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!

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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.