be any color as long as it rode well. Ok, now flash forward 2 weeks, and I realize that my friend simply picked out my bike based on the color. My bike is niquelado (nickel plated) and for some reason people associate quality and expensive with that color. I associate cheapness and sudden disaster with that color, but I’m a bit biased. Anyhoo, I now know that my bike was purchased purely based on its color scheme, because it has broken down a bastante (enough) amount of times. On a positive note, all bikes around here break down on a rather consistent basis, which makes bike repair shops ubiquitous and inexpensive. Now a short walk down memory lane…As a kid, I always wanted bike pegs. I remember begging my parents for the pegs, but I was denied my request due to safety concerns. But guess what mom and dad, I now have 4 bike pegs…2 on the front wheel and 2 more on the back! Oh yeah…safety concern, I think not, just pure fun!! Now I just have to find 2 willing chivalos who would like to go for a bike ride with the gringa (which should be easy) …I will also try to take a picture pre-wipeout (that will be a challenge). And finally, my brakes don’t work when they get wet, and it is hard to keep them dry when it’s raining out and I’m biking through a river…que bárbaro (how brutal/cruel)!

HOT, HOT, HOT!!! I was warned ahead of time that the chilies I purchased were hot, but as usual I didn’t listen and threw a small fist full into my soup. Next, I went to sip my soup and about 10 seconds later my eyes started to water profusely. I then did something I’ve only seen in the movies…I drank ketchup…and it actually worked! Dona Tina’s ketchup saved my mouth from the unsavory hot chili fire burning sensation. Of course, being rather stubborn I was not going to throw away the large super spicy soup batch I had just cooked. So, I went to the local bean lady to purchase some red beans, which I hoped would tame down the hot flavor. I arrived at the bean lady’s house to find out that bean prices have DOUBLED in less then a week. The bean price increase was also mentioned in the local paper. So I had to shell out twice as much to make up for my cooking disaster. When I got back home with my beans, I threw them into the soup pot and that did the trick! In the end I made “bean soup” that was quite tasty.

I was evacuated for 5 nights and 6 days because of the torrential amount of rain hitting Nicaragua. I had to leave my house ASAP and when I got back I found that mold had taken over. My allergies started acting up (my throat became a bit constricted) and then I broke out the cloro (bleach). Mold didn’t have a fighting chance against my spray bottle of bleach. I gave all the walls a good spritz and after a few hours my house smelled very fresh and was devoid of mold. Hurrah!

Thursday, I arrived at school to find out that my counterpart was also at school but didn’t want to teach class. So I went ahead without her and had a heart to heart conversation with the kids. I wanted their honest feedback about the class. I also wanted them to get to know me better and therefore I told them they could ask me questions. The feedback I received was as I had expected, they were bored and felt the class lacked energy and dinámicas (dynamics/games). I must say I agree, after seeing the teacher use her “copy the information I read out load” technique I was bored to death. The kids loved the fact that they could ask me questions and the first question I received was when is your birthday? Next, the kids started calling out the word: Libra. Let me explain, Libra in Spanish means “pound.” For example, una libra de pollo (1lb. of chicken). However, Libra is also an astrological sign, in fact it just happens to be my astrological sign. Therefore, I proceeded to give the class my body weight (in pounds). I was of course confused as to why they wanted to know my body weight but thought oh well, no harm! Well, they didn’t want to know my body weight, they were yelling out Libra because they wanted to see what male students I was astrologically compatible with…because if the stars are aligned just right they think they might have a shot at a date. YEAH RIGHT.

I did it, I bought fish from the local fish vendor. I figure the ocean is close enough that the fish is fresh. Really, I am just praying that the fish is fresh because it was not on any ice when I bought it. However, I cooked it up several days ago and my health is just fine (no bad side-effects …yet). Next, I plan to buy shrimp or shark.

Next week, I will be at a Spanish Taller (a Spanish workshop) and then that following weekend I will be a chaperone at Prom! The school year is quickly winding down, and I hope to keep everyone motivated enough to teach 1 more lesson. Then comes vacation time for all the students and teachers…during this time I plan to start working on some side projects (like a small reading group). I have also been invited to tons of fiestas, which I am excited to attend.

