Ask Avi- Peace Corps Nicaragua

Please note that the names/hometowns of the persons asking questions have been changed/modified in order to protect the innocent OR names/hometowns and questions have been made up entirely….you decide. Please send additional questions to me at avirich@gmail.com and will be sure to respond to you personally or include the question in the next edition of Ask Avi. I also want to let me dedicated readers know that I want to write about what you want to read about so please send me email, suggestions, and thoughts.

Joshua R. from Johnson City, TN: I can’t believe you are in Nicaragua! So you’re going to be there for how long again? And I know but just want to make sure everyone else knows…where exactly is Nicaragua?

Thanks for thinking of others, Josh. You sound like a sweet guy. I am going to be serving in Peace Corps Nicaragua for almost 27 months (May 2008-July 2010) and the first three months are considered in country training while the next two years I will be living in one particular site TBD in five more weeks! And Nicaragua is basically equidistant from North and South America in the middle of Central America. Here is a map.

Cliff from Norfolk, VA: What exactly is the Peace Corps….some sort of military branch?

Actually, I am unable to disclose that information or I would be forced to end your life in a discreet, swift manner and your family, friends, or the government would never know what happened to you or find your remains. Yes, I am that proficient. Outside of teaching some serious kung fu and espionage (if anyone in the Nicaraguan govt is reading this, I am honestly, seriously just joking!), Peace Corps is a NGO that is receives the majority of its funding from the US government. PC sends “volunteers” around the world to developing countries in order to provide technical assistance and encourage cultural exchange that will hopefully bring about more peace in the future. For more info, go to www.peacecorps.gov

Enrique Iglesias from Miami: What exactly are you going to be doing while in Nicaragua and can I sing you a song?

I am part of the small business program in Nicaragua and will be teaching a course called La Empresa Creativa (creative entrepreneurship class) to high school students and will be working with and advising micro and small businesses in their development. I will also be forming community banks, assisting youth groups to become leaders in community development, building capacity in local people, working in many secondary projects, and trying to start a youth basketball team. On top of all this, I will be sharing my culture and experiences with many Nicaraguans as I learn about their uniqueness. Basically, I’m kinda gonna be a big deal. People will know me. And, yes you can sing me a song, just not “Bailamos”.

Lonely Man in Alaska: Are you there by yourself or with a bunch of other people?

I am just one of 38 other people that comprise the group Nica 47, meaning that we are the 47^th group to work for Peace Corps Nicaragua (I think since PC was reinstated here although it could be from the start). Originally there were 40 in Nica 47 but one never showed up in DC for training and another one left a week ago due to a serious illness in the family. Of the 38 remaining, 19 are in the small business program and 19 will be English teachers. The small business folks all live in training towns close to each other and we see each other at least every Wednesday and Friday for training/information sessions. I really enjoy all the people in my group and we will definitely be a great support system for each other and have A LOT of fun as time goes on.

Bobby from El Paso, Texas: What is Nicaragua like? I have never been out of the country. Is it really that different?

Yes, it really is that different. Not so different from Guatemala but different enough. Nicaragua is very poor, pretty hot, has a lot of lakes and volcanoes, and the people almost all speak Spanish. Most houses are constructed with adobe, tin roofs, and do not have insulation or most other amenities. Most people grow up in the same towns/cities that they die in and do not travel much within the country. Infrastructure is poor, lots of dirt roads, the country is about the size of New York with 7 million people, and lots of animals everywhere. I believe that the average number of children still stands at 5 (not entirely sure). I do know that the country is very underdeveloped and has a lot of opportunity to grow. In Nicaragua you can experience Mother Nature at her finest and go to some great beaches. And people do have cell phones, tv, there are internet cafes in most cities, cars, buses, there is a strong sense of community, and people seem pretty happy. The culture is also very, very different and extremely interesting but I will write more about that later as time goes on.

My siblings from Jacksonville: Wow…that sounds awesome…can I come to visit?

You definitely can but you will have to wait until at least October as by then I should be established in my site and most likely will have my own place. One can only live with a host family for so long. Just make sure you check the CDC website to see what shots are recommended before coming down as there are a few. I really do encourage anyone who is at all interested to come and visit me and Nicaragua. You will probably never have another chance to have a place to stay and a willing host and tour guide in the land of lakes and volcanoes. Just let me know in advance! Also check Spirit Airlines for good deals into Managua.

The Unabomber from a maximum security prison: How can I send you mail, like a birthday card, money, and other stuff from the States?

Easy enough Teddy. You can just mail it. My address is as follows:

Avi Richman, PCT
Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 3256
Managua, Nicaragua
Central America

This will be my address from now through at least Sept 1. After that I will most likely have a different address. Here are some other funny suggestions stolen from another Peace Corps blog that you can do to ensure that whatever you’re sending actually arrives:

- Write my name as “Father Avi Richman”. It’s a pretty religious country, with Catholicism being the dominant religion.

