I hope you are all doing well and enjoying some nice weather. It sounds like finally the weather in the States is nicer than in Nicaragua. (at least I prefer 60-70 sunny Spring days to 95 ridiculously hot ones.)
So before I get to the weekend, a bit about this past week. It was fairly normal, but the big event (for me) was rearranging some of my aula de recurso kids. I stopped working with two (the teacher said they didn't need it, and they had seemed to be doing really well, so I agreed). I moved one to once every other week because he's really smart, he just doesn't want to do his work sometimes. And then I added four new ones, and an extra Monday (so every other week) appt for two others. I didn't start working with any new students last week, so that's what I'll be doing this week! Should be exciting!
During the week, in discussions about descanso, everyone wanted to go to San Juan again because there was a big music festival. But I really didn't want to go to San Juan because I'll go to San Juan next descanso with all the volunteers for a little retreat. So I was planning to just go to the monastery all weekend, when Anne told me of another option. Anne is a volunteer from the Netherlands who boxes for fun and exercise. She invited some boxers from Managua (one of whom was world champion) to come to NPH to do a day with the kids. They came a few weeks ago, but I was on descanso. They gave Anne 50 tickets to a boxing match in Managua this past weekend. Around Wednesday, in checking what she thought were last minute details, Anne discovered that hardly any of the NPH Managua kids were planning on going to the boxing match, so she wanted to know if any of us wanted to come along. At first I wasn't interested, but then I thought, what the heck! It's free, and it'll just be the first part of the weekend and then I'll go to the monastery.
So Friday we left on the first ferry (TOO early) but that meant we got NPH transport to Managua because some people from San Jorge were going there for a meeting. So that was nice. We dropped our stuff off at the girls' house, where we would stay that night, and went to a mall for a nice lunch of a big salad. That was nice. Then we wandered the stores. They had one department store with some really nice clothes for not so much money, so I might end up back there toward the end of my year here to work on getting a teacher's wardrobe started. Then we had chocolate cake from a coffee shop, which was also quite nice. Then we went back and got ready and headed over to the boys' house with a few of the girls that wanted to come with us. We managed to round up a decent number of kids, but not the 50 that we had tickets for. Oh well. So we took a taxi to the boxing place 'cause it was on the edge of a bad neighborhood (at least that's what they told us). It actually ended up being an interesting night! I'm not a huge boxing fan or anything now, but if someone really wanted me to go to another boxing match, I probably would, at least if it was free. I don't think I'd want to pay for it. Anyway, the crowd was really great because it had some families (of the boxers mostly) and was much less drunk than some baseball game crowds I've seen. And the boxers also had a lot of respect for eachother. Almost all of them congratulated the other one after the match. It was also fun because Anne and some of the boys knew some of the boxers, so the boxers would come over and say hi and take pictures with the kids and stuff like that. So that was nice.
Saturday we headed back to the island, with a lunch break in Rivas. I headed over to the monestary for that night. I was super tired so after dinner I took a shower, with HOT water ('cause the monestary has those electric shower things) and got in bed and read for a while and went to bed early.
Sunday I went to church at the monestary with Shirley (the nun) and then afterwards we had pancakes for lunch. I invited her for breakfast on Monday, but she said she needed to eat at 6:30 after her prayers 'cause then she had to do irrigating all morning. So we had them for lunch on Sunday instead. Then I talked to my parents that afternoon and watched movies that night.
Monday I relaxed in the morning and headed back over to the volunteer house after lunch to use the internet. So a very contrasting weekend, with a boxing match on one hand and the monestary on the other! But it was nice. I'll get some pictures up later, if the internet cooperates!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
San Juan and family event pictures
The view from our balcony.
A view from farther down the beach, the next night. We went for a walk.
Late afternoon view. This was Sunday, when it was just TOO hot to sit on the beach, so we sat in our hotel and looked at the beach. And then just ran across the street when we wanted to swim.
Later that same day.
This is Belkis and Maryeli, sisters from Bluefields (the Carribean coast). I did a family event with them where we baked Snickerdoodles.
San Juan del Sur (again) and normal life
The rest of last week went fine. The kids tested and I worked with them when I could. I helped a lot of kids study in the afternoons as well, so that was good.
Then for descanso I went to San Juan del Sur again. It's not my favorite place in Nicaragua, but most of the other volunteers were going there, so I decided to go along. It is a good place to eat non-Nica food and stock up on groceries. So we left Friday really early because there was a transport and Sana had her surf board so she didn't want to try to take the bus or hitch a ride. We got to San Juan at 9AM, really early! There actually isn't that much to write about the weekend, because we didn't really do that much. We stayed in a cheap hotel ($5 each) right across from the beach. It was really nice, because we had our own room; it wasn't a dorm. But the bathrooms were downstairs, so that was more hostel like. But it was a really nice location, especially because it was really too hot to sit on the beach. We tried a few times, but the sand was too hot, and even 5 minutes after swimming you were too hot. And there's really no shade on the beach. So we'd sit in the hotel, where we could be in the shade and look at the beach, and then go across the street to swim, and then come back. It worked well. So I swam and read and slept and ate good food (they have Subway there, and it's not very expensive!!) all weekend. It felt really long, even though we left early on Monday to get back in good time. I definately came back rested, so that was nice.
This week everything is back to normal in the schools. I have to figure out which of my kids passed their tests and which didn't. I'm also talking to the teachers to see if they want to rearrange any kids. Some maybe need less frequent appointments and there might be some new ones that they want to add. I'm also still figuring out the NIcaragua school system. One boy today told me he failed social studies because of bad behavior. I asked him what that meant, and he just said he didn't behave well during that hour in school. So I'm not sure what that means. But I told him it would be silly if he had to repeat the year because of bad behavior in one class, so maybe he'll try harder. We'll see. It's silly to fail a kid and make them repeat the year for bad behavior. Obviously they should behave, but the punishment doesn't seem to fit the crime.
