Nicaragua's first impression.

Well, we have been in Nicaragua since May last year. What a challenge we've gotten ourselves into! We thought we would be an easy adaptation process because we both come originally from latino backgrounds, my husband was born in Puerto Rico and I was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. During our training (three months), they told us about nicaraguan ways of life, eating beans, heat, mildew and molds during the rainy season, mosquitos, nicaraguans forever lateness, volcanoes eruptions threats, earthquakes and so on.
Yes, beans. But we did not know that the only beans they ever eat is red beans. No lentils, no black eyed peas, no chick peas, nothing but red beans. Three times a day. For dinner: the national dish called "gallo pinto", rice mixed with red beans, for lunch: white rice and beans on the side, for breakfast: yeap, you guessed it : pureed beans smeard on a tortilla. I told my family that right now I am beanphobic!
Nicaraguan people are so darn good people, warm, polite, helpful and so many other qualities that makes it so much harder to quit our service. We have thought about it almost daily.
Everything goes on soooo slow. No hurry for anything. Why hurry, it's ok to be late. It's a habit.
We teach at a High School with more than 3000 students. There are three shifts: morning, afternoon and night classes. Our students are on the 10th and 11th grades. We teach them Small Business Developement. Since almost nobody can attend college, we give them the opportunity to be able to open their own business. Classes are overcrowded with 60-65 students per class, not enough seats for the kids and we don't even have a desk. We buy our own markers and erasers. Teaching is tough. Too many kids on a very small classroom, no air conditionning, no fans, suffocating heat. Kids are convinced that they would never come out of poverty.
Right now there's a tranasportation strike in Managua, (we are 1 1/2 hours from Managua). The goverment promises many things to drivers, teachers, and doctors. And then, they don't deliver! Doctor's have been on strike for two months. Don't you get sick, they will not treat you at the hospital.
Ok, I thing is enough for now. I will be writing pretty soon.