Managua, Managua, Managua

Yesterday, we visited the big, bad city of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. My Lonely Planet guide swears that Managua gets a bad rap and is worthy of tourist exploration beyond the airport, but I'm not so sure. We saw a few interesting sights and the history and political significance of the place is worth learning about, but I'm still not sure I'd count it as a "must-see".

One of the biggest hindrances to exploring Managua is the fact that the city is very hard to navigate. A massive earthquake in 1972 leveled much of the city, and much of what was destroyed has never been rebuilt. Consequently, Managua lacks a city center and thus a focal point from which to orient oneself to the city. Additionally, I've heard multiple stories of robberies committed by taxi drivers who pick up unsuspecting tourists and proceed to drive them to every ATM in town so that they can empty their bank accounts. Not exactly a giant welcome mat for the tourist crowd.

In any case, it was nice to check out the city for an afternoon and amusing to note which chain restaurants have infiltrated this part of the world, including the obvious McDonald's, Burger King ("La Casa del Whopper"), etc. as well as a place called "GHOP", whose logo and All-American menu bore a strange resemblance to that of IHOP.

The first place we visited was the "Huellas de Acahualinca", a small museum where ancient footprints were discovered and unearthed. The footprints are believed to be 6,000 years old, making them some of the oldest human footprints in the Americas. It is also believed that the preservation of the footprints is the result of a volcano that erupted and dropped volcanic ash on the site, thereby burying them safely underground. The site was spare but interesting, and certainly worth the $2 price of admission.

Next, we took a drive through some of the neighborhoods of Managua, and Bergman pointed out the Nica equivalent of a low-income housing project known as "Casas para el Pueblo". The project receives funding from Venezuela but is overseen by the Nicaraguan government (currently run by the Sandinistas) and has been building approximately 100-200 houses per year. The houses are basic but well-built and include electricity, certainly a huge improvement over the houses in which many of the poor currently live, many of which are made of zinc or even plastic.

After a quick visit to a somewhat odd cultural/tourist center built by the Ortega government on the shores of Lake Managua, we visited the Palacio Nacional and its surroundings. The impressive Palacia was constructed for the Somoza family, which ruled Nicaragua for over 40 years. If you're not familiar with the Somozas, suffice it to say that they ran a repressive regime that plundered the resources of the country and used any necessary means to squelch any sort of political opposition. It's no coincidence that the museum, in addition to telling the story of Nicaragua's history from prehistoric times, is also a showcase for information about Augusto Cesar Sandino, Nicaragua's most famous son, and sports giant Sandinista banners on the exterior of the building. Next door to the Palacio is an impressive cathedral that was destroyed in the 1972 earthquake and neither rebuilt nor torn down, leaving a crumbling but beautiful landmark.

On the way to our final stop, we passed by the Asamblea Nacional (essentially Nica's Congress) building, across from which we noticed tons of makeshift structures made from black plastic sheets (a la Hefty garbage bags). Bergman explained that these are inhabited by protestors who stake themselves out across from the Asamblea in rotating shifts to call attention to their respective causes. At least one such group is individuals from the Chinandega region who once worked for Dole (then known as Standard Fruit) as banana pickers and suffered health problems due to exposure to a dangerous pesticide (that at the time was banned in the U.S.) without protection. Standard Fruit actually pulled out of Nica in the late 1970s and has never paid reparations to the affected workers; hence, their continuing protest over 30 years later. Another group includes former workers from Flor de Cana rum with similar issues.

Our final stop was an incredible viewpoint over the city of Managua on the grounds of the former Palacio National, which was leveled in 1931 by yet another earthquake. The site now features canopy tours, a rusted old army tank sent to Somoza by Mussolini and a giant cutout of Sandino that reminded me a bit of the Marlboro man.

Last night, I was treated to a dance performance by some neighborhood children at the home of one of my teachers, Elisa. Elisa's 8-year old daughter and some of her friends put on traditional costumes and performed Nica folkloric dances for myself, a couple of other students and several family members. To be honest, I preferred this performance to the more elaborate folklore performance I saw in Masaya, and I didn't have to pay an entrance fee or buy an overpriced meal at this one!

