1. My school, La Epifania
2. One of the houses we work in during the afternoons
3. Picture of Parque Central in Granada
4. Casa Martirio! This is the house I've been living in for the past two months.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Pictures
1. My school, La Epifania
2. One of the houses we work in during the afternoons
3. Picture of Parque Central in Granada
4. Casa Martirio! This is the house I've been living in for the past two months.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Fuimos a la dentista
This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth,
this is the way we brush our teeth every Monday morning!
Does that song ring a bell? The song itself pretty much speaks for the concerted effort being made in this country to improve dental issues. I would say almost every child in my school has at least one rotten tooth. However, more often than not, they have several decaying teeth.
In America our water is rich with minerals and fluoride however in Nicaragua this is not the case. So even if we Americans don’t go to the dentist as often as we should we are usually receiving dental care without thinking twice about it.
A few weeks ago a man came to the school to teach the children how to brush their teeth. The kids stood in lines and watched as he demonstrated on a model mouth. The children bored quickly of his demonstration and before long very few were paying attention. He also distributed a toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste to each child. His method may not have been the most effective but it was great to see someone come out to the school and explain how important it is to clean your teeth.
Every Tuesday my school sends five to six children to the dentist. I had the lovely privilege or maybe not so lovely privilege, of escorting the kids a couple of weeks ago. The dentist we go to performs her services free of charge. All the equipment and medicine used is picked up by donations through La Esperanza Granada. The dentist is in her twenties and from what I understand up to par with dentists in the United States. We had a party at our house a couple of weeks ago and invited her to join. If she pulls teeth as well as she puts down the drinks then there is no doubt in my mind that she’s a good dentist!
As mentioned earlier, if you look close enough, you can physically see the decay around the children’s teeth. My trip to the dentist solely involved the yanking of teeth. Each child was shot up with some Novocain and a few minutes later, they had a few teeth yanked. I thought the kids behaved extremely well for getting a huge needle jabbed into their gums and teeth pulled.
Fast forward to today…class was interrupted by a woman who was distributing what I think was fluoride. She came around with a plastic water bottle, yes, very classy, and had each kid swish the liquid around in their mouth for several seconds before spitting it out. Oh the things classes are interrupted for here in Nicaragua.
There is definitely a need to focus on preventive care but with such poverty in this country families are more focused on providing food than toothbrushes and toothpaste. I think there is a movement toward spreading dental care and I hope that this movement only grows in the coming years!
this is the way we brush our teeth every Monday morning!
Does that song ring a bell? The song itself pretty much speaks for the concerted effort being made in this country to improve dental issues. I would say almost every child in my school has at least one rotten tooth. However, more often than not, they have several decaying teeth.
In America our water is rich with minerals and fluoride however in Nicaragua this is not the case. So even if we Americans don’t go to the dentist as often as we should we are usually receiving dental care without thinking twice about it.
A few weeks ago a man came to the school to teach the children how to brush their teeth. The kids stood in lines and watched as he demonstrated on a model mouth. The children bored quickly of his demonstration and before long very few were paying attention. He also distributed a toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste to each child. His method may not have been the most effective but it was great to see someone come out to the school and explain how important it is to clean your teeth.
Every Tuesday my school sends five to six children to the dentist. I had the lovely privilege or maybe not so lovely privilege, of escorting the kids a couple of weeks ago. The dentist we go to performs her services free of charge. All the equipment and medicine used is picked up by donations through La Esperanza Granada. The dentist is in her twenties and from what I understand up to par with dentists in the United States. We had a party at our house a couple of weeks ago and invited her to join. If she pulls teeth as well as she puts down the drinks then there is no doubt in my mind that she’s a good dentist!
As mentioned earlier, if you look close enough, you can physically see the decay around the children’s teeth. My trip to the dentist solely involved the yanking of teeth. Each child was shot up with some Novocain and a few minutes later, they had a few teeth yanked. I thought the kids behaved extremely well for getting a huge needle jabbed into their gums and teeth pulled.
Fast forward to today…class was interrupted by a woman who was distributing what I think was fluoride. She came around with a plastic water bottle, yes, very classy, and had each kid swish the liquid around in their mouth for several seconds before spitting it out. Oh the things classes are interrupted for here in Nicaragua.
