Archive for the ‘’ Category
June 29, 2009
Hello All,
Ugh. Maria and I almost got to go to Granada. Then I ate a moldy tortilla and got stuck with an intestinal infection. Ugh. On the upside, I´m feeling completely better now, and having been a guest of the hospital in Ocotal for 2 days and 2 nights, I also feel really safe here. The nurses were really efficient, the same doctor came around every 5 hours, and everything was wrapped in reassuringly sterile packaging. Although, it was a little disconcerting that the first question they asked was, ¨If we have to operate, would you like the surgery done here?¨ That didn´t go too far toward making me comfortable! But, Adelina and David stayed with me for both days, which I couldn´t have ever expected. They made me feel so much better. And poor Maria stayed back to hang out with me all weekend, which makes me feel like the wet blanket, but I really appreciated her company too.
That´s all for today, since I obviously haven´t done anything too exciting the last few days… I´ll be busy working at the Center on my frankenstein solar cooker for the autoclave, but I´ll make sure to update after this weekend. We might go somewhere fun, and might have a good time at a volcano, but I don´t want to jinx anything again! Talk to you all later 
June 28, 2009
Today, June 25, I scared a small child. I was visiting my Nicaraguan Grandma with my two sisters. As I walked onto the porch a small girl looked up and strained to see my face in the dark. Quickly she developed a horrified expression. She turned and ran screaming “GRINGO, GRINGO, GRINGO” (side note: gringo is a white person from the US). She ran into the kitchen and slammed the door behind her. My sisters asked to her to come out and say hi. Her response was a strong “NO”. The whole situation was rather hilarious. I guess I can understand how it can be scary seeing a white person for the first time. Or maybe I just am extra terrifying.
Monday this week I made nacatamales with my Nicaraguan mom! A nacatamale is the most famous traditional cuisine of Nicaragua. Here nacatamales are given as gifts for any special occasion. So Tuesday was Father’s Day and we made nacatamales for that occasion. Monday I took the afternoon off from work and my mom and I got to work in the kitchen. The first step is making the dough which I would call the foundation of the nacatamale. The dough is made with corn, water, flour, onions and peppers. We placed the dough in a huge pot and let is cook on the fire for about an hour (stirring it with a large stick periodically). At the same time we made a huge pot of rice. After the dough had become thick we moved it off the fire (here comes the fun part). When our rice and dough were ready it was time to start putting together the nacatamales. We laid ojas (banana leaves) on the preparation table. Then we put a large handful of dough in the center of the leaf. In the center of the dough we placed a piece of chicken. On top of all this we put rice, tomatoes, two slices of a potato, and some diced up pepper. Now here’s the hard part. We took the banana leaves and folded the nacatamale shut. If nothing ripped we would tie them shut with a string (long plant leaf). Finally, we threw the wrapped nacatamales into a large pot of water and let them cook for awhile. And after that they were ready to be eaten. So before this all when my mom told me that we were going to nacatamales, I thought for the family. It turned out we made 35 nacatamales because some were to sell!! We started making them at 1pm and didn’t finish till 6:30pm. To say the least, I am an expert nacatamale maker now. My mom is giving me the recipe and I plan on making some back in the states. Anyone want to try one?
Last night I had a pleasant, relaxing time talking with my Nicaraguan family. We got onto the topic of me leaving (in only 2 weeks, sad). It was nice to reflect with them about how much my Spanish has improved and about all the experiences we have shared. My mom asked me if I would remember them when I was back in the US. I responded “Como no (how could I not)!” The conversation with them made me think if I would ever return to Nicaragua. I really want to. I have learned so much here.
More to come,
Nat-tan
June 24, 2009
Hello Friends and Family!
