May 17, 2009
So here I am sitting in my mosquito net on my bed reflecting on what has transpired in the last couple of days. To be honest so much has happened that I don’t think I can remember it all. So let me start with Friday May 15th.
Friday was a sad day. I have not mentioned this before but a group of about 12 Dayton students were here for a two week summer breakout in Nicaragua. So for the first week I have been here, I have been hanging with them and participating in their group activities. Friday was the day that the group left Nicaragua to fly back home. I had made some great friends in the group and it was hard to see them go. It was especially difficult because once their bus pulled out I realized that I was now one of only two English speaking Americans in Sabana Grande. That day was basically a reality check for me. Not having the group form Dayton here makes my Spanish communication even more imperative. I have been practicing my Spanish a lot in the last couple of days and feel like I have improved some.
Later Friday, I went with Dan to Ocatol a nearby city. The city has the Internet, banks and tons of stores. I hit up the bank for some Cordobas and proceeded to the internet café. There I was finally able to communicate with you all and post the blog that I had written before. Next, we ate dinner at a nice little restaurant. We meet the volunteer coordinator, David, at the restaurant. David lives in Ocatol so we checked out his place (which I thought was very nice). After that we hopped on a crowded bus and headed back to Sabana Grande.
But wait the day is not done yet. The Catholic Church was having a fiesta that night for the day of the town’s patron saint and we were invited. Dan, David, and I attended the fiesta and let me tell you ‘it was banging’. The party was tons of fun and all the teens from the community were there. I loved the espanol musica that they played. My favorite is called regatone. I would most closely compare it to US hip/hop. So to say the least it was a blast. It is interesting here no one dances along or in groups. Everyone dances with a partner and they usual hold hands while doing what I would call a salsa step. (Side note: I just killed a bug on my computer screen, sick).
On Saturday, I began my day by sleeping in late (I really needed some sleep after my long week). I really didn’t do anything that exciting till that night. I went to church with my host mom. So you may think church sounds boring well let me tell you something church is incredible interesting when you go to a Nicaraguan Evangelical Mass. The first interesting thing is that men sit on one side of the church and women on the other. The music they played I really liked and the whole congregation really got into the it. The church was full of energy and people were yelling “Amen”, “Alleluia”, and “Gloria Dios”. To say the least the whole experience was very interesting.
So that catches you up to my present. Which is me sitting in bed killing bugs on my computer screen. Thank you all for taking the time to hear about what I am doing. I hope that you find my experiences interesting.
Nat-tan David
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