So you know how in the states when seasons change and it happens gradually? like, one day you wake up, and the snow is mostly melted, and then a few days later there is a little bit of bright light green popping up, and then a week later a tree starts to bloom, and then the sky is blue, and then maybe a month later you can actually wear shorts? yeah, it does NOT work like that in Nicaragua.
The night before last after dinner I was suddenly startled by an incredibly loud pounding on the roof. it has barely stopped since then. and let me tell you, I LOVE rain! Although, currently it is sort of preventing me from getting any work done, because I was planning on walking around town hunting down a couple NGOs I still haven't spoken with today, but that is much too adventurous of an attempted activity with what is going on outside.
But that is I think my favorite thing about the rain: it really makes everything feel much more connected for me. No matter where I am in the world, rain like this just makes me want to curl up and listen to pretty music and read books and drink chamomile tea and hot chocolate. and watch grey's anatomy. all of these things that, until recently, have completely disappeared from my life, but the comforts of my wonderful hotel here have given me the ability to watch tv and listen to music on my computer and make warm drinks, although I feel slightly guilty doing any of it because it seems so against the lifestyle I've learned over the first three months here.
Besides my weather excuses for the past two days, the project is coming along. Conducting interviews in Spanish tied between being extremely pleasing and extremely frustrating... pleasing that it is actually something I am somehow incredibly able to do, frustrating because my Spanish can't keep up with my academic standards for my brain. there are so many rich complexities that I'm only able to scratch the surface of because of language barriers. I never really had any idea how much I rely on my ability to communicate for my self worth, and it can be really rough to walk away from an interview feeling like you blew an opportunity to get at something deep because you had no way of getting at what was in the other person's brain and accurately expressing what is in your brain. Another huge difficulty is my inability to escape my appearance... something tells me people aren't too keen on being honest with a silly white college student who really has no justifiable reason to poke around in the hard lives people live. I've really struggled with this concept of "reciprocity" that we try to achieve with SIT, because I honestly can't think of anything I have to give to the people I'm asking things of.
The outside world is doing a great job of tugging me out of Nicaragua. Besides episodes of grey's anatomy, I am heading back to the states in three weeks exactly, I had to register for next semester's classes last week, and I keep getting emails about applications for post-graduate research fellowships, all of which are reminding me that I am all-too-soon graduating from college, and I have NO idea what to do with this fact... I just don't have a tangible enough grasp to know what I'm going to want a year from now. Unfortunately, if what I will want is to go back abroad to research or volunteer or if I want to go straight to grad school, I am going to have to decide that pronto. Here's to hoping being in Bilwi in the rain will help me meditate on the future!
I'm hoping next week to take a bus up to Waspám on the Río Coco, the hub of all the indigenous communities up there, to do a case study of a community (if I can maybe find some women who speak spanish and will be willing to help me). I am getting to a few conclusions, but really only from the perspectives of women who have somehow overcome the barriers and are in positions of power, most with NGOs who are working to empower other women. But I really still just want to talk to some of the women this all affects, women in communities that, fortunately, have decentralized power which, unfortunately, doesn't belong to them. So hopefully that little field trip will work out! Its about a 5 hour bus ride, and probably longer now that the rains have started. Forms of travel in the states are going to feel so luxurious after Nicaragua!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
This entry is long overdue.
I’m aware of this. I could make up excuses and say that I thought it would be cute to wait a while month before updating my blog just to see how full a month can be here, but that was not my intention, however true it might be. I’ve just been busy. and lazy. I am definitely always one of the two.
But it IS true. This month has been incredibly full! I honestly cannot believe that it was only a month ago that we were in El Salvador. I don’t really know how I can begin to catch up… I will try to do it as rapidly and succinctly as possible!
A couple days after we returned from El Sal, I left for Colombia! Colombia was full of: family, arepas, chocolate, memories, mojitos, cable cars, avocados, and beautiful culture. It was quite a whirlwind. I’m incredibly glad I went, but I never really had the time to reflect on it. Because the day after I got back, I left for:
The coast! The RAAS specifically, to Bluefields and to Pearl Lagoon. The week there was… magical. that is really the best word for it. Coco bread and gingerbread were HUGe highlights, as was a day spent on a PRIVATE ISLAND in the PEARL CAYS. en serio. We stayed in a wonderful guest house owned by mister wesley, and were spoiled with everyone speaking english and with tvs and free time and an ocean to swim in. one day we walked down to a local miskito community and skinny dipped at sunset, and it started to rain and the rain was cooler than the water, which was as warm as bathwater. It was so wonderful and spiritual, one of those moments I know I will be daydreaming about for years to come.
