MISSING from school: my favorite student.

  The past three weeks, I have gone in to school with my fingers crossed, hoping that Harbi has come to school.  My favorite student, the cutest 1st grader, my hardest worker, has been missing from school. Finally, after two weeks, I asked the ayudante at the school why he hasn't been coming and if she knew if everything was ok at home. "He's probably not continuing," she said so nonchalantly. Though this is quite common and I shouldn't have been so shocked, I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor because still, I don't understand why any child would suddenly just stop coming to school... or why the parents would allow that to happen... or why the teachers wouldn't inquire about this either.  When I probed more at Vanessa, the ayudante, about this situation... all she seemed to muster up when I was obviously so worried about his well-being was "who knows why... but it's not really important."  NOT IMPORTANT?  So here I am... two months in (p.s. can you believe that?!)... and still I am shocked at the lack of motivation from these kids to learn, the lack of structure and organization in the school... and the statistic that just under 10% of kids actually finish grade school. Ten days or ten months... I don't think this is one of those things that I'll come to accept and understand.

  Two months in: started with nine kids and I'm already down to five... though I do have two kids reading and a few more on their way; I have started an art project on Fridays with all of the classes at Elba Zamora and am about to revamp the tutoring 'classroom' with some of my own artwork; I have tried to put together a futbol team for a high school girls, but that has been a slow process and I'm still in the midst of trying to get something started (yes, even after six weeks. welcome to central america)... but in the mean time am playing pick-up with a bunch of kids every Monday and Wednesday after school.  

  At this point, as you could imagine, I have gotten pretty close to the kids who I am working one-on-one with. Though I am obviously not leaving them for another several months, even thinking about having to say good bye to them at some point makes me sad. I have bonded so well with all of them and have created a type of relationship with each of them that is so unique, to both them and me. When I walk in to school each day, I am still greeted with the same excitement and enthusiasm as I was within the first week... and every day I have my kids (and others who I do not work with) chomping at the bit to sit down to work with me.  I am pretty sure they are more excited about just spending time with me than actually having to do work because yes, they are such big complainers and whiners when it comes to having to focus on reading or doing math... but even still- it's a wonderful way to start my day, knowing that I am wanted there (because I already know that volunteers are much needed there)...

Ometepe

During the last weekend of Semana Santa, I traveled to Isla De Ometepe (a large island in Lake Nicaragua, formed by the lava of the two volcanoes) with Hannah, Dan and Tom (Dan and Tom are friends from St. Lawrence University who recently came down here to do some volunteer work as well, for a few weeks).  With only two full days on the island, we went with a very specific mission: to hike Volcan Maderas.  

  On Friday we left Granada, caught a crowded bus to Rivas, from Rivas to San Jorge and from San Jorge we took an hour long ferry ride to the island. In total, almost four hours to simply get to Ometepe.. but even when we arrived, our travels did not end. We arrived on one side, where Volcan Concepcion is.. but we needed to get to the other side of the island, to stay near Maderas. Transportation on the island is far from convenient. There are few taxis and only 2 buses that run from one side to the other every day... therefore, we were left to hitchhiking. Thankfully, being with two guys, this was a fairly safe maneauver. In the back of a pick-up truck, we enjoyed the wonderful breeze and appreciated being off of our feet in the middle of the hot day. Unfortunately, the guy who we got a ride with was not going all the way to our hostel, so we hopped out and took a taxi the rest of the way. Never in my life have I ever driven with someone who drove so slow. Now, maybe it was due to the fact that there were four of us packed in to a small car with all of our backpacks and therefore the vehicle was weighed down a bit... OR the fact that the car was nearly falling apart and every time we drove over a tiny pebble, i felt as thought I was about to drop through the bottom of the car... OR because the muffler was dragging on the ground... OR maybe it was a combination of all of those things, why we were not traveling more than 20 mph on the main road.

  Anyway- we arrived. Finca Magdalena, a hostel planted at the base of Maderas and in the middle of an organic coffee farming area, with a lovely view of the lake and the other volcano.  We settled in to our rooms, hung out outside playing cards and reading, ate dinner and headed to bed early to make sure that we had enough rest for a big hike the next day. From other people at the hostel, and other volunteers, we heard that the hike was going to take us roughly four hours to reach the top and that it wasn't a very easy hike with the steepness and mud that made the one trail slick. With this in mind, and knowing that we also wanted to hike down in to the volcano to see the lake in the crater, we figured that this was going to be an all day adventure.  So, on Sunday morning we woke up early and ate a good breakfast and headed off on to the trail around 7am. Within the first hour we stopped at a few lookout points, since these were the only places where you could see beyond the trees, out over the island and the lake. The view was gorgeous and we were excited to get to the top to see what fabulous view was awaiting our arrival. Thankfully, the volcano is covered and therefore we were protected from the sun (both from the trees and all of the clouds that hovered mid-way up the volcano)... though because we in the wet forest, this also made for quite a bit of humidity (and yes, a few very sweaty gringos).  Though not many flowers, it was still nice to see so much green.. and on top of that, we were able to see a few different types of monkeys, numerous kinds of birds, and two different kinds of snakes!  

