Volunteer Visit to Chinandega

I definitely am not a deeply spiritual person, and I do not think that everyone’s destiny is predetermined by nature, but sometimes I am forced to recognize the power of fate. One of these times happened during my volunteer visit in El Viejo, Chinandega. Mike, my volunteer host for the visit, and I were thinking about what we were going to have for dinner. He went through the various options in El Viejo, gallo pinto, gallo pinto, and chicken and rice. Seeing as how I had already eaten the same thing three meals in a row, I decided it would be fun if we cooked our own dinner. Yet, it was already 5:30pm (very late in Nicaragua) so the options at the market were limited. We ended up deciding on pasta, plain old spaghetti with some chunky tomato sauce. Simple to make, cheap, and delicious….or so we thought.

Fate was trying to tell us something about cooking the pasta. As I mentioned previously, it was late so the vegetables and ingredients available were not the ripest of the bunch. The tomatoes we found were also expensive. Then as were walking down the street, it began to absolutely pour….cats and dogs…lions and bears…it was relentless. I ducked into the first store available which happened to be a panaderia (bread store) and Mike with his bicycle made a mad dash for his house with the food to start dinner. I told him that I would buy some bread and somehow make it back to his house. Well the rain, thunder, and lightning would not let up and I began to chat with the panaderia owners. We had a great conversation, they gave me a bunch of free bread, and finally they let me borrow an umbrella so I could venture out into the storm. After an hour or so at the panaderia, I made my mad dash to Mike’s house. The water was already boiling when I got there but we weren’t quite ready for the pasta so we waited a couple of minutes. Guess what happened? The gas went out on his stove. Not discouraged at all, we moved the dinner operations next door to his neighbors kitchen. Then the electricity went out. So we just lit a candle. Then we realized that their stove was not strong enough to boil the water but we were determined to make this pasta so we did. Fate was trying to stop us but we did not listen! Then we feasted on pasta al dente with a tomato, garlic, and onion sauce and some good homemade bread. I cant say it was a delicious feast but it was food that was different. Almost immediately after eating, I felt really, really full and this feeling did not leave when I went back to my hostel (Mike didn’t have anywhere for me to sleep in his very simple, “Fight Club”-esque Peace Corps house so I stayed at a hostel during my visit). Then the fullness turned into pain. Then I tried, with all of my efforts to relieve myself of this pain by sticking fingers, hands, and metal objects down my throat so I would throw up but nothing happened. Finally after about an hour or two of excruciating pain, I threw up for the first time of what would be many times to follow. The night was one of the longest of my life filled with no sleep, lots of pain, lots of vomiting, and lots of dehydration. I was in a dirty hostel in the middle of the night in a town where nothing was open and everyone was asleep. It was not a good situation. Fate was trying to tell me something and I just should have listened. By the way, Mike, who never gets sick, also felt terrible for the next two days. Me, with my weak stomach, well I was still feeling the effects on Saturday. Let me also add that when it rains, it pours. During my night of pain and sickness, I also received lots of friendly bed bug bites! Just reminds me of all the good times during Guatemala.

So the last half of my volunteer visit was a waste but the first half was pretty cool. After meeting Mike at his house, we went to the nearby big city of Chinandega and tried to eat lunch at Subway. Yes, they have Subway there! But it was Sunday so Subway was closed even though the sign blatantly said it should have been opened. I guess the Nicaraguans just decided to not open it on Sunday. Chinandega is a pretty ugly, big city but with lots of conveniences. It will not be a possible site for my group as there is already a business volunteer living there so lets skip to the funny parts of the visits.

I got to judge an English singing contest. It was endearing, embarrassing, and hilarious at the same time. There were 20 groups of students who went on the stage and sung completely random English songs to the best of their abilities. We judged them on pronunciation and inflection. Some songs included those of the backstreet boys, total eclipse of the heart, la isla bonita, yesterday, and my heart will go on. I would have totally given it to the group that sang “Total Eclipse of the Heart” if they had added the line from “Old School” in there (I fucking need you now tonight for those non “Old School” lovers), but in the end a kid that sang a country song did a really good job and was awarded the victory.

Mike is a funny guy and jokes with everyone on the street. A guy came up to ask for money by saying “Dame un peso, amigo” and he responded that not only would he not finance his begging but that he was not his friend. Straight up said, “I am not your friend and I will never be your friend. Actually maybe I will be your enemy.” Then he told the beggar that this other guy had some cordobas and to go ask him. Also Mike loves to do the look there is a stain on your shirt act and tells his students to stay away from him on the street (in a joking manner). Funny guy and definitely inspires me to improve my Spanish as he is fluent.

What more can I say about the volunteer visit? It definitely got me thinking about my future site. Wants, likes, what kind of city, what kind of work, etc. I talked a lot about the actual work of Peace Corps and whether it was achieving its goals. I got to see what my future life might be like and I got to see a volunteer in his last week of service. Mike is going back to the States this Wednesday to begin a MBA program so he was saying his goodbyes, had a farewell party, etc. His farewell party was incredibly sweet with teachers reading poems about him, students singing, and everyone dancing. I only hope that my farewell will be just as sweet and that I will be able to make an impact on many individuals and lives during the next two years.

As you can probably tell by my writing, time is running short at the internet cafe so I am going to post this now. Thanks for all the birthday wishes and I had a kickin’ party this past Saturday night….yay for 24!