the decorated church
dancing
the finished cakes!!
all the quincianerasSunday, December 14, 2008
icing the cakes
beginning the icing on the manufactured 15.
Now you can't even tell the 5 is made up of random chunks of cake!
The finished 1.
The finished 5. 
Round cakes in various stages of icing.
baking cakes
ingredients... lots of them!
Mixing the cake in the big mixer.
Baking the cakes.
Un-burning the cakes.
The long cakes that would eventually form the number 15.quincianeras, dia de visita, "summer" vacation, purisimas, gradiation...
If you couldn't guess from the subject, it's been busy here since school got out! Monday, Nov 24 we celebrated the quincianera (15th birthday) of all the kids who turned 15 in 2008. It's a much bigger deal for the girls, but they celebrate with the boys too. So I helped make the cakes, and we sure made a LOT of cakes. I think we made 16 or so round cakes and then a few loooong pan cakes that we then cut to make a "15". We baked all Sunday afternoon from about 3 until 8 at night. And then all Monday morning we iced cakes. I'm not so good at icing. I can get it on the cake, but it doesn't look so pretty. So the others made it pretty. :-)
The actual celebration started in the late afternoon with a mass, and then afterwards there was a big dinner and celebration. It was a really nice day and the kids all really enjoyed it I think.
The next week was the first week of vacation, but we didn't really have a whole lot planned. A lot of us used that week to write reports. And then Thursday was Thanksgiving, which we cooked with Shirley in the monastery. It was a really nice meal, and then my family called later and I got to talk to lots of people, so that was nice.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving was the last dia de visita of 2008 (the day the kids' family members come visit. So we all went to San Jorge. And what do you know, it picked THAT day to be rainy all day. Even though the rainy season is officially over, and it hadn't rained for a week or two... So that was annoying 'cause everyone was kinda wet and muddy. But things went pretty well and I didn't see too many sad kids, so that was good.
The next week we started vacation activities. I'm working in the library, so that's pretty fun. Except that when the kids get there, there are like 15 kids yelling "Elizabeth!! Get me a book! I want a book!! Not that book, another book!!" But mostly it's ok. And when there are kids that are actually interested in finding a good book to read, then that's fun to help them.
In the afternoons we were busy with purisimas. They actually started the Friday after Thankgiving, but since I had descanso I didn't go until later. It took me a while to figure out what we were celebrating, but finally I figured out it was the conception of Mary, not Mary's conception of Jesus. At first I thought maybe it was the conception of Jesus, but nope. I guess Dec 8 is the actual day, but in Nicaragua they celebrate for 9 days before. I'm not sure why, but they do! The celebrations involve making an alter to put Mary on, and shooting very loud firecrakers, and singing (out of tune, 'cause everyone here sings out of tune), and there were some prayers, but usually the kids were making too much noise and I couldn't hear that part. And then afterwards whoever is hosting hands out food to everyone, which is really the only thing most of the kids seem to care about.
So Saturday the 6th it was the volunteers' turn to host. Since NPH is trying to save money, we made cookies 'cause cookie ingredients aren't too expensive. So Saturday morning Lola and I made 700 cookies, and put them in bags. It was pretty crazy, but the kids liked it, so that was good. Then Sunday was the "griteria" which meant that three different places made alters and the kids just went and yelled (gritar) and sang and then got food. And then since Monday was the actual day of the Immaculate Conception, they had a bigger (and more serious) celebration and prayed the rosary (I think). So the whole purisimas thing was interesting to see, because there's certainly nothing like it in the States.
On Wednesday of this past week (the 10th), the volunteers hosted a gathering for the tios. So I made cookies again (but not so many!) and they tios all came over in the evening and we had a nice time. We'd done it a few times before, so we wanted to do it one more time before the end of the year.
Thursday we went out to eat in Moyogalpa for Kiki's birthday, so that was fun. And then I'm going to make her a cake for Monday at the volunteer dinner.
Friday started my descanso, but I couldn't go anywhere because yesterday was promociones (graduation). They make a big deal about graduation from primary school (6th grade) because so many Nicaraguans don't finish secondary school. Even among the kids at NPH, there are a lot who probably won't, because amoung the graduates (of 6th grade) the ages ranged from 12 to 18 year old. So some of the older ones will probably go to a technical school rather than to high school. So yesterday afternoon we had a mass and a ceremony in the church, and then a nice dinner afterwards.
The rest of this descanso I'm just going to relax, 'cause there has been so much going on!! If all the activities and events weren't enough, NPH is also dealing with two separate "crises". First, this thing with the government (that I've written about before) is still being a problem. In every official meeting with the government, they say that NPH is fine, and we can keep working. But then they randomly send list of 20 kids that we have to send home. NPH is already one of only 4 centers that has been allowed to remail open. I think the government kinda wants the remaining centers to be more "transitional" centers where kids just come for a few weeks until something else can be worked out. But that's not really at all what NPH as an organization is about. So the directors are talking to the governement and NPH international is sending letters, so we'll see what happens. And if that wasn't enough, NPH international is also REALLY short on money, because the economic problems int he world are really affecting their donations. Budgets have been reduced by 30%, so pretty much anything that's nice essential is getting cut. They're really trying to have enough money to feed and clothe and house and care for the kids. So if you're looking for a place to donate for Christmas, you could consider NPH (www.nph.org). Because of both these reasons, none of the kids are going to move to the new property in Jinotepe. It would cost more money to maintain another house and then we'd ahve to deal with different government offices. So everyone is staying here.
Oh! And the NPH Nicaragua soccer teams did really well in a tournament between all the NPH homes. The girls won and the boys came in second. So that was exciting!
The actual celebration started in the late afternoon with a mass, and then afterwards there was a big dinner and celebration. It was a really nice day and the kids all really enjoyed it I think.
The next week was the first week of vacation, but we didn't really have a whole lot planned. A lot of us used that week to write reports. And then Thursday was Thanksgiving, which we cooked with Shirley in the monastery. It was a really nice meal, and then my family called later and I got to talk to lots of people, so that was nice.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving was the last dia de visita of 2008 (the day the kids' family members come visit. So we all went to San Jorge. And what do you know, it picked THAT day to be rainy all day. Even though the rainy season is officially over, and it hadn't rained for a week or two... So that was annoying 'cause everyone was kinda wet and muddy. But things went pretty well and I didn't see too many sad kids, so that was good.
The next week we started vacation activities. I'm working in the library, so that's pretty fun. Except that when the kids get there, there are like 15 kids yelling "Elizabeth!! Get me a book! I want a book!! Not that book, another book!!" But mostly it's ok. And when there are kids that are actually interested in finding a good book to read, then that's fun to help them.
In the afternoons we were busy with purisimas. They actually started the Friday after Thankgiving, but since I had descanso I didn't go until later. It took me a while to figure out what we were celebrating, but finally I figured out it was the conception of Mary, not Mary's conception of Jesus. At first I thought maybe it was the conception of Jesus, but nope. I guess Dec 8 is the actual day, but in Nicaragua they celebrate for 9 days before. I'm not sure why, but they do! The celebrations involve making an alter to put Mary on, and shooting very loud firecrakers, and singing (out of tune, 'cause everyone here sings out of tune), and there were some prayers, but usually the kids were making too much noise and I couldn't hear that part. And then afterwards whoever is hosting hands out food to everyone, which is really the only thing most of the kids seem to care about.
So Saturday the 6th it was the volunteers' turn to host. Since NPH is trying to save money, we made cookies 'cause cookie ingredients aren't too expensive. So Saturday morning Lola and I made 700 cookies, and put them in bags. It was pretty crazy, but the kids liked it, so that was good. Then Sunday was the "griteria" which meant that three different places made alters and the kids just went and yelled (gritar) and sang and then got food. And then since Monday was the actual day of the Immaculate Conception, they had a bigger (and more serious) celebration and prayed the rosary (I think). So the whole purisimas thing was interesting to see, because there's certainly nothing like it in the States.
On Wednesday of this past week (the 10th), the volunteers hosted a gathering for the tios. So I made cookies again (but not so many!) and they tios all came over in the evening and we had a nice time. We'd done it a few times before, so we wanted to do it one more time before the end of the year.
Thursday we went out to eat in Moyogalpa for Kiki's birthday, so that was fun. And then I'm going to make her a cake for Monday at the volunteer dinner.
Friday started my descanso, but I couldn't go anywhere because yesterday was promociones (graduation). They make a big deal about graduation from primary school (6th grade) because so many Nicaraguans don't finish secondary school. Even among the kids at NPH, there are a lot who probably won't, because amoung the graduates (of 6th grade) the ages ranged from 12 to 18 year old. So some of the older ones will probably go to a technical school rather than to high school. So yesterday afternoon we had a mass and a ceremony in the church, and then a nice dinner afterwards.
The rest of this descanso I'm just going to relax, 'cause there has been so much going on!! If all the activities and events weren't enough, NPH is also dealing with two separate "crises". First, this thing with the government (that I've written about before) is still being a problem. In every official meeting with the government, they say that NPH is fine, and we can keep working. But then they randomly send list of 20 kids that we have to send home. NPH is already one of only 4 centers that has been allowed to remail open. I think the government kinda wants the remaining centers to be more "transitional" centers where kids just come for a few weeks until something else can be worked out. But that's not really at all what NPH as an organization is about. So the directors are talking to the governement and NPH international is sending letters, so we'll see what happens. And if that wasn't enough, NPH international is also REALLY short on money, because the economic problems int he world are really affecting their donations. Budgets have been reduced by 30%, so pretty much anything that's nice essential is getting cut. They're really trying to have enough money to feed and clothe and house and care for the kids. So if you're looking for a place to donate for Christmas, you could consider NPH (www.nph.org). Because of both these reasons, none of the kids are going to move to the new property in Jinotepe. It would cost more money to maintain another house and then we'd ahve to deal with different government offices. So everyone is staying here.
Oh! And the NPH Nicaragua soccer teams did really well in a tournament between all the NPH homes. The girls won and the boys came in second. So that was exciting!
Friday, November 21, 2008
final exams, a weekend in Salinas, and my comatose computer
This is from today!
It's been a really long time, but things have been really busy here. The first few weeks of November I was trying to fit in as many aula de recurso appointments as possible, because final exams were coming up. The exact starting date was a mystery for a good while. First I was told it was the 17th, then the 14th, then the 13th. Around the time they told me they'd start the 13th, the also announced that there wouldn't be classes the 7th or 10th (Friday and Monday) because Sunday the 9th was the elections in NIcaragua so the goverenment have given everyone those days off. I'm not really sure why... So that took two MORE school days away, so there was even less opportunity to work with my kids.
Because of the shortened time, Michelle needed to do some extra reviews, so I helped her with review sessions on the 9th. I quickly understood why she wanted help, 'cause the kids yelled "teacher teacher" and didn't wait very patiently at all. But I think we helped them somewhat, at least the ones that showed up!
Then when I got back to class on the 11th, the teachers told me that they weren't going to start exams 'til the 17th. The secondary school was going to start the 13th, but the primary kids didn't start so early. So I got an extra few days of classes. On the 14th I should have had descanso, but because of an event on the 15th, our descanso was changed to Sunday-Wed (just that once). So Michelle was giving her test on the 14th, so I offered to help out. Somehow she is supposed to give a test in three rooms simultaneously. I dunno how anyone ever manages that... The other teachers help to proctor, but still... kids taking tests usually have questions. So I took over first year. The kids asked a lot of questions, some legitimate questions about the directions, and some just "how do you say ____ in English". Nice try kids... but I'm not going to fall for that.
Saturday the 15th was a big event sponsored by ANF, America Nicaragua Foundation, or something like that. So there were a bunch of games going on all day, and we had a nice lunch and the kids from Casa Asis came. It was nice, but we were very tired at the end!
Sunday Michelle and I left for descanso. We went to Salinas to visit my host family. So we had a very relaxing descanso. We read books, watched movies, went to church, and corrected the English tests. We also enjoyed my host mom's good food. A lot of my friends weren't around (because it's final exam time, so those in University were still gone and those in secondary school were busy in school). But I saw a few people. For those of you who know Salinas people, I saw Agustin and his wife (Petrona) and their two month old baby daughter who's name I can't remember 'cause I've never heard it before. But the baby is super cute. I also saw Arelyz one night, she says hi to everyone. And I saw Alma, who invited me to her wedding on Dec 27. I don't think any of us know her fiance because he's in Costa Rica. He's an engineer or something... Anyway, and the family also sends greetings to everyone.
We left pretty early on Wednesday (the 6:30 bus) so that we'd have time to go to the grocery store and still catcht h 10:30 ferry. Michelle had to get back to meet with some kids that afternoon. We got lucky and met up with Shirley and some people she knows on the ferry, and got a ride back to NPH. It's always great when that happens.
