Mi sitio!

I know everyone has been asking me about my site and wanting pictures, so here are the only three I have right now....This is a typical street on the other side of town from where I live. You can see how the entire town is surronded by moutains.

In the center of town is a gigantic Catholic church (the main religion in Nicaragua) and a basketball court.

Other streets near the park. Only the streets inside the town are paved like this. All other streets leading out of the town to other communities are dirt.


And!!...I think I found a really nice house!! It has an enclosed back yard with some funiture and a stove all for a really good deal!! More on that later!!


Be sure to check the following new entries on my puppy and christmas!

Mi perra...Caramela Belinda!

Name... ¨Caramela Belinda¨

Born.... 10.06.07

Breed...not sure but should be medium size

I finally have some pictures of my puppy!! She still isn´t living with me yet until I move into my new house. I finally found a Veterinarian that I am going to use in Matagalpa and he is able to do all the necessary paperwork that I need to have done to bring her back to the states. The veterinary services are nothing like they are in the states but they should suffice for vaccines and such. If I get her spayed here, I will take her to Managua where there are more veterinary services. I already got her everything she needs and can´t wait to take her home!


Caramela was one of 6 puppies. Here is her (left), her sister, and two brothers. Aren´t they adorable!

Mi Navidad en Nicaragua!

So my Christmas here wasn´t really ¨Christmas,¨ but more of a really wonderful vacation with friends and my first host family! It couldn´t possibly be Christmas anyways without snow, family and a Christmas tree!

First, I met up with other volunteers that I hadn´t seen in about a month at a laguana for swimming. The laguana is basically a large volcanic crater filled with water...and it is gorgeous!

The Laguna!

Here is Emily and I standing in front of the laguana from the cabana that we rented for the night....

....and here is the amazing view from the hammock I got to know quite well!

For the second half of my trip, I went to visit my first host family. It was really nice to see them again and I realized really how much I miss them. It was also really nice to be able to hold a conversation with them without having to stop every two seconds because I didn´t know a word. I can even kinda joke around in Spanish too!

I did want to bring a little American Christmas tradition to Nicaragua. Well, it ended up being a major task to try and find Christmas stockings in Nicaragua (guess I should have thought about that first), but after about 15 stores I found them. I wrote their names with glitter glue (surprisingly easy to find) and stuffed them with goodies. I shared with them the story of Santa Clause and they joked around saying that I was Santa Clause this year!

Carlos (host brother), Yadira (host mom) and Nestor (friend of the family)

For my going away present last time, I bought things to make French toast and they absolutely loved it! So this time, I found stuff to make s´mores, and we cooked marshmellows over the fire on Christmas day! They had a blast with it and it was extra messy cause my graham crackers kinda crumbled in the 4 different buses I had to take to visit them.

Of course, I really missed Christmas in the states, but it was really nice to be with my family and friends here in Nicaragua too! I hope everyone had a Feliz Navidad and wish everyone a Prospero Ano Nuevo!

A quick hello!...

So I don´t have much time to respond to everyone but everything is going well. I have spent this last week ¨house hunting.¨Man I have seen some interesting housing options. Some which have consisted of showering, well just behind the house! The hunt continues but I am anxious to get settled in. I have met a lot of people, however, in the communtiy during this process. And, yes, I have a month old puppy. She is still living at her mom´s house until I move but I visit her every week. I think I am going to name her ¨Caramela¨but have been debating also ¨Belinda.¨Let me know what you think! I just bought her a coller and leash today and am scoping out the Veterinarian options! She will be a decent size and I am not sure what kind of breed she is but she´s cute! I will post a pic hopefully next time!! So until then, I wish everyone a Happy Holidays!!

Nicole Maria

The Big Transition

Hey Everyone!

So I have been living in my site for about a week now! It has been an interesting transition. I went from every minute of my day being planned by training staff to living by my own schedule. Right now, I am getting to know my town, other organizations, my new family and all the teachers and schools that I will be working with. They are all really excited for the work that is ahead when school starts February 4th.

I say it has been a transition because, just like many Americans, we are always "on the go." This is not how things work in Nicaragua. First you have to take time to get to know people personally before developing a working relationship. There has to be confianza, or trust. So right now when I am not in meetings, my time is spent sitting on my porch, or someone else's porch, and making conversation. I am also working really hard at improving my spanish but after knowing all the basics, this is a slow process.

