Festival Time

Last weekend I attended an annual festival held in San Juan de Oriente (a cute small town that makes pottery for tourists, locals and exporting). The party started on Friday night and ran through Tuesday night. I only attended on Sunday. The local people hand out typical Nicaraguan food to all visitors (rice, meat and beans). There is a giant canopy of fruit hanging in the middle of the town that was put up on Friday and is taken down and distributed on the last day of the festival for people to eat. The most exciting part of the festival is the organized fighting sessions. People fight one another in the streets using leather sticks made from animal parts (it is similar to a long whip). This tradition rather brutal, each fighter must agree to the fight and then there are rules as to where you can hit a person (you cannot hit anyone in the head). The fight ends when (a)one of the fighters gives up or (b)when a person dressed as a bull breaks up the fight. The whip does hurt and people are left bleeding or at least bruised.

When I attended the festival on Sunday there was also a funeral being held because one of the town drunks had partied too hard the day before and had overdosed on alcohol. Meanwhile, people are still celebrating the festival while there is a funeral procession walking around the town. Funerals in Nicaragua are very public events. First, the casket is paraded throughout the town and there is a very large funeral procession behind it. You can always count on seeing the Eskimo ice cream man somewhere in the procession trying to sell to the mourners. There is also usually some kind of music playing from 2 large stereo speakers placed in the flatbed of a truck.

In my town, every weekend a truck with 2 large stereo speakers in the flatbed goes around the neighborhood announcing who has passed away. In addition, they use the same method to convey upcoming events in the town. For example, this weekend there is a small carnival in my town (complete with a teacup ride and a merry-go-round). The truck came around the town a few days ago announcing this event to everyone and encouraging people to attend. The advertisement must have worked because the carnival was jam packed with people ready to celebrate.

The photos above show some of the pottery, which is sold in San Juan. Also, people are lined up on the side of the street to watch the festival activities.

Xena Warrior Princess

This is the house that I live in...

My backyard (right) and Me with my Nicaraguan mother(left)…she looks very serious in this picture but it is a custom to look very proper in photographs and not many people smile. However, in person she is very upbeat and happy.

A popular TV show here in Nicaragua is Xena Warrior Princess and Seaquest (along with other American science fiction shows that have been translated into Spanish). It humors me to turn on the TV to see these old shows, bad graphics and all, and the reaction these shows get from Nicaraguans. The letter “X” in is pronounced as “ch” therefore the show’s name is pronounced as Chena Warrior Princess! The program is actually conducive to my learning Spanish because unfortunately (and I cannot believe I am admitting this) I have seen most of these cheesy episodes in English. Not to mention the acting is so dramatic that it is really easy to pick up on the overall theme (monster attacks hero and hero kills monster). Nevertheless, these episodes remind me of the early 90’s. This brings me to the music. When walking through the market place I hear a mix of Michael Jackson (Thriller/80’s era) mixed with Gladys Knight’s “Midnight Train to Georgia.” These songs are ever prevalent and just make me laugh whenever I hear them played. Of course, there is plenty of Spanish music being played as well but it’s the old American music that really throws me off guard. Quick antidote: Several of us were at the house of another PCT (Peace Corps Trainee) and we were working on a Spanish project. The host father of the trainee thought we would all like to listen to some music and brought in a radio. Instead of tuning it to a Spanish station he told us he knew just the right station for us to enjoy. On came the Elton John station. Not that I have anything against Elton John but the host father assumed that it was our favorite music (Elton John is also very popular on Nicaraguan radio stations). So that afternoon I jammed out to Elton John’s most popular hits!

Myth: Roosters only crow at sunrise

This is my shower…the bucket is in the lower left hand corner and my goal is only to use half a bucket of water in order to conserve!

This is the bathroom, shower and laundry room all in one.

This is the rooster that wakes me up all the time.

This is a concrete washboard where I wash all of my clothes. I use a bar of soap and scrub!

I can definitely say that roosters do not crow simply at sunrise. In fact, they crow all night long. Once one rooster starts to crow the other neighborhood roosters decide to join in the fun. Around 2am I hear the call of the rooster, and again at 3am, and 4am, and finally my wake-up call at 5am. In addition, the rooster at my house likes to jump on the roof of my room and walk around. The roof is made of zinc and therefore when the rooster trots along it makes a lot of noise. We’re still in the rainy months and when it rains at night, the sound of the rain hitting the zinc sounds like a hurricane is about to blow through my roof. However, since I have been here for a while I am getting used to the noises and tend to sleep through most of the rooster crowing but not the rain!

This week is site selection, which means my location/town for the next 2 years will be selected by the beginning of next week. The next step will be to visit the site and in a few weeks move to my new home. I am excited and nervous because there are a lot of options and I could be placed anywhere around the country on the Pacific side (Peace Corp does not place any volunteers on the Atlantic coast due to dangers associated with drug runners).

My little brother Oscar has been helping me learn more Spanish vocabulary and in turn I help him with his English. He is only 6 years old but is very bright and likes to share. I never thought I would have a 6 year old teaching me but it turns out that Oscar makes a very good professor. It is a very humbling experience.

The thing I miss the most and will not find anywhere in Nicaragua is cheese. They do have plenty of cheese here but it is very different from cheese in the states. It is very salty and has an interesting after taste. I miss sharp cheddar! The good news is there is a pizza place that serves a pretty decent slice of pie but even the mozzarella cheese they use has a slight aftertaste. I did inquire into how they process their cheese but no one I asked was quite sure. Maybe if I get placed in a farming community I will be able to see the cheese making process.