Just a quick update this time…
At the Center, the newly-minted cooperative (yay!) Las Mujeres Solares are getting ready for a big visit from a UN Development Program representative tomorrow morning. Because of this, the Solar Center is much better landscaped now than in the picture, but at least you can have a general idea of where we are working. It´s a really beautiful building, and I´ve been having a lot of fun talking to the women about their families and what its like to be in Las Mujeres Solares. They are all very sweet and don´t mind my pretty grotesque US accent. Also, the autoclave testing is going better, as there has been much more sun lately. However, we are looking into ways to make it more efficient, so it can be used when there is less sustained sunlight.
Also, last Sunday I attended Mass in the local Church in Sabana Grande. I wore my Easter skirt and a clean shirt (clean=fancy when I do my own laundry). The Church was pretty big, actually about the same size as the main Solar Center building, with about 15 rows of wooden benches flanking a wide center aisle. The walls are made of plaster-covered adobe and the roof is a mix of fiberglass and tin. When we arrived, a woman was in front reciting the rosary, with the congregation repeating after her. For next week, I´ve copied down the Our Father and Hail Mary in Spanish so I don´t feel so strange speaking English. Also, before Mass began, the same woman read from a prayer that I have never heard in which she says a phrase that describes Mary, like ¨Reina de los angeles¨and the congregation says ¨Ëscuchanos¨¨. It was really beautiful, because she used the most beautiful words. The Mass itself had the same format as I´m used to, but again the language was a lot more colorful and intense. Oh, and there were lectors for the first two readings, then a man who´s title translates to ¨Word-Giver¨read the Gospel and gave a really nice homily. Later I asked Mayra if he was a priest, but she said that he was training at a seminary to become one. Since there aren´t enough priests to come out to small rural community churches, he is in charge of reading and speaking within a region. Really, that was the only difference. And I knew the words to Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, so I could sing! It was a great experience for me to have something that I knew would be familiar, even in the midst of a completely foreign environment.
Ok, quick story time. There´s this chicken. More specifically, there´s this rooster. It is enormous, loud, black and gray, has mean little eyes, and I´m pretty sure it sharpens it´s beak in preparation to eat me. It also pecks at the other chickens and likes to chase after me when I go to the latrine, so that I have to run and shut the door really quickly, much to the family´s amusment. Anyways, so just after dawn I wake up to chicken squawking and feather ruffling, so I think it´s just the big evil one being mean to the others. Later at breakfast, I ask Adelina, ¨What was going on with the chickens this morning?¨ She says, ”I killed one of them for us to eat for dinner.¨ At first, I was kind of horrified because I just kept picturing one of the nice chickens with only a stump above its body, but then she said, ”Don´t worry, it was the mean one that scared you¨ and hugged me. She thought Í’d be really distraught about the chicken, so she just laughed when I smiled really big and said ¨Öh good, thank you! I´m so glad!¨
Also, a quick slightly inappropriate story: Last time I was in Ocotal, I had forgotten to wear sunscreen on my chest and arms. When I got home, Lupe (the 89-year-old) says to me, ¨Erin, you have burned your tetas.¨
On that note, we´re all heading to Granada for the weekend, so I´ll write about those adventures on Monday or Tuesday. Thank you all for the comments! I save them and load them on my computer so I can read them again in Sabana Grande when I´m missing all of you.
Besos y Abrazos,
Erin
June 24, 2009
So a new season started this week. Nicaraguans call this season winter or the rainy season. When they say rainy they’re not joking around. It has rained everyday but not all day thank god. It rains heavily for about an hour each day. The rain has brought a couple new and exciting experiences. The first is the fact that the path that I walk to get home becomes a river in the rain. Therefore, walking home now is a lot more thrilling and wet. The other new, exciting experience is showing in the rain. That’s right, I shower in the rain. Honestly, it is one of the most relaxing experiences ever. Also, the rain makes rinsing much easier (it’s kind of hard when taking a bucket shower). When I get back to the US, I am strongly considering building a shower outside (if you showered in the rain once, you would want one too).