My new host family has been great! I live on the second floor and there is actually a bathroom with running water!! My mouth dropped when I saw this! Of course still cold showers only but this is definitely an unexpected upgrade in living conditions. My host mom is about 80 years old and such a sweet heart. She is a great grandmother and has seven kids of her own so it is a big family to say the least. She is a pretty good cook but no matter how well a person can cook, I look forward to anything but beans and rice.

I am in the process of looking for my own place to live as I will only be living with this family until Jan. 6th. As much as I love my family right now, it will be nice to have my own space and cook my own food. I also want to get a dog and have my eye on a puppy right now (:

Also, I have a site mate. This is another volunteer from the English sector of Peace Corps. She lives about two blocks away and teaches at the institute in town. Her name is also Nicole...go figure...so it has been interesting when introducing myself to others. So most people call me Nicole Maria.

So there is not too much to report as of now, but everything is going well! Stay healthy, stay warm and drive safely in the winter weather.

Lots of Love,
Nicole Maria

My new postal address!

So I have a new mailbox that you can send letters etc...

Nicole Hedquist
Apartado Postal #290
Matagalpa, Nicaragua
Central America

It is about 2hrs away from me but I will be checking about every two weeks since I will be going there for groceries and internet as well! Look forward to hearing from everyone!

Ready to start my service!

Wow...things have been hectic lately! We are fastly approaching the very last week of our training and, in less then a week, I will be taking the oath of a Peace Corps volunteer!

This last week, we had a our final youth group meeting where we gave a charla on AIDS and threw a small thank you party for the kids with gaseosa (pop), galletas (cookies) and musica. They loved it! Later in the week, all the youth groups presented their projects and received certificates for all their hard work. In addition, we had our last language interview. It is amazing how much Spanish I have learned but there is still a lot of room for improvement. However, I feel confident in being able to find my way around and get my ideas across. We also gave our last enviromental class in our training towns. My lesson was over biotic and abiotic things in an ecosystem. I will really miss working with the class and their teacher.


Me teaching a charla with a fifth grade class. We played a game categorizing things that are abiotic and biotic to test their understanding of the lesson. Here they are waiting to see which team won!

The visit to my site in Matagalpa went very well! I am in the mountains and it is absolutely goregeous! It is still very hot durning the day but the nights cool off substantially. I will be returning there for good on November 23rd. It is a fairly small town of 3,000 people. I will be working in three rural schools outside my town in smaller communities. One of my schools is about 6km away without transportation. Most likely I will be loaning a horse to use for traveling as the hills and rocky road make bicycling near impossible...unless your Nicaraguan!

To answer peoples´question about the electricity, there is no electricity during the day in many towns because the company turns it off. It is their way of conserving as it is not possible to have continuous electricity all day for everyone with the electricity shortage. There is a huge problem with water in my community after Hurricane Mitch destroyed a waterfall, a well and a ton of trees along the river. I will be working with many organizations to create tree nurseries and gardens in the school yards. The trees from the nursery will be used to reforest areas along the river and the gardens will provide additional food for breakfast in the schools. With the huge water shortage during the summer months, I will be bathing and washing my clothes in the river as running water only comes about every 14 to 20 days. This water problem is a potential secondary project for my service as my town has plans to reroute the water from a nearby waterfall. However, there are many obstacles and challenges in this project that will need to be sorted out beforehand. ¨Vamos haber¨...well will see.

Life has been so different here that sometimes it is sureal. It is a rollercoaster. Some days better than others but that is life no matter where you are living. I have meet so many amazing and motivated people, as well as, experienced so many things for the first time...drinking pop and juice out of plastic bags, seeing my first volcano, living with a host family, teaching a class...in spanish nevertheless, leading a youth group, trying many different foods, learning how to make soy products from soy beans, riding in a bus standing up, taking bucket baths, creating a tree nursery, talking to the mayor, and really, just living out of the US for 11 weeks.


People in our group walking up a path by Volcan Masaya.


Cooking the soy over an wood stove....in a very large pan!

I am really going to miss my host family. They have been so great to me and I truly feel like part of the family. Tomorrow, I am going to make them an American breakfast of french toast and bacon. Yes, you can buy things like that here in the grocery stores, they are just a little expensive.


My mom cooking rice in the dark during a power outage...I let her borrow my head lamp as she was cooking the beans outside over the wood stove. They thought it was hilarious!


My sister, Vilma, and her son, Kevin (6 years old).


My host family´s house from the back. The door on the left leads to my room.


My back yard. We wash our dishes and clothes in the ¨levendero¨ (stone thing on the left). The concrete room on the left is where we take bucket baths. We dry all of our clothes on the clothes lines. The thing with the black door in the back is the ¨letrina¨(outhouse).