- Cover it with religious symbols (stickers, drawings).

If you’re going to mail something that doesn’t fit in a regular envelope (like toothpaste or something), send it in a padded envelope (no more than 2 lbs). If it all won’t fit in a padded envelope, send two envelopes. Sending a box is a no-no, as it will result in the receiver (me) going to the Managua airport and likely paying more to customs than the package is actually worth. When declaring the value in customs – make the value really low. Doesn’t matter the size, just low. For practical purposes, just put 5 dollars.

Jacque from Paris, France: What’s the best way to get in touch with you?

Email or Cell Phone. My email address is avirich@gmail.com and I check it every couple of days. My cell number is (505) 917.5597 and is always near me so call anytime. Right now I am two hours behind EST but once daylight savings time ends in the States, I will be only one hour behind. Holla!

Mother Teresa from heaven: I heard that everyone has malaria down there….is that true?

It is mostly true. So far everyone I have met has either malaria, dengue, or some other bad disease. Ok, just kidding. But yes, malaria and dengue, among other diseases are much more common here than the States but they still only affect a small percentage of the population and the worst cases are on the Atlantic Coast, aka the Mosquito Coast where most people don’t hang out. With proper precautions such as clothing, repellant, and anti-malaria pills, your chances of getting a serious disease are pretty slim. Still, you may get something as the standards of cleanliness are completely different here so bring a good book for some possibly extended toilet time.

Homer S. from Springfield: How is the food, chico?

Not too shabby so far. Lots of the same stuff as in Guatemala. Eggs, cheese, potatoes, rice, beans, corn. The most famous food item is called Gallo Pinto and is a basic mixture of red beans and rice. Pretty tasty. A lot of food is fried here and I do miss my vegetables but thankfully there are tons of fruits right now.

Santa Claus from the North Pole: I heard it is hot, hot, hot. Do they have a/c or what?

Generally no a/c except for big businesses, touristy places, and hotels. However it is available but it’s probably just way too expensive for most of the country and they have lived an eternity without it. Only the wealthier people have a/c. I do really believe that if a/c was more widespread in this country, a lot more work could be done as it does get really hot during the day. And when it is that hot, people just sit around in their houses and complain about the heat and don’t do too much. The heat definitely makes you lazy! However, I will say that the rainy season has officially started in Nicaragua and the rain keeps everything nice and cool so its not too bad.

Concerned Grandmother from Long Island: Any hot Jewish Nicaraguan chicks down there?

Everything is possible but it is extremely unlikely that I will meet a hot Jewish chick down here. There is a very small Jewish community consisting of about 15 families and hopefully I will get a chance to meet them and hang out in the future. Rest assured, bubee, that I will keep you updated.

Michael Scott from the Scranton branch: How are you surviving without me and “The Office?”

I definitely miss you Michael but I have to say that I miss Dwight a bit more. However, I am looking into ways to watch tv shows on the internet so hopefully I will see you soon. And it would be really nice if someone burned a dvd for me on missed episodes and sent them to me.

Naked Cowboy from NYC: What will you miss most during your service?

I am going to go with football, family and friends, knowing what the hell is going on in the world, internet, sushi, traditional American food, air conditioning, being independent, sleeping late, not having to think about everything when I speak, barbeque, holidays, Jewish holidays, Saturdays at the Swamp, and the list could go on. However, even though I will miss many things, I believe that the gains will more than make up for it.

Warren Buffet from NYC: How much do you get paid?

Ha. It is actually amusing how little I get paid right now but in comparison to other Nicaraguans, I am doing just fine. Technically speaking, I get almost two whole dollars a day to live off but that is not including food and shelter which is provided by our host families. Once I move out to my site, I will get paid more as I will be paying for my own food, utilities, shelter, etc. PC strongly recommends that we all live close to the standards of the average Nicaraguan and is thus helping us achieve this by keeping our pay low. But really it’s all good and we get paid enough to get by.

All my hoes in different area codes: Are you allowed to visit the States during your two years? Do you get to take vacation time? Basically, I miss you already and want to see you.

Calmate, paciencia. Yes, I am allowed to visit the States as I accrue two days of vacation per month of service. However, I will probably only be coming back once a year to visit my family in Jacksonville so make plans to come on down here. I promise to show you a good time J

Not just a self-published author…

I was published in the Mandarin section of the Florida Times Union, Jacksonville’s local paper! This is just one part of what will be a bunch of articles over the next two years (at least I hope they still like me by then). And this was published last weekend but just havent had the two seconds of time to post the link…

“Off to Nicaragua to serve in Peace Corps, and he’ll write”

Enjoy!

