2010 update

the new year has really just begun for me, I’ll call December and January a “lull” in my peace corps service, as it is summer vacation at the schools and at best I can say I was bored, at worst it was nearing melancholy. The transition from 2009 to 2010 has really been pulling at all of my emotional and irrational strings. It ended and began in saying adios to my students, a wild trip to the beach, a bittersweet trip back to New York, a final upheaval of our entrepreneurship curriculum, the end of a tumultuous relationship and now finally the dust is starting to settle.
In talking business, January brought lots news for the small business program here in Nicaragua. The ministry of education has finally adapted peace corps’ entrepreneurship course (formerly called “la empresa creativa”) into the national curriculum. This means that every senior in every high school in Nicaragua will be required to pass a course entitled entrepreneurship in order to graduate. It has been the goal of the small business program since the inception of La Empresa Creativa, so we all feel the excitement. It doesn’t really impact my work, aside from the fact that I am working with older students (which after 2 weeks of classes is proving to be a blessing; seems that the extra two years of school bring with them a maturity that any teacher can be thankful for…ie. I don’t want smash my head against a wall after each class). Fortunately I am working with my same counterpart from last year. We haven’t really gotten into the swing of things as she was out of town for a workshop during the first week of actual classes, but that just gave me some quality time with the kids.
Also, at the end of January Peace Corps held a 3-day leadership and entrepreneurship camp for our students. Each small business volunteer got to bring 2 students to Selva Negra, a hotel/nature reserve/organic farm about 15 miles south of my city. I co-facilitated 2 sessions, one on Leadership and what defines a leader, and the other on good listening skills and maintaining a positive attitude. All of the kids seemed to have a great time. For many it was the first time they were away from their parents overnight, or away from their hometown in general. There was even a campfire complete with s’mores ingredients on hand.
This was the first week of classes at the adult school I work at, so we are just working on introductions at this point. No updates there, aside from the fact that I am happy to be back.
I have laid the groundwork of what could be a really fun side project for me. At the end of January one of my bosses came up to Jinotega for me second site visit. While she was here she wanted to observe a class/workshop/training, and since my classes at the high school hadn’t begun, I worked with a local NGO and had a session with a group of high school and college girls. A few girls approached me after the session expressing their interest in continuing, so now I am working on making it a series of marketing workshops.
The weather is getting HOT here in Jinotega, and supposedly just going to get hotter as the summer wears on. I guess the cool mountain air couldn’t stick around forever, I am in central America and should probably get used to the heat, though the browning mountainsides aren’t nearly as comforting a sight as the lush green of November. I used to go for walks when I was stressed or needed to clear my head, but now the outdoors just aren’t as appealing. Rumor has it there is a pool in Jinotega, so I am on a mission to check that out.

be on the lookout for a video tour of jinotega, i'll be posting it soon.