Wonder Woman has flown into my town and brought along her two crime fighting buddies: Golden Goddess and Captain Underpants

¿Qué Paso?:

Weather update: It’s STILL raining…and I have been EVACUTATED due to a tropical storm that is coming through the area. So, I packed a small bag with some clothes, grabbed my rain boots, and threw on my rain jacket, which is molding due to all the rain…oh sweet irony.

Cleaning house: My host mom offered to mop my floor for me because I am not doing a good enough job!! Ok, I clean but I certainly don’t mop 3 times a day (which is customary). I mop once every 3 day, which quite frankly I think is enough!

Interesting stuff that has been said to me: “Are you from Costa Rica?” (which makes me think my Spanish is getting really good…not!) and “You have nice legs” (this was said to me in English by one of my students. He was trying to practice his English with me, and this was the one phrase in English that he had been taught).

Latest infestation: As if having a bat and mouse problem isn’t enough…I am now having a cockroach problem as well!

Strike a pose: If one of my students owns a camera or a camera phone…I am likely to be in their photo archive. Why, because students like to take pictures of me…yes, just me…I try to invite others into the photos…but I am usually unsuccessful. So there I am standing (alone) smiling as students go crazy snapping multiple shots. Uncomfortable situation…oh yah…but I just keep on smiling. Don’t worry, I’m not letting the fame get to my head. But in the meantime, would someone get the paparazzi off of me?

Whoops: I went to the market to buy oranges and was asked, “Do you want these oranges for fresco?” I said “yes” because I just wanted the oranges ASAP. Well, that was a mistake. It turns out fresco oranges are not sweet…they are very bitter. So I bought 8 bitter oranges that were not edible. And I ate them anyway, but next time I will specify that I want “dulce” (sweet) oranges.

Transportation update: I bought a bike, went for a cruise around town, 3 hours later I had a flat tire, got it fixed, next day went for another ride even further away from town, the bike gears broke, I flipped the bike over to fix the gears, got grease all over me, it started to rain, I walked through a mud river to get back into town, I got the gears totally replaced. Did I mention that I bought this bike new? Yep, the guy told me it was “brand new.”

A “should we really be doing this?” moment: Cruising down the highway in a microbus is always a little bit dangerous…then add rain and total darkness and the adrenaline really starts pumping. I can usually handle the micro, but two days ago I hopped on board a micro (at night while it was raining) and the driver decided to go into reverse on a major highway right near a blind corner. Why would the driver pull a move like this? To pick up an extra passenger, obviously. No worries, I am still alive.

This is the cake and present table for the pinata party I attended. The cake is made with corn flour, which makes for an interesting tasting goodie!

