Oh wow! I know I know...It has been a few long months since I have blogged. These last few months have flown by rather quickly. In February we had our COS (close out of service) conference in Pochomil Managua on the coast. It was a few days filled with sadness and joy knowing that we were counting down the last of our days as Peace Corps Volunteers in Nicaragua.
Classes started up again mid February. We are now almost in mid May and well into the curriculum. I have been co-planning and co-teaching with my teachers preparing them so that they will have the capacity to teach class on their own until the new volunteer arrives. My students have formed their teams soon to be a small business. I have listened to some of their product ideas and some seem rather interesting. Then again there are always those groups who lack interest and motivation and their products tend to be a little unorginal. It will get better. I hope. I love how some of my students are really into the class. They are the ones who keep me coming back!
I am winding down my days here in Esquipulas. I feel bad at times because of the numerous trips I have had to make into Managua to complete COS stuff for Peace Corps. But it is not something I can just put off. I do not think that some people in my site understand and so they continue to think I am still the "vago" gringo. I have also been traveling while I can and so that has kept me out of site as well. I am back now though. Today I started the last week of teaching class. I have three more classes plus an English class to teach that I started up on my own.
I never would have thought that these two years were going to fly by. I remember being in training in San Juan de Oriente thinking that two years in Nicaragua seemed like a life time. I think it is just the aspect from a Peace Corps Volunteer. Being away from home and friends for a long period of time can change your perception of time. It can be even worse if the volunteer does not integrate his or herself into their community. Days can seem long, boring, hot, cold, lonely, and dull if you sit around in your house all day doing nothing. I spent the first three months in site walking up and down the street talking to people and telling them about my work, goals, and stories. This is how I met people. Soon I met some great friends. I met a guy named Johnny and we started talking about lifting weights and excercising etc. For three months we would wake up early and go for a run. Although it was for only three months, we became good friends. He introduced me to another good friend Daniel. Together they both introduced me to other people around my community. Without them, I probably would have been lost or I would have felt a huge lack of integration. I spent some crazy days and nights with these guys sharing stories about us, sharing stories about life in the States and my experience as a foreigner in Nicaragua. I will miss them when I leave.
Living abroad as a Peace Corps Volunteer you never know who you will meet and why you will meet them. Nicaragua has some of the most kind and generous people. It is this culture that has allowed me to live a humble and content life over these past two years. I would have never been treated like this by random strangers in the States. I wish we could all take a step back and look how much we complain, how much we are always wanting to be the biggest and best and earn the most and realize that these are not things we need to be happy and content with our life. I feel like we become so caught up with these ideas and concepts that we forget who we are. There is a generousity that is sooo profound here in Nicaragua that I wish I could trap it in a big Mason jar and unleash it in the States like a virus. I would have never thought I would have been treated like so here in Nicaragua. "Es muy muy amable y cariñoso la gente de Nicaragua." They can teach you a thing or two about life and what it means to live with so little.
I have had an awesome time here! I met a great friend and confidant Alejandra who has been super exceptional. She has traveled with me, put up with me, introduced me to friends and other people, her step dad has given me tons of coffee, and her mom is the sweetest. We have had our ups and downs and good times and bad times. I would have been lost with out her at times too. My spanish was never the best but she was always there to back me up. Long bus rides, taxis, ferries, from the mountains of matagalpa to the atlantic coat, the island of ometepe, the beaches of san juan del sur, and college grounds of san marcos, carazo we have been there and I have been there being silly, morning coffees and late night dinners, waking up with stomach aches or sunburns it has been a blessing to have met her. "I will miss you!"
Now it is that time. It comes that time for every Peace Corps Volunteer to say their goodbyes. It has been surreal but what an awesome experience. I have learned a lot about myself and those around me. I learned a new language and integrated myself into a new culture. It was not easy, but then again there is no such thing as a free lunch. You have to work for it if you want the best of it. Peace Corps really is what you make of it and its is known to be "the hardest work you will ever love!"
Tengo que despedirme! Nos vemos prontisimo Nicaragua!
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