Well the very long post I wrote didn´t save itself.... oh well, what else is there to do on a Friday night in Jinotepe when it´s pouring out and you have free internet?
It´s thunderstorming and raining more than I thought it was possible to rain... the house actually flooded a little bit ago, but the water´s going down now. It´s so nice because it makes the air so much cooler and cleaner, and I´m actually wearing a sweatshirt and just had some hot tea! I feel a lot more at home now, haha.
Yesterday after a long morning of verb conjugations we went on an excursion to a nearby town, Catarina, and walked up to this awesome viewpoint that looks over a lagoon but you can also see all the way to Granada and Lake Nicaragua. It was the most tourist-y place I´ve been so far, which was a bit odd, but it had a ton of school kids, horses, music and food and was very relaxing. We sat in the shade and had a lesson about the history and politics of Nicaragua, then ate traditional "pupusas", a food from El Salvador that is basically melted cheese in a tortilla. YUM! We caught the big chicken bus back, but there were probably 120 people on it. A school bus... it was insane!
This morning after a short Spanish class was the "amazing race"... basically a test of everything we´ve learned this week to end orientation. There was a list of things to do, such as bargaining in the marketplace, mailing a postcard to Canada, taking pictures of yourself with a police officer and between two churches. It also involved hitchiking to Diriamba (the next town over from here) and other such adventures. Lots of fun! It ended with us sprinting back to the house, soaked from the rain. Still don´t know my way around Jinotepe, but I´m learning.
Jackie Chan left for his placement on the Atlantic Coast in the rainforest this afternoon. Catherine and her boyfriend Andreu went with him - it´s a 2 day trip to get there and they are staying to help him get settled in and then coming back in a week. So for the week it´s mostly just me, Leo, and Rachelle, plus the family that lives here. We are going to the beach on Sunday and then monday and tuesday are national holidays, Wednesday I start at Los Pipitos and Thursday I am going to visit the orphanage for the first time! It will be nice to get into a routine. I´ve been here for exactly one week (to the minute, actually) and I can´t tell if it seems like longer or shorter than that.
One of the ways that I really wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and experience another lifestyle is to not be a vegetarian for the time that I´m here. So far it´s been really hard! I´ve been thinking a lot about why I love fish but eating chicken or beef, not to mention pork, is a completely revolting thought. I´ve just gotten so used to not eating meat over the last ten years... so far I have been doing pretty well, I just have to not think about it and go to my happy place especially when I have to eat red meat... AHH. It´s a good experience though, because in places like here having meat is a lucky and healthy thing. And it´s also confirmed the fact that I definitely will be a strict pescatarian for the rest of my life.
That´s about all that I can remember to write about... tomorrow will be bike shopping and lots of relaxing time. Facials are the plan for the evening... wow this really is a new experience for me!
Love and miss you all,
-Suzanne