Los Voluntarios

I had a lot of thinking time today because I was sick for most of it - slept the day away, sometimes on the bathroom floor kind of sick. I didn't have much energy for any studying, so I decided to write a blog post in my head about the other volunteers I'm here with.

Jenny was the first volunteer I met, and she greeted me with a smile so bright I couldn't help but feel welcome. Now I know that said smile is on Jenny's face every waking minute, but still. She's a perpetual optimist studying Health Sciences in Calgary, where she's lived for the past ten years or so. She's originally from Korea, and she brought a trunk full of delicious Korean food that she's been sharing with us on nights when dinner pickings are especially slim. She's leaving this Friday and we're all going to miss her - she has an uncanny way of making things lighthearted no matter how grumpy, tired or frustrated we are.

The next volunteer I met was Jason, the firefighter-paramedic from Florida. He's older than us and has done a lot more living; in fact, his story is interesting enough for a feature film, so I'm planning a whole blog post about it. In the meantime, I'll leave you with some classic Jason catchphrasesm which are way more fun in his Southern drawl: "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!" "OUTstanding!" "Y'all better tighten up 'round here." "Simmerrrr!" He's also rather big on nicknames: Johnny Be Good is an obvious classic, but Crinklepuff, Britney Spears and Pippy Longstocking also favourites.

In case you couldn't guess, Johnny Be Good is John. Despite his conveniently versatile looks, John is not Nicaraguan. He's from Saskatoon but his family is Middle Eastern, which means that he appeared Greek in Greece, Costa Rican in Costa Rica, etc. Our Spanish isn't quite good enough for us to actually pass him off as Nica here, though. He's in the same year as me, though he's in a cool Physiology and Pharmacology program at the U of S. It must suck for him a little to be the only guy amongst the younger volunteers, but he's remarkably patient when we shop and willingly participates in impromptu singalongs. He makes fun of me for being a nerd, but he wants to talk about pathways and fun science facts as much as I do.

Speaking of fun facts: John and Brianne, the last volunteer I met, already knew each other before coming to Nicaragua! Brianne's also in Physiology and Pharmacology at the U of S and, like the rest of us, wants to be a doctor. She's a pole vaulter on the team at school and is therefore a great motivator when it's six-thirty in the morning and I'd rather not get out of bed to run. Brianne is the youngest of all of us, but it doesn't seem that way to me; though we're all the oldest siblings in our family, I think having three younger sisters makes a big difference! She's always full of great ideas, too. The banana flambé was her brainchild, as were the health classes that I'm so looking forward to.

 All in all, I love the people I'm here with. I'd say I lucked out!