Happy New Year 2010…one month late

Over one month has passed since I have last written or posted anything to this blog. 2009, one of the more interesting years in my short life, has left us making way for a new decade. 2010 surely has already made its mark, effectively destroying the most impoverished country on this side of the hemisphere. It has been great to see the world’s governments and organizations come together to help Haiti recover; it is obviously needed. My only question is why does it always take a true life or death crisis to bring communal, dedicated efforts to alleviate horrible situations? Imagine what we could do as a world if we put forth the same effort and money to actually provide food, shelter, health, and education to those who desperately need it on a daily basis. It seems that the rich countries and organizations seem to only be willing to give a full effort when death is literally staring them in the face. Imminent death, as in the case after the earthquake, provokes action, but slow death through hunger, disease, and inhumane living conditions, provokes animated speeches and false promises.

On that note, happy New Year 2010 to everyone. I hope that your resolutions are still intact and that the gym membership recently purchases is still being used. I, for one, made zero resolutions for this upcoming year. I am not sure why…I just didn’t. Sin resolutions, I still feel extremely positive about this year for my personal life, however not so great about our world, my own country, or my now adopted country of Nicaragua.

In my life, this year should be sunny. Six more months of Peace Corps to spend helping out Granada, spending time with quality people, and enjoying all that Nicaragua has to offer. Soon thereafter (and after receiving my readjustment check from Peace Corps), I should be able to spend time with my family and friends, and travel a bit down here in America Latina. And most importantly, I will get to start a new chapter in the book of my life. Will it be titled, “Entrepreneurial Beginnings”, “Back at Home with Mom and Dad”, “Sleepless Nights in NYC”, or “50 countries-One Year?”

The prospects for the USA and Nicaragua seem more gloomy. On American soil, it seems that Mr. Change President is having a hard time of accomplishing his goals and in the end may not be able to accomplish anything more that getting back to the status quo, which I am sorry my fellow Americans, was not that great. The more time I spend away from the US, the more I realize that lots of other countries are developing rapidly, both socially and economically, while we are developing at an ever slower pace. Mexico City, just passed gay marriage laws. Many places are decriminalizing marijuana. Even more regions are learning how to be environmentally friendly and successful at the same time. Yet, we remained a vastly conservative country, where we cannot even establish a universal health care system, trying to hold onto our place as a superpower instead of leading the world into a new era. I really hope that we are able to actually take this lead or I fear we will end up a shriveled old man talking about the glory days.

However, not all is bad in the US, much is still great and prospering. I cannot say the same for Nicaragua. We seem to be moving backwards down here. A corrupt government seems to moving towards a dictatorship again, there are still no jobs to be found, and society is static. Of course, daily life continues as normal but I do fear for the future and hope that the people will demand a change in how their government treats them.

Now for a deep breath….whew. I was not expecting that introduction above when I began writing but my fingers just could not control themselves. I meant to just update you a little bit on life down here and then add some other posts talking discussing some awesome happenings.

So when I last left you, I was sitting at an Einstein’s Bagel in a mall in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. After that I spent a wonderful weekend, seeing one of my best friends get happily married, and then going to a Jaguars game which unfortunately did not turn out as well as the wedding. I was able to spend a couple days with the parents after that, and then made my way back to the Nicaraguan heat and to do little work and have lots of vacation time.

December in Nicaragua is a great month. All salaried workers get double salary, people busily prepare for the holiday season, and work slows down to a stop. As a teacher down here, there is no class at all, and my other work as a Peace Corps Volunteer was also limited. I hung out with some friends, went to the beach, and had a sleepover with my host sister here in Granada. Fatima had rarely spent a night away from home and her mom trusted me enough to host for a night in Granada. We did a walking tour of the city, ate hummus, falafel, and pita, and went to the Purisima processions in the city. She had a great time and we are hoping to do it again sometime soon.

I then got the wonderful opportunity to take care of my friends’ house for two weeks. Jonathan and Tamara are here living with their two sons for the year to get away from Seattle, enjoy Nicaragua’s beauty, contribute to Granada’s community in many ways, and provide me with a free meal once or twice a week. We have developed a solid friendship over the past 5-6 months and they have truly been invaluable to both my personal and professional life here. So I was asked to take care of their 3 bedroom house with a/c, internet, and a pool. I had to think about it for a few days but then reluctantly let them know that I could make the time. After a couple nights in the house, Christmas Eve was upon us.

I was invited to spend Xmas with my girlfriend’s family in Managua. My third consecutive Xmas spent in Central America. I have never celebrated Christmas in the US so cannot really compare the two but I do enjoy celebrating it down here. People visit their families, there is an incredible firework display at midnight on the 24^th (literally everyone shoots off fireworks lighting up the sky for a good 30 minutes, seriously you have to see it one year), and the food and liquor are a plenty. Regina’s family was less devoted to the religious aspects of the holiday than to the food and liquor which suited me just fine.

With both a food and drink hangover, I headed back to Granada to my luxurious house and prepared for the arrival of two of my best friends’ from the US. I met Michael in kindergarten and Jacob in first grade, and we have remained best friends since. Our parents are friends, we always see each other even when living far away, and plain and simple they are my boys. And finally, they made it down to visit me in Nicaragua. They were really just looking forward to spending time on the beach in nice weather so we took it easy. We did a cigar tour and rolled our own cigars, had a NYE party, went to Laguna de Apoyo and the isletas, and then headed down to San Juan del Sur. We spent 3 nights on the beach (2 nights in the exact same house where I was with my family a year prior), partied a bit, got tan (I promise I did a little bit), and then Michael, Ashley (another friend visiting), Regi, and I learned how to surf our last day there.

We went to Playa Maderas, an absolutely stunning beach (not bad for surfing either), boards in tow, and battled the waves. I think they were like only like 2-3 feet but good for us beginners. I got up on my first try and then realized it really wasn’t that hard to stand on the board. I guess all my athletic abilities didn’t hurt. But we were just riding the waves after they had broken in the shallow water. As soon as we moved out to the deep water, it became way more difficult. We learned how to paddle and how to identify a wave, and in the end I did catch one wave, staying on it for approximately 10 seconds before falling down. It was a lot of fun, and with a few more days of practice, I think I will be ready for my first competition….NOT.

Michael was still here for a few more days so we hung out in Granada, checked out the Masaya market, and went zip lining on Volcan Mombacho. I think my friends left very satisfied with their Nicaraguan vacation. So six more months people. Make your plans. Come visit me, I promise you will love it! Guaranteed.

Throughout the rest of January, I hosted lots of different couch surfers from the US, Colombia, Poland, France, and Russia. It is always great to meet all of these people and share conversations and ideas with them. I get to learn about lots of other countries and societies without having to travel and at the same time am able to been an ambassador for Nicaragua sharing my thoughts and experiences. Most of the travelers are doing short term trips or trips throughout Latin America but one of the guys was doing a 2 year bicycle trip around the world. I shared with him that I could never do that on a bicycle and we he told me that the bicycle company was sponsoring part of his trip, I quickly reconsidered….haha.

That pretty much brings us up to date. In the midst of all the fun I just described, I did actually work but I am saving that for its own post. It deserves it as you will see. And just this week the schools opened again meaning back to a busy work schedule.