Casi 4 Meses..

Lindsey Croasdale 8653-3167
Sector Uno - Teotecacinte
Correos Jalapa
Jalapa, Nueva Segovia
Nicaragua, Centroamerica

Phone number +(505)8653.3167

Here is my mailing address if anyone would like to send a letter. For packages, I´m going to share a P.O. Box with someone but haven´t gotten around to working that out yet but this address is good until then. If you want to send a package, make sure to put ¨Jesus Te Ama¨ and ¨La Bendicion de Dios¨ and crosses, photos of jesus and mary, etc. all over the package because people will be less likely to steal it if it looks like it´s from G-d. Also, if it´s no more than 2-3 lbs it is less likely to be stolen.
My old address still works too for much more sensitive/expensive packages!!!

Well,
So here I am in Nicaragua, almost month 4 and still haven´t really told you all too much about my life here for goodness sakes. For the next 2 years I will be living in a town called Teotecacinte. The community has a population of about 5,000 people - which is ENORMOUS for an agriculture volunteer - and I have the second largest site (population-wise) of all the Ag volunteers in Nicaragua. Geographically speaking, I´m the furthest north of all the Nicaraguan PC volunteers and about 3km south of the Honduran border. In fact many people in my community will go to Honduras for things because it´s often closer. My host family is absolutely beautiful - I have a mother, father, brother, sister, and nephew of 1.5 years, there is a cat and 3 dogs, 2 horses, 2 roosters, about 6 hens, and several fairly large chicks of mixed gender.
My projects right now, besides getting to know the community, are teaching about vegetable gardens and tree nursuries in the school twice a week, teaching soil conservation, organic farming techniques, and healthy animal care with my INTA (INSTITUTO NICARAGÜENSE DE TECNOLOGÍA AGROPECUARIA) counterpart to producers in my community and helping them to organize their Community Seed Bank, helping to organize a cooperative of the women in my community who are recipients of Bonos from Hambre Cero (a program where animals are given to peope from the government to help fight poverty) with my MAGFOR (MINISTERIO AGROPECUARIO Y FORESTAL) counterpart, and starting next week...cooking classes and building improved ovens.
My projects to come will be continued work with the women with Bonos and to help with management of their backyard, working with community credit banks, a reforestation project, working with the oher volunteers in the department to start a Farmers´Market, and other projects for overall improved soil conservation and nutrition practices.
Needless to say I´ve been super busy but extremely happy here. There are ups and downs of course... I miss you all like crazy, and all of the little things I used to take for granted like: chocolate chip cookies, playing music with friends, going somewhere without being stared at for extremely long periods of time, muffins, hummus, granola, pizza, wine, sundays with friends, national geographic magazine, easy access to internet/communication/information, gainesville, bike rides, warm showers, washing machines, long absences of mosquitos, live music/shows, being out of my house after dark, safe drinking water, and long walks by myself without having to constantly worry about my safety or without being hassled by some machista asshole.
I really love it here but there are just some things that I think I will always hold dear to my heart, and will long for them in their absence or apreciate them like crazy when I get the chance to experience them. But come November when I can leave my community I´ll be paying a visit to my buds in their parts of the country... goodness how I miss them too :)
Anyway I´m sending my lovin back home... I think about you all all of the time.
Love,
Yours Truly

P.S. I like letters a lot and want to write you too <3