Life in Chinandega aka Chin City aka The Dega...

So I've been here for about 1.5 months now. Everything on the whole is going well. Here's a snapshot of my daily life.

When I wake up around 6:30am its usually a little above 80 degrees. It takes me about 10 min to walk to my health center. Along the way, I pass a stand that sells carne (red meat) from a block of wood. When I get back for lunch around noon its at 95/96 and continues to steadily climb to the 100s until around 2:30/3pm at which point i've produced about a gallon of sweat from every pore in my body. It's nasty and it doesn't stop. There are times when I am literally NOT moving, just sitting and sweating because I have absolutely no energy. Then I prepare dinner. I eat while listening to music and planning for whatever activities I have coming up.

Most of what I've been doing has been in the health center. Some days I help with brigades to surrounding communities  (HIV, General Health, Abate) other days I give Charlas on various topics in the health center, attend meetings, or help with small projects relating to community health.

Next week is the beginning of a few new opportunities - I am going to start giving charlas and doing recreational activities in the Casa Maternas next week. There are usually about 30 women at the Casa Materna all waiting to go into labor. A lot of what I will be doing involves entertaining/educating them until their baby decides to make its debut into this wonderful world. I'm working to develop charlas/activities that use yoga, stretching, and breathing to help with the delivery. I'm also working on stress, self-esteem, and other topics they don't usually discuss. Maybe towards the end of the year i'll have a pregnant ladies group and so these charlas are good practice for some of the work i'll be doing there.

Also, I'll be giving weekly English classes at the Casa de Jovenes. I know a few people (Daddy, Brittany, Lela) are reading this and laughing out loud at the mere thought of me teaching others the English language, but its going to happen and its going to be fabulous!

I'm not sure which is scarier: Convincing 30 pregnant hormonal women to do yoga stretches in 90+ degree weather or Working with 15-20 hormonal teens on their English ABCs, and 123s. I guess I'll find out soon enough!

I've also been trying out different Nica traditional foods. I made gallo pinto, I think I have some room for improvement, but that'll come with time. I also made Guiso de Chayote, Pupusas (which are from El Salvador. but I used Nica cheese…) I plan on trying to make Cuajada next, which is a Nica Cheese similar to mozzarella when its fresh. I also want to learn how to make fried cheese, well I want to learn how to make the cheese that you use to make fried cheese.

Here a photo of my Gallo Pinto:

My biggest Spanish mistake is actually pretty vulgar...i'll say something like "blah blah blah, con yo" when i really should be saying "blah blah blah, conmigo" google it.

Let me know if you have other questions about how I spend my time!