My Last Week!!

Well, I'm in the middle of my last week as a Peace Corps Volunteer!  I have 5 days left in site, 9 in Nicaragua and 12 left in Central America.  So, I'm going to continue with pictures of people I've gotten to know over the last couple years! 

I swear they are much friendlier than they look in the picture!  Don Chepe (José) and his wife live in the intersection of my satellite site.  I built them a stove in April, and they have always been super nice to me.  While I didn't spend too much time at their house over my 2 years, they were always welcoming, and nice people to talk to.  Don Chepe walked up to me last week and invited me for a farewell lunch at his house, which is when I took this picture! They made me the best Indio Viejo (a local dish) I've ever had, and we sat and talked about the revolution and contra war, among other things.  Apparently Don Chepe was part of the army unit that captured the plane carrying secret information proving that the US was funding the Contras.  It turned into a major controversy.  

La familia Castro lives down the road about 10km from my site, but I have tried to go visit them every Sunday for the past year or so.  I was introduced to them through their older son, who is a good friend of mine.  I ended up building 5 ovens for different members of his family, and had a really hard time saying goodbye on Sunday (I definitely cried).  Both my friend and his 17 year old brother are not in this picture.  Through his parents, I became close with other family members in this town, and felt like part of the family. 

Don Edwin and his wife Doña Maritza have been feeding me lunch every afternoon that I am in their community for the past year.  They are family of a teacher I work with, and are extremely generous and nice.  They own the main store in their community.  They are preparing me a goodbye dinner Friday night that I'm really excited for!  I'm going to miss them a lot. 

Izdania and her daughter represent one of my best stove success stories.  They built this kitchen around the stove I made, and use it   several times a day.  I got to know her a bit late in my service, but she was always super glad to have me stop by to her house, and her daughter told me she will have a surprise waiting for me this Saturday morning. 

Yasser is the son of the family in the second picture.  He is in his final year of studying marketing, and I'm sure will go on to be very successful!  I met his last December on a bus when he approached me and asked me about my Peace Corps polo.  Apparently he had worked with a previous volunteer.  Yasser has become one of my closest friends over the past year, and I'm really glad I got to know him and his family!