That's really all the news I have! Just life as normal. We're managing to survive the heat (highs 90-95 and lows 70-75). That's just HOT. In a month or so it should start to rain, so hopefully that'll cool things off.
Then for descanso I went to San Juan del Sur again. It's not my favorite place in Nicaragua, but most of the other volunteers were going there, so I decided to go along. It is a good place to eat non-Nica food and stock up on groceries. So we left Friday really early because there was a transport and Sana had her surf board so she didn't want to try to take the bus or hitch a ride. We got to San Juan at 9AM, really early! There actually isn't that much to write about the weekend, because we didn't really do that much. We stayed in a cheap hotel ($5 each) right across from the beach. It was really nice, because we had our own room; it wasn't a dorm. But the bathrooms were downstairs, so that was more hostel like. But it was a really nice location, especially because it was really too hot to sit on the beach. We tried a few times, but the sand was too hot, and even 5 minutes after swimming you were too hot. And there's really no shade on the beach. So we'd sit in the hotel, where we could be in the shade and look at the beach, and then go across the street to swim, and then come back. It worked well. So I swam and read and slept and ate good food (they have Subway there, and it's not very expensive!!) all weekend. It felt really long, even though we left early on Monday to get back in good time. I definately came back rested, so that was nice.
This week everything is back to normal in the schools. I have to figure out which of my kids passed their tests and which didn't. I'm also talking to the teachers to see if they want to rearrange any kids. Some maybe need less frequent appointments and there might be some new ones that they want to add. I'm also still figuring out the NIcaragua school system. One boy today told me he failed social studies because of bad behavior. I asked him what that meant, and he just said he didn't behave well during that hour in school. So I'm not sure what that means. But I told him it would be silly if he had to repeat the year because of bad behavior in one class, so maybe he'll try harder. We'll see. It's silly to fail a kid and make them repeat the year for bad behavior. Obviously they should behave, but the punishment doesn't seem to fit the crime.
That's really all the news I have! Just life as normal. We're managing to survive the heat (highs 90-95 and lows 70-75). That's just HOT. In a month or so it should start to rain, so hopefully that'll cool things off.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
So last week was a little bit of a hard week. It started off just fine, because I was on descanso and I just stayed on the island because I only had two days. So I read, used my computer, watched movies, cooked, and just generally relaxed. It was really nice. I think I maybe managed to even sleep until 8, which is really late for me in Nicaragua. The rough week started a little bit on these days because there was some confusion about some stuff my mom sent. She sent it down with Casey, a friend of mine that came with the St Olaf group, but it got left in the luggage that stayed in the office in San Jorge. So I told her no big deal, just leave it with someone at the office. Jayden (the subdirector) was going to the office on Monday, so I asked him to get it, but he came back and said no one in the office knew what he was talking about. So I got a hold of Casey and asked who she left it with. I let Jayden know, and I also told my roommate Birgit, because she was going to be stopping by the office on Tuesday. Well, she came back, and said she didn't have time to stop at the office, but that she had asked Raul (the head guy at the office) and he didn't know what she was talking about. So I was starting to get a little worried.
Wednesday was just a bad day all around. I went back to the school to start work again, and found that someone had broken into my room. Luckily everything valuable (the kids' binders with their work, the books, the math games, etc) were all locked up in the lockers. But whoever it was that broke in made a mess of the unlocked locker (just filled with papers) and also took some colored pensils that were sitting out, along with my broom. So although it wasn't really that big of a deal, because nothing THAT valuable got taken, it was still very annoying and didn't help my bad mood. So the rest of that day I was still trying to talk with Jayden to see if he could track down the stuff for me.
Thursday went much better. I went to the school as normal, and Jayden found me at 8:30, after I'd worked with my first two kids. He asked if I could leave right away to go to San Jorge to fill out visas for the dance group. He also said they had found my stuff, so I'd be able to pick it up. So that sounded like a great deal (I'd already said I would help fill out the visas- they had to be done in English, that's why they wanted someone from the US to do it.) So I ran out of the school, let some volunteers know where I was going, and got on the ferry at 9. I was at San Jorge all day, filling out visas, which wasn't the most interesting work, but it was nice to feel like I was being really helpful. So I got those done in time to catch the last ferry back to the island.
Friday was actually a nice day. There was no school, so I got to sleep in and catch up on some work in the morning. Then a group of important people from the government came to visit. The main reason for their visit was to see if the government might be interested in buying this property when NPH is ready to move, and then the idea is that they could turn it into a university specializing in agriculture. I think also they were here to see if they could help NPH out in any way. But so the dance group performed and there was a nice lunch. Then in the afternoon everyone went to a soccer game because it was the finals in the boys' island league. It was a two game final, and the first game ended with a tie.
Saturday was also an ok day. The second half of the soccer game was at noon, and then I had time to call home after we got back before mass at 7. So it was just a normal, relaxing Saturday.
Sunday was a big day, and actually a hard day. It was visitor's day here at NPH, so everyone got up really early to leave at 5:30. We caught an early ferry and went tot he office in San Jorge. Then the kids' families started to arrive. It sounds like such a nice day- the familes come to visit! But I'm not sure I saw any purely happy kids. There were lots of nervous kids at the beginning, wondering if anyone would even show up to visit them. And then as the families started to come, there were lots of mixed emotions from the kids who got visitors. They mostly seemed pretty happy to see whoever it was the showed up, but there were obviously lots of mixed emotions. Many kids didn't really want to stay with their families for too long, and preferred coming to check out the activities we (the volunteers) were doing, which were aimed at the kids without visitors. But as our psychologists reminded us, we don't know the history of these kids with their families. We don't know if there was abuse. Also, there's very understandably mixed emotions from kids whose relatives sent them (or were made to send them) to live in NPH. Some of the weirdest situations were where mothers showed up to visit their kids, and brought with them OTHER kids (the NPH kids' brothers and sisters). I can imagine how strange that must feel for a kid, to live in NPH when their brother or sister lives at home. And then of course there were the kids who didn't receive any visitors at all. Some seemed ok (more or less) but others were really sad. There were many kids still sitting at the gate at 1PM (the visitors started coming at 9AM, and the day ended at 3PM) just waiting, hopeing that maybe their visitor was just late. I sat with one girl for a while, and she just held my hand and leaned her head on my shoulder. Finally I bought her an ice cream. (That was another sad part- there was ice cream and other snacks for sale, so the kids with visitors were buying them, but the kids without visitors didn't have anyone to give them the money.) So we had some ice cream. Maybe that helped a bit. Besides being a hard day, it was a very LONG day, because we left the house on the island at 5:30 and didn't get back 'til 6PM. So we headed back to the volunteer house and relaxed for the rest of the evening. So that was my rough week.
