Ya

Week two has flown by. Sorry it seems to take me a week to blog, but time truly does move quickly with the Peace Corps taking you here, there and everywhere.

Tuesday started the week off strong with the celebration of the Nicaragauan Independence Day. My entire first week I listened to school bands furiously banging their drums, and finally I understood why. Note: my town has be prohibited from large fiestas and parades due to excessive drinking and general trouble with the police. So, on Tuesday we took a short bus trip to the town next door and watched the parade. Four of my family members attend the private school in this town, Sta. Teresa, and are therefore part of the parade, so we moved throughout the crowd to watch them. In Nicaragua, parade watching is not quite the same sort of enjoyable, relaxing experience it is in the US. Rather, it is pushy, hot, and very crowded. The crowds move with the parade, walking in between dancers and drummers as they see fit, and shoving mercilessly. At first this is disconcerting, but once you get the hang of it, it is pretty fun to be a part of the parade.

Thursday and Friday were equally tiring, but necessary, days spent in PC training, learning about organic pesticides, how to protect against Malaria/Dengue (I´m screwed), and all sorts of other things. Thus far, our training sessions have been a bit overwhelming, as we haven´t had the chance to put many of the gardening lessons into practice, but soon enough we will have the opportunities to try out what we are being taught. As for getting sick, it is inevitable, I just hope it´s not Dengue or Malaria.

One aspect of training that is going exceptionally well (so far) is the youth group that my fellow trainees and I have started in our pueblo. Our first meeting only brought in about 8 curious 21 year olds, friends of my "nephew," but thankfully due to some door-to-door pleading, Jehovah Witness style, we were able to rangle 15 kids at our second meeting, including THREE girls. Granted, the majority were either my extended family members or friends of my nephew, but they seemed to really enjoy themselves and be very excited about our recycled art project and future activities together. Hopefully, this will be a lasting and sustainable project.

As I spend more time here, and become more comfortable with the language, certain words stick out. My current favorite, and the word most widely used in Nicaragua as far as I can tell, is "ya." Literally meaning "already," the word can be used for just about everything. Some examples:

Dinner is ready, "Ya, Katie" (pronounced KAH-tie)

Your dog is trying to get food or lick your hand, "Ya, Ya" (Cut it out!)

Your kid is banging his spoon on the table, "¨¡Ya, insert name, ya ya! (Enough already!!)

The TV show ended, "Ya" (It´s over)

Kids are running through your garden, "¡ YA YA!" (Get the fuck out!)

Essentially, this is an quick, effective word that can be used almost all the time to convey that you are tired of something, want it to be done with, etc. The only problem is I tend to say "yea, yea" a lot when listening to people speak and hope that this isn´t being misconstrued as, "ya, ya, enough already, stop talking." I usually catch myself and switch to si or bueno, but yea is a hard habit to break.

Some other small but interesting quirks I have noticed living in Nicaragua (and had not anticipated):
-all teenage boys and young men want to look like Cristiano Ronaldo...faux hawks (hair always gelled), capri pants, tight shirts, etc...
-Avril Lavigne, Justin Beiber, and Lady Gaga (this one I get) are really big down here...Avril, what?
-young women almost exclusively wear jeans...dresses are for grandmas...I guess I will be a grandma because it´s freakin hot down here and jeans are miserable...

I´m sure there is a great deal more, but it is seriously hot in the cybercafe, so I am off to find an icecream vender (the only cold thing around). Write me lots of e-mails : ) xoxo