Peace at Last

Ah….exhale…inhale…relax. Finally, after ten straight days of visitors, I have a few moments of absolute peace and tranquility and some time to write and catch up. The last ten days have been absolutely crazy, fun, and a bit stressful, with a lot of my Peace Corps buddies coming into Granada to visit me, take advantage of our five days of vacation (that just kinda happened), and stay with me in an incredible house that I am taking care of currently. So starting last Friday (the 12th), I have had at least two people staying with me every single night. They came from Jinotega, Matagalpa, Costa Rica, Chinandega, la isla de Ometepe, Chontales, Boaco, Esteli, and Masaya. I tried to get someone from every single department but ultimately failed. While my guests were here, we basically just partied, bummed around Granada, cooked amazing food, and enjoyed the time off of teaching and working.

Let me back up a bit…..I am currently taking care of a foreigner’s house who is back home on vacation so I just have to take care of her dog and be responsible in exchange for getting to live rent-free for 3 weeks and use her amazing house with cable, internet, washer/dryer, fully stocked kitchen, library, couches, etc. Not a bad deal if I do say so myself! I am going to post a video tour of the house shortly so you can all see an example of a Spanish colonial style house. So being here, also means that I moved out of my host family’s house. Although I was a little sad to leave, I couldnt pass up this opportunity to live in a sick house rent-free. I didnt even realize until a few weeks ago that I had been living with host family’s for 9 of the last 10 months of my life! How crazy is that?!? Anyways, I am enjoying my independence, learning how to cook some Nica food on my own, and really learning about cost of living and prices here. The owner of the house is going to come back on October 1st and then I am going to make my way to another foreigner’s house for at least the month where I will be renting a room. The owner wont actually be in the house but his cuidador lives there so it will just be the two of us hanging out. This next house, though, is not nearly as luxurious as my current house so it will be quite another change.

So about this vacation that just sprung up on me….well the 14th and 15th of September turned out to be Independence Day from the Spanish crown for all of Central America so of course there are parades and parties. Also we got Tuesday and Wednesday off because of course everyone needed time to rest after their days off. I just want to make it absolutely clear, how little school there is here. So I have now been teaching for eight full weeks and during this time we have missed class for the fiestas patronales, the literacy campaign, two exam weeks, and the Independence Day celebrations. So for those keeping score at home, out of the 8 weeks, I’m pretty sure only 4 consisted of classes. And people wonder why Nicaragua is third world….look no further than the educational system.

Anyways, I am not complaining about the time off as I had a wonderful time with my friends but at the same time felt guilty as I feel that I really havent accomplished anything in site as of yet. I have been working, or at least trying to, but with little results so far. I still feel like I am getting my feet wet in many respects even though 8 weeks should be long enough to be a little soaked. But in a big city like Granada (at least by Nica standards) everything takes a bit longer. I just finally found a used bicycle for a decent price so now I can get to class without sweating my ass off, walking through the blistering heat. So I am becoming a better teacher and my relationships with my students and counterparts are improving by the week but due to a lack of continuity everything seems a bit more jagged.

So what else is up with Avi? I started working out and playing basketball. I, along with some other UF and UT grads, tailgated and watched the UF-UT football game. Go Gators! I have seen parts of every single Jaguars game and screamed with joy after Scobee hit the field goal. Go Jags! In some ways, life is pretty normal right now but still it is challenging living in another culture. I am struggling making Nica friends and right now only count two girls as actual friends. I know a lot of people here as I do like to socialize but havent really made many friends. It is partially due to the fact that Nicaraguans are so different when it comes to relationships/friendships and partially because I dont want to completely trust anybody yet. One has to be extra careful in choosing friends here!

Honestly, I am really happy down here, and feel as if things are only going to get better as I get more involved in my work, make more friends, and begin to involve myself in the community. I have lots of another funny stories, etc that I want to share with you and now that I have some time to think/write, I will be doing that. Just realize that when I dont post it usually means I am having too much fun to sit down at a computer and write a post….so its a good thing. But I hope yall are continuing to read my articles in the Mandarin Sun and pretty soon I think I am going to start writing for Peace Corps. I will keep you updated on that….

Mom, the next post will be about a typical day for me….its just that the last couple of weeks havent been typical.

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