Archive for the ‘Nica2009’ Category
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.
June 12, 2009
Me and my niece at my sister's wedding
I am Maria Fullenkamp a mechanical engineering student at Wright State Univ. I am 15 hours away till I am officially on the plane and starting my journey to Sabana Grande, Nicaragua. Life has been pretty crazy lately, all in the past month I have completed final exams for classes, had my sister’s wedding, and became an aunt again for the fourth time. I am excited for the experience but at the same time scared. I know things will be fine, but I will just need to stay busy in order to keep my mind off of everyone at home. It will be interesting to come back and see how big my nephews and nieces will be in two months…and to see who is walking by then…. J
I think that is it for now and it is time for my last night’s sleep in the U.S.
Take care,
Maria
June 10, 2009
So it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. I’ll have to see if I can remember everything!
Last weekend we stayed in Sabana Grande. I ended up going to mass three times. Mother’s Day was still being celebrated and I like going to their little fiestas. It was just mass and then coffee and snacks afterwards, but I know a lot of the people who go to mass there so it was fun. But I went once on Saturday and twice on Sunday, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Otherwise I just hung around, read a lot (as usual) and even watched a movie or two on my laptop. On Saturday for a few hours in the afternoon Nathan and I went for a long walk into Santo Domingo, which is the village just on the other side of the highway from us (the side of the highway that the Solar Center is actually located on). I was awed by going someplace new that I had never been before and seeing what it was like. It was definitely beautiful, and quite different from Sabana Grande – more lush and secluded. Very far into our walk, however, we still encountered Nathan’s sister-in-law at a church there… she must go a long, long ways for mass every week!
The week was a pretty productive week. On Monday I built my first tropical-style hut with the palm roof. This is a casita by the road in front of the Solar Center and is meant to be a stand for the women to make refreshments and sell to passers by. This will serve as an excellent marketing tool for the solar restaurant in the works, as well as even generate some funds towards it and/or pocket money for the women. On Tuesday I spent most of the day making a sign for the casita, as well as renovating (repainting and rewriting) the other signs for the Solar Center.
Wednesday was Gringo Wednesday, where I go into town and have lunch with some other American workers in Ocotal. I met Allison randomly in the internet café several weeks ago, and so of course we said hi, and then we made plans to have lunch on a Wednesday. After that, we said we would have lunch next Wednesday, and then after that, lunch the next Wednesday. Now Wednesdays are Gringo Wednesdays, and Nathan, David and Allison’s new roommate, Jessica, sometimes join us. We have since become close friends and we end up doing other things together as well. They have come to the Solar Center to visit and will likely come again very soon, and we are all making plans (including Tim and Jim in Managua, and Erin and Maria when they come) to go to Granada together. We are excited, it will be a blast!
So anyway, Wednesday is my Ocotal day of the week now, where I do my shopping and internet. It works out well because there is always something that I need from Ocotal for work, and emails to check and send for work also.
While I have been testing the autoclave every day (Wednesday it was administered by Nathan who did not go into Ocotal), Thursday and Friday were solely autoclave days in which I set up a new test, cleaned the box cookers, uploaded data, began the new testing, and so on. Several times now we have achieved very high temperatures, and on one cloudless day we easily achieved the temperature we needed for the amount of time that we needed. It just went to show that this is doable, so long as the weather cooperates. Here in the rainy season we will have some more trouble, but I am confident that this would work well in their summer (our winter). Among the new testing I am doing includes pressure testing, so I am essentially testing the entire system now. The results and progress have been exciting, although the weather forecast for the next few months is bleak.
Once again Nathan and I stayed around in Sabana Grande this past weekend. Saturday we had some time to kill, so we ended up going to Ocotal for the day, mostly because we had heard that there was a carnival going on. While there was a carnival, it turned out that it wasn’t operating until that evening, so we ended up just milling around and getting lunch. When we got back I relaxed and played some volleyball and cards with my family and neighbors. I have a new card-buddy that joins me when Skarleth is not around: Wendy, the 13-year old girl next door. Her mother is part of Las Mujeras Solares, and she is another cute, very smart girl in the area. She understands all the games that I teach her that most others here do not.
Sunday I went to mass again. I talked with my friend, Catherine (a native), after mass and she said that she is playing with her soccer team on Friday and that I should check it out. I had no idea that Sabana Grande had a women’s team too! I definitely plan to see that this weekend. She also told me there is a fiesta (another high school dance?) in Totogalpa this weekend, which I also plan to go with her to. In the afternoon, after lunch, I walked with Maricela (a 20-year-old-or-so who used to work at the Solar Center) to see the caves in the mountains. Once again, I had no idea there were caves here! She was telling me that people used to, and still do, come here to the springs to do laundry and bathe. In fact, as we were leaving to head back to the village, we passed by Nathan’s sister who had a bucket with a towel and soap in it, and she was on her way to the spring to bathe. Crazy!
