Este bus es muy lleno

What defines a full bus?  When it reaches the maximum capacity written at the front of the bus?  When every seat is full?  When nobody else can fit behind the white “do not cross” line up near the front?  Here in Nicaragua there is an expression, “The bus isn’t full, just ask the women sitting on top of me”.

Waiting at the Catarina Rotunda outside of my training town San Juan de Oriente, my training group and I are trying to catch a bus to Managua at 7am.  The first bus passes and stops in front of us.  The side slide door is open and the emergency door in the back is open with bodies bursting at the seams.  A few brave women at my bus stop make the commitment to get on that bus.  They push their way into the mob of bodies and somehow disappear into the mass, like the bus just swallowed them up.  Three more buses pass and a few more daring souls disappear into the swarm of bodies and the bus drives away with heads, arms and legs sticking out at both ends.

After waiting for an hour and watching 4 “full” busses pass, a bus appears that is completely packed, but it looks like there is enough room that maybe we could be the people sticking out at the ends.  We all break out in a sprint, three towards the back emergency exit and I make a quick decision to attempt the front.  Pushing my way through the crowd I grab both handles and push my body forward.  I am able to squeeze and push enough to get both of my feet onto the first step of the bus.  “Yes!  I’m on!” I think to myself, having no idea the fate of my three friends who ran to the back of the bus.  With everyone pushing, I eventually make it up all three steps.  Five more people were lucky enough and pushy enough to squeeze on after me.  I manage to get myself into quite the position.  My back end is literally squashed into the driver’s right shoulder.  My left leg is between the driver’s seat and the clutch, my right foot is stuck between two women’s legs and three women are wedged into me from the front and the side.  To balance myself I have my left hand on the front windshield, my right hand is guarding my purse and clutching it close to my body.  As we stop to pick up more people, yes more people, all the bodies sway in different directions into each other like a wave and I have to fight to keep myself up right.  Completely drenched in sweat, I look around and count; there are 15 people up here in the front, between the bus driver and the door.  In front of the usual place on a yellow school bus that says “do not cross this line”.  Fifteen!  And we keep stopping to fit more!  I take a deep breath and prepare for an hour drive in this position.

Then the guy who collects the money climbs through bodies to collect our fees.  Somehow we each have to reach into our pockets and purses to pay him.  Then he continues to push his way back through the bus sliding and squeezing through bodies to make sure everyone pays.  The crazy thing is that this works.  Everyone works together and is surprisingly kind to one another.  Somehow we all fit into a strange, sweaty puzzle piece of bodies and together, we all manage to make it to the city in one piece.  Wild.

A Four Day Glimpse into my Future

Site Assignment Day was a long anticipated and Stressful day!  Oh my gosh.  My heart was Pounding.  The Next TWO years of my life... in a manila envelope.

 Yacarely, our wonderful Assistant Program Director presented us with our gift of service to this country.  She reminded us that we were here as Peace Corps Volunteers to serve and that our service to Nicaragua was a gift and a privilege.  All 14 of our futures lie on that table!

My gift of service!  

It was hard to keep my heart rate down when this envelope was about to tell me where I would be spending the next two years of my life.

This is it!  Laura holding her unknown future!

Trying to look excited... my heart was pounding!  I don't think I've ever been so nervous!

 We were told to open the small envelop first.  Inside, we each found our personal Aspiration Statement that we wrote about a month before we left the United States for Nicaragua.  Our Aspiration Statements explained what we hoped to accomplish as volunteers, our strategies for effectively working with host country partners to meet country needs, our strategies for adapting to a new culture, the skills we hoped to learn during training, and how we thought Peace Corps would influence our personal and professional aspirations.  Reading our individual statements before we saw our site placement was to remind us of our reasons for joining the Peace Corps.  They especially wanted to remind us of our promise to be flexible.  Seven people put the same site as their number 1 preference so it was impossible that everyone was going to get their first choice.  It was also likely that some would be unhappy with their site placements at first glance.  We were gently reminded that when we joined the Peace Corps we committed to serving wherever we were asked to serve.

Now that I just addressed the importance of flexibility... out of the 15 site options, there were five that I disliked so much I would have probably broke down and cried if I opened my 'gift' and saw one of their names on the folder.  I just couldn't see myself doing well in these sites.  They were small, rural sites in very remote areas of the country.  I wanted a site with opportunities to stay very busy and I also didn't want to be isolated and cut off from the world.  So these 5 completely terrified me!  Then there were 6 that I didn't think I would love, but I knew I could have learned to embrace and ultimately like.  These sites were bigger and less secluded but I didn't feel that I fit the project opportunities as well as some of the others.  Then there were 4 that I thought I would absolutely love.  Medium sized sites close to big cities where I knew I could keep very busy with tons of schools, organizations and NGOs to work with.  They let us rank our top three preferences and explain why we thought we would do best in those sites.  But ultimately, we had to trust them knowing each site and knowing the personality and background of each volunteer to make the best match.


Finally, the moment came.  On the count of three we opened our package.

And this is what I saw!