Luckily this week has been going much better so far. Monday was school again, but an easy day for me because I only have two students on Monday. So I worked with them both before recess, and then came back and did some prep work at the house. On Tuesday exams were scheduled, so I headed up to the older girls around 4 to help them study. After dinner I continued Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the girls, so that was fun. Tuesday was a strange day. We had mass at 7AM because a priest from the States was visiting. Then after that all the kids had exams, so I couldn't work with any of my students. So I came back to the house and did some prep. I worked a lot with the older girls on math in the afternoon, because Wednesday is math test day.
This morning again I can't work with any students 'cause their in exams, but we have our psychopedagogical team meeting at 10. And tomorrow I'll be able to work with kids again. Then Friday I go on descanso. I haven't actually decided where I'm going yet, so I'll write about where I went and what I did when I get back.
Wednesday was just a bad day all around. I went back to the school to start work again, and found that someone had broken into my room. Luckily everything valuable (the kids' binders with their work, the books, the math games, etc) were all locked up in the lockers. But whoever it was that broke in made a mess of the unlocked locker (just filled with papers) and also took some colored pensils that were sitting out, along with my broom. So although it wasn't really that big of a deal, because nothing THAT valuable got taken, it was still very annoying and didn't help my bad mood. So the rest of that day I was still trying to talk with Jayden to see if he could track down the stuff for me.
Thursday went much better. I went to the school as normal, and Jayden found me at 8:30, after I'd worked with my first two kids. He asked if I could leave right away to go to San Jorge to fill out visas for the dance group. He also said they had found my stuff, so I'd be able to pick it up. So that sounded like a great deal (I'd already said I would help fill out the visas- they had to be done in English, that's why they wanted someone from the US to do it.) So I ran out of the school, let some volunteers know where I was going, and got on the ferry at 9. I was at San Jorge all day, filling out visas, which wasn't the most interesting work, but it was nice to feel like I was being really helpful. So I got those done in time to catch the last ferry back to the island.
Friday was actually a nice day. There was no school, so I got to sleep in and catch up on some work in the morning. Then a group of important people from the government came to visit. The main reason for their visit was to see if the government might be interested in buying this property when NPH is ready to move, and then the idea is that they could turn it into a university specializing in agriculture. I think also they were here to see if they could help NPH out in any way. But so the dance group performed and there was a nice lunch. Then in the afternoon everyone went to a soccer game because it was the finals in the boys' island league. It was a two game final, and the first game ended with a tie.
Saturday was also an ok day. The second half of the soccer game was at noon, and then I had time to call home after we got back before mass at 7. So it was just a normal, relaxing Saturday.
Sunday was a big day, and actually a hard day. It was visitor's day here at NPH, so everyone got up really early to leave at 5:30. We caught an early ferry and went tot he office in San Jorge. Then the kids' families started to arrive. It sounds like such a nice day- the familes come to visit! But I'm not sure I saw any purely happy kids. There were lots of nervous kids at the beginning, wondering if anyone would even show up to visit them. And then as the families started to come, there were lots of mixed emotions from the kids who got visitors. They mostly seemed pretty happy to see whoever it was the showed up, but there were obviously lots of mixed emotions. Many kids didn't really want to stay with their families for too long, and preferred coming to check out the activities we (the volunteers) were doing, which were aimed at the kids without visitors. But as our psychologists reminded us, we don't know the history of these kids with their families. We don't know if there was abuse. Also, there's very understandably mixed emotions from kids whose relatives sent them (or were made to send them) to live in NPH. Some of the weirdest situations were where mothers showed up to visit their kids, and brought with them OTHER kids (the NPH kids' brothers and sisters). I can imagine how strange that must feel for a kid, to live in NPH when their brother or sister lives at home. And then of course there were the kids who didn't receive any visitors at all. Some seemed ok (more or less) but others were really sad. There were many kids still sitting at the gate at 1PM (the visitors started coming at 9AM, and the day ended at 3PM) just waiting, hopeing that maybe their visitor was just late. I sat with one girl for a while, and she just held my hand and leaned her head on my shoulder. Finally I bought her an ice cream. (That was another sad part- there was ice cream and other snacks for sale, so the kids with visitors were buying them, but the kids without visitors didn't have anyone to give them the money.) So we had some ice cream. Maybe that helped a bit. Besides being a hard day, it was a very LONG day, because we left the house on the island at 5:30 and didn't get back 'til 6PM. So we headed back to the volunteer house and relaxed for the rest of the evening. So that was my rough week.
Luckily this week has been going much better so far. Monday was school again, but an easy day for me because I only have two students on Monday. So I worked with them both before recess, and then came back and did some prep work at the house. On Tuesday exams were scheduled, so I headed up to the older girls around 4 to help them study. After dinner I continued Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the girls, so that was fun. Tuesday was a strange day. We had mass at 7AM because a priest from the States was visiting. Then after that all the kids had exams, so I couldn't work with any of my students. So I came back to the house and did some prep. I worked a lot with the older girls on math in the afternoon, because Wednesday is math test day.
