Missing in Action?

Nope still in Nicaragua fighting the good fight!  It’s just the things that I once found fascinating (pigs on back of bicycles, yet another 90 degree day, etc.) have become mundane.  Which is good I guess because that means that I’m acclimated to the third world way of life.  Stay tuned for when I return to the USA for the first time in 9 months...

Last weekend we had a training celebrating 17 months in country, woohoo!  It was splendid and great to see everyone.

News on a new project: I’ve started advising a women's rights organization!  I met with them last week and learned that they provide services for victims of domestic violence such as consoling and legal help.  I also found out that they have lost all of their funding.  So, we decided to work on a strategic plan that we can distribute to NGOs in hopes of finding some sponsors (do any of you know Latin American women-focused not-for-profits?).  Tomorrow we are hopefully going to answer the following:

Vision: how do we want to see the world?

Mission: what are we going to do to change it?

Objectives: goals that we want to accomplish.

Tasks: the steps that we’ll take

Resources: what do we already have to help us?

Necessities: what do we need to be successful?

Wish me luck!

El Pozo (the well)

Friday I traveled to Managua with Ibis (my well guy) to defend our proposal.  It went well!  Actually it was more of a “how can we strengthen your proposal” than a defense so that was nice.  They raised a couple valid questions concerning professionally testing the water and our timeframe.  But in short, if I can prove that the water will be fit for human consumption, we’ll receive the grant money!  I have to make some changes to the proposal and Monday or Tuesday I’m going to the community to discuss the plans with the project leader.  My best guess is that we will begin construction in February or maybe earlier, stay tuned!

Padres en Nicaragua V

Pedro:  Thursday was a relaxing/travel day to Managua.  We lounged around all morning writing a couple days worth of blogs and then went to lunch at La Casita.  I figured this would be your favorite restaurant out of the bunch, was it?

Madre:  Claro!  Anyplace with organic foods, yogurt and chai tea will always be high on my list.  Plus, the fact that it was in a lush rainforest setting sealed it – definitely a favorite.

Pedro:  Glad you liked it.  Afterwards we drove in the rain back to Managua.  Dad did a good job weaving our rental car throughout the crazy Pan-American highway traffic didn’t he?

Madre:  Crazy traffic is an understatement.  Since not many people in the northern part of Nicaragua seem to own cars or motorcycles there was a fascinating assortment of traffic on the highway and along its narrow edges.  We saw, of course, lots of people getting to their destinations by simply walking along the road, but they also used every other imaginable type of transportation, including bicycles (sometimes with multiple people balancing on the bike), 3-wheeled cycles, horses, donkeys and ox carts.  Of course, your father also had to watch out for dogs, horses, cows and chickens along the road that could potentially wander in front of our car.   And the side roads in the towns were frequently just dirt with enough bumps, holes, mud or standing water to make driving on them a real challenge.

Pedro:  But we arrived safe and sound in Managua and returned our rental car without any penalties for scratches, dents or over-used shock absorbers.  We spent the night (again) in the hotel eating and drinking free items in the fancy pants “Executive Lounge”.  Then Friday morning I went to the airport to pick up Michelle and we all traveled to Leon.  How’s it been so far?

Madre:  Traveling with the locals by “micro-bus” and then by taxi from the rundown area of town to get to our hotel in Leon was like being in an episode of a cable television travel show.  However, we were pleased to see that our lovely hotel here in Leon, which I’m assuming is the nicest one in town, is a beautifully restored convent with manicured gardens in the center.  It also comes with 24-hour security guards at the door and imposing Nica-style walls and fences surrounding it to keep us tourists safe.  The restaurants that we went to for lunch (a French-style bakery) and dinner (a tapas restaurant) to celebrate Michelle’s birthday were both great.  I especially liked that Chef Gustavo at the restaurant came out of the kitchen to greet us and to talk to us since he lived for a while in the US and could speak English quite well.

Pedro:  What did you think about our activities in Leon?

Madre: The Nica version of museums was certainly eye-opening.  It was interesting to learn about Nica history at the “Museo de la Revolucion” but I would have thought they could have come up with more than a few photos and a dog-eared cardboard poster board with newspaper articles taped to it, especially since their revolution didn’t take place all that many years ago.  But our guide certainly tried to make up for the lackluster, non-air conditioned museum conditions by giving us the grand tour, including taking us up on the rusted metal roof of the rundown building for good views of Leon (another one of those “this would never be allowed in the US moments”).  And going to the beach so we could sit in a primitive tiki hut with festive beverages, swim and walk in the sand along the Pacific Ocean was memorable, too.  Thanks so much for planning such a wide variety of things for us to do!

Mom and Pedro in front of the cathedral

Pedro:  You’re welcome.  It was great to have you here.  Any final thoughts about your trip to Nicaragua?

Madre:  This may sound harsh but it’s easy to see that this is a very poor country.  The cathedral in Leon, which is the largest in Central America, looks absolutely awful from the outside, though it is still reasonably nice inside.  When traveling abroad (or even in the US) I am used to seeing some poor neighborhoods, but here almost every neighborhood looks poor.  I’d go as far as saying that 90% of the buildings here look like they should be razed with a bulldozer and the rest almost all need a power wash, some paint and repairs.  There are children begging on the streets and people at every large intersection in Managua trying to sell things to people in cars to attempt to support themselves.  Your father and I have even more respect for the improvements that you and other volunteers are trying to bring about here.  Keep up the good work, eat more and please stay healthy (sorry, the mom in me couldn’t help adding that last part)!

