Not Just any Cute Vera Bradley Bag

This is just not an ordinary Vera Bradley bag. No, no, it doesn’t have special powers that inhibit me to speak better Spanish, but it has a different kind of power. I am sharing my story of my good friend Amanda and how she changed my life for the good. The story starts off very sad, but I promise you it will get better.
January 18, 2010 will be one of the worst days of my life. The day started off well. I had just got back from a week-long Model UN trip in Ecuador. I had come back energized and ready to start the last semester at TCU. Then around 7:30 pm, my life changed completely. Some of my sorority sisters had come by to check on my roommate, Amanda, who I thought was out of town, but in fact stayed at TCU for MLK weekend. We tried knocking on her door, no answer. We figured out that it was blocked but one of my friends was able to slip through and she discovered the worst, Amanda had taken her own life.
Us four went into shock. Frantically, we ran out screaming. We used someone’s cell phone to call the police since I left mine in the house. The police and ambulance came and confirmed our worst nightmares. Soon after, I was put alone in a cop car for two hours. I was in shock, scared, and had no one to talk to. TCU is a very small community and people quickly surrounded where the police lights were and realized it was my house the police were at. Since I left my cell phone in the house and I was in the back of a cop car, people started getting concerned where I was and some thought the worst had happened to me. I was finally released from the car, called my mother to fill her in on the rest of the story, texted people saying that I was alive, and then tried to understand just what happened. My brain just couldn’t grasp what had just happened and how my life and the lives of Amanda’s family and friends were changed forever.
Throughout the rest of the semester I struggled with what happened. Of course I had my close friends and family there for hugs and love, but I struggled trying finding people who wanted to dissect about what actually happened. I kept these thoughts and emotions inside because I had no one to relate to who truly understood what I was going through. When I started Peace Corps in January 2011, I kept quiet of my past throughout my time here, because I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for me or think differently of me (before the post, a vast majority of my friends here still don’t know). But one night hanging out with a close Peace Corps friend in November 2011, I cracked. I just couldn’t hold it in any longer. I told her about my anger, confusion, and pain that had come from that fateful day. She supported and encouraged me to go talk to someone at the medical office about it. And thank God I did. The great thing about PC is that they provide free medical service, and I was able to take advantage of it. I was able to sort out what has been bouncing around in my mind for so long. I still struggle often, but I am equip with the tools to work on it.
Okay, now you have heard all the sad stuff, here’s the point of this whole story. During finals time during Fall 2009, Amanda and I talked a lot (we were avoiding studying at all costs). We talked about our joys and problems at school, our future plans, and so much more. Amanda had done some mission trips in the past and she was thinking about doing Peace Corps after she graduated in 2011 with a nursing degree. Since she still had a year left at TCU, she was excited to hear about all my future adventures wherever the PC sent me. We both talked about how we want to improve the lives of so many who have trouble improving their own. Those weeks I am going to forever cherish in my memories of Amanda. Another way Amanda procrastinated studying was by cleaning out some of her old bags. She let me look through them before giving them away to charity. One of them is the Vera Bradley. I took it because I thought it looked cute, and I could use it to carry my school stuff.
I have used this simple Vera Bradley bag everywhere in Nicaragua throughout my two years here. I have taken it to meetings, trainings, and work. It is almost always with me. The straps are quite worn and are in need of a good fix. I just don’t do this because it’s a cute bag and can fit lots of things it. I carry this bag around because I want to always have a part of Amanda’s passion of wanting to help others in need with me. I feel that I am sharing part of my experience with her even though I can’t tell her about it.Every time I get complimented on the bag, or people ask me where I got it, I always say it was a gift. It’s gift from a friend who has changed my life for good. In IIKE

I shared this story also to open up the discussion about suicide. It is a taboo across cultures, but still is a huge issue. Suicide affects people all around the world, rich, poor, young, old, and in between. If you, or someone you know struggles with suicidal thoughts please visit: call 1-800-SUICIDE or visit suicide.org