Tonight, I move into my homestay - 3 boys aged 12, 8 and 3! I imagine there will be no shortage of activity there. Tomorrow, I'll head to Granada, Nica's so-called crown jewel and also an expat haven. I'm already dreaming about a cappucino and maybe some Thai or Indian food for lunch.

Ciao for now!

Goodbyes

This weekend marked the departure en masse of all of the students who entered La Mariposa at the same time as me. It was weird to see them all go but, alas, I suppose that is what happens when one undertakes a voyage of potentially several months. As a result of these departures and the fact that only a couple of new students have arrived, it's become increasingly quiet around here! Picturing sitting at the dinner table by myself next week, I've pre-emptively requested to be placed in a homestay for my final 3 weeks here.

I'm slightly reticent to give up the comforts that I enjoy here at La Mariposa (e.g. private bath, hot shower, privacy, etc.) but I've decided that those things are worth trading for what I think will be a more enjoyable and enriching experience. I've talked to a handful of students in homestays who have really enjoyed their experiences, and I know that it will help tremendously with my Spanish. This past Sunday, I stopped in to visit my teacher, Elisa, after having spent two days speaking English almost exclusively, and it was as though I had not learned a thing these past 2 weeks! Additionally, I like the idea of living with a family in order to get to know some folks here better, to hang out with kids and to further explore the neighborhoods of San Juan. In light of these advantages, I'm sure that taking bucket baths and hiking to an outdoor latrine in the middle of the night will be a small price to pay.

Last night, it POURED rain here - like I've never heard before! Paulette was rushing around moving furniture off of the patios and tying up hammocks, and the lightning kept coming. Amazingly enough, things seem to have dried out fairly well this morning, but it rained HARD for a solid 45 minutes or so before lightening to a more typical heavy rain. I can't help but think how fortunate we are to be in this region versus in the lower areas of the country, where there are currently major problems with flooding and many, many people have been displaced from their homes.

This afternoon, I've been engaging in some Nicaraguan cooking classes. I made tortillas earlier and will soon be preparing sopa de queso (cheese soup) and rosquillas (donut-shaped fried dough). Apparently, the idea is to float the salty donuts in the soup and serve it up - a light meal, to be sure.

Got to the Laguna de Apoyo this weekend and finally had a chance to do a bit of swimming, which was very refreshing. Tomorrow afternoon is the trip to the Masaya market, where I hope to pick up all of my Christmas gifts in one stop.

Oh, I forgot to mention that in the cooking class, one of the instructors asked if I was married. When I said no, she looked incredulous and asked again. She then asked if I had children and seemed equally stunned by the response. A minute later, she asked my age, and then asked at least twice more and in different ways whether I had a husband. Apparently, she thought the question may have been lost in translation. I must admit, although I'm in no way ashamed to be 31 and unwed, her persistent questioning made me blush a bit! And I thought I was an old maid in Mississippi....

Everyday Learning

These past couple of days here have been very low-key, although quite enjoyable. On Tuesday afternoon, we took an afternoon trip to El Chocoyero, a nature reserve inhabited by a large population of chocoyos, or small parrots, that live in the side of a large rock face. After an hour of hiking through rainforest where we saw enormous trees with roots that grew in improbable patterns, we reached a clearing with a small waterfall and the aforementioned rock face, where noisy chacoyos (an estimated 700-1,000!) were flying in and out of their nesting places.

Throughout the walk, we were accompanied by the sounds of howler monkeys (which sound surprisingly like the woof! woof! once featured nightly on the Arsenio Hall show); however, we were unable to spot any and Bergman told us that their powerful howl is able to travel as much as 3 miles from their location! Bergman also informed me, near the end of the walk, that the area contains "muchas" coral snakes, so I was relieved that we did not encounter any of those highly venomous creatures.

During yesterday's conversation class, my teacher Elisa and I took a walk to a finca owned by her father-in-law, located not far from the school. I was amazed by the abundance of fruits growing there: bananas, plantains, limes, oranges, mandarins, mangoes, avocados, breadfruit, starfruit, papaya, pineapples - a veritable smorgasbord. The finca has been in the family for generations and is a second source of income for the family; most of the fruits are harvested and sold locally, sometimes by vendors who then take them to the huge market in Managua to sell.