So hopefully these pictures give you a visual of my life. Sometimes I feel it is so hard to explain things or even know where to begin. As soon as I get a chance, I will take some pictures of my new site so you can see how absolutely gorgeous it really is! Miss you all!

Adios

I´m heading to Matagalpa!

So today we finally found out all of our sites!!! This is where we will be located for the next two years of our service. There has been much anticipation, anxiousness and excitement for this day! Now we know at least the department of Nicaragua, the name of the town, who we will be living with, the name of the schools we will be working with and the size of the community. We will meet our ¨contraparte,¨ or person that we will be working with who has a connection in the community and will be helping to facilitate our work. Then we will be visiting our site for one week to get to know our schools, the teachers and the town! Back to finish training, take the Peace Corps oath on November 16th and then officially we will be Peace Corps volunteers!!

So my site is located in the central part of Matagalpa....in the mountains!! It is exactly where I wanted to be! Here is a website that has a great description of the area and a website with an interactive map:

http://www.vianica.com/visit/matagalpa
http://www.vianica.com/explore.php

Basically, it is a gorgeous area! I will be the first environmental volunteer at my site which has about 3,000 people in the urban area and 18,000 in the rural areas. Yea if you think about it, it is still less than half the population of students at Michigan State University! Kinda crazy! There is one other volunteer there teaching English. I am also really happy to have three other fellow environmental volunteers 1-2 hours away!

It is a really calm town with water, internet and electricity (but not from 7am-3pm), and a larger grocery store about an hour away. I will be working with three schools (one of them is multigrade) with 163, 164, and 360 students each. The teachers need help incorporating environmental themes in their curriculum. Their major environmental problems include slash and burn farming, deforestation and erosion of the soil and contamination of the water and soils with indescriminate use of inorganic pesticides. My contraparte works for MINED (Ministry of Education) and I also will be working with an NGO.

So that is all I know for now!! I will write in a week hopefully with pics from my site after the visit!!

Wish list

So in case you are wondering, ¨What could Nicole possible want in Nicaragua?¨ I have made a little list. I can pretty much get anything that I need here but some stuff is just not the same!

mechanical pencils/pens
colored sharpie markers (use a lot for teaching classes)
nutritional, yummy granola bars
chocolate/candy

...and of course, a little hello note! Miss you guys!

Nicaraguan Transportation

I was trying to think of something to write about as it seems to get harder and harder every time, but then I realized I am just getting more used to eveything. So here is a little on traveling in Nicaragua!


This is Emalee and I in a little moto-taxi. Moto-taxi´s have three wheels, a seat in front for the driver and seats three comfortably in the back. However, I have easily seen 9 Nicaraguans in one!


This is our famous Peace Corps´ bus that we take to many events a couple times a week. It is driven by Douglas, the nicest Nicaraguan ever!

So I don´t have a picure, but old school buses from the states are the main form of public transportation here. They are usually decorated and have an obnoxious horn that is used all the time. The front and back door always remain open as they will stop for anyone anywhere along the route wanting to get on. There is the driver and at least one guy collecting money and standing at the door shouting the bus´destination rapidly multiple times. As you are trying to get on, there are people getting off and more people waiting by the door for the next stop. In additon, people selling anything you can think of get on and off the bus going up and down the aisle. Yea, kinda difficult. Many times you stand the whole way as buses are packed. You have to make your way to the door before your stop as they wait only long enough for the last person´s foot to leave the bus. You can bring just about whatever and they will lift it to the top...bikes, bed frames, you name it. Animals luckily have been limited mostly to chickens. I still haven´t been able to figure out how they remember who has payed when there is a constant flow of people and you don´t pay as you enter....genius memory I guess. Well that about describes it and I will admit, riding the bus here for the first time can be quite a scare but it just becomes anther part of the Nicaraguan scene!

Nicaraguan health and enviroment connected

So I really liked some of Jamie´s questions on the last post. I guess I haven´t really talked about many health and enviromental problems in Nicaragua. I am by no means an expert but I can definitely describe what I have seen and what other Nicas have told me. Many of these problems are what we will be examining and teaching about at our sites.

Many people do have a greater understanding of healthy practices and sustainable environmental techniques, yet, some things are so deeply embedded in the culture that it is going to be a slow process to change habits. Also, a lot has to due with the lack of infrustructure and resources. The majority of the population still resides in rural areas. Communication and transportation are difficult. As I was saying in the last post, many schools do not have water, trash disposal, soap, toilet paper, or enough books for all the students. They work the best with what they have.

