On the 4th of July, (hopefully you can catch the distain in my writing) all of the trainees met up in Managua for “counterpart day”. What is el dia del contraparte you ask? Well, it’s the first time we meet with the people we will be coordinating with for the next two years. AKA, big deal. So I arrived in Managua at the delightful hour of 9am and met my FOUR counterparts. Why was that capitalized? Because Pedro has officially become a profe. I will be teaching at four different schools in three different municipalities (the Nica equivalent of counties). Four different schools is at the high end for us business volunteers but NO other business volunteer besides, yours truly, has to coordinate between three different school districts. Entonces, on America’s birthday I met with the four principals that will be overseeing my work. Needless to say, I was incredibly nervous of our first impressions. Luckily, they are all wonderful. They are so excited to be working with me and were very helpful.
After planning my weeklong visit, at 6 (AM!) we departed for my future home of Palacaguina on the 5th. I did so much in this past week that it would require numerous posts so I’ll boil it down the main points. First, the volunteer that I’m replacing (Kristen, props to you is you’re reading!) was a rockstar. She was such a great volunteer that I feel intimidated replacing her. Why? Because EVERY school that we visited (four) threw her a despedida (going away party) and me, an impromptu bien venida (welcome party). So, for each of my new four schools I had to give a (unprepared) speech to my future students about how excited I was to work with them and continue Kristen’s great work. How well was this received, you followers may ask? Wonderfully, actually. At every school there was free food, speeches and I even received gifts!! No joke, I had to give TWO interviews to the local news television channels about my job and what I will be doing. I was pretty much treated as royalty because the Nicas are SO gracious and hospitable. These people are so wonderful that I already feel like a member of the community and am stoked to begin my work!
More to come about my new host family and living conditions!
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