imagine a better job or a better placement with better coworkers. It must be impossible. I hope everyone feels the way I do about my job - it is a pleasure to wake up in the morning and know that I have lots of work to do - but I guess anyone whose job includes visiting homes and receiving hugs and welcoming smiles would love their work. Teaching has also become a small love of my life. My students amaze me everyday - they are so smart and willing to learn that teaching them is a pleasure. In the literacy class we are about to begin a young readers' version of Don Quijote, a book I studied last year. I hope the girls are half as excited about it as I am, it's going to be great! And I can't forget the new soccer team that my roommate and I have organized. Though frustrating and stressful at times (organized practice might be a foreign concept to about 90% of our players), I can't ever forget the love of the game nor the joy with which the girls play. Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking that I have become a 'pro at Gringo-Nicaraguan life' - and then incidents will happen - such as the one yesterday when I was doing laundry and a ginormous tarantula popped out of a t-shirt. I sort of went crazy, running around like a madwoman, texting all my housemates about my mishap and how the wretched thing should die (of which they were tickled because I am normally an animal lover who will go to great lengths to save a grasshopper or moth from being murdered in this house). Nevertheless, I am learning slowly how to live life here - to take things as they come and not to be too bent up on details and timetables (as they generally have to be changed, anyway).
A few days ago I took my first trip on the over packed buses. That could be a post in itself - there was no space for movement as people were honestly on top of each other- I was sort of sitting on a woman's large hip (she was standing up) - and yet I was told to keep moving back. Right buddy... you try it. I was stuck. Beyond the crowds and smells, I actually enjoyed the bus. It is much cheaper than driving, and I get a better feel of the city (or so I think).
In spite of all this, I still find myself missing some of the creature comforts of my life in the United States. For example, this morning I woke up at 4:30 am with an intense craving for muffins. Not any muffins, but muffins from Anne's Cakes, a bakery I helped deliver for this past summer. If you are in Nashville, I highly recommend buying some of the muffins that have been made there - available at JJ's market, Produce Place, Sam and Zoë, Frothy Monkey, and Java - they are absolutely wonderful (yes, I am still craving them months later)! After a half hour of trying to get over my craving, I had to get up to raid the kitchen cupboards to see what I could bake - but to no avail as garbanzo beans and tomato paste would not make the delicious treat I craved. No matter, I'm awake now and blogging away - I was even able to see the sunrise at 5:30! It is unforgettable: breathtakingly beautiful as it comes up over the Managuan valley filled with lush palm trees and lagoons, with tropical birds calling to one another and flashing their bright feathers in the morning air. Amazing. Today is a national holiday for the schools, and we should be on our way to some parades in the near future. It will be fun to see our students and friends in a different setting than the building where we conduct our classes. I am looking forward to it. Until next time, all my best!
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