my two lives

When I talk with my PC friends after they come back from a trip to the States, we always have the same conversations. “Wow, wasn’t hot water great??” or “I love being able to drive myself around town and not be on a bus, sitting next to a woman with a bag with a chicken inside”. We go on about our reverse culture shock that hits us soon after we step onto US soil, for example “isn’t weird that there is water to flush the toilet and to wash your hands 24/7?” But when we get talking more in depth about our trips home, it turns into a conversation that focuses on not just the materialist things we enjoy while visiting the US. The conversation always morphs into discussing how much our lives have changed throughout our service and how we didn’t even realize the American life that we have left behind. We come to visit America with our Nicaraguan habits and state of minds. I couldn’t even tell you how many times I pointed my lips to point at something or how many times I put the toilet paper in the trash can instead of the toilet. When I was in the states and I was passing a group of men, I braced myself for cat calls, which I never heard the States.
After discussing our reverse culture shock, I began to realize that we have these two separate lives. I have this life in the States where spending $7 on a decent lunch is normal. If I spent $7 on a lunch in Nicaragua, it should be the most amazing lunch ever. We have our current life in Nicaragua, with all our friends and job. In the States, we have our lives we put on hold as we were arriving to DC for the start of our PC adventure. I have this life now, where it’s hard to explain it to other Americans who haven’t done PC or PCVs that aren’t in Nicaragua. My daily schedule is a complete 180 from before leaving for Nicaragua. I go about my daily life in a simpler fashion. I am not constantly connected to the internet with a smart phone, and neither are the vast majority of the people in Nicaragua. We travel 3+ hours just to spend a night with a familiar face and speak English. A hot and real (I take bucket bathes) shower is a luxury to any PCV.
So when I went home and saw friends from university and family, it was difficult to explain my daily life. There are some aspects that people who have never visited the poorer parts of a Central American country could understand. But I believe this is where goal three of Peace Corps come into account. Goal three is the share the culture of the host country to Americans. I feel like I accomplished that goal by discussing how I was able to share about the fun festivals that I am able to attend. Also, that it is possible to live without a smart phone (which is possible, I swear!!!). People go their whole lives without a hot, running shower. I think the best part I shared with the US, was when I talked about the Nicaraguans in my daily life. They are so warm and kind to everyone that crosses their path. Too many times I have shared cups of coffee with strangers.
I also liked sharing my experience because I wanted to show people that doing Peace Corps isn’t that scary. It’s an experience that will change your life for the good. I talked with many people in the states about my life, and, sadly, I heard very often was “wow, I could never live like that”, and I live in a departmental (like a province/state) capital which enables me to live a “cushiony” life. But my response was always, yes you could. I believe that in order to really understand your true self, you need to push yourself. Push yourself into unknown territories. This experience has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had, and I can’t wait to see what adventures are up ahead in the next eight months.

New year, new knee

Well lots have happened since my last blog post. I have been in Nicaragua for over a year now!! I can’t believe it! I am through half way of my service and I feel like I have so much more to accomplish. I don’t have too many updates, but the ones I do have are quite interesting (at least to me)!
One thing I never thought I would experience in my PC service is surgery. I have to get surgery on my meniscus (which is the padding between your femur (thigh bone) and tibia/fibula (lower leg bones). I wish I had a cool story of how I tore it by jumping off a three story building, but sadly I don’t have one. I came back from a 25 minute run in late January, which was almost a daily activity for me, and my knee was aching!! I waited a few days to see if it would get better, which didn’t happen. I went to Managua to the PC docs, and they sent me to an orthopedist. I got MRI’s done, and got the results two weeks later (darn blockades on the highway made me wait two weeks instead of one). I started balling when the doctor was telling me that I needed surgery. He was so confused why I was crying about getting surgery. He told me that all is going to be fine, it’s not like I have cancer. I was crying because this is going to put a little bit of a damper in my PC service. But I keep telling myself is that I just have to deal with the cards I am dealt. One of the best things about tearing it in PC and not after is that PC pays for ALL my medical bills including my plane ticket to my surgery’s location. I am still waiting out the details, but I will have surgery in DC or Panama. I am pushing PC for me to have the surgery in DC so I can be close to family and maybe I can see some friends. I am also hoping it can be right around Lauren’s graduation, so I can just pay for a plane ticket from DC to Indianapolis. But my mum wouldn’t mind it being in Panama because she could to come down and take care of her little girl. What a great mum right??
Work has been a little bit slow. I was able to go visit a fellow volunteer and do a technical exchange. She had a project of building 30 stoves in her community. These stoves are built to use a lot less firewood and to push all the smoke through the chimney, and therefore doesn’t enter the home. I really would like to do one in my casa materna because it would cut down the cost of firewood and also it would be healthier for the women because the smoke wouldn’t be entering their lungs. I am still trying to figure out all the details because some of the materials include sand from a river and cow manure and it’s difficult to figure out where I can find that in a city and how to transport it. I really enjoyed learning/making the stoves. It was nice to get my hands dirty. It was also a nice escape into the rural areas of Nicaragua.
I have recently started working with the Red Cross youth group here. It has been one of the easiest youth groups in Nicaragua to get. Many of my friends struggle to find and keep youth in their groups. My group is already well established with about 15-20 youth that range from 13-20 years old that attend meetings on a regular basis. On Saturdays I give a talk to them, and then sometimes, on Sundays, we do a fun activity, like go to the river. I have started teaching them sex ed! Most youth in Nicaragua don’t receive much sex ed in schools so I thought this topic was one of the most important things I could teach. The teen pregnancy is out the roof in Nicaragua. I am going to start teaching sex ed in the schools later this year, so this is perfect practice. The youth are all really great kids. They are so welcoming to me, and always have a million questions about the US. It’s amazing some of their beliefs of the States. I have to remind them that it’s not all sunshine and flowers and that you do have to work hard to succeed. I really hope I can make some impact in these kids.

I have a few more stories to share, but I will put up another post soon with those!

