Update

Note- this post is super old! Sorry, I am posting this late but better than never!
 
Hello all, just checking in from the land of lakes and volcanoes;
I did not have class for almost the last 3 weeks because the teachers
were busy assessing the need for education for the illiterate
campecinos.  Known as “el censo” or census, teachers travel daily to
rural outlying communities and gather information about what the
farmers do and do not know.  Those who cannot read and have interest
for classes can sign up to have someone come teach them.  The country
claims a decent literacy rate, but it is difficult to find people
outside of government or NGO jobs who are confident readers.  People
butcher simple words on signs (the difference between the sound of B
and V is particularly hard), and the kids consistently link separate
words together and copy words incorrectly from their books.  Most of
these errors best corrected by individual time spent reading, but the
culture of reading and resources to provide books are not there.
To an outside observer, it seems as though the nation would be best
served by not playing education as a zero sum game.  That is, I think
that there are other qualified people in the town capable of teaching
adults, and using the grade school teachers disrupts essential
incremental progress.  Or, during the 2 1/2 month break between school
years, teachers could make themselves available if that is more
suitable.  What I want is perhaps narrow minded, but I would go so far
as to say these kids are being cheated out of their education right
now.
I was not really made aware of the break until it happened, so I did
not stress extracurricular activities with my youth group.  I tried
starting a project I had had in the back of my mind, but this didn’t
turn out so hot either because of my lack of foresight.  While
training for the half marathon, I had run past a set of houses 20
minutes outside of San Dionisio that seemed to have a well exposed to
open air.  I thought that a program to cover the well might provide
clean drinking water to the people I had seen filling up buckets
there.  So, I created a small survey about the uses and problems with
the well.  Printing off 10 copies, I waltzed over to this settlement
expecting to find people relieved to have someone interested in
helping them.  Instead, the first person I approached seemed more
hesitant and suspicious of me, and was not willing to take the survey.
 After getting a little frustrated, I finally asked why she did not
want to potentially have the well capped, she told me that her house
only uses the water during the rainy season, and she gets her drinking
water from a neighbor’s house that has pipes.  One day she hopes to
afford piping, but for now everyone is happy with the arrangement and
has no need to cap the well.  So, I walked home after that meeting a
little downtrodden but I did learn a lesson: that something may seem
to be a good idea, but that the best way to confirm its worth is by
asking a few simple questions before investing much thought In it!
 I have been trying to keep myself occupied with a little travel, PC
training and my newly started boxing class.  I have not quite learned
how to protect myself in the ring, and so when I sparred with a guy
training for a match on May 19, he got a few good licks when I
approached too close.  I got a little dazed by one of the hits, and by
then the trainer had put me through 3 rounds, and it was time to stop.
 After stepping out of the ring, I felt pretty good and continued
training.  However, when I cooled off at home, my head started hurting
a little more and more.  I was a little worried at that time, but it
didn’t seem too serious, so I took an Ibuprophen and went to sleep.
The next day I felt a bit groggy and spent a lot of time in bed, but
then went to boxing again (but did not spar). I still felt bad the
next day, and so I called up the PC and got an appointment that same
day with a doctor in Managua.  He checked me for a concussion, and
then gave me a CT scan, which turned out negative for swelling or any
other problems.  Again, I learned my lesson and will both give some
time for my head now, and also spar only when I am ready.
It is safe to say that I am a little frustrated with the current
projection of Peace Corps.  In some senses I still have barely started
my primary mission to teach, but I just haven’t found the best way to
approach conflicting schedules, misunderstandings and lack of
foresight on either side.  In some regards, there is no such thing as
a normal school week between my commitments to the PC away from my
community and the habit of changing and cutting school days.  All this
needs to be addressed individually to all of the teachers I work with,
who all have different expectations of our working relationship.  But,
I keep on keeping on here, and somehow it’ll all work out!

Hope all is well out there!