This morning again I can't work with any students 'cause their in exams, but we have our psychopedagogical team meeting at 10. And tomorrow I'll be able to work with kids again. Then Friday I go on descanso. I haven't actually decided where I'm going yet, so I'll write about where I went and what I did when I get back.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
US group and egg hunt pictures
The St Olaf/ Carleton/ Gustavus group singing with with kids.
Puppet show!!!
Casey, me Maggie
Looking for eggs by the carpinters' workshop.
Looking for eggs under the trees.
Easter Egg pictures
Blowing eggs.
Coloring eggs.
Luisa and Norma painting eggs.
More egg painting.
Eggs in the tree!
Holy Week
So we just finished Holy Week here, and it sure was busy! A week ago Sunday was Palm Sunday, and we celebrated it here quite a bit like I'm used to at home. We had a mass Sunday morning and there were palm branches for everyone. The difference is that here I'm sure they just got them off some palm tree, rather than importing them or getting them from a greenhouse! Sunday I was also coordinating the arrival of the first group from the states, mostly Carleton students. The one Ole with them was someone I know (Antonia), so that was nice. And of course Dave O was there leading, so I knew him too. There was a bit of a mixup at the airport because they couldn't find the chofer. I think he was partly confused because four of the 12 or so were Asian and so aparently that made them look less like a group of 12 gringos. But he (the chofer) was supposed to have a sign that said NPH so that they could find him, and he didn't. So it was really his fault. But they finally met up and made it over on the last ferry. I went to get them at the ferry, so there would be no more confusion, although the NPH bus says in very large letters Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, so I'm sure it would've been ok. But I wanted to see them anyway! So we picked them up and came back to NPH. The kids had waited to eat dinner, so they hurried everyone off the bus and right to dinner. I think they were a little overwhelmed, especially since they'd been up since 2AM. So after dinner they went back to the visitors' center, got settled in and went to sleep.
Monday we had mass at 7AM, and then breakfast. After breakfast I gave the Carleton group a short tour, and then we got ready for activites. SOme of the group set up and the rest of us went to get the kids with a few puppets. The puppets worked like magic and the kids followed us right over. They started with some songs, which went ok, but the kids didn't really get into them all that much. But they LOVED the skits and puppet shows, so that was good. After the activites they just hung out with the kids while Dave O, Julianna and I planned the next weekend. They left that afternoon about 4 to take the last ferry because they had to be in Gigante that night. After they left I just went back to the house and relaxed and called home because I was tired from a long day!
Tuesday we had mass again at 7AM, followed by breakfast. After breakfast we colored eggs with the kids. We did it the German way, which involved poking holes in the eggs and blowing the stuff inside out. It takes less time than boiling (at least when you're talking about 200 eggs!) They're definately more fragil than hardboiled, but this process also has the advantage that you can then cook something with the stuff that you blew out of the eggs. The kids had a lot of fun painting them (we used watercolors). Then we hung them in trees (another German thing, I think). Unfortunately they only stayed in the trees for a few hours before the kids decided it would be more fun to take them down and throw them at eachother. But luckily I got some pictures. That afternoon we were going to play Capture the Flag, but there was an art contest going on, so we didn't. The kids were all supposed to draw a picture about protecting the environment. The best ones are going to a Nicaragua contest, and I think if they win there they'll go to a contest with all the American countries.
Wednesday again we started with mass and breakfast, and then we had our biggest event of the week- Olymipcs. We did all sorts of things like three-legged race, sack race, hold buckets of water with your arms straight out as long as possible, etc. Each volunteer was in charge of an event, and the tios and tias each had a group of kids that they traveled around with to each different event. There were supposed to be two different teams at each event at a time, but some groups aparently weren't following their schedule so sometimes it was a bit mixed up. I was doing the three-legged race, which was pretty funny. In the US everyone I've seen it done the pair will run, usually saying, "in, out, in, out" or something to keep coordinated. But almost all of these pairs just lifted up the foot that was tied together and hopped. I didn't really care how they did it, so I just let them do it their way! That event lasted all morning, so we were super tired when it was done! That afternoon we thought about maybe doing Capture the Flag, since we hadn't been able to do it the day before, but it rained (!!!! it's not supposed to do that 'til May!!!) So we mostly just relaxed at the house. I called my grandma (DK) to ask her about the wedding the weekend before (my cousin James got married). So that was nice to talk to her. That evening I felt a little sick, so I went to bed early. The others I think had a bonfire on the beach with the older girls.
Thursday we did NOT start with mass (it was in the evening). We were again going to try Capture the Flag, because in the morning we had planned to play games with the kids, but I splashed almost boiling water on my finger (we were out of bottled water and I don't trust Nicaraguan tap water). So I had to sit at the house all day with my finger in a bowl of water 'cause the burn was pretty bad (there was a blister) and it HURT if I took it out of the water. Luckily by the afternoon it was better enough that a wet cloth was enough, and then by 7PM mass it was better enough that I could put some Dutch burn cream on it and bandage it and go to mass.
Friday morning all the kids went over the monastery and did the Stations of the Cross in Spanish which was very long because Marlon (the national director) used almost every station as an opportunity to give a mini speech about loving eachother and not fighting etc. And I couldn't hear what was being said a lot of the time, so it was kinda boring. During that time the Carleton group came back. They were originally going to go back through Rivas to Managua to get the other group at 11AM, then wait 'til the second flight got in that evening, then drive to San Jorge and spend the night at the office and come back Saturday. But they thought it would be just as good to drop them off in Rivas/ San Jorge and let them spend the day here. So they came back. They got to have a mostly relaxing day. They got up at 4AM, so a lot of them took naps. Some of them came with me to the monastery in the afternoon to do the Stations of the Cross in English, which was a lot more interesting and much shorter. The meditations were writted from Jesus' perspective and they were very interesting, so that was really nice. Then we went down to the beach for a bit and got some grapefruit on the way back. Later that evening at 6PM we had mass for Good Friday. Well, except it wasn't actually mass because there was no communion. Good Friday is apparently the only day of the year when Catholics don't do communion. They did an adoration of the cross where everyone went up to the front and bowed, knelt, touched, or kissed the crucifix, but most of the Carleton group and myself just watched 'cause that's just a little strange for me. There was nothing in the theology of it that I disagreed with 'cause the priest explained that it was showing respect and honor to Jesus, but it was just a little weird for me, and I assume for the others too. But it was interesting to see how they celebrated Good Friday. Then after that we had dinner and then we used the group's projector to show a movie on St Francis of Asisi (Brother Sun, Sister Moon). It was very strange. It made St Francis seem like he actually was crazy, not just that he did things that some people thought were crazy. So that was a late night because I felt like I should stay up with the Carleton students who had taken charge of the projector.