Besides all the adventuring, the week there was enlightening, too. The coast is the poorest region in Nicaragua, and full of complex cultural issues that affect them separately from the rest of the country. In fact, it practically IS a different country, with an entirely different population and history, only without enough autonomy to protect and fight for their own needs. The history of oppression and discrimination against costeñas is not something that is going to change overnight, and even though there are changes that are being made, development is slow, and there is just as much fighting against it, like environmental issues and immigration from the mestizos from the pacific. The more mestizos move to the coast, the smaller the proportion of indigenous or afro-caribbean, and therefore there is less representation for minority needs. Sigh! It’s way complicated.
We got back from the coast and had one last, long week in Managua. I went to Masaya for a day trip with my friend Emily to check out the market there and escape a little of the heat, and we had a good time looking at all the local crafts. I even finally bought myself something, a blanket for my new bed in my new house in walla walla, which will be a good, useful recuerdo. I completely fell in love with it – it’s so beautiful and colorful!
That last week in Managua was SO hot, and we had a lot of work to finish up with, so it was slightly miserable. I spent a lot of time staring at the computer screen, not getting much done. The heat really blocks up your ability to think! I’ve come to have an extremely high respect for ice cream and popsicles.
Last week also was semana santa, the biggest celebration of the year in Nicaragua. Almost everyone gets the whole week off and goes to the beach to get drunk – honestly, that is really what the holiday is about. Save for the last few days, which for the catholic church are huge. True to form, Good Friday, the day jesus dies, is the biggest. Each day, starting with Maundy Thursday, there is a huge procession that acts out what happened on that day of the easter story, so thursday, a giant jesus figure who is blindfolded is carried down the street (ours was wearing a sparkly wizard cape), Friday morning there is a giant jesus holding a cross, Friday night there is a huge coffin, etc.).
My friend Emily and I went to Matagalpa for the weekend, hoping that in the mountains we would avoid the huge crowds. It worked, matagalpa was nearly entirely deserted, which meant all of the wonderful restaurants were closed, which was disappointing. But this was the ONLY disappointing part of the weekend. Everything else worked out beautifully and smoothly. We missed the last bus, and had to take a bus for esteli and then get off and run to catch a connection for matagalpa, which was a fun adventure. Our hotel was owned by the sweetest family and felt more like a homestay. The first day, we went up to visit Emily’s campo homestay family, which was such a great experience for me since I missed that trip because of my awful strep (I’m not sure if I mentioned that earlier on this blog…). It was quite a hike to get up to Cerro Grande, but it was beautiful. The area had been stripped for farming, and so there were this huge, rolling, grassy hills we could climb to the top of and see all of the mountains and valleys. I felt so overcome with kindness by the family. They hardly have anything, like a life of such simplicity and poverty, but welcomed our visit and made us a wonderful lunch. They also taught me how to make the tortillas, even though I guess during semana santa they aren’t supposed to cook them. Something to do with jesus being in the earth and not wanting to eat from the ground while he was below it. They only explained this after we had made them, and we felt so awful! But they really didn’t seem to mind. It was an interesting cultural confrontation.
Also staying in our hotel was a group of really fun guys from the states who are down in Nicaragua filming a documentary about their adventures. On Saturday we went hiking with them up in selva negra, a “black forest” german-style eco-friendly resort up in the mountains. The hike was BEAUTIFUL, and reminded me how out of shape I’ve gotten down here! I’m hoping to start exercising a but more now that I’ve got free time. We had a great day, romping around the woods, and afterwards they treated us to a fantastic dinner at the restaurant up there. They had delicious homemade cheese and tomato soup and hot chocolate, which was just what we needed. They are going to pass through Bilwi in a few weeks, so I will get to see them again!
On Sunday, I went back to Managua for the night to pack up my room, and then left on Monday for Bilwi! The plane ride was RIDICULOUS, I wish I had gotten pictures – I’ll have to get some on the return trip. The plane was by far the tiniest I’ve ever been it, it only sat 12 people, 4 rows of 3 each, with no separation between the cockpit and the body of the plane. I’m not sure whether I thought it was a fun roller coaster, a near death experience, or both. Either way, it was the most gorgeous view I’ve ever had from a plane.
Now I’m writing from my room in Casa Museo Judith Cunningham, the perfect, tranquila hotel where I’m staying in Bilwi for my ISP period. It is made up of a large house, where I’m staying, and a bunch of cabañas, all surrounded by wonderful gardens and peaceful places to sit. The house itself is a museum for the local culture and for the art of Judith, who I think was Myrna, my advisor’s, mother or grandmother. Myrna’s family owns it, and she is an INCREDIBLE woman who has done many things with her life, but which she, of course, has still told me nothing about. nicaraguans are usually so humble about their own accomplishments. Despite the fact that she is world-renown (she’s flying tomorrow to Bolivia to present at a conference, and I think she’s like the VP of the UN council on indigenous rights or something like that), she’s already taken the time to take me around personally and introduce me to a bunch of people, so I already have about 6 or 7 interviews lined up for this week. Incredible!