Oh, and my computer... So before I left on descanso, I had realized that many times my computer didn't want to come on. The power light would come on, and the lights that indicate num lock or caps lock would too, but it wouldn't make any noise, and after like 10 seconds the lights would go back off. I was eventually able to urge it on, but it made me very wary of turning it off. So the weeks before descanso I was just making it "sleep" rather than actually shutting it off, and it stayed working. But I didn't feel like I should leave it sleeping when I left for 4 days, so I turned it off, realizing it might never come on again. Sure enough, when I got back, it did NOT want to come on, even though I pushed the on button many many times. So I decided it was probably dead. Yesterday I got tio Benito to let me in the Cyber, so I used a computer there. Today I decided to try it again, what the heck?!? Stranger things have happened. And what do you know, the first time, it comes right on! I don't get it. So I decided it was just a coma, rather than death. I just know I'm not going to turn it off again until I have to!! I'm hoping it'll last another 6 weeks. Then I leave NPH and go to Salinas, and I don't need it in Salinas. And then I go home, where hopefully there will be a nice new computer that my parents found in some Christmas sale waiting for me. And then I can pay them back with my nice grad school loan money. So really, it doesn't have to work for that much longer!!! If anyone has any tips for extending the life of an almost dead computer, I'd love to hear them!!
So today was the last day of classes. Monday is the quincianeras celebration (15th birthday party for all the girls who turned 15 this year). And then starts vacation schedule, but we haven't really planned anything yet... Thursday Michelle and I are going to cook Thanksgiving dinner with Shirley, and the other volunteers and the monastery workers are going to help us eat. And then Friday starts the Purisimas, which is something to do with Mary, but I'm not really sure what. But it's 9 days long, and we're responsible for one day. BUt they put us at the end, so we can watch everyone else and figure out what to do. So we'll see what's up with that!
Oh and my kids!!! Out of the 18 kids that I worked with this year (some I worked with all year, some I stopped partway through 'cause they didn't need it, and some I started partway through) 12 passed all their classes, 3 failed only one class, so they have to take an exam in January, and if they pass it with 60% they pass the year, and 3 failed a lot of classes and failed the year. Two of those it was because they didn't try, and 1 I think really has problems. Also, all three of those failed 5 classes or so first semester, so i didn't really figure they could pass. So I was pretty happy with how things turned out!!
It's been a really long time, but things have been really busy here. The first few weeks of November I was trying to fit in as many aula de recurso appointments as possible, because final exams were coming up. The exact starting date was a mystery for a good while. First I was told it was the 17th, then the 14th, then the 13th. Around the time they told me they'd start the 13th, the also announced that there wouldn't be classes the 7th or 10th (Friday and Monday) because Sunday the 9th was the elections in NIcaragua so the goverenment have given everyone those days off. I'm not really sure why... So that took two MORE school days away, so there was even less opportunity to work with my kids.
Because of the shortened time, Michelle needed to do some extra reviews, so I helped her with review sessions on the 9th. I quickly understood why she wanted help, 'cause the kids yelled "teacher teacher" and didn't wait very patiently at all. But I think we helped them somewhat, at least the ones that showed up!
Then when I got back to class on the 11th, the teachers told me that they weren't going to start exams 'til the 17th. The secondary school was going to start the 13th, but the primary kids didn't start so early. So I got an extra few days of classes. On the 14th I should have had descanso, but because of an event on the 15th, our descanso was changed to Sunday-Wed (just that once). So Michelle was giving her test on the 14th, so I offered to help out. Somehow she is supposed to give a test in three rooms simultaneously. I dunno how anyone ever manages that... The other teachers help to proctor, but still... kids taking tests usually have questions. So I took over first year. The kids asked a lot of questions, some legitimate questions about the directions, and some just "how do you say ____ in English". Nice try kids... but I'm not going to fall for that.
Saturday the 15th was a big event sponsored by ANF, America Nicaragua Foundation, or something like that. So there were a bunch of games going on all day, and we had a nice lunch and the kids from Casa Asis came. It was nice, but we were very tired at the end!
Sunday Michelle and I left for descanso. We went to Salinas to visit my host family. So we had a very relaxing descanso. We read books, watched movies, went to church, and corrected the English tests. We also enjoyed my host mom's good food. A lot of my friends weren't around (because it's final exam time, so those in University were still gone and those in secondary school were busy in school). But I saw a few people. For those of you who know Salinas people, I saw Agustin and his wife (Petrona) and their two month old baby daughter who's name I can't remember 'cause I've never heard it before. But the baby is super cute. I also saw Arelyz one night, she says hi to everyone. And I saw Alma, who invited me to her wedding on Dec 27. I don't think any of us know her fiance because he's in Costa Rica. He's an engineer or something... Anyway, and the family also sends greetings to everyone.
We left pretty early on Wednesday (the 6:30 bus) so that we'd have time to go to the grocery store and still catcht h 10:30 ferry. Michelle had to get back to meet with some kids that afternoon. We got lucky and met up with Shirley and some people she knows on the ferry, and got a ride back to NPH. It's always great when that happens.
Oh, and my computer... So before I left on descanso, I had realized that many times my computer didn't want to come on. The power light would come on, and the lights that indicate num lock or caps lock would too, but it wouldn't make any noise, and after like 10 seconds the lights would go back off. I was eventually able to urge it on, but it made me very wary of turning it off. So the weeks before descanso I was just making it "sleep" rather than actually shutting it off, and it stayed working. But I didn't feel like I should leave it sleeping when I left for 4 days, so I turned it off, realizing it might never come on again. Sure enough, when I got back, it did NOT want to come on, even though I pushed the on button many many times. So I decided it was probably dead. Yesterday I got tio Benito to let me in the Cyber, so I used a computer there. Today I decided to try it again, what the heck?!? Stranger things have happened. And what do you know, the first time, it comes right on! I don't get it. So I decided it was just a coma, rather than death. I just know I'm not going to turn it off again until I have to!! I'm hoping it'll last another 6 weeks. Then I leave NPH and go to Salinas, and I don't need it in Salinas. And then I go home, where hopefully there will be a nice new computer that my parents found in some Christmas sale waiting for me. And then I can pay them back with my nice grad school loan money. So really, it doesn't have to work for that much longer!!! If anyone has any tips for extending the life of an almost dead computer, I'd love to hear them!!
So today was the last day of classes. Monday is the quincianeras celebration (15th birthday party for all the girls who turned 15 this year). And then starts vacation schedule, but we haven't really planned anything yet... Thursday Michelle and I are going to cook Thanksgiving dinner with Shirley, and the other volunteers and the monastery workers are going to help us eat. And then Friday starts the Purisimas, which is something to do with Mary, but I'm not really sure what. But it's 9 days long, and we're responsible for one day. BUt they put us at the end, so we can watch everyone else and figure out what to do. So we'll see what's up with that!
Oh and my kids!!! Out of the 18 kids that I worked with this year (some I worked with all year, some I stopped partway through 'cause they didn't need it, and some I started partway through) 12 passed all their classes, 3 failed only one class, so they have to take an exam in January, and if they pass it with 60% they pass the year, and 3 failed a lot of classes and failed the year. Two of those it was because they didn't try, and 1 I think really has problems. Also, all three of those failed 5 classes or so first semester, so i didn't really figure they could pass. So I was pretty happy with how things turned out!!
oops, this is from Nov 4. I forgot to post it here...
The last two weeks of October I was able to work with all my students, which was super exciting, especially because the school year is almost done. The 24th of October was confirmation, which was actually in the morning during school. Then afterwards there was a big lunch with the workers from San Jorge. That weekend there wasn't a whole lot going on. We watched some movies in the girls' house, 'cause they like to do that.
On the 28th the NPH directors met with the Nicaraguan government and were told that the government doesn't have plans to close NPH. So contruction is continuing at the new property, and the move is supposedly happening as planned in December.
On Oct 30 everyone at NPH got tested for tuberculosis, because there are two kids who have it. So even though my descanso started Friday, I stuck around to have it "read" on Saturday by the doctor. The good news is that I don't ahve TB. The bad news is that some of the kids do, but not too many. I think the total number was 10... And out of 250, and in a country where TB is commin, that's not too bad. So hopefully tehy all follow their treatment!
Saturday after seeing the doctor, Michelle, Kiki and I left for Granada. The weekend in Granada was nice. We didn't do much, but it was relaxing! And I got some shopping done, which was nice!
So the next two weeks I'm going to try to work with all my students as much as possible 'cause final exams start Nov 13!! So soon! Crazy! And then I'm afraid the rest of the year will be full of reports and more reports... Ho hum.
Well, I don't think a whole lot more is happening here. We're watching election results tonight in Casa Azul where there's cable. YAY CNN!!! So that's much better than sitting at a computer hitting refresh, refresh.
The last two weeks of October I was able to work with all my students, which was super exciting, especially because the school year is almost done. The 24th of October was confirmation, which was actually in the morning during school. Then afterwards there was a big lunch with the workers from San Jorge. That weekend there wasn't a whole lot going on. We watched some movies in the girls' house, 'cause they like to do that.
On the 28th the NPH directors met with the Nicaraguan government and were told that the government doesn't have plans to close NPH. So contruction is continuing at the new property, and the move is supposedly happening as planned in December.
On Oct 30 everyone at NPH got tested for tuberculosis, because there are two kids who have it. So even though my descanso started Friday, I stuck around to have it "read" on Saturday by the doctor. The good news is that I don't ahve TB. The bad news is that some of the kids do, but not too many. I think the total number was 10... And out of 250, and in a country where TB is commin, that's not too bad. So hopefully tehy all follow their treatment!
Saturday after seeing the doctor, Michelle, Kiki and I left for Granada. The weekend in Granada was nice. We didn't do much, but it was relaxing! And I got some shopping done, which was nice!
So the next two weeks I'm going to try to work with all my students as much as possible 'cause final exams start Nov 13!! So soon! Crazy! And then I'm afraid the rest of the year will be full of reports and more reports... Ho hum.
Well, I don't think a whole lot more is happening here. We're watching election results tonight in Casa Azul where there's cable. YAY CNN!!! So that's much better than sitting at a computer hitting refresh, refresh.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
more Padre Wasson day
These are in reverse order again...
Vigilia- lots of songs and prayers in the evening
The alter/ memorial to Padre Wasson
First comunion kids
The choir
Vigilia- lots of songs and prayers in the evening
The alter/ memorial to Padre Wasson
First comunion kids
The choirPadre Wasson day
This was also back in August... It put the pictures in reverse order... I'm not sure why!!
First communion
Baptism kids with candles (after the baptisms.)
Being baptized.
All the baptism kids lined up before
The church was full!!
First communion
Baptism kids with candles (after the baptisms.)
Being baptized.
All the baptism kids lined up before
The church was full!!Lice day pictures
Lice day was back in the middle of August. But here are a few pictures.
Everyone helped everyone else. And now hopefully there are significantly less lice at NPH!!!
Everyone helped everyone else. And now hopefully there are significantly less lice at NPH!!!
Rain, tests, and the death and (possible) resurrection of my computer screen
This post is delayed, due to computer problems. It was written on Oct 21.
Things are going well here in Nicaragua. A lot of volunteers are on vacation, so things are kinda quiet around the house. Last weekend (and by that I mean the weekend before the one that just finished) was pretty slow. There was a special mass on Saturday with a visiting priest. He was a lot more energetic and interesting than the usual priest, so that was nice! And some people from neighboring communities came, so there was more music too. Other than that the weekend was lots of studying.
Then this week was lots of tests, which meant I didn't do much aula de recurso. I can't take kids out of class when they have a test. Go figure. Toward the end of the week was also a lot of rain. There was apparently some unnamed tropical depression sitting out in the Atlantic, and it caused LOTS of rain. I think the rain started Wednesday afternoon or evening, and then I don't think it stopped until midday Friday. Seriously. Unless it stopped sometime during the night, when I didn't notice. It varied between hard rain and soft rain, but it definitely never stopped. I was glad I hadn't planned to go anywhere for my descanso. 'Cause i don't like to travel in the rain when travel involves lots of walking.
Thursday night was also the death of my computer screen. I had been using it in the afternoon, and the shut it so it would "sleep". When I came back and opened it, the screen came on, and then went black after about 20 seconds. So I shut it again, and opened it and it did it again. So I restarted it and it did it again. I was not pleased. It's very difficult to do anything on a computer when the screen is black!!!! So I called my Dad, who suggested plugging it into an external monitor, which worked. MY screen still didn't work, but I could see what I was doing. Then Michelle's mom who was here visiting suggested I talk to Dell, so I borrowed Liselot's computer and chatted online with a Dell guy for a while. He told me it was probably the motherboard, which I think is something very expensive and important inside of my computer. :-) Whatever it is, it's not worth replacing on a 5 1/2 year old computer.
So Friday, the first day of my descanso, I had two missions- go to Moyogalpa to go to the bank and buy some food and see if NPH had an extra monitor lying around that I could borrow so I didn't have to use the house computer monitor ('cause then no one could use the house computer). So I called Herty the NPH IT guy, and he told me where an extra monitor was and so then I called Jader (the house director) and he said I could use it. Then I found a transport to Moyogalpa (it has stopped raining, but it looked like it wanted to start again, so I didn't really want to take the bus). And so I got my errands done and the driver picked up the monitor for me on the way back. I got it out of the box, and discovered it didn't have a power cord. So I called Herty again, and he said that any power cord should work with any monitor, so I stole the one from the house computer to make sure that the monitor worked. 'Cause senitive equipment that's just been sitting around NIcaragua has a very high chance of being broken. But it worked!! Hooray! Now I just needed a power cord, but that was enough for one day! So I relaxed and baked peanut butter banana bread, which was ok, but really heavy. Not my favorite.