My lovely sister, Lauren, and our cousin Janell came to visit their favorite person in Nicaragua (that’s me if you couldn’t figure that out) over Christmas break. They arrived at the airport with me waving obnoxiously through the glass that separates the baggage claim and the anxious people waiting for their loved ones. Our first stop on the trip was Montelimar. Like with my parents, I gave Lauren and Janell the true Nicaraguan bus experience. The bus we took out to Montelimar was PACKED!!! I think it was one of the most uncomfortable bus trips I have taken. I was standing awkwardly with our luggage while a little old grandma was leaning on me. It was the perfect first time experience for Lauren and Janell. When we got to the town outside the resort, we got a bike taxi to take us to the resort.  We felt so badly for this guy peddling us to our destination. He was peddling with all his might three ladies plus all our baggage. He was huffing and puffing profusely. Janell kindly gave him a bottle of water because he definitely deserved/needed it!

Montelimar is a resort that was the property of the dictator, Samoza.  The property is massive! We constantly had to have a map with us because, otherwise, we would be lost! The resort has a private beach, large pools, all you can eat/drink, tennis courts, and so much more! We had a great time just relaxing by the pool and eating all the food we wanted. They had an endless list of mix drinks and we tried to taste them all. One evening, we attended a Mr. Montelimar pageant in which the participants were men staying at the resort. They had dancing competitions which were pretty amusing. Sadly, after only a few days at Montelimar, Lauren and I had to take Janell to the airport. With the Davies lady gone, the Useem sisters were on their own.

Lauren and I headed off to the Isla de Ometepe. After a few days of eating/drinking uncontrollably, we had to get some physical activity in. We started by waking up at 4 am and going on an eight hour hike up Volcan Concepcion. It was a very steep hike that included some rain. We got up 2/3 of the volcano, but we couldn’t handle hiking four more hours. We got a beautiful view of the lake and island. That night, we were so exhausted that we were asleep by 8pm. The next day we decided to go to Ojo de agua, a natural spring, by bike. The guy told us it was only 12km away and there were only two hills. Well, he failed to mention that the hills were very long ones! A few times we had to get off our bikes and walk because it was too tough. The Ojo de agua was very refreshing. The guy selling the tickets told us that a woman who was 70 years old went in the pools and came out 30 years old. Sadly, Lauren and I didn’t seem too much younger when we came out of the waters. We were so tired from biking and we had to catch a ferry, we decided to take the local bus back to our hotel.

Our next stop was Leon.  Lauren and I had some major delays in getting there. I thought we would get there around 7 and we didn’t get there until 10pm. That’s what we get for traveling on the Friday before Christmas. But once we got to Leon, we fell in love. Leon is known for having many beautiful churches. It is also one of the biggest cities in Nicaragua so there is a lot to do there. We did tours of the churches and got to see the unique architecture of each church. One of my favorite parts of Leon was the Revolutionary museum. I love going to museums (thanks mum) and this was the first one I went to in Nicaragua. I know the basic history of the revolution, but this museum explained so much more. It explained Sandino’s life and the struggles he went through in the early 1900’s and it also explained about the revolution in the 70’s. Our guide was a fighter in the war (he started fighting when he was 14!), so it was great to hear his personal stories. He only knew Spanish, so I had to do a lot of translation for Lauren.

Throughout the next few days, Lauren and I were joined by other Peace Corps volunteers in Leon, including my site mate, Paul. Paul, Lauren, and I went to church on Christmas morning! It was my first Christmas Catholic mass. That afternoon we headed to one of the few movie theaters in Nicaragua and saw the new Mission Impossible movie. It didn’t feel like Christmas in Nicaragua. It was hot, and we didn’t open a bunch of presents in the morning. We spent Christmas evening doing what I usually do on a weekend, hang out with the volunteers. That evening Lauren got to experience what the normal weekend for Peace Corps volunteer includes (rum, Toña/Victoria, great conversations).

Sadly, on the 26^th Lauren left. What she didn’t know was that I was leaving too! Our whole Useem family, minus one, was going to be in Florida and Lauren was bummed out that I wasn’t going to be there either. It was so hard for me to not tell her throughout her trip. I took her to the airport and when she was checking in, I went off and I was able to check-in without her seeing me. When I walked up to her with my passport with a plane ticket inside, she was so confused. She thought I had her passport or something. It was a great surprise!

I was so grateful that Lauren and Janell came down to visit me. It was getting irritated with everyone/thing in Nicaragua and I seriously needed a vacation. It was fun to show them around my country and I got to know a few new places as well. It was also nice to have family around. We didn’t have to worry about who was going to pay for what and we got to use the parents credit card so that we could stay in decent hotels.

