Here is our new official address!
Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick PCV
and/or
Alex Fuller-Young PCV
Apartado Postal 366
León, Nicaragua
America Central
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Here are some more pictures!
This was our awesome cake for our swearing-in ceremony.It was a really nice event and the US ambassador swore us in.
I (Kaitlyn) even gave an interview in SPANISH for a TV station!
This is NICA 45 Environment right before we swore in. In the middle are Bobbi and Suzy who did a traditional Nica dance!
A picture of me and Alex at swearing-in! Notice his cool traditional Nica shirt!
This is Alex and Me with my host parents at the ceremony.
Me with Alex´s two other wives, Olena and Analea. He has his hands full with us!
We hope that you enjoy the pictures and we promise that since we are back from gallivanting around that we will be in touch more often. These next few months will be hard because we really do not have that much to do. We are really supposed to be getting to know our community and doing our community analysis tools (you really don´t want us to explain). Alex is looking forward to the slow-paced life but I am going to go crazy so please write to me A LOT! Thanks to everyone that is reading the blog, and we appreciate your feedback! Miss and love you all tons!
Swearing-In and The All Volunteer Conference
We are finally at our site and ready to settle in, for real this time. We spent the last two weeks in the capital doing various things. The week before last we spent in a hotel, dialy receiving lectures on everything from HIV/AIDS to how our living allowance is broken down.
At the end of the week we had our "Swearing-In" Ceremony, which is an official event where we become volunteers, instead of lowly trainees. We sing the Nicaraguan national anthem, which we also spent time learning the week before. We say goodbye to our training host families. We receive cute little Peace Corps pins. We eat cake.
Last week we spent at another hotel for the "All Volunteer Conference". Here all the PC volunteers in Nicaragua convene to exchange ideas during the day and then have lots of fun during the night. We had an Olympics competition between the sectors (Env. Ed., Agriculture, Health, etc.) that consisted of the usual events (trivia, dodgball, etc.). Unfortunately we got last place.
We also got to grab some Thanksgiving dinner. Peace Corps does a great thing of hooking us up with either a PC or embassy staff member for some good old turkey, stuffing, and football. Kaitlyn and I had dinner at a foreign service person's house. Fascinating life, next year she'll spend learning Russian so she can serve in Moscow for the following three years.
The last few weeks have been great fun spent with the other volunteers. All are very fun and interesting people. Especially our group of course. However, it's going to be a rough transition back to living among Nicaraguans, no air conditioning, and speaking Spanish. It's astonishing how quickly a foreign language can deteriorate.
Hope all is well back home and everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We missed you all.
At the end of the week we had our "Swearing-In" Ceremony, which is an official event where we become volunteers, instead of lowly trainees. We sing the Nicaraguan national anthem, which we also spent time learning the week before. We say goodbye to our training host families. We receive cute little Peace Corps pins. We eat cake.
Last week we spent at another hotel for the "All Volunteer Conference". Here all the PC volunteers in Nicaragua convene to exchange ideas during the day and then have lots of fun during the night. We had an Olympics competition between the sectors (Env. Ed., Agriculture, Health, etc.) that consisted of the usual events (trivia, dodgball, etc.). Unfortunately we got last place.
We also got to grab some Thanksgiving dinner. Peace Corps does a great thing of hooking us up with either a PC or embassy staff member for some good old turkey, stuffing, and football. Kaitlyn and I had dinner at a foreign service person's house. Fascinating life, next year she'll spend learning Russian so she can serve in Moscow for the following three years.
The last few weeks have been great fun spent with the other volunteers. All are very fun and interesting people. Especially our group of course. However, it's going to be a rough transition back to living among Nicaraguans, no air conditioning, and speaking Spanish. It's astonishing how quickly a foreign language can deteriorate.
Hope all is well back home and everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We missed you all.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Pictures!
Here is a picture of Alex and me with my host family.
This is a picture of kids from my youth group.
For one of our projects we made planters for the school out of bambú!
This is the view from the mirador of our new pueblo.
Yes, that is a volcano in the background.
This is a group of us at the Laguna de Apoyo, the water filled volcano.
Here is picture of me and my
awesome hamock that Alex got me for
my birthday! We will be spending a lot of time in these.
Here is Alex and his hammock. Yes, I am now "Alejandro".
Alex and the guys of Nica 45 Environment.
Notice that there are only 4 of them in our group. (R-L: Cris, Alex, Shunpei, and Jason)
Me and the girls of Nica 45 Environment.
We are pretty much the best group ever :)
Alex and his host family. His little niece has the cutest laugh in the world. Note: Nicaraguans smile all the time, but they usually tend not to in pictures. No, this is not because they believe pictures steal your soul. Rather, they just don't get a lot of opportunities to get pictures taken, so those they do have are a big deal.We hope that you have enjoyed the pictures! The next ones will be from the swearing in ceremony!
