Almost 5-months in-country

I just finished my first in-service training for the peace corps. We received classes and interesting ideas for potential projects we could do in our sites for the remainder of our service. We (volunteers) brought along one of our main colleagues whom we have been working in collaboration with and supporting while serving in our sites. Along with our colleagues we shared our successes and challenges that have occurred during the first 5 months of service, received tips on how to be an effective and proactive volunteer, learned ideas for working with youth groups and pregnant women, learned about starting community banks, and how to apply for grants and money for realizing small projects.

I also went to a marching band presentation (similar to drum and bugle corps). Below I have put a few pictures of the experience. The bands were high schoolers and there were dancers, base drum, snare drum, xylophone, trumpets and other percussion instruments. One of the differences between the marching bands here in Nicaragua and in the United States is that here all the instruments are drums and percussion, with a few chimes and trumpets and dancers. For this reason, I got a little bored listening to the percussion beating for a whole morning, but it was a good experience overall.