There is definitely a need to focus on preventive care but with such poverty in this country families are more focused on providing food than toothbrushes and toothpaste. I think there is a movement toward spreading dental care and I hope that this movement only grows in the coming years!
Transportation
Chicken buses:
Have you ever wondered what happened to the school bus you used to ride to school as a child? Good chance you are shaking your head no but now that I mentioned it you’re thinking, well, whatever did happen to the wheels on that bus that used to go round and round?
The “chicken buses” I ride to school or to various locations throughout the country are American school buses. After years of putting up with children screaming and crying, you’ll be happy to know that your bus retired and is now happily bumping around on dirt roads while jamming out to salsa and reggaeton. To the older crowd, this also includes your buses. I have been on a bus that was in its prime in the 70s. Needless to say the bus broke down within five minutes of our ride but was back up and running within a few minutes.
Instead of two children to a seat, in Nicaragua there are often three adults to a seat. There is no such thing as a “full bus” in Nicaragua. The other weekend I found myself standing in the aisle, packed like a sardine, on an hour and half ride home to Granada. All in all, the trip was fun and I learned a lot about the neighbors I was slammed up against.
Bicycles:
Bicycles are by far the most common means of transportation in Nicaragua. Bikes are to families in Nicaragua what cars are to families in the United States. It’s normal to see two people on a bike and at times, three. You may be asking yourself, “how is that possible?” Usually you’ll see a small child sitting on the bar between the seat and the handlebars, someone on the seat peddling and a third standing behind them. It’s an interesting sight to say the least, especially when they are on a slight incline.
Have you ever wondered what happened to the school bus you used to ride to school as a child? Good chance you are shaking your head no but now that I mentioned it you’re thinking, well, whatever did happen to the wheels on that bus that used to go round and round?
The “chicken buses” I ride to school or to various locations throughout the country are American school buses. After years of putting up with children screaming and crying, you’ll be happy to know that your bus retired and is now happily bumping around on dirt roads while jamming out to salsa and reggaeton. To the older crowd, this also includes your buses. I have been on a bus that was in its prime in the 70s. Needless to say the bus broke down within five minutes of our ride but was back up and running within a few minutes.
Instead of two children to a seat, in Nicaragua there are often three adults to a seat. There is no such thing as a “full bus” in Nicaragua. The other weekend I found myself standing in the aisle, packed like a sardine, on an hour and half ride home to Granada. All in all, the trip was fun and I learned a lot about the neighbors I was slammed up against.
Bicycles:
Bicycles are by far the most common means of transportation in Nicaragua. Bikes are to families in Nicaragua what cars are to families in the United States. It’s normal to see two people on a bike and at times, three. You may be asking yourself, “how is that possible?” Usually you’ll see a small child sitting on the bar between the seat and the handlebars, someone on the seat peddling and a third standing behind them. It’s an interesting sight to say the least, especially when they are on a slight incline.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Estamos aprendiendo! We are learning!
My day supposedly should go something like this:
I arrived at school around 7:45. From 7:45 to 10:00 I work in the kindergarten class. From 10:00 to 12:00 I work with kids out of class who are behind in reading, writing or mathematics. School ends at 12:00 and I head off to lunch. From 1:00 to 3:00 we go to one of the houses in the community and do additional tutoring. However, in Nicaragua, I’m learning that nothing ever goes according to plan. As an example, this was my week in a nutshell:
Monday: Classes were progressing as usual until 10:00 hit and suddenly school was finished for the day. It was supposed to be something along the line of our parent-teacher conferences. In actuality, it was a meeting held in one room for all the parents at once. Can't imagine it was very productive.
Tuesday: I arrived at school to find that the first and second grade teachers did not show up for class. I’m the only volunteer that goes to school at 7:45. The other volunteers and the ayudante, our liaison between the teachers, the organization and us, arrive at 9:00. I tried my best to help out by spending the morning with the first graders but it was pretty much a complete mess. I had no idea what they were learning so teaching them pretty much went out the window. And with that said, my Spanish is in no means at a level in which I can conduct a class effectively. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell them to pull out a book to look at because we don’t really have any. The kindergarten teacher came in to my class and wrote a few simple sentences on the board for them to copy which, in the end, very few of them were able to complete. I later found out that the first graders were still working on the alphabet which was apparent to me as soon as I saw their “completed work.” For the most part the kids here enjoy learning English so I taught them a few colors but as you can imagine, that didn’t last nearly long enough. It was a stressful situation but one that I am very glad to have had.
