Site Placement!

Now that I’m finally settled and comfortable here in my training town, its time to get moving again.  Isn’t that how it always goes?

I’ve gotten used to having a family around 24/7 and there fore no privacy.  I’ve grown to enjoy the pounding of the heavy rain on the zinc roof at night while I sleep.  I love the obnoxiously loud Latina music in the mornings as I dance around getting ready for my day.  I can’t say that I’m completely adjusted to the food, but I’ve learned to make things I really enjoy and I live to douse everything in lime.  I don’t know how I’ll ever get by with out my daily dose of mangos and home made peanut butter.  I’ve grown to adore the convenience of the moto-taxis and the fresh breeze blowing in my face, providing relief from the heat.  For quite some time I’ve enjoyed the cold showers I take after my morning run.  I’ve grown accustomed to a mid-morning snack of a fresh baked pico(bread with a bit of cheese and sugar) from Panaderia Esperanza where Antonio greets me warmly with a smile on his bald head.  I have developed a habit of treating myself to a chocobanano (chocolate covered frozen banana) at night. It’s also been fun learning guitar right along side my host dad.

As sentimental as I might sound, I’ll have you know that I am ecstatic to be moving to another part of the country and leaving behind the reins of training, which are sometimes held way too tight.  I’m looking forward to buying my own food and cooking my own meals again.  I’m also excited for my own space!

Drum roll for my final site placement……….I got my first choice Chinandega city, which is the capital of the department of Chinandega! This region is in the northwestern corner of Nicaragua boarding Honduras to the north and the Pacific to the west.   Chinandega city is the 3^rd largest city in Nica.  The climate is hot and dry compared to the rest of Nicaragua, but I’m not worried.  It makes sense to put the gal from AZ in the hottest region.  I’m very excited to be about 15 mins from some great surfing spots and close to Nicaragua’s largest volcano San Cristobal.  Corinto is only 15 mins away and serves as Nica’s only port town on the Pacific and also supplies ample amounts of seafood to the region.  I actually requested that my site have access to fresh seafood since we all know just how obsessed I am.  The city is labeled as the most “Nica city” in Nicaragua, which I will find out more about what that implies when I get to visit next week.  Chinandega is home to several nonprofits and microfinance institutions like Promujer, CE Solutions, and Fundacion Leon, which I look forward to working with.  There are 32 Peace Corps Volunteers who call Chinandega home and five reside in the city with.  I look forward to making new friends and collaborating on projects.   Chinandega has the highest incidents of HIV and therefore provides an opportunity to work with fellow Health volunteers.  The city also boasts several gyms, some which specifically cater to women’s health and I look forward to possibly teaching yoga here.  I was also told that there are ample places for dancing Thursday through Saturday nights, which has me very pleased!

I feel extremely fortunate to have gotten my first choice and what I deem a perfect fit for my work and personal life as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  I’m looking forward to meeting my counterparts, supervisors, new host family and my new city all next week.  I’ll let you all know what I find waiting for me in Chinandega!  I am a little sad that the group of 22 of us is going to be split across the country, but I do look forward to visiting my friends in their new cities too.  We have one month left to enjoy each others company and make some more memories before we all split off.  I’m looking forward to celebrating the forth of July with my fellow volunteers hopefully at the lake with some cold Tonas and good food.