Finally, this week has rolled around and I am continuing the autoclave testing. I have also found a new project that I will work on. This is a big one and may take me through my time here, alongside the testing. I will be working on using EVA instead of silicon to make the solar panels here, which could save Centro Solar a lot of money if I can make it work. This is a project started by Richard Komp (who basically invented solar energy) a little while ago, that one volunteer tried to pick up but couldn’t quite get it, and that I am going to pick up and give a shot.
Two new volunteers have arrived this Monday: Cody, who has been here 4 times previously, and Maria who is from Greece. They both will be working on the SEED grant that the Las Mujeras Solares were awarded last year, basically working with the women to get things moving and splitting the money, and so on. Nathan and I are excited for Erin and Maria, the other ETHOS students from University of Dayton, to come this weekend. It will be fun having them around. Then the weekend after, Tim and Jim are going to come visit from Managua, so we will finally all be together!
This morning I carried water on my head from the well to the house for the first time. I had to try to balance it, and I spilled about a 1/3 of it on the way, but I did it! Sometimes I don´t understand how the women do it, but then again they´ve been trained since they were little. I have lots of pics of me doing this (as well as everythign else I´ve talked about, I swear!), but I cannot upload them on this computer because it takes an unnaturally long time that I don´t know if it would ever finish.
Whew! That’s a lot in one blog. Well, it is Wednesday, and it is now about lunch time, so you know what that means… Gringo Wednesday. Hasta la proxima vez,
-Daniel!
June 9, 2009
It’s Sunday June 7th and for starters I have a couple short updates to share with everyone. This week I discovered an outhouse at my house that I fit in!! Up until this point I have been using an outhouse that I literally could not shut when inside. Before I thought the newly discovered bathroom was a hut for fire wood. But to my surprise it is a spacious outhouse made for American size people (Nicaraguan’s are much shorter). In other news this morning I mooned my Nicaraguan mom. I was taking a bucket shower and there was a strong gust of wind. To my dismay, the towel covering the entrance way fell exposing my butt to my mom who was stand right outside in the kitchen. Oh fun times.
On to work, the catalogue is completed and translated. Now i have been put in charge of improving my host organizations website,. To say the least this is a really amazing opportunity. One thing that has caught my attention in college has been internet marketing. Website design is a crucial part of internet marketing for businesses. I am looking forward to being able to learn more about website design and other internet marketing strategies like Search Engine Optimization. I think that improving Grupo Fenix’s website will help to generate more sells, more international volunteers, more donors, and ultimately help them reach their future goals. I have been looking at other non-profit websites and reading some articles on internet marketing. Already I have tons of ideas. This Monday, I am receiving a web design program called Dream Weaver and I will be able to start working. I will make sure to keep everyone updated on my progress. It is crazy to think that I get to modify a website that Grupo Fenix will use for years to come. This is a great opportunity.
After being in Nicaragua for a month, I have been able to better understand the culture. One aspect of culture here that is very different than life in the US is the Nicaraguan Machismo Culture. I wanted to give people in the US a little glimpse of this interesting cultural norm in Nicaragua. The Machismo Culture refers to a culture dominated by the males. In my opinion, from when Nicaraguans are young they are taught their cultural roles. Girls learn how to care for children, wash and clean. Boys work with their dad in the fields and on construction projects. Girls are put in charge of preparing food and boys are always served first when eating meals. Girls are kept close to the home and have more strict rules. Boys are allowed to hang with friends all day and have much more freedom. The boys are the ones that get to use the family’s bicycle when they want. Girls can use the bike only when heading to the pulparia (convenient store) to get food for a meal. My Nicaraguan sister once told me that she was not allowed to raise her voice because her father told her that it was not lady like. And sadly, boys are taught to not express emotions. I can see my 16 year old Nicaraguan brother gradually become less and less expressive especial when around his friends. So as you can see, boys are trained to feel superior and women to be submissive. As these children get older, these same Machismo principles stick. I have rarely heard a women raise her voice. Most have a timid presence and are in a continual state of serving the family. Some men, the Machismos, treat women as objects. Pictures of almost naked women can be found in newspaper, television ads, billboards, advertisements, and the covers of CDs. Cat calling is extremely common. While walking around with a group of girls from Dayton, men called out to them and hissed at them (side note: instead of whistling in Nicaragua men hiss at women). This Machismo philosophy causes larger problems in Nicaragua, too. There are lots of drunks in Nicaragua. Some think this is because there is a shortage of work but I think most is caused by men not having emotional outlets. Many women are forced to raise children on their own because it is common for men to desert families. Women are less safe in big cities because of high rates of female assault. The differences between gender roles in the US and here are vast. I believe that the Machismo Culture is hindering the people of Nicaragua. It is limiting women’s opportunities and forcing men to bottle up their emotions. But there is hope; I have found many exceptions to this norm. I have met loving fathers and couples who have equal roles in their marriages. I have talked with girls that have plans for the future and men who share their thoughts and feelings.