Saturday I made bread with yeast, which was exciting, and went in search of a power cord. Herty told me he would send me one, but who knew how long that'll take. So I went to our team office in the school and poked around and found what I thought was a power cord, so I brought it back and it didn't work, either with my monitor or the house monitor. So i went back later and looked more thoroughly, and found FOUR different cords that looked like they might be power cords, so I brought them ALL back, and one worked! Maybe more, but I stopped trying them after I found one that worked. So now I have a huge monitor in my room, and I can hook my computer up to it and see what I'm doing. However, it's still a pain, because the internet cord on my side of the house decided to stop working, and a laptop hooked up to a huge monitor is much less portable if I want to transport it to where there is wireless. So I've been using the house computer a lot for internet, but it's even slower than my computer which is hard to believe...
So the rest of the weekend I relaxed and got stuff done, like my YouthWorks application for next summer, and my FAFSA so hopefully I can get some financial aid for grad school this spring. Did I ever tell you guys my future plans? I'm not sure, so I'll stick it at the end of the email just in case!
Then today, Tuesday, was back to work. I worked with all six of my students, which was pretty exciting. And then I came back to the house and turned my computer on (hooked up to the monitor) and the screen stayed on. And stayed on.... I wasn't sure what was up with it, but it was kinda funky having two screens with the same information, so I switched back to just the laptop screen and it's still working. I haven't actually disconnected the monitor cord, so we'll see what happens then. And what happens after I shut it off, if it'll work the next time I turn it on. So I'm still not entirely convinced that my screen is back from the dead, but I'm hopeful!
Anyway, enough computer story. That was kinda long. So for anyone who doesn't know, I'm coming back to the States on Jan 11. I'm going back to Sioux Falls, and I'm going to do the same jobs I was doing before I came here- substitute teaching and Spanish interpreter. I'm also going to start grad school via Hamline University online courses. I'm working toward a licensure as a K-12 ESL teacher and eventually a masters. The program gets you a licence, and then you need 3 or 4 more classes to get a masters. Then next summer I'm hopefully working for YouthWorks again (where I worked last summer). I'm hoping they'll send me somewhere where I can speak Spanish. I think it's fairly likely, but we'll see. And then next fall I'll move to the Twin Cities and start on campus at Hamline. So that's my plan.
PS (from Oct 22) So the screen doesn't work today. Ho hum. Back to the monitor... BUT the internet cable by my room is working, so that's quite exciting. Nicaragua is not a good country for electronics...
Things are going well here in Nicaragua. A lot of volunteers are on vacation, so things are kinda quiet around the house. Last weekend (and by that I mean the weekend before the one that just finished) was pretty slow. There was a special mass on Saturday with a visiting priest. He was a lot more energetic and interesting than the usual priest, so that was nice! And some people from neighboring communities came, so there was more music too. Other than that the weekend was lots of studying.
Then this week was lots of tests, which meant I didn't do much aula de recurso. I can't take kids out of class when they have a test. Go figure. Toward the end of the week was also a lot of rain. There was apparently some unnamed tropical depression sitting out in the Atlantic, and it caused LOTS of rain. I think the rain started Wednesday afternoon or evening, and then I don't think it stopped until midday Friday. Seriously. Unless it stopped sometime during the night, when I didn't notice. It varied between hard rain and soft rain, but it definitely never stopped. I was glad I hadn't planned to go anywhere for my descanso. 'Cause i don't like to travel in the rain when travel involves lots of walking.
Thursday night was also the death of my computer screen. I had been using it in the afternoon, and the shut it so it would "sleep". When I came back and opened it, the screen came on, and then went black after about 20 seconds. So I shut it again, and opened it and it did it again. So I restarted it and it did it again. I was not pleased. It's very difficult to do anything on a computer when the screen is black!!!! So I called my Dad, who suggested plugging it into an external monitor, which worked. MY screen still didn't work, but I could see what I was doing. Then Michelle's mom who was here visiting suggested I talk to Dell, so I borrowed Liselot's computer and chatted online with a Dell guy for a while. He told me it was probably the motherboard, which I think is something very expensive and important inside of my computer. :-) Whatever it is, it's not worth replacing on a 5 1/2 year old computer.
So Friday, the first day of my descanso, I had two missions- go to Moyogalpa to go to the bank and buy some food and see if NPH had an extra monitor lying around that I could borrow so I didn't have to use the house computer monitor ('cause then no one could use the house computer). So I called Herty the NPH IT guy, and he told me where an extra monitor was and so then I called Jader (the house director) and he said I could use it. Then I found a transport to Moyogalpa (it has stopped raining, but it looked like it wanted to start again, so I didn't really want to take the bus). And so I got my errands done and the driver picked up the monitor for me on the way back. I got it out of the box, and discovered it didn't have a power cord. So I called Herty again, and he said that any power cord should work with any monitor, so I stole the one from the house computer to make sure that the monitor worked. 'Cause senitive equipment that's just been sitting around NIcaragua has a very high chance of being broken. But it worked!! Hooray! Now I just needed a power cord, but that was enough for one day! So I relaxed and baked peanut butter banana bread, which was ok, but really heavy. Not my favorite.
Saturday I made bread with yeast, which was exciting, and went in search of a power cord. Herty told me he would send me one, but who knew how long that'll take. So I went to our team office in the school and poked around and found what I thought was a power cord, so I brought it back and it didn't work, either with my monitor or the house monitor. So i went back later and looked more thoroughly, and found FOUR different cords that looked like they might be power cords, so I brought them ALL back, and one worked! Maybe more, but I stopped trying them after I found one that worked. So now I have a huge monitor in my room, and I can hook my computer up to it and see what I'm doing. However, it's still a pain, because the internet cord on my side of the house decided to stop working, and a laptop hooked up to a huge monitor is much less portable if I want to transport it to where there is wireless. So I've been using the house computer a lot for internet, but it's even slower than my computer which is hard to believe...
So the rest of the weekend I relaxed and got stuff done, like my YouthWorks application for next summer, and my FAFSA so hopefully I can get some financial aid for grad school this spring. Did I ever tell you guys my future plans? I'm not sure, so I'll stick it at the end of the email just in case!
Then today, Tuesday, was back to work. I worked with all six of my students, which was pretty exciting. And then I came back to the house and turned my computer on (hooked up to the monitor) and the screen stayed on. And stayed on.... I wasn't sure what was up with it, but it was kinda funky having two screens with the same information, so I switched back to just the laptop screen and it's still working. I haven't actually disconnected the monitor cord, so we'll see what happens then. And what happens after I shut it off, if it'll work the next time I turn it on. So I'm still not entirely convinced that my screen is back from the dead, but I'm hopeful!
Anyway, enough computer story. That was kinda long. So for anyone who doesn't know, I'm coming back to the States on Jan 11. I'm going back to Sioux Falls, and I'm going to do the same jobs I was doing before I came here- substitute teaching and Spanish interpreter. I'm also going to start grad school via Hamline University online courses. I'm working toward a licensure as a K-12 ESL teacher and eventually a masters. The program gets you a licence, and then you need 3 or 4 more classes to get a masters. Then next summer I'm hopefully working for YouthWorks again (where I worked last summer). I'm hoping they'll send me somewhere where I can speak Spanish. I think it's fairly likely, but we'll see. And then next fall I'll move to the Twin Cities and start on campus at Hamline. So that's my plan.
PS (from Oct 22) So the screen doesn't work today. Ho hum. Back to the monitor... BUT the internet cable by my room is working, so that's quite exciting. Nicaragua is not a good country for electronics...
Monday, October 13, 2008
fiestas patrias 2
Then came the girls with pom-poms
Then the "band" which was really a drum line
And last everone else who wasn't in the other groups!
fiestas patrias 1
marching in the school to prepare
The NPH banner led the group
Then came the flags
Then Michelle's flag line
Then the girls with batons... (to be continued)
a wedding and the stupid Nicaraguan government
It's been a while since I've written! At the end of September I left for the States to go to the wedding of my friend Jessica. I left here on a Monday, and stayed in Managua overnight. My flight left early the next morning, and after a stop in Miami, I got to NYC's JFK airport about a half hour early. I met up with Meg, another bridesmaid who was flying in at the same time (but from Minnesota). It was a good thing we both had cell phones, because we arrived in different terminals, and then had to meet up. We found each other without too much problem, and got a cab to Penn Station. The Amtrack people were helpful and told us which ticket we needed to buy to get to Hudson, and they told us to watch the board to see which platform our train would leave from. So we watched... The train was scheduled to leave at 7:05, and by 6:45 it said "stand by". From watching other trains, we noticed that usually a platform number would show up a few minutes later. BUt at 7:00 ours still said stand by. A few minutes before, a train scheduled to leave at 7:00 finally got its platform number up and there was a mad rush of people, so we were ready. Sure enough, a few minutes later they finally got it up, and we followed the mad rush of people onto the train.
Once we got out from underground we discovered it had gotten dark, so unfortunately we got to see very little of the pretty autumn scenery. I think the lady working on the train could tell we didn't really know where we were going, because every time the train slowed down, we'd look out the window to see what station we were at. They would announce it too, but we decided it must be a requirement to work for Amtrack that you mumble, 'cause we could never understand what they said. BUt the lady came and told us when our stop was next, so we knew. Jessica and Fred were there to meet us, and they took us to dinner before taking us back to the hotel.
Wednesday we did a lot of prep work at Fred's house. We also went to a grocery store, which was probably the biggest culture shock for me. I think my friends didn't quite know what to do with me, because I was so excited about the variety of things. I stocked up on baking supplies, so I'm ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Two other bridesmaids and a groomsman arrived Wednesday night, so on Thursday we had more help. Thursday afternoon we went wine tasting because we all needed a bit of a break.
Friday started the busy days! Friday morning we (minus Jessica and Fred) went to finish setting up for the shower. Then the shower was from 12-2. After that we went over to the wedding site (the grounds of a Victorian mansion) for the rehearsal. Then we went to a Japanese place for the rehearsal dinner. That night I met up with my parents to get my dress (it fit hooray!). And then after that we had the bachelorette party.
Saturday was the wedding. The day started with getting our hair and nails done, and then we went and got something to eat. We went to a different hotel (right by the hair salon) to get ready, and then headed over to the wedding site. Everything went fairly smoothly, but we did have to make an emergency run to buy a cd player for the music. The wedding was really beautiful. The weather cooperated wonderfully (I wasn't even cold in the sun) and the ceremony was really nice. Afterwards we took pictures, and then decorated the car. The reception was on a boat in the Hudson river, which was really nice, even if it did get a little chilly. When we got back to shore we did a hurried switching of stuff from this car to that car, so that Jessica and Fred had all their stuff (and only their stuff) and the gifts got into Fred's parents car, and then headed back.
Sunday morning I left fairly early with my parents and Meg to head back to NYC. We dropped Meg at the airport, and then found our hotel. We took the subway into Manhattan and wandered around until it was time for our Broadway show. Oh! And we bought falafals for lunch from a stand, which I was super excited about. They don't have falafals in Nicaragua. Go figure. So anyway, that afternoon we saw Wicked, which was REALLY well done. It's not my new favorite musical (I think Aida still wins there) but it was really fun. And then we went to a nice Italian restaurant for desert. I think I had more different kinds of food in that week than I have had here almost all year... Mexican, US, Chinese (well, at the mall, if that counts...), Japanese, Mediterranean, Italian.... it was really nice! The food here isn't bad, it's just a little monotonous.
Monday we had to get to the airport fairly early, and I flew to Miami while my parents flew to Minneapolis. The flight to Miami was fine, but once I got there, they kept switching gates around, and then they canceled the flight altogether. The said they were going to put us on one at 6:30, but then that one filled up, so then they were putting us on one at 4:30 (on another airline) and then that one filled up, and so then they were putting us on the same flight, just a day later. I wasn't really very excited about sitting in the airport all afternoon, so when they told me things were full I said ok, just give me vouchers. I didn't really care about staying an extra day longer, I just didn't want to pay for anything. SO they gave me a hotel voucher and food vouchers and I had an extra day of vacation!
Tuesday the flight left on time, and I got back to Managua in time to catch the last express bus to San Jorge, so I made the last ferry and got all the way back to the volunteer house that night. I was tired, but I was glad to get all the way back at once! Wednesday I thought I would be able to work in aula de recurso, but we had a junta, so that didn't happen. Thursday I was able to work all day. Then Friday we were going to have another junta, but we missed the ferry, so we just had to write reports instead.
The reason for all the juntas and reports is the stupid Nicaraguan government. They have this new program, "Programa Amor", which basically aims to get all kids out of centers (like NPH) and off the streets. It sounds great at first, because they talk about how it's better for kids to grow up in a family and no one's going to argue with that. But it's not like these kids are in centers because they have great families. The government is right that a good number are in centers only because of poverty (not because of abuse or death of parents or anything). For them the government wants to help the families to be able to support themselves and their kids. Which sounds great, but do they really have the personnel to make sure that the money actually goes to feeding the kids and making sure they get an education? I doubt it. Also, a lot of kids are here because of problems with their homes, and it really doesn't make sense to send them back. And some kids simply don't have families. So anyway, the real issue is that the government has already started shutting down centers. NPH has a decent chance of surviving, because of all its international support, but it's not certain. I think the directors have a meeting with the government tomorrow. So we'll see what happens.
So this past weekend was mostly just a lot of studying, because they have exams again this week. So that'll be all this week, which'll cut down on aula de recurso time. Oh well, I'm getting used to it!