Then Saturday morning the St Olaf/ Gustavus group joined us. So that was exciting because I knew a few people in that group, including Casey and Maggie, who were with me in Nicaragua last January. They got here in time for lunch, and then after lunch did more activites. The kids liked the songs much better, so that was great. And they loved the puppet shows again, even the ones they'd already seen. Later in the afternoon I had some time just to hang out with Casey, Maggie, and Antonia, so that was really nice. We had dinner before mass Saturday, so that was really nice 'cause otherwise it gets really late. So after mass we headed over to the church for the Easter Vigil mass, which celebrated the resurrection. We didn't have an Easter Sunday mass, so this was our Easter. It was a pretty nice service. It started outside by a bonfire where the priest lit a big candle that signified Christ risen. Then everyone else lit smaller candles from the big candle and we started the service in candlelight. It got a little less interesting after that because there were a lot of readings (even though we only did 4 instead of the normal 9). And the kids did the readings and they're so hard to understand when they read that I didn't always know what was going on. Then they did have communion that day at the end of the service. After dinner we went back and showed a presentation of artwork that the kids had worked on all week with Liselot (the volunteer art therapist). They were all on Holy Week themes (Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemene, Jesus Condemed by Pilot, etc). So that was really neat. A lot of the pictures were really good and Liselot was really happy with the project. Then the group showed Veggie Tales Jonah, and the kids enjoyed that.
Sunday morning the group left around 8 to catch the 9AM ferry. We were worried that it might be really crowded, but it was ok. Then when I got back I helped with the egg hunt. The Carleton/ Olaf/ Gustavus group had brought a ton of plastic Easter Eggs (mostly packed inside the two Djembes (African drums)) and the other volunteers had hidden them in the morning. So we divided the kids into groups and took them out hunting. That was fun! Then in the afternoon they took the kids to Charco Verde beach, but I was really tired and feeling a little weird from allergies (I think) so I stayed back and did some paperwork for aula de recurso and talked to my family. And Monday and Tuesday I'm on descanso! This past weekend was my descanso, but we weren't allowed to go during Holy Week. But the other group had Friday and Saturday before Holy Week started, so they gave us Tuesday off as well, so that's really nice. I've just been staying here and relaxing. Reading, watching movies, chatting with people online, writing emails, etc. It's nice!
Monday we had mass at 7AM, and then breakfast. After breakfast I gave the Carleton group a short tour, and then we got ready for activites. SOme of the group set up and the rest of us went to get the kids with a few puppets. The puppets worked like magic and the kids followed us right over. They started with some songs, which went ok, but the kids didn't really get into them all that much. But they LOVED the skits and puppet shows, so that was good. After the activites they just hung out with the kids while Dave O, Julianna and I planned the next weekend. They left that afternoon about 4 to take the last ferry because they had to be in Gigante that night. After they left I just went back to the house and relaxed and called home because I was tired from a long day!
Tuesday we had mass again at 7AM, followed by breakfast. After breakfast we colored eggs with the kids. We did it the German way, which involved poking holes in the eggs and blowing the stuff inside out. It takes less time than boiling (at least when you're talking about 200 eggs!) They're definately more fragil than hardboiled, but this process also has the advantage that you can then cook something with the stuff that you blew out of the eggs. The kids had a lot of fun painting them (we used watercolors). Then we hung them in trees (another German thing, I think). Unfortunately they only stayed in the trees for a few hours before the kids decided it would be more fun to take them down and throw them at eachother. But luckily I got some pictures. That afternoon we were going to play Capture the Flag, but there was an art contest going on, so we didn't. The kids were all supposed to draw a picture about protecting the environment. The best ones are going to a Nicaragua contest, and I think if they win there they'll go to a contest with all the American countries.
Wednesday again we started with mass and breakfast, and then we had our biggest event of the week- Olymipcs. We did all sorts of things like three-legged race, sack race, hold buckets of water with your arms straight out as long as possible, etc. Each volunteer was in charge of an event, and the tios and tias each had a group of kids that they traveled around with to each different event. There were supposed to be two different teams at each event at a time, but some groups aparently weren't following their schedule so sometimes it was a bit mixed up. I was doing the three-legged race, which was pretty funny. In the US everyone I've seen it done the pair will run, usually saying, "in, out, in, out" or something to keep coordinated. But almost all of these pairs just lifted up the foot that was tied together and hopped. I didn't really care how they did it, so I just let them do it their way! That event lasted all morning, so we were super tired when it was done! That afternoon we thought about maybe doing Capture the Flag, since we hadn't been able to do it the day before, but it rained (!!!! it's not supposed to do that 'til May!!!) So we mostly just relaxed at the house. I called my grandma (DK) to ask her about the wedding the weekend before (my cousin James got married). So that was nice to talk to her. That evening I felt a little sick, so I went to bed early. The others I think had a bonfire on the beach with the older girls.