They decided my first choice was my best fit because I got my number one site preference!!!  
I was feeling seriously lucky, relieved and very excited!

Where is this place I'm moving to for two years...?

Everyone finding their new home and putting their name on the map!


I was SO glad when that was over!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two weeks later:

Tuesday morning I woke up bright and early in Managua excited, nervous and ready to go.  As I sat on the hour long bus ride to Nagarote, I stared out the window at the absolutely beautiful countryside.  With funky Latin music playing in the background, I scooted over closer to the wide open window breathing in the fresh air, in this moment, life felt surreal.  I was looking out at a panoramic view of Lake Nicaragua and some of Nicaragua’s most beautiful volcanoes.  The grass was green and the sun was shining and I was high on the adrenaline of the unknown.  It didn’t take long to reach the entrance to Nagarote and with a deep breath I jumped off the bus onto the main carraterra to face my future...  This place is going to be my world for the next two years… 

I had four days to get acquainted with the town, meet my new host family, visit my schools to talk with the principals and teachers, visit the local NGO’s, get to know the people in the Ministry of Education, (MINED), the local government (Alcaldia) and the police, and meet my site mate.

 

Nagarote is only 42km from Managua and has a population of about 34,000.  It boasts as being the cleanest city in all of Nicaragua and is famous for its quesillos, a traditional dish made with a big piece of mozzarella type cheese wrapped in a tortilla and flavored with onions and sour cream.  

Quesillo!

My first Quesillo and Cacoa drink!

Why I am in love with my site:

The work opportunities: 7 schools, 2 NGO’s, a environment site mate and a ton of businesses to work with.  

It’s beautiful: There are multiple parks and tons of trees.  The central park is lined with big shady trees and nice green grass.  There is a long pedestrian only walkway lined with adorable street lights and flags.  There is a Mirador or overlook, to view the entire city and Volcan Mombotombo.  

View of Nagarote from the Mirador with Volcan Momotombo in the background 

Oldest tree in Nicaragua

It has great amenities:  After living in a training town for 3 months that only had running water 2-3 times a week, no restaurants, no banks, no grocery stores, Nothing except 4 convenient stores and a cyber café, I was overjoyed to see all the great amenities that Nagarote has to offer.  Water runs daily, there is a bank with ac and an atm (big deal), a grocery store (big big deal!), a cell phone store, also with ac, a few restaurants, an appliance store, a hostel! ($15 a night with wifi and free breakfast… come visit?) And most importantly, an Eskimo!! (ice cream store!).  

Its accessible:  To top it all off, buses come straight into the city center and I can easily get to Leon, Leon or Managua, Managua in no time. 

After a 4 day assessment, I think we are a perfect fit :-)        

What will I be doing here for two years?

My primary job here will be to co-plan and co-teach the Emprendedurismo course, an entrepreneurship course in the local high schools.  This is a course that Peace Corps created and started using years ago.  The Nicaragua Ministry of Education (MINED) adopted the course into the national curriculum in 2010.  Now every 4^th and 5^th year high school student throughout the country takes the course.  I will be working with the teachers’ one on one to provide capacity building, give them ideas to have a more dynamic classroom, help them understand difficult business concepts and co-teach with them. 

Throughout the course each student group will form a business, create a business plan, create prototypes of their product, conduct a market study, learn how to analyze the data of a market study, learn about costs and prices, equilibrium point, capital, financing a business, how to package and market their product, and the importance of good customer service and quality control.  They will take all this information and create a business plan.  At the end of the school year, they will compete in a local competition.  For many of them this will be their first experience with public speaking.  They will present their product and defend their business plan.  The winners will go on to a regional and finally a national competition in Managua.  I will be helping to coordinate and run the local and departmental business competitions in the fall. 

I will be working in 7 schools.  Two in Nagarote, Two in La Paz Centro, a town about 15 minutes away by bus, and three rural schools that are Really far from me.  Commuting to the rural schools is going to be extremely challenging.  One of them only has two buses a day and during height of rainy season I apparently won’t be able to cross the road to reach another one… I am predicting that commuting to these schools will be one of my biggest challenges. 

My second project will be working with two NGO’s in Nagarote, Norwalk and Arquois Iris.  Norwalk is an after school youth program that provides classes and activities for youth in Nagarote.  I will be able to give charlas on business skills, life skills, nutrition, and anything else under the sun that I want to teach or the students show interest in learning.  I could even do things like cooking classes or start sports leagues.  There will be so many great opportunities to get involved through this organization.  Arquois Iris or Rainbow Network, provides health, education, and economic development programs to the community.  I am excited to get involved with them in any capacity but I should be able to find opportunities to give business skills charlas to the community members that they serve. 

I will also be seeking out small business owners around town to give them charlas about business skills and provide them with business advice.  One of my rural schools has already shown interest in me giving monthly charlas to local business owners in their town.    

Lastly, I want to do cross sector work with my site mate Cindy.  She is an environment volunteer that has been here for about 8 months.   We are already talking about starting a girl’s kickball team and having an educational fair. 