Ballin´ Nica Style

As I lay in my bed icing the side of my face, listening to some music, wondering why the fan (aka my best friend) refuses to work, and looking around at the adobe walls, tin roof, and various insects of my bedroom, I cannot help but smile from ear to ear and pause for some reflection. This is my life in Nicaragua. I have a great host family, a youth group, a weekly class to teach, a great group of fellow PC volunteers, and a newly purchased cell phone. I love the fact that when it rains, it cools down the earth, that all of the kids stare at me and wonder what this gringo is doing here, and that soon my Spanish will be good enough to be mistaken for a native speaker. And it’s not really THAT hot here and I am adjusting to life without air conditioning just fine. Granted this will only be life for another ten weeks and then I will start over from ground zero again at my actual site but still this is my very own Nicaraguan life. I will be living here for the next 26.5 months and honestly cannot wait to experience it all.

So let’s go back to the ice on my face right now. I just returned from playing on the Catarina basketball team (another training site with other PC volunteers) in the nearby big city of Masaya. It was amazing. The setting was perfect. A dimly lit basketball court at the base of a historic, beautiful, towering church with around a hundred people gathered around to watch the nightly games. The court was cement with great hoops, solid nets, and neatly painted lines. The Catarina team had invited me and another volunteer, Coburn, who is living in Catarina, to play for them in their bi weekly games. We even have sweet uniforms that we get to wear every game. The league seems to be one of the best organized that I have ever seen, complete with officials and all. So the game was absolutely incredible. Nicaraguans are a feisty bunch and are honestly pretty damn good basketball players. I was highly impressed. I ended up playing a full three quarters and was tired as hell but the coach (yes we have a coach) did not want to take me out. My guess is that as this was my first game, he wanted to make sure that I played a lot to get me excited about the team and from here on out will probably play less. Smart dude. So anyways, we were playing from behind from the very beginning of the game as the other team quickly took a 10-0 lead but we fought back and finally took the lead midway through the fourth quarter. Then it was domination time and we took the game easily by seven points. It was honestly an unbelievable experience full with a pickup truck ride back and forth with the entire team of 10….okay it was unbelievable except for one part. As I alluded to previously, the game was very feisty and physical. I took a few elbows to the face throughout the game and as the other team began to get frustrated as we were taking the lead in the final minutes, I received a full blow to the side of my face after the whistle. For whatever reason, this dumbass on the other team decided that he could intentionally elbow me in the side of my face. Thankfully the refs saw it, he was tossed from the game, I kept my cool, and then drained the two free throws to solidify our lead. Anyways, he got me real good and I wont be surprised to see some beautiful colors on my face tomorrow. A quick fyi….as part of the Peace Corps rules, we are not allowed to instigate any fight and if we do, we will risk being thrown out of the country. In this case, I may have been able to get away with self defense but as I truly believe, fighting never really achieves anything. So I lay here continuing to ice with the only satisfaction that matters. We won the game.

The Peace Corps Life

Among all of the many cultural and environment adjustments with whom I continue to battle daily (primarily the fact that the normal day here is from 5:30am-9pm), is a really busy life of doing real work as part of the Peace Corps. And being in the advanced Spanish group just translates to having less actual Spanish class and more work out in the community. Let’s see…in only one week in Masatepe, I, along with Owen, Richard (aka Ricardo and Goggins), and Jordan, have formed a new youth group and had the first meeting, met with the vice mayor and waited over an hour to meet with the actual mayor but never did (he was on La Hora Nica), gave a short presentation introducing ourselves to the classrooms that we will begin teaching this week, visited and observed a current volunteer teaching class in La Concepcion (another community), met with the police chief, drew a community map, and learned a whole bunch of Nica slang. By the way, we did this all in just three days in Masatepe, as Wednesday was spent in a nearby community in technical sessions learning about the small business program, Friday was spent in Managua getting more shots, seeing our TEFL (the teaching English group) friends, and learning more in sessions, and Saturday was spent at another nearby community in more technical skills sessions. Whew, I am tired just writing that.

So how terrified was I going in front of a classroom full of high school kids and introducing myself and the Peace Corps all in Spanish? Surprisingly, not so much. We had practiced the presentation a couple of times and even though we all made mistakes, it seemed to be well received by the four 10^th grade classrooms that we visited. We cracked some jokes, I mentioned that Jacksonville was THE best city in the United States (they all loved that), and even brought in some props. After the presentation to all the classrooms, the 4 of us split up to observe the different classes in order to decided amongst us which classroom we would teach for the course of the training period. I observed the class that seemed to be the most rambunctious of them all and spent 30 minutes inside the classroom only to observe that no actual teaching went on at all. Absolutely none. The teacher had no control of the kids and just spent most of the time at her desk or arguing with them over an assignment that many groups did not complete. Anyways, the 4 of us reconvened afterwards to discuss which class we would receive and of course, I was given (definitely did not choose) the class that I observed. I am pretty sure I am giving my first class/lecture that is supposed to last for 45 minutes on Tuesday and I am pretty sure that there will be some great stories to report.