My seven day trip to Florida, may have been even more necessary than Lauren and Janell coming to Nicaragua. I got to shower in hot water, go to things by personal car, and be with my whole family. It was just so relaxing not having to speak Spanish and to eat food that hasn’t been fried. It’s amazing how a week with the Useems (and one Pilberg) can bring my spirits back up! The only downfall (literally haha) was my mother breaking her wrist. It was my last night in America and she was taking the ex-pats of the family, my cousin Sue (she lives in Bali) and me, to Target to buy our resupplies. Sue and I were in the underwear section when this Target woman was running around Target yelling ‘Hanna, Hanna’ and they even paged me over the intercom. In the back of my mind I thought they were calling me but I thought ‘why would they want me? Maybe mum’s hurt.’ But that was really an afterthought because Sue and I thought they were paging for a lost child. But once I heard ‘a 23 and 28 year old’ I knew something was wrong. We found my mother on the floor. Usually when she hurts herself, she yelps and screams and she did neither one.  My mother slipped on the wet tile and did a good amount of damage to her wrist. She had to get surgery, so I stayed an extra day to stay with her. Also, I still needed to buy my resupply at Target. Now, she doesn’t have a cast because she has a plate in her arm and is going to physical therapy. And yes, she is in the process of suing Target.

I’ll be coming back to the States late April-May for three weeks for my baby sister’s graduation! I will hanging out in West Lafayette for most of the time. I will be also taking a trip to D.C. to look at grad schools/visiting friends. 

Profe!! A mi, me gusta sandia

Well I have officially become a profe (teacher). Since my city has two health educators who are mainly working in the health posts within the city, I decided to reach a population that doesn’t go to the doctor very much, kids. I went to the local office of the Ministry of Education and expressed my interest in working in the schools and they happily gave me a list of schools that I should visit and dates of what day I should go.
I have been teaching in the primary schools throughout Ocotal. One of the great benefits of living in a morning (minus the other week because Independence Day) and giving talks with all the classes at the school. Every principal was ecstatic for me to give talks with their students. To the kids in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade, I talk about nutrition and the different types of foods that you need to eat to live a healthy life. To the younger kids, I talk about hand washing. There are many cases of diarrhea and colds in Ocotal, so hopefully talking with kids about washing their hands will make a small decrease in those cases. One school asked me to give a self-esteem talk with their kids. It was the greatest set of talks I have given (so far). The kids talked about discrimination, rich vs. poor, how to boost/lower someone’s self-esteem, and of course we talked about soccer (Barcelona vs. Madrid). The example I gave was: If you like Barcelona (class goes into cheers) and you met someone who likes Madrid (boos fill the classroom), you shouldn’t call that person stupid because they like Madrid. That will lower their self-esteem. And who knows, that person could be a great person and maybe your future best friend. It’s alright that we like different things, but it’s not alright to judge and say bad things to them because they like something that you don’t like.
The best part of giving these talks is the kids. It’s amazing that no matter where you go in the world, kids are all the same. At recess, the boys are beating each other up, and the girls are playing hand-clapping games. They are very enthusiastic about someone else teaching them something other than the boring day-to-day stuff. They all raise their hands to talk, but can’t hold it for that long so they are saying all their comment at once while having their hands raised. The cutest thing is when all the kids have something to say, and I can only call on one child at one time, they all start walking up to the front of the class to tell me their comment. Within a minute, half the class is at the front of the room trying to tell me that they like to eat watermelon. Another adorable thing the students will do sometimes is give me a hug when I walk in. By the end, I have ten little five year olds hugging me all at once. I wish I had someone take a picture of this because it is probably the MOST adorable thing!
The older kids are very polite. The nuns/teachers have drilled into them that they stand up when some ‘adult’ comes into the room (sometimes this happens). But they answer you in unison when you say good morning/afternoon. They can sit there a little longer and not be in constant laughter during my talk. In the self-esteem talk they had a lot of intelligent comments. They went off on how we have to help people with disabilities (they call them people with different capabilities here) and not to think or say that they are stupid because they are a little different. We also talked about how we can have stigmas about people who are poor or rich. Not all rich people are snobby about their money and not all poor people have bad manners. These kids attend a private school (which probably cost 1/10 or less of a private school in the states) but they all know what true poverty in Nicaragua is. Just to put into perspective, I make around $250 a month and I am doing pretty well.
P.S. I got reprimanded by a nun for not going to church. I guess I need to go more now.

Is that a chicken sitting next to me?

As I travel more and more within Nicaragua I have discovered a phenomenon: chickens riding the bus. Yes, people aren’t the only ones occupying the buses here. I will be on a bus and I will see the bag on the floor in front of me moving a little. More into the trip I would hear small chirps coming out of the bag. Then, a few hours into the trip, the chicken’s head would pop out of the bag. When I first saw this, I was a little concerned. I was concerned for the wellbeing of the chicken in the bag and for me. What if the chicken got out of the bag? It would be a disaster on the bus.
Bringing chickens on the bus is a pretty common thing here in Nicaragua. There is quite a variety of ways to transport chickens on the bus. I have seen chickens in sacks where the chicken can’t see out at all, in bags where their head pops out, and even in boxes. Chickens are everywhere in Nicaragua so I guess I just had to expect the chickens to occupy the buses as well. People usually bring them to their families that they are visiting or bringing them back from the city where they bought them.

America!

