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-
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
¿Who wants a bite?
HOla todos,
Que tal. todos bien?
Whats good here? Lots of stuff, but not much is happenin´.
Thursday the group is going to the campo which is like ¨the country side¨really we are going to live with the poorest of the poor in latin america for a week. Pretty exciting. They are going to be our mentors, pretty much we will work with them in the fields and cook beans and rice with them in their kitchens and sleep in hammocks in their trees. SO i will tell you all about that when we return.
The past few days we have been taught by Dora Maria Tellez who is the president of Movimiento Renovación Sandinista The newest movement of sandinista actions. She was a commandante in the revolution. She was the #2 commander in the takeover of the national palace in 1978 and also led the brigade that took Leon the next year. Very cool. in 2005 she was appointed visiting professor of Latin American studies at Harvard, but was refused entry because the current government has barred her as a terrorist. Muy loco.
SO i think that bugs and the like have an affinity for me. I have been able to handle the hormigas(ants) and geckos that are usually in my room. But lately I have had cucarachas in my room, which are damn hard to kill. However last night was the worst. I was getting ready for bed and sweeping of the sheet with my hand when a scorpion started scurrying across my bed. chinga chinga chinga... Thus i yelled, my mom came in and she yelled. I swipped it off my bed with my shoe and accidently launched it at my mom. That moment was very funny, but only for me. those of you buddhists shouldn´t read the next part. Then i had to smash it with my shoe. que triste.
sO care for a bite?
Que tal. todos bien?
Whats good here? Lots of stuff, but not much is happenin´.
Thursday the group is going to the campo which is like ¨the country side¨really we are going to live with the poorest of the poor in latin america for a week. Pretty exciting. They are going to be our mentors, pretty much we will work with them in the fields and cook beans and rice with them in their kitchens and sleep in hammocks in their trees. SO i will tell you all about that when we return.
The past few days we have been taught by Dora Maria Tellez who is the president of Movimiento Renovación Sandinista The newest movement of sandinista actions. She was a commandante in the revolution. She was the #2 commander in the takeover of the national palace in 1978 and also led the brigade that took Leon the next year. Very cool. in 2005 she was appointed visiting professor of Latin American studies at Harvard, but was refused entry because the current government has barred her as a terrorist. Muy loco.
SO i think that bugs and the like have an affinity for me. I have been able to handle the hormigas(ants) and geckos that are usually in my room. But lately I have had cucarachas in my room, which are damn hard to kill. However last night was the worst. I was getting ready for bed and sweeping of the sheet with my hand when a scorpion started scurrying across my bed. chinga chinga chinga... Thus i yelled, my mom came in and she yelled. I swipped it off my bed with my shoe and accidently launched it at my mom. That moment was very funny, but only for me. those of you buddhists shouldn´t read the next part. Then i had to smash it with my shoe. que triste.
sO care for a bite?
Friday, September 14, 2007
Who likes to get hit with a bag of juice?
Today there is no school for us, and for kids who go to secondary and primary school here, they have off til wednesday because this weekend is the celebration of independence for Nica. So I have more than ample time to write before the power goes off.
The victor jara concert i was at a couple nights ago opened up my eyes to the accesability art gives to revolutionary movement. Although I could understand very little of what was being sung by the groups at the concert there was a feeling of unity amongst the crowd singing along with the songs that is not apparent to me at other sing-along concerts. It could however also have been the amount of rum in my system, but i think not. within the youth of nicaragua there is a connected feeling of comprehension of resistence against an ultimate power that I think is taught into the lifestyle of the youth here that has been passed along for many generations. I think it is possible in the youth around the world but that it is lacking action in most of the youth in our country. I would also guess that is similar in most 1st world countries but im not going to make that point here for a lack of knowledge.
SO that was cool. Not too much has been happening here. If you do not know there was recently a hurricane that blasted through the NE coast of Nicaragua, where the poorest part of the country exists. So all around Managua there have been many fundraising efforts, including another concert that I attended last night-and their group is called perrozompopo. They are Nica and are a wierd mix of rock, metal, psychadelic funk, and sappy love music, but it was fun and I would suggest checking them out if you can. Plus it was good for the hurucane victims. perrozompopo also means lizard, i think, and before I found this out i kept thinking the bass player looked like a lizard all night, que extrano.
