Primero dia del clase

Dia nueveI haven't been on in a couple of days because the weekend was somewhat uneventful. We enjoyed a Tribute to Michael Jackson on Saturday night... complete with latex gloves and dancing at Iguanas. I cannot express how unique the weather is around here. The evening brings a bit of reprieve from the heat with a cool breeze, but at the same time the entire sky is filled with amazing lightning shows and sporadic warm summer showers. While sitting on the patio at the bar you can look up at the hills and view the Jesus Christo statue whenever light fills the sky.

Melissa met a lovely Ausie, so now we know enough surfers for at least a couple of lessons this week. Sunday was Pelican Eyes again, and in the evening we turned our living room into a movie theatre. We watched Die Hard 3 complete with Spanish subtitles... ja ja ja.

Today my frustrations boiled over with the lack of organization for volunteers. We showed up at the clinic at 8am, but there still was no word on our transportation to the barrios or what was needed once we arrived. I thought Honduras was somewhat disorganized back in March, but Nica is much worse. I don't even know who to blame at this point: the man who set us up from the states, the clinic, or myself for thinking things would run smooth.

Last week we were set back because of the village festivities and this week because Rosalina has yet to travel to Rivas to present our medical papers to the government. She says it could take until Wednesday to have things made official, but I've reached the end of my rope. New Nica Mission: Practice my Spanish. The school at the end of my block has openings and the classes are one-on-one for four hours a day. So from 8am-12pm I will be attending the school and hopefully will be more fluent upon return. I felt like a little kid playing BINGO, but the teachers are awesome. Tonight I have my first tarea and then a bonfire with mis amigos.

Yes, I look really gross. I need a shower bad and I'm having some ridiculous allergies to something around here... maybe the heat. We got together at the end of class to play BINGO. That's Eric to my left and our new buddy Sara from UMass. My teacher Maria is very funny and insists to gossip sobre "mis novios" (about "my boyfriends").

"I don't think you could ever have enough of this."

Dia Siete
I blame the fact that I didn't make it to the bus station this morning on Melissa Hernandez, teacher of ingles, from LA!

Nica Lesson #1 If you have a bus to catch at 6am you probably should not stay out until 4am partying. Iguana Bar. Tequila shots. The Jungle Room Disco. Hostel. Michael Jackson dance tribute, complete with white loofah glove and the moonwalk. Crash at 4am. Gil waking me up at 5am. Decide, no Ometepe for Erin.

Backup plan: Lay around at the Pelican Eyes Resort pool all day. Drink margaritas with friends and go back out tonight in honor of our newest roommate, Sarah from UMass. I promise to get serious on Monday.

The infinite pool. One of three pools at the resort. Nica sunshine + Margaritas + American cheeseburgers and fries. It can get no better. Our new strapping gentlemen surfer friend from Germany. We try to impress Michael with the fact that we are American medical students... turns out he's also in medical school... I guess that line wasn't so impressive after all.

My underwater camera is a success!

The Daily Ugly.

Heather's fourth photo shoot of the day.

Underwater tea parties. You're never too old.

Michael's second margarita ever. His first was ten minutes before this one. Personal favorite is decided: on the rocks with salt.

WIPEOUT

Mr. CrabDia Seis
Today, Melissa and I take a day trip to la playa de Madera. It is a twenty minute bus ride full of surfers from all over the world. I'm a little intimidated as this is my first time surfing, and it turns out we didn't exactly start on a bunny hill. Everyone takes off for the beach with their own boards that they carry in special surf board-carrying-bags. Melissa and I look for the rental hut. The next several hours are a beating. We get help from an eager guy from Connecticut, but neither of us actually ever stand up. Scratch that... I half got up once... only to be pummeled back down again by the unforgiving surf. Melissa hits her head and gives up. I have a blast even though I don't actually "catch a wave", but this does not matter because I now have a picture of myself standing next to a surf board... looking like a pro surfer. Everyone knows that's what really matters. Off to the bar now to hang out with new friends... and then Ometepe for the weekend... so I may be off for a couple of days. Ciao! My house.

Esta Tranquilo!

Dia Cinco

Trip to Masaya

The trip to Masaya began with a meeting at the San Juan del Sur Escuela de Ingles where my new maestras (teachers) had planned a day trip to the lagoon, an active volcano, and the market place for shopping.

My group of friends here has slowly expanded and amongst the five Texans we now have Melissa, the maestra de ingles, from LA (not Boston, as previously posted), Heather and Noah, the estudiantes de medico from UMass, and several other amigos that ebb and flow in and out of our lives. On this particular day it's Mike and Eric, the geologists/surfers from Hawaii, and Anna, a really funny social worker from Chicago.

