Catedral de León

Our Nicaraguan friends accompanied us to visit the Cathedral of Leon which is the largest in Central America and the third largest in Latin America.  We got a tour of the small basement areas with tombs.

Tomb of the great Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío, the lion representing León is crying

The roof was absolutely surreal and amazing.  It was reminiscent of the beach with the blue sky and white sand.  León is called the city of poets, the city of heat, the city of universities, and the city of churches; from the roof we could see 10 of the 17 Catholic churches. We could see 11 of the 18 volcanoes of León, of which 7 are active.

We went to Las Peñitas, a nearby beach town, on Sunday.  The locals were all surfing, so I rented a board for $3 and got tossed about for a while. Very fun and only ended up with one enormous bruise from landing on the fin.  I ate Gallo Pinto, a common dish often for breakfast.  We took the bus and the 'camioneta' there and back. The camioneta is a truck that has benches on either side of the flatbed (but usually standing room only) and is covered by a canopy.  You have to hold on for your life as it goes flying through the narrow cobblestone streets.  There is a guy hanging off the back of the truck who shouts Olé as soon as you have one foot on to get the driver to start moving and whistles really loudly for the driver to stop.

Bienvenida a Nicaragua

My research trip in Nicaragua began with a bumpy two am drive through the countryside from Managua to León in a vehicle that was a sputtering go-kart more than a car.  We talked a lot with Juan, the driver, who promised us when we left we would leave a piece of our hearts in Nicaragua.

My research partners and I (a Yale MPH student named Vishnu, and two other rising Yale juniors, Hannah and Sara) are all staying in a beautiful hostel together.  We will be doing research on HPV in urban and rural areas for the next two months.  May to November is winter here, so we came just in time!  90 degree weather everyday but not too humid so it's bearable.  Rainy season is coming...

My room is nothing special, but the view of the courtyard from the balcony is glorious.  The geckos in my room make cute noises.  Only one earthquake and one mosquito bite so far!

Parque de San Juan right near our hostel

My new street vendor friend

Nicaraguan baby on a bus welcomes me!

Walking around tonight we happened upon an enormous parade in honor of UCAN university's anniversary.  It was a whole line of decorated semi-trucks with flatbeds packed with college students dancing to loud music.  The first night here we watched the NBA finals in Spanish together.

Entertaining Signs Round 2

In honor of being able to return to China this summer, I'm posting my collection of funny signs from four months in China last summer.

Building Bridges Program （在同浪天下）

All of the volunteer teachers (students from Yale, Peking,  Shanghai Jiao Tong,  and Hong Kong University)
~Play spot the white girl~

We all went to Qingyuan to teach for two weeks

The school where we taught rising 8th and 9th grade students from the town and nearby villages;
some of their parents worked at the chopstick factory across the street

View from the classroom; the Chinese government built the apartments along the river for poor rural immigrants

As per the layout of most schools in China, the hallways are all outdoors

I taught English class to 30 8th graders and 30 9th graders everyday

Zora and Alexis
(I got to give them all English names; Zora wanted a name that started with X, but Z was the best I could do)

Playing board games with my students (using Li Laoshi's techniques!)

Daily afternoon activities;
over 200 Chinese students now know how to play Heads Up Seven Up

Playing pickup with some other teachers and students

The one stoplight in our part of town;
it was a 20 minute walk to the school everyday, but my students would always call out to me as they passed me on bikes

My group of fellow teachers with whom I worked most closely during the program

Overflowing a pedi-cab (a tin box attached to a bicycle or moped); I'm hanging out the side

     The Chinese education is seen as the reverse of the American when it comes to intensity.  American students experience more and more pressure as their educational careers go on, with college being the most important.  However, in China, college is much more relaxed than younger grades.  For instance, Chinese middle school is quite intense.  Class goes from 7:30 am to 9 pm, although they do have a two and a half hour break for lunch where everyone walks/rides the public bus/fits four on a bike to go home for the break.  Also a huge difference between China and America's view on education is the role that parents and the home play in children's education.  For Chinese families, they see it as completely the school's duty to educate their kids. Why kids stay at school until 9 pm is because they are supposed to do most of their homework at school.  Chinese kids often take a lot of extra classes too, especially if they have dreams of studying in the States.  American parents are also way more involved in early education, a concept that almost doesn't exist for Chinese.  Americans believe it's the parents' duty to cultivate their children's interest in learning even before they start school, by reading to them, playing Baby Mozart, etc.

All of my students loved to take pictures with me;
While they're sprinting after each other in the halls, even the most mischievous Chinese middle schools always pause to greet/salute any teacher they pass

People dancing together in the park by the river as night falls

Night markets starting to open

Eating Qingyuan specialities with a student's family

The morning of our departure our students all brought each of their teachers breakfast and parting gifts
(and then started crying)

Link to Chinese article about the program: http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5OTUxMzI3MQ==&mid=209390444&idx=1&sn=b371646b82124f0c536c165233a8fb18&scene=5&srcid=XEsTagfG9U14DsPyAvZg#rd