On the way back to Elisa's house to drop off the key to the property, she asked if I had tried pinolillo, a very popular Nicaraguan beverage made from cornmeal and cacao. I said that I hadn't, and when we got to her house, I saw her quietly hand some coins to a small boy along with instructions, and he promptly ran towards the street. When he returned empty-handed, she took the coins and wandered off, returning shortly thereafter with - you guessed it - pinollino! The drink was incredibly delicious and reminded me of a cross between a mudslide and the banana-chocolate shakes that my friends Stacey and Jake whipped up for me during my time in Montana this summer. Muy delicioso!

Yesterday afternoon, I conducted my first "lesson" in English for Santos, the gardener here at La Mariposa. He's studied some English in the past and seems very keen to learn, so I told him that I'd do my best to assist him in his efforts. We spent about 45 minutes going over some basics and today he asked me if we could meet again this afternoon, so I guess this may turn into a regular thing. If anyone can point me in the direction of some good resources for "teaching" English, I would be most appreciative!

I've also been enjoying some amusing anecdotes about the confusion that can ensue when newer Spanish speakers attempt to translate from English to Spanish. For example, Bergman told a story about a student at La Mariposa who ran a plant nursery in the States, and only realized when he came here that for months he had been instructing the Mexican workers at the nursery"to shit" on the truck! (FYI: cagar = to shit, cargar = to load). It reminded me of my own mishap in Thailand when, intending to ask about the nam tok (waterfall) we were visiting that afternoon, I asked our Thai friend Joe about the nam koy (semen). Ah, cultural exchange!

In an hour, we will head to Masaya to check out the huge crafts market (hammock, anyone?) followed by the 'Jueves de Verbena', a weekly show involving Nica music, folkloric dance and cuisine. Should be a great time!

Weekend fun

This weekend was muy ocupado! Saturday morning, we headed out early to visit the Mombacho Volcano, which was quite impressive despite the thick cloud cover that made seeing any great distance near impossible. We bought our tickets at the base of the volcano and then waited for our chariot, which turned out to be an old truck that looked like it had probably been used for military operations at some point. We climbed a steep ladder up the back and slid into the old metal seats that had been bolted to the bed of the truck. 

The only way I can describe the ascent is to say that for much of the trip, it felt as though we were on a roller coaster, slowly crawling our way to the top (although taking some sharp turns in the process). When we reached the top, we discovered a fairly modern-looking building that was a biological and ecological research center; it was here that we met our guide, Moses. We opted for a two-hour hike around two of the volcano's four craters, which actually offered a pretty good workout via some steep climbs.

The air on top of the volcano was surprisingly refreshing and I was impressed by the walking trails that had been installed in the steep terrain using cross-sections of tree trunks. Volcan Mombacho has been extinct for many years and is one of only two volcanoes along the Pacific featuring cloud forest (the other is also located in Nicaragua). Indeed, the amount of vegetation was amazing! Highlights of the tour included watching a howler monkey play in a nearby tree, enjoying a natural facial via some thermal pools emanating hot steam and walking through a narrow canyon created by an earthquake several decades ago.

The ride down the mountain was mercifully less of a nail-biter than I expected, and we piled back into the van from La Mariposa just in time for torrential downpours. On the drive back to La Concha, several stretches of road had water gushing down the sides, which made me wonder what to expect during the height of the rainy season, expected to be in the next few weeks. This has been an especially rainy year here, so hopefully flooding in the low-lying areas will not be a problem.

Sunday, I took a morning horseback ride to see the Masaya Volcano. I had to relinquish my first horse because he couldn’t resist the urge to cut away from the pack in order to snack on roadside greenery, and I was virtually ineffective at stopping him from doing this. Thus, I swapped out for a more tranquil horse, albeit with one bad eye due to an accident a while back.

