OK, so I think that I finally might have gotten my laptop hooked up to the internet. It's super slow, and goes in and out, but here we go. I've been working on some blog entries in Microsoft Word so that I don't have to spend forever on the internet...the first one that I wrote is all the way at the bottom.

ENTRY 2 - 5/16
It’s malaria pill Friday! Every week we have to take two 250 mg pills of chloroquin. Apparently they give you really crazy scary dreams, and sometimes they make your hair fall out. I’ll definitely keep you guys posted.

The transportation strike is over!!! Ortega gave a speech tonight at 8 pm...he said that he’d lower the price of the “combustible” (fuel) from 95-100 cordobas to 75 cordobas. That means that quite a few positive changes will happen. There will be fresh produce in the markets again! We will be able to GET TO the markets! We’ll start using public transportation (microbuses and taxis) to get to Jinotepe, Diriamba, and Managua for official training meetings. And oh, yeah, people will stop blowing up tractor trailers and shooting rubber bullets at each other in Managua.

So...I’m sitting in my bed right now with the fan on full blast...trying to think of some interesting stories.... here’s a list of tidbits.

Today we traveled to Managua (by Peace Corps bus) to meet with the Peace Corps medical officers and heads of Nica dept. of ed. officials. I learned how to recognize symptoms of common ailments such as scabies, pinkeye, conjunctivitis, bronchitis, and...diarrhea!!! I’m over my respiratory infection now...I’m pretty proud of my immune system actually. I could feel it moving from my throat to my sinuses then back to my throat and then a little to my lungs. But, nothing a little Benadryl and Sudafed couldn’t fix. Done deal. I would be doing just peachy, but the neighbors up the street have this habit of BURNING THEIR TRASH in their front yard which is on the main drag of my pueblo. Today I got some Visine...and I think I’ll definitely leave my contacts out for a few days.
I haven’t had a cigarette since last Friday! So... it’s been a whole week. I’ve been getting up to run 2 km every morning, too. Hopefully I can keep it up and take this chance to form some good healthy habits. And I finally communicated to my mom that me being a vegetarian doesn’t mean to constantly feed me rice, beans, fried plantain, fried tortilla, fried cheese, fried ______, etc. It’s hard for people down here to imagine just eating a salad for lunch or dinner... they think that I eat like a rabbit. One day for lunch I actually ate Spaghetti with tomato-ey liquid sauce and a side of RICE. They’re trying hard, I know...they want me to be happy and well adjusted. And now that the “paro de transporte” is over, we’ll be able to get to the market super easy for some fresh produce.
Yesterday at around 6:45am (I was already back from my run, HA!) I was catching up on some laundry outside when the neighbor girl, 17 year old girl named Iris (pronounced Eedee, more or less) came over and gave me a handmade friendship bracelet!!!! I’d casually mentioned to her the other day that I wanted to know where people were getting these really neat colorful bracelets, and she remembered and gave one to me!! I almost died I was so touched. She tied it on my wrist and everything. She helps me a lot with my “street spanish” and occasionally my goofy homework activities and I help her with her high school English homework. I’ll definitely have to post some more about her and her family...they’re the ones with the Chancho pig named Duk-ey.
Well that’s all I can think of for right now. Might skip tonight’s reading and just pass out. It’s about 11:15 and I’ve been up since 5:45. I’ll sleep in tomorrow till about 7:30 or 8 then probably go run while it’s still a little cool out. Talk to you guys soon!


ENTRY 1 - 5/12
So I landed in Dolores, Carazo. It’s about a 15 minute powerwalk from the department capital, which is Jinotepe. I’m still getting used to things, of course. Don’t get me wrong. I’m doing great. But thank goodness for Benadryl. I am like a fountain of snot. Since carrying around tissues here doesn’t work because a)there aren’t that many trash cans and b) they’re expensive, I have a designated sweat/snot rag that I carry around 24/7. I use the teal bandana that I brought from home...and today it matched my outfit, which was nice.

I’ve gotten in the habit of washing my clothes (and snot rag) once a day. The “laundry facilities” are right next to my bedroom, which is in the “fondo” or concrete space behind the house that serves as a storage/laundry area. It’s very secure. I’ve been washing my clothes on a concrete washboard that is connected to a sink, then I hang them up to dry, which takes anywhere from 2 hours to 2 days depending on the weather and the fabric (the linen shirts/skirts are great). I’m getting pretty good at handwashing, although I have been reevaluating how many times I can wear an article of clothing before it gets really “dirty”...dirty is relative to how often you want to do laundry.

So here’s a surprise. Yesterday I learned what a “chancho” is. I thought the neighbors just had a cute pet piglet. As it turns out, a chancho is a pet that you eventually eat. They bought a pig about a month ago so that they’ll kill it when it gets big enough. Its name is Duke and they say that it bites, but it hasn’t bitten me yet. It hangs around with their doberman...I think they’re friends. WILLLLBURRRR! BAAAAAAAAAABE! Speaking of wildlife, I saw two tropical birds just hanging out on a roof. They looked like maccaws. There are lots of real palm trees here, too, and they actually have coconuts!

So, did I mention that it’s hot? I would say the average temperature here is between 90 and 95 (in the shade) but it’s still not as hot as it was in Managua, which is known for being intolerable. The heat is probably the most common topic of conversation around, which is a scary thought because these people have lived here their entire lives and still not adapted completely to it. So, I guess it’s going to be a long steamy two years. And having a sinus infection makes it worse, but I’m not the only one...lots of PCT’s have sinus issues when they get here because of the climate change.

Yesterday I went into an internet cafe that’s down the street from where I live. They charge 12 cordobas for an hour of slooooow internet, but the good news is that that’s only about 60 cents. But, I got lucky this evening while dando un paseo (taking a walk) with my hermana (sister) and we talked to her friend who is setting up wireless access points in the nice parts of town, and he said that he’d connect my computer to his wireless for 10 cords per hour!!!! How amazing...we’ll see if that works out. P.S. - mom- when I went to the cafe to try to call you, we tried several times, but the connection was bad. I might try again tomorrow. But, I am trying to get in the habit of budgeting my money, because my daily allowance here is 35 cordobas (which translates into about $1.50. Cool, huh...not.) My host family has a phone here in the house which they said that I can use to have people call me. I’m not sure how expensive it is to call here from the U.S. and I’m not even sure how to do it, but I can give out their local phone number if you e-mail me. They said that the last volunteer they had (Shawn, I hear about him alllllll the time) had his mom and sister calling twice a week.

So...in other news... lets see. So there’s a country-wide transportation strike right now, which means that the daily routine here is even more slow than it was to begin with. Hopefully it’s over soon, because it is making things pretty difficult since not many people have their own cars. I took a “tricycle taxi” yesterday to Jinotepe, which consists of sitting on a little bench/cart pushed by a guy riding a bicycle. Unique experience.

I’m getting along really well with my host family, especially my host sister Karla. She’s 25 and has a 1 year old boy. Yesterday we went running to Jinotepe and back at 6 am. That’s about the only time of day that the heat is tolerable. We got back to the house and she said she was going to teach me how to ride her exercise bike. It looks like its about 30 years old, rusted, and missing the chains that once enabled you to change gears and resistance. She rides that for 10 minutes (with no resistance) then does squats with her equally antiquated 25 pound dumbbell bar. I am a little embarrassed that there was an i-pod compatible elliptical cross trainer in my basement for the last 3 months i lived at home in the US, and i used it 3 times. enough said.



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