I’ve just barely been able to explore Bilwi itself, but I love it so far – it’s right on the ocean, and the unpaved roads are that raw, red earth color. It is pretty impoverished – the only renovated-looking building I’ve seen is the bank. I was worried that I would lose a lot of my Spanish here, but it seems like most people rely on Spanish much more than English (although Miskitu is the birth tongue for many).
Okay, this entry is already a full novel, so I will wait to write about my ISP project when I’ve actually got it more solidified… for a teaser, it’s looking like it will be about women’s empowerment, identity, and culture, hopefully focusing some on traditional medicine. Man I hope I can pull this off…
Okay! I’ll see if I can get the internet working long enough to post this! I miss everyone dearly. my brain can’t quite come to terms with the fact that I’m leaving this country in exactly one month! I hope these last 4 weeks are as incredible as they are looking like they’ll be.
Besos a todos.
But it IS true. This month has been incredibly full! I honestly cannot believe that it was only a month ago that we were in El Salvador. I don’t really know how I can begin to catch up… I will try to do it as rapidly and succinctly as possible!
A couple days after we returned from El Sal, I left for Colombia! Colombia was full of: family, arepas, chocolate, memories, mojitos, cable cars, avocados, and beautiful culture. It was quite a whirlwind. I’m incredibly glad I went, but I never really had the time to reflect on it. Because the day after I got back, I left for:
The coast! The RAAS specifically, to Bluefields and to Pearl Lagoon. The week there was… magical. that is really the best word for it. Coco bread and gingerbread were HUGe highlights, as was a day spent on a PRIVATE ISLAND in the PEARL CAYS. en serio. We stayed in a wonderful guest house owned by mister wesley, and were spoiled with everyone speaking english and with tvs and free time and an ocean to swim in. one day we walked down to a local miskito community and skinny dipped at sunset, and it started to rain and the rain was cooler than the water, which was as warm as bathwater. It was so wonderful and spiritual, one of those moments I know I will be daydreaming about for years to come.
Besides all the adventuring, the week there was enlightening, too. The coast is the poorest region in Nicaragua, and full of complex cultural issues that affect them separately from the rest of the country. In fact, it practically IS a different country, with an entirely different population and history, only without enough autonomy to protect and fight for their own needs. The history of oppression and discrimination against costeñas is not something that is going to change overnight, and even though there are changes that are being made, development is slow, and there is just as much fighting against it, like environmental issues and immigration from the mestizos from the pacific. The more mestizos move to the coast, the smaller the proportion of indigenous or afro-caribbean, and therefore there is less representation for minority needs. Sigh! It’s way complicated.
We got back from the coast and had one last, long week in Managua. I went to Masaya for a day trip with my friend Emily to check out the market there and escape a little of the heat, and we had a good time looking at all the local crafts. I even finally bought myself something, a blanket for my new bed in my new house in walla walla, which will be a good, useful recuerdo. I completely fell in love with it – it’s so beautiful and colorful!
That last week in Managua was SO hot, and we had a lot of work to finish up with, so it was slightly miserable. I spent a lot of time staring at the computer screen, not getting much done. The heat really blocks up your ability to think! I’ve come to have an extremely high respect for ice cream and popsicles.
Last week also was semana santa, the biggest celebration of the year in Nicaragua. Almost everyone gets the whole week off and goes to the beach to get drunk – honestly, that is really what the holiday is about. Save for the last few days, which for the catholic church are huge. True to form, Good Friday, the day jesus dies, is the biggest. Each day, starting with Maundy Thursday, there is a huge procession that acts out what happened on that day of the easter story, so thursday, a giant jesus figure who is blindfolded is carried down the street (ours was wearing a sparkly wizard cape), Friday morning there is a giant jesus holding a cross, Friday night there is a huge coffin, etc.).