Many people do have a better resistance to things here but still get sick and even die from illnesses such as diarrhea, malaria, and dengue. Diarrhea is usually due to the lack of clean water and can be due to not cooking meat all the way through as meat markets are commonly buzzing with flies. Mosquitoes carrying malaria and dengue thrive here in the tropical wet climate. Not only puddles, but the excessive trash create great breeding grounds. Some streets do have garbage cans yet the garbage will be found anyhere but inside. These are just some of the cultural factors/habits that will take time to change in order to improve the health of the people.

Deforestation, slash and burn farming and pesticide use are problems here as in many other countries. There are plenty of laws here protecting trees yet officials many times look the other way. Many NGOs, organizations and local governments with both health and enviromental sectors are diligently working on all these problems. There is definitely an increased awareness among the population and interest in helping the the development of Nicaragua.

What I really love about the Peace Corps is that we do not come here with money. We live in the communties and have multipe techniques for identifying their needs. We are able to show them more sustainable options that will benifit both their families and the environment. Just handing over money to communities is not sustainable. Educating people about these issues and then teaching them how to organize projects and people will insure that progress will continue when we leave.

Youth group update and my host-mom

This is the school that my training group is working with. This week we will be giving our second class. We also organized a youth group that meets here two times a week. Next week, they are presenting mini-projects to the mayor´s office that we have been helping them design. Currently the school burns their trash and doesn´t have running water during the day. Therefore, kids do not wash their hands often and drink out of one cup from a barrell that holds water. They also do not have toilet paper or soap. They will be asking for some supplies to clean up the trash at their school and also for the garbage truck to collect their trash. Simple things that everyday we take for granted.

This is my host mom holding a chicken and standing with our two dogs in the entry way of our house. My host-mom is great! I enjoy talking to her and she is so patient with my spanish. She is always worrying about me. If I so much as sneeze, she is asking if I am getting a gripe (cold/flu). It is pretty much just her and her youngest son Carlos, who is eighteen years old, that are living in our house but we always have tons of visitors.

...and more pics...

Olena and I helping our youth group build a vivero (tree nursery). The kids totally love planting things and truly have more experience then we do. However, we have found that when it comes to looking after them, such as watering, there are no volunteers. Luckily, it rains about everyday. Another trouble with viveros are other animals, especially Gallinas (chickens) and hormigas (ants).

More pics...

Un desfile...parade for Independence Day

¨This is the Way I Live....¨

This is where I sleep...under my mosquito net.


This is where we had class the first three weeks....gorgeous view!

Mailing Address

Hello all!

Just wanted to let you know where you can send me letters and special packages for the next couple of months before I move to my site. Remember, padded envelopes are better as they get searched less often.

Nicole Hedquist
Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz, PCT
Apartado Postal 3256
Managua, Nicaragua
Central America

If anyone wants to send be a nalgene that would be great!...already lost mine ): I will write more hopefully this weekend about my sweet volunteer visit this week!

¡Adios!

One Month in Nicaragua!!!

So much has happened this week and at times it has been slightly overwhelming. We had our third youth group meeiting on Tuesday. When we arrived at the school, both the director and sub-director had left for the day and the teachers didn´t hear about our meeting. After much confusion, we managed to get through our charla about self-esteem...with 40 students! It was absolutely insane! We left knowing that we were going to have to do some major changes and reorganization.

Later that night I fouind out that the school director was fired and the new director just happened to live two doors down and be my ¨aunt.¨ How convenient! I set up a meeting with her for the following day and spent some time explaining our difficulties. During our meeting with her at the school the following day, we had to basically start over...explain Cuerpo de Paz, our job and what we would like to do in the school for the next month.

We then meet with all the afternoon teachers in one of the more organized meetings I have seen so far in Nicaragua. We handed out a calender of our upcoming youth group meetings and a list of the kids in our group that would need to be excused from class. The best case scenario would be to have the meetings outside of class time, however, many students have to get home right away. So, hopefully, with everyones´ better understanding, we will not just have the teachers releasing all of their students for our meetings while they go take a break.

On top of the youth group reorganization, we gave our first real natural science class!! Alex and I prepared our charla on the food chain, a topic choosen ahead of time by the teacher, to about 25 fifth graders...and yes, completely in spanish! The kids really seemed to enjoy our fun dinamica and colorful posters and everyone participated in the group work. They were really well-behaved which is really saying a lot. In the classes I have observed (including theirs) there are usually people moving their desks, walking across the room to talk to their friends and shoutin to the kids outside. In addition, people from the Peace Corps Office in Guatemala came to observe our charla and training site to get some ideas for their program.

