It´s the small things that count

So I am quickly learning here that my successes will have to be measured a bit differently here than they were in the US. For example, navigating a taxi is usually not a big thing, BUT today I really did a good job. My friends and I were traveling here to Jinotepe to go to the Cyber (internet cafe) and we had to go by the post office first. I was able to get the correct cab, tell them where we wanted to go AND get the nica price. He tried to charge us 6 cordobas, but I knew better... it should only be 5! :)

We have also made it a game to try to figure out what all the advertisments mean and why stores are named certain things. So far I´m in the lead.

Another way that success here is different is how I spend my day. Yesterday was very good. Here´s how it went:

7 am- I got up and was planning on taking a shower. However, there was no running water at the time so I had to take my first bucket shower. My host mom was very nice because she boiled some water to mix it with the reserve water so it wouldn´t be a cold. When I was done, she commented on how I bathed like a nica- without using much water. I had breakfast with my host mom (watermelon, crackers and coffee) and then headed out to school.

8am-12 pm- We attend class in another volunteers host house and talk about family, cultural aspects we don´t understand, or special topics the teacher brings up. We really don´t have to write anything besides new words or grammar words we don´t know. Like I said before, I´m the dumb kid in class, so my notebook is quickly filling up.

12 pm- After morning class I return to my house, which is about a five minute walk. Lunch is usually soup of some kind. Now, I love soup, but I find it hard not to sweat to death while eating it here. I wash my face before I go back to class so the others don´t think I´m about to fall over from heat stroke.

1-3pm- More class, but this time in the park. Class is always more fun outside. Today for example we played Simon Says, aka Laugh at the Gringos Hour

3-6pm- This is the time that I hang out with the other volunteers in my town. We went to the Cyber and picked up a chocolate doughnut at the bakery. It was heaven!

Around 6 or 7- I eat dinner with my family each night. Usually it is my host parents, and their son and his wife. We eat gallo pinto (rice and beans), some type of meat, and vegetables. One night I got a quesadilla type of thing but the tortillas were of corn, fried and filled with a typical salty cheese made here in Nicaragua. Not exactly like Applebee´s. Dinner is a good time for me to practice my Spanish because I am finally warmed up a bit and can speak freely. I am finding that I am not nearly as funny in Spanish as in English- at least not when I mean to be. Trust me, I am their source of entertaiment currently. They definitely get their fair share of laughs at all my mistakes.

8-10pm- After dinner I go to my room to study. For the first time in 3 years I have mandatory reading that I will be tested on. It feels nice to be a student again, but it´s hard to stay awake with such dry material.

10pm- Finally I brush my teeth with my bottled water at the outside sink and wash my face. Did I mention that I sweat quite a bit here? When I return to my room, my alarm has to be set for tomorrow and the mesquito net has to be arranged just so before I can crawl into bed. Once there, don´t forget the ear plugs!