The weekend starting on June 19th was really enjoyable. Two volunteers from Dayton who are working in Managua came to Sabana Grande to visit for the weekend (their names are Tim and Jim, fun right). On Friday, we just hung around Sabana Grande. We spent the night speaking English, drinking Pepsi, and playing some UNO!! Saturday was an adventurous day. The six volunteers from Dayton and one volunteer from Greece all went to Somoto Canyon. Somoto Canyon is a natural tourist attraction only 20 minutes out of or village. The adventure started as we left the bus station and head out to the canyon in a “taxi”. So, our taxi was actually a pickup truck and we all stood in the back bed of the truck! Once we arrive at Somoto Canyon (all in one piece), we hiked down the path towards the heart of the canyon. I mentioned that it is the rainy season right, yeah, so there was a lot of water in the canyon. Our first obstacle was crossing a river (nearing the intensity of a mild rapid). We all successfully waded the river without incident. After walking about two miles we made it to the mouth of the canyon. There we took a row boat, paddled by our guide Joel, into the canyon. The canyon was where the real fun began. After getting off the boat we scaled the side of the canyon and made our way down to where we could swim. As we approached the place where we were going to enter the water I knew we were in for a thrill. The water was rushing through the bottom of the canyon and the canyon walls towered 200 meters over us. At a spot where the flow of the water was slightly slower we enter the water. We methodically worked our way up the canyon. Sometimes we climbed at other times we swam. The combination of the challenges and various dangers made the journey up the canyon extremely fun. All I know is there is no way you would be able to do this in the US. After exploring the canyon for about an hour we all were exhausted (swimming against a current is difficult exercise). Luckily the trip back was much easier. They had rafts waiting for us and we floated all the way back to the beginning of the trail. As you can imagine, Sunday was spent sleeping and relaxing…recovering!!
More to come,
Nat-tan
June 24, 2009
I am starting to get use to everything in ways but am still confused and get my bearings mixed up when I go into the city because there are no street signs. I am not sure if I will ever get use to the outhouse or shower though!
I machetted grass for a little bit yesterday to help out the solar women and I now have a water blister on my thumb and a new appreciation for lawnmowers.
This weekend we are planning on going to Granda, which is supposed to be really touristy so that will be fun. We are stoping in Managua to meet up with other Dayton students and then we are going to go out to eat at Papa John´s. I am really excited for it because most meals here contain rice, beans, or tortillas, and this will be a nice change of pace. Then we will go to Granda and it sounds like it is a really neat place.
This week I have been working on plaques for the Solar Center. The center has many visitors and many renewable energy sources, but there are no plaques to inform visitors on what things are. We are writing these in Spanish and in English to hopefully excite and encourage locals to learn about and use these different technologies and to be more inviting to travelers. We are also continuing to test the autoclave, but are not reaching the temperatures we need.
June 22, 2009
About another week and a half have gone by, and, as always, there is a lot to tell. Like I mentioned last time, two new volunteers arrived: Cody and Maria. Then, on Sunday the 12th, the last two UD ETHOS students joined us in Sabana Grande: Erin and Maria.
Nathan and I were pretty excited for their arrival. I went to a soccer game in nearby Totogalpa to watch David and the Sabana Grande team play, and then immediately after we came back to pick up Erin and Maria off the bus at the Solar Center. We had arrived back just in time, because their bus was half an hour early… Nathan hadn’t even made it to the Solar Center yet to wait for them with David and I. But, nevertheless, we all enjoyed a quick reunion and walked them back to their homes (Maria stays with Mayra, the president of Las Mujeras Solares, and Erin stays with Adelina who lives right across the street from me and who is the mother of one of my good friends here, Heyling). Then, shortly after lunch, we all went for a long hike to see another volunteer here, Zach who lives in the somewhat far away, relatively secluded village of Mayzuta. The hike was so long and difficult that we actually lost a few hikers along the way, who decided to turn back. As usual, I was determined to make it, and was rewarded with pottery! Upon arrival to the beautiful, secluded Mayzuta, we visited Zach for some time (who had been craving English-interaction after being alone for so long), and then visited the local pottery-maker. He showed us into his little pottery shack which contained hundreds of gorgeous pottery things: candle boxes, pots, water jugs, and water hangings, some painted and some not. I found a neat little guy in the back corner that had a beam of light on it and music swelled up when I saw it. It is a water jug (I think) with a crude, gold-painted picture of Sandino on it, and it says “Viva Sandino! Mayzuta, Totogalpa”. I got it for 60 Cordobas (about $3).