So i am becomming more nicaraguan day by day, i guess. The other day was my first experience having to wash my clothes by hand in something like a washboard, but it is part of a pisa which is like the multi-use sink in most households here. Although that may not sound like any sort of achievement, and it wasn't really, but it was hard to do and enteraining as hell for my family to watch. it takes mad muscles and i have mad more respect for my host mama now. Plus I don't even think I did it correctly, because there was residual dried soap in my clothes. Also I'm sure I have mentioned there is no running water available past 8am and there are also no water heaters so the shower immediately after waking before 8 is brutally cold. However today was my first bucket shower, its exactly what it sounds like-scoop water out of large barrel, pour on self. And that was amazingly refreshing, check it out if you get a chance, of course it helps to be in a tropical climate.
Me and two friends went to this huge mercado called Huembes, where you can get most anything you want in whatever variety, and of course our group stands out as pretty damn white. Two lanky whities and one other who had just bought a guitar at the mercado. So we are standing out blatantly at this mercado and making our way back through to find a Nica baseball team cap. In Nicaragua there are these things called refrescos, which are not sodas like in some spaninsh speaking countries, but more like juices and shakes and similar beverages, usually served in a plastic bag. On our way through we enter this ally way that goes under a flight of stairs. I am the last to enter and just as I do I get hit in the back of the head with a bag still filled with refresco. Luckily it didn't break and didn't really spill but i immediately turned around and caught like 5 nicas staring at me. It was odd and I couldn't really make a fuss excepting making a few expletive deleteds without getting beat up. So I went on my way and this blog got its title.
The victor jara concert i was at a couple nights ago opened up my eyes to the accesability art gives to revolutionary movement. Although I could understand very little of what was being sung by the groups at the concert there was a feeling of unity amongst the crowd singing along with the songs that is not apparent to me at other sing-along concerts. It could however also have been the amount of rum in my system, but i think not. within the youth of nicaragua there is a connected feeling of comprehension of resistence against an ultimate power that I think is taught into the lifestyle of the youth here that has been passed along for many generations. I think it is possible in the youth around the world but that it is lacking action in most of the youth in our country. I would also guess that is similar in most 1st world countries but im not going to make that point here for a lack of knowledge.
SO that was cool. Not too much has been happening here. If you do not know there was recently a hurricane that blasted through the NE coast of Nicaragua, where the poorest part of the country exists. So all around Managua there have been many fundraising efforts, including another concert that I attended last night-and their group is called perrozompopo. They are Nica and are a wierd mix of rock, metal, psychadelic funk, and sappy love music, but it was fun and I would suggest checking them out if you can. Plus it was good for the hurucane victims. perrozompopo also means lizard, i think, and before I found this out i kept thinking the bass player looked like a lizard all night, que extrano.
So i am becomming more nicaraguan day by day, i guess. The other day was my first experience having to wash my clothes by hand in something like a washboard, but it is part of a pisa which is like the multi-use sink in most households here. Although that may not sound like any sort of achievement, and it wasn't really, but it was hard to do and enteraining as hell for my family to watch. it takes mad muscles and i have mad more respect for my host mama now. Plus I don't even think I did it correctly, because there was residual dried soap in my clothes. Also I'm sure I have mentioned there is no running water available past 8am and there are also no water heaters so the shower immediately after waking before 8 is brutally cold. However today was my first bucket shower, its exactly what it sounds like-scoop water out of large barrel, pour on self. And that was amazingly refreshing, check it out if you get a chance, of course it helps to be in a tropical climate.