Well I have been in site now for three months, and man, what a great three months it has been. I have been learning and falling in love with my site, Ocotal. I am still struggling on finding where I fit into the work the health center and the Ministry of Health would like me to do. I have been working, slowly but surely, with some of the NGO’s in the area. Most of the NGO’s in Ocotal work with youth in the areas of HIV/AIDS, STDs, and teen pregnancy, which Peace Corps didn’t give me much training on, so I am doing it all on a whim. But don’t worry, these NGO’s know what they are doing, In working with these NGO’s I have learned that you really have to build a relationship with people before they work with you. So that means that I have to go and chat with people, and sometimes not even about my work and just about how darn hot it is in this country.
My family life is going wonderfully. They have truly embraced me as one of their own. They told me that they missed me being around when I went on my week-long trip to the states. They are consistently helping with my Spanish and helping me relearn Spanish after my hiatus in Washington.
My week-long trip back to the states was great. I went to Spokane, Washington to be a bridesmaid in a high school friend’s, Caity, wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding on this gorgeous property in the countryside. I am so grateful that Caity included me in her big day. During the weekend festivities, I got to catch up with Caity and other high school friends who were bridesmaids with me. I was lucky enough to spend two nights in Houston one when I was flying to Spokane and then back to Nicaragua. I stayed with a good friend from TCU and church, Kelsie, and caught up with her on life and she heard all about my life down here. It was so great to be on American soil for a week. I ate some Whataburger, embraced air conditioning, drove a car (only once), and of course took (as many as possible) real, hot showers. I think the showers were almost the best part about being back in America. At first, I couldn’t even get into the shower because the water was way too hot for my body and it wasn’t used to water warmer than room temperature. Don’t fret, once I entered the shower I didn’t ever want to get out. You don’t realize how easy it is to take a shower with running water. But, sadly, when I returned to my Ocotal home, I took a bucket shower and the water felt extra cold because my body experienced hot water after six months of cold. It’s so sad because I was used to the room temperature water, but after a few bucket showers I will be fine.
But in all honesty, the best parts of being back in the states was spending time with my friends, catching up on their lives, sharing comical stories, and reminiscing on funny/embarrassing memories. Sometimes here in Nicaragua I miss talking about TCU football or about Albuquerque and how the sunsets are breath-taking sunsets and all the mouth-watering restaurants. At times it is hard to be abroad with all new friends and limited contact with friends from home and not able to talk about the good ole college days or how delicious green chile is. But, I have been making great new friends here and making unforgettable memories with them, so don’t worry too much about me.
I bet a few of you were wondering what I did for the 4th. Well, I actually worked. I gave a great charla about diarrhea to 11 pregnant women. But on the 2nd, numerous volunteers made their way up (or down) to Ocotal to celebrate America’s 235th birthday! Our favorite restaurant/bar, La Yunta, decorated the restaurant for us to celebrate America’s birth. They put up red, white, and blue balloons, tablecloths, and made it feel like a true America fiesta. We also had two tables where American drinking games were being played. The most ironic thing of the night was that there was a group in Ocotal from the University of New Mexico. After talking with a few of them we realized that we had some friends in common. I always say that Albuquerque is a small city and this just proves my point. It was quite a nice transition from being in America to Nicaragua. I dressed up in a great USA rugby jersey that I bought from my host parents’ store. I also had on J Crew chino shorts, so I felt like a Ralph Lauren model (almost). But they greatest part of my outfit was the large American flag bow I had in my hair. I bought it in the states and its main purpose is to be hung on a fence or a mailbox. But I thought it would look best in my hair, and indeed it did.
In little less than 4 weeks America will be coming to visit me! My first visitors will be my parents. This has been the longest I haven’t seen them (almost seven months!) so it’s going to be a great visit. We are going to visit my site, to a natural forest, to the site where I trained, to the island inside the lake (where there are fresh water sharks ahh!!!), do some artisan shopping, and end up in Granada where we will be true tourists. It’s going to be a packed nine day trip, but it will be a great one. I get to show off my Spanish skills and my Nica life. They have heard all about it through Skype and have seen pictures, but you can’t really get the whole experience until you feel the heat.
I am going to be pretty busy in between now and when my parents come and visit. Next week I am going back to Guisquiliapa (my training town) for a week long Spanish class. I am going to be having class from 8am to 4pm. It’s going to be a rough week. But I am excited for the week because I get to go back to Guisquiliapa and see my old friends. I will be trying to get more work to do in Ocotal because I am only working a few hours a day. My host family says that it’s alright that I am relaxing because when I return to the states I will have to work hard. Well that’s not for another 21 months, so hopefully I can find some hard work to do, so it won’t seem to all of you that I am here on vacation.