I just got back from an interesting/bizarre cultural event which is called an “Acto.” It takes place at the school, and class is canceled to make room for the “acto.” To prepare for the event, there is a stage and backdrop set-up on the basketball court. There are 2 giant speakers on each side of the stage and around 200 students stand in single file lines near the front of the stage. Actos can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours! The acto begins with the national anthem and is followed by various presentations from students and teachers alike. I will describe Thursday’s acto only: I arrived at my school right on time, only to find out that I had walked through the pouring rain for nothing, because class was canceled and replaced with an acto. There were 5 students on the stage, 3 dressed as Native Americans, 1 dressed in a suit (who apparently represented the country of Spain) and 1 girl dressed as Wonder Woman. No kidding, she wore a cape, a shiny tiara, magic wrist protectors, a corset, and a really short skirt/underwear (apparently ready to fight evildoers at a moments call). The Native Americans wore feathers in their hair, and their shirtless bodies were painted with “Native American” symbols aka random lines and circles drawn all over their bodies (most likely in permanent marker because after the acto was finished I witnessed the boys hopelessly scrubbing their bodies off to no avail, which leads me to believe that they used permanent marker instead of washable marker!). Anyway, the girl dressed as Wonder Woman was suppose to represent the Queen of Spain (I had to ask a student to explain to me who the girl symbolized…it was apparently a stupid question because the student thought it was rather obvious). Next, and this part of the acto literally caught me off guard, the stereo speakers started booming filling the courtyard with the sounds of drums and tambourines…and then came the procession (man, I wish I had my camera on me…but unfortunately I had left it at my house). A girl wearing a gold bra entered, just like Madonna…and not the “Madonna” who mothered Jesus…the other Madonna who rocked-out hard during the 80’s era. The girl had gold glitter covering her nearly naked body, and a long gold skirt with slits all the way up, topped off with a gold headdress. Now keep in mind this girl is 15 years old, she is standing in front of all of her classmates and teachers…nearly naked and very gold. Need less to say, this outfit beat out the girl dressed as Wonder Woman. But this is the least of it, because directly behind the “Golden Goddess” was a boy wearing an adult diaper holding a stick with feathers tied to the end. The students marched all around the court and finally ascended the stage to give an explanation of what their costumes represented. I guessed that golden girl represented the 80’s decade and I thought that diaper boy represented adults who have urinary track problems …however, I was wrong). The girl was supposed to represent the sun goddess and the boy was supposed to represent a Native American! Finally, as this whole scene was unraveling, the rain was pouring all around the students! This was unfortunate for the student clad in the adult diaper; because, the lining in the diaper started to expand as it got wetter and wetter from the rain! Thank goodness the scene was short, because the students walked off the stage after a 5 minute dialogue (all except for diaper boy who had to waddle off stage because his drawers had soaked up so much water). That was my day, and I can hardly believe it happened. Finally, to top it off, the day the students were celebrating is called Dia de la Hispanidad (very similar to Columbus Day). However, the students were celebrating it on the wrong day…it was the 11^th of October and Dia de la Hispanidad is officially on the 12^th of October. Therefore, they canceled my class to celebrate a holiday 1 day early…argh!

Hit that pinata with all your might!! This is the birthday girl...who turned 5!

A teacher that I do not work with walked up to me and introduced themselves, however after giving me their name, they failed to include what subject they taught. We were talking and they asked my opinion on English grammar compared to Spanish grammar. The teacher asked me, “Do you think that the grammar is similar or different.” I responded, that I thought the two were different. For some reason this turned into a rather heated conversation and the teacher tried to convince me that that grammar was in fact identical. Well, unbeknownst to me, I was talking with the English teacher, who has been teaching English for 23 years, and adamantly believes that there is no difference between English and Spanish grammar “they are identical.” I tried to salvage the conversation by asking if the teacher would like to practice their English skills with me, but she didn’t feel comfortable talking with me in English!! Yikes, I think I insulted her but it was unintentional. Lesson learned; always ask the question “what is your occupation” before starting any kind of debate.

A very popular trend in the Nicaraguan classrooms is to use whiteout on all errors made on paper (even if it is not an assignment the students are going to turn into the teacher, they still use whiteout to fix their mistakes). Now a simple solution would be to use pencils instead of pens, but everyone seems to prefer pens over pencils. Early on in their lives, students are trained to use whiteout on their mistakes at a young age and therefore this trend extends into adulthood. This leads me to my story. I went over to my counterpart’s house to get a list of 10 names. I simply needed 10 student names…nothing complicated…I thought the visit should only take 5 minutes at most…right? Oh how wrong I was, 2 hours later I finally walked out of her houses with the names. What happened? Whiteout happened! Basically the problem was that each student had 5 names (lets do the math: 5 x 10 = 50 names…and don’t forget there are some tricky spellings). The teacher would start writing a name, and then inevitably make a minor spelling mistake. She would immediately reach for the whiteout to correct her error, however; if there were too many whiteout mistakes she would throwaway that paper and start anew. This paper was not going to be turned into anyone; I was simply going to transcribe the names into an email, and the teacher new this as well. Yet, it still took 2 hours to get the 10 names, which were printed perfectly (with only 1 whiteout mistake). Lesson learned, leave lots of time for whiteout!

