Back from Volunteer Visit

I co-taught my first class a week ago this past Monday. It was pouring rain so we practically had to yell to hear anything. Then it got really dark so we had to wait around while a student ran around trying to find a light bulb to plug in so they could see the board. It was interesting to say the least.

Our youth group is still going strong. They decided to change the song for our project to ¨Billie Jean¨ after looking at the words to ¨Thriller.¨ Last week we gave a charla on self-esteem which went over really well. I think the kids really enjoyed it- they don´t get to talk about stuff like that very often, or ever. Tomorrow at our meeting we´re going to make a small fire outside the library (which is completely normal and acceptable here) to roast marshmallows and make s´mores. Should be fun.

There was a cockroach INSIDE my mosquito net the other night. I hadn´t been tucking it under my mattress because of the way it was configured around my bed, but it´s definitely tucked in now. Luckily my family fumigates the room with cockroach killer so it fell out of my bed and onto the floor, providing the perfect opportunity to kill it, while I was pacing around the room trying to figure out what to do. Aside from it brushing against my arm, everything was ok!

Saturday I went on a mini-pilgrimage with my host mom and several other town members touting the Virgin Mary and accompanied by a band, a car with loud speakers and faux fireworks. We walked for at least an hour down a never-ending dirt road, eventually arriving at the Virgin Mary´s resting spot. Apparently a lot of people were staying there overnight for a mass the next morning, but my host mom and I walked (and later hitchhiked) back to town.

These past few days I was on my Volunteer Visit in Rivas. The point is to stay with a volunteer to get a feel for their lives and sites. We went to the beach when I got there on Sunday. It was beautiful and very relaxing. We were busy the past few days with her community English classes and her classes at the school. We had to haul water from a well one day because there wasn´t any to shower with and we´d just come back from the gym (yes, there was a gym!). There also wasn´t any gas to cook with so our meals were interesting. Fun trip though! Learned a lot and had fun. Back in my training town now. We´re all climbing the Masaya Volcano on Saturday!