My friend Emily and I went to Matagalpa for the weekend, hoping that in the mountains we would avoid the huge crowds. It worked, matagalpa was nearly entirely deserted, which meant all of the wonderful restaurants were closed, which was disappointing. But this was the ONLY disappointing part of the weekend. Everything else worked out beautifully and smoothly. We missed the last bus, and had to take a bus for esteli and then get off and run to catch a connection for matagalpa, which was a fun adventure. Our hotel was owned by the sweetest family and felt more like a homestay. The first day, we went up to visit Emily’s campo homestay family, which was such a great experience for me since I missed that trip because of my awful strep (I’m not sure if I mentioned that earlier on this blog…). It was quite a hike to get up to Cerro Grande, but it was beautiful. The area had been stripped for farming, and so there were this huge, rolling, grassy hills we could climb to the top of and see all of the mountains and valleys. I felt so overcome with kindness by the family. They hardly have anything, like a life of such simplicity and poverty, but welcomed our visit and made us a wonderful lunch. They also taught me how to make the tortillas, even though I guess during semana santa they aren’t supposed to cook them. Something to do with jesus being in the earth and not wanting to eat from the ground while he was below it. They only explained this after we had made them, and we felt so awful! But they really didn’t seem to mind. It was an interesting cultural confrontation.
Also staying in our hotel was a group of really fun guys from the states who are down in Nicaragua filming a documentary about their adventures. On Saturday we went hiking with them up in selva negra, a “black forest” german-style eco-friendly resort up in the mountains. The hike was BEAUTIFUL, and reminded me how out of shape I’ve gotten down here! I’m hoping to start exercising a but more now that I’ve got free time. We had a great day, romping around the woods, and afterwards they treated us to a fantastic dinner at the restaurant up there. They had delicious homemade cheese and tomato soup and hot chocolate, which was just what we needed. They are going to pass through Bilwi in a few weeks, so I will get to see them again!
On Sunday, I went back to Managua for the night to pack up my room, and then left on Monday for Bilwi! The plane ride was RIDICULOUS, I wish I had gotten pictures – I’ll have to get some on the return trip. The plane was by far the tiniest I’ve ever been it, it only sat 12 people, 4 rows of 3 each, with no separation between the cockpit and the body of the plane. I’m not sure whether I thought it was a fun roller coaster, a near death experience, or both. Either way, it was the most gorgeous view I’ve ever had from a plane.
Now I’m writing from my room in Casa Museo Judith Cunningham, the perfect, tranquila hotel where I’m staying in Bilwi for my ISP period. It is made up of a large house, where I’m staying, and a bunch of cabañas, all surrounded by wonderful gardens and peaceful places to sit. The house itself is a museum for the local culture and for the art of Judith, who I think was Myrna, my advisor’s, mother or grandmother. Myrna’s family owns it, and she is an INCREDIBLE woman who has done many things with her life, but which she, of course, has still told me nothing about. nicaraguans are usually so humble about their own accomplishments. Despite the fact that she is world-renown (she’s flying tomorrow to Bolivia to present at a conference, and I think she’s like the VP of the UN council on indigenous rights or something like that), she’s already taken the time to take me around personally and introduce me to a bunch of people, so I already have about 6 or 7 interviews lined up for this week. Incredible!
I’ve just barely been able to explore Bilwi itself, but I love it so far – it’s right on the ocean, and the unpaved roads are that raw, red earth color. It is pretty impoverished – the only renovated-looking building I’ve seen is the bank. I was worried that I would lose a lot of my Spanish here, but it seems like most people rely on Spanish much more than English (although Miskitu is the birth tongue for many).
Okay, this entry is already a full novel, so I will wait to write about my ISP project when I’ve actually got it more solidified… for a teaser, it’s looking like it will be about women’s empowerment, identity, and culture, hopefully focusing some on traditional medicine. Man I hope I can pull this off…
Okay! I’ll see if I can get the internet working long enough to post this! I miss everyone dearly. my brain can’t quite come to terms with the fact that I’m leaving this country in exactly one month! I hope these last 4 weeks are as incredible as they are looking like they’ll be.
Besos a todos.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Viene el cambio.
This is my El Salvadoran check-in. I am in El Salvador! I won't have much time to write a ton, because I've already had a ton of internet time, but I wanted to write a blog while I was HERE to remind myself of the need to write about this place.
Yesterday we woke up at 3:45 for the second time in a week to official, credentialed international election observers! It was a really incredible experience, to be given the chance to see a country speak it's voice from the inside out. Manny and I, along with a couple youth radio reporters we were teamed up with, drove down a mountain at 4 in the morning in the bed of a truck. I will miss things like this so much when I leave Central America. We were stationed in Sensuntepeque, the capital of Cabañas, a region on the Honduran coast.
It was unusual because we observed in a pretty conservative region, so I saw a lot more support for ARENA (the ruling right-wing party) than I did for the FMLN. This was after spending a week meeting people who spoke about their experiences and pain during the revolution and their hope that change was coming this Sunday. Before yesterday, I was really starting to wonder who the mysterious majority was who had kept ARENA in power for so long. Turns out they are kind of a mix of the very wealthy and the very poor.