Alright, this is another example of class being needlessly canceled. I traveled 2 hours out with a backpack stuffed full of teaching materials. I arrived at the school, and I was told that class was canceled because the usual classroom was being occupied by a guest lecturer. I proceeded to glace around the school, and I noticed 5 totally empty classrooms. I asked why I couldn’t give class in one of the empty rooms…well, to my astonishment I couldn’t…and therefore the class commenced outside in the courtyard, where we were surrounded by noisy kids playing kickball, volleyball and just throwing stuff randomly. It was a tough class to get through, especially when I was approached by Mr. Hip-hop. This 18 year old male student approached me in the middle of my class, while the students were working together in their groups. He was not in my class but he is a current 5^th year student at the school. He said that he just want to introduce himself…yeah right! Here’s the scene, I am sitting underneath a tree, and he struts up with his cell phone carefully concealed in his front shirt pocket playing a really inappropriate 30 second hip-hop song clip (with lyrics like “I see you grinding up on the dance floor”). After he asked me 2 “opening” questions (what’s my name and where am I from) he got to the point, and asked me if I had a boyfriend and if I would like to get a soda. Thank goodness I have a made-up boyfriend, who is just fabulous, and saved me again from making an awkward situation even more unbearable. Oh yes, as we were talking he continued to push the replay button on his phone so that the 30 second sound clip would replay over and over again. Anyway, I told him “si, yo tengo un novio” (I have a boyfriend)…and all of a sudden he said, “ok, but where does he live, and are you going to bring him to the December festival?” I was not prepared for these questions, this guy was crafty, and so I said that my “boyfriend lives far away and that he would not be coming to the December festival.” This was all that the boy wanted to hear, he smiled and said “good” and proceeded to switch off the inappropriate rap song and walk away…calling “adios.” Yikes! What have I done? I think I just added fuel to the fire!

The candy went flying every which way and the kids got down and dirty...

I attended a piñata party last weekend, which was planned out perfectly. In fact, I have noticed a trend in Nicaragua, and that is that all of the piñata parties I have attended have been executed with amazing efficiency. Here is what goes on during a piñata: First, guests arrive at the party and drop off a birthday present. Next, the seats are pre-arranged around the piñata and kids are organized into groups. The kids strike at the piñata, meanwhile food is being served to all the seated guests. Eventually, the piñata bursts open and candy goes flying everywhere (watch out because the kids will kill for candy). Finally, the birthday song is sung, and the cake is cut and passed out to the guests. Now, the party is officially over and everyone leaves. The gifts are opened later. That’s it!! The kids are well dressed and well behaved…it is unlike any kid-party I have ever attended…because it’s actually fun, and it’s all about the timing!

Chicken, it’s what’s for dinner…and the constant threat of salmonella poisoning

¿Qué Paso?:

Weather update: Octubre is the rainy month. What does this mean for me? Well, my clothes are in a constant state of molding and my chances of contracting an unknown foot disease from stepping in puddles has just increased 10 fold!

My radio is currently tuned to: Daddy Yankee, my students just can’t get enough of this guy! They just love his music and therefore I must learn to love his music too.

Interesting things that have happened on the bus: People like to touch my hair…I feel like a doll or dog because they will pet my head! Oh well!

Interesting question I’ve been asked: “Is your mom as pale as you are? Your family must go through a lot of sunscreen.”

An observation I’ve made: People here pump gas and don’t bother to turn off their car while gas is flowing into their vehicle. Dangerous?…perhaps. On the plus side, it is a speedier exit from the gas station (no timely hassling with the ignition turning the car on and off). However, isn’t there a possibility the car could blow up?

Recent purchase: I bought raw chicken in the market (from the meat seller) and noticed that they also were selling big cloves of garlic. So I also asked the vendor to include a few cloves of garlic, which he proceeded to throw into the same bag as my uncooked, very raw, chicken meat. My reaction: “OH NO…cross contamination….not salmonella poisoning!!” The idea of cross contamination is non-existent in Nicaragua. But being an American germo-phobe I freaked! I decided to save the garlic by throwing it into a soup (I don’t waste ANYTHING)…I just boiled away the salmonella poising!