On the same day that we all observed the classes, Owen and I met with our youth group for the very first time. We have 15, 15 year old kids, about an even mix of boys and girls, that the school helped us to form. During the first meeting, Owen and I introduced ourselves, we played a few icebreakers that were well received, and explained the purpose of the youth group. Peace Corps requires us all to work with youth groups in our training sites as part of our personal training program and to help build capacity in youth to bring change to their communities. Each youth group has to decide on and execute a project by the end of the 12 weeks that will serve to benefit the community or the youth in their development. Anyways, we gave them cookies and I think they all had a good time and we are meeting again tomorrow, Monday, for the second time. I think we are going to do a field day with relay races and stuff. On Thursday, our third meeting, we will begin to discuss more serious topics and develop ideas for the group project.

As you can see, a lot has been going on here. A lot. I am trying to keep up with the writing but it can be difficult at times. We also only get 35 Cordobas a day which converts to $1.80 so internet time can add up. Anyways, I am having a wonderful time so far just learning and figuring out what all is going on around me and with Peace Corps. If you have any questions, just send them in and I will try to do a FAQ/Ask Avi Part 2 Peace Corps Version in this upcoming week.

And oh, the strike ended on Friday! Now I get to ride the buses instead of having Peace Corps pick me up in an air conditioned van and take me to all the sessions in other communities!

The Peace Corps Life is a tough one!

I told you the Peace Corps was tough

Peace Corps Technical Skills Training (aka trying to win the game by popping other´s balloons)

Las Muchas Fiestas de Masatepe

On my way to the cyber yesterday, as I passed by a drunk lying face down in the dirt (let’s hope he wasn’t dead), a line dance class of 50 partners taking place in the middle of the street, and hundreds of people gathered with sticks and terrified looks on their faces in Masatepe’s version of Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls, I officially decided that I had arrived in Nicaragua. Not that I had not witnessed other crazy events and amazing cultural differences in the first ten days, but it was just this seemingly simple walk to the cyber that put it all in context. I am absolutely, undeniably, without a doubt no longer in the United States and am firmly and unquestionably in the entirely different world of Masatepe, Nicaragua. My buddy Owen keeps on mentioning that this place is like Disneyland because you honestly don’t believe what you see half the time.

Under normal circumstances, I would not have been able to witness some of the crazy happenings in Masatepe in just one week but the fact is that my arrival corresponded with the first day of Masatepe’s annual fiesta patronale that celebrates a saint or something. The week long celebration (it may even go longer…I honestly have no idea) has been a lot of fun, kinda crazy, and a wonderful introduction to life in Nicaragua. It all started last Sunday with a gigantic parade, called La Ipica, that basically consists of thousands of horses, mostly drunk, with their riders, mostly drunk, high stepping through the streets while thousands of people gather to watch. There are also a couple of floats, one was the national beer company, and another had 15 year old girls doing booty dances, but primarily just tons of horses. How more people do not get hurt during the ipica absolutely amazes me. The horses (remember a lot of them drunk) battle for space on the road with kids, babies, cars, bicycles, street vendors, and other horses. Frequently the horses back into the hoards of people lining the streets but amazingly they never seemed to kick anyone at just the right time. It really is “organized” chaos. One person did fall off their horse and hundreds gathered to attend to his injury but other than that, accidents were few and far between. My friend took some video and I hope to be able to send yall a link in the near future.

Throughout the week there have been carnival games surrounding parque central and fireworks going off sporadically at 5am, 9pm, and just whenever and many other random events and fiestas. I rode the mini rollercoaster with my little sisters and also got to take on some other Nicaraguans head on in the bumper car arena. And last night, my family and I went out to parque central to watch the “big” fireworks show that included people running around carrying boxes of fireworks/sparklers draped over their body through the crowds as everyone fled as quickly as possible to escape the crazed individuals. Honestly, though, I would have run with the fireworks if they let me. Then, I capped off the night and the week by dancing Latino style at a big party in the park with Owen and his sister and friends that cost 70 Cords (very pricey here) to get into but had free rum all night (which was free for a reason).

Still, with all of this parranda, partying, going on, almost all of it takes place on the weekend. The weeknights, still involve chilling on the front porch with family and a multitude of visitors and chatting, relaxing, etc. I also have been told by numerous people that once the annual fiesta ends, the city goes back to being a very tranquilo place of 12,000 Nicas. All hail the rocking chair!

One of the bulls in the Running of the Bulls

Bumper Car Kings

Dancing in the Streets