Expat life

I have found that my life in Nicaragua has gone through various phases - first there was the volunteer phase, when I mainly hung out with and connected with the other volunteers as I was first getting to know the town as well, closely followed by a brief traveller phase; then after some more volunteer time, I moved into the main locals phase, when I really put time and effort into building up my friendships and relationships with Nicaraguans here. But finally I appear to have moved into the ex-pat phase (I guess after 6 months in the country, I now count as one myself). I find myself invited on trips, out to dinner events and to visit ex-pat homes, and suddenly I am leading a weekly yoga class for another group of long-term residents. Now a whole new set of people greet me in the street. And I've had two job offers of a sort to stay here! Plus a couple of weekends ago with three friends I rented a car and drove around the "white villages" in style, as well as living it up in Managua for the evening... It was a nice change to the mud and poverty of the villages where I normally work.

Another change which I guess has added to the ex-pat effect is that I decided to splash out and treat myself for my final month in Nicaragua, and started renting my own house. No more cramped shared volunteer quarters - I have a patio and hammocks and even (as of this weekend) a water tank. That, plus the car battery power back-up system, have been coming in very useful with all the extended daily power and water outages we're now getting. I think it must be political, because there's enough rain falling every few days that it can no longer be a drought situation this rainy season. So, yes, a few changes in my Nica life for the final push. I can't believe I have just weeks to go... I'm already in pre-nostalgia!