So that's what's up here in Nicaragua! Oh, and the weather is WAYYY nicer. It's so much cooler. It's also rainier, but that's ok. At least so far, that's not bothering me. I was just getting SO sick of the heat!!
Once we got out from underground we discovered it had gotten dark, so unfortunately we got to see very little of the pretty autumn scenery. I think the lady working on the train could tell we didn't really know where we were going, because every time the train slowed down, we'd look out the window to see what station we were at. They would announce it too, but we decided it must be a requirement to work for Amtrack that you mumble, 'cause we could never understand what they said. BUt the lady came and told us when our stop was next, so we knew. Jessica and Fred were there to meet us, and they took us to dinner before taking us back to the hotel.
Wednesday we did a lot of prep work at Fred's house. We also went to a grocery store, which was probably the biggest culture shock for me. I think my friends didn't quite know what to do with me, because I was so excited about the variety of things. I stocked up on baking supplies, so I'm ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Two other bridesmaids and a groomsman arrived Wednesday night, so on Thursday we had more help. Thursday afternoon we went wine tasting because we all needed a bit of a break.
Friday started the busy days! Friday morning we (minus Jessica and Fred) went to finish setting up for the shower. Then the shower was from 12-2. After that we went over to the wedding site (the grounds of a Victorian mansion) for the rehearsal. Then we went to a Japanese place for the rehearsal dinner. That night I met up with my parents to get my dress (it fit hooray!). And then after that we had the bachelorette party.
Saturday was the wedding. The day started with getting our hair and nails done, and then we went and got something to eat. We went to a different hotel (right by the hair salon) to get ready, and then headed over to the wedding site. Everything went fairly smoothly, but we did have to make an emergency run to buy a cd player for the music. The wedding was really beautiful. The weather cooperated wonderfully (I wasn't even cold in the sun) and the ceremony was really nice. Afterwards we took pictures, and then decorated the car. The reception was on a boat in the Hudson river, which was really nice, even if it did get a little chilly. When we got back to shore we did a hurried switching of stuff from this car to that car, so that Jessica and Fred had all their stuff (and only their stuff) and the gifts got into Fred's parents car, and then headed back.
Sunday morning I left fairly early with my parents and Meg to head back to NYC. We dropped Meg at the airport, and then found our hotel. We took the subway into Manhattan and wandered around until it was time for our Broadway show. Oh! And we bought falafals for lunch from a stand, which I was super excited about. They don't have falafals in Nicaragua. Go figure. So anyway, that afternoon we saw Wicked, which was REALLY well done. It's not my new favorite musical (I think Aida still wins there) but it was really fun. And then we went to a nice Italian restaurant for desert. I think I had more different kinds of food in that week than I have had here almost all year... Mexican, US, Chinese (well, at the mall, if that counts...), Japanese, Mediterranean, Italian.... it was really nice! The food here isn't bad, it's just a little monotonous.
Monday we had to get to the airport fairly early, and I flew to Miami while my parents flew to Minneapolis. The flight to Miami was fine, but once I got there, they kept switching gates around, and then they canceled the flight altogether. The said they were going to put us on one at 6:30, but then that one filled up, so then they were putting us on one at 4:30 (on another airline) and then that one filled up, and so then they were putting us on the same flight, just a day later. I wasn't really very excited about sitting in the airport all afternoon, so when they told me things were full I said ok, just give me vouchers. I didn't really care about staying an extra day longer, I just didn't want to pay for anything. SO they gave me a hotel voucher and food vouchers and I had an extra day of vacation!
Tuesday the flight left on time, and I got back to Managua in time to catch the last express bus to San Jorge, so I made the last ferry and got all the way back to the volunteer house that night. I was tired, but I was glad to get all the way back at once! Wednesday I thought I would be able to work in aula de recurso, but we had a junta, so that didn't happen. Thursday I was able to work all day. Then Friday we were going to have another junta, but we missed the ferry, so we just had to write reports instead.
The reason for all the juntas and reports is the stupid Nicaraguan government. They have this new program, "Programa Amor", which basically aims to get all kids out of centers (like NPH) and off the streets. It sounds great at first, because they talk about how it's better for kids to grow up in a family and no one's going to argue with that. But it's not like these kids are in centers because they have great families. The government is right that a good number are in centers only because of poverty (not because of abuse or death of parents or anything). For them the government wants to help the families to be able to support themselves and their kids. Which sounds great, but do they really have the personnel to make sure that the money actually goes to feeding the kids and making sure they get an education? I doubt it. Also, a lot of kids are here because of problems with their homes, and it really doesn't make sense to send them back. And some kids simply don't have families. So anyway, the real issue is that the government has already started shutting down centers. NPH has a decent chance of surviving, because of all its international support, but it's not certain. I think the directors have a meeting with the government tomorrow. So we'll see what happens.
So this past weekend was mostly just a lot of studying, because they have exams again this week. So that'll be all this week, which'll cut down on aula de recurso time. Oh well, I'm getting used to it!
So that's what's up here in Nicaragua! Oh, and the weather is WAYYY nicer. It's so much cooler. It's also rainier, but that's ok. At least so far, that's not bothering me. I was just getting SO sick of the heat!!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
fiestas patrias
To change things up a bit, I think I have NOT been sick since the last time I wrote!! What a nice change...
Sept 14 and 15 were fiestas patrias (patriotic holidays). So the week before that (when I was hoping to get to work with all my aula de recurso students, since I'd been out sick so long) the kids practiced marching. A LOT. Tuesday and Wednesday they marched from 7-8 (or 8:30...) and then Thursday and Friday they marched until 10. And then Friday after marching they had a pagent. So that blew a LOT of my aula de recurso time, which was quite frustrating. I mean really, how important is it that these kids know how to march so well? Who really cares? Well, apparently someone does.... I think it's mostly that the other schools do, so NPH has to be as good or better.
Anyway, so the 14th and the 15th they put the marching to use. The 14th the band (just drummers), the dancers (like a cheerleading type dance group, not the tradiational Nicaraguan dancers) and the flag girls went to Moyogalpa to march in the parade. I stayed back, because not all the kids were going, and they were going to do it again on the 15th anyway. Monday, the 15th, everyone went to San Jose. The 15th is actually the bigger day I think, because that's independence day. And actually Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala all share an independence day, so it's a fairly big deal. So we all went to San Jose, and there was another parade, and everyone did their show again too. So I got to see it all that day. It was kinda fun, but very hot. All the kids marched in the parade, which is I assume why they all had to practice marching... And then the dancers, flag girls, and band did their show. Then we all came back super hot and tired and relaxed the rest of the day.
Tuesday and Wednesday there was no school, because the teachers had to work Sunday and Monday, and so they got two days off. So we did activities here at the house, and I got caught up on my aula de recurso notes.
Thursday I got to do one full day of aula de recurso. Then Thursday night was a fancy dinner for all the kids in their year of service and all the apoyo kids. The apoyo kids are still in high school, but they help out a lot, mostly assigned to a particular section. We (the volunteers) had made decorations the night before and then in the afternoon we helped to decorate the room. The kids all came dressed up and there was a presentation with certificates, gifts, and personal cards from the tio, tia, or director that they worked most closely with. Some kids also shared what they enjoyed or what they had learned in their time as apoyo or in their year of service. Then we had dinner, and ice cream!!! Afterwards we played some games, and then they had a bit of time at the end just to dance. I think they really enjoyed it and really felt appreciated, which was the point, so that was good!!
Then Friday I went on descanso. I went to San Juan, partly because that's where other people were going and partly because it's not too expensive. And it has good food! It was a very relaxing weekend. I spent some time on the internet, and I spent a lot of time reading. Sunday a group from NPH came with a pequena and her godparents (sponsors). Raul was with them, and he took us up to the fancy resort, just to look around. He was researching prices, because sometimes when visitors come they want to stay somewhere super fancy. So that was nice to see, but definately WAAAAYYY out of our price range. It costs $10 just to go there for the day and use the pools.... So the descanso was nice and relaxing, not great beach weather, 'cause there was a lot of rain, but we stayed in our favorite hotel/hostal that is right across the street from the beach. So even if it's raining, you can just look out your window.
Monday, on my way back from descanso I stopped at the office to help them fill out visas for the dance group. The forms have to be filled out in English, so they like it when the volunteers do it. The dance group is left for the States Thursday. They'll be in Seattle, San Fransisco and Phoenix I think, so if any of you are in those areas, and want to know the dates for the performances, please let me know!!! It would be great if you went!
This week has been pretty normal. I've gotten to work with all my students in one week!!! Friday there's no school so the teachers can have their normal end-of-the-month meeting. So there'll be a three day weekend.
This Monday I leave NPH, and Tuesday I leave for the states to go to a wedding!!!! Jessica, one of my best friends from high school, is getting married in upstate NY. So I'll be gone for a week (I come back MOnday Oct 6). I'll try to get some pictures up maybe while I'm in the States with fast internet!
Sept 14 and 15 were fiestas patrias (patriotic holidays). So the week before that (when I was hoping to get to work with all my aula de recurso students, since I'd been out sick so long) the kids practiced marching. A LOT. Tuesday and Wednesday they marched from 7-8 (or 8:30...) and then Thursday and Friday they marched until 10. And then Friday after marching they had a pagent. So that blew a LOT of my aula de recurso time, which was quite frustrating. I mean really, how important is it that these kids know how to march so well? Who really cares? Well, apparently someone does.... I think it's mostly that the other schools do, so NPH has to be as good or better.
Anyway, so the 14th and the 15th they put the marching to use. The 14th the band (just drummers), the dancers (like a cheerleading type dance group, not the tradiational Nicaraguan dancers) and the flag girls went to Moyogalpa to march in the parade. I stayed back, because not all the kids were going, and they were going to do it again on the 15th anyway. Monday, the 15th, everyone went to San Jose. The 15th is actually the bigger day I think, because that's independence day. And actually Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala all share an independence day, so it's a fairly big deal. So we all went to San Jose, and there was another parade, and everyone did their show again too. So I got to see it all that day. It was kinda fun, but very hot. All the kids marched in the parade, which is I assume why they all had to practice marching... And then the dancers, flag girls, and band did their show. Then we all came back super hot and tired and relaxed the rest of the day.
Tuesday and Wednesday there was no school, because the teachers had to work Sunday and Monday, and so they got two days off. So we did activities here at the house, and I got caught up on my aula de recurso notes.
Thursday I got to do one full day of aula de recurso. Then Thursday night was a fancy dinner for all the kids in their year of service and all the apoyo kids. The apoyo kids are still in high school, but they help out a lot, mostly assigned to a particular section. We (the volunteers) had made decorations the night before and then in the afternoon we helped to decorate the room. The kids all came dressed up and there was a presentation with certificates, gifts, and personal cards from the tio, tia, or director that they worked most closely with. Some kids also shared what they enjoyed or what they had learned in their time as apoyo or in their year of service. Then we had dinner, and ice cream!!! Afterwards we played some games, and then they had a bit of time at the end just to dance. I think they really enjoyed it and really felt appreciated, which was the point, so that was good!!
Then Friday I went on descanso. I went to San Juan, partly because that's where other people were going and partly because it's not too expensive. And it has good food! It was a very relaxing weekend. I spent some time on the internet, and I spent a lot of time reading. Sunday a group from NPH came with a pequena and her godparents (sponsors). Raul was with them, and he took us up to the fancy resort, just to look around. He was researching prices, because sometimes when visitors come they want to stay somewhere super fancy. So that was nice to see, but definately WAAAAYYY out of our price range. It costs $10 just to go there for the day and use the pools.... So the descanso was nice and relaxing, not great beach weather, 'cause there was a lot of rain, but we stayed in our favorite hotel/hostal that is right across the street from the beach. So even if it's raining, you can just look out your window.
Monday, on my way back from descanso I stopped at the office to help them fill out visas for the dance group. The forms have to be filled out in English, so they like it when the volunteers do it. The dance group is left for the States Thursday. They'll be in Seattle, San Fransisco and Phoenix I think, so if any of you are in those areas, and want to know the dates for the performances, please let me know!!! It would be great if you went!
This week has been pretty normal. I've gotten to work with all my students in one week!!! Friday there's no school so the teachers can have their normal end-of-the-month meeting. So there'll be a three day weekend.
This Monday I leave NPH, and Tuesday I leave for the states to go to a wedding!!!! Jessica, one of my best friends from high school, is getting married in upstate NY. So I'll be gone for a week (I come back MOnday Oct 6). I'll try to get some pictures up maybe while I'm in the States with fast internet!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
more illness... but I'm better now!
It's been a while again, for many of the same reasons! After my descanso being sick, I started to get better, and then promptly got some sort of stomach problem. So I spent the week catching up on work (I think I had about 5 reports to write) and dealing with my stomach. The next weekend was our volunteer vacation.
We went to the office Friday morning, where we got fed a nice breakfast and had a meeting with the directors so they could tell us the current plan for the move to the new property. They're planning on moving all the secondary school kids on Dec 10, so that's not too far away! They'll be back for Christmas, and then many will go to their families for a few weeks in January. Then in February they'll start school at the new property.