The whole ride was very enjoyable, but the moment that we rounded a corner and the Volcan Masaya suddenly came into full view was awe-inspiring. This is an active volcano, as you may be able to ascertain from the photo, although the last emission of lava was in 1772. Unlike the Volcan Mombacho, the top of Volcan Masaya is clearly visible and devoid of vegetation.

The ride back was a bit more exciting in that we picked up the pace quite a bit from our leisurely jaunt to the volcano. I was beginning to feel a bit saddle sore from riding at what I considered to be a fast pace, but then the horse started galloping and I thought I was going to fly out of the saddle! Additionally, my horse with his bad left eye was hugging that side of the trail, meaning that I had to be on my guard to dodge various clusters of branches sticking out, to which he was completely impervious. Despite my best efforts, I twice caught a face full of branches and even drew blood, which I did not realize until we had slowed back to a trot and another student pointed it out. Nevertheless, I think I had it better than another student who said that the reins of his horse had somehow become covered in ants, meaning that his gallop was also marked by frequently slapping his arms to get rid of the ants crawling up them!

Later that afternoon, I took a stroll down the street to the local playing field in San Juan to kick the soccer ball around with Guillermina, the daughter of Paulette who runs the school, and another guest and his young son. We had a blast and eventually attracted a few additional players, and I was thoroughly sweaty by the time we finished. Thankfully, the language of soccer is universal as I had a very hard time understanding the young Nica boys who came to play with us.

This afternoon, a fellow student and I wedged ourselves into a packed van (the popular form of intercity transport here) to take a little trip to San Marcos, a nearby town. I had to laugh when we ducked into a café and there was a TV playing Sponge Bob Square Pants in Spanish – a proud export of the U.S., to be sure.

I’ve added a link here to the blog of Alexia, a 9-year old whose parents and brother are staying here at La Mariposa. In addition to offering a (slightly) younger person’s perspective on the goings-on here, she has posted some great photos of her adventures to date.

Okay, buenas noches!

Lucy's Bling

Since many of you have asked, here is a quick update on the status of Lucy, the horse who cut her foot while out on a ride last weekend. Fortunately, it appears that she is healing up nicely, although it will probably be another couple of weeks before it is known whether she will be able to walk again.

Yesterday, I was invited to view the changing of the bandages, which was quite interesting. About five of the workers gathered around to assist Bergman: one to restrain Lucy's leg so that no one got kicked in the face, and the others to fetch water, lay newspapers on the wet ground where Bergman was kneeling, hand over supplies from the medicine kit, etc. I had a birds-eye view as Bergman unwrapped the bandages, reached into the wound to clean out bits of bandage and other gunk and spray some electric blue antiseptic all over Lucy's leg. Throughout this ordeal, Lucy remained amazingly calm, shifting only a few times to express her discomfort.

Having thoroughly disinfected Lucy's leg, Bergman commenced redressing the wound using a makeshift splint and bandages comprised of two pieces of wood and an old blanket torn into strips. I've included a few photos so that you can see Bergman in action as well as Lucy all fitted with her flashy new prop. In case it's not clear from the photos, those are skiing polar bears adorning her leg.

Me Talk Pretty Espanol One Day

Day four of classes and I am pleasantly surprised at how much information I have been able to absorb in a short time. I have grammar class from 8-10 each morning, followed by conversation from 10-12. Surprisingly, I love the grammar class but am not as fond of conversation. This has nothing to do with my wonderful instructor, Gabriel, but rather with my inability to sufficiently express myself in Spanish. This class is an undeniable reminder of how much I have to learn before I will be able to speak articulately or intelligently in Spanish on any given subject.

For example, in yesterday’s class, Gabriel and I were discussing the various nationalities represented in Nicaragua and in the United States, and he asked me how it came to be that Native peoples in the U.S. were living on reservations. While I like to think I might have formed a somewhat coherent, historically accurate response to this question in English, in Spanish I was reduced to explaining that “the people from Europe grabbed the earth” and “gave special pieces of the earth” to the Native people. Special, indeed.