Thursday we did NOT start with mass (it was in the evening). We were again going to try Capture the Flag, because in the morning we had planned to play games with the kids, but I splashed almost boiling water on my finger (we were out of bottled water and I don't trust Nicaraguan tap water). So I had to sit at the house all day with my finger in a bowl of water 'cause the burn was pretty bad (there was a blister) and it HURT if I took it out of the water. Luckily by the afternoon it was better enough that a wet cloth was enough, and then by 7PM mass it was better enough that I could put some Dutch burn cream on it and bandage it and go to mass.
Friday morning all the kids went over the monastery and did the Stations of the Cross in Spanish which was very long because Marlon (the national director) used almost every station as an opportunity to give a mini speech about loving eachother and not fighting etc. And I couldn't hear what was being said a lot of the time, so it was kinda boring. During that time the Carleton group came back. They were originally going to go back through Rivas to Managua to get the other group at 11AM, then wait 'til the second flight got in that evening, then drive to San Jorge and spend the night at the office and come back Saturday. But they thought it would be just as good to drop them off in Rivas/ San Jorge and let them spend the day here. So they came back. They got to have a mostly relaxing day. They got up at 4AM, so a lot of them took naps. Some of them came with me to the monastery in the afternoon to do the Stations of the Cross in English, which was a lot more interesting and much shorter. The meditations were writted from Jesus' perspective and they were very interesting, so that was really nice. Then we went down to the beach for a bit and got some grapefruit on the way back. Later that evening at 6PM we had mass for Good Friday. Well, except it wasn't actually mass because there was no communion. Good Friday is apparently the only day of the year when Catholics don't do communion. They did an adoration of the cross where everyone went up to the front and bowed, knelt, touched, or kissed the crucifix, but most of the Carleton group and myself just watched 'cause that's just a little strange for me. There was nothing in the theology of it that I disagreed with 'cause the priest explained that it was showing respect and honor to Jesus, but it was just a little weird for me, and I assume for the others too. But it was interesting to see how they celebrated Good Friday. Then after that we had dinner and then we used the group's projector to show a movie on St Francis of Asisi (Brother Sun, Sister Moon). It was very strange. It made St Francis seem like he actually was crazy, not just that he did things that some people thought were crazy. So that was a late night because I felt like I should stay up with the Carleton students who had taken charge of the projector.
Then Saturday morning the St Olaf/ Gustavus group joined us. So that was exciting because I knew a few people in that group, including Casey and Maggie, who were with me in Nicaragua last January. They got here in time for lunch, and then after lunch did more activites. The kids liked the songs much better, so that was great. And they loved the puppet shows again, even the ones they'd already seen. Later in the afternoon I had some time just to hang out with Casey, Maggie, and Antonia, so that was really nice. We had dinner before mass Saturday, so that was really nice 'cause otherwise it gets really late. So after mass we headed over to the church for the Easter Vigil mass, which celebrated the resurrection. We didn't have an Easter Sunday mass, so this was our Easter. It was a pretty nice service. It started outside by a bonfire where the priest lit a big candle that signified Christ risen. Then everyone else lit smaller candles from the big candle and we started the service in candlelight. It got a little less interesting after that because there were a lot of readings (even though we only did 4 instead of the normal 9). And the kids did the readings and they're so hard to understand when they read that I didn't always know what was going on. Then they did have communion that day at the end of the service. After dinner we went back and showed a presentation of artwork that the kids had worked on all week with Liselot (the volunteer art therapist). They were all on Holy Week themes (Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemene, Jesus Condemed by Pilot, etc). So that was really neat. A lot of the pictures were really good and Liselot was really happy with the project. Then the group showed Veggie Tales Jonah, and the kids enjoyed that.
Sunday morning the group left around 8 to catch the 9AM ferry. We were worried that it might be really crowded, but it was ok. Then when I got back I helped with the egg hunt. The Carleton/ Olaf/ Gustavus group had brought a ton of plastic Easter Eggs (mostly packed inside the two Djembes (African drums)) and the other volunteers had hidden them in the morning. So we divided the kids into groups and took them out hunting. That was fun! Then in the afternoon they took the kids to Charco Verde beach, but I was really tired and feeling a little weird from allergies (I think) so I stayed back and did some paperwork for aula de recurso and talked to my family. And Monday and Tuesday I'm on descanso! This past weekend was my descanso, but we weren't allowed to go during Holy Week. But the other group had Friday and Saturday before Holy Week started, so they gave us Tuesday off as well, so that's really nice. I've just been staying here and relaxing. Reading, watching movies, chatting with people online, writing emails, etc. It's nice!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Granada pictures
The Cathedral in central Granada.
The Convent (and church) San Fransisco. It's very blue, even though it doesn't quite look it in the picture.
Michelle and me in the monastery. Concepcion (the volcano) is in the background. This picture was taken by John and Jannae, the couple that we met in Granada that came to visit.
This is the medianas section, showing off their new (donated) shoes. I spend a lot of time with these girls.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
So I was going to wait to post this so I could add some pictures, but I haven't got around to it and this is about a week old already. I'll try to get pictures up on Monday or Tuesday.
Last weekend (Now two weekends ago- the weekend before Palm Sunday) I went to Granada on my descanso, partly just because I wanted to, and partly to do research on hotels and tours for when my parents come in July. I had a very nice relaxing time there! Granada is a very pretty city, and very touristy (probably at least partly because it's so pretty). But it was nice to be there and eat some different types of food. I didn't do anything very exciting. I never seem to do much on my descansos- I'm so tired, I just want to rest. I stayed at two different hostels. The first was nicer, and had a pool, but then Michelle joined me and wanted to move to one that was a little cheaper and had free breakfast. It was also nice (they both had free internet), but I think I'll stay at the first one when I'm back in Granada. So I spent lots of time on the internet, and reading, and relaxing. It was good!
