On Wednesday, I found out about my site assignment! I found out that I would be placed in the department of Matagalpa, in Nicaragua's cooler, coffee-growing region. My hypothesis is that if I were a Nicaraguan department, I would be Matagalpa. There's waterfalls, hiking, coffee plantations, feminist and indigenous rights organizations, Mexican food, and German beer. I'll be co-planning and co-teaching in three different schools here, and that I'll be spending the next two years converting this hypothesis into a theory. The region was also very politically active during the war between the leftist Sandinistas and the U.S.-backed contras. It's the birthplace of Carlos Fonseca, the founder of the FSLN (The Sandinista Party). I also came to find out that there are a lot of organizations doing social justice work. There's at least one feminist organization and an indigenous rights organization. There's a lot of work to be done and I'm super excited for it.
I had been hoping to work in a place with a relatively high level of tourism, thinking (and hoping) that I would be placed somewhere near Granada. Since I am interested in working in the tourism industry myself, I will have the opportunity to network with different tourism companies, as well as teach tourism-based English classes. There's a lot of coffee farming and eco-tourism going on. There's a need for people to learn English in order to communicate with those who come here to contribute to the economy, either for coffee-producing or touristic purposes.
Next Week I will be meeting my counterpart teachers for a training in Managua on Monday, then I will be spending the rest of a week visiting my site by myself. I'll be meeting my new host family soon, who I will permanently move in with on November 8th. Since I applied to the Peace Corps in August of 2012, I'm relieved and happy to finally know where I will be living and learning for the next two years. During my placement interview, I had basically listed out the qualities that I wanted in a site that pretty much matched up with Matagalpa perfectly. I didn't think that any of us would be placed in this department, but when I first heard the word "Matagalpa" during my site assignment, I was in shock. I couldn't believe it, but everything works out for a reason. I'll also need to buy another sweater or two, since all I brought was one fleece sweater. The temperatures sometimes even drop to a whopping 50 degrees here! I'm very grateful to everyone who helped out with the matching process, and I'm excited to host loved ones so I can share this country's beauty with them!
I had been hoping to work in a place with a relatively high level of tourism, thinking (and hoping) that I would be placed somewhere near Granada. Since I am interested in working in the tourism industry myself, I will have the opportunity to network with different tourism companies, as well as teach tourism-based English classes. There's a lot of coffee farming and eco-tourism going on. There's a need for people to learn English in order to communicate with those who come here to contribute to the economy, either for coffee-producing or touristic purposes.
Next Week I will be meeting my counterpart teachers for a training in Managua on Monday, then I will be spending the rest of a week visiting my site by myself. I'll be meeting my new host family soon, who I will permanently move in with on November 8th. Since I applied to the Peace Corps in August of 2012, I'm relieved and happy to finally know where I will be living and learning for the next two years. During my placement interview, I had basically listed out the qualities that I wanted in a site that pretty much matched up with Matagalpa perfectly. I didn't think that any of us would be placed in this department, but when I first heard the word "Matagalpa" during my site assignment, I was in shock. I couldn't believe it, but everything works out for a reason. I'll also need to buy another sweater or two, since all I brought was one fleece sweater. The temperatures sometimes even drop to a whopping 50 degrees here! I'm very grateful to everyone who helped out with the matching process, and I'm excited to host loved ones so I can share this country's beauty with them!