So that was a long arrival day for Erin and Maria. The week that followed was generally an introduction week for them. David and I gave them an elaborate tour of the Solar Center, then sat down with them to give them a list of projects they could do (outside of autoclave testing, of course). In the end they decided that they will first make information plaques for all the many education, sustainable things here at the center. As a side note, the Solar Center is not only designed to be a means of community development and income generation, but also a base for advanced sustainable research (such as the autoclave!) and an education facility for visitors. Therefore, information plaques – you know, like at the zoo – was a great idea that David had that should be installed here near all the projects, such as near the solar cookers, the composting toilet and the wind turbine generator. Then, afterwards, I will be teaching them how I built/repaired the exisiting wind turbine, and they will either expand on this one or make a new one.
Meanwhile, I am working on improving the solar panels by using EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) instead of silicone to make the panels. Basically, this would greatly reduce the cost of manufacturing of the panels, and therefore we could reduce the price even further, making our panels that much more competitive. The process is difficult and unsure, though, and it’s my job to come up with a manufacturing technique for using EVA that has a good chance of working every time.
Anyway, Tuesday we spent the day in Ocotal, getting the girls and Greek Maria acquainted with the city. They needed to exchange money, get to the internet, and get snacks. Also, we moved Gringo Wednesday up to Tuesday and all had lunch together in Ocotal then. On Wednesday I woke up multiple times and my stomach was quite upset. This was the first time I had felt pretty bad since being here (which is a pretty long time, and I wasn’t even feeling terrible). I thought it was parasites, but a test at Profamilia in Ocotal showed that it was bacteria, so I immediately bought yogurt and started taking Cipro. Cipri is the nuclear bomb to the war going on in my stomach. By Thursday I was feeling fine.
Thursday and Friday we just worked in the Solar Center on our various projects. There are so many volunteers here now, it is pretty crazy. It is a good thing that we now have 16 solar panels to power the solar center – as opposed to the two last year – because everyone is always working on their own laptops, plugged into the walls of the workshop.
Friday Tim and Jim, the ETHOS students working in Managua, came to Sabana Grande to visit us for the weekend. It was nice for all of us to finally, for the first time this summer, be together. They stayed in the other two beds in my room in Dona Carmen’s house. Friday night everyone came over to my house after dinner for a late night of cards and rum and cokes. Tim and Jim regaled us all with their experiences thus far of working with Suni Solar in Managua and doing installations cross-country. Although they’ve recently been bored (and are jealous of us here in SG), they do some pretty cool things. They have an installation coming up where they will have to take a boat ride up to the Honduran border, ride by horseback inland, and then hike to the villages where they will be doing several solar panel installations. The European Union has ordered 42 installations in that area! Needless to say, they will be kept busy and will get some really unique experiences. Of course, Tim was also kind enough to share his wonderful experience of being chased in the dead of the night by three very loud dogs while pulling his pants up, darting from the bathroom to the truck where he and Jim were sleeping.
Saturday was a long day. We woke up and had breakfast at the usual 7am time, and then we all left to go to Somoto Canyon. This is the same river-canyon that Nathan and I went to on our third day here in Nicaragua this summer with the rest of the UD ETHOS Breakout students. We were looking forward to going back and doing the same thing with all the new volunteers.