the Ocotal life

I am starting really enjoying my time here in Ocotal, which I kind of had to because I am living her for the next two years. My family here has been one of the main reasons I haven’t gone crazy here. Mama Chilo has taken me under her wing and has basically adopted me as one of her own. They mademy birthday was a big deal here. They made me a great sign, with glitter included, that they put up the morning of my birthday. They also decorated the dining area with streamers and balloons. They even got me presents which totally surprised me. I got my fake Hollister shirts, a very popular brand down here. I totally feel more Nicaraguan every time I wear them, which doesn’t happen too often. My family has also included me on outings with the rest of extended family, where I always meet someone new because the family is so large. I hang out with them every night while they sell delicious food on the street. I have been meeting the majority of the volunteers up here with me in the north. People come to Ocotal to get out of their sites and enjoy a night of TV, showers, and a good, cold Toña (one of the two national beers). Also, I have a few friends that live nearby that have to come to Ocotal to buy their food. So I have been able to form friendships with some of the folks that come through often. I have also had a chance to go visit some of my friends from training. I went and celebrated a birthday of a girl in my group. A good amount of my training group was there so it was nice to see them because I hadn’t seen them since swearing-in. One of the most exciting things about the trip was that we went to an Italian restaurant. I got the lasagna and it was probably the best lasagna I have ever eaten. It was just soo cheesy. I don’t know if my taste buds were dancing for joy because I was eating something that didn’t include rice, but man was I a happy camper. I have been able to do some hiking in the nearby mountains. During Semana Santa (holy week), some other PCV (peace corps volunteers) and I went hiking in a nearby canyon called Somoto. You can pay to take a boat in the canyon to enjoy it, but being broke volunteers we decided to hike it. At times we were somewhat concerned if we were all going to come out without scratches up and down our legs, but we came out without any injuries. Even in dry season, where pretty much everything has dried up because the land hasn’t seen rain in sevenish months, the canyon was gorgeous. I loved the dramatic cliffs. Even though it would have been prettier in the wet season, I am glad that I went during the dry season because I know that we couldn’t have hiked as far as we did during the wet season. Rainy season is slowly creeping on Nicaragua. There are only two seasons here, like the rest of Central America, wet and dry season. Wet season here is called winter, and it is significantly cooler than the dry season, thank goodness. Lately, I have even had to get out a sweater in the evening when I am sitting outside with my family. It has only been raining for an hour or so every other evening. But when it rain, it pours, literally. Luckily my street is arched so the road doesn’t completely flood when the rains come. But on each side of the street, the rainwater flows by like a flash flood. Sometimes it does look like the two side rivers will touch and the road may completely flood just because there is just so much rain! The power going out is also an issue during the wet season. I am grateful that I bought a headlamp because it has come in handy. One time, the power went out one time in the middle of me painting my nails, so I busted out the headlamp and put it on to finish my nails. A girl gotta do what a girl gotta do. Well my work is going a little slow here. My counterpart is treating me more like a little dog that she takes by the leash to places and I just sit there quietly while she does work. I have been helping her make murals for Mother’s day (May 30th), but that’s the extent of work I have been doing with her. Hopefully we can figure out a balance of me giving talks about health. She thinks I am going to be giving talks on international rights because I have a degree in political science-international relations. The most ironic thing about this is that since I am a volunteer of the Peace Corps, a government organization, I am not allowed to do that type of work. In the afternoons though, I go and give talks to the pregnant women in the casa materna. On Thursdays I give talks at a place called Los Pepitos. Los Pepitos is a place where children with mental and physical disabilities can come for therapy. I am going to be giving talks there on nutrition and other health topics. It is in probably one of the prettiest buildings in Nicaragua, including a therapy pool. It was recently built, by donations only by Nicaraguans, so the Nicaraguans are very proud of it. My language skills, I hope, are getting better. It’s hard to tell if I am getting better, but I am able to understand my family a little better. I do sit outside with my family for at least three hours a night chatting, and I speak Spanish throughout the day, so I better be getting a tad bit better. I am also reading the newspaper on a somewhat daily basis. I make sure that every Monday I get a newspaper because there is an eight-page New York Times section. It makes me so happy to read it because it makes me feel at home where there are always NYT newspapers at my fingertips (yes dad and all the Useems, I am referring to your guys addiction of always having a copy (or two) of the NYT in arm’s reach). I am also able to learn more about Nicaragua internal issues and has kept me up-to-date on the elections. One thing that Peace Corps pushes on us is to in our sites is to integrate into the community, and slowly but surely I have become more Nicaraguan. I have been creating a list in my head of things I now do that is Nicaraguan. My new Nicaraguan habits include: pointing at things with my lips (it’s slowly becoming habit), saying gracia instead of gracias, walking in the gutter instead of on the sidewalk, saying ‘como no’(why not), taking an interest in boxing, enjoying coffee(mind you it has A LOT of sugar), using tortillas to pick up rice/gallo pinto/meat to eat it, saying ‘adios’ to people in the street/doorways when I pass them, saying ‘buenas’ when I enter any building, eating mangos like nobody’s business (I sometimes eat seven mangos in one night), preferring bucket baths with cold water than taking cold showers, waving for people to come to me in the way that people in America say to just stay there and not come(that may be confusing, sorry, it’s hard to explain). There are probably more, so if I think of more I will add them in the next blog. I know when people come visit me or when I have my trips back to the states, people are going to be asking me, ‘Hanna, what are you doing?!’ But hey, I am trying to become Nicaraguan so the Nicaraguans don’t say ‘Hanna, ¿qué está haciendo?’ But don’t worry, I am still the same old Hanna, just with some Nicaraguan habits added.