Padres en Nicaragua IV

Pedro:  As all great days start out, yesterday we took a morning trip to the grocery store!  Impressed by a Nicaraguan supermarket?

Madre:  Few things make a mother happier than buying food for her starving third world son.  Don’t think I didn’t notice, though, that while I was pondering the slim options in the Soups and Canned Vegetables aisle that you and your father were busy filling up our cart in the Alcoholic Beverages aisle.

Pedro:  And successful we were!  After we checked out we drove up to Condega so the padres could meet my counterparts and watch me teach a class.  Unfortunately, as is a regular occurrence, class was canceled for the day.  What did you think of the high school and my fellow teachers?

                                                                                                                                       

Madre:  Frankly, seeing the ‘bare bones’ condition of the high school was depressing.  It was really little more than a collection of simple classrooms with a teacher’s lounge, an office and a small area for sports.  I didn’t see any books, maps, computers, musical instruments, or science lab equipment and certainly no cafeteria or auditorium.  My impression was that any grade school in the US is better-equipped than the high schools here.

Pedro:  That is mostly true.  The main high school in my site does have a computer lab so conditions do vary slightly.  How were the English teachers that you spoke to?

Madre:  I thought you were trying to make me feel better when you said that my Spanish-speaking skills were better than the English teachers’ English-speaking skills but now I know that you were serious.  Ricardo, the instructor you introduced us to, was a friendly and sincere person who immediately spoke English to us to welcome us, but he clearly had problems both understanding and speaking simple phrases.  I guess that explains why very few people here speak English?

Pedro:  Exactly.  After some sightseeing and a quick lunch of tacos and cold cervezas we went from Condega to Palacaguina to unpack the food and do some organizing in my house.  So, now does my Nica casita receive a reluctant seal of approval from mother?

The parents at the shot down warplane

 

Madre:  I still think you need more Tupperware to hermetically seal everything in your kitchen and keep it away from the Speedy Gonzalez mouse family who lives with you, so don’t even let me get started about the nightmares I’m going to have about the diseases you may be getting.   However, I did feel good about the house projects you and your father worked on.

Pedro:  Dad and I installed a showerhead (the two months prior I’d been using the equivalent of a hose) and hung up my new hammock!  With the improvements complete, I took you guys around town to introduce you to friends and co-workers.  Nice people, right?

Madre:  Nice doesn’t even begin to describe it.  We met the family who runs the post office and several shopkeepers, besides your co-workers and former host family.  Everywhere we went, your friends and co-workers greeted us enthusiastically and invited us to come in and sit down to talk.  Many of them also insisted on giving us something to eat and drink or a small gift to take home.  They all spoke warmly about you and seemed genuinely happy to meet us.  The homes we visited in Palacaguina varied widely, from tiny abodes with cement walls and floors and simple furniture (uncomfortable wooden or flimsy plastic chairs) to slightly larger homes with painted walls, tile floors and upholstered furniture.  Since you kept finding people for us to meet until it was starting to get dark and we had to head back to Esteli, I’d say you’re doing a good job at the Peace Corps mission of promoting relationships between our countries.

Pedro:  It’s a rough job but somebody has to do it. 

Padres en Nicaragua III

Pedro:  Our second full day in Esteli was as eventful and fun as the first!  After the lovely 6am tornado siren wakeup call, we went to the Somoto Canyon.  You like it?

Madre: Yes!  I can’t say that I’m fond of hiking in the hot, humid weather here, but the scenery sure is nice.  Our Nica-style adventure today included walking down to the river and negotiating with some guys to take us for a ride through the canyon in their rowboat.  No forms to sign, no life preservers, just step carefully over the rocks where a family was doing their laundry and laying clothes out to dry.  Once we were all seated in the little metal rowboat we got to enjoy a peaceful ride down the river, watching the high canyon walls around us while our “guide” expertly rowed us around rocks and mini rapids.  When we got as far as we could get in our mighty boat we got out and climbed on some boulders for a better view before returning downstream.

Canyon adventures!

 

Pedro:  Yup, that’s how things work in Nicaragua.  Top it all off with grilled sea bass and a couple cold Nicaraguan brews, it was a productive and fun morning and afternoon.  Afterwards, since it was on our way home, we stopped at my Nicaraguan bungalow.  Five star comfort, no?

Madre:  Let’s just say that you made me promise not to cry when I examined your home and I managed to keep my promise.  Enough said?

Pedro:  Fair.  For dinner we went to another upscale restaurant.  What’d ya think?

Madre: The food here is much better than we expected and the nice restaurants have some decent selections of Chilean and Argentine wines.  We’ve tried grilled beef, pork, chicken and seafood and though they are very simply prepared, generally with some kind of good sauce served on the side, they have all been good.  Not a wide variety of vegetables or salads, however.  And fortunately, your father and I both actually like rice and beans, especially if there’s some hot sauce to put on it (for me, not him) and as long as it’s just a side dish, not the whole meal.

Pedro:  Last night was funny.  We were the ONLY people in the non smoking section of the restaurant and klutzy Dad dropped his metal fork on the tile floor.  In less than 5 seconds, our waiter JOGGED over to give Dad a new one.  Needless to say, our service has always been good.