It was, however, NOT the same thing. The rainy season had started in full about two weeks ago, meaning that everything was greener, more lush, and the water deeper and stronger. It was a COMPLETELY different experience. While many parts looked similar, many landmarks and bridges that we had previously climbed were missing (buried underwater). Also, it was not the calm tread through the river that it was last time… it was a rushing river that flowed very strong. In order to go up it we had to swim with all of our might to the next outcropping of rocks, or else you were washed downstream and everyone would yell “see you in a few hours on the way back!” as you went. Luckily, no one was swept away (and it wasn’t even particularly dangerous; there was nowhere to get sucked under and very few things to hit) as we all lent a helping hand to each other, traversing the rocks and river together. In short, it was a lot of fun, and I am disgusted that I will never be able to do anything like this in America (because it would be deemed “not safe enough,” in which case the entire country of Nicaragua would probably be deemed “not safe enough” as well).
Shortly after this long, energy-expunging journey, we all retreated to our homes in Sabana Grande and napped. That night we had dinner and then met by the bus stop to go to Ocotal for the night. There we went to a restaurant-bar and enjoyed each other’s company before going to Skydancing Discoteque. The disco was surprisingly crowded; we had apparently gone on a good night because they had closed off one of the streets and made it an outdoor party. We soon discovered that the reason why it was crowded was because there was set to be a Spanish-rap concert later in the night (it seemed to start about 11). They were a group from Panama and were apparently quite popular. It was lot of fun, but also a very late night. Thus, I did nothing but sit and sleep all day on Sunday. I also read more of my nerdy book that Maria brought for me, and I am sad to say that I am almost done with it… I am going through books at an alarming rate! I have read Viriconium (a classic English sci-fi), Catcher in The Rye, Halo: The Fall of Reach (a novel that takes place before the Xbox video game), Guns, Germs and Steel (a history of anything and everything in the world), and am almost done with Halo: The Flood (which actually takes place during the story of the video game). Next I may read either Man in the Holocene (another condensed history book), Water For Elephants, or The Tipping Point again (I read it here last summer and it is still here).
Well finally, it is now Monday and I am finally once again at the internet (these internet days are very satisfying). I will actually be spending a lot of time in Ocotal or Esteli this week to do shopping for autoclave materials. The current autoclave was made under the assumption that all the materials that we bought in Dayton could be purchased here in Nicaragua. I am going to either prove or disprove this assumption, and basically do what I can to make an autoclave here with what I can. We’ll see how that goes!
Oh, and this weekend: Granada! We all really look forward to it, and I will fill you in on how it went.
-Daniel
June 21, 2009
Hey everybody! Happy Father’s Day! It’s been a whole week, and things are going very well down here. I’m getting much more comfortable with my new Nicaraguan family, and I´ve had the chance to go on a few adventures since the last blog.
When Maria and I got back from Ocotal Friday night, Tim-and-Jim from UD had just gotten in from Managua, where they volunteer with Suni Solar. They’re here for the weekend to hang out with us fellow gringos, so of course we played UNO! It got pretty violent, but we’re all still friends haha.
Now it’s time for the Somoto Canyon Story. Yesterday morning, Maria, Maria, Dan, Nathan, Tim-and-Jim, and I took a bus to Somoto, a city about the size of Ocotal to the west of Sabana Grande. Nathan and Dan had been to the canyon a few weeks ago, before the rainy season had started and had a lot of fun swimming and hiking. Oh, halfway through the bus ride, we stopped at what turns out to be a police checkpoint. For this part of the story, I’d like to direct you to Nathan’s blog. Good stuff. So, we safely got to the Somoto bus station without being deported, and Dan hired a “taxi” – a pickup truck with a kind of frame installed in the back bed for us to hang on to. The ride to the canyon was gorgeous! It was all white knuckles through the countryside, but the view was really beautiful. I’m not sure why I wasn’t expecting mountains given the whole canyon thing, but they were breathtaking, covered in lush trees except where steep cliffs exposed the bedrock.