Note: we are all identified by a first name + occupation + original residence. Sometimes we add our local residence as well, for example, Mike and Eric live left from the church past the greased pole, and Melissa is cerca de the Texaco station on the edge of the main town. My temporary address is Sara Polmerez's casa verde past the church and next to Rosa's laundry.

Very few of us have cell phones so we plan to meet at 9:45am at the school. Masaya is probably only 40 miles away, and the following is run down of our trip.

9:45am Meet at the school

10:25am Still at the school, looking for two of the students.

10:35am Drive to the student's house, but no one is home.

10:45am Drive back and wait.

11:00am Students arrive and we're off to Masaya!

(4 teachers + 1 driver + 13 students = 18 in van)

11:15am Stop at gas station, but do not actually purchase gas. Teachers socialize with locals.

11:30am Stop at roadside stand for sugar water and DVD shopping.

12:00pm Stop at another gas station. Buy gas.

12:30pm Stop again. Pick something up/drop something off?

1:30pm Arrive at Museo de Volcano. 3 hour drive = approx 40 miles. Hungry.

2:00pm Check out Volcano. Smokey. Starving. Want friends to get back in van and look for food.

2:30pm Teachers want to drive to authentic Nica restaurant. We beg for Papa Johns. We win!

3:00pm Lunch. Happiness. Heaven on Earth. Christmas in June. Cheese sticks. Pepperoni Pizza. French Fries. Coca Cola. And most importantly, NO RICE. NO BEANS. NO PICKLED CABBAGE.

4:00pm Masaya Market

4:30pm Find out Michael Jackson just died. Oh yeah... Farah Fawcett too. Forgot the outside world existed.

5:00pm Leave Market and drive to Catarina to view Lagoon.

5:15pm Get stuck in mud.

5:30pm Get unstuck.

5:45pm Stop at another gas station. Again, do not actually purchase any gas.

6:00pm Catarina Market and Lagoon.

6:30pm Confusion. Van leaves without us. Taking two of the students to Managua for the airport. We are to wait here. Getting dark. Starting to rain. Managua should be 40 min roundtrip. We wait inside a restaurant.

8:00pm Van honks and we are saved!

8:15pm Pick up a rose from roadside garden.

8:45pm Drop off one of the teachers at a party.

10:00pm Home again.

Park facing exit. No joke. Faster getaway if the volcano should erupt.

Viva San Juan Baptista

Dia Quatro

First, the rest of last night. We party in the center of town until the rain starts coming down, and then it's a run and duck for cover at the corner bar. Here a group of random travelers including surfers with no real home, volunteers, and permanent vacationers are drinking, smoking, and enjoying the company. Melissa and I join a couple of gentlemen for a friendly game of Texas Hold'em. We have nothing of value to offer for betting so we settle on drinks of Tona and Victoria. Small blind = one drink, and big blind = two. I amaze myself with how well I'm playing... if only it were for actual money. However, when you play loser has to drink... everyone wins. I do not hesitate to have my fill of cerveza... in the hopes it will help me sleep through the long, hot night. I can tell even Gil is starting to feel the effects of the heat.

The morning brings weary humans slumbering uncomfortably anywhere that provides shade and a cool breeze. Scarlett is following my lead to the porch. I fear that soon we will all be sleeping together.

The day party kicked off at 5am with a parade through town. Considering our evening of drinking we lay around until noon before joining.

A group of men struggle up a greased pole with a flag at the top. The group that makes it wins cash. Other festivities include singing, dancing, a beauty contest, greased pig chase, and a rodeo of bull riding.

The man of the hour... San Juan Baptista.

The entire village of San Juan del Sur has come out for the festivities. The local population is approximately 10,000 (with more than half being under the age of 14), and a there are very few gringos here besides us. The community has not been overly affected by the outside world and there is both a mix of new technology including cell phones and Internet shops as well as old including horse drawn carriages and handwashed clothing.
You have to love fire crackers outside your window at all times of day and night.

Beauty contest.

The greased pole went on for hours as these gentlemen spit and cursed their way to the top. It was pure comedy to watch.


The rodeo. Not exactly sure what was going on in the arena. Sometimes bull riding. The rest of the time... harassing whatever poor animal was unlucky enough to find themselves amongst the crowd of teenage men that climbed up and over the fence.
Typical mode of transportation for the Nicans.
Pollo Rico! Yum. Yum.

Oh, The Places You Will Go...

