School's Back

School started again on February 15, 2011. This is the beginning of the school year in Nicaragua so the girls are both in a new class. Here is everyone’s take on the start of school.

Freddy and Yolanda ready for the first day

Aileen
Like everything else, school here has its pros and cons. It has been really wonderful to see how easily Emma and Hannah eased back into the routine of school and to see them having fun with their friends. A lot of their friends left town for the 2 ½ month vacation, spending time in the countryside with relatives, and we did quite a bit of travelling ourselves, so it’s been kind of a happy reunion for all the children. Both Emma and Hannah have really good teachers this year, also. Just from attending the activities on the first day of school, it was obvious that they are both veteran teachers who take their job as educators seriously. They seem to have excellent classroom management skills, which is essential with over 40 children in one classroom.

On the other hand, the national curriculum that the teachers are forced to use is quite disappointing. It’s really focused on repetition and rote memorization; they don’t really seem to encourage critical thinking, creativity, or analytical thinking at all. Being a parent of school age children reinforces for me that perhaps more important than access to education is the quality of the education. That’s why it’s really important to me that the organization I work for, Seeds of Learning, not only finances school construction, but also works to improve the quality of the education being offered, once the school is constructed.

Another challenge for us, now that school is back in session, is trying to get used to the somewhat informal way school is organized. There isn’t sufficient funding for such luxuries as substitute teachers, so whenever a teacher is sick, or has a meeting or a doctor’s appointment, school is cancelled. That’s one thing about a country with 50% unemployment- there’s always someone at home to watch the kids, so schools can just send them home at the drop of a hat. Also, we’ve really been enjoying the beaches here in Nicaragua, and wanted to plan some beach trips in the upcoming months. Therefore, we were happily surprised to actually see the school calendar on the Ministry of Education’s website, and started planning and making reservations (a decidedly non-Nicaraguan way of doing things). Of course, we soon found out that the calendar wasn’t accurate at all. Anyway, the kids are having a great time with their friends, and school is just one part of the adventure this year.

Opening day assembly

Emma
My first week of school was really fun. I love school but I do not like waking up early. Our school starts at 7:30. I am in third grade. My teacher is really nice and her name is Yadira. My teacher also has better control of my class than my last teacher. I think that I am going to learn lots of stuff in these six months. My subjects are social studies, natural science, language and literature, civics, mathematics and culture (art, dance and music). We already had a test in social studies and we are going to have one in natural science. Today was really short because there was a meeting and Daddy had to go. The kids in my class this year are different than the kids last year because there are two or more classes in each grade. On the first day I made a new friend named Cindy and I met her standing in line waiting to get into my classroom. Most of my friends from last year are in my class. My friends from last year that are not in my class are a boy named Carlos, a girl named Francis and a girl named Mariel. There is one girl in my class who is named Alejandra and she comes to my house after school every day. We play and eat lunch together. I am going to going to start an art class after school and I will also go to the centro cultural (after school program) twice a week. I am going to have guitar and Spanish lessons on Saturday. Sometimes I also have “daddy school.”

Emma waiting for the classroom to open

Hannah
My first week of school is really good. I like it a lot. My teacher is Profe Edys. We call her Profe because it is the short name for Profesora. My teacher is nice. She is the wife of Emma’s guitar teacher. I am in first grade. I study vocales (vowels). I study numeros (numbers). I sit next to Noemi and Estephani who always hits me. My best friend is Noemi, Monse, Eduard and that is it. My school is great. The name of school is Fray Bartoleme de las Casas. The flowers at the school are pretty. The ferns here go to sleep when you touch them. At recess we play around for about ten minutes. Sometimes we play crazy and sometimes we play calm. The water at school is unpurified and I cannot drink it. I cannot eat the food the parents bring for our class every day because it is unpurified. My Daddy buys me popcorn instead. My Spanish is doing great. My Daddy and Mommy and Sister say it is great. School is really fun but you have lots of homework in first grade. I do my homework at the centro cultural and sometimes I do it at home.

Hannah's class

Jeff
Like most parents, we were relieved when school started after nearly three months of vacation. We had many adventures during our break but since there are no summer camps in San Ramon we were together 24-7. Emma and Hannah are both thriving at school and participate more than ever. Their Spanish has improved dramatically during the past two months. Much of their language development is probably part of a natural progression. However they had a week of Spanish school in early January and again in early February which was certainly helpful. It also seems that taking a break from Spanish for a few weeks while we were in the USA actually improved their language skills.