To get to the canyon itself, we hiked down a mountainside, noticing that the only other travelers all seemed to have things like water shoes water-tight containers. Not a good sign already, so when we got to the first river crossing and found out that we’d be crossing a raging river up to our waists, we weren’t too surprised. Apparently the rainy season had done its job. I was pretty scared, so I grabbed the hand of some random guy that was crossing with his friends who all thought I was hilarious holding my snacks above my head. Dan and Nathan just kept saying ¨This looked so much different before. The boats are just around the corner.¨
From there, we got semi-lost and I fell in cow poop while asking a farmer for directions. Figures. We finally make to a boat. Our guide was named Noel, and he had been taking people upstream into the canyon for five years, since he was 15. He was extremely patient with our steadily-improving Spanish. We disembarked and walked over a bridge that Noel warned us only supported one person at a time. EEEK. After that, we climbed rocks and jumped off cliffs and swam through remolinos (whirlpools). The cliffs were 200m high, and Noel told us that Hurricane Mitch completely filled it to the top with a wall of water. It was amazing to see the variety of plants and trees on the canyon walls, too. There were cacti as tall as trees! The two Marias took plenty of pictures.
Oh, almost forgot! We went a club called Sky Dancing last night and all learned how to do the bachata and merengue. I had a really good time, and it was great to dance to a few familiar songs.
Finally, there are a lot of animals in this country that I did not previously have phobias of, but now I do. For instance, last night there were 7 toads in my front yard, and they are not shy. The family was making fun of me until one of them jumped on Alexandra´s foot and she ran into my room and shut the door. Annnd, I killed a scorpion yesterday. With the really big stick that also doubles as my bedroom lock. It was really quite terrifying, but now Adelina thinks I am so brave.
Will write again next week. Thanks for the comments!
June 17, 2009
It is June 14th and several exciting things have happened this week. On Thursday and Saturday local experts on the legal creation of corporations in Nicaragua gave presentations to Las Mujeres Solares. Las Mujeres Solares, the women’s group at the Solar Center, are currently utilizing grant money to legally establish themselves as a business. The presentations were extremely interesting and gave me some insight into the business world in Nicaragua. Later this week Las Mujeres Solares are going to select which type of organization they would like to become legally. It is very cool to have the chance to see the women make important decisions that will form the foundation for their organization. And the excitement today is that two more volunteers have arrived here at The Solar Center. Their names are Erin and Maria and they are the other two students participating in the ETHOS immersion with Dan and me. It has been really fun to talk with them and reflect a lot on the time that I have spent here. And the added bonus is that now we have our full group and are able to travel to the best spots in Nicaragua which we have been saving!
Now that I am more than halfway through my experience in Nicaragua, I have gotten to know my family very well. I have waited to write about them all because I wanted to talk with them more and get to know each one of their personalities. My family is amazing and I want to share a little about each member and the house that we live in.
The House is located at the base of a beautiful, green mountain in Sabana Grande. My home has three separate buildings. In the center is the old house. The old house is the largest of the three buildings. On the back of the old house there is a lean-to kitchen (my mom cook using a fire within a clay stove top). The old house has one large room that I would call the family room. It has a small table, a hammock (so comfortable) and some plastic chairs. The family room is where we eat and where my family and I spend most of our nights talking or listening to music. In addition, the family room doubles as a bedroom for an uncle in my family. The old house has three bedrooms. One is for me (for volunteers). The other two are used by 9 people! I have not been in the other two bedrooms so I do not know the setup. The only thing that I know is that 9 people fit in them, how I am not sure. At times I feel bad that I have my own room when everyone else is living close together in the other rooms. The old house does not have electricity but has a solar panel that powers 4 lights in the separate rooms of the house. A small one room building was built to the left of old house for my brother, his wife, and their child. They do not use this house yet because its roof is still being constructed. To the right of the old house is the new house. The new house is made of cement and has a large room, new kitchen, and a porch. The new house has beautiful wooden doors and windows. It currently is used for very little since it was only finished several days ago. The yard of the house is rather large. The yard is home to a variety of animals. We have about 7 chicks, 4 chickens, 1 dog, and a pig. There is an outside shower located behind the house and three outhouses in the right side of the yard. It is a small simple house and I find it a perfect place for just relaxing and thinking.