Then on the way back from Granada, we met a couple from the US, John and Janae, who had been volunteering in Jinetega building houses. They were heading to the island to relax, and we invited them to stop by NPH. So Wednesday they came by and stayed at the monastery one night. They ate dinner with the kids, and Michelle and I got a lot of questions if they were our parents (they were around our parents age). We said, no, just friends we met in Granada. The kids didn't seem to care much, they were just excited to meet new people. It was nice for us too. It's always nice to connect with someone from close to home.
So I've been busy in aula de recurso. I usually have some math problems for the kids to do. A lot of them are working on subtraction with borrowing and place value. They're also all working on memorizing the multiplication tables. So we practice those, often with games to make it a little more interesting. We use a variation of the game "war". Instead of one card, you lay down two, and then each person has to multiply their own cards. Then the biggest wins. The kids like it, and it's good for them because here they memorize the multiplication tables in order, so they need practice on doing them out of order. I've also been explaining multiplication to a lot of them, because many of them have it memorized, but don't understand why 4 x 3 = 12. Also in each session we usually read a book and then I write up some questions for them to answer about the book. That's my morning, and then in the afternoons I'm usually planning for the next day. Also, since we don't have a copy machine, and the one in the school office is broken, I make lots of copies by hand. So that takes up time too! Then I'll go up and hang out with the kids and help them with their homework. On Tuesday I started reading Charlie and the Choclate Factory (in Spanish) to the girls after dinner. It's open to whoever wants to come, and I usually have between 3 and 10. They seem to be enjoying it, so that's good. They often ask me to read a second chapter. I'm going to try to get a copy of Harry Potter 1 to read to them after Charlie, but I have a few other good options if I can't find HP. I have Charlotte's Web and The Hatchet. But I think they'd really like to read Harry Potter.
Another thing I've been doing lately is downloading St Olaf chapel services. The Catholic mass here isn't exactly what I would choose for a church service. The priest is (as described by our national director, who is Catholic) boring. His sermons almost aren't worth the extra concentration that listening in Spanish takes. So that's unfortunate. Also, the music here is not overly great. Liselot is trying to work with the choir, but she says it's really hard because they can't even match pitch. And then also there's the problem that I always feel excluded in Catholic churches because I'm not allowed to take communion. So I was missing church in the states, with good music and sermons that make you think and teach you things. So I found the podcasts of the St Olaf chapel services. It takes a lot of patience, because a 20 minute chapel service takes an hour to download and a 1 hour church service takes 3 hours. So I often start a download in the morning and then go off to school. Sometimes when I come back it has worked, but more often the internet has timed out and I have to try again the next day. But I get some, and that's better than none!
The exciting news from here (at least for me) is that on Sunday the group from Carleton college comes (plus Dave O and Antonia) and then next weekend on Saturday (the day before Easter) the St Olaf and Gustavus groups come. Each group will only be here one night, but it will still be really nice to see some people from home. This coming week is Holy Week, so we have lots of activities planned for the kids, so it should be a busy, but fun week. I'll let you all know how it goes! I hope you all have a wonderful Holy Week, and for those of you on Spring break, have safe travels and a relaxing break from class!
Last weekend (Now two weekends ago- the weekend before Palm Sunday) I went to Granada on my descanso, partly just because I wanted to, and partly to do research on hotels and tours for when my parents come in July. I had a very nice relaxing time there! Granada is a very pretty city, and very touristy (probably at least partly because it's so pretty). But it was nice to be there and eat some different types of food. I didn't do anything very exciting. I never seem to do much on my descansos- I'm so tired, I just want to rest. I stayed at two different hostels. The first was nicer, and had a pool, but then Michelle joined me and wanted to move to one that was a little cheaper and had free breakfast. It was also nice (they both had free internet), but I think I'll stay at the first one when I'm back in Granada. So I spent lots of time on the internet, and reading, and relaxing. It was good!
Then on the way back from Granada, we met a couple from the US, John and Janae, who had been volunteering in Jinetega building houses. They were heading to the island to relax, and we invited them to stop by NPH. So Wednesday they came by and stayed at the monastery one night. They ate dinner with the kids, and Michelle and I got a lot of questions if they were our parents (they were around our parents age). We said, no, just friends we met in Granada. The kids didn't seem to care much, they were just excited to meet new people. It was nice for us too. It's always nice to connect with someone from close to home.
So I've been busy in aula de recurso. I usually have some math problems for the kids to do. A lot of them are working on subtraction with borrowing and place value. They're also all working on memorizing the multiplication tables. So we practice those, often with games to make it a little more interesting. We use a variation of the game "war". Instead of one card, you lay down two, and then each person has to multiply their own cards. Then the biggest wins. The kids like it, and it's good for them because here they memorize the multiplication tables in order, so they need practice on doing them out of order. I've also been explaining multiplication to a lot of them, because many of them have it memorized, but don't understand why 4 x 3 = 12. Also in each session we usually read a book and then I write up some questions for them to answer about the book. That's my morning, and then in the afternoons I'm usually planning for the next day. Also, since we don't have a copy machine, and the one in the school office is broken, I make lots of copies by hand. So that takes up time too! Then I'll go up and hang out with the kids and help them with their homework. On Tuesday I started reading Charlie and the Choclate Factory (in Spanish) to the girls after dinner. It's open to whoever wants to come, and I usually have between 3 and 10. They seem to be enjoying it, so that's good. They often ask me to read a second chapter. I'm going to try to get a copy of Harry Potter 1 to read to them after Charlie, but I have a few other good options if I can't find HP. I have Charlotte's Web and The Hatchet. But I think they'd really like to read Harry Potter.
Another thing I've been doing lately is downloading St Olaf chapel services. The Catholic mass here isn't exactly what I would choose for a church service. The priest is (as described by our national director, who is Catholic) boring. His sermons almost aren't worth the extra concentration that listening in Spanish takes. So that's unfortunate. Also, the music here is not overly great. Liselot is trying to work with the choir, but she says it's really hard because they can't even match pitch. And then also there's the problem that I always feel excluded in Catholic churches because I'm not allowed to take communion. So I was missing church in the states, with good music and sermons that make you think and teach you things. So I found the podcasts of the St Olaf chapel services. It takes a lot of patience, because a 20 minute chapel service takes an hour to download and a 1 hour church service takes 3 hours. So I often start a download in the morning and then go off to school. Sometimes when I come back it has worked, but more often the internet has timed out and I have to try again the next day. But I get some, and that's better than none!
