Sewing Kit Needed

Since it turns out I do have some internet access up here in Somoto, at least while I’m at the school, I thought I would jump on and do a post because, to be honest, it was sort of an interesting day.

The plan, initially, was that I was going to get a ride up north in one of the Fabretto vehicles because there was a visitor coming from Spain this week. The schedule for his visit, up until yesterday, was to leave from Managua today – Tuesday – and pass through Somoto around lunch. Based on this information, I specifically planned a meeting here with a Peace Corps nutritionist in the afternoon.

In typical Nicaraguan fashion, I found out yesterday, about 20 hours before the meeting, that the Spaniard’s flight has been changed and the car wouldn’t be leaving until Wednesday. Since both my manager and I had meetings scheduled for today, we decided we were going to take the 10:30 am bus up here instead.

Then this morning, AGAIN in typical Nicaraguan fashion, I come to find out that the 10:30 am bus to Somoto that I was planning on taking with my manager did not actually exist. First someone tells us that the only bus to Somoto left at 7:30 am (we are finding this out at 8:45). Then we find out that there is in fact a 9:15 bus (it is now 8:50), so we decide to take that one. We finally get organized to leave around 9:00, and I am still in the car at 9:30, sure that I am going to miss the bus.

When we finally make it to the bus station, it turns out that there is a 9:45 bus to Somoto, so we make it just in time.

Then I split my pants…twice.

In a funny/sad turn of events, I first ripped my jean capris when I was getting out of the car to board the bus. They got caught on something and ripped up the seam from the ankle a few inches. Not a huge deal, but not a very professional look for my meeting.

I get to school and change into black capris instead. Bear in mind, this is now pair 2 of 4 pants I have along for the week.

We then loaded into the pick up truck to pick up the nutritionist. Once we got to Yalaguina where she lived, I moved from the front to the back (because I now love riding in the back of pick up trucks), and as I stepped in, I heard the second rip. This time, it was in a much more embarrassing location than the first, so when we got back, I had to walk awkwardly past about 20 students to change into my third outfit for the day. Thankfully, it is difficult to rip a jean skirt, and also very unlikely that I will destroy all of my pants in one day, so I think I’m safe for now. Still, what a day!

Thankfully the meeting with the nutritionist was a good one. She had some interesting tips on how to add Calcium to the diet (the most interesting of which was sardines – yuck!), and it was good to get her blessing on the work I’ve done so far.

Here’s hoping that tomorrow things go a little more smoothly and my pants remain in tact.