My trip to La Trinidad with Chepe went very well yesterday. It was fun getting to talk to him about all sorts of stuff--Nicaraguan politics, American politics, music, graduate school, community service, bad jokes, etc. He introduced me to a lovely family in La Trinidad, and I was able to explain about my project and plans, and they are very willing to support me and introduce me to people in the community. One of the women is a teacher herself and knows all the local education officials, which is fantastic. And the family is pro-FSLN, so I imagine that even if they aren't active in the CPC themselves that they probably have some friends who are active. We exchanged contact information, so I will call them early next week to arrange my first visit and to get things rolling. It's only a 30-minute bus ride from Esteli and there is a bus every 30 minutes, so commuting should work just fine. I'm very excited.
After I spend my month or so visiting La Trinidad, Chepe said that I can call anytime and he'll help me get connected in San Nicolas too. And if that weren't enough, Chepe is good friends with a couple in Cinco Pinos, who are both local education leaders and CPC leaders. I believe the man is a Ministry of Education delegate and the woman is an elementary school teacher. So that will be a wonderful connection for my third site! I am so blessed!
I had a great time catching up with my friends from Brown, Erin and Nicole. (Nicole just graduated from Brown last year and has a Fulbright to study malnutrition this year. She is living in Matagalpa all year. Erin is in my cohort and is here for just a couple more days before heading back to Providence. She's using this short trip to help formulate her dissertation proposal.) We had dinner and talked for hours. Nicole had to leave this morning to go back to Matagalpa, but we have plans for me to visit her in the coming weeks. Erin had so much luck getting connected in Esteli that she is off shadowing a women's organization for the day today. We'll meet up around 4:00 and be able to have dinner and maybe go out dancing or something. I'm totally content to catch up with my other friends in the hostel, to walk around, read, do some work, and just to have some time to myself. I think that Erin and I will hang out in Metro Centro (the big mall in Managua next to the main university) tomorrow afternoon, maybe catch a movie and have dinner near there before she goes to her nearby hostel for the night and I head back to Gloria and Ernesto's.
Sunday I'll be observing Chispas Musicales lessons and taking lots of pictures to share with you. Then I'll head back to my hostel in Esteli for the long-term. I'll have my private room again for most of the time, though there may be a couple of nights that I'll need to stay in the dorms. Last night I stayed in the dorms with my girlfriends and it was just fine. Nice being spoiled with some privacy though.
Anyway, I'll start whipping out my camera, so that I don't bore you with so much dialogue in the future. :-)
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