1 Week Down

            I have only been at work for 6 days now, and I am already exhausted. I wake up between 6:10-6:30 each morning (depending on whether or not Heather and I have a morning exercise dance party or not), take a freezing shower, make some toast on the stove, and settle myself for a few minutes with some music before leaving the house at 7:15. Then Heather and I squeeze ourselves onto one of the packed Managua buses heading towards El Recreo. Two stops after the peacock rotunda (as Heather refers to it, although it looks nothing like a peacock), we get off and walk about 10 minutes through the barrio, greeting all the machista men with Buenas or Adios before they can say anything crude.

          This week we were mostly in meetings for the semester evaluations, but a couple days were extremely busy, filled with lots of money, women, and words I didn´t know. I feel like I’m being trusted with a lot right at the beginning, so it´s rather stressfull. The second day of work, I was already being asked to lead my two groups of women and to help in the process of receiving the women’s weekly payments--neither of these went very well. One of these groups was especially complicated because the women were closing out the end of their cycle. This meant that each loan needed to be completely paid off by that date. Most of the women were able to accomplish this, but one woman still had 2,300 Cords left unpaid. We then had to divide the 2,300 cords among all of the women in her group and make them pay it for her.

         I can already tell that working in the bank is going to be amazing and yet very, very difficult. Not only am I trying to learn a new language, I am attempting to learn the names, lives, and “addresses” of about 400 women. I will also have to learn to strike the balance between being a friend and confidant while also applying firm pressure for the women to pay back their loans. There is also quite a lot of stress to precisely handle and count the money we receive down to the last centavo. I have had to count and recount entire pages of figures due to inequalities at the end. Everyday we have so much work to do that I´m not sure how it all gets done...and with the evaulations taking up most of this week, we ended up having to go into work during the morning today (Saturday) too.

         I have definitely had some frustrating and negative feelings in the past week, but in the process I have been learning so much as well as facing many of my fears. Not being able to understand everything they tell me is very hindering, but I just have to trust the process that pretty much every other JV has had to go through as well. Only problem...I have almost ZERO patience. haha. I´ll have to work on that one...

 

Other random things that I have encountered since being here:

-I shopped at the local outdoor market que se llama Huembes by myself last weekend and bargained for all our vegetables for the week!

-I feel tall in this coutry, and I like it. haha
-Chelsea, Tobin, Erling, and I went to Masachapa, a beach on the Pacific Coast last week. beautiful!
-I know the Fresco Lady likes me because last time I went, she barely put any ice in my Fresco…aka more Fresco…yuummmm. I’m addicted :)
-I weighed myself the other day, and I’ve lost 10 pounds.
-Heather and I are going to restart a Zumba/Jazzercise class 2 times a week at the project after work!

-I have also discovered some small joys in life since being here. 

           1. ...after you finish using the toilet and you know that the water has already gone out, but you push down the lever hoping that there is still that one last flush left before it won’t fill up anyone…and it works! No running back and forth from the water jug to the toilet with the leaking pitcher that is barely being held together by duct tape! 

           2. ...when you realize that you didn’t sweat enough that day to warrant your shirt needing a scrubbing on the pilla. 

           3. ...getting a seat on the bus. 

           4. ...entering a room and being greeted with a hug and cheek kiss by everyone in the room.

           5. ...playing Nicki Minaj´s Super Bass for Heather (her first time hearing the song). hahahaha sigh.

That is all.

Love you all, and I´ll leave you with some pictures. :)

-Jana

                                                      Eating Sopa de Mondongo at the fair in Arenal

                                               The View off our rooftop

                                                 One of the waterfalls we jumped off in Lagartillo

                                                        The poster in the room I was in while staying in Lagartillo...hahha

                   New Year´s Eve in Lagartillo....the muneco representing the old year burning in the background.

                                                    The view from our hammock

                                            On retreat at Lago de Apollo...(also Ela´s Bday)

                                          Lago de Apollo---deepest crater lake in at least Nicaragua.