Soooo I haven't written in a while. Last weekend was La Griteria - it's a holiday that only takes place in Leon where people set up alters to the Virgin Mary in their houses and at 6:00 PM, people begin going around to different houses and gritando (yelling). It's kind of like Halloween, but totally different. haha The people go to a house and say, "Quien causa tanta alegria?" and the people in the houses say, "La asuncion de Maria!" and they give them candy or sweets, or some people ask for clothes. It was very interesting to see, and I spent the holiday in Eira's mom's house, which is where Maria Denisse and Merlui live (with their grandma).
Today I went to Maria Denisse's house because she was supposed to come with me to change some money, but she had gone somewhere with her mom, and while I was waiting for her, I sat with her grandma (Eira's mom) and her great grandma who today turned 94 years old! for about an hour and a half. This woman is really amazing. She walks around on her own and is completely sane. She knows exactly who everyone is and everything that is going on around her. Eira's mom is sooooo nice! This was the first time I actually talked to her even though I have been in her house several times. She told me that whenever I want, I am welcome to come back and stay with them, and she said she wishes Maria Denisse knew me when she studied in the United States because she was so close to Chicago and we could have spent time together. (She told me that during Christmas when the University closed, Maria Denisse had no where to go and she was only 16! and she wanted to come home and it was a really hard time.) I wish I would have known her then too because we have just started to get to know each other and now I am already leaving. She is a really smart and independent girl. I really like her a lot. In their house, I really feel like I belong. Maria Denisse and Merlui would definitely be my friends back home. They are so sweet :) I hope that in the future I can return to Nicaragua and see these people again and see the progress that Alianza is sure to make. They have great ideas and great possibilities and I am really lucky to have taken a part in its evolution.
Last night, the "supervisor" from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut held a meeting with the members of the Albert Schweitzer club at Alianza. These are students studying English that want to be leaders. They are all very intelligent individuals with certain talents and ideas. This man is really inspriring. He served in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, and now works in several countries funding relief efforts and projects. He sends students from Quinnipiac to Nicaragua to study Spanish and volunteer. He wanted to hear about the club and the projects they are doing (which is none at the moment) they are in the process of establishing a board and getting organized. But we ate dinner at his hotel. It was amazing. Part of me feels like 6 weeks was not enough time. I am just getting over my home sickness and getting used to a very different environment. Now that I know the school and its needs, I feel like I could do so much more to help. I would really love to come back in the future. The people here are so welcoming and really have very big hearts. Family is so important, and I truly did feel like a part of the family. Even though I am excited to be coming home to everyone I miss and to be starting my senior year, I am going miss Leon and all the people I have met here.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Granada
Helloooo!!! First of all, my flight has been changed to Friday, August 20, so that I will not have to miss class, and everything will be less stressful.
Thursday it rained very hard again, and Miguel, the other Intermediate teacher, did not show up, so I had to take his class. We somehow squeezed like 27 adults into our classroom from 4-6. It was very interesting. haha Then, I walked home in shin-high water because I was starving. I was in the middle of changing out of soaking wet clothes when Glenda called me to come back to the school and teach Miguel's other class from 6-8! :( I didn't have anything prepared and it was very frustrating, but we practiced phrasal verbs (this is always my go to when I don't have more material because they have so many questions about them!) Then, Julia and I went to the casino. We were playing roulette, and I told her that if it landed on 0, you would win a million dollars (speaking figuratively). She put one of her chips on 0 and sure enough the ball landed on 0!!!! I thought it was crazy, but she almost fell on the floor. She was freaking out and shaking and we were both laughing. I didn't realize she really thought that she was going to win a million dollars!!! And when she only got 30, she was confused about when she was going to get the rest! haha it was hilarious!
Friday, the family, the girls, and I went to Granada. The ride was about 3 hours long, and it was a tight squeeze in the car, but it was worth it! When we arrived, we went straight to the volcano called Mombacho, and we went zip lining through the canopy! You should check out my pictures. It was amazing!! Then we drove in this large truck up the mountain and walked through the beautiful forest at its peak. By the time this was finished, it was 5:30! Then we went to this beautiful look-out point called el Mirador de Catarina. There was a huge lake and Mombacho in the background. It was amazing. We drank this hot drink that is famous in Nicaragua called atol. It has milk, eggs, and cinnamon. There were beautiful pots and clothing everywhere, and we did some shopping before heading back to Leon. On the way, we stopped in Managua at the only mall in Nicaragua, and we were so hungry, we ate at the first place we saw - Sbarro's!! haha When we went to the bathroom, there was one for little kids called the Pipi Room (it had small sinks, toilets, and everything). You saw that bathroom first, and if you kept walking, you got to the adult women's and men's bathrooms. When Julia and I got back to the table, we told Sarah about the bathroom and how cool it was, and when she went alone, she didn't see the adult bathrooms, so she used the kids' one! When she got back to the table, she looked confused, and we could not stop laughing!!!!!
Thursday it rained very hard again, and Miguel, the other Intermediate teacher, did not show up, so I had to take his class. We somehow squeezed like 27 adults into our classroom from 4-6. It was very interesting. haha Then, I walked home in shin-high water because I was starving. I was in the middle of changing out of soaking wet clothes when Glenda called me to come back to the school and teach Miguel's other class from 6-8! :( I didn't have anything prepared and it was very frustrating, but we practiced phrasal verbs (this is always my go to when I don't have more material because they have so many questions about them!) Then, Julia and I went to the casino. We were playing roulette, and I told her that if it landed on 0, you would win a million dollars (speaking figuratively). She put one of her chips on 0 and sure enough the ball landed on 0!!!! I thought it was crazy, but she almost fell on the floor. She was freaking out and shaking and we were both laughing. I didn't realize she really thought that she was going to win a million dollars!!! And when she only got 30, she was confused about when she was going to get the rest! haha it was hilarious!
