Yes it has been a while. If only I could see my last shower date shown on facebook like my blog date than I would be able to remember both every day. But I cannot organically remember either.
So whats up, I am now living in a pueblo called San Juan de Oriente where I am attempting to do my independent project. Yah right. I am learning to throw pots and smoke them too.
So never have I been cold in Nicaragua, except for last night. The first time I have gotten the goose pimples from being cold. Who would have known, if somebody had told me I wouldn´t have believed them. In fact I didn´t bring a single long sleeved piece of clothing with me. I know what a fool. Where it is really chilly is in this very close pueblo about ten minutes away called Catarina. At the end of Catarina looking towards Granada there is a crater lake, created I guess by the implosion of a volcano some years ago. The other day before I parted my group we went to the volcano Mombacho where the same thing has occurred minus the lake part and you can walk around on a beautifully constructed trail along the entire rim of the now extinct volcano. Anyway at the crater lake its mad windy=cold.
So I am hear in SJdeO where the climate is fantastic. Not nearly as hot as managua and tranquilo as hell, real niiice...
I went to this festival last night in Catarina it was some saint something or other and they might be crownin a queen tonight. But what it appeared to be was hella peeps gettin their boogie on. Mostly youngins. It is amazing the amount of youth in the towns around this area. However that did not hold out for long. I met this girl who I started dancing with to something by Cypres Hill. We danced for a few songs then took a break to charlar. So she wasn´t very young 24 infact but she has a KID and is divorced. I can not imagine being in the dating scene around this age with those kind of stats. I guess the sooner the better? no I don´t think that applies here.
So all in all we will see what san Juan de Oriente and the surrounding towns have in store for me. Nothing less than a great project and wonderful stories for the upcoming months. At least I hope there is a great project. the stories will just come flowing in.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Quicky
Hey yooo
So I landed in El Salvador today around 8 in the morning. I think its the same time zone.
Quick historyTyranical government for 60 yrs. 10+ yr genocide during the 80´s. Peace resolution in 1992.
Know maybe you know a lot more than you did?
A quick note tambien. The food in Nicaragua is usually beans, rice, bananas, meat of some sort, a sour salad and some juice.
The food in El Salvador fucking rocks the socks off of nica food.
We are staying at this place called the Oasis in San Salvador and maybe the food is organic but it tastes soooo good. It turns your mouth alive with flavors that nicaragua have convinced me didn´t exist in Central America.
Learned about the history of El salvador today. Damn messed up as you can see by the histroy lesson. But here unlike Nicaragua there is more of a truth commision which involves testimonies given by people who were involved in the war. Tonight we recieved an amazingly powerful and daunting story of bad-assness by this ex-guerilla. Which I would love to talk about now but have to let it settle and will indulge all interested parties in on this history when I have more time on the comp.
Hate to say but its really nice to be outside of Managua. Word the fuck up.
PAZ
So I landed in El Salvador today around 8 in the morning. I think its the same time zone.
Quick historyTyranical government for 60 yrs. 10+ yr genocide during the 80´s. Peace resolution in 1992.
Know maybe you know a lot more than you did?
A quick note tambien. The food in Nicaragua is usually beans, rice, bananas, meat of some sort, a sour salad and some juice.
The food in El Salvador fucking rocks the socks off of nica food.
We are staying at this place called the Oasis in San Salvador and maybe the food is organic but it tastes soooo good. It turns your mouth alive with flavors that nicaragua have convinced me didn´t exist in Central America.
Learned about the history of El salvador today. Damn messed up as you can see by the histroy lesson. But here unlike Nicaragua there is more of a truth commision which involves testimonies given by people who were involved in the war. Tonight we recieved an amazingly powerful and daunting story of bad-assness by this ex-guerilla. Which I would love to talk about now but have to let it settle and will indulge all interested parties in on this history when I have more time on the comp.
Hate to say but its really nice to be outside of Managua. Word the fuck up.
PAZ
Monday, October 15, 2007
CheckALo
Okay its been a long minute since I last posted and I gots lots to say. Oh yah...
Actually now that I am sitting trying to think about what to write it is slowly not coming to me. Must be the humidity?