Wednesday: The morning was interrupted early on by a man who came to teach all of the students how to brush their teeth. We learn to brush our teeth from a very early age but here in Nicaragua, dental problems are out of control. The water here lacks the fluoride and other nutrients we receive in our water at home. All of the children were given two toothbrushes and a small tube of toothpaste. As some of you Catholics may know, Wednesday was also Ash Wednesday. Nicaragua being a very Catholic nation meant that after the dental information session the students all walked to a Church nearby to receive ashes. All in all, very little time was dedicated to teaching on Wednesday.
Thursday: On Tuesday the government dropped off rice and beans to distribute at the school. Beans take a while to prepare. They need 24 hours to soak in water and then a few hours to cook. So, it was not until Thursday that the children received their meal of rice and beans. It’s nearly impossible to get every child in the school to bring something in on a single day. Mostly because there is an extremely high rate of absenteeism so they simply do not know what is going on but also because kids will be kids and they don’t always listen. However, on rice and beans day almost every single student pulled out a bowel that they brought for home and lined up for their ration. It was a neat experience and to think that the government probably spent less that $20 to feed the entire school is absolutely amazing. It took about an hour to distribute and eat the food and soon after, school let out an hour early.
Friday: Thursday afternoon I was told that classes were canceled on this Friday. Today, I was told that classes are canceled once again for next Friday as well. I have no idea why these days have been canceled but I’ve been told that this is a very common occurrence.
This past week in school is by no means the norm but it gives you a better idea of the education system here. For some of the kids, they attended a whooping five hours of instructed class this week. I’ve only been in the schools for three weeks but I’m beginning to understand that there are no “normal” days in school. Something always happens and to survive here, you truly have to be able to go with the flow!
Fun fact: There are four different kinds of plantains/bananas here in Nicaragua. They all look alike but have different names. Some are more like potatoes while others are sweeter like my favorite the banano!
I arrived at school around 7:45. From 7:45 to 10:00 I work in the kindergarten class. From 10:00 to 12:00 I work with kids out of class who are behind in reading, writing or mathematics. School ends at 12:00 and I head off to lunch. From 1:00 to 3:00 we go to one of the houses in the community and do additional tutoring. However, in Nicaragua, I’m learning that nothing ever goes according to plan. As an example, this was my week in a nutshell:
Monday: Classes were progressing as usual until 10:00 hit and suddenly school was finished for the day. It was supposed to be something along the line of our parent-teacher conferences. In actuality, it was a meeting held in one room for all the parents at once. Can't imagine it was very productive.
Tuesday: I arrived at school to find that the first and second grade teachers did not show up for class. I’m the only volunteer that goes to school at 7:45. The other volunteers and the ayudante, our liaison between the teachers, the organization and us, arrive at 9:00. I tried my best to help out by spending the morning with the first graders but it was pretty much a complete mess. I had no idea what they were learning so teaching them pretty much went out the window. And with that said, my Spanish is in no means at a level in which I can conduct a class effectively. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell them to pull out a book to look at because we don’t really have any. The kindergarten teacher came in to my class and wrote a few simple sentences on the board for them to copy which, in the end, very few of them were able to complete. I later found out that the first graders were still working on the alphabet which was apparent to me as soon as I saw their “completed work.” For the most part the kids here enjoy learning English so I taught them a few colors but as you can imagine, that didn’t last nearly long enough. It was a stressful situation but one that I am very glad to have had.
Wednesday: The morning was interrupted early on by a man who came to teach all of the students how to brush their teeth. We learn to brush our teeth from a very early age but here in Nicaragua, dental problems are out of control. The water here lacks the fluoride and other nutrients we receive in our water at home. All of the children were given two toothbrushes and a small tube of toothpaste. As some of you Catholics may know, Wednesday was also Ash Wednesday. Nicaragua being a very Catholic nation meant that after the dental information session the students all walked to a Church nearby to receive ashes. All in all, very little time was dedicated to teaching on Wednesday.
