Tuesday, March 24, 2009

I know I haven’t written for quite some time, but to try and recount the past 4 months in a blog would be nearly impossible. Here are the highlights:
1) At the end of October, I had 2 parasites, 2 amoebas and giardia at the same time. These 5 friendly attackers equal a not-so-friendly Nikki. I was sick for about 9 days…and not the sneezing sick, if you know what I mean.
2) I was stabbed with a screwdriver and mugged in Managua. It happened in that order, as well. I would expect that he would’ve tried to steal my purse first, but no, the stabbing component was somehow pivotal to his plan. Luckily the screwdriver was only able to penetrate my jeans once, so I have a single scar that resembles cellulite instead of a cluster resembling cellulite.
3) December in Nicaragua is interesting…and by interesting, I mean uneventful. Everyone uses Christmas as an excuse to do nothing the entire month. I can’t complain too much – it was a nice break to get to know my city a little bit better and to do a little bit of traveling on the weekends.
4) My friends and I celebrated New Years in San Juan del Sur. We had a lot of fun - I love the beach.

5) My school year began here at the beginning of February, and although we’ve started out rather slowly, things are starting to pick up. I’m excited to get rolling with my students. I’ve added another school to my workload – it’s a vocational school about 25 minutes from my house. I’m looking forward to working with these students (average age: 15-25, average education: some high school) because they are applying themselves and actually want to be a part of the program. I’m also trying to work with the office of tourism in Ocotal, but I’m not quite sure how my skills will be utilized. Because of the high demand, I’m also starting an English-speaking conversation circle with the English teachers in and around Ocotal.
6) It’s March! I’ve been here for 10 months – only 16 to go!
7) My sitemate will be done with his service on March 27th. Although I’m very VERY very sad to see him go, I’m excited for him to have hot showers every day and good food. Not to say gallo pinto isn’t great, but, uh… Anyway, I’ll have a new sitemate in April, and 2 other new volunteers that are within about 15 minutes of my site. I’m excited to meet them and see what kind of dynamic we create together for the next 16 months.

I think I’ve recapped the major events in the past few months. I promise I’ll get better about writing here. My goal is once every couple of weeks. I think this is doable unless my computer dies.

Miss you all!

1 comment:

Jill said...

I miss you :( I think you forgot one MAJOR update ;)