I returned from the coast with visions of getting a month long pass for this dance class next to the university where I take my language classes. Dreams were floating in my head of becoming an amazing dance partner for the ritmos latinos. And then they all melted away when I entered the class. So I was thinking that the class would be partner dancing of salsa and cumbia and other sorts of movement with some sort of instruction. However my friend Rachael and I were sorely disappointed. It was a class of ritmos latinos but really it was latin jazzercize... There was an instructor and he was a dude and there were a ton of womens in mostly tight spandex who had obviously participated in this class before because they could keep up with the instructor who I think always threw in an extra three steps. SO I couldn’t keep up with anything and it must have been good for my soul to look such a fool in front of a group of total strangers. I feel like I can dance a little better to reggeaton now but nothing else. That was kinda cool I don´t think I am going back I just need to find the bars that offer nightly lessons.
We have been talking about the culture of peace in class this last week and part of that was listening to Eddy Perez one of the main dudes who’s organization offers education and after school programs to kids who live in CHURECA, which is the subdivision that surrounds and is part of the city dump of Managua. The families that live there actually work and live in the dump. They do everything from collecting their food, supplies, and shelter, to finding plastic and aluminum to recycle. Managua doesñ´t have much of a recycling program so this is like a human recyclery but it is much more tragic than that because these peeps really just live off the garbage and there is little concern for health or education and it is nearly as simple as living to survive to live... There are interesting dichotomies here in
We are going to
There is more to tell about this past week and
-paz-
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Where the HeLl am I
SO I recently returned from the Atlantic coast on Sunday of this week and I am back in Managua. First and fore most it is not at all like any other part of Nicaragua. It seems totally like its own country. The majority of the people there are creole or mestizo. There are also many indigenous tribes on the atlantic coast. I was in Orinoco which is in the southwest side of the pearl lagoon. The main tribe there is Garifuna but they are quickly losing their heritage and trying to rebuild it.
The Atlantic coast has a very interesting history. At the moment there are two autonomous regions; the north and the south regions which are both very large pieces of land and rich in natural resources. Anyway Columbus came by and didn't much care for it. Eventually the Atlantic coast became a british protectorate. At this time the coast had a king and a government that followed the british style. then America wanted to build a canal through Nicaragua and persuaded the brits to give up the coast as a protectorate. America never built the canal but they did help the pacific side of Nicaragua fight against the atlantic side. However the pacific soldiers didn't know the american soldiers were for them so all they did was ask them to help them flee and the atlantic side some how got out of it. The atlantic side sometimes asked the british to help when the pacific side encroached on their autonomy and sometimes the brits helped and sometimes didn't. Anyway the tribes and regions of the atlantic eventually got their asses kicked and were tricked into signing over all their rights under the government of Zelaya in the early 1900's. Then came Samoza and things got darker and bloodier. So only in 1980 did they once again receive autonomy under the sandinistas and they only got similar human rights in 1987 and are working now on what they want exactly as an autonomous region.
So that is a brief semi-inaccurate history of the atlantic coast. And i went there. Most of the population is black and they talk in a sweet rastafarian creole.
I was in a group of 8 and we stayed in the hostel of Miss Rebecca. Who was a large lovely creole nurse who worked in the health clinic of Orinoco. We were there for 4 days and nights. We swam in bath temperature water and danced Garifuna dances nearly every day. We ate fried fish once and some of the best fried chicken i've ever had for a couple of meals. But we had little seafood concerning our position on the globe. We were taught Garifuna drumming and dancing by artistic leaders of the community, and we had members of the community like a priest, judge, teacher, and community leader come talk to us about the situation of life in Orinoco and the Garifuna culture. We went to the fadcanic school of agriculture where there is a lot of science and splicing going on to provide farmers with the most productive seeds and methods of farming. We also went to the bar a couple of nights, the first night Tueday, we were sort of the only guests because the drumming instructor's uncle owned the bar and opened it up for us. In Orinoco they make a sort of bootleg moonshine rum that is stronger that 151 proof and makes your eyes water and nose cringe when you smell it. Any way most of the group got real pissed off the stuff and that was prety funny. The next time it was offered to us not nearly as much was consumed by the group, because we learn quick here at SIT.
Thats sort of the brunt of it. It was a great time of learning and relaxing. It was also like a completely different world from here in Managua. We also watched the stars every night because we could actually see the millions of them out there. It was awesome and I love trying to talk in a creole accent as much as possible.
