Still loving it!

Even though I have been really busy, I've been having a great time. My colleagues and I observed afternoon classes last week at the High School here and the English teacher is fantastic. She actually only works at the high school part time and teaches at two local universities in the afternoons/evenings and on weekends. She can speak English with only a little difficulty and she uses a lot of interactive techniques in her classroom already, so we aren't going to catch the students completely off guard when we start playing games and having them work in pairs. Two people in my training group co-taught their first classes yesterday and today; another person and I will co-teach on Monday and Tuesday afternoon next week. I am really excited to plan with the professor on Sunday and teach with her next week.

We only received approval yesterday to work with the morning teacher. We are planning to observe her later this week or early next week. We met her when we visited the school last week and she is really excited that Peace Corps is working with the high school here.

Our first Youth Group function did not go very smoothly. The youth didn't show up on time and not many came.

First Entry from Nicaragua

My schedule here is crazy! I have class from 8 to noon and from 1 to 4 in the afternoon Monday through Friday with three other girls in the English training program. Last Saturday we had a "special" 3 hour class to introduce us to our site. We will have class 6 days most weeks because we have specific training sessions on Saturdays or we visit current volunteers to see what work they do on a daily basis. Tomorrow is our first field trip - we get to go to the Ecological Museum in Diriamba in the afternoon. Somehow, language training is going to be incorporated...

My family is very welcoming and my living quarters are extremely comfortable. I have my own private bedroom with a lock (Peace Corps regulations demand this much), but I also have my own bathroom and toilet - indoors. We have electricity, running (cold) water, and a large living room area. My family also owns a small store which sells candies, bread, oil (for cooking), and other daily necessities.

Reflection on Managua and Training Family

My host family is a husband, wife, and their two sons and their daughter. That's pretty much all that I know about them right now. Managua has been fantastic, but we have been training in a hotel all three days. We did a quick drive through of the city yesterday and the main features that stand out (from being at a lookout point) are the large number of trees and (to steal my friend Gary's comment) the lack of noise. I'll post another blog next week when I have a chance to go to a neighboring town to buy secondhand clothes and find an internet café.

Pic of Stan the Gnome

This is Stan "the non-man" gnome in the window of our hotel room on Monday afternoon.