The ballots for the election were incredibly simple - just a picture of each flag, with instructions to mark an X through the one you prefer. I get the sense the elections here are much more accessible than they are in the states - I wonder if we'd get the 80% turnout rate if it were that easy, instead of having the appearance of elitsm that I think all our debates and ammendments give off. Then again, this system makes it much easier for votes to be bought.
Although everyone was braced for tons of fraud, it seems like everything went pretty smoothly. There were some Hondurans and Nicaraguans nearby with fake DUIs (their voting ID) with the names and info of deceased, and I saw a few other fishy things going on, but overall it was a pretty peaceful day. Voting centers are like hometown fairs - everyone is decked out, there are street vendors, and there is just this sense of anticipation and excitement. Voting is definitely an all day event. I feel so grateful to have been able to share this experience with the Salvadoran people, even if only on a small scale. Especially with a victory! It really echoed Obama's from the fall.
I'm really anxious to see how this works out for El Salvador. Funez ran on a pretty moderate platform, and his victory is without a doubt a HUGE acheivement, if only because it means an overthrow of the exploitative government who has been using scare tactics to rule, riding on the tails of the US-funded massacres of the 80s. But now Reagan and Bush are not president, and the world isn't so terrified of communism to attack any country who decides of it's own accord that left-leaning politics might work for them. So maybe they've got a chance. Or maybe in 2 years they will be like Nicaragua, already jaded and suspicious of their leader. I don't know. (And I really don't mean to be making such broad generalizations. There are Nicaraguans who love Daniel, and there are Salvadorans who are displeased with the victory of the FMLN.)
Okay, I need to get off the computer. I really need to write more about this country later, because there is SO much to say, and I feel like I've learned so much only being here for a week.
BUt we will see when I have time... because I'm going to COLOMBIA on Friday! My mom will be there, and on a whim (a kind of reckless one) we decided I should miss a couple days of class and fly down. Which means this is my current life schedule: return to Managua on Wednesday, fly to Medellín on Friday, fly back to Managua on Wednesday, leave for the Coast on Thursday, come back to Managua on Wednesday, have one more week of class, and then return to the coast for ISP.
How is this possible?
More later.
Yesterday we woke up at 3:45 for the second time in a week to official, credentialed international election observers! It was a really incredible experience, to be given the chance to see a country speak it's voice from the inside out. Manny and I, along with a couple youth radio reporters we were teamed up with, drove down a mountain at 4 in the morning in the bed of a truck. I will miss things like this so much when I leave Central America. We were stationed in Sensuntepeque, the capital of Cabañas, a region on the Honduran coast.
It was unusual because we observed in a pretty conservative region, so I saw a lot more support for ARENA (the ruling right-wing party) than I did for the FMLN. This was after spending a week meeting people who spoke about their experiences and pain during the revolution and their hope that change was coming this Sunday. Before yesterday, I was really starting to wonder who the mysterious majority was who had kept ARENA in power for so long. Turns out they are kind of a mix of the very wealthy and the very poor.
The ballots for the election were incredibly simple - just a picture of each flag, with instructions to mark an X through the one you prefer. I get the sense the elections here are much more accessible than they are in the states - I wonder if we'd get the 80% turnout rate if it were that easy, instead of having the appearance of elitsm that I think all our debates and ammendments give off. Then again, this system makes it much easier for votes to be bought.
Although everyone was braced for tons of fraud, it seems like everything went pretty smoothly. There were some Hondurans and Nicaraguans nearby with fake DUIs (their voting ID) with the names and info of deceased, and I saw a few other fishy things going on, but overall it was a pretty peaceful day. Voting centers are like hometown fairs - everyone is decked out, there are street vendors, and there is just this sense of anticipation and excitement. Voting is definitely an all day event. I feel so grateful to have been able to share this experience with the Salvadoran people, even if only on a small scale. Especially with a victory! It really echoed Obama's from the fall.
I'm really anxious to see how this works out for El Salvador. Funez ran on a pretty moderate platform, and his victory is without a doubt a HUGE acheivement, if only because it means an overthrow of the exploitative government who has been using scare tactics to rule, riding on the tails of the US-funded massacres of the 80s. But now Reagan and Bush are not president, and the world isn't so terrified of communism to attack any country who decides of it's own accord that left-leaning politics might work for them. So maybe they've got a chance. Or maybe in 2 years they will be like Nicaragua, already jaded and suspicious of their leader. I don't know. (And I really don't mean to be making such broad generalizations. There are Nicaraguans who love Daniel, and there are Salvadorans who are displeased with the victory of the FMLN.)
Okay, I need to get off the computer. I really need to write more about this country later, because there is SO much to say, and I feel like I've learned so much only being here for a week.
