Update Part One: Vacation and Dora

I realize now that it's been two months since posting something, because that's when we went home for vacation. We took Dora with us with visions of parks and tennis balls dancing in our heads. She flew with us in the cabin (she was just barely small enough) and was really good. My favorite travel moment was when the customs screener in Managua arrogantly stuck his hand into Dora's travel crate even though we warned him that there was a dog inside. He felt around, got a terrified look on his face and jerked his hand back which was immediately followed by her head popping out jack-in-the-box style. Otherwise it was an uneventful trip--I think we heard one whimper on the plan but it was totally justified because our ears were popping, too.

 

The first morning Dora woke us up at 7 to go to the bathroom, so we went to the yard (grass!) and I waited. A dog in a neighbor's fenced yard started to go nuts and she got a little scared and tried to run and get away. She ran behind some tall grass at the edge of a retaining wall but didn't know that it dropped off. She fell about 3 feet but landed really awkwardly and started to cry loudly. Dora has a penchant for the dramatic, but we knew this was something serious; she kept crying sporadically until we got her to the vet when they opened about an hour later. 

It turns out that she fractured her leg on the growth plate and that it would have been too complicated to fix at that vet's office. Our choices were to take her to a mega-vet in our same city for surgery or to drive a couple of hours away to the University of Missouri where she'd receive 24-hour student care that would improve her chances of a full recovery. We made the drive and then went back home and worried for the next two days.  We went to pick her up and were surprised that 1) she didn't have a cast (two screws and a pin instead) and 2) her leg was totally shaved and she had a big Clydesdale-style poofball on her foot.

The doctors told us that she would have to recover for eight full weeks. She was only allowed to be out of her crate if she was eating, drinking, using the bathroom, or under direct parental supervision. We're now four days shy of the eight week period and as far as we can tell she has done really well. It's hard to keep her from running, playing, and whining to go on long walks again. We think she's had a full recovery; she doesn't limp or favor her leg at all and seems ready to play and run and jump at full speed as soon as we'll let her.  I'm not sure what this picture says about Dora's recovery but it's pretty cute:

Dora kept us home more than we had planned during the vacation, but we still managed to do the things we wanted while we were there. Barack Obama made a surprise visit to our hometown, and we took that as a sign and made sure we got tickets to go. We had great seats and Obama's glory shone upon us and it was good. 

We also had enough time this trip to see family, friends, and the Cardinals.

Coming up next in the three-part series of updates: The Drug Bust. 

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Sandinista Revolution Day

Today is the 29th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution. It’s a national holiday, and since it’s celebrated on a Saturday this year, we also get Monday off of school. Describing the moment of the revolution in his book Blood of Brothers, Steven Kinzer says:

All during July 19 and 20, battalions of jubilant Sandinistas poured into Managua. The youth and idealism that radiated from their faces was a perfect counterpoint to the aura of corruption and venality that hung over Nicaragua for so long. By the tens of thousands, people poured from their homes to greet the conquering guerrilla heroes, to hug them and shower them with gratitude.

The last 29 years have been pretty rough on the young Sandinistas, turning them into, at the very least, old(er) Sandinistas. Our caddy-corner neighbors are still pretty enthusiastic and every year they throw a gigantic party for the entire neighborhood. This is the first year that we’ve been here to experience it because we only moved to this house last September. On Thursday another neighbor flagged me down and advised me of the upcoming festivities and suggested that if we had somewhere else to sleep we should go there. That the party is remarkable should have been enough to get us out of the house since even mundane Nicaraguan holidays warrant some very fierce revelry. Of course we didn’t heed the warnings and starting at about 5:00 the party preparations began with this giant wall of speakers:

The rest of the night it felt like someone had parked outside our house with a trunk full of subwoofers that caused even the bathroom door at the back of our house to rattle. The party was complete with a big red and black (Sandinista colors) piñata for the kiddies, which seems like the perfect metaphor for Nicaragua. The requisite montón of fireworks was steadily spaced throughout the night to insure that Dora was constantly panicky. Around midnight the rain got too strong and I think forced everyone home, but I was already asleep. This is now proof that I can sleep through anything.

¡Feliz Día de la Revolución!

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Heeeey!

Things that used to seem so out of the ordinary to warrant a post have sort of blended into what is normal for us. This is probably why we haven’t posted in a month. We’ve just been busy with day-to-day stuff.

