Meeting Our Family

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  Esteli, Nicaragua
Monday, July 14, 2008

Having finally got in contact with Delia from Third World House (the organisation sorting our stay in Esteli) we arranged a time that we could be picked up and taken to our family. A power cut (which we are told to expect daily here) had made email communication impossible earlier in the day but when the power was back on we were able to read an email from Oli and Natasha saying that they were in Managua waiting for word from us to travel the hour and forty-five minutes to Esteli.
At 5:00pm we met Delia and headed to the house where the girls will be staying first. The house is about a 20 minute walk from where me and Oli are based and right next to the library and football stadium (although the season ended with Esteli winning all three championships so I wonīt get to see any football here). Having left the girls at their house the van took me to my host family.
My house is right in the middle of town, parallel to the main street and I was met at the door by my host mum who is called Esperanza (I think - Iīve asked twice and forgotten twice so donīt want to ask again!). First impressions of my house were that it was a mad-house! Within an hour and a half I had met fourteen people, only one of whom spoke English, the dog (which bit me when I decided to say hello to it - Iīll be steering clear of the vicious little bugger from now on!), the cat and the bird. There were about six children of varying ages milling around and Iīm not sure which ones belongs to who yet, or even who is in my host family! There are also two Spaniards who are staying with the same family until Wednesday (two more days) whilst they work on a project for the handicapped here in Esteli, but they donīt speak much English either. It was a bit of a relief when Oli arrived about two hours after me so we can now struggle together.
My room is basic but nice enough with a double bed, desk and an ensuite complete with cold shower and rubbish shared toilet. The house itself has a nice lounge with Sky TV, a large dining table and a kitchen as well as three other guest rooms - I wouldnīt be surprised if more guests arrive when the Spaniards leave. Oliīs room is a little more basic, as he got to the house last, with a single bed and no ensuite - you snooze you lose! Oli was too late for dinner, and didnīt want any food when he arrived, but I had the rice and beans Iīm expecting for every meal for the next three weeks - at least itīs healthy!
Our first meeting took place today and we paid our first two weeks of rent and were given an indication of how our programme will run. In the afternoon me and Oli went clothes shopping which was an adventure as neither of us speak good Spanish but we charmed a few locals and bartered down the prices on some new shirts. We start teaching on Monday 21st July and have a week of preparations before then. Itīs starting to sink in that something that started as a simple discussion in Ranmoor House at uni a few months ago about whether we fancied applying for this teaching English course thing has lead to us being here in Esteli, preparing to teach a class of students some English and itīs scary stuff now and the blagging it doesnīt seem like itīll be as easy as first thought!

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