Getting Started

I have been in my site since April 3rd, feeling out what the next two years of my life will entail.  Per request, I will be living with an assigned Nica family for at least 8 weeks before seeking a new, more permanent home.  Eight people live in the house, including myself.  It is not as over-crowded as it sounds and I very rarely feel that I lack privacy.

There is running water only one or two days out of the week, which for me means bucket showers every morning!  I have found that it takes a certain level of courage to willingly dump a bowl of cold water over your head.  When the water does come it is collected and stored in barrels or garbage cans, or basically any large container that can hold liquid.  It is then rationed out over the next few days until the water comes again.  When will that be?  No one knows.

I eat gallo pinto (a mix of rice and beans), cuajada (a type of cheese), corn tortillas, and coffee every morning and night.  Only the lunch menu changes from day to day.  The family is very pleased that I eat "like a soldier", which means I will consume almost anything that is placed in front of me.  I usually supplement my daily meals with a banana and a bag of pre-cut mango that I buy from street vendors at 1 córdoba (5 cents) and 5 córdobas (23 cents) respectively.  I also take multivitamins and calcium for good measure.

There are two other volunteers in my site.  Megan is from Oregon and started her service 3 months ago.  She teaches English.  Steve is from California and teaches small business.  He will be replaced by another business volunteer in July.  They are both awesome.

With much more free time on my hands than I had during training I have been finding myself at the internet café daily.  This is a terrible habit as it costs almost $1 every time I go, which is quickly chipping away at my monthly allowance.  At the moment it is a difficult habit to break being that I have not made enough friends to occupy my time and my host family´s preferred pastime is sitting and looking out...

Yesterday I went to the library to check out The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho in Spanish.  This turned out to be more of an adventure than expected (because I didn´t expect it to be an adventure at all).  Apparently one needs to build trust at the public library before being given the privilege of borrowing a book.  I was required to leave my identification as collateral for the tattered novel until I am able to prove myself as a capable book-returner.  It could take months, but I believe that I am up to the challenge!  Little do they know that I have had years of experience in the book-returning business.

Stay tuned this week as I discuss what my job is like and post pictures of my town!


Types of stores in my site:

office supplies
pharmacy
piñatas
photocopies
ice cream (Eskimo)
jewelers
used American clothes
convenience
random collection of things
cell phones

There is also a huge market that mainly sells clothes and produce.