After the meeting at the office, NPH drove us to Laguna de Apoyo. We had a bit of a delay on the way there, because it was raining so hard that a bridge was flooded, so we had to wait a half hour or so until it was safe to cross. We stayed at a nice, if slightly expensive hostal on the lake. The hostal itself wasn't too expensive, but the food was a bit expensive. However, it was really good food, and there wasn't anywhere else close to go eat, so we just ate there. The food had lots of vegetables and other healthy thngs that we don't get as much as we'd like to at NPH. So we very much enjoyed the food! Unfortunately, that night I started feeling like I had a fever again. I didn't have a thermometer, so I couldn't check, but I definitely didn't feel well. Luckily I had some tylenol, so I took some and felt a bit better in the morning.
Saturday we went to Granada. I still wasn't feeling so great, so I relaxed most of the day. I did show some other volunteers my favorite lunch restaurant, with lots of healthy sandwiches and salads. Then we all went out to dinner as well. That evening we watched the movie Chocolat at the hostal, so that was fun too. I didn't feel too bad Sunday, which was good because we had to travel back on our own. We made it back in decent time, but I started feeling sick again that evening.
Monday and Tuesday I had quite a high fever (between 99 and 101) so I was resting all day. Wednesday I didn't have a fever, so I went to a meeting, and then to the doctor, since he was at NPH. He told me I had bronchitis, and gave me antibiotics. Thursday I rested again and then Friday was my descanso.
I decided my body needed another weekend just to relax, so I stayed at NPH again. I baked some bread (oat and honey) so that was nice. It was a bit of an interesting process, because the power went out when the first loaf was almost done. Usually the power comes back on in less than a minute, so I wasn't worrying, but it stayed off. So I put the rest of the dough in the fridge, in the hopes that it would still be good whn the power came back. The other loaf was cooked all the way through, it was just a little doughy, so I decided we might as well just eat it. The power finally came back on about 4 hours later, and i was able to bake my other two loaves. I also finished my application to Hamline, so once my transcript arrives, and my recommenders get their letters in, I should hear back fromt them. They have rolling admissions, which is nice, 'cause it means I'll hear sooner.
So the quiet weekend must've done me some good, because I haven't gotten sick again. I went to the school yesterday (Tuesday) at 7AM, only to find that because Sunday and MOnday are "fiestas patrias" (national celebrations, for Central American independence I think) the kids are practicing marching every morning for the parade on Sunday. So they had some sort of activity by the flag, and then they marched for an hour. But I was able to work with 5 of my 6 kids, so that was good. Today I knew that they'd be marching, so I slept in a bit. They marched longer today, and then we had a psychopedagogical team meeting, so I was only able to work with one girl. And tomorrow I have to go to San Jorge for a meeting! But they're marching until 10 tomorrow anyway. I really don't understand why this is so important that they're using 3 of their 5 hours of school to march... I realize they have to practice, but this seems a bit extreme! Anyway, Friday they're also marching 'til 10, and then Monday and Tuesday next week there's no school because of the celebration. So maybe toward the end of next week I'll be able to work with kids again! However, I got their exam results today, and most of them did well! And of the kids that didn't do well, I think most of it was from lack of effort. A few of my fourth graders were still struggling with long division, and it showed on their tests. But this is just the first test for the semester, so hopefully they'll get caught up by the end.
So that's what's been going on here! I'm looking forward to my vacation in less than three weeks! I'm going to New York (upstate) for my friend Jessica's wedding. So that should be really fun! And then when I get back, I only have three more months here. Sometimes it seems like the time is going fast, and sometimes it seems to be going SO slow... I guess that's life!
We went to the office Friday morning, where we got fed a nice breakfast and had a meeting with the directors so they could tell us the current plan for the move to the new property. They're planning on moving all the secondary school kids on Dec 10, so that's not too far away! They'll be back for Christmas, and then many will go to their families for a few weeks in January. Then in February they'll start school at the new property.
After the meeting at the office, NPH drove us to Laguna de Apoyo. We had a bit of a delay on the way there, because it was raining so hard that a bridge was flooded, so we had to wait a half hour or so until it was safe to cross. We stayed at a nice, if slightly expensive hostal on the lake. The hostal itself wasn't too expensive, but the food was a bit expensive. However, it was really good food, and there wasn't anywhere else close to go eat, so we just ate there. The food had lots of vegetables and other healthy thngs that we don't get as much as we'd like to at NPH. So we very much enjoyed the food! Unfortunately, that night I started feeling like I had a fever again. I didn't have a thermometer, so I couldn't check, but I definitely didn't feel well. Luckily I had some tylenol, so I took some and felt a bit better in the morning.
Saturday we went to Granada. I still wasn't feeling so great, so I relaxed most of the day. I did show some other volunteers my favorite lunch restaurant, with lots of healthy sandwiches and salads. Then we all went out to dinner as well. That evening we watched the movie Chocolat at the hostal, so that was fun too. I didn't feel too bad Sunday, which was good because we had to travel back on our own. We made it back in decent time, but I started feeling sick again that evening.
Monday and Tuesday I had quite a high fever (between 99 and 101) so I was resting all day. Wednesday I didn't have a fever, so I went to a meeting, and then to the doctor, since he was at NPH. He told me I had bronchitis, and gave me antibiotics. Thursday I rested again and then Friday was my descanso.
I decided my body needed another weekend just to relax, so I stayed at NPH again. I baked some bread (oat and honey) so that was nice. It was a bit of an interesting process, because the power went out when the first loaf was almost done. Usually the power comes back on in less than a minute, so I wasn't worrying, but it stayed off. So I put the rest of the dough in the fridge, in the hopes that it would still be good whn the power came back. The other loaf was cooked all the way through, it was just a little doughy, so I decided we might as well just eat it. The power finally came back on about 4 hours later, and i was able to bake my other two loaves. I also finished my application to Hamline, so once my transcript arrives, and my recommenders get their letters in, I should hear back fromt them. They have rolling admissions, which is nice, 'cause it means I'll hear sooner.
So the quiet weekend must've done me some good, because I haven't gotten sick again. I went to the school yesterday (Tuesday) at 7AM, only to find that because Sunday and MOnday are "fiestas patrias" (national celebrations, for Central American independence I think) the kids are practicing marching every morning for the parade on Sunday. So they had some sort of activity by the flag, and then they marched for an hour. But I was able to work with 5 of my 6 kids, so that was good. Today I knew that they'd be marching, so I slept in a bit. They marched longer today, and then we had a psychopedagogical team meeting, so I was only able to work with one girl. And tomorrow I have to go to San Jorge for a meeting! But they're marching until 10 tomorrow anyway. I really don't understand why this is so important that they're using 3 of their 5 hours of school to march... I realize they have to practice, but this seems a bit extreme! Anyway, Friday they're also marching 'til 10, and then Monday and Tuesday next week there's no school because of the celebration. So maybe toward the end of next week I'll be able to work with kids again! However, I got their exam results today, and most of them did well! And of the kids that didn't do well, I think most of it was from lack of effort. A few of my fourth graders were still struggling with long division, and it showed on their tests. But this is just the first test for the semester, so hopefully they'll get caught up by the end.
So that's what's been going on here! I'm looking forward to my vacation in less than three weeks! I'm going to New York (upstate) for my friend Jessica's wedding. So that should be really fun! And then when I get back, I only have three more months here. Sometimes it seems like the time is going fast, and sometimes it seems to be going SO slow... I guess that's life!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
the past two (crazy) weeks
It's been quite a while, but things here have been really busy. I think I last wrote while on descanso in Granada. That was a really nice weekend. I was able to see quite a bit of the Olympics (I saw the mens' swimming relay where they beat France by .01 seconds or whatever it was!!) and I was able to make some internet phone calls.
The week right after I came back was fairly normal. Wednesday we had a big campaign against lice. All the kids got de-liced along with their clothes and bedding. So hopefully that problem won't exist in NPH anymore, at least for a while.
That Saturday we celebrated, or perhaps commemorated is a better word, the 2nd anniversary of the birth of Padre Wasson (NPH founder) to eternal life. In other words, the day he died. So the kids started drumming at 2 in the morning (we still don't know why). There were prayers and songs at 5, and then everyone got ready for the day. There was mass in the morning, with baptisms and first communions, and everyone came- Casa Asis, Managua, San Jorge. Then we had lunch and after lunch were games. Then after dinner was a "vigilia" which was a lot of singing with some people talking, at least as long as I stayed. I left at about 9. 5-9 was a long enough day!
Sunday I left to go to San Jorge to meet the new volunteers, a couple from Germany. We went to Casa Asis and spent the afternoon with the little kids there. Then we spent the night in the office in San Jorge. I shared a room with Sister Phyllis, a nun from the states who came 13 years ago (I think) and "forgot to leave" as she says. She's lots of fun to talk to and we watched the Olympics on her TV, so that was fun.
Monday morning I set my computer to download all the updates it had been bothering me about using the office's faster internet. Then I went with the couple to Rivas to take pictures for the visas and buy some groceries. Then we went back to the office for lunch and waited... and waited and waited 'cause that's what you do at the office. Then when we were just ready to leave for the 2:30 ferry, Marlon told me I needed to stay 'cause we had to have a junta with Georg, one of the volunteers who started with me in Jan. So I waited and it ended up being that the directors had decided they needed to ask Georg to leave and they wanted me there since I'm volunteer coordinator. So that was a very fun meeting, NOT! But at least I didn't have to make any decisions. So finally we got back to the island and luckily Benjamin and Nadine's room was all ready.
Tuesday I had to go BACK to the office for a meeting about a year of service pequeno who had been causing some problems. So off I went on the first ferry (meaning I had to leave the house at 5:20AM). We got some breakfast at the office, and then had a two or three hour meeting. Not too bad, as NPH meetings go.... Then again, we waited and waited and WAITED. Finally we got to go back. Luckily Ann had taken good care of the new volunteers for me. It was nice 'cause they're all from Germany, so they could speak German together.
Wednesday I was taking care of details for Georg's departure and also showing my new volunteers around NPH and getting them ready to start their week as tio and tia. Luckily Benjamin and Nadine are SUPER easy going and very easy to work with, so that was great. They have a lot of questions, like all new volunteers, but they're always very flexible and easygoing. Then Wednesday night I got an unpleasent surprise. Karin, a volunteer who came in June, said that she wanted to leave NPH.
So Thursday (while I was starting to feel sick with some sort of respirtory something) I dealt with informing everyone about Karin leaving. Plus I still had my new volunteers, and the details from everything earlier in the week. I was definately glad that Friday was my descanso. I was planning to stay here to work on applications for when I come back to the States, but at least I would have a bit of a break.
But Thursday night I got really sick. I think I had a fever, stuffy nose, and stomach problems all at once. So by the time I got up Friday I was dehydrated (I think mostly from sweating a lot in the night). So I spent Friday sleeping, drinking rehydration formulas and gatorade, and resting. Saturday I felt better and started eating again, and was able to read and watch a movie. Sunday I felt significantly better, but still really tired. So, another recuperation day.
Then Monday I finally felt mostly back to normal. So I did get some work done on my application. I'm applying to the Masters of Arts in Teaching program at Hamline University in St Paul, MN to get a k-12 ESL licence. I want to start online classes in Jan when I get back, and then start on campus in Sept.
Oh, and somewhere in that weekend Benjamin and Nadine told me that they have to go back to Germany for a few weeks because Nadine's father is very sick int he hospital. But they will come back. (At least they're planning on it and I REALLY hope so 'cause I think they'll be able to do some really good work.)
So that's why there are no pictures up on my blog (even though Emily did get them on the internet) and why this update is a little later than I had planned. I'm still planning on getting pictures up eventually, so hopefully soon!
The week right after I came back was fairly normal. Wednesday we had a big campaign against lice. All the kids got de-liced along with their clothes and bedding. So hopefully that problem won't exist in NPH anymore, at least for a while.
That Saturday we celebrated, or perhaps commemorated is a better word, the 2nd anniversary of the birth of Padre Wasson (NPH founder) to eternal life. In other words, the day he died. So the kids started drumming at 2 in the morning (we still don't know why). There were prayers and songs at 5, and then everyone got ready for the day. There was mass in the morning, with baptisms and first communions, and everyone came- Casa Asis, Managua, San Jorge. Then we had lunch and after lunch were games. Then after dinner was a "vigilia" which was a lot of singing with some people talking, at least as long as I stayed. I left at about 9. 5-9 was a long enough day!
Sunday I left to go to San Jorge to meet the new volunteers, a couple from Germany. We went to Casa Asis and spent the afternoon with the little kids there. Then we spent the night in the office in San Jorge. I shared a room with Sister Phyllis, a nun from the states who came 13 years ago (I think) and "forgot to leave" as she says. She's lots of fun to talk to and we watched the Olympics on her TV, so that was fun.
Monday morning I set my computer to download all the updates it had been bothering me about using the office's faster internet. Then I went with the couple to Rivas to take pictures for the visas and buy some groceries. Then we went back to the office for lunch and waited... and waited and waited 'cause that's what you do at the office. Then when we were just ready to leave for the 2:30 ferry, Marlon told me I needed to stay 'cause we had to have a junta with Georg, one of the volunteers who started with me in Jan. So I waited and it ended up being that the directors had decided they needed to ask Georg to leave and they wanted me there since I'm volunteer coordinator. So that was a very fun meeting, NOT! But at least I didn't have to make any decisions. So finally we got back to the island and luckily Benjamin and Nadine's room was all ready.
