El Rio San Juan es 100% Nica!

As the saying goes, Rio San Juan is 100% Nicaraguan, and that's where I'm going for my service! I'll be in San Miguelito, a small town of about 3,000 that is on the shore of Lake Nicaragua. Rio San Juan is a province that's long been neglected, largely because of the lack of transport to the region, and also because of border conflicts. It's a paradise, albeit a very hot and mosquito riden paradise. I visited this past week to make connections in town, meet my counterpart teachers and observe their classes, and meet our new host families.


San Miguelito is picturesque. The town's big draw is a wharf that juts out into the lake. From there, there's a gorgeous view of nearby islands, the Island of Ometepe, formed by the volcanoes Concepcion and Madera, and on a clear day, you can see all the way to Costa Rica. There's a beautiful church and a lot of color everywhere. The stars at night are gorgeous and clear.

I'll be working with 4 different counterpart teachers at 4 different high schools schools. One teaches in the morning, two in the afternoon, and one on Saturdays. It's going to be a bit challenging to manage all of their demands on me, but I think that's probably a good thing in the scheme of things. This is the first time Peace Corps has put TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) volunteers in Rio San Juan, so there's a lot of excitement, and opportunities to organize teacher training workshops. Two of the schools are off the beaten track, in smaller communities with only about 100 students. When I visited these places, it was hard to not be struck by the poverty and the seeming remoteness, even thoughl I've gotten used to a lot in the last few months. But the students and the teachers in these schools are really motivated, welcoming, and excited to work with a Peace Corps volunteers which is simultaneously humbling and exciting. It's going to be a bit difficult to find my niche at site, but I'm excited to start.

I'm also really excited about my new host family. They are really cool, very relaxed. I'll have four host siblings, ranging from 15-30 and there's also an adorable baby. And last but not least, there's a cat-calling parrot and a lot of chickens.

In short, I'm excited, nervous and ready to go in 3 more weeks.