don´t worry... i am still alive and well...

Dear Family and Friends,

This is a very very overdue email from me, but it is finally here! The last few months have gone by very quickly and have been very busy. Overall, all is well and life is good in El Sauce.

Lets see, where to begin…. In May I had my first visitors here in Nicaragua, Stacy and Jessica came just for a few days, but it was great to see someone from home. We made a crazy trip around the country in just 3 days… anyways, I think they had a good time.

After Stacy and Jess left, my parents came to visit just a couple weeks later. They were here for 10 days… and they were very hot days. They did a great job considering everything.. they were troopers. Even when the police kept stopping my dad on the road, but don’t worry, its no big deal, happens all the time here. They spent most of their time here in Sauce visiting my schools and meeting some friends, all that good stuff.

Then, a few weeks after my parents left I have another group of visitors! A bunch of my friends from college came for about 2 weeks and it was wonderful! We rented a car and spent time on the beach in a nice beach house and then traveled around the country a bit. It was so nice to see everyone and find out how everyone’s lives are going. I am thinking there should be a friend’s reunion every year in Nicaragua…

Since then I have been very busy with work stuff. The class I teach with other teachers at the local high school, La Empresa Creativa, is going pretty well. Last week I help plan an event for 150 people at a local high school. Throughout the year, the students in my class have developed their own small businesses. They have gone through all the steps in the development of their idea, from thinking of a new creative and innovative idea, doing a market study, organizing their finances, and actually producing their product, writing their own business plan, etc. Last week I have 20 students groups present their plans in front of a panal of judges. It was a great competition and I was very proud of my students. It was also one of the most stressful things I have ever done.. planning an event in Nicaragua is not as easy as it sounds. Anyways, the winning groups go on to compete in Leon, and they are very excited. Hopefully, I will post some pictures of the competition soon.

I presented the winning groups their certificate on Sept 15, which it’s the national Independence Day here in Nicaragua and most of Latin America. It is quite an event. The school bands and dance teams perform at the local stadium and pretty much the entire town shows up to watch. Its kinda like the band and dance team at a high school football game, only Nica style. Anyways, everyone loves it and likes to celebrate the national holiday. It also means there is vacation for most of the week. J so I am relaxing, visiting people around town, and cleaning the house (which is never clean, no matter how much I try)

Now I only have a couple months left until the school year is over. Also, the rainy season is in full swing and I am hoping there will not be any evacuations. I also seriously hope that The president here does not follow the footsteps of the president of Bolivia (kicked out the US ambassador and PC volunteers had to leave), because I am not ready to leave yet. I have about 10 months left in Peace Corps and I would like to finish my time here. After Peace Corps, I still don’t know what I will do, but whatever it is, I am sure it will but another crazy idea of mine J I will keep everyone in suspense.

While I am not teaching, hosting friends and family, and planning events, I have also been working on other projects around town. I have been helping with various tourist projects around town. I am helping in the training of a group of tour guides, helping in a business plan competition to win $10,000 for a local community, teaching computer classes, teaching english here and there, and helping with other projects. Its all going pretty well.

I will not be coming home for Christmas this year, unless of course some wants to throw some frequent flyer miles my way, but I will be home in February for the wonderful fabulous wedding of my cousin Maryann and Alejandro… can’t wait! Anyways, until then, I will be just hanging out and working here…

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoyed the hot summer months. I would love to hear how you are all doing!

Besos! Irene