Home again, home again!

I just returned home from my site visit about half an hour ago and decided to write quickly while everything was fresh in my mind. I went to visit another volunteer who lives about an hour outside of Chinandega city. I thought my training town was hot, but after going to Chinandega I now know what hot really is. I think the only time I was dripping with sweat was when we left and we decided to get lunch in this really nice, air-conditioned, american-like gas station. For a brief moment, I felt like I was home again. : ) Her town was pretty small. In total, they say there is a population of about 10,000 people, but where she lived it was more like 2,000. I definitely liked the size though, maybe would even prefer something smaller because I think it would be easier to get to know the people. She lived with her current Nica boyfriend in his parent´s house which was pretty nice and had t.v., d.v.d., a computer, etc. The didn´t have running water, so they had to fetch in from the well and therefore, bath buckets are assumed. At least because it was so hot there, the water was semi-warm. They also had a pet deer. At first it was interesting, but later became annoying, especially when I had a fresh bag of home-baked cookies that my host family had given me and I returned home to find the deer eating them.

One thing I didn´t really like about Chinandega, besides the extreme heat, was that it was a lot more expensive. Also, the buses were much more crowded. And by crowded, picture a school bus (which is their most common form of transport) with at least two people in every seat and the ailes filled with peole standing. On top of that are vendors selling anything you can imagine from toys, food, and drinks squeezing through the people in the ailes and we can´t forget about the people who couldn´t find a seat and were sitting on the roof of the bus. This brings me to my first story. The bus we took from Chinandega city to her town was crowded as usual. All of a sudden, we hear everyone in the back of the bus screaming. As I look back, I see this white stuff pouring into the window. Apparently, someone from the top of the bus spilled massive amounts of Nica cream and it was pouring into the bus. Several people a few rows back got creamed pretty badly. Don´t forget it´s even hotter on the bus with all the people combined with this not-so-good smelling cream. So, they stopped the bus and the people just got off.

On Tuesday, the 3 volunteers with their trainees decided to meet at the beach, since we were only about an hour bus ride away. We got lunch at this little restaurant on the beach and spent the whole afternoon just hanging out and swimming. We also met another volunteer whose site is about 1 block from the beach. Needless to say, he is leaving in a month, but P.C. won´t be filling his position. I wouldn´t mind the heat if I was right by the beach. : )

The ride home was rather intersting as well. We took a microbus (mini-van type) because it is direct and therefore, much quicker. When we got back to Managua, we were literally bombarded by about 10 taxi drivers trying to offer us a ride. They were all screaming at us at the same time trying to bargain with us and some even tried grabbing our arms as we walked away...which was pretty annoying. We ended up getting one for 10 cordobas each, which is better than the normal 15.

So, now I have to get home. Can´t wait to see my family...plus, I´m hungry! : ) Speaking of, one major thing I learned is to take advantage of this time in training because when you get to your site, you no longer have a family that is cooking just for you, worrying about you, taking you everywhere with them. I´m really going to miss that! Bye for now!