Close, but no cigar: I almost bought “street shrimp,” which raw shrimp sold door to door. But I had a last minute change of mind, as I considered the high probability that the shrimp has not been refrigerated for at least 5 hours…while the vendor is walking the shrimp through the streets with the sweltering sun beating down on the scrumptious crustaceans. I suppose I have avoided a minor case of food poisoning but I have to ask myself was it worth it?

Recipe update: I will be posting a new recipe in 2 weeks, as my cooking class was canceled this past week and was rescheduled for 15 Octubre.

The machismo is starting to wear on me a bit. It gets to be a bit annoying when every time I walk out of my house I am hissed at or catcalled. I try to avoid large groups of men sitting together on street corners, but sometimes this is impossible and I must walk on by the group. I try to ignore most of it but here is a recap of what usually happens when I put on my “I cannot hear you” face:

1) First I hear the “hiss” (which I proceed to ignore…and I continue walking)

2) Next a clicking sound emits from their mouths (I still don’t pay any attention)

3) Of course, the men must yell out something obscene at me in Spanish

4) If they still don’t get my attention, they resort to yelling out something obscene in English

5) Still no reaction from me…then sometimes they finally resort to talking to me face to face…using actual words and sentences!!! Amazing how using sentences instead of clicking and hissing at someone can initiate an actual conversation!

Yesterday, I had a visitor. It was the wife of one of my counterparts and she was hand delivering a note that was addressed to me, which was written by her husband, my counterpart. First of all, my counterpart lives 1 block from my house. Secondly, my counterpart also has my telephone number. Thirdly, I had a meeting with my counterpart the previous night. This being said, he sent his wife (on a bike) to deliver a handwritten note! The note read as follows (no translating needed, because he wrote it to me in English):

Hi Brie, I hope you are right I need that you are the teacher today I know you can, Today I’m gonna go to Leon and I want you bring an activity and develop it with student as a class. I need that you know much more to the students, and today is your day. I own you a present.

Teaching alone doesn’t scare me, actually I quite enjoy it, but I am here to work with the teachers. Luckily, I had already prepared for the class and I proceeded to give the students a mini-test in order to better assess their skills. I gave some simple directions at the beginning of class:

1) No talking to your friends

2) No cheating, eyes on your own paper

3) No calculators allowed

4) If you don’t understand a question just skip it

5) This is not a graded test and you have as much time to complete it as you need

Here is a brief sampling of the questions I asked on this test/questionnaire:

1) How old are you?

2) Do you have a job? If so, what do you do?

3) What do you like to do during your free time?

4) What does the word “business” mean to you?

5) What is 20% of 18?

6) What are your expectations for the coming year?

This test consisted of a mix of “get to know you questions” and a few basic questions about the subject of business. The result of this test session was rampant cheating!! Yes, even for the questions like “how old are you” and “do you have a job” the students had to look off of one another’s papers. One student didn’t answer those questions at all, and when I approached him about it he said he was going to answer later (which he eventually did, after looking off another student’s paper). No one in the class got the percentage question correct, because they all copied 1 student’s answer, which happened to be incorrect (20% of 18=1.11??). I do not want to insult the class’s abilities or intelligence, because I believe they are all capable and clever. It’s the culture of collective cheating that has to be stopped! Thank goodness they didn’t copy the same “name” or “age” on every paper!! Never the less, the outcome of the test was positive overall; I can now see how many responsibilities these kids have outside of class. Since this school is rather rural, all the students live on a farm. Therefore, they all have farm work, which can be tiring and occupy a lot of time. I also learned that most of my students range from 15 to 22; however, they are all in the same grade and the same class. To finish off the class, and leave the students in a good mood, we played a game. In fact, they loved the game so much that instead of going out to recess they stayed in the class to play a few more rounds. Overall, the questionnaire accomplished 2 objectives, I now know my students skills and their personal interests.

