Halfway point...ish

As hard as it is to believe, today marks my six week ‘anniversary’ here in Nicaragua. It’s the halfway point of my 3 month commitment, and it’s a point that I had a hard time imagining 6 weeks ago. Back then, after emerging bleary eyed from a 9 hour day of traveling, I was whisked off to a house in the middle of nowhere with no TV, a toilet that flushed with a bucket, stiff mattresses, and lots of strange dogs. I counted every minute that ticked by on my watch and went to bed at 8 pm feeling exhausted, bored, and overwhelmed. How would I live here for 3 months? Why didn’t I come down to see this place before committing to spending a quarter of a year here?

A lot has happened in 6 weeks though. At home (which is what I now call that house in San Isidro), I have adjusted to Nicaraguan life. I no longer wake up before my alarm to strange noises. I no longer count the minutes before bed because I am usually busy with other things –cooking, dishes, watching a movie on the computer, reading or talking with the roommates and neighbors. I look forward to my cold, low water pressure or bucket showers, probably because I need them so desperately! Most importantly, the simplicity of life that originally bored me is now one of my favorite parts about living here.

I think I’ve also come a long way with my Spanish, especially in the last week. I’ve started thinking and dreaming in Spanish. I move between English and Spanish in conversations, emails, and even on Skype without thinking twice any more. I’ve held meetings for work in Spanish, and I no longer struggle to understand the majority of the Nicaraguans with whom I communicate. I think I realized just how far I’ve come yesterday when I was on a trip with one of my co-workers, someone who has been my friend since the very beginning. I remember when Tania and I went to lunch on my first day. We decided to eat at the restaurant rather than bringing the food back, so for an hour, I struggled awkwardly to make conversation with her. I was having a hard time even communicating the basics and finding the words I wanted in Spanish. Compare that to yesterday, when she and I talked for almost an hour and a half about everything from when I split my pants in Cusmapa to whether or not she wants to have more children. It was a definite sign of progress.

Finally, I feel like I have learned and contributed a lot at Fabretto since I started, and things are getting even more exciting now. I have finally completed my standardized menu, which covers 40-50% of all nutritional requirements for only $0.35 per child. I have visited almost all of our schools and talked to cooks and administrators to understand the current state of the program – what works, and what doesn’t. I’ve also helped lay the groundwork for centralized purchasing. Now comes the exciting part – actually implementing all of these new programs. We are rolling out pilots next week in two of the schools, and we hope to have the new menu in all the schools – about 25 total – by mid- to late March. Then we will start our centralized buying for the second quarter.

So where does that leave me? After 6 weeks here in Nicaragua, I’m ready for 6 more, and then some. I am hoping to extend my leave of absence from work for one more month and stay here until the beginning of May. That way, I can see these projects I’ve started closer to their end, finish all the traveling I want to do, and truly avoid any chance of seeing snow again this winter. I’ll keep you all posted on if and when that gets finalized. As always, I’ll also keep writing as I continue my Nica adventure.