Tuesday I had to go BACK to the office for a meeting about a year of service pequeno who had been causing some problems. So off I went on the first ferry (meaning I had to leave the house at 5:20AM). We got some breakfast at the office, and then had a two or three hour meeting. Not too bad, as NPH meetings go.... Then again, we waited and waited and WAITED. Finally we got to go back. Luckily Ann had taken good care of the new volunteers for me. It was nice 'cause they're all from Germany, so they could speak German together.
Wednesday I was taking care of details for Georg's departure and also showing my new volunteers around NPH and getting them ready to start their week as tio and tia. Luckily Benjamin and Nadine are SUPER easy going and very easy to work with, so that was great. They have a lot of questions, like all new volunteers, but they're always very flexible and easygoing. Then Wednesday night I got an unpleasent surprise. Karin, a volunteer who came in June, said that she wanted to leave NPH.
So Thursday (while I was starting to feel sick with some sort of respirtory something) I dealt with informing everyone about Karin leaving. Plus I still had my new volunteers, and the details from everything earlier in the week. I was definately glad that Friday was my descanso. I was planning to stay here to work on applications for when I come back to the States, but at least I would have a bit of a break.
But Thursday night I got really sick. I think I had a fever, stuffy nose, and stomach problems all at once. So by the time I got up Friday I was dehydrated (I think mostly from sweating a lot in the night). So I spent Friday sleeping, drinking rehydration formulas and gatorade, and resting. Saturday I felt better and started eating again, and was able to read and watch a movie. Sunday I felt significantly better, but still really tired. So, another recuperation day.
Then Monday I finally felt mostly back to normal. So I did get some work done on my application. I'm applying to the Masters of Arts in Teaching program at Hamline University in St Paul, MN to get a k-12 ESL licence. I want to start online classes in Jan when I get back, and then start on campus in Sept.
Oh, and somewhere in that weekend Benjamin and Nadine told me that they have to go back to Germany for a few weeks because Nadine's father is very sick int he hospital. But they will come back. (At least they're planning on it and I REALLY hope so 'cause I think they'll be able to do some really good work.)
So that's why there are no pictures up on my blog (even though Emily did get them on the internet) and why this update is a little later than I had planned. I'm still planning on getting pictures up eventually, so hopefully soon!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Nicaraguan map
Hey, if anyone is interested, here's a nice map of Nicaragua:
http://www.cityofnanaimo.com/CAmerica/Nicaragua/NicaraguaRd.pdf
My guess is that the one in everyone's atlas is tiny and has maybe 2 cities on it, if you're lucky. So if you're a map person, and trying to place where I go, check it out. If you want help locating any specific places, let me know.
http://www.cityofnanaimo.com/CAmerica/Nicaragua/NicaraguaRd.pdf
My guess is that the one in everyone's atlas is tiny and has maybe 2 cities on it, if you're lucky. So if you're a map person, and trying to place where I go, check it out. If you want help locating any specific places, let me know.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
a quiet two weeks and a 7 hour meeting
I`m on descanso in Granada at a hostal with free internet (although it doesn´t have headsets so I can´t skype, in case anyone was looking for me to show up on skype). But since there´s free internet I thought I´d write to you all!
The past few weeks have been fairly uneventful. I´ve been working a lot in Aula de recurso, which is nice for a change. Mostly things there have been going well, although I´ve had a few kids get mad at me recently. My 4th graders and II ciclo (3rd and 4th grade combined) have all been working on long division, so that´s been quite a bit of work for them. They mostly all understand it. Their mistakes come in multiplication, or subtraction usually. Also sometimes they misread larger numbers and aren´t sure which one is bigger. They had a quiz yesterday on 2-digit long division, so hopefully they did ok!
I also did a family event this week with Elba (one of my aula de recurso students) her sister, and her cousin. We baked cookies and played games. So that was fun, and they enjoyed the cookies!
I also took some pictures this week for passports for some of the dance group. They´re leaving near the end of september for another trip to the US, this time to the West coast. I´ll send more info later about where exactly they´re going, in case anyone lives nearby and wants to go.
Thursday Jayden came and found me at the school and told me we had a junta (meeting) at 1 in Yader´s office. I wasn´t exactly what it was about. He said it was comite de la casa (House committee) but I wasn´t quite sure what that was. So made sure I got to lunch early (usually we eat at 1) to pick up some food before the meeting. I got to Yader´s office at 1, and no one else was there. Typical Nica time. So I waited for a bit, then wandered back over to the ranchon and found some other people heading over to the meeting. People slowly drifted in, but the directors and the psychologists didn´t show up until 2. (the psychologists were in another meeting, so they sorta had an excuse, but I don´t know what the directors were doing). So we finally started the meeting. The point of the meeting was to discuss problems with specific kids, so it was all really important stuff. First we talked for a long time about one 14 yr old boy with developmental problems. His body is developing normally, so he´s been having problems dealing with puberty changes and has been behaving inappropriately (although he doesn´t realize that it´s inappropriate). The psychologists are going to give him some sex ed, and everyone´s going to try to keep an eye on him.
Then we moved on to 7 kids who failed geography (a semester class) and then also failed the two make-up tests offered. Here, if the kids fail one class, they have to repeat the whole year. So technically all these kids had to repeat the year already, which would not give them much incentive to try in second semester. The school offered to pass them in geography as long as they got a good grade in history second semester. So then we had to talk to each of the kids to see why they thought they failed. From the input of the tios, we had a pretty good idea who tried, and still failed, and who didn´t even try. So we started calling kids in, mostly one-by-one, but sometimes in pairs (for example, two girls who both tried really hard and only missed passing by 3 and 4 points were called in together). So that took a long time, because we started out by giving the kids a chance to talk. Mostly they were nervous and hesitant at the beginning, so it was a while before they really told us anything. So that took between 20 and 40 minutes per kid, depending on how willing they were to talk and how emotional they got. Then we offered them two choices (that we had decided on before)
#1 they could keep studying. They need to get at least 70% in all classes for 2nd semester and they need to have good attitudes and behavior both in school and in the house. They also have to work in the kitchen or in maintenance for 4 weekends.
#2 they could stop studying and start working in a taller immediately. (the tallers (workshops) are sewing, kitchen, carpentry, metal work, electricity, bakery) They would work the normal hours of the people employed there and then spend the evenings working in the comedor (dining room) washing dishes and cleaning up after dinner. That would continue until March of 09, when technical schools start their school year. They would go to Managua to spend one year in a tech school, and then they would leave NPH. (NPH provides transition support, but the idea is that then they would start to support themselves.)
We were hoping that with these choices they would try harder in whatever they were doing, because they chose to do it, rather than were forced to do it. All but one chose option 1, and the remaining girl hadn´t chosen yet when I left yesterday, but I think she´ll choose #1 also. So that was good, because that´s what we were hoping they´d choose. But we felt like we needed to give them another option because we couldn´t force them to study. So we´ll see how that works out.
So by the time we were done with all that it was 8PM. It was a VERY LONG meeting. It really was important stuff, but seriously, I think it could have been a little shorter. the time with the kids was all important, but there were times before they came in that we talked around in circles a bit. Also a few times I think some of the adults talked a little to much to the kids. But overall it was important. But I hope I´m never at a meeting that long again!
So after that I was really excited to leave on descanso. I really like Granada, and this hostal, so it´s nice! I came here by myself (most of my descanso group is on vacation) but today Kiki (a volunteer on vacation) is coming here with her brother and her friend, so I´ll have company soon.
I hope you all are doing well! Watch the Olympics for me, ´cause I don´t think I´ll get to watch very much. I´m going to go see if the tv here at the hostal has anything on, but I know once I get back to the island I won´t be able to watch anything. Oh well...
The past few weeks have been fairly uneventful. I´ve been working a lot in Aula de recurso, which is nice for a change. Mostly things there have been going well, although I´ve had a few kids get mad at me recently. My 4th graders and II ciclo (3rd and 4th grade combined) have all been working on long division, so that´s been quite a bit of work for them. They mostly all understand it. Their mistakes come in multiplication, or subtraction usually. Also sometimes they misread larger numbers and aren´t sure which one is bigger. They had a quiz yesterday on 2-digit long division, so hopefully they did ok!
I also did a family event this week with Elba (one of my aula de recurso students) her sister, and her cousin. We baked cookies and played games. So that was fun, and they enjoyed the cookies!
I also took some pictures this week for passports for some of the dance group. They´re leaving near the end of september for another trip to the US, this time to the West coast. I´ll send more info later about where exactly they´re going, in case anyone lives nearby and wants to go.
Thursday Jayden came and found me at the school and told me we had a junta (meeting) at 1 in Yader´s office. I wasn´t exactly what it was about. He said it was comite de la casa (House committee) but I wasn´t quite sure what that was. So made sure I got to lunch early (usually we eat at 1) to pick up some food before the meeting. I got to Yader´s office at 1, and no one else was there. Typical Nica time. So I waited for a bit, then wandered back over to the ranchon and found some other people heading over to the meeting. People slowly drifted in, but the directors and the psychologists didn´t show up until 2. (the psychologists were in another meeting, so they sorta had an excuse, but I don´t know what the directors were doing). So we finally started the meeting. The point of the meeting was to discuss problems with specific kids, so it was all really important stuff. First we talked for a long time about one 14 yr old boy with developmental problems. His body is developing normally, so he´s been having problems dealing with puberty changes and has been behaving inappropriately (although he doesn´t realize that it´s inappropriate). The psychologists are going to give him some sex ed, and everyone´s going to try to keep an eye on him.
Then we moved on to 7 kids who failed geography (a semester class) and then also failed the two make-up tests offered. Here, if the kids fail one class, they have to repeat the whole year. So technically all these kids had to repeat the year already, which would not give them much incentive to try in second semester. The school offered to pass them in geography as long as they got a good grade in history second semester. So then we had to talk to each of the kids to see why they thought they failed. From the input of the tios, we had a pretty good idea who tried, and still failed, and who didn´t even try. So we started calling kids in, mostly one-by-one, but sometimes in pairs (for example, two girls who both tried really hard and only missed passing by 3 and 4 points were called in together). So that took a long time, because we started out by giving the kids a chance to talk. Mostly they were nervous and hesitant at the beginning, so it was a while before they really told us anything. So that took between 20 and 40 minutes per kid, depending on how willing they were to talk and how emotional they got. Then we offered them two choices (that we had decided on before)
#1 they could keep studying. They need to get at least 70% in all classes for 2nd semester and they need to have good attitudes and behavior both in school and in the house. They also have to work in the kitchen or in maintenance for 4 weekends.
#2 they could stop studying and start working in a taller immediately. (the tallers (workshops) are sewing, kitchen, carpentry, metal work, electricity, bakery) They would work the normal hours of the people employed there and then spend the evenings working in the comedor (dining room) washing dishes and cleaning up after dinner. That would continue until March of 09, when technical schools start their school year. They would go to Managua to spend one year in a tech school, and then they would leave NPH. (NPH provides transition support, but the idea is that then they would start to support themselves.)
We were hoping that with these choices they would try harder in whatever they were doing, because they chose to do it, rather than were forced to do it. All but one chose option 1, and the remaining girl hadn´t chosen yet when I left yesterday, but I think she´ll choose #1 also. So that was good, because that´s what we were hoping they´d choose. But we felt like we needed to give them another option because we couldn´t force them to study. So we´ll see how that works out.
So by the time we were done with all that it was 8PM. It was a VERY LONG meeting. It really was important stuff, but seriously, I think it could have been a little shorter. the time with the kids was all important, but there were times before they came in that we talked around in circles a bit. Also a few times I think some of the adults talked a little to much to the kids. But overall it was important. But I hope I´m never at a meeting that long again!
So after that I was really excited to leave on descanso. I really like Granada, and this hostal, so it´s nice! I came here by myself (most of my descanso group is on vacation) but today Kiki (a volunteer on vacation) is coming here with her brother and her friend, so I´ll have company soon.
I hope you all are doing well! Watch the Olympics for me, ´cause I don´t think I´ll get to watch very much. I´m going to go see if the tv here at the hostal has anything on, but I know once I get back to the island I won´t be able to watch anything. Oh well...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
volcano pictures!
This is Karin's pictures- of what I didn't see.
The view when we were walking up from the volunteer house. The volcano is behind those trees.
There's the volcano- hiding behind clouds. The ash is blowing away.
It did make an awfully pretty sunset, since the ask was blowing west.
Pretty sky! We decided to stop worrying about the volcano (since no one else was worrying) and just admire the pretty sky.
volcanic activity and vacation with my family
So this post was going to be about vaction with my family (and it still is) but we had some excitment last night that I should probably share with you first. Early in the evening we heard (what we thought was) thunder. It wasn't raining, but it's very normal to have thunder here before it ever decides to rain. But then Michelle came hurrying back to the volunteer house and told us the volcano was spitting ash. (The volcano is hidden behind trees from the volunteer house). So we hurried up to take a look. We missed the actual spitting (but I have pictures from another volunteer). But there were quite a lot of not-normal clouds. The kids and tios reassured us that it was nothing to be worried about. It's supposedly actually a good thing 'cause then the volcano is releasing some pressure, so then it doesn't get super pressurized (or whatever volcanoes do) and have a big scary explosion. So we decided to do what everyone else was doing and admire the pretty sunset with the unnatural clouds. So as far as I know, everything's still ok. The directors were actually here yesterday (just by chance) and they didn't seem at all worried, and they're the ones responsible for the 200 kids living by an active volcano, so I guess we should worry either. But if the pictures make you worried, please donate money to NPH Nicaragua for the building project!! :-) Then we can all move off the island and won't have to worry about if it's a dangerous erruption or a good erruption. Ok, so now back to vacation.