For my birthday, I received a lot of food gifts from my community, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I cannot say it enough, Nicaraguans are very generous people! However, the strangest food gift I received happened to still be alive. Yikes!! I went over to a counterpart’s home to chat and they told me they had a gift (regalo) for me. They asked my permission to go get the gift, and of course I said “sure.” They were gone for about 10 minutes in the backyard (I later realized they were attempting to “catch” my gift during this time period). Of course, my curiosity grew as the time elapsed and finally they came back with a LIVE chicken!! Instantaneously, my mouth drop opened and my eyes widened. My counterpart said, “Brie, I remember you told me that you liked chicken soup, you know I have a very good memory when it comes to these things.” True, I did tell all of my counterparts I liked chicken soup (I also said I liked beef and pig soup…and I just hope no one gives me a live cow or pig). My counterpart preceded to hand me the chicken, smiling proudly, I still stood in front of him with my mouth agape and thinking to myself: what I’m I going to do with this poor chicken? My counter partner then asked me, “You do know how to kill it, right?” I came back with a resounding, “No!?” And he said, “It’s easy, just have your neighbor help you!” So I walked home with the chicken bundled in my arms, and on the way home I was stopped by every person I walked past because they were all curious: Did the gringa buy this chicken? Is she going to eat the chicken? Does she know what a chicken is? I was graciously informed where to buy feed, how much to feed the chicken and most importantly I was told that if I didn’t tie my chicken up it would run away (which secretly I hoped it would do…save your own life chicken…run free into the wild). For a moment, I thought I would “Set my chicken free,” but then I changed my mind. I haven’t eaten chicken in over a month…and I do enjoy chicken…savory and tender…my mouth is watering now as I type this description. So, this Saturday I am having my neighbor kill my chicken and make chicken soup for everyone. I did consider keeping the poor chicken as a pet but I was then informed that 1) the dog at my house would eat the chicken and 2) This type of chicken is really rico (tasty). Therefore I can only say one thing, Buen provecho!

This is a picture of my chicken (before she was turned into soup). Don´t worry I don´t have an after picture!

Quick chicken update, I was just informed that my chicken is a little too small to eat and therefore I must go to the “chicken exchange” to swap her for a bigger bird. Also, I had a minor misunderstanding with one of my neighbors this afternoon. I thought they were asking me “what I like to eat”…and I responded, “chicken.” They adamantly refused this answer and shook their heads “no,” which left me awkwardly gawking and repeating, “what’s the problem with chicken?” Well, it turns out they were really asking me “what does your chicken like to eat.” The proper response to this question would have been rice or corn…imagine their astonishment when I told them I feed my chicken, chicken…Que horrible!

The “Brie Exhibit” will be showing for the next 2 years

Bienvenido a San Juan Del Sur: For my birthday I spent a wonderful day at the beach. Clear blue water, sunny skies and a peaceful atmosphere (what more can a birthday girl ask for?)¿Qué Paso?:

My radio is currently tuned to: Radio Romantico, this station consists of classic American tunes dubbed in Spanish…it always puts a smile on my face to hear “Take My Breath Away” sung in Spanish!

Sign Sighting: Crammed in the back of a routa (local bus) I was able to catch a glimpse of the following shop sign, which read: ¨We Make Shoes, Tacos, and Orthopedic Shoe Inserts.¨ Where else can you eat a fresh taco while having shoes and orthopedic-wear made?

Regalos (gifts) that I have received this week: Squash, pig meat, gallo pinto, and shredded chicken

Interesting question I’ve been asked: Why don’t I have more names? (apparently a first, last and middle name are not enough…most people here have 5 official names and countless nicknames)

Minor Misunderstanding: Someone asked me, “Quire un carmelo (would you like a candy)” To my dismay, the candy in question was really a medicinal cough drop. So apparently, cough drops are also considered candy…I learn something new everyday!

Recent purchase: A plant cleverly called “Sandía (watermelon),” because the leaves look like the rind of a watermelon. I purchased the plant in Estelí, at a little restaurant called La Casita, which I highly recommend to anyone looking for fresh and healthy food. They serve wheat bread, Swiss cheese, brie cheese, tea, coffee, homemade yogurt and homemade granola. They also sell a variety of plants and seeds. My meal cost 30 cords (or $1.66) and my potted plant also cost 30 cords, what a deal!

