Sunday, May 3, 2009

La Sinfonía Rara

The name for this blog comes from a poem called "Tarde en el Trópico" by the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío (1867-1916). His romantic poems are still memorized and recited by many people today in Nicaragua.



TARDE DEL TRÓPICO


Es la tarde gris y triste.
Viste el mar de terciopelo
y el cielo profundo viste
de duelo.

Del abismo se levanta
la queja amarga y sonora.
La onda, cuando el viento canta,
llora.

Los violines de la bruma
saludan al sol que muere.
Salmodia la blanca espuma:
¡Miserere!

La armonía el cielo inunda,
y la brisa va a llevar
la canción triste y profunda
del mar.

Del clarín del horizonte
brota sinfonía rara,
como si la voz del monte
vibrara.

Cual si fuese lo invisible...
Cual si fuese el rudo son
que diese al viento un terrible
león.

English translation

It's Nicaragua!

After spending nine months submitting a multitude of letters of recommendation, university transcripts, and medical forms, I finally received the invitation to serve in the Peace Corps starting this September. After a two day staging event in Miami at the end of August when I will be given the necessary inoculations, country information, and an introduction to my fellow volunteers, I will be off on a 27 month adventure to Nicaragua. I'm looking forward to year-round Florida summertime heat with no air conditioning. It just be just like when I was growing up in Tallahassee! After eleven weeks of training, I should be in a small village or town somewhere helping a local teacher with his English class as well as giving private English lessons in the community. In addition, I will probably be training other local teachers in innovative ways to teach English to high school students. Hopefully, I will be able to effectively use all of the skills I have been acquiring during the past 30 years in a completely new environment. Should be fun!