After 4 days in Managua

My Spanish conversational skills are increasing dramatically. When they say you are going to be taking an intensive Spanish course, they mean INTENSIVE. I feel like I've spoken more Spanish in the last 4 days than in my entire life, and that's after living 9 years in Watsonville. After talking with my teachers and a lot of the people that I meet at the Spanish school about CAN and my project I've regained a lot of my ambition. They all seem to be genuinely interested in what I’m doing with the coffee cooperative. My teachers are wonderful; and having one on one instruction with somebody who will focus on your weaknesses is incredible. Right now I'm a level II speaker, but by the end of two weeks they've said that I will probably excel past level III. The school also offers a lot of activities that they guide you on. They are really concerned with our safety, and will even accompany us to the supermarket if they think it might be even the slightest bit dangerous. After being too nervous to wander around my neighborhood too much, I finally went to the grocery store today with one of the employees from the school, and got to buy Q tips at last, which was a relief. I didn't bring any toiletries other than a toothbrush, and a tiny bit of toothpaste. I have been showering for the past few days only using shampoo from an almost empty bottle that I found in my bathroom. So, it was in everyone’s best interest that I go to the grocery store. I was also able to finally buy mosquito repellent. I didn’t have it before, and the mosquitoes have been having a feast. Apparently my sweet foreign blood is a delicacy for Nicaraguan Mosquitoes.

I went on one of the activities that the school offers with a couple of other students from the School. We went to a little town called Catarina, which is about a 40 minute bus ride from the city. In Catarina we visited a ceramicist, and watched him throw a pot on a wheel right in front of us. It was really neat, and I ended up buying two small souvenirs from the place for 5 dollars. We then went to the main attraction of the city which is an amazing view of a giant lake surrounded by a mass of the most vivid green trees. It was beautiful, and a necessary change from the crowded dirty city. Afterward, we went to a small stand and bought some refresco de pitalla, which is a delicious ruby red fruit drink. On the taxi ride back from Catarina one of the other students told me an interesting story. On the first day they were here some older man came onto the bus they were on and started robbing people with a machete, taking their jewelry and such. They said everyone started screaming and running out of the bus until some guys pushed the old man off. Apparently, this student also has to keep a blog of their trip but refused to post this story, which I think, is silly.

My host family is really amiable. I get three meals a day, a large room with a fan, and my own bathroom. They let me keep to myself, but they are always welcoming when I decide to be social. I have also noticed that they give me the largest portions, and they don’t let me wash my dishes (although, sometimes I do when they aren’t looking). Every night my host mom, my host brother Ernesto, and I all sit together to watch Spanish wheel of fortune. Although I’m never able to guess the phrases on the show, it’s still really nice.

Tomorrow I will be taking a trip to Granada. I’m excited to get out of this city again. So far I have liked everyone that I have met in Managua, but the city itself is awful. Coming up, I’m going to go on another activity to climb some volcano, and also on Saturday I am going to a nature reserve called El Chocoyero. Overall, I’m feeling a lot better than when I first arrived. My spirits are higher, and during the day when I’m able to distract myself with everything that’s going on, I don’t feel as sad or anxious (even though it does creep up here and there). It’s really at night when I’m alone and have time to dwell that I get really despondent and I miss my ex the most. I know that if I could be sharing these experiences with her they would be even greater and meaningful.

-Levi Sharpe

fter 4 days in Managua

First day in Managua

After an uncomfortable flight having been sat next to a hulk of man who could have easily taken up a seat and a half on his own, a three hour layover in Huston, and an even longer sleepless flight, I finally made it to Managua. As soon as I walked out of the plane into the airport I could feel the humidity creeping in from outside. I was immediately drenched in sweat. This would be my state for the rest of the day. I got my luggage and found the taxi driver that was waiting to take me to the host family that was assigned to me by the Spanish school that I will be attending for two weeks. I hopped in his cab, which luckily had no seat belt, because I was about to be taken on one of the most nerve racking cab rides of my life. The traffic in Managua is a controlled chaos where everyone is tacitly playing a game of chicken with everyone else. The soothing sounds of car horns fills the air and semi trucks come so close to you that you can practically give the driver a high five. I chatted with the taxi driver to take my mind off of his (and the entire city’s) driving habits. He asked me how I was doing, and I told him that I was tired and a bit depressed. I explained to him that I had to end a relationship before coming to Nicaragua. He told me not to worry because there were plenty of beautiful women in Nicaragua, and that I would soon forget about this other girl. I replied that I wasn’t really looking for finding a beautiful woman in Nicaragua and that I didn’t want to forget her. Him and his girlfriend who was in the front seat just laughed. He then told me about the importance of learning the obscenities in Spanish, and going to discotheques.

Upon arriving at my host family’s house, I was fed immediately. The food was decent: some fish, some avocado, and some rice with peas. I finished my plate and accepted seconds, because that’s how I was raised. After a while of relaxing, playing banjo, and contacting people to let them know that I was safe, they drove me to the Spanish school. I talked to the Spanish school’s director and was put though various tests. He said that I was some kind of anomaly who has advanced Spanish understanding and conversational skills, but a very poor basic foundation. I will have an 8:00am-12:00pm intensive Spanish course daily for two weeks. The rest of the day was spent running errands with my host family, having beans and rice for dinner, and watching Nicaraguan wheel of fortune.

As I’m sitting here writing this blog there are a variety of wild noises outside my room ranging from something clawing at my roof, to that thing that was clawing at my roof falling off the roof with a loud screech and thud, to howling, to stomping, to the continuous revving of car engines. There are also perpetual random downpours which strike hard and fast. They happen more at night, but I experienced this earlier as I was walking back home from the Spanish school and had gotten lost for a bit (there are no street signs, and everything looks the same) sometime in the afternoon. Just as I was getting really flustered and annoyed at my self, the sky suddenly opened up and I was drenched; but, instead of making things worse, in this humidity it was welcome. Although, because there are parts of the street that are full of trash, the rain can make it smell like a dump, which as you can imagine is not very pleasant

As of right now I’m feeling lonesome, sleep deprived, and disheartened. I have left the country three times prior to this, but never before had I been more reluctant to leave than this time. Being forced to prematurely end my relationship has indeed crushed some of my ambition for my project, especially when it was at the cost of something so precious to me. It was extremely difficult for me to tear myself away from her to walk through the doors of the SFO airport a lonely dejected mess, not knowing how long it would be before I would be able to see her again, or how communication would continue. I am hopeful that I will soon be able to muster up some drive and fight the apathy that has overcome me. I have decided the best thing to do is to focus completely on my tasks at hand, making sure that my social networking project doesn’t fall through (something that has been a constant worry of mine), and also doing well in my intensive Spanish course. Overall, given the circumstances I consider today to have been a very good day, and there is definitely a part of me that is excited to see how the rest of this trip pans out, especially when I begin working on my main project with the UCA San Ramon Coffee Cooperative in Matagalpa.

I know Kerry wanted the interns to write down some expectations, but I’d rather just keep an open mind to whatever comes at me. However, the definite expectation that I had about not being able to have a warm shower has been confirmed.

p.s. I apologize if this entry has been very disorganized, I’ve never written a blog before and I haven’t slept in a day.

-Levi Sharpe