The sunset at San Juan Del Sur

News flash, I just had a birthday and I am now 23…man, do I feel old. The good news about growing older in Nicaragua is that I am still considered a “youth.” In fact, I will be considered a “youth” up till age 30 or 33ish. My birthday was a lot of fun; I went to teach at my local school and was serenaded with the most bizarre (but wonderful) birthday song I’ve ever heard. The song included lots of clapping, a fast tempo and then a slower tempo, some yelling and then some singing, and to boot it lasted around 7 minutes. Good thing I didn’t have a cake with candles burning, because the candles would have burnt out long before I had a chance to blow them out (7 minutes later). During the song, I was seated in the middle of the room (not by choice, this was where the students placed me). It was a bit uncomfortable to sit in a chair and smile around the room for what seemed like a ridiculously long time, but the song was a wonderful gesture. I ended my day with a dinner of rice and shredded chicken, altogether it was a happy day!

I have recently been hassled by a 20 year old chavalo, whom I will call “Juan Doe”…don’t worry this is not his real name…I am trying to protect his identity. He drives a bus route up North and wants me to come visit him (he’ll even drive me on the big yellow bus for free). He has offered to take me to dinner, to the movies, and to las fiestas. Need less to say, I am not interested. I try to convey this feeling as kindly as possible but it is difficult when the guy is following me everywhere around town on his bicycle. I went into the internet café for 1 hour, and the guy waited outside until I was done. Then he biked (in slow motion) right next to me as I was walking home. In fact, I was surprised that the bike didn’t just tip over, because of the slow pace, but he managed to keep his balance (simply amazing). So, Juan Doe also wants to buy me a cell phone in hopes that he can reach me exclusively. I don’t want to lead this guy on, and I don’t believe I am, because I continue to turn down all of his offers/gestures. But when will he leave me alone?! Obviously, “no” is just not quite getting through to him, and that’s when a brilliant idea popped into my head. Feign ignorance, and tell him that in fact I am married and when he originally asked the question “Usted tiene un novio (do you have a boyfriend),” I misinterpreted it as meaning do I own a “novillo (a young bull),” which obviously I do not, and therefore would answer a definitive “no” to this question. Then I can add, “Oh, but I do have a novio, whoops, I’m still learning Spanish…sorry for the mix-up.” My problem will be solved! “No, I don’t own a young bull but, oh ya, I just remembered I have a boyfriend!”

Central Cathedral in Rivas

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this already in a previous blog, but it’s hot here! After reiterating the obvious, let me get to my point, I have had this occur several times on bus trips, and it absolutely horrifies me: I board a bus, chances are I am taking a minimum 1 hour ride, and strangely the windows of the bus are all rolled up. WHY, WHY, WHY? It’s hot, there is no need to ever roll up the windows, unless rain is pouring in through them, and even then it better be raining really hard to warrant a “window roll-up.” However, I have been on several very unfortunate bus rides where the windows remain rolled up for the entire ride. The reason behind this logic: Women don’t want their hair to be messed up by the wind. My counter-argument: Dripping sweat, to the point where it appears that a person has just stepped out of a pool or a shower, is just gross. It is preferable to have a bad hair day verses a smelly sweaty day. However, this logic clearly does not carry through to others on the bus, because they proceed to roll their windows up. I also feel that heat exhaustion is a likely side effect, due to the lack of free flowing air through the bus. I have yet to find a solution to this conundrum. Yes, I have asked the conductor if I can roll down my individual window…and the answer is NO (because the women around me protest). So this is my next idea: maybe I will have someone ship me my authentic “Sea World handheld fan that shoots out water from the mouth of Shamu the whale.” Perfect, I’ll see how this approach goes over with the people sitting around me…I feel they will finally see the light and allow me to open the window rather than get splashed with whale water mist from my fan.