Friday, the family, the girls, and I went to Granada. The ride was about 3 hours long, and it was a tight squeeze in the car, but it was worth it! When we arrived, we went straight to the volcano called Mombacho, and we went zip lining through the canopy! You should check out my pictures. It was amazing!! Then we drove in this large truck up the mountain and walked through the beautiful forest at its peak. By the time this was finished, it was 5:30! Then we went to this beautiful look-out point called el Mirador de Catarina. There was a huge lake and Mombacho in the background. It was amazing. We drank this hot drink that is famous in Nicaragua called atol. It has milk, eggs, and cinnamon. There were beautiful pots and clothing everywhere, and we did some shopping before heading back to Leon. On the way, we stopped in Managua at the only mall in Nicaragua, and we were so hungry, we ate at the first place we saw - Sbarro's!! haha When we went to the bathroom, there was one for little kids called the Pipi Room (it had small sinks, toilets, and everything). You saw that bathroom first, and if you kept walking, you got to the adult women's and men's bathrooms. When Julia and I got back to the table, we told Sarah about the bathroom and how cool it was, and when she went alone, she didn't see the adult bathrooms, so she used the kids' one! When she got back to the table, she looked confused, and we could not stop laughing!!!!!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Agua
So yesterday Sarah, Julia, and I went to this hotel that had a pool to ask them if we could pay to use it, and they let us! It was a great relief from the heat. It has been so bad lately that I have been very very tired. Today while we were in class, it rained so hard that water was flooding Alianza, and we couldn´t leave because the streets were flooded with water. We had to wait at the school until it went down a little. It was crazy. I have been thinking a lot, and I am going to look into changing my flight to the week before I am supposed to come home so I won´t have to miss school, and it will be much less stressful. It depends how much it costs and everything, but I am just so homesick and I am really anxious to come home because I have so much to do before school starts. (My OPI, buy books, etc.) This weekend is the girls´ last weekend so it should be pretty eventful. Miss youuu!!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Poneloya
Last Wednesday, we went to the beach! It was about a half hour drive, but it took a little longer because we had to stop a lot and wait for cows to get off the road. It was absolutely beautiful. The first thing we saw was a huge orange rock that's called La Peña del Tigre, or Tiger Rock, because a tiger used to live underneath in in a cave a long time ago. There was also a cross at the top of one of the large rocks. When I asked Maria Denise why it was there, she said it was low tide and perfectly safe and normal to sit up there, and a boy was studying when all of a sudden a huge wave came and knocked him off the rock and he was killed :( The waves were beautiful but extremely dangerous. After lunch, which was amazing, we sat in the water right at the edge and a few times I was nearly taken away by the strength of the waves! It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen at the beach. We could barely go into the water past our calves without having the waves crashing into us and pulling us under. Oscarcito and Irelita stayed up by the sand, and one of us always had one of their hands just in case! It was very beautiful and relaxing, and I finally got some color from the Nicaraguan sun! Being there made me really realize the hardships of city life here. I find myself yearning for clean air. Everything is really crowded. There is terrible air pollution from all of the old vehicles. They definitely don't have emission tests here, and now I see why they are so important! Streets are very narrow and littered with garbage. Being at the beach was a little break where I could breathe and admire beauty, and it was very much needed. I didn't want to leave.
Thursday, the gringas (the other American girls who are living at the house) and I went to see Robin Hood. It was really really good. The girls are going back to the states Monday, and even though it is really convenient to have people in the house to talk to and go places with, it will be better that I am forced to get out and speak Spanish again the way it was the first week before they came. Saturday was Glenda's birthday, and we went to a different disco called Oxigeno. It was a lot of fun, and the next day, I slept till 1:00 AM. The girls and I went to this awesome vegetarian restaurant called Cocinarte, and I got falafel which I have been craving since before I left the states! After that we bought a bootleg DVD of Sex and the City 2 which are seriously sold EVERYWHERE right in the open, and we watched it. It was terrible in every aspect - the quality of the movie as well as the movie itself! Yesterday, we went and saw Date Night at the movies which I already saw in the states, but I was bored and it was really funny even the second time around. I am feeling pretty homesick at this point, and I am halfway through my trip. I know there are definitely so many things I am going to appreciate when I get home.
Thursday, the gringas (the other American girls who are living at the house) and I went to see Robin Hood. It was really really good. The girls are going back to the states Monday, and even though it is really convenient to have people in the house to talk to and go places with, it will be better that I am forced to get out and speak Spanish again the way it was the first week before they came. Saturday was Glenda's birthday, and we went to a different disco called Oxigeno. It was a lot of fun, and the next day, I slept till 1:00 AM. The girls and I went to this awesome vegetarian restaurant called Cocinarte, and I got falafel which I have been craving since before I left the states! After that we bought a bootleg DVD of Sex and the City 2 which are seriously sold EVERYWHERE right in the open, and we watched it. It was terrible in every aspect - the quality of the movie as well as the movie itself! Yesterday, we went and saw Date Night at the movies which I already saw in the states, but I was bored and it was really funny even the second time around. I am feeling pretty homesick at this point, and I am halfway through my trip. I know there are definitely so many things I am going to appreciate when I get home.
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