Cultural differences like this make me think how different my life would be if I was raised in another country. I am extremely thankful for all the opportunities and privileges that I have had in the US.
More to come,
Nat-tan
June 2, 2009
It is May the 31st and I am current located in my “stronghold” or you may call it a mosquito net. My “stronghold” is the only place where I have the upper hand on the insects of Nicaragua. Here I am surrounded by a nearly impenetrable barrier and am equipped with all my best weapons. I have bug spray at my side and a shoe within my reach. Bring it insects I’m ready.
Well I guess I should talk about El Dia De Las Madres now since that is the title of this blog. In Nicaragua, that is the name for Mother’s Day. Here El Dia De Los Madres is celebrated on May 30th rather than on the 10th like in the United States. So I don’t want to make moms in the US feel bad but here in Nicaragua mother’s day is kind of a huge deal. Since I have arrived in Nicaragua on May 8th I have been hearing El Dia De Las Madres songs on the radio. Literally these songs are made for El Dia De Las Madres. The amount of music for El Dia De Las Madres is comparable to the fact that in the US we have a whole genre of music dedicated to Christmas. So this whole month I have really had time to think about what makes El Dia De Las Madres so big here in Nicaragua. I have come to understand that in Nicaragua the mother is almost always the glue of a family. Here they are the ones that care and teach morals to the children. They are the ones that prepare all meals and provide hospitality for guest. They are the ones that have immense influence in making important family decisions. But most simple they are the ones that are present. The father is the one that is away from home and works the entire day. In many cases families don’t even have fathers because they have left the family and the responsibilities that come with it. In the village I live in it is rare to find a family that has a present father. In Nicaragua, the mother is the one in the home and in most situations the one figuring out how to support the family. For these reasons I believe El Dia De Las Madres is amplified here in Nicaragua.
So what exactly happens for El Dia De Las Madres in Nicaragua? This year El Dia De Los Madres fell on Saturday. Celebration for the day started three days earlier on Wednesday. Wednesday my host organization, EL Centro Solar, held a surprise party for all the volunteer mothers. The festivities started at 3pm. The main room of the center was decorated with flowers and streamers. At first music was played and guest talked among themselves. Next, it was time for the games. I don’t know if it is the language barrier but games here in Nicaragua are ten times funnier than anything I’ve played in the US. My favorite game was one where two mothers were blindfolded and they had to put four shoes on one side of the room under the legs of a chair on the other side of the room. As you can imagine the game was a riot and throughout the course there were several collisions. Games were followed by a song and dance for the mothers. After that everyone said a pray of thanks for the mothers. Dinner was then served which was prepared by the children. Lastly, they ended the night with the La Mama Mas Simpatica contest which I was a judge for. So here is how the competition worked. Throughout the fiesta I was suppose watch all the mothers. My job was to select the nicest, most outgoing, funniest, and happiest mother. At the end of the night I selected a winner and the first runner up from all the mothers. So after “intense” deliberation (I actually just picked two mothers that I knew the names of…don’t tell anyone) I selected the winners…and the first runner up was Alejandra because of her smile, friendliness and kindness (which I announced to the room in Spanish)…and for the moment you all have been waiting for the winner of La Mama Mas Simpatica was Adelina for her participation and friendliness! Adelina was crowned as queen by last year’s Mama Mas Simpatica. The whole thing was kind of a big deal for them. I feel bad I just pick mothers basically at random…oops.
Okay so this was just the Wednesday before El Dia De Las Madres, I still need to talk about the day itself. On Friday, the day before El Dia De Los Madres two of my Nicaraguan sister and I went into Ocatol, a nearby town. There we went to Pali (a much smaller branch of Wal-Mart for Central American countries) and bought lunch for our mom. We got rice, vegetables, soda and most importantly steak, their mom’s favorite. After, the grocery store we went to a Pastelria to purchase a cake. The kids in my family were very excited. They said generally they didn’t have money to get anything for their mother on El Dia De Las Madres. I was more than happy to buy some food for my mother especially after everything that she has done for me. On the 30th, El Dia De Las Madres, the children and I helped out their mom throughout the day. I helped cook and my Nicaraguan siblings did typical choirs. Then we cooked the food from Ocatol for lunch and served cake to everyone. Late in the day we visited their grandma and wished her a happy Dia De Las Madres. All things considered El Dia De Las Madres was a huge success. My Nicaraguan mom seemed extremely happy throughout the day. She even mentioned to me that this was the first time that a volunteer in her house has bought her a cake. She was very thankful. My Nicaraguan mother is amazing if you met her you would buy her a cake too.