It´s official, I am volunteer!

Sorry I have not blogged for a month. Nothing terribly exciting happened in between the last blog and this one. During the last few weeks of training I attended many talks about health and other things related to my future life as a volunteer. I also had my last few weeks of six hours a day Spanish classes. My final level was Intermediate Medium (which is the minimum level you need be at not get a Spanish tutor in your site).

I officially became a volunteer on April 1^st (I hope it was not an April fool’s joke). It was a really exciting weekend for me for many reasons. On the Thursday, we made a visit to the embassy. I had been excited about this day for almost my whole time in training. I got to be on American soil for a few hours which included but not limited to; air conditioning, putting the toilet paper in the toilet (which I haven’t been able to do since I have been here,) and bagels with cream cheese. But if you know me at all you know that the most exciting part of the visit was hearing the Ambassador speak. Ambassador Callahan has been in the Foreign Service for about 30 years and has been in Nicaragua for about two years. He will be finishing his service in July and will be retiring after this post. He is a very amiable person and after I heard him speak, I wish I could just sit down with him for a few hours and chat.

During his talk to our group, I was like a child on Christmas day. I was enthralled in everything Callahan had to say.  I have been able to hear about the politics of Nicaragua through the eyes of Nicaraguans, but I have had not heard it through foreign eyes. I also am somewhat banned in talking politics with anyone (thanks Peace Corps rules). He had opinions that you would only hear from foreigners.  He has some strong opinions about the Nicaraguan government and of Ortega. It made me so happy to hear his theories behind the actions of the Nicaraguan government because they confirmed my theories. Callahan spoke about the US and foreign relations with Nicaragua, the election in November, and the future of Nicaragua. I asked a question to the Ambassador about the upcoming elections because I am very interested in what is going to happen. Since I am a Peace Corps Volunteer, I am not allowed to write exactly my opinions and those of Callahan’s on my blog, but if you would like to know, just let me know and I can shoot you an email. I am cautioning you beforehand, the email will probably be a lengthy one.

On Friday I had my swearing in ceremony. It was a very exciting day. It was at the Intercontinental Hotel, one of the nicest hotels in Managua (don’t worry, we didn’t stay there). My host mom and uncle came to see me get sworn in, which was great. In the beginning of the ceremony we sang both the Nicaraguan (which we practiced a lot) and the American national anthem. The Ambassador, the Peace Corps Country Director, the training director, a member of the Ministry of Health, and two of my colleagues gave speeches. The oath that I said when I swore in sounded more like the one the US president takes when he is swearing in than one of the Peace Corps. After the ceremony, we indulged into the well-decorated cake that Peace Corps got for each group. After the ceremony I had to say goodbye to my host family. It was a bitter sweet moment because I know that I am going to stay with them for a few days in July for a Spanish workshop, but I am not going to be seeing them on a daily basis. They were such a welcoming and helpful family in my first three months, so it was very sad to say goodbye.

On Sunday, I made my move up to my home, Ocotal, for the next two years.  When I got to the place I was going to live, which is a hospedaje (boarding house?? I don’t know the translation), they told me that they were not going to have a room for me for a week. They thought I was coming the following week. They said that Peace Corps was not an easy job, but I thought the housing was not going to be tough as well. So the first few days in Ocotal, I stayed at a hostel. When I told Paul, my site mate, that I needed to find new housing, because Peace Corps did not want to deal with my original housing situation, he suggested a lady who was looking for an American to live in an extra room in her house.

I met her (who I call Mama Chilo) on Tuesday and I moved into her house on Wednesday. I have my own bathroom in and cable TV my room. They also cook all my meals for me, which is wonderful because we all know that I would just be eating very simple meals (like oatmeal) if I was living alone. I live with a lady (who is related to Mama Chilo) named Tere with her son Ricardo (he’s 8) and one of Mama Chilo’s sons sometimes lives here when he isn’t working named Alex, and sometimes my grandma sleeps here even though she has her own house.

My family owns a second hand American clothing store. My host parents live above the clothing store, which is separate, but next door, to the place I live. Every night the front of my part of the house turns into a fritanga. A fritanga (sidewalk grill) sells street food (which is soooo yummy!!!). They have a few tables for people to sit and eat or you can take your food to go. They sell meat (chicken, beef, and pork), gallo pinto (rice and beans), enchiladas (it’s kind of like a hard taco closed at the top with rice, chicken and other stuff inside), fried potatoes, and other yummy fried food. I get to eat it every night for dinner, which in turn forces me to run in the morning because I would get obese if I didn’t. So every night I sit outside with my family and chat and what not. Their house is on the main drive and next to a high school so a lot of people pass by in the evening. The grandma had 18 kids and tons of grandkids, so there is always someone coming by to say hi. I think that most of the barrio is related to my family.

