Hasta Luego

It’s hard for me to think of this as the end, since there are so many ends and beginnings happening simultaneously. The final grant proposal isn’t done yet, but will be finished from the States. My new friendships and my job search will be continuing. I am leaving Nicaragua, and probably not coming back for a while. There’s no way to sum everything up, but I’ll at least catch up on what’s been happening.

I had an amazing and relaxing time with Rebecca on the Caribbean coast. For anyone who’s been to a Caribbean island, imagine that, but with no cars and no cruise ships and no big hotels and no big stores and no paved roads. People speak Spanish and Caribbean English and I also heard some people speaking Miskito. The fresh fish and lobster in coconut sauce cost less than $8.

My Aunt Sally and cousins Grace and Jack were here, which was really nice. I got to tag along for the Christmas bird count that happens at my aunt’s farm/nature preserve El Nisperal and all over the world. The idea is to walk all around a specific area during one day and note all the bird species you see. Most places have a list of birds that have been seen in previous years, so the goal is to spot the usual ones and hopefully add more. It was amazing to see how much detailed information Sally, Jack, and their friend from the U.S. embassy knew. Later in the day we met up with other birders at Montibelli, another private nature reserve nearby. We got to see some beautiful birds right from their patio, and added up the day’s count which totaled 100 species.

Jack came with me to pick up Billy’s marimba in Morimbo, Masaya. It’s beautifully made, but they hadn’t packed it up for me. After a visit to the hardware store, the marimba is wrapped in foam blocks, cardboard, my yoga matt, and an entire industrial sized roll of duct tape. Please join me in hoping that despite the fact that it is the size of an 11 year child, Continental airlines lets me check it as baggage.

I spent a last afternoon in Palo Solo with Blanca’s classmate Dulce, and got to see some newborn piglets on the farm. I met the new intern at the Mariposa Spanish school, and I hope that visits to El Nisperal will continue. I met up with Sally’s friend Abby, and got to ask her about her impressions of Nicaragua. I went to the Laguna de Apoyo one last time with Blanca and friends. I said goodbye to Karla who gave me a beautiful handmade card.

For Christmas Eve I accompanied Blanca for her last minute shopping in the busy Masaya market. I ate quesillo, baho, and drank cacao. Later we went to her family’s house in Nidiri and spent the evening with her mom, aunt and cousins. We went to church and saw the end of a pageant. The service ended with everyone coming up to kiss a statue of baby Jesus, and then everyone broke into applause and gathered outside to watch a fireworks display and hear a band play. We ate delicious food and managed to stay up until midnight, when everyone (EVERYONE) set off fireworks and then opened presents.

Blanca finally found one of the cards I had written to her cerca 1993 from when we were penpals briefly. I feel so grateful to her for her friendship and companionship; I’m not sure what my time here would have been like without her. I’m also incredibly grateful to my aunt and uncle for letting me stay in their house and providing me with an opportunity to work with their organization. Also to Karla for her friendship and helping me with my work at the library, and to Claudia and Chamba who work at the house. I've had some great experiences here and gotten to see so much. I’m almost positive that I’ll come back in the not too distant future.

I have many hopes for 2011, including that I will continue doing yoga (I can do a headstand now!), speaking Spanish, and find a great new job. I’ll be in the Bay Area until January 8th, and then back in New York. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Marimba y mas

Well hello there all 2 of my blog readers! Sorry that it’s been a while. I had a great visit with Billy. He took to the crowded minibuses, fried food, and warm weather, and managed to speak and understand a lot of Spanish. We dug into the local ethnomusicology and tried to find out the mystery of the marimba’s origin in Masaya, Nicaragua’s indigenous folklore capital. We spoke with some real, live marimba experts (Billy took 2 lessons and bought an instrument) and participated in a night of traditional music and dancing that took place in private homes. We saw the local volcano, had dinner with Blanca, went to a jazz club where Billy sat in, had a Thanksgiving dinner at the Ola Verde, AND made it to Laguna de Apoyo, Leon, Granada, and Isla Omtepe. It was really nice to show him the library and my aunt’s farm, and the howler monkeys did not disappoint!