More to come,
Nat-tan
May 29, 2009
Howdy All,
Like the title so cleverly suggests, Nathan and I made a nice weekend trip to Honduras. Travling out-of-country wasn´t something that really occurred to me last summer, but since we are so close it was like why not?
So! First we went up to Ocotal - where we always use the internet – and then from there went to la frontera, or the border, which is called Las Manos. Nathan went over this part in pretty good detail in his blog, so the only thing I´ll say is that it was a hassle and somewhat confusing. I think the strangest part was simply that we were going into unfamiliar territory and just had no idea what to do.
From Las Manos we hopped on a direct bus to Tegucigalpa. Now, when I say ¨direct¨, I mean that the bus may stop for half-an-hour here or there somewhat on the way to it´s destination. This is pretty different from the ¨express¨ buses in Nicaragua, which are more or less actually express. On this route, I was planning to sleep (we had woken up quite early and traveled a good distance), but I was not able to because the scenery was so striking. It is a good deal different than Nicaragua. I can´t believe I´m saying this, but it actually reminded me of Switzerland (for those who don´t know, I did a cycling through the Alps trip several years ago). It was mountainous and green, but not exactly jungl-y. The south was a pine-tree region, whereas north of the capital city was a bit more lush.
Tegicugalpa. Definitely a large, central american city which encompasses everything that a central american city by definition encompasses. It was large, full of traffic, dirty and free-spirited. It was also a lot larger, cleaner and mour mountainous than Managua in Nicaragua though. I actually liked Tegucigalpa a good bit, it´s certainly very interesting. It is also more Americanized such that it had Pizza Hut, Burger King, Dunkin´ Donuts, and so on.
From there we took a bus to Comayagua, which is about 2 hours north of Tegucigalpa. Comayagua is an old Spanish Colonial town that used to be the capital of Honduras. The conservatives wanted Comayagua as the capital, while the liberals wanted Tegucigalpa, so they switched back and forth for a while. In the end they stuck with Teguc. However, Comayagua is gorgeous, and I was shocked that there were not more tourist. We couldn´t even find a hostel to stay in, so we stayed in a hotel (which was still relatively inexpensive, yet really nice. We had A/C!). We spent the days touring around, treating ourselves to some Honduran and American food, and then tried a few bars in the evenings. The atmosphere was definitely friendly and tropical, as all the bars were essentially open-aired.
There is a US military base close to Comayagua, so up to 500 US military personnel take to Comayagua in the weekends and evenings, so we crossed paths with a few. We also talked to a few other tourists in town, one of whom was biking down from Mexico to Panama. He expects to stop by the Solar Center in a few days time, so we shall see each other again! Small world.
Early Monday morning we made the trek back to Nicaragua. The bus ride from Comayagua was… fun. We had a driver who seemed like he had just taken 14 energy shots. He layed on the horn and yelled at passerbys at the top of his voice, in a genial way. It was like experiencing the game Crazy Taxi in real life.
On the way back we met yet another adventurer, Katherine from Canada. She had just graduated and was backpacking by herself. She was grateful she had us to get her through the complexity and strangeness of the border. The Solar Center is on a main road, so we get a lot of travelers there as well. David always gets emails from people asking if they can stay at his place. Just the other week we met a Swiss man who biked up from Buenos Aires, Argentian, South America. It took him two-and-a-half years to get here, and he casually explained that he was working his way up to Alaska, and ¨then I might go into Asia and down into Oceania.¨ Wow! My first thought is: where do you get the time and money to do this?? It was inspiring because I want to do bike trips, althought they probably would not be nearly that long haha.
This past week has been a successful work week at the Solar Center. I have achieved the temperatures I need for the autoclave on more than one occassion, which is great news. I am now testing the complete system, with water and pressure.
Wednesday was the mother´s day fiesta, which I remembered from last year as being a lot of fun. All the children prepared dances, skits and games to put on for their mothers in the solar center. Afterwards there was food and dancing, which was a lot of fun.
Now it is Friday and we are in Ocotal for a work fair. Basically, the Solar Center workers are here marketing their products, such as the panels and solar box cookers. Maybe next year we will be ready to market the solar autoclave here as well!
That being said, I am off to the fair. I have no idea what is going on this weekend, but I´m sure it will be something great. Until next time!
-Daniel