BUt we will see when I have time... because I'm going to COLOMBIA on Friday! My mom will be there, and on a whim (a kind of reckless one) we decided I should miss a couple days of class and fly down. Which means this is my current life schedule: return to Managua on Wednesday, fly to Medellín on Friday, fly back to Managua on Wednesday, leave for the Coast on Thursday, come back to Managua on Wednesday, have one more week of class, and then return to the coast for ISP.
How is this possible?
More later.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
poetry assignment for class
two posts in one day! I have spent way too much time on computers today. but here are a couple poems I wrote for class here. another way to understand Nicaragua...
on street corners
it is like laughing:
like each car is exploding from it’s belly, bursting
forward proudly it’s uncomfortable truths
in an open-mouthed, unforgiving exultation of existence,
claiming life simply
because it can
and then it is like spilling,
as voices drift upward
bend outward
and bodies speak
the things I have always been taught to keep silent.
En un baño, a medionoche
Armadas con una escoba,
gritamos y saltamos.
Ella golpea la tierra
y yo río,
como matando cucarachas
se convierte en un baile.
on street corners
it is like laughing:
like each car is exploding from it’s belly, bursting
forward proudly it’s uncomfortable truths
in an open-mouthed, unforgiving exultation of existence,
claiming life simply
because it can
and then it is like spilling,
as voices drift upward
bend outward
and bodies speak
the things I have always been taught to keep silent.
En un baño, a medionoche
Armadas con una escoba,
gritamos y saltamos.
Ella golpea la tierra
y yo río,
como matando cucarachas
se convierte en un baile.
5 week (minus one day) anniversary!
I have been doing an absolutely terrible job of updating my blog with life here. I sincerely apologize, especially to the wonderful friends who "stalk my blog daily." Which is very sweet. I will try to be a more interesting target from now on.
I'm sitting in the student office, enjoying an afternoon off from class and killing time before I have a phone interview for a possible summer job, and there is really so much to life here that I don't even know where to begin with an update!
The past couple of weeks have passed ridiculously quickly. I wound up missing out completely on the campo trip due to my wonderful case of strep, that got worse and worse every day for about a week. I got to make a few trips out the the Vivian Pellas Hospital, which is the snazzy private place all the Nica Ricas and foreigners get to go to. It was bizarre - it looked as nice as UCLA Medical Center or Sedar Sinai. Luckily I was feeling well enough to head out to Matagalpa for the night when everyone else on the program was returning from their campo adventures. There I learned about the beauty of how good batidos really can be.
Since then, I've just been here in Managua, sinking in to some semblance of normal life. Nobody left town last weekend because we had tons of homework and everyone was tired, so that gave us a chance to feel out the weekend life here (and by that I mean we spent one night watching The Dark Knight in the office, and two long days working on homework, but also got to go out to this really awesome bar to see an afro-cubano band play with our conversation partners, which was one of my favorite things here yet).
Somehow, amazingly, tomorrow is our LAST DAY of spanish class. I honestly dont know if my spanish mastery has improved much, but I'd say what has improved is my fluidity, my willingness to take chances and sound ridiculous in order to communicate. Which, really, is essential when you're trying to survive in a foreign country and have some experience beyond simply being a tourist and a foreigner.
Next Tuesday we leave for El Salvador. El Salvador! AND - get this- we are going to be official election observers, complete with t-shirts and clipboards and probably an aire of foreign superiority, but it is so amazing to have a chance to be involved. These elections are really important. Basically, around the same time of the civil war here in the 80s there was a much bloodier, inhumane civil war in El Salvador. Since then, the same people have remained in power, and most agree that most of the elections have been frauds. This election is the first time that their revolutionary party is considered to have a viable chance of winning, especially because there has been SO much emphasis on the elections being clean. The FMLN it seems to me is more reliable and trustworthy than the FSLN here, and maybe it really is a chance for popular change in Latin America. We'll see! But this is exactly why I am so excited to be a part of it.
I'm starting to hone in on a topic for ISP, and it is TERRIFYING, but SO exciting and interesting. I think I'm headed to the RAAN, which is the northern autonomous atlantic coast, to research indigenous rights and autonomy. There has been a strong history here, like everywhere, of abuses to indigenous peoples and their land, and the whole concept of autonomy and political power is a little shaky here. I haven't really decided what my emphasis will be, and nobody from the program has gone there since 2000, so this really is kind of uncharted territory.
Tomorrow a friend and I are going to go to Granada for the weekend, the beautiful, colonial, tourist headquarters of Nicaragua, and we're going to do a boat tour of the Isletas! I will fill you all in on how it goes.