So I am in Ocotal for actually working with health and not just eat fried food and chat it up. My work has had a slow start. My counterpart has introduced me to numerous health posts and schools, but I haven’t given in those posts or schools. There is also a casa materna in my site, so I am giving some talks there about exclusively breastfeeding in the first six months and general nutrition. I am slowly but surely starting to work. It has been a lot of self-starting, but I kind of like it.  One exciting thing that I am going to do is tomorrow (Friday) is that the health center has 1000 HIV tests and we are going to test people. I am excited to be able to interact with the community on a health related issue.

My birthday is next Tuesday, which is pretty exciting! It is during Holy Week (which is like spring break here) so my friends from training have to come this weekend to celebrate it because there is no transport the weekend of Holy Week. I have my first vacation days on Thursday and Friday so I think I am just going to hang out with my family and I may go hiking.

I showed my mound of pictures to my family and it made me realize how much I miss you all.  Remember you can come visit me anytime you would like! It’s an easy bus ride from the capital, Managua, to my house surrounded wonderful mountains in the north. If you can’t fund a trip down here, send me letters! If you would like the address (which is different from the one I gave people when I first came down here) just send me an email and I will send it to you. And if you are lucky, maybe I will write one back!

a parasite and my site!

Well nothing too exciting has happened in the past few weeks, and therefore I haven’t updated this blog in a while. Well two things exciting have happened. I got a parasite and my site all in one week! The parasite is more exciting so I will start off with that one.

It all started with going to a wedding with my host brother. We went to a wedding of one of his university friends. We actually didn’t make it to the wedding because my soccer game went a little late and we needed to buy a present. So by the time we got the present the wedding was over and so we went to the place where they were having the reception. There wasn’t any dancing, which was sad. They said that there wasn’t any dancing because it was Christian wedding. At the reception, they started serving the food, which was choxsaw and Chinese rice. It was quite yummy, or so I thought. We watched the new married couple cut the cake we got a few slices of that as well. At the reception there was the traditional throwing the bouquet and the garter. Luckily, I didn’t catch the bouquet.

Well once I got back from the wedding, I met one of the volunteers that was placed in my training town during her training. It was great talking to her about her similar experiences in Guisquiliapa. After the nice chat around 10pm my stomach started really hurting. I thought I could just sleep off the stomach ache. Was I quite wrong. I don’t think everyone wants to read the detailed accounts of the numbers of times I used the bathroom (for both ends), but let’s just say it was a whole lot. I tried to settle my stomach by taking Dramamine and I drank suero, which rehydrates the body. Well my body rejected all of treatments. After contacting the PCMO (Peace Corps medical officer) and talking with her a few times we decided it was best for me to go the hospital and get rehydrated by iv. My host mom and I found someone in the neighborhood to drive us to the hospital. Once we got there, I gave a sample of my poo and then they hooked me up to an IV. They gave me some fluids and medicine for my stomach. I found out that I had a parasite. The PCMO joined us as well around 6am. When all the fluids were in my body we headed back to Guisquiliapa with medicine and Pedialyte. For the next few days, I didn’t have much of an appetite and just ate a little bit of rice and toast(which is pre-toasted before being put in a bread plastic bag). But I survived my first parasite. My family was convinced that I got it from my practicum week visit. I had been back in my town for a few days when this happened. I think they don’t understand how quickly food leaves the body because if I got a parasite from my visit I would have been sick a lot earlier. I tried and tried to tell them that, but I had no luck in changing their minds.

Now onto the exciting news! I am going to be an official resident of Ocotal, Nueva Segovia on April 2^nd/3^rd. It’s 12 kilometers for the Honduran border and about 3 ½ hours from Managua. It’s a direct bus from Managua to Ocotal, so no one can have the excuse that it’s too hard to get to. It’s the capital of the department(that’s what they call states) and it has about 41,000 inhabitants. I am replacing a health volunteer and I have a small business site mate. A lot of volunteers have to come through Ocotal to get to their sites, so, hopefully, I will get to know a lot of the volunteers in Nueva Segovia. During my site visit, which was five days, I met my counterpart. She introduced me to a lot people in the MINSA (health ministry) and other people in the city. My counterpart’s mind is all over the map, so I think it’s going to be interesting working with her in the future. The volunteer that I am replacing, Jessie, showed me around the casa materna, where I will be working a lot.

The city is big compared to Guisquiliapa, but I haven’t gotten lost. It’s amazing. The city has all the amenities that I need. There are a few grocery stores, banks, tons of cibers, and great ropa Americana(American clothing) stores. Right now I am going to live at a place which is kind of like a hotel. I have a tv and my bathroom is in my room. I think it’s not very like the Peace Corps life, so I am going to see if I can move to somewhere where there a family and I don’t have all the amenities. I am not going to be moving for a few more weeks so I can find something for sure. After the two months, I think I am going to move into my own place. Right now Jessie, the volunteer, is living there. It’s a pretty sweet little house and it’s in a great neighborhood.

I am officially allowed to have visitors after July 1^st, so I will be accepting reservations right now.