The exciting news from here (at least for me) is that on Sunday the group from Carleton college comes (plus Dave O and Antonia) and then next weekend on Saturday (the day before Easter) the St Olaf and Gustavus groups come. Each group will only be here one night, but it will still be really nice to see some people from home. This coming week is Holy Week, so we have lots of activities planned for the kids, so it should be a busy, but fun week. I'll let you all know how it goes! I hope you all have a wonderful Holy Week, and for those of you on Spring break, have safe travels and a relaxing break from class!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
So last weekend I went to Salinas again for my descanso (and got the wedding pictures seen in the last post off Ariel's computer). It was a very relaxing descanso. We watched a bunch of movies because I brought a bunch of mine. Last time I was there Ariel was watching some horrible movie on TV, so I decided that next time I'd bring some so we could watch better movies. So we watched a lot of movies. They were also have a campana at the church. Campana translates directly to campaign, but it was really more like a revival. They had three nights of church outside, and brought in a guest preacher. All the neighboring churches came to support them, and not just the other apostolic churches, the baptists and nazarenos came too. I think they also invited everyone from the neighborhood. So that was fun because there was a lot of people there. I also went to see Juan Manuel and Darlen's house, 'cause I'd only seen it from the outside. It was very nice! (as I expected). I also talked to Evelyn and Alma, who are both going to start university in Rivas. Evelyn is going to study law and Alma is going to study tourism. So they said they might come visit me on the island (Juan Manuel and Darlen might too). And I also might stop and see Evelyn and Alma during descansos. It was a very nice visit and it was really great to just relax! Unfortunately, on Monday I got super sick, like a stomach flu or something. So the trip back was horrible, especially the boat ride. But I made it alive (although I was probably dehidrated at several points) and luckily for me Tio Paco and Rosa were on my ferry so there was an NPH transport waiting in Moyogalpa. So that saved me a taxi fee 'cause there was no way i was going to take a bus. I came back to the house, walked in my room and went to sleep. I got up for an hour or so (but still couldn't eat) and then went back to sleep and slept almost 12 hours. I felt better in the morning, but still tired, so I rested all day and started eating again. Wednesday I was feeling much better and worked in the morning at the school. I still ate at the volunteer house so I could be a little careful and then I worked here all afternoon planning. Thursday I was back to normal!
The newest development here in Nicaragua is a change in the school. Up 'til now (like I think I wrote earlier) the older kids (8th grade and up) went to school in San Jose. That was the situation when I left on my descanso. When I returned (and recovered) I discovered that they had decided that the kids were going to start going to school here at NPH because the San Jose schools weren't very good. Ok, that all sounded good. Now the question is, when? Well, it's not next year, or next semester, or next quarter. It's next WEEK!! How they are going to do this, I don't know. Apparently they're hireing teachers. They wanted to know if we had anyone who could be an English teacher, and we said maybe in June or July when new volunteers come. We all have very full schedules already. I could do it, but it would mean dropping all my aula de recurso kids. And there really isn't anyone who could take them on. I feel like helping kids with the basics in math and Spanish is more important than English. They can hire a Nica English teacher, which definately isn't ideal, but it's what they've been having in San Jose and it's better than nothing. Besides, I like my job and I'd rather keep doing it than change! So we'll see how this transition goes! The other thing that happened with this change is that the psychopedagogical team had to move out of our office because they need it for a classroom. We're supposed to get a new one, because the electricity shop is moving, but it's not gone yet. So we're temporarily storing our stuff in the beauty classroom (where they teach hair cutting and makeup, not in school, as a taller, or workshop). So hopefully we'll get another office soon, 'cause that's kind of important.
Yesterday (Friday) the kids had no school because of teacher workshops. So they relaxed all day and in the evening they had a karaoke event together. Today they're going to the beach here at NPH and tomorrow they're going to San Marcos (the finca) to play games and watch movies. So we should have a pretty relaxing weekend here.
The newest development here in Nicaragua is a change in the school. Up 'til now (like I think I wrote earlier) the older kids (8th grade and up) went to school in San Jose. That was the situation when I left on my descanso. When I returned (and recovered) I discovered that they had decided that the kids were going to start going to school here at NPH because the San Jose schools weren't very good. Ok, that all sounded good. Now the question is, when? Well, it's not next year, or next semester, or next quarter. It's next WEEK!! How they are going to do this, I don't know. Apparently they're hireing teachers. They wanted to know if we had anyone who could be an English teacher, and we said maybe in June or July when new volunteers come. We all have very full schedules already. I could do it, but it would mean dropping all my aula de recurso kids. And there really isn't anyone who could take them on. I feel like helping kids with the basics in math and Spanish is more important than English. They can hire a Nica English teacher, which definately isn't ideal, but it's what they've been having in San Jose and it's better than nothing. Besides, I like my job and I'd rather keep doing it than change! So we'll see how this transition goes! The other thing that happened with this change is that the psychopedagogical team had to move out of our office because they need it for a classroom. We're supposed to get a new one, because the electricity shop is moving, but it's not gone yet. So we're temporarily storing our stuff in the beauty classroom (where they teach hair cutting and makeup, not in school, as a taller, or workshop). So hopefully we'll get another office soon, 'cause that's kind of important.
Yesterday (Friday) the kids had no school because of teacher workshops. So they relaxed all day and in the evening they had a karaoke event together. Today they're going to the beach here at NPH and tomorrow they're going to San Marcos (the finca) to play games and watch movies. So we should have a pretty relaxing weekend here.
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