Rain, Rain and More Rain

        Happy to report that life in Posoltega is finally cooling down...to a somewhat bearable temperature, that is. That’s not to say I don’t still sweat in the shower, but what’s a girl to do. This is in large part due to the rain that has finally reached us, after nearly 5 months without a drop. It is definitely a relief.  The plants all look healthier and the people seem to be thankful that it’s not so dang hot anymore. 

But, with the rain comes quite a few negatives. For one, the mosquitos are out of control. Despite trying to prevent any water from sitting around my house, the mosquitos are able to find plenty of places to breed. Now that rainy season has started I am religious about my Malaria medication and the mosquito net has gone up, but when it comes to Dengue Fever I am unprotected and would really hate to suffer through that one for an unhappy 7 days. The best I can do is tons of bug spray and pants (although I am admittedly sitting in shorts and a tank top right now...it’s just so dang hot). Perhaps my bigger issue with the rain, however, is that it likes to come inside of my house. The roof of my house is made with old-fashioned tejas, or shingle type material, with plastic sheets underneath. While this is better in the hot season, because the tejas are more breathable than the more current zinc roofs, in the rainy season they leak like crazy. In the first big storm I woke up soaking wet and in a lake of water. Turns out the biggest hole was right over my head. This flooded the whole house. Luckily, I have since gotten this hole mostly fixed and have moved my bed, so I now just put a small bucket below it to catch the one or two drops that sneak through. There are also a few leaks in my living room, which I rotate my remaining buckets between, but for the most part I just move the furniture out of the way and figure the water won’t do much damage. As for my kitchen...it essentially rains in there as if outside, so I just shut the door and mop it in the morning. As my dad would say, it’s incredible what you can get used to. 

I would like to admit though, that the rain has helped me immensely in my quest to balance my life here. With tanta lluvia I don’t have to tell people I’m too tired or have too much work to go out at night, because everyone is simply stuck inside. Although it is a definite buzz kill when our volleyball games get cancelled or I can’t get out to plan a lesson with a teacher, some nights it is a blessing when I can just hang out on my hammock, read a book and not have to socialize. I’m not gonna lie, the rain makes for a great scapegoat. And on that note, for anyone who hasn’t read Dave Egger’s “What is the What”....get one it...seriously, an incredible read. If you come visit me I’ll lend it to you : )

So as far as projects and being a good volunteer, I would probably get a B right now, but I’m working on it. So in one of my rural schools where we continuously recieve parent support and the teachers kick ass, our squash are growing like mad, the peppers have sprouted and we even have plantains and banana trees planted. I could not be more excited about working with this school and really love the people in the community. The government is even sending a volunteer from their own agriculture sector to help me out...COOL...I just wish I had this kind of support in my other rural community. Two of the teachers are brand new, 20 years old, and not recieving any support in the community. The opposite, in fact. At the most recent parent meeting the teachers were attacked for letting students out early, punishing students too much, holding too many raffles that parents couldn’t pay for, etc, etc. Needless to say, when I asked them to come help me clear land for the garden they said yea yea and quickly went back to arguing. Not to mention, they are extraordinarily poor, underfed and in the middle of nowhere. Daily, the governemnt provides the children with rice, beans and tortillas to eat, which the mothers are asked to prepare. They rotate this responisibilty, so that each mother cooks at least once for the students. Unfortunately, in this particular community, mothers either don’t cook some days or collect the food and simply cook it for their own families, leaving the schoolchildren without their meal (which was most likely their one meal for the day). I don’t buy that some days the mothers are too lazy to cook; but rather, that in most all cases they use the food for their own families, demonstrating the desperate need of the community (which only hosts about 15 families in total). This school will clearly be my biggest challenge. 

So to change the tone a bit I’m going to let you all in on some of my personal goals for my time here in Nicaragua...

1. Dance salsa as well as I dance Bachata...So not as well as a Nica, but pretty dang good.
2. Visit at least as far as Hondurous and Costa Rica
3. Get inside the Flor de Cana factory in Chichigalpa (World famous rum made right next door...gotta get there)
4. Hike a volcano (I hear it’s actually a pretty miserable experience, but it’s sounds really cool to say you did it)
5. Get to the Atlantic Coast

I definitely have more goals than these, but I can't let you guys in on all of them...so that's it for now...lots of love and come visit me already!!!