The beginning of the school year sets off a flurry of activity for staff and parents as we all work together to get the school and educational programs up and running. We have been very happy to help where we can. Emma’s class in San Francisco held a school supplies drive and donated over 100lbs of materials. When we left Nicaragua for the USA we had two small duffle bags and when we returned we had four giant suitcases each weighing exactly 50lbs! We divided the supplies between the administration, Emma’s class and Hannah’s class. Like the USA, schools here are underfunded and teachers end up scrambling for the materials the need. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of Emma’s classmates in the USA they do not have to worry as much this year.

People must have heard about our donation as I was subsequently elected President of Hannah’s class. Actually, I was forced into it by a very vocal grandmother who started pointing at me during a parent meeting and shouting that I should be President. I was the only man in the meeting and she claimed that as such it was my responsibility to be President. I tried to deflect her with feminist and then nationalist arguments but she just ignored me. I then offered to be Treasurer and said I would take good care of their money. My nemesis said something to the effect that she would rather I take care of their bodies than their money. I turned bright red as the 30 Mom’s giggled at her joke. She then shouted, “all in favor of the gringo raise your hand” and the deed was done. Grandma had totally punked me. I am not sure how this will work as I can only understand half of what is said in these meetings. Fortunately the teacher is a friend of ours and promised to help me out.

Speaking of meetings, this is the time of year for many parent meetings and they are indeed challenging for me. First of all, I am still not good at figuring out Nicaraguan time. If I show up on-time the meeting starts one hour late. If I show up an hour late the meeting is delayed by two hours. However there are times when everyone seems to show up on time and I end up walking in conspicuously late. When the meetings do start they tend to be pretty tedious. For example, the school provides food for lunch but parents need to prepare it. Each child’s parents must prepare a meal for the entire class every 40 days or so. Rather than sending around a calendar there is usually a 1 hour discussion on who will prepare the food on what day. Parents are also supposed to help clean the classroom and donate toilet paper and a few other items the children need. At every meeting there is another one hour discussion about who will do or donate what and how it is not fair we should have to work for free. I guess meetings in the USA are not much different but I tend to pick things apart since I am observing everything through my own cultural bias. On the upside, the meetings are usually pretty funny. Nicaraguans are very good humored and are clearly not hampered by the political correctness of schools in San Francisco. I cannot understand many of the jokes but people are always laughing.

I am probably whining about the meetings because I now have 3 classes to deal with. Hannah is in class 1A (first grade, section A) and Emma is in 3B. Apparently I am also responsible for attending meetings for class 1C. We are helping two of the children who live across the street with school. Osnan (8) and Cindy (6) are both attending first grade in the afternoon (Emma and Hannah are in the morning session). Their Mom is working in another part of the country and their Grandmother is caring for them and could not be bothered with worrying about school as they barely get by as it is. We made sure the kids have all the school supplies they need and I registered them for class. According to their teacher since I registered them I am responsible for them. This means attending meetings and preparing the class meal. I now have to attend 3 class meetings a month, the semi-monthly class presidents’ meeting and must prepare 4 class meals every 40 days or so. Despite all the meetings I am very happy to have the time to help out at the school and participate in the girls’ education. I never had the time in the USA and this has been a real blessing.

Hannah, Osnan and Emma

Well, that is all for this post. We are heading off to some beaches up north we have never visited so Jeff can try and convince everyone to try surfing. We will continue our discussion of the Nicaraguan education system when we return.

Surf's up dude

Surf's Up?

Back in my punk rocker wannabe days there were many non-punk things I swore I would never do such as having a pony tail, listening to the Dead and surfing. Despite the whole surf punk thing, the sport seemed like a hippy activity to a boy from Philadelphia and thus I rejected it out of hand. Well, thirty years later I managed to relax my punk rock dogma and get onto a surf board. Much to my surprise I am now addicted to surfing -- the most difficult, graceful sport I have ever tried. 

It all started when an old friend came to Nicaragua with the expressed goal of becoming a proficient surfer. I was happy to spend some time with him and figured I would just hang out on the beach while he surfed. We had planned this trip months ago around the girls' school calendar and were planning to leave after their school started. However, the Nicaraguan government suddenly delayed the first day of school by two weeks. Although I was not surprised, I was still appalled by the reduction in the school year and the sloppy way it was handled by the Ministry of Education. We will bitch about the education system in our next blog.

