Oh what a week it was...

Maybe it has actually been two weeks or more since I have last posted. Sorry but it has been extremely busy, this blog will be quite long to make up for it. So there are going to be three parts to the blog...

Tech Days- this is where I went to visit a volunteer for four days and learned what I will be doing as a volunteer.

Flooding in Nicaragua- this is where we got evacuated from Esteli and got hooked up in a nice hotel in Managua for four days.

Site Assignment- Yes I know where I will be living for the next two years...read below to find out.

TECH DAYS
So tech days is an opportunity that we have to go visit a volunteer for four days and we get to actually participate in stuff we will be doing as volunteers. For my tech days I went in a group of eight people to a town called La Chinea. The rumor that I heard is that it gets its name because some farmers were plowing a field and the found some old China handmade plates hidden in the soil. Thus, when other people were saying where they were going it was the place they found the China, which in spanish is La Chinea.

So during these tech days the volunteers site is right near a twenty foot wide stream that we got the joy of crossing atleast four times per day. This was not funny as I did not have good footwear for this and as it rained everyday the river got higher and more rapid as the days went on. To top it off six out of the eight of us came down with some bacteria, and yes I was one of the lucky six. So I had the joy of 4 days of diaharria. Luckily it is all better now and I am back to 100% healthwise.

So back to the tech days, during these days I learned a lot of useful information for my job. Including how to build ovens (yes oven that use wood not electrical) that use less wood. One oven we made cost a whole $20 and the other we just used dirt, thus it was free. Both oven took a full day to build and were quite interesting structures. (If you want more information most a comment and I will add more detail next time.) After that we worked with some youth groups and made some organic insecticides and fertilizers.

FLOODING IN NICARAGUA
As some of you are starting to hear on the news Nicaragua is having some SEVERE flooding. It literally has rained here for the past two weeks or more. Included in these rains were two tropical storms. Thus all PC personnel in the north were evactuated for four days to the capital Managua. It was actually kind of funny because all four days we were in Managua it was sunny, however up here in the north it continued to rain. Well we returned to Esteli on Thursday and are back living with our families. However it continues to rain here everyday and like I said there is severe flooding, mudslides and lots of roads have been washed out.

How does this affect me? It really hasnt effected me much except the sky is always gray, I always have my rain jacket and my shoes are always muddy. Where we are in Esteli there hasnt been much damage per say. Most of the damage and true flooding is still to the north of us in Chinendaga and other cities. The sad part is that three out of the four hats I brought with me have started to mold, yes it is truly a sad day. Luckily my Nica mom is coming to the rescue and has washed them to get rid of the mold. They should be back in business once they dry...which could be another month.

So now to the exciting part....

MY SITE ASSIGNMENT!!!
Before I say my site I want to go into the process a little. First what happens is we have a meeting where we learn of all the possible sites. We get to see pictures of all the sites and get a page on each site describing the site, weather, projects and etc. We then list our top three and have an interview with the person in charge of all the Ag Volunteers in Nica. At this meeting we talk about our qualification and previous experience. This is also where we lobby for the site we really want. Well there were 21 sites and 21 volunteers (however we have one married couple so only 20 sites are going to be used). Thus after the interview the Ag Director goes back and puts all the puzzle pieces together and 3 days later we know where we will be living for the next two years.

So without further a do....I will be spending the next two years in La Trinidad, Nicaragua. La Trinidad was my number one choice for many reasons. First, it is only 10-15 minutes from where I am living now. Thus I can visit my host family whenever I want and I am also only 30 minutes away from the city of Esteli. While the city of Esteli isnt the prettiest city, I have become very well acquainted with it and I like spending some time here. It is where I use the internet and also have a PC office so I can meet other volunteers here. I am also excited because I have another person in my training group who will be only 2 kilometer or 1.5 miles from where I am living.

Second reason while my site is perfect is that there is currently a volunteer at the site. There were only five sites to choose from where we will be immediately replacing a volunteer and La Trinidad is one of them. Thus I have some projects already set up for me and also more importantly I have a house set up for me. This is awesome because I can buy the bed and all that other stuff off the current volunteer and not worry about having to haul new stuff to my site. (Did I mention that the method to haul stuff is on top of a school bus?) Another nice thing is that the house has fruit trees and other amenities already growing so I will get the fruit of others labor. Third reason, the projects that are set up involve agribusiness which is right down my alley. The major project right now is exporting red beans to Costa Rica or the US. Now that doesnt seem like much but right now the process involves around 4 middle men and the community wants to eliminate all four of these middle men. So needless to say it should be interesting.

So yeah it has been an exciting two weeks and on top of that I have realized that I can hold conversations in Spanish, so it has been productive too. I will try to update this blog more frequently from now on but no promises. And remember if you have any questions you can always email me (hollinsj@gmail.com).

In closing a little something to think about...Payless Shoes Store is expensive down here!