Do I sign, you ask? Well of course not. But I will.
Excitement.
Anxiety?? Today I printed out 30 pages of health forms, support forms, WHAT TO DO IN CASE I DIE forms. It was awful (although I did come to the conclusion that cremation is the way to go). Tomorrow is the day I swim through the papers and the emails and the websites to try to make sense of the world.
To try to take my mind away from all of the responsibilities, I decided to skim through the Nicaragua Field Guide provided to me by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), the organization which is sending me. (The program is called Serving and Learning Together, or SALT.)
These facts are of note:
- Nicaragua has the only fresh water lake in the world with sharks
- Over half of the population is under age 16
- They have cloud forests (investigation to ensue)
- 'Nicaraguans have a great sense of humor and love to laugh and tell jokes' (yesssss!!! even though I usually don't understand jokes in Spanish)
I was beginning to think that Nicaragua was the place for me, until I started reading about how most people dress, and what is acceptable to wear...
One should wear functional, attractive clothing.
Unwashed jeans, dusty shoes and unkempt appearance may be interpreted as laziness or shabbiness rather than 'identifying with the people.'"
Oh oh.
Then I read that average temperatures in Managua are 80-100 F. Generally with high humidity. I was actually trying to get away from Baltimore summers, thank you very much! Not go somewhere where they would be a magnified. And eternal!
I'll be going to bed soon, but I wanted to end on a happy note so that I'll feel like waking up tomorrow. This statement satisfied me: 'In general, Nicaraguans enjoy music, dance, and theater.' Perfect.