Fortunately Aileen managed to make arrangements for someone to watch the girls during her workweek so I could still travel with my buddy. I took a bus to Managua on Super Bowl Sunday. On the ride down I met a twenty-something from Holland and we had an interesting talk about the book “The 4-Hour Workweek.” My new friend’s interest in having a career, making a positive difference in the world and maintaining a non-conventional lifestyle was refreshing. Hunter S. Thompson once called folks my age “The Generation of Swine” due to the rampant materialism of the eighties. This kid and others I met during my trip gave me hope that things are improving!

I made it to Managua in time to engage in some less intellectual entertainment – the Super Bowl. The hotel restaurant was packed with American football fans. I was not in the mood for a crowd so I went to a small bar nearby. I was the only patron and watched the game with two Nicaraguans employees who were excellent and very humorous company. They reminded me of how funny and warm most Nicaraguans are.

I was feeling very upbeat when I walked to the airport to meet my friend. His flight conveniently arrived after the game and as soon as he cleared customs we hit the bar and had a few beers before bed. We got up late the next morning and finally made our way to the bus station. It took some time to find a cab driver who was willing to charge a fair price. Normally, I just allow myself to get ripped off but my friend is an experienced traveler and likes to save money despite the fact he does not really need to. It actually felt good exerting my bargaining skills for a change. As part of our cheap travel mantra we took two “chicken buses” to get to San Juan del Sur, the center of surf tourism in Nicaragua. We spent an hour or so looking at youth hostels but all of the decent ones were full; instead we found a really nice, inexpensive hotel a few blocks from the beach. It was too late to go surfing so we had an early dinner and hit the bars. We ended up in an Irish pub with some folks from England and Ireland who currently live in Costa Rica. We drank Guinness and listened to the Pogues all night. I guess we got carried away with the expensive imported beer because our bar tab was more than we would spend on two nights lodging – so much for saving money.

The next day my friend signed up for a surf lesson and I decided to be a good sport and give it a try. By 10:30am were at Playa Hermosa getting some instructions from our 19 year old instructor Norwin. After a ten minute class on the beach we hit the waves and tried to stand up on our boards with Norwin’s help. After an hour of lame attempts I took a break. My friend was not doing much better but a young woman in our class of three quickly mastered the basics. During my respite I tried to convince myself that surfing was not for me. Much like skiing there are many things to remember about positioning your body when surfing; unlike skiing there is a giant wall of water threatening to pummel you from behind. It just seemed like too much for me to conquer but having paid for the lesson I decided to give it another go. While I was never able to stand up on the board, by the end of the day I knew I could eventually get it. At that point my determination was more rooted in stubbornness than actually liking the sport.

That evening we discussed what to do next over an excellent fish dinner. I wanted to stay in San Juan del Sur and go back to Playa Hermosa as it seemed perfect for beginners. However, my friend wanted to head to the beach where the woman in our class was staying so I reluctantly agreed to move to nearby Playa Maderas. We left the next morning but by the time we got there and found a place to stay it was too late to surf.

The place we were staying, Matilda’s, is awesome. It is situated right on a secluded part of the beach and the Nicaraguan family who runs it is great. We met some very cool travelers who were staying at or near Matilda’s and had a good time chatting. In the late afternoon we walked to the main surfing beach which was quite a scene. There were 50 people in the water fighting for waves and another 50 fighting for seats at the bar. Nicaragua sure has changed! While drinking some beers and enjoying the dance music we spotted our friend from the surfing class and had an enjoyable dinner with her and her travelling companion at a beachfront restaurant.

The next morning we meandered to the surfing beach. One of our new friends was already there and anxious to surf. However, my pal decided he needed to go back to San Juan del Sur on shopping run. I decided to rent a board and try some more surfing. It was way too crowded and after getting knocked of my board twice by other beginners I decided to call it a day. My pal came back at 2pm and decided to borrow my board while I had a few beers with the surfing crowd. About thirty minutes later he joined me at the bar and looked like he had seen a ghost. Actually, he had seen his life flash before his eyes. He had gotten pummeled by a set of waves and had to be rescued by four Nicaraguans, one of whom was Norwin, our instructor from a few days ago. Thanks to Norwin and his friends everything turned out okay.


Forgot my camera so here is a stock photo of surfing in Nicaragua

The next day we went back to the surfing beach near Matilda’s. We were supposed to travel north to a beach where Aileen and the girls would be meeting us. My pal decided he was going to stay put claiming he did not want to lose surfing time by travelling. Though I felt bad leaving, we already made reservations at another hotel and I really like this other beach much more than Maderas. The beach is practically empty and the hotels and restaurants are in a great little fishing village rather than a crowded tourist town. Besides, I think my buddy had a more “social” agenda related to our new friends!

