It’s
hard to believe that it’s been over a year since I started my Peace Corps
Nicaragua adventure. I definitely agree with the expression, “The days go by
slowly and the weeks/months go by quickly” in regards to the passage of time
here. Sometimes I’ve thought to myself a few long mornings, “what in the world
am I going to do for another year and a half?” while other times I’ve felt as
if my time in this country is slipping like sand through my fingers. Moral of
the story is I think that time feels like goes faster as one gets older, next
thing I know I’m going to blink and be eighty years old. I better enjoy it
while I can still remember yesterday, but then again, they do say that
happiness is good health and a bad memory, don´t they?
…One year in country! And what have I got to show for it? As sad as this
sounds, I actually still have all my clothes in a suitcase, because my roof
leaks a constant stream of magical roof-dust that would take over my clothes if
I left stacked them on shelves. My goal of this year: get some clothes
drawers. I have also made a few batches
of homemade peanut butter, some better than others but I definitely have a new
appreciate for D-I-Y (shout-out to Jordan McElhany and Pinterest! And sorry if
I spelled that wrong). Even though I’ve forgotten what the word privacy means,
and at times, personal sanity, I’ve grown to absolutely love my San Fernando
family: Jesenia, the mountain woman who calls the shots, Juan (or Juancito, as
a term of endearment) who’s just a coffee farmer trying to get by, Osvaldo who
at 16 is the oldest and is probably embarrassed by me when I come teach sex-ed
to his high school classes, Wili, the 14 year-old who hates school but can fix
anything that’s broken, Jeison, 11, the most wonderful, intelligent, little guy
in the world (I just taught him to braid my hair!) and Drixana, the 5 year old
who can be the cutest and most charming thing in the world when she’s not
calling me a monkey (I like to assume
she’s sweetly joking with me). Never in my life would I have ever come to San
Fernando, Nueva Segovia and into their lives if PC Nicaragua had not put me
here. Ha well, here I am, and I’m happy I am.
As far as my work as a community health worker, amongst being the sexual
and reproductive health teacher or helping take blood samples to test for
dengue and other things, an event that I am really happy about was a soccer
tournament called Copa Por La Vida (Cup For Life), to promote healthy
lifestyles and awareness on certain health problems in the community’s youth,
such as youth suicide or adolescent pregnancy and STIs. I organized with Tania Cuadra,
one of my friends in San Fernando with whom I play soccer. It was great to work
with a Nicaraguan woman my age and we became much better friends through the
process. It was a lot of work being a tournament coordinator as well as a
health educator the day of (condom demonstrations are hard to do while making
sure that the referees have been calling the right shots). Over 10 teams from
communities all around San Fernando came together to play soccer while
receiving charlas (presentations) on health themes like HIVaids, risks of
adolescent pregnancy, and methods of birth control. At the end, the two teams
competed in activities regarding to information presented in the charlas, and
the winning team got a better seed in the next game. It does help to learn
sometimes! Somehow, my San Fernando girls won the charla on adolescent pregnancy
that got us a better spot…hmm, I wonder how they knew to listen closely…It was
a great event, it was hot but fun. It’s important to find healthy recreational
activities, a lot of these children don’t organized sports leagues every week
or piano class every Tuesday, I feel that these kinds of activities are
important in personal development. Playing soccer for the Rutherford Rumble was
my life as a little girl, it taught me the importance of hard work and
practice, working with others, responsibility, and was a huge part of who I
was, I was proud to play for the Rutherford Rumble and then HFC afterwards as
well for my school teams. When we’re young, we are still forming our identities
(heck I’m still figuring out who I am), and I feel that people need expressive
outlets to cultivate their characteristics, whether its music, sports, books,
writing, etc. Sometimes, I see that kids don’t get much of a chance to be kids
here, at a young age they are already burdened with the knowledge of their
family’s financial problems (Drixana already knows the price of a pound of rice
better than I do), or already chinear-ing (holding, there’s some Spanglish for
you) their baby sibling on their hips and feeding with a bottle while their
parents are washing clothes. Copa Por La Vida by no means solved these
problems, but I hope that a few soccer players got a look a innocent youthful
competition and benefited from it. Next goal: along with not living out of a
suitcase, I’d like to get a soccer league going!
Part
of being in Nicaragua for my first year included my first trip back to the
States. I went home for Christmas, New Years, and my birthday, which all fell
right around my one year mark in-country. I was not sure what to expect going
home. Would I experience reverse culture shock and be completely jaded by the
consumerist society that I encountered? Would be overwhelmed to discover
iphones and their respective apps had taken over the world? I entered the
United States with a suitcase full of Nicaraguan leather products, hammocks,
rum, cigars, and machetes, a legitimate Nicaraguan Santa Claus, ready for
whatever the States had to throw at him.
When I first landed on the sweet, sweet soil of the great US of A, I
found it pretty easy to return into the loving arms of family, my closest
friends, wifi, and excellent customer service. And food. I don’t think I was
truly hungry for those full three weeks, because before I was able to fully
digest the last meal, I was handed a rich vanilla porter (well, I might have
been the one handing that to me), and the option of Mexican food (Mi Pueb,
anyone?), Mom’s home cooking, Dad’s classic rib-eye steaks, or any other kind of
food my little heart could desire. Just writing about all these delicious foods
inspires me to go home, get crazy, and add some chopped up tomatoes and basil
to my gallo pinto tonight (….yay :/) Just kidding, I am content with my diet
here (who doesn’t love a good nacatamale?), I just appreciate those other
things that much more. So, quick overview- seeing everyone was great, I love
watching everyone’s life take it’s path, I have some pretty cool friends that
are going places. Christmas with family (we missed you Dean!) was perfect;
although nobody in the family took onto rosquillas and coffee like I had hoped.
New years in Miami was everything I could have wanted it to be. I love southern
Florida. Christmas was amazing. My 23rd birthday was a Schafer
classic- Dad starting a bonfire so large that making smores was a suicide
mission, then some of my nearest and dearest friends came (plus my awesome
sister) to sit by it and drink beer. Then I turned 23, and a few fantastic yet
emotional days later, I got on a plane and went back.
…So now I’m home, San Fernando definitely has become my home. Or at home
number two for year number two. Compared to last year, I am more confident and
comfortable with my role as a community health promoter and foreigner in
Nicaragua. Flying Spirit Air and getting in to an empty Managua hotel room at
2am was not the most receptive welcome, and my first few days were emotionally
jetlagged but coming back to those little guys in the house and giving them
their Christmas presents (but instead of rum and cigars I gave them coloring
books and flashlights) made me realize that it was quite possible I loved this
family, San Fernando, and the people in it. Plus, I was so ready to speak
Spanish again. My tongue was out of shape from lack of rolling my r’s, ah, it
feels good to be back.
All in all, year one was quite the year. In my life, life events have
generally seemed to go my way, and this year challenged that by putting me in
some of the least ideal situations that I could have imagined. (which I
shouldn’t even be complaining about). So, although I’ve experienced some of the
most trying and depressing times of my life this past year, I’ve found that
people can be very resilient, and this year has possibly held more “whoa this
is so freaking cool!” moments than I’ve had in my life. This is such an amazing
experience; I’m in Nicaragua man, living as the Nicaraguans do, that’s just
cool.
Here’s it to year number two. I’m feeling
good about it J
