One Month as an official Peace Corps Volunteer and...

Entonces, I have one month as an official Peace Corps Volunteer and I have not changed the world for the better, I do not speak fluent Spanish, I have not found a house of my own, I’m having difficulties with my main colleague, I broke a tooth and had to travel to Managua to have it repaired, I was sick with parasites, again, I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be doing, I was pickpocketed, when inquiring about the cost of things I feel as if there is always a price that’s just a little bit (sometimes a lot) higher than what is customary, and to be honest, I always have one question on my mind....What am I doing here? I was talking to a friend about these things and she said, “Well, you signed up for this”. Yes, before all of you agree with my friend out there, I realize I volunteered for the Peace Corps and I knew there were going to be challenges, hardships, loneliness, difficulties with the language and culture, sicknesses and on and on. I knew this and I volunteered anyway. So here I am and I have nobody to blame but myself. How does the saying go? Be careful what you ask for....
When I first arrived to Jinotega, one month ago, I, along with other Peace Corps Volunteers, worked with a group of doctors from the US. We went along and translated for the doctors and nurses and I was able to do some dentistry. It was great. We had to be up around 5:30 and we returned to Jinotega around 6. We traveled around to the outlying communities and worked with some really great people. I was actually able to translate and felt pretty good when someone called me over to translate and I could actually do it. I felt like Peace Corps was the right choice and I was going to be all right. Then, the medical brigade left. During this time we had what’s called a Jornada de Vacunas. This is where the doctors and nurses from the Health Center here in Jinotega go to the outlying communities and vaccinate people. This is something I was really interested in doing and I set out for the health center Monday morning at 5:50 AM; it’s a 10 minute walk from where I am living to the health center. I waited for everyone to load up the trucks, said hello to people I had previously met and was introduced to a myriad of new people. I wasn’t sure what I was going to be doing this day but I was excited. It turns out I went along with two of the health center employees. Our job was to go to the outlying communities and make people aware of when and where the doctors and nurses were coming and who should be vaccinated. This involves riding around in a truck with two seriously loud speakers on top announcing this information and posting signs. We did this all day over some seriously rough terrain. Think dirt roads with ruts, rocks, streams, mud and the mountains of Jinotega. Now, I was okay with this as it gave me the opportunity to see some beautiful country. Jinotega is the center of coffee country in Nicaragua and has a mountainous terrain with some of the communities having very cool climates. One day, I only took off my long sleeve shirt for about 2 hours in the middle of the day; the rest of the day was a little chilly. It also gave me the opportunity to see and meet the farmers of these large coffee plantations. These are very poor, humble people that always offered us coffee, beans, tortillas and cuajada to eat. I was never hungry. The guys I was working with were also given big bunches of bananas cut right off the tree and carrots the size of which I had never seen. Great people. I was a little bored as I was just really riding in the back of the truck and not doing a lot. We stayed out each day until about 7 o’clock at night. I was exhausted when I returned home. To cure my boredom on these trips I started taking pictures of some of the people. Now, at first the people were shy so I couldn’t just go up and start taking pictures. I would show them my camera and show them a picture I had previously taken and then ask if they wanted their photo taken. I was amazed at how popular I became. The kids in every community loved the camera and laughed when I showed them their picture; even if they did not smile for the photo, which is a cultural thing here. Here in the mountains I got to see how the farmers live and it’s a far cry from Managua and other major cities in Nicaragua.
During this time I was also trying to find a place to live, find my way around Jinotega, work on some of the required work I have to do within these first few months of service, study Spanish, take part in some of the cultural fiestas, figure out how to start working with the other NGO’s and the schools here in Jinotega and basically figure out what a PCV does. I am the first Health PCV here in Jinotega so I have to blaze my own path. I don’t get to pick up where someone else left off. Also, my main colleague in the health center has never worked with the Peace Corps before and we are still trying to figure that one out. He is a very nice guy that means well and wants the best for our working relationship...it’s just a little strained right now while we define roles. The Jornada continued but it continued without me for some days because I believe in the mountains I picked up my second parasite.