July 17 I left the island and headed to Managua to meet my family. Their plane didn't get in until 7:45, so was there quite early. I got to the hotel, but they had lost my reservations (even thought THEY had called ME a few weeks before to confirm... I don't get it). But they found me another hotel within walking distance, so I headed over there. It seemed nice, so I stayed. First I have to convince the hotel that we did NOT need 4 beds for four people. There was already a double bed and a bigger than single bed but not quite double bed in the room, and they wanted to put TWO more single beds. I told them one was plenty. I called my host brother and sister, Ariel and Aminta, from Salinas because they're studying in Managua. They told me a fair taxi price from where I was to where they were and I headed over to see their university because I never had been there before. So they showed me around and I hung out with Aminta. We visited Ariel, but he was studying because he still had some exams to take. After a while I headed back to the hotel and showered (in hot water!) and waited for the taxi to come and take me to the airport. Then I waited for the plane to come. I could wave at my family once they got their passports stamped, but we had to wait (AND WAIT) for their bags, which had apparently been first off, and so last off. Finally they showed up and they could get all the way out to where I was waiting. We headed back to the hotel and after some talking went to bed.
Friday was SUPER rainy. Someone from NPH came to get the donated books we wanted to leave in Managua and then we waited for my host family. My host dad and the driver showed up (in the crazy rain) and we loaded up our stuff. We went to the university to get Aminta (she came with us, but Ariel had to stay for tests). We let my mom sit up front so she wouldn't get sick, and squished 4 in the back of the pickup. Poor Orlando (my host dad) had to ride in the back in the rain, but he had a full rainsuit (pants and jacket) so at least he was prepared. We took the long way to Salinas because the roads were better. The rain had apparently made the shorter road pretty messy. We eventually made it, and Pabla (my host mom) had a nice lunch waiting for us (she's wonderful). We stayed in Salinas until Sunday. It was a really nice visit. I had to do quite a bit of translating. Emily did quite well on her own, but my parents, esp my dad, needed some help. But it was fine, and everyone had a nice time.
Saturday it finally stopped raining and we went to the beach with a bunch of people that I knew from previous trips. Saturday night we went to church with them and my dad sang some songs and my mom played piano for him. I think they liked it, although it was quite a different music style than they are used to. I know my family enjoyed going to church. Orlando preached slow with lots of stops for me so I could whisper the traslation to my parents. (Em again did fine on her own. She said she got 90% of what he said.)
Sunday we left to head to the island. We stopped in Rivas to buy some groceries. We found a place to eat lunch while we waited for the ferry. Luckily I went up early to check on it, because the ferry was broken, so just the lanchas were running, and they weren't on the normal schedule. BUt we made it to a boat, and luckily the water was nice and calm so no one got sick. We had a bit of trouble on the other side with the NPH transport. It wasn't there when we got there, even though I had called to say we were getting on the boat. The boat ride is an hour, and it's only 15 mins from NPH to Moyogalpa (where the ferry docks). So after waited 20-30 mins I called and he said he was almost there. But when he got there he said we had to wait for the next boat because there were people coming. He said it was almost there, but we ended up having to wait more than an hour. It wasn't that big of a deal, but we had hoped to get some wash done, and that didn't happen. But we got settled in. We went up to visit the kids, but they were going to eat at 8 or 9 after a movie, so we went back to make our own food because we were hungry.
Monday we spent at NPH. We did wash and delivered the rest of the donated books plus the soccer balls. The kids seemed really excited, so that was nice. We ate lunch with the kids and then relaxed and got ready for the special dinner that night. At 5 we headed up to the school to fetch the girls that we were going to cook with. We did a family event with a family, which was fun. The NPH family was three girls, Aracely, Mariluz, and Amy. We had prepared chicken and apple crisp ahead of time and they helped us make mashed potatoes and a salad. It was a very nice meal (and I think my family enjoyed the change from Nica food). The apple crisp was a super nice treat for the girls because apples are so rare in NIcaragua. We also invited Shirley, the woman who lives at the monastery to join us, since she let us use her oven for the chicken and apple crisp.
Tuesday we had to get up early because a ride was coming to get us to go see the island. We went first to Charco Verde, a beach and nature preserve pretty close to NPH. We did a nice hike there and our guide told us all sorts of legends from the island. Then we went to Finca el Porvenir, over by Maderas volcano. They have lots of petroglyphs, so we walked around and looked at them. Then we went to lunch at Playa Santo Domingo. We were going to go swimming afterwards at Ojo de Agua, but it was rainy, so we just looked around a bit (my mom waded) and then went back. (Just to clarify, we didn't swim 'cause it was pretty cool, not 'cause we didn't want to swim in the rain. I think it's silly when people don't want to go swim when it's raining 'cause htey don't want to get wet in the rain... no sense at all.) :-) So we went back and had some time to relax before we went up to hang out with the kids. We brought some of the new books and the kids got my mom and Emily to read them all about 5 times. I got a break! :-) I did have to clarify to a few kids that yes, my dad could read, he just couldn't read in SPANISH. We ate dinner with the kids also and then watched the dance group practice. Then we went back and finished packing.
Wednesday we left the island. NPH kindly provided us a ride from San Jorge to Granada, so that was a very easy trip. This hotel luckily had NOT lost our reservation, so everything worked out great. It was a really nice hotel with hot water and air conditioning and a pool. And it was very pretty. And it had breakfast, but sometimes the breakfast was a little too Nican for my family. Wednesday afternoon we wandered around Granada and took a horse and carriage tour. Most of Granada is very walkable, but there are a few places that it's much nicer to take some other form of transportation to visit. We ended up getting quite wet on the tour because it started to rain, but we had gelado afterwards anyway. I also had hot chocolate, 'cause I was cold. :-) That night we went out to eat at a really nice Spanish retaurant. I don't know how authentic the food was, but it was good. Emily said the paella was different from what she had in Spain, but we figured it could just be a different region.
Thursday we went to Mombacho volcano. In the morning we went on a canopy tour. But first we had to get there, which was crazy because the road was SUPER bad. Really it was way the worse road I've ever seen. Luckily my mom was in the front. I let Em sit with her, so I was feeling slightly sick when we got there. (She let me switch for the way back, thanks Em!) We had barely recovered from the ride when it was time for the canopy tour. For those who don't know, canopy tours involve lots of cables strung way up between to trees that you fly across while attached to a harness. It's lots of fun. I had done one before, so I didn't really have any problems, but I think the others were at least a little nervours at first. Which makes sense, because it really doesn't make any sense to jump out of a tree who know how high up in the air. But we had lots of fun and convinced the guys to slowly rappel us down at the end rather than let us drop in 2 seconds. We didn't go THAT slow, but at least it didn't re-upset my stomach. Afterwards we had to get back in the truck for the crazy ride back down. I did much better in the front. They dropped us off at a restaurant for lunch and then picked us back up afterwards for a hike higher up the volcano. It was super cloudy, so we didn't get to see any nice views, but we saw lots of rainforest plants and some monkeys. That night we went to eat at an Italian retaurant. Yay! I like Italian food!
Friday we went to Laguna de Apoyo, the volcano lake near Granada. It was very relaxing and nice. That was a slow day. And then we went out to a steak place for dinner and I had the first good beef I've had in Nicaragua. The beef usually tastes good, but is not good quality at all. But this was very good.
Saturday we went to an archeology museum in the morning and then to Masaya market in the afternoon. We all got some very nice things. And it was fun to wander around. That night we had Italian again 'cause I like Italian. And we relaxed and packed and all that sort of thing.
Sunday we had to leave REALLY early to go to the airport- 4AM. After I dropped my family off I got a taxi to the NPH house and got a ride with the NPH kids to San Jorge for another family day (where the kids' families come to visit). It was kinda a weird day again, but that's unavoidable I think. Then that night I had to go BACK to Managua and BACK to the airport to greet a couple from Germany who are new volunteers here at NPH. They seem really nice. They're in San Juan del Sur now learning Spanish, so that's good.
The last few days have actually been "normal" but normal from April or something 'cause things haven't been normal for a really long time. But I've had a full week and I've worked with all my students but one, and I'll work with her tomorrow. It's very strange. But good! So things are going well!
I'll try to get pictures up tomorrow, if the internet behaves. I'll put the volcano ones up first, 'cause I figure that's what people are most interested in. I MIGHT even get those up tonight... We'll see! Oh, and I didn't proof this 'cause otherwise I don't think I'd get it up 'til tomorrow afternoon. So hopefully it makes at least some sense!
July 17 I left the island and headed to Managua to meet my family. Their plane didn't get in until 7:45, so was there quite early. I got to the hotel, but they had lost my reservations (even thought THEY had called ME a few weeks before to confirm... I don't get it). But they found me another hotel within walking distance, so I headed over there. It seemed nice, so I stayed. First I have to convince the hotel that we did NOT need 4 beds for four people. There was already a double bed and a bigger than single bed but not quite double bed in the room, and they wanted to put TWO more single beds. I told them one was plenty. I called my host brother and sister, Ariel and Aminta, from Salinas because they're studying in Managua. They told me a fair taxi price from where I was to where they were and I headed over to see their university because I never had been there before. So they showed me around and I hung out with Aminta. We visited Ariel, but he was studying because he still had some exams to take. After a while I headed back to the hotel and showered (in hot water!) and waited for the taxi to come and take me to the airport. Then I waited for the plane to come. I could wave at my family once they got their passports stamped, but we had to wait (AND WAIT) for their bags, which had apparently been first off, and so last off. Finally they showed up and they could get all the way out to where I was waiting. We headed back to the hotel and after some talking went to bed.
Friday was SUPER rainy. Someone from NPH came to get the donated books we wanted to leave in Managua and then we waited for my host family. My host dad and the driver showed up (in the crazy rain) and we loaded up our stuff. We went to the university to get Aminta (she came with us, but Ariel had to stay for tests). We let my mom sit up front so she wouldn't get sick, and squished 4 in the back of the pickup. Poor Orlando (my host dad) had to ride in the back in the rain, but he had a full rainsuit (pants and jacket) so at least he was prepared. We took the long way to Salinas because the roads were better. The rain had apparently made the shorter road pretty messy. We eventually made it, and Pabla (my host mom) had a nice lunch waiting for us (she's wonderful). We stayed in Salinas until Sunday. It was a really nice visit. I had to do quite a bit of translating. Emily did quite well on her own, but my parents, esp my dad, needed some help. But it was fine, and everyone had a nice time.
Saturday it finally stopped raining and we went to the beach with a bunch of people that I knew from previous trips. Saturday night we went to church with them and my dad sang some songs and my mom played piano for him. I think they liked it, although it was quite a different music style than they are used to. I know my family enjoyed going to church. Orlando preached slow with lots of stops for me so I could whisper the traslation to my parents. (Em again did fine on her own. She said she got 90% of what he said.)
Sunday we left to head to the island. We stopped in Rivas to buy some groceries. We found a place to eat lunch while we waited for the ferry. Luckily I went up early to check on it, because the ferry was broken, so just the lanchas were running, and they weren't on the normal schedule. BUt we made it to a boat, and luckily the water was nice and calm so no one got sick. We had a bit of trouble on the other side with the NPH transport. It wasn't there when we got there, even though I had called to say we were getting on the boat. The boat ride is an hour, and it's only 15 mins from NPH to Moyogalpa (where the ferry docks). So after waited 20-30 mins I called and he said he was almost there. But when he got there he said we had to wait for the next boat because there were people coming. He said it was almost there, but we ended up having to wait more than an hour. It wasn't that big of a deal, but we had hoped to get some wash done, and that didn't happen. But we got settled in. We went up to visit the kids, but they were going to eat at 8 or 9 after a movie, so we went back to make our own food because we were hungry.
Monday we spent at NPH. We did wash and delivered the rest of the donated books plus the soccer balls. The kids seemed really excited, so that was nice. We ate lunch with the kids and then relaxed and got ready for the special dinner that night. At 5 we headed up to the school to fetch the girls that we were going to cook with. We did a family event with a family, which was fun. The NPH family was three girls, Aracely, Mariluz, and Amy. We had prepared chicken and apple crisp ahead of time and they helped us make mashed potatoes and a salad. It was a very nice meal (and I think my family enjoyed the change from Nica food). The apple crisp was a super nice treat for the girls because apples are so rare in NIcaragua. We also invited Shirley, the woman who lives at the monastery to join us, since she let us use her oven for the chicken and apple crisp.
Tuesday we had to get up early because a ride was coming to get us to go see the island. We went first to Charco Verde, a beach and nature preserve pretty close to NPH. We did a nice hike there and our guide told us all sorts of legends from the island. Then we went to Finca el Porvenir, over by Maderas volcano. They have lots of petroglyphs, so we walked around and looked at them. Then we went to lunch at Playa Santo Domingo. We were going to go swimming afterwards at Ojo de Agua, but it was rainy, so we just looked around a bit (my mom waded) and then went back. (Just to clarify, we didn't swim 'cause it was pretty cool, not 'cause we didn't want to swim in the rain. I think it's silly when people don't want to go swim when it's raining 'cause htey don't want to get wet in the rain... no sense at all.) :-) So we went back and had some time to relax before we went up to hang out with the kids. We brought some of the new books and the kids got my mom and Emily to read them all about 5 times. I got a break! :-) I did have to clarify to a few kids that yes, my dad could read, he just couldn't read in SPANISH. We ate dinner with the kids also and then watched the dance group practice. Then we went back and finished packing.
