Post for Sra. Stanley and Classes

Bienvenidos! welcome to my blog! I have heard many of you may have already been following it. Once i heard this i was advised it would be a good idea to specifically write a blog to you guys! In the future if there is anything you, your friends, your parents etc. would like to know about me, my life in Nicaragua, people of Nicaragua or anything else that may cross your curious minds, let Mrs. Stanley know and we can correspond via email and i will direct my blogs to what you guys are interested in learning about!! I thought i would start off this blog with some information about my life here so far. We had a meeting last week about cultural awareness and we did an activity called "things that make me go hmmm...." I thought they would be interesting to share with you.
Things that make me go hmmm are things we find interesting here in Nicaragua and things that are different than the states. Some of the things that make me go hmmm are:

1.) There are no real rules of the road here. Many (most) people do not own cars, they take public buses which are old school buses from the states. The buses are interesting, they are VERY crowded and can sometimes have livestock (chickens, pigs etc.) on the bus.

2.) Many people do not have running water. If they do it is not all day long. I have only taken a few showers with running water since i have been here. Most of the time i shower with water in a bucket and use a bowl to rinse off. There is no warm water here. Only cold. Being that not everyone has running water, some people do not have bathrooms. They use latrines outside. They also do laundry by hand with water that they store in buckets and barrels while it is running.

3.) There are A LOT of stray dogs here. Its sad because many are hungry and sick. People that own dogs have them for guard dogs. Animals are not pets the way we view pets in the states.

4.) People like to stay up late and wake up VERY early! I can usually hear people in the streets catching buses and heading to work in other cities around 4:30-5am!

5.) Noise is very different here. It takes some getting used to. People blast music at 5am. Its very normal. There are also trucks that go around town blasting music and messages for the town. When there are birthday celebrations in town, a band marches and plays music about 5-5:30am as well! I have woken up to that a few times. People also enjoy "bombas" which are similar to bottle rockets in the states but MUCH louder. I have heard those around 5am as well!

6.) Roosters do NOT only crow in the morning. That is a myth that i have proven wrong. They crow whenever they want to.

7.) Most kids graduate from their high school around 16. They only have 11 grades and have less vacation time in the year. The seasons are also backwards from ours. For example right now is summer. The next few months are the hottest of the year. Kids start school years around February here.

8.) American culture is EVERYWHERE! For all the young girls, Justin Beiber is everywhere! They listen to jonas brothers, they have many shows that we have in the states, and many of them are in english with spanish subtitles. Coca Cola is in every pulperia in town. Pulperias are little corner stores that are run by families, many out of their homes.

9.) I have noticed that not many people drink water here. My family thinks its funny that i drink as much water as i do. Many people drink soda. They also drink refrescos. These can be fruit juices (my favorite is their orange juice). They also drink many typical Nicaragua drinks such as pinolio. This is made from finely ground corn and coco. There is a drink that i like called avena. It is made with oatmeal. Its really good.

10.) People here LOVE carbs! They also love to fry things and use a lot of salt and sugars. Its a good thing that i am a carboholic in the states because it is a lot here. Breakfast is easy. Usually my family will give me cornflakes. I have also received eggs, bread, pancakes, fruit and coffee cakes. Lunch is the best meal of the day here. Unlike the states, lunch is the meal where they typically have meat. It is the biggest meal of the day. usually family comes over. For example in my family my aunt comes to each lunch with us everyday because she works in our town. Sometimes my other uncle will come over as well. Kids also get out of school at noon here because they leave to go home to eat lunch with their families. Dinner is typically much smaller. Mainly consists of Gallo Pinto (which is love) it is a mix of rice and beans. This is served with plantains or maduros (sweet plantains), eggs or tortilla y cheese (which i do not like their cheese here. It is very salty). I have noticed that people typically serve rice and pasta together. (lots of carbs). Gallo pinto is made with beans (that they fry), rice (that is fried before it is cooked) and then combined and fried again.

What i have learned this far is that the people of Nicaragua are very welcoming and friendly. They love to start conversations and help me with my spanish, especially little kids. They are very cultural people who love their traditions, religions and their towns. They love to talk about Nicaragua, although many people will give you different stories because of the history of Nicaragua. They are also curious about the states, curious about who we are as people and what we can bring here to Nicaragua. They love to have fun and always have a reason to have a party and have family and friends over. I love that families are close. They usually get together on the weekends for meals and are always supportive of each other.

Please let Profesora Stanley know any questions you have or any topic you want me to write about and I would be happy to do so! I will be out of town for the week and will return this friday. I will be happy to write another blog for you when i return!