Once we worked out our plans we surfed at Maderas for a few hours and I finally got to my feet for a few seconds at a time. Things were progressing. Around 1:00pm I said my goodbyes, caught a cab to the other beach and was surfing again by 2:30pm. The hotel we were staying at has excellent surf boards for rent and thanks to a giant beginner’s board and some persistence I could stand up fairly consistently (albeit for a few seconds). I was starting to learn more rapidly and eventually got the thrill of riding down the face of a wave (only to be pummeled by it). It is a pretty awesome feeling and was now really hooked on surfing (or at least the potential of really surfing sometime soon).

Aileen, Emma and Hannah met me at the hotel that evening. I heard them pull up when I was in the shower and was so excited that I ran out to meet them in a towel. Fortunately for the other guests our puppy Cuate was not able to pull the towel off despite his best efforts. The separation was really hard for our little tribe of Kositskys as we are not used to being apart. It was a happy reunion with the hotel staff as well as this is where the girls studied Spanish back in January. We had a great weekend hanging out at the beach, chatting with the friendly locals and just being together. I of course enjoyed the opportunity to do some more surfing on a beautiful beach with only a few other surfers in sight.

This was a really wonderful week for me. Discovering a new passion is always exciting and the bruises and muscle pulls felt like…victory. Moreover, this trip served as a reminder as to how enjoyable Nicaragua can be and how lucky we are to be having this experience. It is easy for me to forget my blessings while staying in our small and sometimes boring town. However, with a little effort there are so many great opportunities and interesting people to meet in Nicaragua. All of the travel and adventures during the past few months have been very uplifting. We have seen some cool stuff and more importantly have met many wonderful people. I have had some great encounters ranging from long discussions to very casual conversations with both travelers and Nicaraguans; all of them have been enriching. However, I think we are all ready for school to begin and I hope to remember that even though San Ramon is a tiny town, there is plenty to do just outside our front door. If that fails, the surf is just a few hours away.




Back in the USA

On January 12th we said goodbye to our friends, neighbors and pets as our journey to the United States was about to begin. We tossed our 4 carry-on bags (including Emma’s guitar) and 2 big duffle bags into the back of the truck and were off. Actually, we did not just casually toss our bags into the truck; we spent about 15 minutes tying them down with intricate knots so they would not be stolen during the trip. We picked up Aileen’s co-worker Richard who drove us to a hotel across from the airport and took our truck back to the main office. Our friend Martha met us at the hotel with her teenage son Danny (who is a little boy the last time we saw him) and her younger son Douglas. We talked about old times while Emma, Hannah and Douglas ran around the hotel having a great time. When we finally got to bed I realized the thermostat did not work; while the ladies slept, I got up every thirty minutes to turn the A/C on or off. A very Nicaraguan send-off! We dragged ourselves to the airport at 6am for our flight to Miami and despite the lack of sleep we were all in good spirits at the beginning of our long-anticipated trip to the USA. We have been in Nicaragua for over six months and despite all the fun and adventures each of us miss certain things about home – especially our friends and family.

Douglas, Emma and Hannah goofing off at the Best Western

The short flight was uneventful and we breezed through immigration and customs. Hannah kept asking when she would officially be in the USA and that question was answered when we stepped through some metal doors and saw my folks, aka ” Grammy and Pop Pop” waiting for us. It was great to see my parents who seem to be getting younger every year. We went back to their house, had some lunch and went to see my grandfather, who is called “Little Pop Pop” by his ten great granddaughters. He had recently fallen and was in a rehabilitation center. Little Pop Pop was clearly in pain from his fall but lit up like a Hanukah bush as soon as he saw Emma and Hannah walk in. For a man who has seen 98 summers, the guy was looking pretty good. During the next few days we celebrated my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary along with my entire family and a few hundred of their closest friends. The big event was a wonderful party and as someone told my Mom after the soirée, the love in the room was incredible to behold. Seeing all of the cousins playing together was priceless. It was an absolutely wonderful time.