Wednesday we left the island. NPH kindly provided us a ride from San Jorge to Granada, so that was a very easy trip. This hotel luckily had NOT lost our reservation, so everything worked out great. It was a really nice hotel with hot water and air conditioning and a pool. And it was very pretty. And it had breakfast, but sometimes the breakfast was a little too Nican for my family. Wednesday afternoon we wandered around Granada and took a horse and carriage tour. Most of Granada is very walkable, but there are a few places that it's much nicer to take some other form of transportation to visit. We ended up getting quite wet on the tour because it started to rain, but we had gelado afterwards anyway. I also had hot chocolate, 'cause I was cold. :-) That night we went out to eat at a really nice Spanish retaurant. I don't know how authentic the food was, but it was good. Emily said the paella was different from what she had in Spain, but we figured it could just be a different region.
Thursday we went to Mombacho volcano. In the morning we went on a canopy tour. But first we had to get there, which was crazy because the road was SUPER bad. Really it was way the worse road I've ever seen. Luckily my mom was in the front. I let Em sit with her, so I was feeling slightly sick when we got there. (She let me switch for the way back, thanks Em!) We had barely recovered from the ride when it was time for the canopy tour. For those who don't know, canopy tours involve lots of cables strung way up between to trees that you fly across while attached to a harness. It's lots of fun. I had done one before, so I didn't really have any problems, but I think the others were at least a little nervours at first. Which makes sense, because it really doesn't make any sense to jump out of a tree who know how high up in the air. But we had lots of fun and convinced the guys to slowly rappel us down at the end rather than let us drop in 2 seconds. We didn't go THAT slow, but at least it didn't re-upset my stomach. Afterwards we had to get back in the truck for the crazy ride back down. I did much better in the front. They dropped us off at a restaurant for lunch and then picked us back up afterwards for a hike higher up the volcano. It was super cloudy, so we didn't get to see any nice views, but we saw lots of rainforest plants and some monkeys. That night we went to eat at an Italian retaurant. Yay! I like Italian food!
Friday we went to Laguna de Apoyo, the volcano lake near Granada. It was very relaxing and nice. That was a slow day. And then we went out to a steak place for dinner and I had the first good beef I've had in Nicaragua. The beef usually tastes good, but is not good quality at all. But this was very good.
Saturday we went to an archeology museum in the morning and then to Masaya market in the afternoon. We all got some very nice things. And it was fun to wander around. That night we had Italian again 'cause I like Italian. And we relaxed and packed and all that sort of thing.
Sunday we had to leave REALLY early to go to the airport- 4AM. After I dropped my family off I got a taxi to the NPH house and got a ride with the NPH kids to San Jorge for another family day (where the kids' families come to visit). It was kinda a weird day again, but that's unavoidable I think. Then that night I had to go BACK to Managua and BACK to the airport to greet a couple from Germany who are new volunteers here at NPH. They seem really nice. They're in San Juan del Sur now learning Spanish, so that's good.
The last few days have actually been "normal" but normal from April or something 'cause things haven't been normal for a really long time. But I've had a full week and I've worked with all my students but one, and I'll work with her tomorrow. It's very strange. But good! So things are going well!
I'll try to get pictures up tomorrow, if the internet behaves. I'll put the volcano ones up first, 'cause I figure that's what people are most interested in. I MIGHT even get those up tonight... We'll see! Oh, and I didn't proof this 'cause otherwise I don't think I'd get it up 'til tomorrow afternoon. So hopefully it makes at least some sense!
a new job and NPH vacations
Sorry, this is really old... It's from July 12. I'll post something more recent soon!
The week after I came back from Honduras I got a new job- volunteer coordinator. Since the old volunteer coordinator left the next Sunday, it was about time that we decided who was going to do it. No one really wanted to do it (because it meant giving up part of what we were doing before, and we all liked our jobs) but several of us decided we wouldn't mind. We decided I probably had the most time, so I took the job. I'm planning to keep working in the mornings in aula de recurso and try to do my coordinator work mostly in the afternoon. But the week after I came back from Honduras, the kids also had exams AGAIN. So I used that whole week to do coordinator work because it took a while to figure out how everything worked. It's mostly reading and answering emails and being the connecting person between the volunteers and the directors. Also I have to read applications from new volunteers and do certifications and evaluations for volunteers that are leaving. So it's sometimes a lot of work, but sometimes not so much.
Also on that Wednesday a new volunteer arrived, Lola, a psychologist from Spain. So I did orientation for her that week as well. It wasn't too involved because you can't do anything too elaborate with just one person. So I just showed her around and answered her questions.
The Saturday after I got back from Honduras was the big family carnival. Sana spent a lot of time organizing games and food and prizes. The kids had to be with their brothers and sisters in order to participate in the games. They could win tokens and then spend them on food and other prizes. The morning went really well, but around noon it started to rain. So we weren't able to do any games anymore, but we were almost out of prizes anyway, so it was ok. The kids still had a really good time and got to see their siblings from Managua and Casa Asis. That Saturday night was the despedida (goodbye) for Manh Hung, Birgit, Katharina, and Julia. So they gave the kids a chance to say something, and then we had a DJ, both for the family carnival and for the goodbye.
That weekend was my descanso, but since Lola had just arrived, and I had some evaluations to do for volunteers who were leaving, I stayed at NPH. I rested some, but I also did quite a bit of work. Also, none of us could leave until Sunday because of the family carnival. Monday I went to Rivas to buy a battery in the hopes that if we hooked it up to our internet router, the internet would work better. I think it's working better, but we still have problems…
Later that week I was busy with coordinator stuff again. The kids were testing and then starting vacations, so I could do aula de recurso anyway. There were some visitors here from the States, and since both the directors had to leave Friday for a retreat, they put me in charge. So I made sure the visitors were ok and had stuff to do Friday, and then made sure they got away ok on Saturday. Thursday night we also went out because Katharina was leaving. Last Sunday I made apple crisp to celebrate 4th of July (two days late) so that was exciting because we never have apples here. Fruit like pineapple and mangos are literally falling off trees (well, the mangos are, pineapple don't grow on trees- see the monastery pictures in my blog if you want to see how pineapples grow). But no apples here
This past week has been vacations, so we've been organizing tons of activities for the kids. Monday we had a movie night. Tuesday the kids all went to the beach, but I went to Rivas with Lola and Sana to do some work. (Tuesday was also the half-way point of my year here, so I'm more than half done now, CRAZY!!!) Wednesday morning we did a water game where the kids were in teams and had to transport water from the lake up to the houses (about a 5 min walk). There were various ways they had to do it- passing it in a bottle over their heads, a relay race (with water in the bottle), passing it under their legs. It went pretty well except the kids are super competitive so there was a lot of accusations of cheating (at least some justified) and then the ones who didn't win got mad. So it was frustrating in that way, but I think the kids had fun. Thursday we organized games all day. We split the kids in half, and half played basketball, soccer, and volleyball in the morning, and did other random games (three legged race, wheelbarrow race, piggyback race, make a pyramid, obstacle course, etc) in the afternoon. The other half of kids did the reverse. They were in teams, but for the random games it was only one team at a time, and we recorded the time to compare later to see who was faster. So that eliminated a lot of the cheating and accusations of cheating. We also gave points for things like organization, team spirit, and things like that, so that helped with the attitudes also.
Later on Thursday Herthy (the NPH IT guy) was here, and he taught me some tricks to try when our internet acts up. So now I know some things I can try, like a way to check if the problem is with the router or that the antenna is not getting signal. The problem now is that the router is in another building, and I don't have a key, so if I know the problem is with the router, I still can't do anything, unless I call someone to unlock it. But it's still better than before.
This weekend is my descanso, but I'm here at NPH because I go on vacation on Thursday because my family is coming!! So I decided that coming back Monday night and then leaving Thursday morning would be silly. I was going to work Monday, but now there's no class, so I can't do aula de recurso anyway, which was the whole idea for working. Oh well… So I'm just doing stuff around here, cleaning, baking, writing to all of you, watching movies, getting caught up on my paperwork, etc.
The week after I came back from Honduras I got a new job- volunteer coordinator. Since the old volunteer coordinator left the next Sunday, it was about time that we decided who was going to do it. No one really wanted to do it (because it meant giving up part of what we were doing before, and we all liked our jobs) but several of us decided we wouldn't mind. We decided I probably had the most time, so I took the job. I'm planning to keep working in the mornings in aula de recurso and try to do my coordinator work mostly in the afternoon. But the week after I came back from Honduras, the kids also had exams AGAIN. So I used that whole week to do coordinator work because it took a while to figure out how everything worked. It's mostly reading and answering emails and being the connecting person between the volunteers and the directors. Also I have to read applications from new volunteers and do certifications and evaluations for volunteers that are leaving. So it's sometimes a lot of work, but sometimes not so much.
Also on that Wednesday a new volunteer arrived, Lola, a psychologist from Spain. So I did orientation for her that week as well. It wasn't too involved because you can't do anything too elaborate with just one person. So I just showed her around and answered her questions.
The Saturday after I got back from Honduras was the big family carnival. Sana spent a lot of time organizing games and food and prizes. The kids had to be with their brothers and sisters in order to participate in the games. They could win tokens and then spend them on food and other prizes. The morning went really well, but around noon it started to rain. So we weren't able to do any games anymore, but we were almost out of prizes anyway, so it was ok. The kids still had a really good time and got to see their siblings from Managua and Casa Asis. That Saturday night was the despedida (goodbye) for Manh Hung, Birgit, Katharina, and Julia. So they gave the kids a chance to say something, and then we had a DJ, both for the family carnival and for the goodbye.
That weekend was my descanso, but since Lola had just arrived, and I had some evaluations to do for volunteers who were leaving, I stayed at NPH. I rested some, but I also did quite a bit of work. Also, none of us could leave until Sunday because of the family carnival. Monday I went to Rivas to buy a battery in the hopes that if we hooked it up to our internet router, the internet would work better. I think it's working better, but we still have problems…
Later that week I was busy with coordinator stuff again. The kids were testing and then starting vacations, so I could do aula de recurso anyway. There were some visitors here from the States, and since both the directors had to leave Friday for a retreat, they put me in charge. So I made sure the visitors were ok and had stuff to do Friday, and then made sure they got away ok on Saturday. Thursday night we also went out because Katharina was leaving. Last Sunday I made apple crisp to celebrate 4th of July (two days late) so that was exciting because we never have apples here. Fruit like pineapple and mangos are literally falling off trees (well, the mangos are, pineapple don't grow on trees- see the monastery pictures in my blog if you want to see how pineapples grow). But no apples here
This past week has been vacations, so we've been organizing tons of activities for the kids. Monday we had a movie night. Tuesday the kids all went to the beach, but I went to Rivas with Lola and Sana to do some work. (Tuesday was also the half-way point of my year here, so I'm more than half done now, CRAZY!!!) Wednesday morning we did a water game where the kids were in teams and had to transport water from the lake up to the houses (about a 5 min walk). There were various ways they had to do it- passing it in a bottle over their heads, a relay race (with water in the bottle), passing it under their legs. It went pretty well except the kids are super competitive so there was a lot of accusations of cheating (at least some justified) and then the ones who didn't win got mad. So it was frustrating in that way, but I think the kids had fun. Thursday we organized games all day. We split the kids in half, and half played basketball, soccer, and volleyball in the morning, and did other random games (three legged race, wheelbarrow race, piggyback race, make a pyramid, obstacle course, etc) in the afternoon. The other half of kids did the reverse. They were in teams, but for the random games it was only one team at a time, and we recorded the time to compare later to see who was faster. So that eliminated a lot of the cheating and accusations of cheating. We also gave points for things like organization, team spirit, and things like that, so that helped with the attitudes also.
Later on Thursday Herthy (the NPH IT guy) was here, and he taught me some tricks to try when our internet acts up. So now I know some things I can try, like a way to check if the problem is with the router or that the antenna is not getting signal. The problem now is that the router is in another building, and I don't have a key, so if I know the problem is with the router, I still can't do anything, unless I call someone to unlock it. But it's still better than before.
This weekend is my descanso, but I'm here at NPH because I go on vacation on Thursday because my family is coming!! So I decided that coming back Monday night and then leaving Thursday morning would be silly. I was going to work Monday, but now there's no class, so I can't do aula de recurso anyway, which was the whole idea for working. Oh well… So I'm just doing stuff around here, cleaning, baking, writing to all of you, watching movies, getting caught up on my paperwork, etc.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
more Honduras pictures
A view of farmland and mountains at NPH Honduras.
in Tegucigalpa (the capital of Honduras)
A view out the bus window on the way back to Nicaragua.
NPH Honduras pictures
The visitor's center at NPH Honduras.
The view from outside the visitor's center.
The walk down the mountain to the school.
The NPH Honduras school.
Basketball courts with mountains behind.
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