De Novo, De Nuevo
Though it has been a while since my last post, my traveling and adventures have not ceased. After Brazil I went to Ghana once more since I could not get enough of it the first time. This time though, I spent a month doing my own research; research that has now lead me to my new life in Nicaragua!
I have survived the first month of my new life in Nicaragua and I am finally starting to feel like this is home. It has a bit harder to adjust here than it has ever been for me living in any other country. I have realized this is because I have barely had a chance to even explore my surroundings. My life is consumed by work. My only hope is that eventually this will change and I will be able to establish a balance. It is very busy wearing so many hats in a start-up, but I cannot be more grateful for the experience I am getting.
In my past adventures living, working and studying in other countries, I always made it a priority to explore the culture. Times are different now. I am taking off in my career and I have devoted all of my efforts and waking hours to my job. It has been a hard adjustment and at times frustrating that I do not have time for other things, but this will change once I get in the swing of things. At least I am working with an amazing group of people, and I know that the work I am doing will have a positive impact on the world. I could not have imagined a better position for me right out of college.
Hablas español? Había hablado una vez.... Adonde se fue? Deixe-o no Brasil..
My Spanish is coming back somewhat, but it has been a tough transition from Portuguese! It has been as if my internal foreign language hard drive was written over in Portuguese, and I have been trying to debug it ever since. Slowly but surely the fog is clearing, and the more I make the effort to speak in Spanish, even if it is small interactions after work, the more confidence I gain. We have Spanish classes sponsored by Global Brigades that I am hoping I will be able to utilize as well. Current Goal: fluent in 6 months.
My first day in Estelí, I wrote down words to describe what I had been feeling in my journal: "excitement, nervousness, irritation, uncertainty, confusion, apprehension and a bit of fear." Much of this has changed into some sort of comfort and I feel as if I am moving up the cultural adjustment curve towards some sort of surface adjustment.
First Impressions
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| Waterfall near Estelí |
The city itself is beautiful and reminds me of Cuernavaca, El Salvador and Brazil combined. It is definitely not like a city at home, or quite developed like San Salvador and Sao Paulo, but it is definitely a place to live a comfortable lifestyle. All of the storefronts are colorful but very rundown, mostly written in paint. The streets are either dirt or cobblestone. Lots of cars and motos. There are some very nice stores, like furniture or one nice grocery store. Most of the stores are hole in the wall places that have the kinds of things they provide written on the outside… though it appears that doesn't really correlate to what they actually carry. Some really nice restaurants too. I laughed really hard when a storeowner asked us what our address was… addresses do not really not exist here. One's address is determined by how many blocks you are away from a landmark, and there is actually a measurement unit that describes this. The people are so incredibly warm and friendly, and everyone wants to know why you are here and for how long you will be here. One of the most important things to me is that they are really supportive towards what Global Brigades is doing. Due to Nicaragua's history, I had feared a lot of resentment towards us gringos (cheles), but I have not felt at all while here. Most people realize that we are working for an organization that emphasizes the empowerment of their people, and not the power of people of rich countries impose faulty development systems on the poor.
Mi Aventura Pequeñita
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| View from the top! |
The only place I have had the chance to travel to has been León. DEFINITELY a lot more going on there than in Estelí, but it is more touristy and the weather is terribly hot/humid so I guess there is a give and take. We stayed at a hostel called BigFoot in the heart of town. After an adventure of being harassed by the police to get there, we arrived at this place that reminded me a lot of the hostel in which I had previously stayed in Buenos Aires. There were tons of activities and everyone was so much fun! Probably the best part of the adventure was Volcano Boarding. That's right, I boarded down one of the most active volcanoes in the world, in an old convict jumpsuit and lab goggles willingly. I went a whopping 40mph down the ashen side of the volcano on a high-tech piece of wood on the only volcano in the world where you can do such a thing. At least I can check one thing off my lifelong bucketlist while here! León will hold a special place in my heart not only for the volcano bobsledding, but also for being the first place I celebrate my birthday abroad without my partner in crime, Katie. Though it was sad to not have my twin around to celebrate being 22, I had so much fun celebrating with my new colleagues and family for this next year.
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| Gameface. |
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| Volcano Boarding |
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| Las Peñitas sunset |
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| Yelba |
Everyone is so incredibly fun and down to earth, yet driven and intellegent. It is a wonderful crowd to work and live with- even though 12 people can make a house pretty disgusting sometimes (thank god for Yelba, our adopted mom and housekeeper/cook). Last weekend we all were invited to a BBQ on a farm outside of Estelí and it was so fun to party like a Nicaraguan, which I found out requires the following ingredients: Toña, Flor de Caña, a caterer making traditional food (gallo pinto, plantains, avocado, cuajada, and BBQ meat, a piñata, a game where you must sit a pencil tied by a string around your waist into a coke bottle, and eggs for a classic egg toss. They really know how to celebrate!
It would be natural for me to write about work since it engulfs the majority of my time, but lets be honest, no one wants to hear about that. So in hopes of writing about more exciting experiences in the future... I will leave it at that.
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