Me and two friends went to this huge mercado called Huembes, where you can get most anything you want in whatever variety, and of course our group stands out as pretty damn white. Two lanky whities and one other who had just bought a guitar at the mercado. So we are standing out blatantly at this mercado and making our way back through to find a Nica baseball team cap. In Nicaragua there are these things called refrescos, which are not sodas like in some spaninsh speaking countries, but more like juices and shakes and similar beverages, usually served in a plastic bag. On our way through we enter this ally way that goes under a flight of stairs. I am the last to enter and just as I do I get hit in the back of the head with a bag still filled with refresco. Luckily it didn't break and didn't really spill but i immediately turned around and caught like 5 nicas staring at me. It was odd and I couldn't really make a fuss excepting making a few expletive deleteds without getting beat up. So I went on my way and this blog got its title.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Oh the rains comin´ down
Hola amigos y amigas, I am excited that I get to write this now. In the part of Managua that I am residing there is no power available between 5 and 10 pm. that makes it difficult to stay up to date with these entries as class finishes at 5 and immediately the power goes out. One of our classes is held at CIES, a public healthcare school that has generators but closes their computer room at 3 pm, que triste. Anyway I had to trek over here in my first out of doors tropical rianstorm. I guess luckily I was the only one sensible enough, out of my friends, to have a rain jacket.
In my first post I wrote about the beach near San Juan del Sur and I think I should expand on it some more. There were six of us with limited supplies of money, which is silly becuase Nicaragua is super cheap and the exchange rate is 20 cordobas to 1 dollar. However we didn´t want to pay the amount that taxis cost in that town for cheles (gringos) so we went to walk to a beach near San Juan del Sur. No one in the group was interested in scaling the beach wall like I was so we went on a treck in and around the hills of San Juan. We came to a gated property with magnificent gardens and armed guards, which isn´t unusual, just private security. We traveled on; up some hills and through some woods and surfaced midway up this tiny mountain onto a gorgeous view of the pacific ocean with these terraced fingers reaching out and around the water and dotted ginormous rock formations in the distance. Mostly formations of volcanic rock but also igneous rock as well. We made our way up and around and down the hill with the wind blowing in huge gusts at each crest. We made our way down to the beach following this tiny stream for the last part that fed into, well, the ocean ofcourse. The beach was super rocky and you couldn´t really swim there, but there were pretty rocks and pieces of coral to be found. It´s a good thing we didn´t scale the wall like i wanted because it wounld not of worked at all.
We walked up and along the hill some more to find a more swimable beach and accidently walked in a circle above the beach so decided to find another way becuase we had little water and no food and the threat of dehydration was looming. We made the peak of one hill and saw in the near distance a 15 foot gate with another armed guard infront of a tin shack who looked way more menacing than the ones before. We approached him with caution and he began to raise his gun towards us... just kidding that didn´t happen yet, dios mio. But we talked to him and explained where we entered but he didn´t know why the guards on the other side didn´t tell him. He unlocked the gate and let us through. 10 yrds past the gate we look down the hill and there is the city of San Juan del Sur in very close proximity when we thought we could only ten numbers of kilometers away, and ofcourse when we walk down we arrive at the first gate we entered but by a side path.
Anyway that was the beach and turned out to be a long story.
So back to the city; I saw my first chicken on a bus, but it unfortuantely wasn´t like the scene from borat in the subway. There were just to smallish looking chickens calmy lying in a bag, alive of course, wating to be made into some fried chiken, or some other dish. I only say fried chicken because that is what my host-mom, who I will call mom from now on, made me last night. Strange because it seemed so American, but less so than the turkey and mashed potatos I got the night before. Maybe she thinks I don´t like Nica food which is strange becuase I eat everything given to me and tell her how good it is. To all my hommies living in your own cribs this year--God I love getting meals made for me twice a day--umm umm good.
Food is an odd thing here, especially sushi in Latin America. i know most people like cheese, right? but tell who likes it on their sushi? besides latinos of course. YOu can´t get away from it, it is served in almost every roll. There are also these breaded fried cheese squares served on a skewer. 2 in X 1in X 0.5 in was there dimension. Anyway we got this roll that wrapped in a layer of melted gooey cheese layer probably served with some cheese sauce. It was very flavorful but I think it started my decline into a lactose-intolerancy. que triste.