We then went back in the afternoon to the school for a game of soccor and a game of tag for the little ones. I think they are finally starting to get used to seeing us, a bunch of gringos, walking around...and hey, we might be kinda cool too!

So that was my crazy week! I have successfully made it for a month in Nicaragua!!!!!!!! Tomorrow, I leave for a 5 day trip to a volunteer´s site. She has been here for a year and I am totally excited to see what she has been doing in her town. Not looking forward to the 5 hour bus ride tho. Until I get back....adios for now!!

Just a little thought....

So since the time is ticking for the internet, I thought I would just note a thought/observation of the day....

It is amazing here at how fast a chair can appear! So let me explain...

Let´s say I am going to visit a fellow trainee´s family or my host family takes me to their friend´s house or my training group goes to talk to the director of the local school. First, there is a series of welcoming phrases, some kisses on the cheeck or maybe a handshake (but not to strong). Then immeditely they find you a chair and tell you to sit or give you theirs without hesitation. You may only be planning on staying for two minutes or only have one question but then they are offering you food or coffee. It is crazy how hospitable everyone is. You may not even have anything to say but that´s ok...cause it is acceptable to just sit there, in silence, rocking away in the mecadoras (wooden rocking chairs common here).

Nica Favs!

Jugo de pitaya...a bright pink juice made from fresh pitaya and lime

Morning runs at 6am with 3 of my fellow trainees

Reading on my front porch in a rocking chair

Pan con miel....freshly baked bread with melted honey inside from the panderia

Waking up to Rhianna´s Umbrella song being played by the neighbors...or whatever other popular US songs (the electricity goes out at 7am so you have to play it before then)

Having class on the porch everyday while looking out at a tropical forest...especially when it is pouring rain (:

All for now...hopefully pics next time!

¨Nothing should be prized more highly than the value of each day¨ -Goethe

Everything is going well in Nicaragua and we have almost made it through two weeks of training! Outside of Spanish class, environmental and medical charlas (lesson), we have introduced ourselves to directors and teachers in the local school, observed class and had our first meeting for a youth group that we are forming in our Pueblo. We had a great turn out with 41 kids ages 9-16 at our first meeting! For the next three months during training, we will be preparing and running different activities, games, and community projects with the youth group. It will be interesting to see how many will return to the following meetings as many are really just interested in us...¨the gringos!¨ We are slowly becoming a part of the communtity but are still objects of curiousity.

We are all working very hard at learning Spanish. By the end of the day, all the words are running together and my head is throbbing. It is easy to get frustrated and to forget that we have only been here two weeks. Already our Spanish has improved tremendously. The program is moving fast and little time is left for processing. One great thing here is that there are few distractions. Life is truly focused on staying healthy and acquiring all the knowledge necessary to become the best volunteer possible!

I am excited for this weekend! There will be many parades and activities as everyone is celebrating the day of Independence for Nicaragua. Also, my host family brother is taking us on a hike to a goregeous laguna that I got a glipse of last weekend! Fun festivities ahead! I hope everyone is well!

¡Adios!

A typical day in my new Pueblo

So it´s been almost a week with my Nicaraguan host family!!!!...

I have my own room with a double bed, a window and a dresser for clothes. I wake up around 7 am (actually more like awake at 5:00 am because of the gallos or roosters that are screaming outside my window). I then ¨shower.¨ Basically I have a bucket with cool water and a pan that I use to dump water over my head in a small concrete room that is disconnected from the house. We do not have running water or electricity in the pueblo between 7am and 4pm. We have a t.v. and dvd player and most everyone has cell phones.

I have spanish class from 8am to 12pm, then I go home for lunch. We have class again from 1pm to about 3 or 4pm. We have a lady that does our laundry and cleans the house. Just washing clothes here takes forever! We have two dogs but pets here are very differnt then in the states. You really don´t pet them.


I then spend time talking with my family, in spanish, of course. Sometimes I take a siesta and then at night I study or sit on a rocking chair on the porche with my family. It´s a tough life :P No but I am really tired by the end of the day. Talking spanish all day can be really frustrating. Our professor doesn´t speak English. So not only are we learning a new language in the language we don´t know, we are being trained in our new job many times in spanish. We will already be starting a youth group next week!! We will be starting a vivero or tree nursery with the kids in the communtity.

