Friday, August 31

Well, today was much different than yesterday. It's been a very exhausting & emotional day as we were put into groups to further access our spanish skills & make the final cut. Somehow in my interview yesterday, I managed to convince the interviewer that I am at an intermediate level of Spanish (even though I thought I bombed it), so he put me in the intermediate group today...with people that have studied and lived abroad for months to years.
Needless to say, I was not at their level and freaked out and asked to be put in the beginner group. They couldn't grant me my wishes, but when they made the cut, I was put in an intermediate group of just two. So the next few months will be 6 hours of spanish class 4 days a week, speaking spanish at every meal with my host family, speaking in spanish with the community, and the rest of the time spending many hours in technical, health, and cross cultural training.
On top of language accessment today, I learned the names of my new family for the next 11 weeks, the pueblo where I'll be living (Santa Cruz, just south of Esteli in the north of Nicaragua), given a huge saco (bag) of books to start reading immediately, and told that I will need to form a youth group in my community by the end of next week! I feel like I just started college again!
We were also allowed to leave the compound today & toured Managua, including the PC office & the Sandina statue overlooking the city (check out the pics).
Fortunately, I did not have to wallow in emotional pain alone today as there were a few others in tears about their language experience also. I feel better already! Tomorrow, after being dropped off alone at my new home, might be a different story...stay tuned for more sob stories :)
On a more positive note, after reading my aspiration statement & resume sent in months ago, they think (actually wrote) that I'm an animal health expert! So if anyone from Veterinary Services is reading this, you can count on me for future e-mails with animal health questions!
And on a lighter note, we have had some fun. Last night we enjoyed a few cervezas and a few indulged in the cool waters of la piscina. Fun, but a little too much like college. (I wonder why that could be....how old am I again:)
Well, that's all for today. I will have more limited internet access after today but look forward to hearing responses or comments from you all & hope to share more stuff.

Thursday, August 30

Day number 2 in Nicaragua and so far I have no idea what Nica looks like since I've been locked inside the compound (i.e. hotel)....did you check out the pics...not exactly what you'd expect for Peace Corps!
I've been busy in training class after training class, learning all about safety (from Dept of State employed ex-Marines), sustainable development, housing, agriculture, and other things. I've also been poked a couple times by doctors (luckily not too many times thanks to those rabies shots a few years ago) and handed mosquito nets & every kind of medicine you can think of.
I've met such a great group of people and am having so much fun getting to know everyone, chatting, kicking around a soccer ball, and sharing our fears and anxieties.
That's about all for today but I'm taking advantage of the internet while I have it the next few days.