On another note I think I collected a parasite somewhere along the way and was sick as a dog on our last day which was spent in Bluefields which is the main town of the region. But I've been taking some pills and feel a bit better now.
Until next time.
The Atlantic coast has a very interesting history. At the moment there are two autonomous regions; the north and the south regions which are both very large pieces of land and rich in natural resources. Anyway Columbus came by and didn't much care for it. Eventually the Atlantic coast became a british protectorate. At this time the coast had a king and a government that followed the british style. then America wanted to build a canal through Nicaragua and persuaded the brits to give up the coast as a protectorate. America never built the canal but they did help the pacific side of Nicaragua fight against the atlantic side. However the pacific soldiers didn't know the american soldiers were for them so all they did was ask them to help them flee and the atlantic side some how got out of it. The atlantic side sometimes asked the british to help when the pacific side encroached on their autonomy and sometimes the brits helped and sometimes didn't. Anyway the tribes and regions of the atlantic eventually got their asses kicked and were tricked into signing over all their rights under the government of Zelaya in the early 1900's. Then came Samoza and things got darker and bloodier. So only in 1980 did they once again receive autonomy under the sandinistas and they only got similar human rights in 1987 and are working now on what they want exactly as an autonomous region.
So that is a brief semi-inaccurate history of the atlantic coast. And i went there. Most of the population is black and they talk in a sweet rastafarian creole.
I was in a group of 8 and we stayed in the hostel of Miss Rebecca. Who was a large lovely creole nurse who worked in the health clinic of Orinoco. We were there for 4 days and nights. We swam in bath temperature water and danced Garifuna dances nearly every day. We ate fried fish once and some of the best fried chicken i've ever had for a couple of meals. But we had little seafood concerning our position on the globe. We were taught Garifuna drumming and dancing by artistic leaders of the community, and we had members of the community like a priest, judge, teacher, and community leader come talk to us about the situation of life in Orinoco and the Garifuna culture. We went to the fadcanic school of agriculture where there is a lot of science and splicing going on to provide farmers with the most productive seeds and methods of farming. We also went to the bar a couple of nights, the first night Tueday, we were sort of the only guests because the drumming instructor's uncle owned the bar and opened it up for us. In Orinoco they make a sort of bootleg moonshine rum that is stronger that 151 proof and makes your eyes water and nose cringe when you smell it. Any way most of the group got real pissed off the stuff and that was prety funny. The next time it was offered to us not nearly as much was consumed by the group, because we learn quick here at SIT.
Thats sort of the brunt of it. It was a great time of learning and relaxing. It was also like a completely different world from here in Managua. We also watched the stars every night because we could actually see the millions of them out there. It was awesome and I love trying to talk in a creole accent as much as possible.
On another note I think I collected a parasite somewhere along the way and was sick as a dog on our last day which was spent in Bluefields which is the main town of the region. But I've been taking some pills and feel a bit better now.
Until next time.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Howdy all
Howddyyyy,
I am still adjusting from my stint to the the campo, there were many things experienced that I have yet to process, but on to other things.
This week was pretty regular.
There was a theater festival this week and I went to two plays; one on AIDS and the other on CAFTA. To tell you the truth they weren't very good. The one on CAFTA had lots of cheesy singing and lounge type music, which is the worst when it is live.
On Friday I went to a nicaraguan punk show. Half of the bands were awful. The others were hardcore punk and metal. During one band that sounded like incubus I witnessed a very odd spectacle. There was a mosh pit created in the middle of the crowd and kids would gather in teams like red rover, the game you used to play as a youngin. They would lock arms and then run towards the other side of the circle, it didn't matter if the other side was looking or participating. But they would run and when they got close enough they would do something like flying jump kicks at them. They would also do this as retribution to someone who had just done it to them and kick them in the back; very violent and extreme. A couple times a fight would almost break out but would calm down and kids would be high-fiving eachother. Muy loco.
I have been creating a closer relationship with my uncle who is in his early 30s. He has been taking me around to different places in Managua. This weekend we went to a great restaurant for shrimp cocktales and such. It was great, shrimp shell fish of all sorts and other various invertebrates(sp) in a very flavorful broth. all for the cost of about 50 cordobas which is a little under 3 bucks. Que rico. Then we went to a party next to my house and indulged in 3 ginormous bottles of flor de cana, an excelent rum here.
