Boxing Day Blenders

Yesterday I spent what might be the last Christmas with my family for a few years, which is odd to say out-loud or type on the internet.  It was wonderful to celebrate with my family, especially the annual Pajama Dinner Party followed by Mass, but since Christmas has come to mean more about presents than anything else it was especially... incongruous.  I can't really think of any other way of describing it.  Many of the things people gave me I can use while I'm down in Nicaragua, but many others will just weigh down my suitcase, sit around unused because I will have no earthly use for them, and then they'd probably grow mold in the humidity.

That's not to say they're not good gifts, they are just incongruous with the way my life will be for the coming two years.  It's like when you're in high school and someone gives you a blender as a gift.  You will never use the blender while at home because your parents probably already have a blender, but when you leave for college you suddenly realize that this blender is awesome because now you can make smoothies and other such things.  But for a few years you have no use for that blender.  I'm sure when I come back I will appreciate some of those blender gifts, but I will have to wait for twenty-seven months.

Really, I think the best gift this Christmas was spending time with friends and family.  Happy Holidays everyone.

P.S. Please enjoy this vision of the aftermath with the family puppy looking to scavenge some tissue paper to shred.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do you leave for the Peace Corps?

January 10 - I fly into D.C. for my staging in Arlington, which only lasts about a day.  On January 12 I fly with the other volunteers to Nicaragua.

What will you be doing?

My title is Community Health Promoter, so in partnership with the Ministry of Health I will be training community members to teach about prenatal health and childhood nutrition, as well as giving talks, and forming health programs.

How long will you be gone?
27 months - 3 months of training, and 2 years at my assigned post.

Where will you be?
I don't know yet, I'll find out towards the end of my training, but it will likely be in the Northwest or the very Southwest of the country.  My training will be somewhere outside of the capital, Managua.

Will you be close to other volunteers?
After my training I should be within, at most, a two hour bus ride of another volunteer.

Can you come back to visit?
Well, I do get some vacation days, but I would have to pay for my own flight.  The only way the Peace Corps will pay for my flight back to the U.S. is if a member of my family dies, so lets not hope for that.

Can I come and visit you?
Sure!  After my 3 months of training, and then after 3 months of adjusting to my new post, you can visit me wherever I am.

Do they pay you as a volunteer?
Not exactly, but I will receive a stipend to cover living expenses, and they have payed for my flights to Virginia and Managua, so I won't have to worry about money.  Also, I can defer my student loans, even the interest.  I'm really excited about that.

Will you have the internet/electricity/running water?
Yes, it may not always be reliable, but most towns have an internet cafe, and most of the houses have electricity, but the majority of it comes from hydropower, so during the dry season there may be power outages like in Quito.  This is the same for running water - it's there, but I might have to conserve during the dry season.

Is it safe?
The Peace Corps is really careful about their volunteers' safety, which is really why my medical review was as intense as it was - they want to make sure that any potential health risks are addressed before I leave, and to be prepared if something does happen. 
Nicaragua has experienced violence in the past, particularly when the CIA supported the Contra forces under Reagan's presidency, but there are Peace Corps employees whose jobs are to watch the political and social situation for unrest. 
In one blog I read, the volunteer was evacuated from Guinea, and hearing about her experience was enlightening.  Here is the link, and the rest of her entries are way more insightful than I could ever hope to be.
I'll also be living with a host family during my training, and then for the first six weeks after training, but I am thinking of staying with the family for the full two years as it is a safer option than living on my own.

Not-so-frequent questions, but ones that I have received at one time or another:

Peace Corps, so is that like the army?
...No.

Why are they sending you abroad?  Don't we have enough problems here in the U.S.?
We do have problems here at home.  That's why we have AmeriCorps.


You're going to Nigeria?  Why are they sending you to Africa if you speak Spanish?
I'm going to Nicaragua, but they both start with "ni" and then end with "a" so I can understand the little mental hiccup.  Perhaps I'll write about my own latest brain lapse in another post.  Spoiler alert: it's a good one.

Everything and More

Welcome to my new blog, still bright and starry-eyed, unsuspecting of the chaotic tangle of words that is about to hit it in the face courtesy of my brain.  Like so:

Back in June, after graduating with a B.A. from Willamette University, I applied to the Peace Corps.  A little less than two weeks later, I interviewed with a PC recruiter, the same recruiter nominated me as a volunteer for a program in Central/South America working in Health Extension in July.  The next step was the medical review.

I received the necessary paperwork in July, went to numerous doctors to be poked and prodded and stretched, and mailed it back in September.  Then they sent it back asking for updated information, which I included then mailed back.  Then they sent it back asking for more updated information, which I then faxed to them.  Then they called and asked for more information, which I faxed back and in November (it was November by then) the Peace Corps officially invited me to volunteer in Nicaragua until March 2013.

This will tell of all my adventures.  Or at least the ones I feel like sharing with the internet masses.