I love my host family! They are so patient with my spanish and are always asking how I am doing and about my day or life in the states. It is so refreshing to see people that have so little but sonehow will find a way to give to others.

The hurricane really did not affect my small Pueblo on the Atlantic side. Just a lot of heavy rain like I have never heard before. Imagine pounding rain on the top or a tin roof! You can´t hear anything else...the tv or anyone talking. Some things are just so different. For example, while walking to class one morning it was just me and a pig walking down the street! I love the randomness!

Where the streets have no name

Apparently this song was about Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, because the addresses are based off something like how far from a close restaurant, not a street name. We got a bus tour of Managua and saw many historical sights from during the Somosa and Sandinista time period. I also got my host family information today and I am really excited to meet them tomorrow. I will have a mom, brother, sister, brother in law and nephew.

We also got placed in groups for language classes based on our level. Tonight is out last night in at the hotel, and tomorrow will be another transition. We have so many books and I feel like I am in college again as far as the overwhelming amount of information tossed at you on the first day and all of the books. But I am so excited for language class. The teachers have great group activities and there is only four people in my class. Technical classes are every Wednesday and Friday and some Saturdays. This week, our assignment is to already begin finding possible youth to gather for our first community youth group where we will start a vivero or tree nursery.

Since I am leaving the hotel, I am unsure when I will be updating this next but I will have sooooo much to say when I do!

Getting to know Nicaragua!

Wow! So much to take in but so far everything is great. My hotel is like a resort. We almost feel guilty for staying in such a nice place but we all are enjoying the moment as we know our sites will not be so glamorous. We will be here until Saturday and from then on I most likely will not have internet as often.

I received my tetnus and first rabies shots...first of many to come. Training has been long but the people are all so nice, open-minded and down to earth. I have truly enjoyed all of the conversations with all my fellow volunteers and they have all been so supportive when anyone has been feeling a little down.

I am almost up for internet time but I wanted to share a quote that our country director said today that truly describes the Peace Corps mission.

Go in the search of your People
Love Them
Learn from Them
Plan with them
Serve Them
Begin with what They have
Build on what They know.

But of the best Leaders
When their task is accomplished,
their work is done,
The People all remark
¨We have done this Ourselves.¨-Lao Tsu, 700 BC

In Nicaragua!

I have made it safely to Nicaragua!!! I am going to head to bed (as I am running on two hours of sleep and two hours added to a full day of training with the time difference) but I just wanted to let everyone know that I have arrived!

Adios!

So I made it safely to D.C. and have had a blast the last two days getting to know all of my fellow volunteers. Everyone, including the staff is so nice, understanding and helpful! We even had a visit from the counsel general and cultural attache which is not common. They were very welcoming and excited for our arrival.

We are checking out of the hotel at 3:30am...yuck...and heading to Miami and then Nicaragua! We have a few days of orientation (retreat) and by Saturday we will be living with our host families! I am really excited to meet them but of course there are anxieties such as my rough spanish but it is all part of this great experience!

The next three months, Monday-Thursday, will be intense spanish training in groups of four. Fridays will be technical training with the larger group. So that's the basics....I will give you more details later!

Time to go!...FAQs

Hello Eveyone!

So tomorrow morning I leave for Washington, D.C. for our pre-departure orientation! I will meet my fellow volunteers (about 35 others) and fill out last minute paper work. Then, on August 29th, I will depart for Nicaragua! For those that do not know, Nicaragua is located in Central America between Honduras and Costa Rica.

So what am I feeling now??...well yes, scared of the unknown, uncertain how I will adjust to the hot climate, the culture and of course how I will deal with the language barrier, but more so excited to experience all of the above! What are my parents feeling??...well, of course nervous about me being in a foreign country, sad I am leaving, but proud as well.

When I arrive in Nicaragua, I will have 12 weeks of intense training (cultural, language and technical) and be living with a host family in a community by Jinotepe, Nicaragua. Jinotepe has about 30,000 people and is located on the Pacific side.

After training, I will be placed at my site (determined at a later date) for two years where I will be an environmental educator. I will be implementing sustainable enviromental programs in elementary schools such as nursery, compost and gardening activities.

I will have occasional computer access. Yes, you can send me packages but smaller ones are best (under 2 pounds) as it will be deliverd closer to me with a less chance of being stolen. It may take a while to reach me so do not include parishable items. You can email me for my address. Anymore questions??...just ask! Keep in touch!