  At 9:30ish, we got to the top. Out of all of the hikes I've ever done, this was by far the most anti-climactic arrival at the summit. All of us had expected some spectacular view, a large area where you'd be able to sit down and enjoy the scene... but instead, we could see nothing because of the thick forest still at the top, and the 5ft in diameter space at the top simply wasn't enough space for five of us to sit and leave space for any other possible hikers.  I climbed a tree and got a quick glimpse of the lake, and just enough to take a picture... but still, we decided, it was a beautiful hike. From there, we hiked another 5 minutes down in to the crater to see the lake and hang out for a bit since we now, had plenty of time on our hands.   We took our time hiking back down, stopping to chat and enjoy each lookout point, figuring out what other things we could do to fill our day since we were going to be back several hours before we had planned.

  All-in-all, the hike took us five and a half hours and was certainly not as strenuous as we thought is was going to be... but wonderful none-the-less. 

  For the rest of our time in Ometepe, we explored the small towns that were close to our hostel, we played many card games and watched the sun set over Volcan Concepcion, and had many good conversations and laughs over meals consisting of gallo pinto and fresh, organic coffee. Yum.

El Salvador? Check.

A little sight-seeing + a little bit of beach time = a relaxing semana santa (and a nice little tan).

  This past week was vacation, a week of no school because of Semana Santa and for me, that meant a whole lot of time to travel.  Having nearly 11 days, I decided to leave Nicaragua, to check off another country in Central America.  On Friday, April 3rd, I traveled 12 hours, crossing two borders, arriving in San Salvador just before dark.  El Salvador being know as a pretty dangerous place ("Famous for: guns, gangs, and surfing" -Lonely Planet), and being the least traveled country in all of Central America, I went on this adventure with four other volunteers. We were smart about our travels and never felt unsafe and really had a wonderful vacation.

  Our first full day in El Salvador was spent in the capital, exploring the streets and checking out a few museums and churches. We traveled from one end of the city to the other seeing: one of the largest parks and memorial walls for the 25,000 who lost lives in the civil war, the museum of popular art with great exhibits from Latin American artists (exhibits ranging from photography to abstract, multi-media pieces of work), an archeology museum, the national university, and two famous churches- one of which is where Oscar Romero is buried.  Though we had a lot fun and enjoyed walking the streets, eating at local pupuserias (one of the local foods... basically a tortilla filled with cheese and/or beans, and meat. i fell in love.), and observing the people around us- noticing the differences between here and Nicaragua, one day was enough for all of us in this large, busy city.

  Sunday afternoon, the five of us split up: three of the girls took off for the mountains while Hannah and I headed straight for the coast. We noticed a small note in the Lonely Planet, while researching our trip here, about a small town with beautiful beaches and plenty of places to stay... AND off the beat and track for the usual tourist. What could be better. While in San Salvador we saw less than a dozen other tourists and we thought that once we headed to the coast that we'd be overwhelmed by all of the other gringos but maybe, we thought, this could be avoided by going here.. to Los Cobanos.  So, we took two different buses to arrive in Los Cobanos; when the bus abruptly stopped on the road that suddenly came to an end, in the middle of this tiny little village, Hannah and I looked at each other with puzzled looks on our faces. Was this the same Los Cobanos that we read about in the Lonely Planet that supposedly had plenty of places to crash for a few nights? We got off the bus and stood there: to our right- five small comedores, to our left- two places to rent cabanas and one hotel... that was it. It wasn't being in a small town (if you can even call it that) that bothered us, or being the ONLY tourists here but rather... where we were going to sleep. It being the weekend and Semana Santa, there were many families crowded in the camp grounds/cabanas and an overwhelming amount of drunk locals. With our backpacks on, we approached a guy who stood at the gate of the first cabana and asked if we could see one of the rooms. The man spoke, but his words were slurred- we couldn't understand him, but he was having a hard time deciphering what we were trying to get across as well. For US$25 (EXPENSIVE!! four times more than we usually pay for a good hostel), we could have stayed the night- but the place was foul. Though we said we would talk it over and return, we had declined his offer to stay there before it was even really give to us verbally. Crossing our fingers, we walked 50 yards further down the street to the only hotel in this area, hoping that it wasn't too out of our price range. Not sure we could afford this beautiful place overlooking the ocean, we asked to see a room anyway; clean, own bathroom with shower, clean bed with sheets, AC and a nice private sitting area out front... $35 a night. Very excited about our decision, more comfortable and safe and anxious to get in to the water, we quickly changed in to our bathingsuits and headed to the beach. WOW- I had never seen so many people at one beach and in the water. Literally about 200 people sat in the shade under the trees along the edge of the beach, and waded in the warm pacific water. First of all, remember that we are, by far, the only gringas here.. and our idea of going to the beach is a little different than those of the local people. Here, they are a bit more conservative but also don't really have the money to buy bathingsuits and so 98% of the people are in their everday clothes: jeans or shorts, t-shirts or tank tops, swimming in the ocean. Knowing this and having it right in front of our eyes, Hannah and I wondered about walking down in our bikinis to swim and lay down on the beach, in the sun. We hesitated, but this is what we were here for. With our books and towels, we headed to the sand. The moment we stepped off the deck, it was as though we yelled to get everyones attention and demanded that all eyes stay focused on us. No joke, 170 pairs of eyes starred at our white, half naked bodies. We were feeling slightly uncomfortable being the center of attention, but made light of it, laughed and went about our business as though no one was watching. After swimming, we placed our towels in the sun and picked up our books. Several times, Hannah and I peeked out from behind our books to see if we were still being watched... though a few had lost interest in us, the majority still gazed in our direction as though they were waiting for us to perform, do something crazy... but I guess just observing us reading, laying in the sun was enough entertainment for the rest of the afternoon.