Billy carried the ayote!


I promised to write more about the library, but I think posting some pictures will do better than words. To give a little background, the Library was built 5 years ago in memory of my Aunt’s father. It is located in a rural town (about 50 families) located about 7 kilometers from the paved road. Most of the families live in houses that resemble shacks, and make their living from agriculture. The town has one 2 room school for preschool, elementary and middle school. Any kid who wants to go to high school has to walk at least an hour and half to the nearest school. The library has offered painting classes, dance classes, and computer classes, and continues to offer arts and crafts and reading activities. There is a group of about 10 children ages 7-10 that come almost every day to play and read. The most amazing part is how comfortable they feel in the Library- they kick off their shoes, make forts out of the sofa cushions, and play make believe games.



arts and crafts


a student's house


playing restaurant


reading with Karla

Since Billy left I’ve been working on job applications, a book of my photos and interviews, and revisions to the grant proposal, but I feel like time is already short! Rebecca gets here on Thursday and on Saturday we are going to the Caribbean coast for 5 days. When I get back, my Aunt Sally and cousins Grace and Jack will be here for a few days, and then I only have about a week and a half before I leave for California. Tomorrow I’m going to the library with a group of Blanca’s classmates from her postgrad class on evaluation of social programs. They may decide to do their class project on the library, which would be exciting.

Tonight I went with Blanca to Managua to celebrate the Griteria, which is a culmination of a 9 day celebration of the Virgin Mary. It’s kind of like a mix between Christmas caroling and Halloween, since groups of people stop at each house that has an altar and sing traditional songs about the all powerful Mary (perhaps personifying the pre-colonial Goddess?) and then the people in the house give out sweets and fruit. The yelling part is when people get to the house, they yell “Quien causa tanta alegria?/Who causes so much happiness?” and the response is “La Concepcion de Maria!/Maria’s Conception!”

I hope that everyone tenga mucha alegria! Happy Hanukah!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hola, Hope everyone is doing great. Time is flying, I can't believe that it's almost the end of November already..

Last weekend I had a great time up north in Matagalpa visitng Jeff Kositsky and his wife Aileen and their charming daughters Emma and Hannah who are living in Nicaragua for a year. They showed me around the city, and we went on a great hike at Selva Negra, a lush forest and coffee farm owned settled by Germans. The trees were huge and the whole area is covered in peaceful, rolling green hills. Jeff used to be the ED of the Community Housing Partnership in San Francisco, so we talked a bit about the field as well.

The interview I had scheduled got cancelled, it turned out that they weren't doing phone interviews. I did try advocating for myself and I felt disappointed, but I'm just going to take it as a good sign that they wanted to interview me and keep applying for jobs.

I went to the library 3 times this week, and took some photographs to go with interviews that I am doing. I also interviewed a teacher at the nearest high school and used my new recorder. I realize that I haven't written much about what the library is actually like, so I will do that soon.

My uncle Allan was in town for a meeting of his organization, the UN's Food and Agriculture Office. The whole office was in Managua to learn about small businesses that produce high quality seeds, which can really increase the productivity of small farmers. We had dinner at a local restaurant on Wednesday, and on Thursday Blanca and I met him at the hotel where the meeting was being held. We heard the last presentation of the day, and then we went out to dinner at a lovely restaurant called Ola Verde, owned by a friend of my aunt Sally's. Allan's colleagues were very nice, from Bolivia, Honduras, and Uruguay. We got to hear some of Allan's stories about Nicaragua in the 1980's.

I had been avoiding it, but Blanca and I saw "Eat, Pray, Love" on Friday night. I've read the book, and obviously I'm defensive about romanticizing travel as a way to find yourself, especially when the woman in the movie/book had a book advance before she set off on her trip (not to mention any feminist critique of how she ends up with a man, but that's another story..) Anyhow, I do think it's good to be open, get out of your comfort zone, and see people you meet as your teachers, but it's also important to be aware that what she did (and what I'm doing) is a luxury and a privilege.