I am so excited to get started here.  During my site interview I said I wanted a site where I could stay extremely active and get really involved.  Well this is the perfect site to do so.  7 schools, 2 NGO’s and a ton of people to reach in multiple towns, I will definitely have my hands full. 

Now, I return to my training town for about 3 weeks to wrap up a Ton of stuff before I head out of there.  July 27^th we will be officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers and on July 29^th I will officially begin my two years of service as a Peace Corps small business volunteer in Nagarote, Leon, Nicaragua.  

Tuesday in Training...

Today, I wake up at 6:30am, take a freezing cold bucket bath and scarf down a quick and yummy breakfast of oatmeal, fresh pineapple, bananas and 2 fried plantains with cinnamon while finishing my homework assignments and reading over the Emprendedurismo course material that I will be teaching later today.

At 8 am my Spanish teacher and fellow trainee show up at my house.  Today, just like every other weekday, we set up ‘class’ on my front porch.  This consists of 3 plastic chairs, one whiteboard, a handful of poster sized paper that we call papelografos , markers, masking tape, and an eraser.

At 2 pm today we are teaching our second “Life Skills Charla” to our youth group, topic of choice, “Rompecabezas de Comunicacion” or “Communication Puzzles”.   

The first hour of class we spend planning.  The weather is still manageable, it’s in the low 80’s and my skin is still dry.  We spend a decent amount of time looking up words we don’t understand and trying to comprehend the meaning of complex sentences and the overall theme of the lesson that is so eloquently written in Spanish.  Once we figure out the material, it’s time to figure out how to teach it in a foreign language.  Not only do we have to comprehend the material, we have to explain it and make it understandable to our students in Spanish. 

It’s starting to heat up and by noon we are completely drenched in sweat.  The mosquitos are biting and the pesky flies won’t stop landing on my arms, legs, face, neck, everywhere.  It so utterly disgusting but I eventually give up and stop trying to make them go away.  I have no more power in me to fight them.  A motor-taxi driver parks across the street and is blasting some stupid American song that goes “I want to make love right now” and about every hour the Catholic Church procession carrying a statue of Jesus with full band in toe marches past us blaring their trumpets and ardently pounding their drums.  No big deal, we aren’t trying to study or anything Nicaragua.  A few times, the Catholic procession stops about a house away and stays there for awhile making it just about impossible to hear each other speak, accomplish anything or let alone prepare an important lesson.  Then there are the “bombas”, these ear-piercing firework type things that are blasted up into the air at all hours of the day and night.  They end with two extremely loud “pops” and depending on the distance can really hurt your ears.  How in the name of God are we supposed to get Anything accomplished under these ridiculous circumstances!?

Finally, somehow we successfully finish planning our lesson, jump off of our plastic chairs and take a seat on the dusty floor, grabbing a marker and starting to prepare our papelografo’s.  These are the visuals we will tape up on the wall to teach our lesson to our students, there are no blackboards or powerpoints here.  Finally, it’s time to practice.  Our Spanish teacher corrects our pronunciation, and sentence structures, she chimes in when we use the wrong verb tense, or forget an ‘a personal’ or completely butcher the Spanish language. 

By 1pm the blistering heat makes it hard to think straight.  I physically feel like my brain is frying and I cannot attempt to think straight any longer in a foreign language.  My jeans are literally sticking to my body and I am drenched in sweat.  I’m mentally drained and it gets harder and harder to communicate in Spanish.  I get so frustrated and so close to being broken down.  This material is hard enough to teach in English let alone in Spanish!  But by the time I am about to physically and mentally lose it, Peace Corps arrives to watch us present our Charla to our students.  They are here to provide feedback and more importantly, to report our progress back to our superiors.  I push on for one more hour because now it’s time to make a good impression and teach my kids an important charla in Spanish. 

Surprisingly, I get all my points across and the four of us trainees co-facilitate well.  Our kids understand the theme, have fun playing the communication games, stay involved and have fun answering our questions.  I think they even learn something new about the importance of good communication skills.  Afterword we receive great positive feedback and I feel really great about what we just accomplished.

Now its 3 o’clock and the clouds are coming in, it starts pouring rain on the zinc roof and we can barely hear each other.  But the cool breeze provides a much needed relief.  Everyone leaves and I take a minute to breath.  Lying in my bed safe under my mosquito net I don’t care how sweaty I am.  I relax and watch an episode of The West Wing on my computer and enjoy a break from the horrible mosquito’s and the Spanish language.  Then, it’s back to work, time to prepare my lesson for tomorrow; the topic is characteristics of an entrepreneur.  I’m teaching it at 7:45am at the local high school.  I spend my time before and after dinner looking up words I don’t understand, asking my family if my sentences sound right and going over important phrases. 

By 8pm I’m completely beat and happily head off to bed.  Tucking myself in under my mosquito net I can’t help but smile.  This is really hard.  But I’m doing it.  Day by day I’m getting through it and I am proud of my accomplishments.  I’m learning a whole new curriculum and I am learning how to teach it in Spanish!  I’ve never done anything like this!  It’s hard, really hard but I’ve never felt more accomplished.