Busy, busy, busy!

Sorry to all for being extremely irregular with our blog posts. These last few months have been really busy with closing out our PC service. To summarize quickly all the picture from the last post...Kaitlyn and I went on a trip to the island of Ometepe, which is a large island formed by two volcanoes in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. It was a great time and we were glad we finally made it to this very popular, yet very tranquilo destination. We also attended the wedding of our of our fellow PC volunteers, which was also a great time as are all the gatherings that bring our group of Nica 45 Env. Ed. volunteers together. The two of us are also in the process of saying goodbye to the teachers and students that we've been working with for two years. The good-bye parties include a treasure hunt and piñata with the students. These have been the saddest good-byes, there is no explaining with words the look of sadness on a kid's face when they realize that they might never see you again.

As of late we have been stressed with planning our second annual HIV/AIDS fair, which went off just last Friday. We put a whole lot of work into the fair this year and it truly paid off.
The fair was much bigger and received much more support and participation than last year. There were sports, music, and dancing competitions. Over 150 HIV tests were administered. We had a band play a concert at night. The community, including the mayor, was very pleased and excited to continue the fair in the following year.

As of today we have exactly 10 days left in Nagarote. It took a while for the fact that we were leaving to sink-in since we have been so busy. There is a strong mix of excitement and sadness in our leaving. We have a 40 day trip to South America, returning to family and friends, going to grad school, and finding a job (hopefully) to look forward to. Yet we are leaving a people, language, and way of life that have become our own for the last two years. Although so much of what we have gained will go with us, it is strange to think that much of what we have learned in the last two years will cease to apply the moment we step on the plane.

Weddings, Trips, Trees, and much more...

Fun at the wedding.

On the ferry to the island of Ometepe, which can be seen in the background.

Parrots...evil parrots...

Maderas volcano on the island of Ometepe.

Evening swimming at Charco Verde on the island of Ometepe.

Monkeys at Charco Verde.

Independence Day parade on Ometepe.

Independence Day parade at the foot of Conception Volcano on Ometepe.

Drawing water from the well on the beach in Salinas Grande.

Getting ready for the pinata.

Giving instructions before the scavenger hunt.

Tree delivery day at school.


Tree delivery day, giving a mango tree to one of my teachers.

Drawing their own island, containing all the natural resources

they would need to survive.

Home-made seed beds.


One of my teachers, now taking the reins and leading a class activity.


Kevin, enjoying the new books.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures and 77 days left!

Thats right! Here are some more fun pictures for your enjoyment. With only 77 days left to go in our Peace Corps service we are taking a lot more pictures and trying to spend more time with people. We also recently attend our COS (close of service) conference where we got to reflect on our experiences here and Peace Corps tried to prepare us to re-enter American life aka get jobs and go to grad school. So we are writing up a lot of reports for Peace Corps, working on resumes and applications, and trying to get things sorted out to say adios. So enjoy some of our last pics from Nicaragua!

Bobby, the dog we share with our neighbors, is just so big now!
Working with two of my buddies from El Recreo.

Everyone loves to play in the dirt :)

Working in the garden at Las Parcelas!

Cleaning up in Las Parcelas!

Pictures

Scariest caterpillar ever!!!

With the kiddies.

More kiddies.

Parent's meeting, where we gathered money to buy a box
to protect dontated story books we received.

The church, one block from our house, that had its roof torn off by the tornado.

100 days to go....

My kids at El Recreo!
Alex the artist at work :)

Me, taking over the world!

Alex and his buddies celebrating teacher's day.

My teachers and me celebrating teachers day.

Yep, that's right! Only 100 more days until the end of our Peace Corps service! After a quick but busy trip back to the states we arrive back in Nicaragua on the tail of a tornado (which ripped plenty of roofs off of houses only a block from our house and caused one death) and ready to plow into our last three months. We will spend the bulk of our time...

-wrapping up our projects at our schools

-transplanting our trees

- planning our AIDS fair

-brushing up on our Spanish to take our exit exam

-writing a lot of reports

-applying to jobs (Alex) and grad schools (Kaitlyn)

-organizing our sports teams (soccer and volleyball)

- attending the wedding of a fellow volunteer to a Nicaraguan

- spending time with friends, Nicaraguan and volunteer

-saying goodbye

-taking pictures

-Getting ready for our backpacking adventure to South America!

Looking back, it is hard to believe that we have made it this far. The finish line is in sight, but we still have plenty to do and plenty to keep us busy until we depart. So wish us luck in these last three months and we look forward to seeing everyone at home again on Dec. 18th after our trip!

World Map Success!

Our World Map Project in the Municipal Library in Nagarote!

Ahhhhh...sweet tangibility

Kaitlyn and I wrapped up a small project last week, just in time before our trip back to the States on the 15th. We completed a mural of the world on an inside wall of our town's library. World maps are popular PC side-projects, especially among education volunteers. Primarily these maps are useful to the community since most classrooms lack the resources of atlases, globes, or large maps. However the project was also successful in promoting artistic creativity among youth as well as developing cooperative relationships among the various groups that came together to make the map project possible. Initially we received permission to use the space from our local mayor and librarian, were given the funds to buy the paint and other supplies from the local sister-city project (Norwalk-Nagarote), and did the actual painting with the help of the teacher and students from the sister-city project's art class. In all it took us three long, hard days to finish, but the results speak for themselves. We were blown away by the hard-work and creativity generated by the art students. As the pictures show, the true essence of the mural lies in the accompanying paintings located above the map that include: the national bird (guardabarranco), nicaraguan flag, and our town's icon the genizaro tree.