Whenever I meet a new person, which is every single day, the first few questions they always ask are: are you married, do you have kids, how old are you, and what are you doing here???? I always answer truthfully, however I have been contemplating spicing up my life a little and making a few things up (namely, creating a spouse (Harry) and kids (Hermione and Ron). What, I just got finished reading the final Harry Potter (thanks mom for shipping that out) and those are the names that happen to be on my mind…hopefully no one with notice, maybe I should me more conspicuous? Anyway, the truth has gotten me absolutely nowhere, because once I say the magic words “I’m single,” people start trying to fix me up with their hermano, tio, amigo, cousin, second cousin, …. Basically, they feel sorry for me, and think that I should be dating one of their relatives immediately to alleviate my loneliness. I always try to politely refuse these numerous offers, but it is just an awkward situation. Therefore, I am going to invent a family. My husband, Harry, lives in the United States. He is about 6’ 4” and plays football; he will be visiting me very soon and is also the jealous type (this addition will help to prevent the local guys from hassling me). It’s that simple, all that I need is a ring, which I will purchase for 20 cords at a local market! I haven’t put this plan into action, yet, but I am very tempted!

The U.S. might have Pizza Hut but in Nicaragua we have the Pizza Hot!

The front part of my house serves as my living room, kitchen, dinning room, and occasionally my nap area (thanks to the addition of a hamaca). It is a multipurpose area, and often I open up my front door and windows to let the air flow through the house. However, lately as I’ve gotten to know more of the neighborhood chavalos I have found that opening up my door and windows inadvertently creates the “Brie Exhibit.” Come marvel at the gringa, she cooks, cleans, studies, reads…a very rare species indeed! The children gather outside of my door (usually a group of 5 to 6) and they just stare. Of course, I approach them and ask them questions (how are you, what’s new etc. etc.) but after a while they would rather watch me in my natural domestic habitat. Maybe to entertain the kids I should start making some fun animal noises in my “cage” (but this wouldn’t bode well for the “American” image…so maybe I will resist).

Yesterday, a young girl (age 9) asked what I was going to do with the small bolsa (bag) of huevos (eggs) I had just purchased. I responded “I am going to eat them.” Her face lit up and she said, “Really, when do you eat eggs?” I told her I eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Then she asked what other Nicaraguan foods I liked (when I responded that I like everything, I realized this answer was just not sufficient. She wanted the exact names of comidas (foods)…so I started naming off everything…pollo, huevos, gallo pinto (the mention of this typical dish always elicits a laugh from whomever I’m talking with…still no clue why), sopa de cerdo, sopa de pollo, nacatamal….and the list goes on!

Apparently, there is a big fiesta in December (go figure) and my dance card is already full. My teachers have already planned for me to visit their rural towns and participate in the fiestas. They have proceeded to show me pictures of last year’s festival and the festival from 3 years prior (the both looked the same to me). They are also prepping me for the festival by telling me all the things that go on during the month of December. The excitement exudes from their faces, and it’s rubbing off on me too…now I just have to wait a few months! However, Deciembre will be here before I know it!

Another recipe…the corn tortilla is extremely popular and sells for 1 cord/tortilla in the market place and all around town.

Dish name: Tortilla de Maiz

When do you eat it: Morning, noon and night!!!

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes/tortilla

Ingredients:

- 2 tazas Harina de maiz (2 cups corn flour)

- Sal (pinch of salt)

- Bicarbonate de sodio (1/4 tsp. baking soda)

- ½ taza agua (1/2 cup water)

- Aceite (2 tbsp. vegetable oil)

Directions:

1) In a small bowl mix all dry ingredients: corn flour, salt, and baking soda.

2) Slowly add water in water to form a ball of dough. Be careful not to add too much water.

3) Meanwhile, heat oil in frying pan over low heat.

4) Make 3 inch balls of dough (masa). Flatten the balls into a round flat tortilla shape approximately ¼ inch thick (mas o menos). The dough is sticky, so it is recommend that the dough is flattened on the surface of a large plastic zip-lock bag.

5) Put uncooked tortilla onto heated frying pan. The dough should bubble up a little while it’s cooking. Don’t forget to flip and cook both sides evenly until browned.

This is the dirt road I walk down to reach one of my more rural schools...tranquilo!