Thursday: On Tuesday the government dropped off rice and beans to distribute at the school. Beans take a while to prepare. They need 24 hours to soak in water and then a few hours to cook. So, it was not until Thursday that the children received their meal of rice and beans. It’s nearly impossible to get every child in the school to bring something in on a single day. Mostly because there is an extremely high rate of absenteeism so they simply do not know what is going on but also because kids will be kids and they don’t always listen. However, on rice and beans day almost every single student pulled out a bowel that they brought for home and lined up for their ration. It was a neat experience and to think that the government probably spent less that $20 to feed the entire school is absolutely amazing. It took about an hour to distribute and eat the food and soon after, school let out an hour early.
Friday: Thursday afternoon I was told that classes were canceled on this Friday. Today, I was told that classes are canceled once again for next Friday as well. I have no idea why these days have been canceled but I’ve been told that this is a very common occurrence.
This past week in school is by no means the norm but it gives you a better idea of the education system here. For some of the kids, they attended a whooping five hours of instructed class this week. I’ve only been in the schools for three weeks but I’m beginning to understand that there are no “normal” days in school. Something always happens and to survive here, you truly have to be able to go with the flow!
Fun fact: There are four different kinds of plantains/bananas here in Nicaragua. They all look alike but have different names. Some are more like potatoes while others are sweeter like my favorite the banano!
Friday, February 12, 2010
La comida de Nicaragua
The food in Nicaragua, for the most part, is quite simple. Gallo pinto is the most common dish. It's a mixture of rice and beans. If you are lucky, it's cooked with some onion and garlic for a little extra taste. I personally enjoy the dish but it does get old quick.
During the week I have lunch at a woman's house in the community. The meal always includes rice and beans but we usually have chicken, avocado or plantains on the side. Everything has been tasty so far and I look forward to trying new Nicaraguan dishes.
There is a huge market in Granada. It is still overwhelming to me when I walk through it on the way to the bus. Pretty much everything under the sun is sold at the market from fruit to shoes.
A lot of food is sold on the street. My favorite so far is gallo pinto, cheese, ensalada (kind of like our coleslaw but with no mayo base), plantain chips, onions and carrots mixed together inside a banano leaf. The most common food bought off the street is refrescos. Freshly squeezed fruit serve in a plastic bag with a straw sticking out. It's much cheaper than going to the store and buying a bottle of juice.
I took a cooking class last night which was both educational and fun. We made gallo pinto, empenadas, ensalada and a refresco. We used mashed up plantains as the base of the empenadas and stuffed them with cheese. It was the first time I truly felt full after eating a meal here. Can't wait to try and make the empanadas on my own. Maybe one of you will be the lucky one who I make some traditional Nicaraguan dishes for when I get home!
Interesting fact: Bananas are called bananos here. I'm not sure why but it's funny to hear little kids yelling, "banano, banano!"
During the week I have lunch at a woman's house in the community. The meal always includes rice and beans but we usually have chicken, avocado or plantains on the side. Everything has been tasty so far and I look forward to trying new Nicaraguan dishes.
There is a huge market in Granada. It is still overwhelming to me when I walk through it on the way to the bus. Pretty much everything under the sun is sold at the market from fruit to shoes.
A lot of food is sold on the street. My favorite so far is gallo pinto, cheese, ensalada (kind of like our coleslaw but with no mayo base), plantain chips, onions and carrots mixed together inside a banano leaf. The most common food bought off the street is refrescos. Freshly squeezed fruit serve in a plastic bag with a straw sticking out. It's much cheaper than going to the store and buying a bottle of juice.
I took a cooking class last night which was both educational and fun. We made gallo pinto, empenadas, ensalada and a refresco. We used mashed up plantains as the base of the empenadas and stuffed them with cheese. It was the first time I truly felt full after eating a meal here. Can't wait to try and make the empanadas on my own. Maybe one of you will be the lucky one who I make some traditional Nicaraguan dishes for when I get home!
Interesting fact: Bananas are called bananos here. I'm not sure why but it's funny to hear little kids yelling, "banano, banano!"