Not a whole lot to tell here and I won’t be that descriptive. I started having some of the same symptoms I did with the last parasite/bacterial infection I had but I didn’t feel nearly as bad; I could actually leave my bed. So, I picked up some antiparasite meds and started the 6 day course. I felt better within 3 days and was back to my normal self in 8 days. Parasite gone with no obvious signs of a bacteria. During this same time my tooth broke, or an old filling broke taking some tooth with it or some variation of both or one or the other. Believe me, I was in my mouth with flashlight and explorer trying to figure out which. The good thing is I did not have any pain. From my self evaluation, my tooth was on the verge of needing a crown so I called the PC office and scheduled a dental appt. I arrived in Managua, where it has been 98 degrees everyday for the past 2 months, this is the hottest, driest time of the year, where I was surrounded by taxi drivers who began asking, “A donde va chele?”. “Where are you going whitey?” Being in Managua can be a good thing but with a parasite, broken tooth, 98 degree temperatures, being called whitey and trying to be charged those special prices reserved for cheles; this was not one of those times. Long section of the story short, I visited the dentist and she prepped tooth #30 for a resin inlay and cemented it the next day. She was very professional, used top of the line materials, gave profound anesthesia, and I was very satisfied with her overall; this is what I reported to the PC as they asked me to evaluate her. Okay, on to the pickpocket.
This weekend was our fiestas patronales. These are big parties which celebrate the patron saint of the town. We had parades, horses, bands, mass at La Peña de la Cruz ( the cliff of the cross), bull riding and a big festival Saturday night. I went to the bull riding and festival Saturday night with 7 or 8 other PCV’s. I was told to be very careful as there would be people coming in from everywhere and a lot of people drinking. I was also told that a lot of people got pickpocketed so to not bring things of value...cell phone, wallet. I listened and only brought a little bit of cash and my debit card; I had to bring that as I did not have any cash and had to go to the bank before going to the festival. I did however have on cargo pants where the pockets buttoned down and the buttons where on the inside flap of the pocket; not visible from the outside. I felt pretty safe but was still cautious. As I was standing in line (read people pushing and shoving and elbowing each other for 15 minutes, until I decided I was never going to make it to the ticket counter and decided we should try to buy our tickets at the gate), I felt someone trying to reach into my pocket. I immediately brought my hand down on his and turned to look this would be thief in the eye. He tried a couple more times but I kept my hand there and felt him each time. I left the line with my money, debit card and the feeling that I made the right choice in pants and would be able to feel a would be pickpocketer. However, after leaving the bull riding ring and trying to get into the stadium where the festival was there was a huge crowd pushing and shoving, much worse than before and it was all I could do to stay on my feet a couple of times. After we entered the stadium I went to retrieve my money from my pocket and noticed the button undone and the pocket was open. I stuck my hand in to find it was empty. They got me. The second guy apparently was much better than the first because I never saw, heard or felt anything. The only good thing is that he did not get much money and I was able to have my card blocked before he could make any charges. I called the PC Safety and Security Coordinator and he handled everything for me, even putting the stolen money back right away. It was only 5 dollars but here it’s 100 cordobas and it’s lunch at a nice restaurant, with drink, dessert and money left over to buy a DVD on the street. And it was my 100 cordobas. Almost all the people with me said they had been pickpocketed before and some of them lost cell phones. The safety and security officer stated it had happened to him too. Next time I won’t bring my debit card and I wont’ put my money in my pockets; maybe my shoe? Here, all the women carry their money in their bras and it’s normal to see a woman before she pays for something reach in to her bra to retrieve her money; some of the PCV’s do the same. When in Rome...right?
Well, these are some of the experiences I’ve had so far this month. I still am not sure what an effective PCV is and sometimes I do wonder what I’m doing here. The good thing is not all my experiences have been difficult or negative. I’ve also had some really good experiences and the good thing about good experiences, at least for me, is that one good experience is worth more than x number of bad experiences. However, they can also be personal and difficult to put into words. So, while I may think and occasionally question out loud, What am I doing here?, it’s only because the moments I think I know what I’m doing here can be fleeting and difficult to share. I’ll try anyway but not with words. I’ve included some of my favorite photos I took while traveling in the mountains. I have looked at some of these pictures many times since taking them and yes, I did sign up for this.