October 9

Last Wednesday, we were all taken in small groups to visit a current volunteer in his/her site  I went with 4 others to visit in the town of Nagarote, in the department of Leon.  We started out at one of his 4 schools down a dirt road, crossed two large puddles by stepping on the rocks strategically placed by one of the helpful campo fathers.  The school had no electricity because someone stole the cable that ran from the school ( escuela) to the pole, no water because some had stoled the mecate ( rope) that lowered the bucket into to the well and they had replaced it several times, the children used to go to the casa nearby to get water but they found a dead bat in their well so the teachers would not allow the children to do that any more, the preschool classs ( 6 kids) were meeting outside because there was a coral snake in their classroom hiding in the adobe blocks that were stored in there, there were no doors on the letrines ( all outside toilets) so the kids went in pairs and held the doors for each other, there were 4 grades in one classroom ( 3-6), and wasps were swarming around our heads the whole time ( I learned that if you don´t ¨molest¨them, they won´t ¨molest ¨you) , they had workbooks that looked at least 10 years old and do not match the current curriculum the teachers are required to teach, and you know what.......no one was complaining !!!!! It was so wonderful to see how happy the kids were and how well they accepted what they had to work with.  We observed their science class and they all were working.   The PC vol. teaches a natural science class in each school 1 day a week and he has 4 separate lessons to prepare for this one class, and then one for the other 3 schools.  Despite this, he did not have any comlaints.  He is a young fellow, chemistry major, from Miami, Fl.  Hes been here a year and seems very comfortable in his situation.    We spent the day with him, met his counterpart in the school system , a school director, who helped  him get started when he first got there and who continues to help him out with school related needs.   Anyhow, that was a very enlightening experience.  We got a booklet with all the possible sites for our group (  we are called Nica 54) and I have been reading thru that.  There are lots of good places but I think I am going to try to get placed close to Leon so I can take a college class on Saturdays.  I hear there are a lot of colleges/universities in Leon, altho that is one of the hottest parts of Nica.  We´l see.  I don´t really have a choice - I´l get what they give me but I think I would like a small town where I could know a lot of people but still be close to a bigger town where I could continue to learn about Nicaragua´s history, etc. Thats all for now.......more later.  Hot and dry right now, even tho this is supposed to be the wettest month of the year.  Could there be climate change? ......hmmmmm now there´s a thought !!!!