F.A.Q. #2

Hola to all!  I made it back from California on Thursday and am getting back into the groove of things in Nicaragua.  My trip home was very short and busy but wonderful.  Since I’ve now been living here for almost two years and things are always changing I decided to clear up some misconceptions by providing you with F.A.Q. #2, F.A.Q #1 was posted February 1, 2007 if you’re interested.

Where do you live?  I live in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.  I live in house at Km. 12 ¾ the old road to Leon.  You go down to the Km. 13 market and turn right where the labritorios sign is, I’m in the last house on the right.  Yes, this a change from where I was living before.  I now have my own bedroom, it is the maid’s quarters but I have fixed it up quite nicely.

Who do you live with? Although we have only all been home one night since I moved in, I technically live with three North American girls, Carey, Lori, and Mary.  We also have two dogs, Chaco and Maya. 

When was the last time you took a shower?  Well, we haven’t had water since Saturday…you do the math.  I think it is about time to go swimming.

What do you mean by having no water?  Yesterday there was at least some coming out slowly and pressureless from our tank but today it is down to a drizzle.  Purell and baby wipes are quickly becoming my best friends.

Why no water?  I don’t know for sure but I think the huge hole in the middle of the road by us may have something to do with it.

Besides not bathing, what do you do down there?  Since February my main task has been starting a community library about one mile from where I live.  Currently we are open three afternoons a week, I am there for those times and then extra time still getting organized.  I started teaching English again on Tuesday mornings.  I teach two first grade classes, one huge second grade class, and one third grade class.  So schedule-wise I don’t have a ton of work but unscheduled things are always coming up.

Who are you working for?   I am technically down here independently. The financial responsibility for the library is shared between Manna Project International and Alongside Ministries en Nicaragua.  For my job at the school, I consider Matthew Jun my boss, he laughs when I call him that.    

How’s the library?  I think it’s going well, we have more books than shelves and there are lots of kids that come every day, those things are both very encouraging. We leant our first batch of books and are waiting for them to be returned.  I still have a lot of work to do.

So, you like it there?  It’s life.  And I guess for the most part I like life.  I don’t think I am enjoying it more than I would enjoy living in the states, but I don’t really know how to compare the two.  I do know that for now I am where I am supposed to be and doing what I am supposed to be doing.   At least for the big things, there are still plenty of disciplines that I have yet to master.

When are you coming back?  Short term, August 6^th for a wedding in LA, then possibly longer term in December.  Hopefully by November I will know whether or not my December trip is for Christmas or for my foreseen future. 

After Nicaragua, then what?  Ahhhhhh.  I don’t know.  Get some type of job doing something.  I’m not really worried about it, God has clearly guided and provided this far I don’t think He’s just going to quit on me now.

And your Spanish, it’s fluent now?  This answer is conditional.  If you speak Spanish, no, it is not fluent.  If you don’t speak Spanish, yes, it is. 

Is it safe there?  Really, what is “safe”?  I don’t feel that my safety has ever been jeopardized.  But a lot more precautions are taken here then in the states.  We lock our doors.

What is your favorite Nicaraguan food?  Fried cheese with pretty much anything, especially fried plantains.  Yes, they eat healthy here.  But for the most part I just eat normal food like peanut butter and jelly

god bless america

Hello All!  How are you?  I am writing this from somewhere between Managua and Houston, I see water so that narrows things down.  I am on my way to California for two weeks and am really excited.

Yesterday I finished moving and organizing my new bedroom.  It looks surprisingly large now that there is furniture in it and I really like it.  I’ll attach a picture but it was hard to really get the whole room.  If we hang out while I’m home I can give you an amazing virtual tour or you can just come visit me in Nicaragua and see it for yourself.  Lori pointed out that there is still plenty of room for dancing, something very important.

On Saturday night we had a birthday party/fundraiser with all proceeds going to the library.  I don’t know yet how much money we raised but I think somewhere between $500 and $1000.  There is a picture of me standing next to a picture of myself.  

The party itself was very interesting, quite different from the normal 4 options of things to do in Managua.  Lori and I were the ones collecting money and my job was swiping the credit cards if people didn’t bring cash.  This is a seemingly easy task and I have previous experience thanks to my days at the Candy Bouquet.  The only difficulty was that we had to hook up the machine down a hallway where there was a phone line, so I had to keep walking back in forth in my new gold heels, I’m sure I looked like a natural.  It did get less awkward once I realized that it wasn’t necessary for the credit card holder walk down the hallway with me.

Friday was the forth of July.  Not a big holiday in Managua but I still was able to pull out my patriotic wear.  

The rest of the week was just wrapping up loose ends, cleaning the library, going to the beach, playing speed scrabble, seeing “Kung Fu Panda,” cleaning battery acid using Coca Cola, packing, etc.

I’ll back until the 24^th and starting tomorrow I can probably steal my cell phone number back from my mom so give me a call.  I hope to see you soon.

Love, joy

PS Now I’m in Houston, my layover was supposed to be just enough time to walk to my terminal but my connection was delayed.  Sad, but it will give me some time to adjust to things in the US of A like it being OK to flush toilet paper.  Maybe I’ll buy myself a coffee soon.

7 more days

I was fairly confident that this summer I was going to be basking in my free time and boredom but somehow my time has been filling up. 

Yesterday was my last day of house sitting, so now I am back in my apartment packing both for my visit to the states and for moving to my new house.    I am really excited about both of these things, coming to the states I get to see people that I have been missing a lot lately, and my new house has a newly painted bedroom.  Thanks to my distaste for painting second coats, and the quality of local paint we have named it “the aquarium.” It’s turquoise and fades in and out a lot but I love it and it’s all mine.

Working for Matthew again has been great.  I am just teaching one day a week but he has been in the states so has given me extra responsibility.  Three girls were here from Florida and for two days I got to chaperone their visits to the school and the feeding program.  Also last week there were two men from Colorado that I met with at the feeding program to show the work that is being done currently and our goals of expansion.  Right now I like the variety of things he is having me do, plus I get a driver that is really nice about running errands with me.

Things at the library are progressing quite nicely as well.  Today I am establishing new rules, such as a minimum age limit.  No more 2 year olds coming in unsupervised and peeing in my chairs. 

This morning I met with a representative from the organization Trees For Life.  If we have two thousand dollars to pay they will pay an additional $3,000 towards purchasing more books and will give us two computers and two printers.  Isn’t that exciting. I’m excited.

But don’t worry in spite of all this work I’ve gotten to play some too.  When deciding what to do here on a normal weekend night there are four options: make dinner in, go out to dinner, watch a movie in, watch a movie out.  Friday night I went out to dinner and watched a movie in.  Saturday night I ate dinner at home and then went to the movies.  Sunday night I ate dinner in and watched a movie in.  Sometimes there is a fifth option of Game Night. That is usually paired with eating in unless you chose to eat out at a place that is casual enough to play a game at.  We haven’t had game night in a few weeks, I like to play speed scrabble during them because card games stress me out. 

During the days there is more variety of things to do but they usually require more preparation.  Often these activities involve volcanoes, the Saturday before last I went to Volcan Mombacho for canopy tours.  Canopy tours are when you strap into a harness and then have someone push you off of a platform and you glide from tree to tree on wire. 

normal

supermujer.   

See a lot of you next week, Joy