Tomorrow the group is traveling to the costa caribe, we will be in Bluefields and Orinoco. I am really excited and it should be a great time. I will let you all in on it when i return.
PAZ
I am still adjusting from my stint to the the campo, there were many things experienced that I have yet to process, but on to other things.
This week was pretty regular.
There was a theater festival this week and I went to two plays; one on AIDS and the other on CAFTA. To tell you the truth they weren't very good. The one on CAFTA had lots of cheesy singing and lounge type music, which is the worst when it is live.
On Friday I went to a nicaraguan punk show. Half of the bands were awful. The others were hardcore punk and metal. During one band that sounded like incubus I witnessed a very odd spectacle. There was a mosh pit created in the middle of the crowd and kids would gather in teams like red rover, the game you used to play as a youngin. They would lock arms and then run towards the other side of the circle, it didn't matter if the other side was looking or participating. But they would run and when they got close enough they would do something like flying jump kicks at them. They would also do this as retribution to someone who had just done it to them and kick them in the back; very violent and extreme. A couple times a fight would almost break out but would calm down and kids would be high-fiving eachother. Muy loco.
I have been creating a closer relationship with my uncle who is in his early 30s. He has been taking me around to different places in Managua. This weekend we went to a great restaurant for shrimp cocktales and such. It was great, shrimp shell fish of all sorts and other various invertebrates(sp) in a very flavorful broth. all for the cost of about 50 cordobas which is a little under 3 bucks. Que rico. Then we went to a party next to my house and indulged in 3 ginormous bottles of flor de cana, an excelent rum here.
Tomorrow the group is traveling to the costa caribe, we will be in Bluefields and Orinoco. I am really excited and it should be a great time. I will let you all in on it when i return.
PAZ
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Oh the campo, watch the geese...
Yo tengo tiempo ahora.
SO i recently returned from the community of el tepayac in the campo(country side) outside of a little division named San Ramon. It was at the top of a mountain in a beautiful cloud forest and magnificent tropical hill side. Where there were banana leaves nearly as big as me and foliage everywhere. It had been raining recently and there was mud up to your ankles everywhere you went. Really it was one of the most beautiful places I have been. Pictures soon to follow.
I was in a family of ten members, mostly young adults and two parents. There was a main house with a living room and sleeping room and a kithen/storage room in the side yard. There were also two other buildings across the road where two yound couples in the family lived. There were a ton of farm animals; chickens, cows, roosters, and of course geese. We arrived by pickup truck in the afternoon, hiked a mile or so and were spread out in a group of six in the community. WEnt to bed early even though my familiy had electricity, and woke up early.
The first morning I woke out i went to wash my face outside, on the way to the house i had to pass one of three geese. This goose, probably 3 feet tall, started squaking and took a bite out of me. Luckily I was wearing thick pants and there was no damage done, but i think i might now have an eternal fear.
Ate the same thing for every meal, beans, rice, tortillas, and a wedge of cheese, with a cup of coffee. Sometimes there was soup, i think twice in the time I was there.
My family had a large coffee farm with thousands of trees. In retrospect the village I was in was not the poorest of the poor. But the village that some other students were in was, they had no electricity and were laborers on other farms.
The women were very passive at my house. Of course I was an extremely odd looking stranger and that had some effect. The only person I had a decent relationship with was the dad. He took me every where in town and toured the farm with me most days. Gender division were very fierce in the campo. Although the fathers daughters worked in the field with him I didn't see the mom leave the kitchen except to serve me.
There was no violence or alcoholism in my house but many other students reported seeing this in theirs. These are both huge problems in the campo and there is trouble eradicating(sp) this in that area.
I didn't do much work or much talking either becase i only got along with the dad. It was a time for much introflection. In tepayac we mostly hung out and partied becuase there was a grand birthday for a 15 year old from my community. We would go around to the other students houses and hang out a lot and not do much work.
There was intense staring from the campesinos towards us, of course most of them had not seen a gringo, and certainly never had them in their houses. But it really never stopped. Smiles ssstares and little talking.
