Nica home tour

WHO: Essa (aka Vanessa) WHAT: Peace Corps, Environmental Education WHERE: Nicaragua WHEN: Sept '05 - Nov '07 WHY: La vida es un carnaval Got real estate on the mind as I look for a house to move into in 5 weeks. I tell everyone I know I'm looking for a house to rent, but they keep wanting to show me rooms that people rent out. It's hard to get across that I want my own house - mostly they ask "Won't you be scared?", "Won't you be lonely?", "What do you want to do with all that room to yourself?". I'm still hopeful - it's been done before...Interestingly, they charge rent by the Dollar, not the Cordoba. So, to continue with that thread, I thought I'd give you all a home tour of the house I'm currently staying in with Gigglia and her famliy (which has grown since I visited a month ago). Her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend have moved in, so now we number 7 (including me). From the yard - looking east (clean, huh?): From the yard - looking west: The living room Living room:

This is a view from the porch:

My room:My room (on the bottom shelf, you can see a pic of one of Gigglia's nieces that was born in and lives in the States):

This is the bathroom, and though it needs paint - it's clean and that's all that matters! Compared to lots of other bathrooms and latrines I've visited, this is great.

Kitchen:

Kitchen again (I paid 40 cents for that pineapple!)


Gigglia, William, Adiran, Adriana, and Jose's room. (Two are young kids):

The back porch - we have metal workers behind us which was really annoying at first (but not as annoying as the roosters), but I'm getting used to it.

Back yard - the tower is a storage shed and on top is where water is stored - we currently get it every 3-4 days, and have yet to have any real water supply problems. I drink from the tap and haven't had suffered any consequences.


Other view of backyard, today I saw a kid pop his head out of that black water tank (it's empty).

I skipped a few rooms - where Ketel (Gigglia's sister) and Larry, her 6 yr old son sleep. Also, there's an extra room with a TV and ironing board, and they have a storage room. So, with all those rooms, I don't know why they pack so many in one. I guess Gigglia's hoping that Adrian and her boyfriend won't be staying long... Besides looking for housing, I've met lots of people at the mayor's office - the vice-mayor, as well as several engineers that work with the environmental comission. There was also an end-of-year party with the entire env. comission, which was a great opportunity for me to meet everyone - there are representatives from different neighborhoods,NGO's, the dept of health, and the dept of environmental protection. It was kinda awkward at first, but after the meanest game of musical chairs I've ever played (I didn't win), we all loosened up. We had several "dinamicas" is what they call them here - icebreakers, I guess. I have a meeting scheduled with the mayor for Tuesday. Sorry I haven't taken any pics of these folks yet, but it seems too touristy to whip out the camera when I go in for a meeting. I also was invited to the 6th grade promotion of the rural school I will be working with when school starts up again after summer vacation. There were 16 graduates, between the ages of 12 and 16 maybe, from about 5 rural schools. All I can say is that everyone looked uncomfortable with all the formality. No one smiles for photos here - how long does it take a culture to move through that phase? I know we did it in the US for decades, but that was for technical reasons. Some people must, as I often hear people saying "Diga wheeeskey!" (instead of the English "Say cheese!")...but rarely do I hear the photographees say it. A note to potential phone callers - in a brilliant move, I left my cell phone in a taxi, so don't bother calling it. PC will be getting me a new one soon. I'll notify you all of my new number as soon as I get it.