First Days in Nica: Staging and Pre-Training Retreat

These last few days have been long and exhausting.  Yet I’m surprised as I catch my self say out loud that Staging and the Pre-Training Retreat is already over and I’m a bit sad! I think I’m really going to miss not seeing this group of people that I’ve bonded with on a daily basis.  Let’s review the bonding process shall we?

Monday through Wednesday was a whirl wind as I departed Tucson and spent the last 2 days stateside in DC for Peace Corps(PC) Staging.  Staging is basically a day of filling out paperwork and meeting your volunteer group via icebreakers before heading out to your country.  Monday night after arriving in DC I was able to meet up with my girlfriend Ashley who sent me off on my journey!  Ash is a PC volunteer in Togo, Africa, but we were fortunate to overlap in DC after not seeing each other for over a year and a half!  After Staging ended on Tuesday, my last super consisted of sushi followed by Spanish wine and cheese, which I will truly miss.  I slept about a half hr(literally) that night before I flew out.  I was up until 1 am talking with friends and family for the last time on a phone for awhile.  I have reluctantly put my cell number that I’ve had since I was 16 to sleep.  At 2 am we checked out of our hotel in DC and departed for Nica.  Lucky me, I got to be the leader of group number six and play kindergarten teacher as I took role at 2 am in the hotel lobby.  Bada bing bada boom we were in Miami and then on to our final destination. Once we arrived in the capital of Managua we were greeted with current volunteers and giant bottles of water.  Let’s just say Managua is not known for its architectural beauty or for being very safe.  This city took a pretty large hit in Managua’s earthquake of 1972 and was never completely rebuilt to represent the large capital it once was.  Nonetheless, the capitol is always the site of PC headquarters in a country.  It was a sweaty 30 min ride in an old school bus with out air conditioning to our training facility.  All 47 of us have been staying in an education facility where we will have been for a total of three nights during our Pre-Training Retreat. The compound’s palm trees give us a taste of the lush greenery surrounding us while sporting dorm style housing, air-conditioned lecture rooms and wi-fi!  I was a zombie the rest of that day after we arriving in Nicaragua.  Luckily we just covered simple logistics in the afternoon as my head kept nodding with exhaustion.

The next morning I woke up to a hearty breakfast of gallo pinto and eggs, which kept me going through our busy day of vaccines, medical exams, language tests, photos, and our tour of Managua.  The city is beautiful in most areas with large hotels and nightclubs, but some areas have been abandoned or turned to slums.  We visited Managua’s old cathedral(used before the earthquake), which reflects the architecture of the Spanish who once colonized the city.  We chilled by the enormous lake Managua for a cerveza Tona before stopping by a very standard(minus the plantains) Wal-Mart on our way back to the compound.  Today I also met my Program Director(boss) Georgia and Project Specialist Emily who I will be getting to know over the next three months of training.  These ladies will determine where I spend my two years of service after getting to know my needs, interests and personality over the three months of training.  They truly care about our happiness and well being, which puts my mind at ease. 

Today I was assigned a host family and training town!  This announcement also revealed the few volunteers who will be sharing the same tutor and training town with me for the next three months.  Lucky for me Kelli, Noelle, and Peter will be my partners in crime in the city of Nandasmo, Masaya!  All of these decisions depended on how my language test from yesterday turned out.  Basically the four of us are at the same level of proficiency and will be taught by a language trainer in an intimate experiential setting.  When I say language test I mean an uncomfortable encounter with a very straight-faced Nicaraguan women sitting across from me with a tape recorder making me feel inept.  The good news is Peace Corps has a world-renowned language training program called ACTFL Language Proficiency which will allow me to earn a certificate at close of service stating my level of fluency, cool!

It’s extremely humid here, but the nights cool down.  I just finished an hour and a half of power yoga with my buds Leslie and Alicia and right now I’m sitting under an open-air gazebo made of palm leaves enjoying the breeze.  The lightning and thunder is crashing signifying that the rainy season is about to take over for the next six months.  It reminds me of the monsoon season in Tucson, my favorite.  Tomorrow I head out of the training compound to my host family’s house bright and early.  More to come on my new family and training town!