Okay, time for my interview! It's been so bizarre to be down here and have to think about summer and coming back... my mind keeps this world and the world of home very separate. Hopefully my English will hold up.
Love to everyone!
I'm sitting in the student office, enjoying an afternoon off from class and killing time before I have a phone interview for a possible summer job, and there is really so much to life here that I don't even know where to begin with an update!
The past couple of weeks have passed ridiculously quickly. I wound up missing out completely on the campo trip due to my wonderful case of strep, that got worse and worse every day for about a week. I got to make a few trips out the the Vivian Pellas Hospital, which is the snazzy private place all the Nica Ricas and foreigners get to go to. It was bizarre - it looked as nice as UCLA Medical Center or Sedar Sinai. Luckily I was feeling well enough to head out to Matagalpa for the night when everyone else on the program was returning from their campo adventures. There I learned about the beauty of how good batidos really can be.
Since then, I've just been here in Managua, sinking in to some semblance of normal life. Nobody left town last weekend because we had tons of homework and everyone was tired, so that gave us a chance to feel out the weekend life here (and by that I mean we spent one night watching The Dark Knight in the office, and two long days working on homework, but also got to go out to this really awesome bar to see an afro-cubano band play with our conversation partners, which was one of my favorite things here yet).
Somehow, amazingly, tomorrow is our LAST DAY of spanish class. I honestly dont know if my spanish mastery has improved much, but I'd say what has improved is my fluidity, my willingness to take chances and sound ridiculous in order to communicate. Which, really, is essential when you're trying to survive in a foreign country and have some experience beyond simply being a tourist and a foreigner.
Next Tuesday we leave for El Salvador. El Salvador! AND - get this- we are going to be official election observers, complete with t-shirts and clipboards and probably an aire of foreign superiority, but it is so amazing to have a chance to be involved. These elections are really important. Basically, around the same time of the civil war here in the 80s there was a much bloodier, inhumane civil war in El Salvador. Since then, the same people have remained in power, and most agree that most of the elections have been frauds. This election is the first time that their revolutionary party is considered to have a viable chance of winning, especially because there has been SO much emphasis on the elections being clean. The FMLN it seems to me is more reliable and trustworthy than the FSLN here, and maybe it really is a chance for popular change in Latin America. We'll see! But this is exactly why I am so excited to be a part of it.
I'm starting to hone in on a topic for ISP, and it is TERRIFYING, but SO exciting and interesting. I think I'm headed to the RAAN, which is the northern autonomous atlantic coast, to research indigenous rights and autonomy. There has been a strong history here, like everywhere, of abuses to indigenous peoples and their land, and the whole concept of autonomy and political power is a little shaky here. I haven't really decided what my emphasis will be, and nobody from the program has gone there since 2000, so this really is kind of uncharted territory.
Tomorrow a friend and I are going to go to Granada for the weekend, the beautiful, colonial, tourist headquarters of Nicaragua, and we're going to do a boat tour of the Isletas! I will fill you all in on how it goes.
Okay, time for my interview! It's been so bizarre to be down here and have to think about summer and coming back... my mind keeps this world and the world of home very separate. Hopefully my English will hold up.
Love to everyone!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
a journal entry - 2/25/09
My urge to lie on floors is not fulfilled here.
I do not know what Nicaragua means because I haven't felt her yet,
because I haven't sunk into the lowest part of her, because
I haven't felt her heartbeat with the soft part of my fingers,
because I haven't tripped on a quiet truth that cements her all together, haven't stood beneath her alone and found myself still living, still breathing.
I do not know what Nicaragua means because I haven't felt her yet,
because I haven't sunk into the lowest part of her, because
I haven't felt her heartbeat with the soft part of my fingers,
because I haven't tripped on a quiet truth that cements her all together, haven't stood beneath her alone and found myself still living, still breathing.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
sickness
I am officially the first student of the semester to have visited the doctor. Not exactly a title I am proud of, but I am so glad to have gotten sick today instead of in two days from now, when we are supposed to be heading out for the campo! I´ve got a throat infection, but thankfully I now have medicine, and there is an Eskimo (ice cream) shop right next door, and te de manzanilla (chamomile tea) at the farmacia right down the street. Not all, but at least some of the comforts of home.
I promised an explanation of daily life, so here goes (as briefly as possible, because what I REALLY want to do is go back home and rest):
I usually start waking up around 5:30, when the roosters start crowing and people start selling things on the street (selling things requires shouting about what you are selling every 5 feet you walk. it is fascinating). I usually doze until 6:30, when my alarm goes off. I get up, get dressed and ready for school, and go downstairs to use the bathroom. My host mom or my host sister (who I guess is technically my host cousin) usually lays out a great breakfast for me of cereal or pancakes or eggs and fruit and juice and cafe con leche (which is hot milk with a little instant espresso. it's so funny, they grow such great coffee, but everyone drinks instant!).