Last night was sweet- If you know of Victor Jara you are cooler than me, if you don´t know about him check him out on line. He was a revolutionary Nica musician who was, alcharse al pico, which means along the lines of assassinate in nica spanish. on 9/11/1979, I think that was the year. So ofcourse last night commemorated his death. And there was a concert with a ton of groups who performed revolutionary type folk music que twany(cool). There were a ton of young folks there boozing and singing and being merry, and let the truth be known there are many pretty nicaraguan women down, and handsome boys for all you lady readers as well, and well some of them flocked to this concert which was, in one word, great. I have to go to class now but stay posted and I will keep you updated. PAz y Luz mis amigos.
In my first post I wrote about the beach near San Juan del Sur and I think I should expand on it some more. There were six of us with limited supplies of money, which is silly becuase Nicaragua is super cheap and the exchange rate is 20 cordobas to 1 dollar. However we didn´t want to pay the amount that taxis cost in that town for cheles (gringos) so we went to walk to a beach near San Juan del Sur. No one in the group was interested in scaling the beach wall like I was so we went on a treck in and around the hills of San Juan. We came to a gated property with magnificent gardens and armed guards, which isn´t unusual, just private security. We traveled on; up some hills and through some woods and surfaced midway up this tiny mountain onto a gorgeous view of the pacific ocean with these terraced fingers reaching out and around the water and dotted ginormous rock formations in the distance. Mostly formations of volcanic rock but also igneous rock as well. We made our way up and around and down the hill with the wind blowing in huge gusts at each crest. We made our way down to the beach following this tiny stream for the last part that fed into, well, the ocean ofcourse. The beach was super rocky and you couldn´t really swim there, but there were pretty rocks and pieces of coral to be found. It´s a good thing we didn´t scale the wall like i wanted because it wounld not of worked at all.
We walked up and along the hill some more to find a more swimable beach and accidently walked in a circle above the beach so decided to find another way becuase we had little water and no food and the threat of dehydration was looming. We made the peak of one hill and saw in the near distance a 15 foot gate with another armed guard infront of a tin shack who looked way more menacing than the ones before. We approached him with caution and he began to raise his gun towards us... just kidding that didn´t happen yet, dios mio. But we talked to him and explained where we entered but he didn´t know why the guards on the other side didn´t tell him. He unlocked the gate and let us through. 10 yrds past the gate we look down the hill and there is the city of San Juan del Sur in very close proximity when we thought we could only ten numbers of kilometers away, and ofcourse when we walk down we arrive at the first gate we entered but by a side path.
Anyway that was the beach and turned out to be a long story.
So back to the city; I saw my first chicken on a bus, but it unfortuantely wasn´t like the scene from borat in the subway. There were just to smallish looking chickens calmy lying in a bag, alive of course, wating to be made into some fried chiken, or some other dish. I only say fried chicken because that is what my host-mom, who I will call mom from now on, made me last night. Strange because it seemed so American, but less so than the turkey and mashed potatos I got the night before. Maybe she thinks I don´t like Nica food which is strange becuase I eat everything given to me and tell her how good it is. To all my hommies living in your own cribs this year--God I love getting meals made for me twice a day--umm umm good.
Food is an odd thing here, especially sushi in Latin America. i know most people like cheese, right? but tell who likes it on their sushi? besides latinos of course. YOu can´t get away from it, it is served in almost every roll. There are also these breaded fried cheese squares served on a skewer. 2 in X 1in X 0.5 in was there dimension. Anyway we got this roll that wrapped in a layer of melted gooey cheese layer probably served with some cheese sauce. It was very flavorful but I think it started my decline into a lactose-intolerancy. que triste.
Last night was sweet- If you know of Victor Jara you are cooler than me, if you don´t know about him check him out on line. He was a revolutionary Nica musician who was, alcharse al pico, which means along the lines of assassinate in nica spanish. on 9/11/1979, I think that was the year. So ofcourse last night commemorated his death. And there was a concert with a ton of groups who performed revolutionary type folk music que twany(cool). There were a ton of young folks there boozing and singing and being merry, and let the truth be known there are many pretty nicaraguan women down, and handsome boys for all you lady readers as well, and well some of them flocked to this concert which was, in one word, great. I have to go to class now but stay posted and I will keep you updated. PAz y Luz mis amigos.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
My primary days
Hola amigos, muchachos, and loved ones. This is my first entry in this blog from nicaragua. Welcome all to my world here through my words, and hopefully some photos.