My Mom’s name is Hilda. She is one of the sweetest people that I have meet in my life. She is the heart of my Nicaraguan family. Without her the family could not function from day to day. She cooks, cleans, washes, and cares for the entire family. She also is extremely fun, loves to laugh and talk with everyone. When ever I look at her I can’t help but smile. Hilda is a deeply religious woman, too. She is evangelical and has a church activity at least every other day. She is very passionate about faith. She has blessed my room, my food, and once even said a prayer holding a Tums I was about to take.
My Papa’s name is Marcio. He is the strong, quick type. He does tons of work for the family. He has helped build both of the newer buildings beside their old house and he works weekdays in the field. He also is the one that fixes the solar panel if they run into any problems with it. I see him normally only at night and really haven’t talked with him that much. When I do talk with him he seems extremely nice. Many nights he just lies back in the hammock and listens to some music. Last Sunday was his birthday and I bought some pop for the occasion. It made him smile and I felt great that I could make his day a little more special.
Darling is the oldest daughter of the family. She is in her twenties and lives across town with her boyfriend. She has visited several times and I have stopped by her house. She is very friendly like the rest of the family and is great with children. She teaches preschool in the town and I can tell that she loves working younger children. It’s perfect when she talks with me, since she is use to working with children who have limited vocabulary.
Marcel is my older brother (well actually..). He is only 19 which makes him one year younger than me but he has a wife and a 5 year old son. Therefore, in my mind he is older than I am. Marcel loves music and has a radio which is on constantly. He has a personality that is similar to his father’s. He is a hard worker and doesn’t really talk with me that much. But he is always smiling and looks to be very happy. We had one bonding moment when we talked about the different bars in Ocatol, so that was exciting!
Deyse is my “older” brother’s wife and I believe that she is about 25. She is fun and taught me how to make and cook tortillas. She laughs a lot and likes to joke around with me. For awhile we had a joke going that I was pregnant (long story) and it was great.
Luis is the 5 year old son of Marcel and Deyse. I am tempted to say that Luis is my favorite. He is always fll of energy and wanting to play games. We play tag all the time and other random games. Oh and he likes when I lift him up way high over my head. He is the person that makes me laugh most here. Sometimes he will just go ‘loco’ and start dancing crazy or running around (sometimes I swear he has ADD). Basically Luis and I are best friends because we are at the same level of speaking Spanish.
Yaritza is my sister and is 18. She is the spitting image of her mother. She is always smiling, laughing and talking with me. Also, she often goes with her mother to church. Yaritza helps with cooking and spends a lot of time at the house. I love talking with her. She is very easy to understand. Once she told me that her mom will allow her to date now that she is 18. So now every time a boy passes, I ask her if he is her boyfriend.
Meyling is the next oldest sister and is in high school. She is more conservative than her other siblings and doesn’t like playing around too much. She loves to talk and at times is extremely funny. When she grows up she wants to be a doctor (impressive). All her siblings always tell me that she likes me (hahaha). I don’t know if it is true or if they are just trying to make her feel awkward. Oh and she is a Populare (let me explain)! In Nicaragua there is this music, television phenomenon called Petito Feo. Petito Feo is a show that centers around two groups of people the Populares and the Divinas. The Populares are the more nerdy kids that love to dance and have fun. The Divinas are the stuck up cool kids that dance more dirty and are always dressed in the latest fashions. The crazy thing is that these television groups have crossed over into real life. Many high schools and cities have both types of people. I’m just thankful that I live with Populares, I don’t know how well I would get along with Divinas.
Yoelbi is my younger brother who is in high school. When I first arrived in Nicaragua he was the one that talked with me the most and really made me feel welcomed. He plays often with other local boys in the campo (field). They play soccer and volleyball. I like playing cards with him and joking around. Oh and I found out that he has a girlfriend named Jenny but his mom doesn’t know so shhhh.
Mayeli is that youngest daughter of Hilda and is the final member of the family. Mayeli is in middle school and likes to laugh at me a lot (actually like all the time). She is just very smiley and no matter what I say she usually will laugh. It’s tons of fun playing games with her and just laughing. Basically Mayeli and I are pretty tight.