I want to the study center (about 5 minutes away tops) at 7:45 and meet up with some other students, and then we all walk to the UCA, which is a university about 30 to 40 minutes away. its a really nice walk, because we dont get much else exercise.
I have spanish with Ramon (our professor) and 3 other girls. we´re in the middle group. Spanish class lasts from 8 30 til noon, by which time we are usually STARVING. luckily, there is a vegetarian restaurant right outside the UCA! lunch costs about 40 cords (2 bucks). I am going to be so cheap when I get back to the states!
our afternoon seminar usually starts at 3, so we´ve got a couple hours to walk back, work on homework, or hang out at the office. the class is at the CIES, which is another campus right down the street from La Maximo. In that class, we usually get lectures from famous, important people in Nicaraguan history that we feel we don't deserve to meet, especially becuase we cant always understand their spanish. but it´s interesting, and there is always coffee and air conditioning!
At 5, class is over and we wander back in to town. Usually I hang out at hte office or go to a cyber to do homework, and when I´m done, I head back home for dinner. Usuallyt the family has already eaten, so Doña Olga warms up some extra food for me and sits with me while I eat. After, I take a shower or write letters or finish homework or watch the novelas with my family: at 8 every night is "Sin los senos no hay paraiso", and at 9 is "siete picados". They are as cheesy and inappropriate as they sound, but my family can't get enough!
I´m usually completely exhausted by 9, so I go to bed.
and there is a dia tipica en mi vida nicaraguense!
tomorrow, we are going to the international poetry festival in granada, so please keep your fingers crossed that I´m well enough to go! I´d hate to miss it. Then thursday, we leave for the CAMPO, our first excursion, which we are all thoroughly terrified for. 5 days with a rural family with a latrine and a one room house and they've likely never met a gringa before. this equals what our academic director laughingly calls 5 of the most uncomfortable, socially and physically awkward days of our lives. but I am still excited.
love to everyone!
I promised an explanation of daily life, so here goes (as briefly as possible, because what I REALLY want to do is go back home and rest):
I usually start waking up around 5:30, when the roosters start crowing and people start selling things on the street (selling things requires shouting about what you are selling every 5 feet you walk. it is fascinating). I usually doze until 6:30, when my alarm goes off. I get up, get dressed and ready for school, and go downstairs to use the bathroom. My host mom or my host sister (who I guess is technically my host cousin) usually lays out a great breakfast for me of cereal or pancakes or eggs and fruit and juice and cafe con leche (which is hot milk with a little instant espresso. it's so funny, they grow such great coffee, but everyone drinks instant!).
I want to the study center (about 5 minutes away tops) at 7:45 and meet up with some other students, and then we all walk to the UCA, which is a university about 30 to 40 minutes away. its a really nice walk, because we dont get much else exercise.
I have spanish with Ramon (our professor) and 3 other girls. we´re in the middle group. Spanish class lasts from 8 30 til noon, by which time we are usually STARVING. luckily, there is a vegetarian restaurant right outside the UCA! lunch costs about 40 cords (2 bucks). I am going to be so cheap when I get back to the states!
our afternoon seminar usually starts at 3, so we´ve got a couple hours to walk back, work on homework, or hang out at the office. the class is at the CIES, which is another campus right down the street from La Maximo. In that class, we usually get lectures from famous, important people in Nicaraguan history that we feel we don't deserve to meet, especially becuase we cant always understand their spanish. but it´s interesting, and there is always coffee and air conditioning!
At 5, class is over and we wander back in to town. Usually I hang out at hte office or go to a cyber to do homework, and when I´m done, I head back home for dinner. Usuallyt the family has already eaten, so Doña Olga warms up some extra food for me and sits with me while I eat. After, I take a shower or write letters or finish homework or watch the novelas with my family: at 8 every night is "Sin los senos no hay paraiso", and at 9 is "siete picados". They are as cheesy and inappropriate as they sound, but my family can't get enough!
I´m usually completely exhausted by 9, so I go to bed.
and there is a dia tipica en mi vida nicaraguense!
tomorrow, we are going to the international poetry festival in granada, so please keep your fingers crossed that I´m well enough to go! I´d hate to miss it. Then thursday, we leave for the CAMPO, our first excursion, which we are all thoroughly terrified for. 5 days with a rural family with a latrine and a one room house and they've likely never met a gringa before. this equals what our academic director laughingly calls 5 of the most uncomfortable, socially and physically awkward days of our lives. but I am still excited.
love to everyone!
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