I had a pretty crazy week.  I suppose the biggest event was that one of my volunteers went home early, which is too bad, but it was the right choice for her.  I was sad to see her go, but it was a relief, for me as well as for her, of course.  

I also had some other complications this week - one random woman in one of my towns spread some rumors about how the volunteers were demanding purified water and special vegetarian dishes.  They were lies, but they meant I had to take an extra trip out to investigate.  

In another town, one of my volunteers is extremely homesick, but is actually doing quite well.  Last weekend her partner called staff house because she was having a panic attack; now she does not remember most of what we talked about on the phone.  When I visited her this week, she expressed feeling homesick, but she seemed to be in control of it.  She was very happy to see me. 

Getting back to staff house was really nice.  I always love seeing staff after being out on route.  Yesterday I made chili and cornbread for dinner, which turned out well.  I almost lit myself on fire with the oven while making the cornbread though.  Basically, I lit the oven with the lighter, but when I checked it later it had turned off.  So I tried lighting it again, but a bunch of gas had accumulated in the oven, so this huge blue cloud of flame just exploded into me (this is what the people sitting in the dining hall told me it looked like).  It was just very high pressure gas as a very high temperature for a fraction of a second that smacked into me.  It didn't even singe my hair (luckily), but it was kind of scary.  

Today we are going to start planning for midterm break for the volunteers, which is next weekend.

Maya

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Sorry I've been MIA for the past week and a half. I'll explain why shortly, but first I'll say the positive things.

The Good:

Everyone is healthy and safe.

The volunteers made it out to communities on Wednesday - we got them all successfully dropped off.

The volunteers in one of my communities, who I visited today, are doing great - they're happy and got started on their projects right away.

The Bad:

One of the volunteers got sick on the plane coming in last Wednesday (9 days ago). He turned out to have swine flu. It wasn't a big deal at all, but the whole project (volunteers and staff) was quarantined at our briefing site for a whole week under orders from the Nicaraguan ministry of health. Briefing was only scheduled to be for two and a half days. So staff scrambled to fill the huge amounts of time with activities and such, and it went quite well. However, it cost AMIGOS a huge amount of money and Jacy (the project director) a huge amount of time and effort changing plans, transportation, arrangements etc. So volunteers did not go out until two days ago.

More Bad:

During Briefing, which was in a town about 20 minutes from Granada, where staff house is located, staff house was broken into. My laptop and valuables were locked in the back room, so nothing of mine was stolen. However, three staff members had their laptops stolen, as well as several other things (cash, ipods etc.) We discovered this when we got back from our week-long quarantine.

The Ugly:

Jacy and Clara (the senior project supervisor) got flash kidnapped on Wednesday, at around the same time Jillian (the assistant project director) found out the house was robbed. Jillian was just about to tell Jacy on the phone about staff house getting broken into, when the phone was taken out of his hand in the cab he and Clara were in. A very large woman sat on him and pinned him down, and a man restrained Clara's hands. Pistols were pulled on them, and they were forced to close their eyes, and were driven around for 3 hours, from ATM to ATM. Jacy was forced to make withdrawal after withdrawal from his (personal) bank account. The crooks also took all their cash and valuables, of course. They were molested some (hit/slapped, pinned down, threatened). But they are okay now, and of all the people that this could have happened to, I feel like they are some of the most equipped to handle such a situation. All of staff (except two supervisors who were out spending the night with volunteers in community) spent Wednesday night in a nice hotel, just to relax a bit. Jacy and Clara are doing well, but of course, the events shook us all up a little bit. Everyone will just be a little more careful from here on out.

On a more positive/optimistic note, I am happier here than I have ever been before. There is nowhere I would rather be and noone I would rather be with. My fellow staff members are the most amazing people I have ever met. I really hope that I will feel this happy again someday after my summer is over.

Love,

Maya

Mailing Address

If you want to write me a letter (no packages!), here is my mailing address.  Postage is 98 cents from the US.

Amigos de las Américas

Maya White

Avenida Avellano del Colegio

Professional Maria Auxiliadora

1 cuadra y media al Sur

SILAIS

Granada, Granada

Nicaragua, Central America

:)

Town Survey

I just got back from 4 days of town survey - spending one day and night in each of my four communities setting things up for the volunteers.  Here is a list of some of the more interesting things that happened:

• I inhaled 3 bugs in about 4 minutes, and ate a countless number that landed and died in my food.
  
• I approached and conversed with a group of late teen/early 20s boys, who were incredulous that I A) spoke Spanish, and B) wasn't intimidated by them.
  
• I went on a bike ride from one end of a community to the other on a bike several sizes too small and with highly dysfunctional brakes.  The road was a minefield of rocks, gravel, mud puddles, sand, and branches.
• I saw the sun rise over the volcano on the Island of Ometepe while standing on a gorgeous secluded beach.
• I drank coffee for the first time ever, although it was mostly milk - "cafe con leche", the milk was fresh from the family cow.
• I spoke with a doctor in Nicaragua about what going to medical school and being a doctor in Nicaragua entails.
• I saw a little boy on a bicycle herding cows.  And on the topic of cows - their mooing will never cease to entertain me.  It's the funniest noise I've ever heard, and even the baby cowies make the same, deep noise.
• I had a meeting with the only woman mayor in the whole province of Rivas.
• I drank beet lemonade.
• I played volleyball for two hours with the Nicaraguan national champion 10 and 11 year olds.
• I talked to 2 little boys and a little girl ages 3-6 who were walking along the highway carrying jugs of water to their houses from the nearby well.
• I passed two bulls that were strolling down the road eating the mangos that had fallen from trees.
• I took a bucket bath in the dark.
• I watched about 100 kids form a massive pile with arms of legs protruding from all sides after breaking a pinata.  Then I helped pass out drinks and cookies to all of them.
• I played peek-a-boo with a very giggly mentally challenged adult man.
• I dozed off on a bus and smacked the bridge of my nose on the metal seat in front of me when the bus jerked to a stop - I now have a purple bruise on my nose.
  
• I found 11 host families, set up about a dozen meetings, arranged schedules at 4 health clinics/posts and 6 schools for my future volunteers, and was offered beds and meals by total strangers for the whole time I was on survey.

I didn't take pictures because I didn't want to come off as a tourist.  But I will take some soon!

I am now back at Staff House, and we have a ton of work to do - right now, we are planning the workshop for the youth counterparts that is taking place tomorrow, and then we will be preparing for volunteer arrival!

Maya