Yesterday afternoon, I attended a charla, or informal discussion, about some of the current challenges facing Nicaragua, including the lack of affordable, accessible electricity, water, and trash disposal services. Obviously, I missed a lot of what was said, although I am slowly filling in the gaping hole of my knowledge regarding Nicaraguan history and politics with some additional reading. However, one bit of information that I did catch was the fact that because trash removal is expensive and inconvenient, sometimes people here will dispose of trash by simply dropping their trash into the streams of water flowing by their homes during heavy rains, ultimately resulting in piles of trash somewhere downstream. This conversation was fresh in my mind when, hours later, I rode on the back of a motorcycle through La Concepcion and noticed multiple intersections where mounds of garbage lay, creating mini obstacle courses for vehicles of all sorts.

This afternoon and evening, we will visit the village of Masatepe which, in addition to offering terrific views of the Volcan Masaya, also contains a supposedly spectacular artisan market. The focus, however, of these artisans is furniture, so we shall see if I am able to resist the temptation to purchase a giant wooden rocking chair or queen bed to ship back to the States.

Oh, and I ate fresh papaya yesterday for the first time in 12 years – I could get used to this.

Los Pueblos Blancos

Today we visited the “Pueblos Blancos” (White Villages) of San Juan de Oriente and Diria. These villages are in the heart of the area of Nicaragua known for its artisans, and although I saw many beautiful things, I have a feeling that this excursion marks only the tip of the iceberg as far as handicrafts are concerned.

In San Juan, we visited the workshop of a man who (along with his dedicated staff) makes pottery including plates, bowls, vases, candle holders and other decorative pieces. The workshop itself was quite impressive. There was a man using a wheel to shape the pottery who was kind enough to give us a demonstration of his work. This wheel operated completely without electricity – he used his bare feet to spin a large wheel on the floor (at a speed at which I am certain I would lose toes) that powered the smaller wheel that he used to mold the pottery. The speed and dexterity with which he created the object, using mostly his hands but also a small piece of wood and string to trim the loose ends, was truly impressive. He fashioned an entire vase in about 5 minutes and promptly smushed it back into a ball of clay so that some of those in our group could try out the spinning wheel.

Once the form is created, it must be left to dry, the time frame for which can be 10 days or more in the humid rainy season. Once dry, the piece is cooked for several hours (14 for a plate!) in a wood-fired kiln at a temperature of 950 degrees celsius! I saw some basic, unpainted clay plates that I was interested to purchase, but the owner told me that they were not yet ready. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the tienda where he sells his goods and discovered beautifully colored, ornately carved and painted plates of many designs, sizes, etc. – turns out the ones I had me eye on were actually in the very early stages of production!

After deliberating for quite some time, I decided on a beautiful blue-green bowl carved with a hummingbird design. I was tempted to buy more, but a fellow student warned me that there would be many more opportunities to purchase beautiful artwork on subsequent outings. I’m already envisioning shipping a box of purchased treasures to the States at some point so as to avoid lugging them on my back across Central America!

After San Juan de Oriente, I got my first glimpse of the Laguna de Apoyo, the famous volcanic crater lake that is considered a treasure of Nicaragua. We stopped at an empty restaurant overlooking the laguna to grab a Tona (the Nica beer) and take in the beautiful view.

On the way home, we stopped at another artesania to visit a man who carves idols from stone, and I watched him laboriously chip his way through a big hunk of pumice, crafting the beginning of what appeared to be another of the man-wearing-an-alligator-head statues lining the side of the house. Our guide, Bergman (see: local vet and Spanish teacher) told us that this man’s work has been ‘discovered’ by a Canadian woman who purchases large quantities to import, the proceeds from which have enabled him to build a comfortable cement house for him and his family.

After a delicious meal of fish, pinto gallo (the local specialty, rice and beans), fresh avocado chunks and flan – yes, flan! – I am now typing on the veranda while listening to the sound of pouring rain. I was told by the two interns today that October is supposed to be the harshest month here in terms of rain, wind, thunderstorms, etc., so I may delay any beach destinations until November. Those of you who are contemplating visiting for such a vacation, stay tuned!

P.S. I will post photos soon, but the connection at the school is verrry slow, so I will have to trek out to one of the cyber-cafes to upload en masse. The slow connection is also why these posts are a bit delayed!