the first week of school and other news

So the big news here in Nicaragua is that our volunteer coordinator had to leave. The weekend I was in Salinas Manh Hung (the coordinator) hit his head on the bottom of a pool at Ojo de Agua. He'd been there before and the water was deep enough to dive, but aparently it wasn't this time. So his neck was really hurting, but he didn't think it was anything serious. He went to the doctor on Monday (more than a week ago) but the private hospital was closed so he went to the public one. But he had to wait so long (like 4 hours) that he got fed up and left. But it didn't get better, so he went back on Friday (to the private clinic) and found out he had a fractured vertibrae (I think the 5th, for those of you who know medical stuff.) Anyway, they said it was good that it was cracked on the front and not the back because if it had been the back he probably would have been paralized. So he has to go back to Germany for surgery. He really wants to come back, so hopefully he has a quick recovery. I really have no idea how long it would take to recuperate from that kind of surgery. From what I've heard, his insurance will pay the flight to Germany, and then back to Nicaragua, so that's really nice. The kids have added "la salud de Manh Hung" (the health of Manh Hung) to their prayer list, which is cute. Everyone hopes that he is back as soon as possible.

In more everyday news, school started on Monday! The first day was pretty pointless. The kids and teachers all showed up and wandered around and after a half hour or and hour they had a big assemby. So there were speeches and we all introduced ourselves and then the kids went with their teachers. We got a tour of the school and figure out the difference between grados and ciclos. So here's how the Nicaraguan school system works. Primary school is 1-6th grade. Secondary is 7-11. Most university degrees take 5 years to complete. If you want to go to tech school, you don't need to graduate secondary. Some tech schools only require that you finish primary, some require 2 years of secondary and some require 4. It depends what you want to study. So normal schools work like that. NPH also has something called ciclos. Ciclo 1 is 1st and 2nd grade, Ciclo 2 is 3rd and 4th and Ciclo 3 is 5th and 6th. The ciclos are for kids that are behind in grades not because they've failed but because they didn't start school on time. So they learn two grades worth of material in one year. So for example if an 8 year old came to NPH without school, they would probably go to Ciclo 1. Then after that year (assuming they pass) they could either go to regular 3rd grade, or Ciclo 2 depending on what the teacher thought was best. So it's just a way to try to get kids caught up in school.

On Tuesday all the kids took diagnostic tests to make sure they're in the right grade. So tomorrow the secretary is supposed to have a list for us of who is in which grade so we can talk to the teachers about the kids we have for aula de recurso. Hopefully we can also start to get a schedule organized so that we can start sometime next week.

I also had some visitors the past while. On Friday I went to Rivas to buy some school supplies and I met Casey (a friend from school) there. She traveled from Costa Rica with Nathan, another Ole. So they came back to the island with me and spent all day Saturday here. Sunday they left really early because they had to catch a flight on Monday. It was really nice to have Casey here! The other volunteers are all really nice, but we're all really different and it was nice to have someone to talk to who I felt like actually knows me. And also (this is harder to explain) but someone who makes the expected responce to things, or who has similar opinions. Maybe some of you (esp those who have traveled abroad) know what I mean, but there's always times where you say something and people don't react the way you expect. Not that they necessarily react in a bad way, just not how expected. It goes both ways too, because there's been times when someone has said something and I can tell they expect me to agree with them or something, but I don't. It's just sometimes frustrating. Anyway, it was really nice to have Casey here, even though it was a short visit.

Then I had a surprise visit on Monday when Orlando (my Nica host father) called to say he was on the island with Ariel, Aminta, Whitney, and Olof (my host brother and sister and two members of the group from last January). They said they would stop by on Tuesday. Then a few hours later they called back to say that they were splitting up and Orlando, Aminta, and Whitney were coming now to NPH. I was a little frustrated because I had said they were welcome to visit, but I had said to let me know ahead of time! Luckily the woman who cleans our house also cleans the monestary (where guests stay) so she said she could get some rooms ready for them. So I met them and showed them around. It was nice to have them visit, but hopefully if they come back they'll give me a little more warning!

So tomorrow hopefully we will be able to organize some things for aula de recurso, and then Friday I leave on my descanso. We're not quite sure where we're going, I think probably somewhere in the San Juan del Sur area. Sana really wants to go there, and Michelle kinda does too. I've never been, so even though I hear that it's super touristy, I think it's worth a visit. Usually I don't like super touristy places that much, but in Nicaragua they're sometimes nice because they offer a variety of foods and other things that are a little hard to come by. Hopefully it'll be relaxing! I'll post again when I get back. Miss you all!