This morning my breakfast was awesome…a typical breakfast consists of scrambled eggs with ham, beans and rice, avocado, banana, freshly backed tortilla and tea or coffee. For lunch I receive shredded chicken with onions and tomato and a salad of beats, squash, tomato, avocado, and some kind of green veggie (that doesn’t translate into English) and fresco to drink (the frescos vary from fruit juice to iced tea). Dinner is usually a small meal of ham or chicken and tortilla. The main staple food here is beans and rice.

The electricity has been going out a lot more frequently lately and whenever the electricity and water is out my Nicaraguan mother gets very upset. She has a small business in the local school (un bar). She sells drinks, sandwiches, and snacks. However, when the power and water go out it makes her business very unproductive. The drinks are not cold and the kids do not buy the drinks when they are warm. Therefore, she loses business. The morale of the whole town diminishes when there is no electricity (even though it is a frequent occurrence) and when the electricity is restored people are cheering in the streets. My mother also told me that 30 years ago there was no electricity or running water. To do the laundry people would walk several miles to a Laguna where there were concrete wash boards lined up side by side. Although the cloths are still cleaned on the same concrete wash boards, the people have the wash boards located in their backyards and do not have to hike to the Laguna for water. The conditions have obviously improved but it is still very difficult for my family. All 3 of my brothers are university students (but they also have full time jobs) and at night is when they study. When the electricity goes out they are forced to study by candle light. As far as the water goes, it stops working everyday throughout the day. My family stores water in giant buckets. Water is needed for laundry, drinking, cooking, bathing, the toilet, and the animals. It is all about conserving water, which is difficult to do when it is needed for so many everyday tasks. We have gotten very close to running out of water, but luckily the water always turns back on when we are in need of it most.

I’ve come down with Gripe

La cruza on the top of the Volcan Masaya (it helps keep the devil away because it was believed that the volcano was a portal to hell)Volcan Masaya is an active Volcano and one of the smaller volcanos in Nicaragua

We could only stay near the top of the volcano for 20 minutes because there were toxic gases coming out of the volcano

A few days ago I came down with a small cold…but here in Nicaragua no cold is small! My family told me I had gripe (aka the flu) and then they proceeded to give me their home remedies to cure me of my gripe. First rule of thumb, I was not given any cold water…only boiling water. I wondered why I couldn’t have cold water and I was simply told that because the climate here is so different it is important that I only have hot water to cure me of my gripe. Next, I was given a lemonade drink (limon) that was also hot but very tasty as well. To conclude I had to wear warm closes such as a sweater. Keep in mind that in Nicaragua it is around 80 to 90 degrees and very humid. Therefore, I was boiling! However, three days later I do feel much better and feel that the home remedies did help a bit.

Our group of trainees taught another lesson in the local school and we are also meeting with a local youth group. The youth group is going to give a lecture in the school concerning the effects/consequences of using drugs. Hopefully, the knowledge they impart on their classmates will resonate and help to curb the use of drugs in the small pueblo. As I was typing this blog entry, the lights (luz) went out and I am left in the dark with my computer (my battery still has 3 hours of life left!!). That brings up another fun topic…electricity and the lack there of in Nicaragua. For the most part, we do have electricity most of the time; however, it does go out during the nighttime around 7pm at least once a week. This isn’t major problem as long as I’m at my house, but if I happen to be walking around on the street it causes a major dilemma. When the street lights go off it is pitch black and you cannot see a thing. You just hope that a car (preferably with headlights…because people often drive without any headlights at all) will pass by to guide you closer to home. At this moment I am safe inside my house, my family is also at home but unfortunately due to the electrical outage they are missing out on their favorite tele novela (soap opera). I have decided to cut this blog entry a little short because it is pitch black and the only light around is coming from my computer screen…bugs seem to be flocking in droves and are quite literally swarming around my head!! Buenas Noches

The Rainy Season

This is a picture of the gift I bought my mother for El dia de las madres. It is typical Nicaraguan pottery.

This is my room

...and this is where I study

I am half way through my training and everything is still going well. I like my host family and the town I’m living in a lot. The food is still great…I get fresh avocado everyday from the tree in our backyard. This week was pretty busy, we received various lectures concerning education and how to keep the students interested in the topics we will be teaching. Overall, the business curriculum (which we will be teaching to high school students in the coming months) is very dynamic and different. It involves a lot of critical thinking and creativity. This coming week I am traveling to a different pueblo to visit a current Peace Corps volunteer. I am looking forward to seeing how they live their life and what their students think about the class structure. The weather here is starting to change as well. It has started to rain a lot and the streets become flooded. I wish I had brought an umbrella. However, the rain does cool everything off!!

The transportation situation here in Nicaragua is also very interesting. First rule of thumb is that there is always more room. Just when you think that no one else can fit on the bus another 20 people hop on! Just yesterday I was riding a large yellow school bus (which at one point was a U.S. school bus) and it was jam packed (luckily I had a seat). Then all of a sudden we are loading on around 35 people (and no one is getting off)…they were hanging out the side and grapping on tight!! Meanwhile the conductor of the bus has to work his way through the entire bus to collect the bus fare…how can this possibly be done…it is an amazing performance of acrobatics and agility.