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.