Day Tres
Doctor Seuss was right. Here is San Juan and probably the best map one can find of my temporary home. There aren't street signs, nor does anyone use any type of address system that I can tell of. Everything is based on blocks and landmarks. We have found our way around and considering the community is small I don't think getting lost will be a problem.
I slept much better last night after Julie gave me a Benadryl and I moved out onto a love seat on the porch. The breeze cools me off and the only down side was being awoken by the 5am parade that traveled through town. Apparently this is the week of San Juan and there has been non stop celebrations since we've arrived.

I meet Melissa at 8am at the Texaco and we travel by car ride to a nearby school to discuss a schedule that will work with both her and the school. Melissa will be teaching ingles and I will assist when not working in the clinic. The rest of the group go up to the clinic to work.

The kids are cute and we quickly become celebrities caught in a mass riot of munchkins. We teach them steal the bacon, but no one can remember their numbers. They seem to be enjoying the game anyways.I'm not surprised to find the children here eat candy and sugar water for lunch. We saw the same in Roatan, Honduras. The "lunch ladies" sell fruity candies and the children run wild until class is again called to order. In the mean time we see lots of kids recklessly knocking into one another. We stop by the local cemetary on the way back into town. I enjoy a sit down and some shade.Laundry day.Not quite sure about this one.In the afternoon we hike up to Jesus Christo and la cruz. It's a good hike and we are all exhausted and ready for dinner upon our return. I'm covered in sandy mud and sporting a fabulous sweat-mustache... ready to cool off in our cold showers, but we find that once again the power is out on the block... this means we not only have lost our fans for the evening, but also water. A mutiny is starting and the girls on the trip are ready to hunt down the nearest hotel and beg them for a clean rinse. I've never been so dirty in all my life.

VolunTourism

Day Dos
Last night we finished out the evening by walking up the beach to one of the local bars where they were having the first annual San Juan Has Got Talent contest. There were several competitors including a seven year old girl who could pop-it like I've never seen before, a bar tender who made a drink by spinning bottles of Flor de Cana over his shoulder, and a woman who played some type of tropical instrument while hopping around the room. A Canadian woman who lives here tells us about the hospitals in Managua and the unbeatable health care she received as she was treated for breast cancer. Interesting.

The evening was unbearably long as the block lost power due to the community festivities and our fans could no longer run. I laid on top of the mattress I share with Scarlett and the heat eventually induced a coma-like sleep. The rooms in our home share common walls and the ceilings are all open and connected. The bathroom sits between our rooms so there is zero privacy and I imagine we will all soon be accustomed to the middle of the night bathroom runs, but as for now the amount of quality sleep is quite low as every time someone stirs we all seem to be effected.

The morning brings breakfast around 7:30 am and a walk over to the private clinic as well as the state clinic called La Clinica de Salud. The government is communist, but we are not to use this c-word, and instead refer to it as the revolution around the locals. Due to the revolution, it is explained to us, all medicine is free, however the staff makes 20% less due to the US blockade of supplies. Not much is going on this week and the clinic is only open today, tomorrow and Friday due to the festivities. The clinic is crazy crowded and we are quickly placed throughout to shadow and help. Almost all the patients are pregnant woman and their children. This is the primary purpose of the center. The compound is also equipped with an emergencia department, one main room for the patients and a couple of smaller ones for consultation. The sanitation is minimal and I pray no one gets sick while we're down here.

Below is a picture of the laboratory where I spend the morning shadowing. It is one room run by a gentleman who can type and a 21 year old technician. The technician has been working here one year and explains to me that he attended the local university. Neither wear gloves as they handle the urine (orine en espanol) and feces (heces en espanol) samples. The heces is delivered in a matchbox wrapped in toilet paper. I have the young man share with me any parasites he finds and we get lost in translation over a sample containing Entamoeba histolytica. Neither men are overly friendly or interested in my presence, but I do not complain because I am in the shade and the room has a fan. I sit here until noon, and then go find the others for lunch, followed by a sweaty coma-nap, and more exploration of the city.
Here is Heather and one of the many puppies/kittens that roam the city. She is also going to be an MS2 at UMass this coming Fall. She will be here for 5 weeks and is our new housemate. There are numerous other volunteers milling about the city, including Jeff another housemate who is working with the book exchange program and Melissa who will be teaching ingles to the locals. The villagers prepare these dolls for the festivities. It's apparently a big deal and source of great joy. Here is an average home, but I've seen much poorer along the countryside as we came into the city. It is difficult to tell where one house starts and the next begins. As for weather the temperature is warm year round and our summer corresponds to their rainy season. Some of the homes are on stilts and look as if they are one bad mud slide away from complete destruction.I'm off now to find the others in my party. Hasta Luego!