  Thankfully, the rest of our days on the beach were not like the first. In a cove next to the one we were staying on, we found a hidden gem of El Salvador: a long, beautiful, white sand beach, completely undeveloped with hardly anyone on it. For three days, we had this beach to ourselves which was so relaxing and much needed.  On top of sunbathing ourselves, reading and swimming all day, we met some locals at our hotel who ended up taking us to the third largest procession, in the world, for Semana Santa. It was cool to be in a different city in El Salvador, to be shown around by locals, and to see the several hundred people that crowded the streets to see the salt and wood-shaving artwork that covered the street before these works of art got trampled by the procession.

  Though we were only able to see three different parts of El Salvador, and we had wished that we could have explored the mountains more, we enjoyed what we saw despite what the lonely planet had to offer for what it was famous for. The people that we came in contact with, were incredibly friendly... almost more so than here in Granada. The food, we all fell in love with. Even though San Salvador was a huge city, it wasn't as dirty as I expected and it had so many pretty parks and was surrounded by mountains. And of course, how can you complain about any vacation where you get to enjoy the ocean and the beach....

  

One month!!

  April 2. Can it really be that I have already spent 5 weeks here? Now that I'm finally settled down, I have found my place in both my work and at home, in the community and with the other volunteers, I feel as though I've been here for longer. On the other hand, I feel as though I just arrived last week, nervous and unsure of what this whole adventure would bring.

  Already, I have been able to accomplish so much in five weeks, and get excited about what that means I'll be able to get done in my next several months here. I have been tutoring 6 kids on a regular basis, all of whom started with simply learning the alphabet with me and their colors, telling time and their numbers. And this week, for the first time, two of my students are beginning to read!! It's amazing to see their progress and it's more rewarding and exciting than I ever thought. To see their smiles on their faces that they have actually accomplished something; for once, they are proud of themselves and, for many, it's the first time that anyone has believed in them, encouraged them and pushed them to achieve any sort of goal. It's amazing what a little time and attention, some structure and discipline can do for these young kids.... it's just a shame that there isn't more of that in the classroom, and I'm only able to help six.  

  On top of that, I have planned out and will set up an art program in my school for Friday's in each of the classes. Since I need and want to continue tutoring, and I'm the only volunteer who is interested in integrating art in to their curriculum, I'll only be able to devote Friday's to this project, a half hour with each class, but I guess it's a good start and can always expand if there is more interest among other volunteers!  All of this will start after semana santa (the week vacation that we have this next week, before Easter)... so I'll make sure to keep you all posted on how it goes.

  Then, there is this soccer project. I am completely on my own for coaching and trying to put together a team, for communication with the teachers at the school and trying to coordinate practices. I have met with some volunteers from Futbol Sin Fronteras (Soccer Without Borders), and am trying to get them to donate some equipment for me since all I have is one lousy soccer ball.  I expected all of this to be a slow process, but it has now been two and a half weeks and I've hardly made any progress. Though it's frustrating and I have no one assisting me, I can't give up...

  Whether has been getting progressively hotter here... it has been reaching 95-100 every day with little breeze, so you can imagine how nasty I feel at the end of a long day. Soon though, at the beginning of May, the rainy season will start and things will start cooling off around here while also becoming much more green. Yahoo!!

  More to come later, about my travels down to the southern part of the country, that I had last week...