Mom trying on her wedding dress

The next leg of our journey was a forty minute car ride to Ft. Lauderdale where Aileen’s parents were kind enough to meet us. They were incredibly generous to save us the trip to New Jersey in the winter. The Huang’s put us all up in a great hotel on the beach. The girls were thrilled to see Grandma and Grandpa and we all had a great time exploring the intercostals waterway, visiting the Everglades, shopping and of course eating. The best meal was at a Brazilian steakhouse where even Emma and Hannah gobbled up the carne. My parents joined us for the festivities and though they have not seen my in-laws for years they seemed like old friends. I am lucky to have such great in-laws and our kids are even luckier to have two loving, stable families in the Huang and Kositsky clans.

Kositsky - Huang Reunion

As hard as it was to say goodbye to family, we were thrilled to be heading to San Francisco after nine days in Florida. Nobody slept well the night before our flight as we were so excited to be heading home for a week. We finally learned to circumvent the evil concierge desk at the hotel whose staff managed to make everything we did more expensive. We met a cool taxi driver named Ted who was from Haiti. He picked us up at 5:45am sharp as promised, much to the chagrin of the bellmen who expected a big tip from us and a kick back from the driver. I think we paid nearly double what we should have for meals, tours and transportation until we finally stopped the concierge scam.

We landed in San Francisco on a Saturday morning and were met by our friend Brett who has been watching our car and brought it for us to use during our visit. Brett and his partner Brad are like family to us and it was a wonderful, emotional reunion. They put us up for the night and after a quick visit to our cousins’ home in Berkeley we had a wonderful dinner with Brett, Brad and their wonder dogs Kevin and Clint. The next day was spent with our friends Jim and Valerie and their two children Jasmine and Milo. Aileen and the children then went to visit some friends in Bernal Heights and I spent the evening with my friend Joseph. We all met up at the home of Aileen’s brother and his family who live in the Presidio and were awesome hosts. We spent the next few days visiting with many family members and friends, running errands, etc. The highlight for Emma and Hannah was a day at their school.

Emma, Brad, Clint, Brett, Kevin & Hannah

We picked up the girls from the car pool chaos (something we do not miss) and made a quick trip to San Jose to visit my sister Lauren and her family. It was a very peaceful respite from all the running around. The rest was much needed as the next day we travelled to Sonora to visit my brother Andy and his daughter Nadia. It was wonderful to see them all settled into their new home after a fire destroyed their house a few months ago. My little brother was an awesome host and an even better ski guide for a much anticipated day at Dodge Ridge. Nobody would have guessed our two little ski pros live in Nicaragua given how well they did. We would have loved to ski more but it was time for a final visit to San Francisco.

Getting ready for a black diamond

Friday morning we made a last visit to our house. It was strange seeing other folks living there but it is being well cared for. Our tenants were kind enough to let us spread our stuff out in order to pack and organize for the trip home. Once we were finished we went to a group play date with many of the girls’ friends. It was wonderful to see them so happy to be hanging out with their buddies and a bit sad to think about leaving the next day. We split up again -- Aileen went to visit with our friend Rinat and her family and I ran off to a local bar to meet some former colleagues. I must say it was a glorious night for me. I had a wonderful time seeing so many friends and stacking up the drinks just like old times. The night ended with an argument about the French Revolution at 2am and miles to walk before I slept.

Through the haze (and pain) of a wicked hangover we were back in Managua before I knew what hit me. This time we had two more bags, mostly full of school supplies generously donated by the girls’ school. The four of us must have looked pretty comical trying to drag 200lbs of luggage across the highway at 11pm to get to our hotel. The next day Richard picked us up and we were soon back in San Ramon.  We were away from our house in Nicaragua for nearly three weeks and it surely feels good to be back here again. Emma and Hannah quickly reconnected with their friends and Aileen jumped right back into her job. My duties as farm hand, chef and chief bottle washer resumed upon arrival. It was wonderful to see our puppy Cuate as well as our flock of chickens who actually seemed happy to see us. The best thing I brought back from the USA was a Frisbee. Today I taught neighbors ultimate which will surely become a local favorite. In addition to all the playing, Emma, Hannah and I are in Spanish school for a week to help get our rusty Spanish back on track. Aileen is already in the swing of things at work and the girls will soon be starting first and third grade. I will be getting a break from my routine before it even gets started. Sunday I am leaving for a trip with an old friend; we will be visiting a few beaches and hopefully learning to surf. I will blog all about it when we return.

It is great to be back in Nicaragua and we are really looking forward to all of our upcoming adventures. However, we really miss our friends and family more than I can say.  Our trip to the USA was an amazing experience.  Being away for so long has made us realize how wonderful and blessed our lives are. Thanks to everyone who made our trip home so special.