Please pardon my gramatic and spelling errors when you encounter them. I have been in Managua Nicaragua for a little over a week and a half.
Where I have seen and tried to hear extreme amounts of cultural happenings that are still not quite making sense to me. A little about my siuation I am living in a middle working-class barrio called Maximo Jerez. There is no running water after 8 am and beginning this week the electricity will be turned off from 5-10pm, because last week it was from 2-7pm. There is of course an energy crisis that is causing this preplanned disturbance, but there is electricity during the entire weekend.
I just returned from the beach of San Juan del Sur on the south west pacific side of nicaragua just north of costa rica. There were a bunch of ships in the harbor when we first got there, so after a quiet breakfast on the beach we went adventuring, and stumbled onto some of the most beautiful scenes I have encountered in my life. Being surrounded by a tropical jungle we were following this teraced-cut patch along a jagged beach made of sediment and volcanic rock, with the mountains of costa rica in the distance. It was like a paradise scene where a bunch of ucky teenage travelers go for a private beach triop and then get tormented by a muderer throughout.
So far here we have traveled to Leon and gone on many political and educational excursions like the national assembly, and a voter registration type talk, and also to the traveling museum of the literacy crusade, and other jaunts to wet our palets with culture and language before our real classes begin this week.
SO far the only consistent thing is spanish class in the morning. But i'm not sure what the structure of it is and we switch instructors every week. Well every other week because we travel outside of managua every other week. Like next week we a going to a campo in central nica for a week and living with a family there. Then returning for another week to managua and such.
Nica is crazy, i have never been to the tropics so the climate is nearly deathly. I have also never seen such a diversity of economic standing street to street nor the level of poverty abundant here. one of the first days we passed an encampment built out of trashbags and rope creating a multi-room structure for people to live in. I thought that it was a slum at first but came to find out that it is part of a yearly protest against the neglection of benefits by the government for workers affected by the spraying of pesticides by dole in the 60's and 70's. SO this trip is wild and exciting so far, but i feel this is enough for the first blog, but please stay tuned, as i will try to update this frequently.
Please pardon my gramatic and spelling errors when you encounter them. I have been in Managua Nicaragua for a little over a week and a half.
Where I have seen and tried to hear extreme amounts of cultural happenings that are still not quite making sense to me. A little about my siuation I am living in a middle working-class barrio called Maximo Jerez. There is no running water after 8 am and beginning this week the electricity will be turned off from 5-10pm, because last week it was from 2-7pm. There is of course an energy crisis that is causing this preplanned disturbance, but there is electricity during the entire weekend.
I just returned from the beach of San Juan del Sur on the south west pacific side of nicaragua just north of costa rica. There were a bunch of ships in the harbor when we first got there, so after a quiet breakfast on the beach we went adventuring, and stumbled onto some of the most beautiful scenes I have encountered in my life. Being surrounded by a tropical jungle we were following this teraced-cut patch along a jagged beach made of sediment and volcanic rock, with the mountains of costa rica in the distance. It was like a paradise scene where a bunch of ucky teenage travelers go for a private beach triop and then get tormented by a muderer throughout.
So far here we have traveled to Leon and gone on many political and educational excursions like the national assembly, and a voter registration type talk, and also to the traveling museum of the literacy crusade, and other jaunts to wet our palets with culture and language before our real classes begin this week.
SO far the only consistent thing is spanish class in the morning. But i'm not sure what the structure of it is and we switch instructors every week. Well every other week because we travel outside of managua every other week. Like next week we a going to a campo in central nica for a week and living with a family there. Then returning for another week to managua and such.
Nica is crazy, i have never been to the tropics so the climate is nearly deathly. I have also never seen such a diversity of economic standing street to street nor the level of poverty abundant here. one of the first days we passed an encampment built out of trashbags and rope creating a multi-room structure for people to live in. I thought that it was a slum at first but came to find out that it is part of a yearly protest against the neglection of benefits by the government for workers affected by the spraying of pesticides by dole in the 60's and 70's. SO this trip is wild and exciting so far, but i feel this is enough for the first blog, but please stay tuned, as i will try to update this frequently.
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