Yesterday I went to a feminist meeting with Blanca and got to see where she works, which was interesting and good practice listening and understanding Spanish. Today is the first big outing from the Spanish school to the farm! There should be about 15 people in total riding horses and walking up to the library, hiking, and eating a lunch prepared by the caretaker's family. I hope that it's a success and that the collaboration continues.

I don't think I've ever been away from my family on Thanksgiving, but I'll be thinking of them and excited to see them soon (I'll be in the Bay Dec 25th-Jan 8th.) They will be having a vegetarian meal, as they are trying out being vegetarians after my mom read Jonathan Safron Foer's book "Eating Animals." I think it's cool! I am thankful to be alive,for all the people in my life, and for the opportunities that I have been given.

And finally, Billy is coming tomorrow night!! He'll be here for 11 days, and I'm so excited to see him, show him around, and go on an adventure (probably to the Caribbean coast.) Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Nicaragua, Nicaraguita!

Happy Friday everyone! This week I saw a Fellini film at the Alianza Francesca and ate some great carne asada, got my butt kicked at capoera again, worked through some serious mental block but finally squeezed out a draft of the grant proposal, got a phone job interview for next week (!) and saw some amazing music at La Casa de Los Mejia Godoy in Managua.

The two brothers Carlos and Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy performed, as did the younger band made up of relatives of the brothers called La Cuneta Son Machin. The brothers play classic Nicaraguan music, popular at the time of the revolution, and are so full of life and fun. Carlos wrote a Mass for the working class, and many of his songs in the 70s gave instructions on how to assemble and use rifles taken from Samoza. Everyone in crowd knew all of their songs and sang along. The younger band's music is a cool mix of the traditional with rock and sometimes even punk. I never thought I would rock out to marimba! It's neat that they are continuing the tradition, and it was great to see both generations at once.

Tomorrow I'm heading North to Matagalpa for the weekend, to visit a family from San Francisco who is living in Nicaragua for a year. The father, Jeff, was the Executive Director of the Community Housing Partnership. I'm excited to meet them and see a new part of the country!

Things I have learned recently:

1.) Many immigrants coming from Central America to the U.S. loose limbs when trying to get onto trains, including young kids. (On Friday I saw a film called “La Frontera Infinita” on the opening night of the Icaro Central American Film Festival.) It’s incredibly sad.
2.) Nicaraguan food is great, but even better mini! The after party for the film festival had mini quesillos (kind of like quesadillas with onions) and mini nacatamales (awesome savory tamales.) I'm also in love with platanos maduros fritos. yum…
3.) Riding on the back of a jet ski on the Guanacaste Bay in Costa Rica is amazing. We even passed Michael Jordan’s house, and saw a sea turtle.
4.) Micheladas (beer, lime juice, and salt) are the solution to a bottom shelf liquor selection at an all inclusive hotel.
5.) How to dry cacao seeds (but probably not make chocolate because I missed the fermentation step..) The cacao fruit grew on my aunt and uncle’s tree in the backyard.
6.) Tolerance to the constant sound of the dogs (Jenny and Buddy Boy) barking and biting/scratching at themselves.
7.) How to take cold showers (I try to do yoga first to warm up.)
8.) What to do if a bird gets into the house (open all the doors, but wait until the bird is not sleeping. Also next time wear bug spray during this process)
9.) If I give the guy collecting money on the bus exact change, he won't over charge me.
10.) And from Obama: keep trying! “On this journey, you’re going to experience setbacks and you have to be persistent and stubborn, and you just have to keep on going at it. And you’ll never roll the boulder all the way up the hill, but you may get it part of the way up.” -Obama to Indian students in NYTimes

sunset from the balcony in Costa Rica

Photos from Leon

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23110575@N05/5148812266/in/set-72157624964798165

I'm really sorry that I can't make this into a link. I've tried all the obvious things...