With all the staring going on it was easy to see the hardship and sadness in the eyes of the women in the campo. Although most of them had never lived a different life it could be seen that the women desired something different than what their role provided. This is not true for all women I saw, but for the majority in my family. The father on the other side really appreciated living on his farm, and wouldn't leave it for anything. He was taken from his farm in the 80's to fight for the sandinistas against the contras.
There is much more to say but I will leave at this for now, as I process more and it comes back you all will get a view.
SO i recently returned from the community of el tepayac in the campo(country side) outside of a little division named San Ramon. It was at the top of a mountain in a beautiful cloud forest and magnificent tropical hill side. Where there were banana leaves nearly as big as me and foliage everywhere. It had been raining recently and there was mud up to your ankles everywhere you went. Really it was one of the most beautiful places I have been. Pictures soon to follow.
I was in a family of ten members, mostly young adults and two parents. There was a main house with a living room and sleeping room and a kithen/storage room in the side yard. There were also two other buildings across the road where two yound couples in the family lived. There were a ton of farm animals; chickens, cows, roosters, and of course geese. We arrived by pickup truck in the afternoon, hiked a mile or so and were spread out in a group of six in the community. WEnt to bed early even though my familiy had electricity, and woke up early.
The first morning I woke out i went to wash my face outside, on the way to the house i had to pass one of three geese. This goose, probably 3 feet tall, started squaking and took a bite out of me. Luckily I was wearing thick pants and there was no damage done, but i think i might now have an eternal fear.
Ate the same thing for every meal, beans, rice, tortillas, and a wedge of cheese, with a cup of coffee. Sometimes there was soup, i think twice in the time I was there.
My family had a large coffee farm with thousands of trees. In retrospect the village I was in was not the poorest of the poor. But the village that some other students were in was, they had no electricity and were laborers on other farms.
The women were very passive at my house. Of course I was an extremely odd looking stranger and that had some effect. The only person I had a decent relationship with was the dad. He took me every where in town and toured the farm with me most days. Gender division were very fierce in the campo. Although the fathers daughters worked in the field with him I didn't see the mom leave the kitchen except to serve me.
There was no violence or alcoholism in my house but many other students reported seeing this in theirs. These are both huge problems in the campo and there is trouble eradicating(sp) this in that area.
I didn't do much work or much talking either becase i only got along with the dad. It was a time for much introflection. In tepayac we mostly hung out and partied becuase there was a grand birthday for a 15 year old from my community. We would go around to the other students houses and hang out a lot and not do much work.
There was intense staring from the campesinos towards us, of course most of them had not seen a gringo, and certainly never had them in their houses. But it really never stopped. Smiles ssstares and little talking.
With all the staring going on it was easy to see the hardship and sadness in the eyes of the women in the campo. Although most of them had never lived a different life it could be seen that the women desired something different than what their role provided. This is not true for all women I saw, but for the majority in my family. The father on the other side really appreciated living on his farm, and wouldn't leave it for anything. He was taken from his farm in the 80's to fight for the sandinistas against the contras.
There is much more to say but I will leave at this for now, as I process more and it comes back you all will get a view.
Check it!!!
Howdy all,
I recently returned from the country side where I was living with a family of 10 on their coffee farm. At this moment I do not have time to write about my experience but I will try later today. However a friend here pointed out that the video for the band perrzompopo on youtube is partly shot near my neighborhood in Managua. So I am uploading the link for you all to check out.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OmrZKf0jJ7w
There are some parts on here like, jesus on the ball, which is right down the corner but I don't think that is the official Nica name. Also there are shots of graffiti which are on the walls of the university that i go to here se llama universidad de central america. Check back soon there will be more.
-Paz-
I recently returned from the country side where I was living with a family of 10 on their coffee farm. At this moment I do not have time to write about my experience but I will try later today. However a friend here pointed out that the video for the band perrzompopo on youtube is partly shot near my neighborhood in Managua. So I am uploading the link for you all to check out.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OmrZKf0jJ7w
There are some parts on here like, jesus on the ball, which is right down the corner but I don't think that is the official Nica name. Also there are shots of graffiti which are on the walls of the university that i go to here se llama universidad de central america. Check back soon there will be more.
-Paz-
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