Hooray for El Sauce!

I think I have posted very recently, but I am not ready for sleep yet and kind of feel like writing. Things in San Jose are going well. In fact, I think I've successfully taught long division to a spanish speaking person who has never seen division before. It needs to be gone over some more, but I was pretty impressed (at least as much with him as I was with myself). I am glad I have gotten to be a part of this literacy program. The books I use to teach are fantastic, as I get to learn along with the students. They are full of lessons about nicaraguan history and geography, as well as frightful stories about awful catastrophic natural disasters. I am hoping the next earthquake does not strike while I am here. However, the coolest aspect of this free program provided by the government is that people, no matter their age or gender, want to learn for the sake of learning. The people I am teaching have no desire to reach the top of any career ladder. They are farmers and housewives who simply want to know what they missed by not getting the chance to go to school. They want to learn the things their children have already learned. They want to know what else is out there, soley for the sake of knowing it. That is what makes this program so enjoyable. Besides the literacy program, I am excited for this weekend. I finally will not be traveling and will be able to see what El Sauce is like on the weekends. Saturday is the 30th anniversary of the liberation of el sauce and there will be festivals and plenty of balloons. There are even rumors that Daniel Ortega is going to make the trek out here to speak. That would be incredible. One other thing I wanted to mention is the amazing extent to which you cannot escape the U.S. wherever you go in this world. American advertisements and products are ubiquitous, as is American music. And Michael Jackson has just passed away and somehow I think people are even sadder here than in the U.S. Juan Pablo's brother cried when he heard the news, and I'm sure he was not the only one in el sauce to have done so. I am in a third world country, but I can never feel completely shut off from the world I know. That is comforting, though at the same time a bit sad.