Our first semester exams finished, which is a stressful time of the year. First, if we’re lucky, we help write the tests. Otherwise, the tests end up with errors and typos and the scoring is really irregular. The tests are then just given based on a schedule. For example, Spanish tests are Monday, Math on Tuesday, etc. Some other teacher is probably going to administer the test so you can’t be everywhere to answer questions and prevent cheating. The tests with cheating are sort of like a game of Telephone—the first student gets it correct and then as the answer ripples out from the epicenter the answers get weirder and worse. To grade the tests, Holly and I usually split the stack with our counterparts, which means grading at least 150 tests.

A sample test:

The final grades are really… depressing; just like in the US, students need 60% to pass, but unlike any school I’ve attended, the students are really happy with just a 60. I helped Romel figure the grades on the computer, so this is what one of my first year sections’ grades look like:

Just under half of the students failed, and the vast majority of students that did pass ended up with a D. No one else seems concerned by this.

In other news, the rains have started. We’ve already passed the point of being quaintly pleased by the coolness that the rains bring and now we’re tired of the rains again. It still doesn’t rain all of the time like in October, but now we have a lot more gray ugly days. The rains are usually announced by the most foreboding clouds ever created.

I also got my bike stolen in June. It was basically my fault, but it still hurts. Really, though, that bike was falling apart, so the joke’s on them. The last picture I have of my bike:

There’s a new group of TEFL volunteers that came exactly a year after we did. They’re still in training now, but it’s almost over, so they know where they’re living already, and one of the new volunteers is going to live in Masaya (shout-out to John’s mom!). He’ll work in the Instituto Central (the biggest school that’s in central park) along with giving community classes at the Telecentro. He’s a really nice guy and it’ll be good to have another gringo around to divert attention away from us. This is the front of John's school where we also have our monthly meetings with all of the English teachers in Masaya (this is recess):Holly decided a while ago that she’s going to go to law school after the Peace Corps and she was busy for all of April, May, and most of June because almost every free minute was spent studying for the LSAT. She took the test and is happy with her score, so the next step is filling out applications and throwing away the 5,000 pages of study materials:Dora is doing just fine. She's still pretty necia, but she's learning "drop it" and "off" so well that she will do those things when we ask about 15% of the time.

Right now we’re on semester break. After the final exams, most students (and teachers) just stopped going to school. We’re officially on break until next Tuesday, so we might try to do something fun this week. Otherwise, we’re just relaxing and getting ready for our trip to the US at the end of the month!

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Mischief Managed

You turn your back for one second and BAM! there goes a roll of paper towels.

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Living la Vida Rica

It’s been a little hard to readjust to regular life when just a week ago we were in Granada staying in a great hotel, eating spaghetti and garlic bread, and having our fill of sangria. Though we originally worried that the strike might ruin my mom and Laura's trip, it probably helped; we rented a car and were able to tourist ourselves through 5 departments here in Nicaragua.

When my mom and sister got in, their bags were bulging with goodies from la USA. It’s been great, but every time Holly and I dig into some trail mix or amazing gouda we can’t help feel a little guilty and spoiled... I say bring on the guilt. Thanks Mom and Laura!

On the first day we went to the zoo and it was just as cool the second time around. Afterward we stopped at a touristy restaurant on the highway overlooking the Laguna de Masaya.

On Friday it was off to Granada. We weren’t sure what to do with Dora so we decided to test our ability to take her just about anywhere, including to the top of a church belltower. It worked spectacularly.

This is a view of Granada’s famous rooftops from the belltower.

On Saturday we drove up Volcán Mombacho to go on the canopy tour; this is a difficult task in a Toyota Yaris, but it's less difficult than having to hike up. One of the guides with us became our official photographer, so now we have plenty of pictures to document our valor and bravery.

In the afternoon we drove down to the Laguna de Apoyo. It's really close to Masaya, but we had never gone down to the bottom before. A rental car with air conditioning was just the motivation we needed.

Dora really enjoyed herself and had her fill of algae.

She was off of her leash and got to run around as she pleased.

Dora took advantage of the extra attention from Laura and my mom, too.

On Sunday we went to San Juan del Sur and stayed at a super nice resort with all kinds of pools and fancy rich people. Somehow Dora was allowed here, too.

We went to one of San Juan's beaches (with Dora, of course). She wasn't as fond of the waves and salt water, instead preferring to stay on high ground.
It was great to travel around and eat amazing food, but after traveling through Carazo and intruducing my mom to my Nica mom, on Monday we had to come back to Masaya. The last meal of the trip--grilled chicken, tejadas, and gallo pinto from Doña Emilina's--was pretty good, too.

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