Monday, November 5, 2007
Our Site Visit
Well, we have just returned from our one week site visit. Our town is rather large, beautiful, and clean! Needless to say that we were kind of in shock when we arrived because the town is really so progressive and has so many great programs that we we wondering what we were doing there. The first day we went to meet our host family. We have a Mom, a Dad, a sister who lives there and two brothers who do not live there. One of the brothers actually married a Peace Corps volunteer a few years ago. You would be surprised how often that happens in Peace Corps Nicaragua. The family was really nice and accommodating and they taught us how to make gallo pinto, the national food of Nicaragua (basically fried rice and beans). We have to live with the host family for 6 weeks and then we will FINALLY be allowed to move into our own house so we expect visitors!
On Monday, we went to visit our multigrado schools, which are all located in the campo. While our town is clean, beautiful, and wealthy in comparison to the rest of Nicaragua, the campo surrounding the town was extremely poor. I was in shock at how poor the little towns were and the living conditions of the people. I know we have been prepared for this but it really hit me hard that first day in the schools. The second and third days we went to visit our other schools. My farthest school is a little over an hour away on foot and there is no other way to get there but walk. Alex borrowed a bike to get to his far schools but it still took about an hour or so. Usually the roads are so poor and full of holes that it impossible to navigate even on a bike. Besides visiting our schools, we also visited the mayor, the police, the ministry of education, the library, and a local NGO. We are going to have a lot to do these next few years.
We are in our last week of training in the pueblos. Next week go to Managua for a week and then we officially swear in as PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS. We stay in Managua for a week to attend a conference and then on Nov. 23 we officially go to our sites. That is all the news I have for now and I promise to update pictures when I have 5 spare hours because it really takes that long. Miss you all!
On Monday, we went to visit our multigrado schools, which are all located in the campo. While our town is clean, beautiful, and wealthy in comparison to the rest of Nicaragua, the campo surrounding the town was extremely poor. I was in shock at how poor the little towns were and the living conditions of the people. I know we have been prepared for this but it really hit me hard that first day in the schools. The second and third days we went to visit our other schools. My farthest school is a little over an hour away on foot and there is no other way to get there but walk. Alex borrowed a bike to get to his far schools but it still took about an hour or so. Usually the roads are so poor and full of holes that it impossible to navigate even on a bike. Besides visiting our schools, we also visited the mayor, the police, the ministry of education, the library, and a local NGO. We are going to have a lot to do these next few years.
We are in our last week of training in the pueblos. Next week go to Managua for a week and then we officially swear in as PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS. We stay in Managua for a week to attend a conference and then on Nov. 23 we officially go to our sites. That is all the news I have for now and I promise to update pictures when I have 5 spare hours because it really takes that long. Miss you all!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Site Visit
Just wanted to share a quick story from last week´s visit to our site:
During one of my school visits, I was completely exhausted by my the few hours there. I spent the school day, between 8 and 12, being literally pulled in all directions. The students insisted that they show and explain every tree, plant, and object in the schoolyard. They insisted that I play soccer and baseball, and afterwards that they be allowed to clean my shoes because they were muddied. During class they insisted that they needed my assistance with their classwork, as I spent the morning literally being pulled from one desk to the other. After school they insisted that I visit their homes, where I was welcomed with more warmth then I've ever experienced entering a house. There they filled my hands with bags of the few snacks they sell out of their home, as well as a soda, since you gringos are not used to this heat...true.
These are the moments of enjoyable culture shock. The contrast between these people´s utter poverty and their unrivaled generosity is truly amazing. It is hard for someone coming from the states to comprehend these things, since in the back of our minds we can't help but wonder how someone so poor can be so kind, welcoming, and generous.
During one of my school visits, I was completely exhausted by my the few hours there. I spent the school day, between 8 and 12, being literally pulled in all directions. The students insisted that they show and explain every tree, plant, and object in the schoolyard. They insisted that I play soccer and baseball, and afterwards that they be allowed to clean my shoes because they were muddied. During class they insisted that they needed my assistance with their classwork, as I spent the morning literally being pulled from one desk to the other. After school they insisted that I visit their homes, where I was welcomed with more warmth then I've ever experienced entering a house. There they filled my hands with bags of the few snacks they sell out of their home, as well as a soda, since you gringos are not used to this heat...true.
These are the moments of enjoyable culture shock. The contrast between these people´s utter poverty and their unrivaled generosity is truly amazing. It is hard for someone coming from the states to comprehend these things, since in the back of our minds we can't help but wonder how someone so poor can be so kind, welcoming, and generous.
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