Overall my family is amazing. I have learned an immense amount of things from them and have had countless wonderful experiences. I am extremely lucky that I was placed with them. They have made my trip tremendously meaningful.
More to come,
Nat-tan
June 16, 2009
Hello Everyone!
Maria and I made it to Sabana Grande! Our plane landed safely despite a really harrowing thunderstorm near Managua. We stayed in Managua for the night at a small hotel. Well, it was seven rooms surrounding a small, open courtyard, and I think the front two rooms served as a restaurant during the week. Anyway, I couldn´t sleep at all because my stomach does not approve of adventuring. After breakfast, Don Luis drove us to the bus stop, and on the way I got to see some of Managua. Don Luis asked me what about Managua was different from Toledo, but I couldn´t even find a point of reference to compare the two. Managua itself is huge, but only the tourist resorts and the presidential palace stand more than a story. The buildings are made of wood usually, with corrugated steel roofs. There are people everywhere, and I felt more like I was in a very poor, very big neighborhood than a city. Luis spoke slowly enough that I could easily understand him, and we talked for about an hour before our bus arrived.
The bus ride was smooth, and took us up the Pan-American Highway to Sabana Grande. There, Maria and I met David and Dan and walked to our new houses. To me, the roads seem more like walking paths through the hills, and there are always cows and chickens using them as well. I live in Adelina´s house, which sits on property that has more kinds of trees than i have ever seen in one place. The grandmother, Lupe, and her sister have been trying to teach me the names of all of them, but I guess I am a slow learner of ecology because they all sound similar to me. And Lori lived with Adelina´s family for two summers, so I get to see a familiar face in the family´s photo albums Lori, they absolutely love you and say congratulations. The family is all women, with the two grandmothers, Adelina and her three daughters. They seem pretty shy around me, but we are getting more comfortable every day.
As for the Solar Center, it´s so much more than I expected! Yesterday, the Mujeres Solares had a very important meeting, so I got to introduce myself in front of 25 women, something that I´m not comfortable doing in English, much less Spanish. But, it was very interesting to speak to the women, since during breaks in the autoclave tests, we will be working on whatever project they decide to pursue. So, while I´m feeling a little lonely, I know that there will be plenty to keep me busy!
I´ll continue to update this blog more as I figure out exactly when we will be traveling to Ocotal, the city with internet cafes. Thank you all for the support, and I appreciate emails with news, photos or even just gossip.
Hasta,
Erin
June 16, 2009
Hello all!
I made it in one peice. The first internet cafe I went to the elerctric went out after 10 minutes of being there, so I will try to type fast…
The flight was good and many things here are very interesting. I learned how bad my spanish is, but I am taking spanish lessons from Francisco at the solar center for any hour Monday thru Friday. It costs 5 dollars per hour, but given the situation I figure it is well worth my money to be able to communicate with people.
My host family is very nice. Jesus is my dad, Myra is my mom, Adaly is my brother…I think he is about 12, and Graciella is my sister and she is 10. We smile at each other a lot and try to talk to each other.
The driving here is similar to at home, but they are much more risky and pass in very tight situations.
My family has an outhouse behind their house. They have solar power and are on the grid. They have a refrigerator, T.V., and lights…much to my surprise. I think my family is a little bit more so well off than others, not many people have refrigerators. My host mom is the president of the solar women´s group at the solar center. My host dad goes to Ocotal…the city 15 minutes away…to work. So far all I have figured out is he works at a bank…I think..and he left Monday morning and came back Tuesday morning…so I haven´t quiet figured out what is going on. My sister and I played a Looney Toons card matching game..I can handle matching two cards…works very well for my Spanish speaking level right now…hehe
So many stories…lots to take in all at once! There are about 6 people working at the solar center…one from Canada…one from Greece…one from Colorado… There are more volunteers in the city too. It sounds like we are going to try to meet up sometime and go to Hondorus.
Going over basics for work still and it seems like there are many opportunities for projects.