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Laguna de Apoyo
On Saturday a bunch of us made the trek to Laguna de Apoyo. We decided to take the adventurous route and bike to Apoyo from Granada. It is possible to take a bus but by doing so you end up on a beach with other people and we wanted our own area to swim and relax. The trip was almost entirely along a dirt road. It was challenging enough that we were on a gradual incline but add in all the rocks, holes and cows to dodge and it turned into one of those video games where things suddenly pop up on the screen. The journey out to the lake took around two hours. We navigated our way by stopping every so often to ask the local people which way to the lake. We eventually ended up at a farm above the lake which, by the way, is actually a crater full of rain water. The family allowed us to pass through and descend by foot the steep trail down to the beach. The water in Apoyo is said to be one of the cleanest places to swim. The water is the kind that I like to swim in, warm and clear. Along the beach were some horses, cows and a couple of local boys swimming to cool off. We sunbathed, played soccer, explored and swam a lot. Around 3:00 we decided to head back because we knew that the trek back up the side of the crater would be long and difficult. In all it took us about an hour to return from Apoyo. The first leg up the trail by foot was indeed strenuous but after that it was smooth sailing. It is definitely a trip that I will do again provided I have the time! There is so much that I want to do just around Granada let alone the rest of the country.
We were very tired after our adventure so we all decided to go out to eat instead of cooking at home. We went to a Salvadorian restaurant and had pupusas. The best way to describe a pupusa is that it is like two flatbread pieces sandwiched together with pretty much any kind of meat, beans and cheese. I had the most common type, cheese and beans. It was very very good. One pupusa costs 12 cordobas which is just over $.50. Two pupusas is more than enough for dinner. The neat thing about pupusas is that the bread is considered Holy. From what I could understand they consider the bread of the pupusa to be like the bread you take at communion in a Catholic mass. Wasn’t able to understand how the bread I eat at dinner is the flesh of Jesus but I went with it out of respect. Since one is eating the flesh of Jesus Christ while eating a pupusa, one should not cut the pupusa into pieces to eat. Instead, you are supposed to pull apart the two flatbread pieces and eat it with your hands. I didn’t want to offend anyone so I tried pulling mine apart. It was messy but well worth the hassle!
Tonight a group of us are going to a bar in town to watch the Superbowl. It will be the first time some of them have seen American football so it should be interesting. My roommates are very nice and interesting. I enjoy being surrounded by new people with very different backgrounds. They all have spent a lot of time traveling and volunteering as it is very much their culture to do so. I wish that we as Americans valued travel as much as they do. It truly does open up your eyes to a world that is unconceivable otherwise.
Interesting fact: When you go to a store to buy a coke, you sit in the shop and drink it. Just like in the old days. After you are done, you return the bottle so it can be recycled. And when I say recycled, I mean the inside is washed out and more coke is put in. The outside of the bottle is not cleaned well. I guess it is not worth their money to clean the whole bottle. You can buy a plastic bottle to take with you but it is double the price!
Hasta luego!
We were very tired after our adventure so we all decided to go out to eat instead of cooking at home. We went to a Salvadorian restaurant and had pupusas. The best way to describe a pupusa is that it is like two flatbread pieces sandwiched together with pretty much any kind of meat, beans and cheese. I had the most common type, cheese and beans. It was very very good. One pupusa costs 12 cordobas which is just over $.50. Two pupusas is more than enough for dinner. The neat thing about pupusas is that the bread is considered Holy. From what I could understand they consider the bread of the pupusa to be like the bread you take at communion in a Catholic mass. Wasn’t able to understand how the bread I eat at dinner is the flesh of Jesus but I went with it out of respect. Since one is eating the flesh of Jesus Christ while eating a pupusa, one should not cut the pupusa into pieces to eat. Instead, you are supposed to pull apart the two flatbread pieces and eat it with your hands. I didn’t want to offend anyone so I tried pulling mine apart. It was messy but well worth the hassle!
Tonight a group of us are going to a bar in town to watch the Superbowl. It will be the first time some of them have seen American football so it should be interesting. My roommates are very nice and interesting. I enjoy being surrounded by new people with very different backgrounds. They all have spent a lot of time traveling and volunteering as it is very much their culture to do so. I wish that we as Americans valued travel as much as they do. It truly does open up your eyes to a world that is unconceivable otherwise.
Interesting fact: When you go to a store to buy a coke, you sit in the shop and drink it. Just like in the old days. After you are done, you return the bottle so it can be recycled. And when I say recycled, I mean the inside is washed out and more coke is put in. The outside of the bottle is not cleaned well. I guess it is not worth their money to clean the whole bottle. You can buy a plastic bottle to take with you but it is double the price!
Hasta luego!
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